Best Song Lyrics (Part XXV)

Over the summer, I spend many evenings on my deck listening to mellow rock.  This is usually done by tuning into the Yacht Rock channel on satellite radio, or something similar on another station or streaming service.

In doing this, you hear a lot of the same artists, like Steely Dan and The Doobie Brothers.  But one group I noticed move of this summer was 1970s and 80s icon Chicago.

Chicago has/had such a unique sound, thanks to with the brass horns the band often put out front.  They also had some tunes with unique lyrics, like Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is, and the strangely titled, marching band favorite 25 or 6 to 4.  (It's the time of day, either 3:35 or 3:34.)

For me, however, none of their many hits had lyrics as good as the classic song Saturday In The Park.  It really made you feel like you were spending the day at the park.  [I've edited the following to avoid repetition.]

Saturday in the park

I think it was the Fourth of July

People dancing,

People laughing

A man selling ice cream

Singing Italian songs

Eh Cumpari, ci vo sunari

Can you dig it? (yes, I can)

And I've been waiting such a long time

For Saturday

People talking

Really smiling

A man playing guitar

And singing for us all

Will you help him change the world

Can you dig it? (yes, I can)

And I've been waiting such a long time

For today

Slow motion riders fly the colours of the day

A bronze man still can tell stories his own way

Listen children all is not lost

All is not lost, oh no, no

Funny days in the park

Every day's the Fourth of July

Funny days in the park

Every day's the Fourth of July

Best Song Lyrics (Part XXIV)

It isn’t a good look for this ongoing series that I haven’t included the most successful (female) country artist of all-time – someone who also happens to be the sole writer of over 700 songs, including her own hits.

That person is Dolly Parton.  

Her decades-long career is even more remarkable than that, considering what she’s done outside of country music.  She’s become a national icon, from her movie acting credits, to her own Dollywood theme park, to the attention she’s recently received for her lifelong philanthropic efforts.

On the music side, she’s probably best known for one of her earliest efforts, Jolene.  From a strictly songwriting perspective, I Will Always Love You was her biggest hit, after it was remade as a pop ballad and popularized by Whitney Houston in the movie The Bodyguard. 

For purposes of this entry, let’s include her tremendous popular music crossover success.  Songs like Here You Come Again and 9 to 5 would be chart-toppers, but I think the best lyrics come from the song Two Doors Down.  Consider the variations of the refrain she uses in that song, moving from sad and lonely to happy and friendly:

Two doors down they're laughing and drinkin', and having a party

Two doors down they're not aware that I'm around

Cause here I am crying my heart out, feelin' sorry while

They're having a party just two doors down

I think I'll dry these useless tears and get myself together

I think I'll wonder down the hall and have a look around

'Cause I can't stay inside this lonely room and cry forever

I think I really rather join 'em two door down, yeah

Two doors down they're laughing and drinkin', and having a party

Two doors down they're not aware that I'm around

'Cause here I am no longer crying and feelin' sorry

We're having a party just two doors down

I can't believe I'm standing here dry-eyed, all smiles and talking

Making conversation with the new love I have found

I ask him if he's like to be alone and we start walking

Down the hall to my place waiting two doors down, yeah

Two doors down they're laughing and drinkin', and having a party

Two doors down we're not aware that they're around

'Cause here I am feelin' everything but sorry

We're having our own party two doors down

Key To The Keys

I recently returned from a trip to Key West, Florida.  It's long been a domestic 'final frontier' of mine, one of the few places I've always wanted to visit, but never have.

Here are my observations:

• While not that far in distance, the drive from Miami to Key West takes 3-4 hours since you're going through several other island keys and resort areas.  It was interesting to see everything, and even stop for food and beverages -- but I wouldn't care to do it again as opposed to flying.

• Viewing the sunset is a big deal at Key West, and hundreds gather each evening for just that activity.  At Mallory Square, the sunset is accompanied by several street performers to pass the time.  For those willing and able, there are lots of sunset cruises on the water available.

• The main tourist hub is Duval Street.  It's a two-mile long stretch of nothing but big bars (some famous, like Ernest Hemingway's old hangout, Sloppy Joes) and restaurants and touristy shops on both sides.  It's amenable to not only walkers but also those on bicycles and scooters.  It was a longer, slightly more family-friendly version of Bourbon Street in New Orleans.

• The Key West Historic Seaport is another tourist hotspot.  There were at least three large restaurants with outdoor seating from where you can watch fishing boats and yachts moving in and out (or cruise on one yourself).  Jimmy Buffett's Key West recording studio is there as well.

• I was expecting more of an island vibe to Key West, kind of laid back with Jimmy Buffett music emanating from every corner.  Turns out it had much more of a classic rock, crossover-county vibe, with a big blue-collar crowd to go along with the affluent tourists, at least after the sun went down.

• Speaking of music.....there was a lot of live music.  It started in the morning at the resorts and a few bars, and it was almost everywhere at night.  It was practically a necessity for a bar to have live music to draw patrons in from the street.

In summary, I'd say if New Orleans mated with Cape Cod, the offspring would end up to be something like Key West.

Best Song Lyrics (Part XXIII)

I've been blogging about what I consider to be the 'best' song lyrics for over ten years now, and I admit it shows my biases.  I've already admitted I don't have enough country songwriters in my entries, and I certainly don't have enough female or minority representation on it either.

I'm going to help rectify that, at least a little bit, by highlighting Alicia Keys.  While their are many other famous black female artists that came before her, like Aretha Franklin or Tina Turner, they and many others are more famous as performers.

Keys is known as much for her songwriting as her singing.  She's either solo wrote or helped to write lots of songs made famous not only by her, but by many other artists.  And to top it off, she's prolific at playing instruments as well, notably the piano.

For my example, let's go with a big hit song she solo wrote and performed, If I Ain't Got You.  In this case, the words don't do justice to the incredible vocal range in her performance:

Some people search for a fountain

Promises forever young

Some people need three dozen roses

And that's the only way to prove you love them

Hand me the world on a silver platter

And what good would it be

With no one to share

With no one who truly cares for me

Some people want it all

But I don't want nothing at all

If it ain't you, baby

If I ain't got you

Some people want diamond rings

Some just want everything

But everything means nothing

If I ain't got you

Wasted Days And Wasted Nights

[Blog title courtesy of the late American Tejano country music crooner Freddy Fender.]

I've never been much of a county music fan.  I didn't grow up listening to it, except for your occasional crossover country/pop/rock song.

Over the past 10 or so years, I've listened to more country music, thanks to a combination of its contemporary performers and music saturation / technology.  Plus, my adult children now listen more to it, so I hear the overflow.

I've long said that when it comes to one-off, clever song lyrics, country music rules.  (Note I said clever lyrics, not necessarily meaningful ones, so this group won't make it on my 'Best Song Lyrics' recurring blog posts.)

This is particularly true in the area of drinking alcohol, which is definitely one of the most popular themes in the genre.  I suppose it has something to do with so many country songs being about partying, or losing a job or a significant other.

What follows is my alphabetical compilation of 10 country music songs and their *contemporary* performers that even a non-country-music-listener like me knows about, with some of their noteworthy lyrics: 

Alcohol / Brad Paisley

'Cause since the day I left Milwaukee, Lynchburg and Bordeaux, France

Been making a fool out of folks just like you

Alcohol

Bartender / Lady A

Hey bartender pour 'em hot tonight

'Til the party and the music and the truth collide

Bring it 'til his memory fades away

Beer Never Broke My Heart / Luke Combs

Longneck, ice cold beer never broke my heart

Like diamond rings and football teams

Have torn this boy apart

Drink In My Hand / Eric Church

No need to complicate it, I'm a simple man

All you got to do is put a drink in my hand

Drunk On A Plane / Dierks Bentley

It's Mardi Gras up in the clouds, I'm up so high, may never come down

I'll try anything to drown out the pain, they all know why I'm getting drunk on a plane

Friends In Low Places / Garth Brooks

Cause I've got friends in low places

Where the whiskey drowns

And the beer chases my blues away

It's Five O'Clock Somewhere / Alan Jackson and Jimmy Buffett

Pour me something tall and strong, make it a hurricane, before I go insane

It's only half past twelve, but I don't care, it's five o'clock somewhere

Red Solo Cup / Toby Keith

Red solo cup, I fill you up

Let's have a party

Ten With A Two / Kenny Chesney

Last night I came in at 2 with a 10

But at 10 I woke up with a 2

Tennessee Whiskey / Chris Stapelton

You're as smooth as Tennessee whiskey, you're as sweet as strawberry wine.

You're as warm as a glass of brandy, and honey, I stay stoned on your love all the time.

Wine, Beer, Whiskey / Little Big Town

The wine, the beer, the whiskey, are the only things that fix me

I'm not saying it's a problem, I can stop it if I wanna

But the wine, the beer, the whiskey, they always get me

The Artful Codger

In the past ten or so years, I've been a regular attendee at what would be considered 'artistic' community events.  Specifically, these events include attending traveling Broadway shows in Des Moines, and the annual Des Moines city arts festival.

Prior to the past decade, my interest in the fine arts was mostly limited to excessively complimenting my kids on their mandatory elementary school art projects.  If you go back far enough, you might also include watching MTV -- you know, back when it was still a music video channel and not whatever it's trying to be today.

These days, however, I've become at least a little bit more interested.  I've seen dozens of live stage performances, mostly Broadway musicals, and I'd say at least half of them were quite entertaining.  I'm more drawn to the contemporary, adapted musicals than to the old-school classics, which are almost entirely singing and dancing.  I even watched some of the Tony Awards on TV this year -- yikes.

As for the Des Moines Arts Festival, it's a way to be open-minded about people who do creative things, be it painting, photography, sculpture, or music.  Every year, I run across something that I think would be a cool conversation piece, or something with vibrant colors that must stimulate the right side of my brain.  Also every year, I wonder about how these poor artists are able to charge hundreds or even thousands of dollars for something will zero utility value, which is why I'm only a viewer and not a customer.

No one would say that I've become an aficionado of the fine arts.  Far from it.  I can't think of anything I'd rather do less with my leisure time than go to a ballet, or listen to a symphony orchestra.  Plus, I do think too much public money is channeled to the arts, when it could be better served to help human suffering.  (Those able to spend hundreds or thousands of dollars a year on show tickets or artwork can surely fund the arts privately.)

That said, I can also say I’ve matured enough to appreciate artistic talent and output.

2018

Another New Year's Eve (eve) is here, so it's time for my annual review of the things I wanted to have happen in the past year, and a fresh list of things I want to have happen in the next year.  Here's the 2017 list, with comments in ALL CAPS:

-Again:  At least some progress on medical marijuana in Iowa,

THE GOOD NEWS IS, SOME PROGRESS WAS MADE.  IT'S GOING TO BE A TAD BIT EASIER FOR THOSE WHO NEED IT TO GET IT.  THE BAD NEWS IS, IOWA IS STILL NOT FULLY COMMITTED TO IT.

-Some type of institutional or legal control over fake news / social media.

FACEBOOK HAS TAKEN SOME ACTION, ALBEIT TOO LITTLE, TOO LATE.  AT THIS POINT, IT'S HARD TO GET IN FRONT OF IT, BECAUSE THE PRESIDENT LIVES IN A VIRTUAL REALTY WORLD THAT HE WANTS OTHERS TO BELIEVE IS NORMAL.

-Related to the above, more critical thinkers, fewer idiots who believe everything they hear.

THERE ARE MORE CRITICAL THINKERS ON THE LEFT, AND LET'S JUST SAY FEWER CRITICAL THINKERS ON THE RIGHT.

-GPS technology used in major sporting events, e.g. to mark the ball in football games, and for the strike zone in baseball games.

NOPE.  LOSERS.

-More working from home by me.

THIS HAPPENED, BUT TO ONLY ABOUT 25% OF THE LEVEL IT SHOULD HAVE.

-The return of popular mainstream rock bands and rock music.

THIS DIDN'T HAPPEN, HOWEVER, I SAW RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS AND JOE WALSH AND TOM PETTY (AND SCHEDULED TO SEE BOB SEGER) IN CONCERT.  SO IT WASN'T ALL BAD.

-Implementation of the fiduciary rule, and the demise of commission-based financial advice.

THE CURRENT ADMINISTRATION ALLOWED THE RULES TO GO INTO EFFECT, BUT THERE WILL BE NO ENFORCEMENT UNTIL AT LEAST 2019.  SO, NO.  AND SINCE FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS ARE IN THE REPUBLICAN'S POCKETS, MIGHT AS WELL FORGET ABOUT THIS FOR A FEW MORE YEARS.

-The resignation or impeachment of an unqualified president -- no names, any one will do.

NOT AS CRAZY AS IT SOUNDED LAST YEAR. WILL ADD PUSH THIS FORWARD.  IT WON'T BE ANY FUN TO ASK IT FOR 2019 BECAUSE BY THEN IT WILL BE LIKELY.

For 2018 I'd like to see:

The failure of Bitcoin, not as an idea, but as an investment.

An NCAA scandal so large they will have to start allowing players a cut of revenues.

More destinations and ways to fly on Southwest Airlines.

A widespread ability to charge devices without a cord (also asked for this for 2016).

A new governor / lieutenant governor elected for Iowa. 

Let's try this -- exponential growth in the cannabis industry to the extent all states will want a piece of it through taxation.

Greater national and international awareness of CRISPR (genome editing) technology.

Smaller entree portions served in restaurants, for a reduced price.

Fewer national weather disasters, but more understanding of climate change.

The resignation or impeachment of a mentally unstable and unqualified president -- again, no names.

Just Name Three

Last year on election day, I wrote about my disgust for bandwagon-ing fans, and, for that matter, bandwagon-ing voters.  Today I'm going to write about a larger offshoot of bandwagon-ers, which essentially includes the bandwagon-ers plus the 'fear of missing out' (FOMO) folks.

To identify, these are people who spend money, sometimes hefty amounts, to attend events for which they have little or no passion.  They go solely because they know other people are going.  You see this all of the time with both sporting and music events.

An example:  Last week, I attended a Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers concert.  The following day at lunch, I overhead a 30-something year-old woman talking to others about it.  She admitted she didn't really know any of his music, but tagged along with friends anyway.  This way she could say she was there, not to mention she could party / drink beer.

Who knows, maybe she didn't have to pay between $60 - $100 to go to the concert like the rest of us.  But probably she did, and regardless, she took away a ticket for a sold out show from a real fan who wanted to go.

I've called people out on this before, and when they get all defensive about it I give them a simple test.  That is, for a big-time concert, can you name three songs (just titles, not even the lyrics!) by that artist?  And for a sporting event, can you name three players on the team for which you're supposedly a fan?

The vast majority of those I ask cannot successfully answer.  If you can't do that, you aren't a fan, and definitely not a passionate one.

However, that isn't going to stop them from paying big bucks to take a seat that a true fan would love to have.  (By and large, the artist or athlete would love for the true fan to have that seat as well.)  But never mind all that.  What's important is being seen as a cool person partying with others at a big event.  And of course, posting their fake superfan-dom on social media.

I suppose it's really not that surprising, in the age of reality TV and social media stars.  People make entire careers out of being seen at events they couldn't care less about.

The difference is, those people get paid, rather then paying for the right to do nothing more than warm a seat.

RIP Glenn Frey

Already this year, two rock music icons have passed away, David Bowie and Glenn Frey.  I was a little too young to appreciate them in their prime years, basically the 1970s.  They both continued to put out new, popular music well into the 1980s, but their best recorded stuff was basically over once we hit the 1990s.

I was never a Bowie fan, he always seemed to me like some strange dude from England, although I will admit that the song Modern Love does take me back to my college days.  Glenn Frey, however – that’s  a different story.

I finally got to see an Eagles concert in person a couple of years ago, on one of their reunion tours.  Frey couldn’t quite make it to the highest notes, but otherwise I thought he (along with Don Henley, Joe Walsh, and Timothy B. Schmit) sounded a lot like their recordings from decades ago.

Frey’s solo career wasn’t as good as Henley’s, but it was decent, with saxophone-heavy tracks like The One You Love, The Heat Is On, and You Belong to the City.  Regardless, he’s going to be remembered for all of the classic Eagles stuff, some of which I’m just starting to really appreciate for the first time.

One example of an Eagles tune that I never liked that much until the past few years, one in which Frey sings the lead-vocal, is Lyin’ Eyes.  It was far from their most popular song, but the way the lyrics are laid out to tell the story is as good as it gets:

City girls just seem to find out early
How to open doors with just a smile
A rich old man
And she won't have to worry
She'll dress up all in lace and go in style

Late at night a big old house gets lonely
I guess every form of refuge has its price
And it breaks her heart to think her love is only
Given to a man with hands as cold as ice

So she tells him she must go out for the evening
To comfort an old friend who's feelin' down
But he knows where she's goin' as she's leavin'
She is headed for the cheatin' side of town

[Chorus]
You can't hide your lyin' eyes
And your smile is a thin disguise
I thought by now you'd realize
There ain't no way to hide your lyin eyes

On the other side of town a boy is waiting
With fiery eyes and dreams no one could steal
She drives on through the night anticipating
'Cause he makes her feel the way she used to feel

She rushes to his arms; they fall together
She whispers that it's only for awhile
She swears that soon she'll be comin' back forever
She pulls away and leaves him with a smile

[Chorus]

She gets up and pours herself a strong one,
And stares out at the stars up in the sky.
Another night, it's gonna be a long one.
She draws the shade and hangs her head to cry.

She wonders how it ever got this crazy.
She thinks about a boy she knew in school.
Did she get tired or did she just get lazy?
She's so far gone she feels just like a fool.

My oh my, you sure know how to arrange things.
You set it up so well, so carefully.
Ain't it funny how your new life didn't change things?
You're still the same old girl you used to be.

[Chorus]

Do You Hear What I Hear (I Hope Not)

It's Christmas time, and as much as I'd like to vent again about the lack of understanding and effort when it comes to Christmas cards, this year I want to say something about Christmas songs.

Generally speaking, I don't have a problem with Christmas songs on the radio or in stores.  Sure, they start too early in the year, but it gets you into the spirit, I can appreciate that.

But why do I keep hearing so many old songs that are sung by long-ago-dead people?

For example, if I hear another Karen Carpenter rendition of Home For The Holidays I'm going to puke.  Same goes for anything by Burl Ives.

In fact, this goes for any artist who's been dead for over 25 years, with the possible exception of Nat King Cole singing The Christmas Song.  I don't think anybody can perform that song any better.  (A quick reminder: Tony Bennett isn't dead yet, so anything by him is also OK.)

To put it another way, I don't really want to hear traditional Christmas songs that were recorded 30 or 40 years ago.  There are plenty of songs that have been recorded by contemporary artists, assisted by the best instrumentation / sound that today's digital recording technology can bring us.

In conclusion, if I'm listening to Christmas music, I want to hear traditional Christmas songs by contemporary recording artists (with Nat King Cole occasionally sprinkled in), and rotate those singers out once they kick the bucket.

Otherwise, make it a Silent Night.

The Pretenders

No, this is not an entry about the 1980s English rock band with hits such as Back On The Chain Gang and Middle Of The Road.  They are not worthy.

This is about people who jump on the bandwagon.

We've all seen this before, in a variety of ways.  In the past couple of weeks, I've witnessed no less than three manifestations of it....

It's the person who doesn't give a damn about a sports team the entire regular season, and then suddenly acts like the team's biggest long-time fan when they get to the championship game.  Never mind that the person can't name more than one or two of the team's players.

It's the person who claims to not like a certain musician, and then suddenly acts like the artist's biggest fan when they are coming to town for a concert.  Never mind that the person can't name more than one or two of the artist's songs.

It's the person who claims not to like a certain part of the country, and then suddenly acts as if they should be the tour guide when that place is chosen for a group trip.  Never mind that the person can't name more than one or two tourist destinations in that region.

The Pretenders don't actually care about the team, or the musician, or the trip.  They care about not being a part of something, even if they couldn't care less about that something.

So to all of the Pretenders out there, stop your phony coat-tailing and go away, and let the people who really care take your place.

Best Song Lyrics (Part VIII)

Before I was 10 years old, in the late 60s and early 70s, I heard a lot of music that my older siblings listened to, presumably the best pop/rock there was to offer at the time.  I recall one summer in the early 70s, all they wanted to listen to was Bad, Bad, LeRoy Brown by Jim Croce.

Lyrics meant nothing to me at the time, but it had a good beat and it was fun to sing along to, so I figured this was a cool guy.  It wasn't until I was much older that I figured out what a great library of music he had.  For someone who died in a plane crash at age 30, you might even say it was prolific; he released 6 albums and 11 singles in that time.

And as is the case with the other musicians I mention in this blog, the songs he performed had meaning, or at least told a story.  I recall listening to a greatest hits CD of his (Photographs and Memories) while traveling with my own family, and even the kids singing along to the refrain from You Don't Mess Around With Jim:

You don't tug on Superman's cape
You don't spit into the wind
You don't pull the mask of that old Lone Ranger
And you don't mess around with Jim

Here are some of the lyrics from one of his all-time greats, I Got A Name, about finding your way on life's journey while staying true to yourself:

Like the pine trees lining the winding road
I've got a name, I've got a name
Like the singing bird and the croaking toad
I've got a name, I've got a name
And I carry it with me like my daddy did
But I'm living the dream, that he kept hid
Movin' me down the highway
Rollin' me down the highway
Movin' ahead so life won't pass me by

Like the north wind whistlin' down the sky
I've got a song, I've got a song
Like the whippoorwill and the baby's cry
I've got a song, I've got a song
And I carry it with me and I sing it loud
If it gets me nowhere, I'll go there proud
Movin' me down the highway
Rollin' me down the highway
Movin' ahead so life won't pass me by

And I'm gonna go there free.....
Like the fool I am and I'll always be
I've got a dream, I've got a dream
They can change their minds but they can't change me
I've got a dream, I've got a dream
Oh, I know I could share it if you want me to
If your going my way, I'll go with you
Movin' me down the highway
Rollin' me down the highway
Movin' ahead so life won't pass me by

Best Song Lyrics (Part VII)

When the Beatles took the world by storm in the 60s, I was too young to understand the frenzy. Consequently, I'm not the biggest Beatles fan, although I admire the incredible library of popular songs they compiled. A few even have meaningful lyrics!

When the Beatles broke up and went on their solo careers, I was old enough to appreciate their music, but I didn't care much about their generally mediocre success. (Possible exception was the commerical success of Wings with Paul McCartney.) Like many artists, however, now that they are either old or dead, I can appreciate some of their group and solo music.

The song lyrics that stand out for me today are from John Lennon's classic, Imagine. Good timing for this, since my last blog entry (http://streffblog.blogspot.com/2011/06/diminishing-returns-of-religion.html) basically supports what the song says. The last verse is a little too socialistic for me, so I excluded it, but the rest - just think about it.

Imagine there's no Heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today

Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace

You may say that I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one

Best (Effing) Song Lyrics (Part VI)

When rap music - or as I call it, c-rap music - was trying to get a mainstream foothold in the 80s, it had acceptance problems related to both its subject matter and explicit 'lyrics' (if that's what you want to call them). Over time, mainstream rap has transformed into hip-hop, and the subject matter has been toned down, but the language generally hasn't.

Unfortunately, we're now seeing that language spill over into popular music. A recent look at the current top hits include two with the F-word in title. Not just buried somewhere in the lyrics, but in the often-repeated song title. In the words of the DeAndre Cole character on Saturday Night Live, What's up wit dat!?

Now for purposes of radio play, the F-words in these songs have been changed or eliminated. I've listened to both versions, and guess what - the song means the same thing! And it's not like these songs need some sort of urban edge to them for audience appeal, so why do this? Oh, that's right - because today it has to be more about the singer than the song, to help monetize the product.

Bob Dylan would be rolling over in his grave about this, if he was dead. As it is, he's lost too many brain cells to care. But before all of that, and before money mattered so much in music, he wrote some fantastic songs, with lyrics as meaningful today and when he wrote them in the 60s. Look at these lyrics from The Times They Are A-Changin' and you'll see they are still applicable. (Sadly, this might mean we haven't changed.)

Come gather ’round people
Wherever you roam
And admit that the waters
Around you have grown
And accept it that soon
You’ll be drenched to the bone
If your time to you is worth savin’
Then you better start swimmin’ or you’ll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin’

Come writers and critics
Who prophesize with your pen
And keep your eyes wide
The chance won’t come again
And don’t speak too soon
For the wheel’s still in spin
And there’s no tellin’ who that it’s namin’
For the loser now will be later to win
For the times they are a-changin’

Come senators, congressmen
Please heed the call
Don’t stand in the doorway
Don’t block up the hall
For he that gets hurt
Will be he who has stalled
There’s a battle outside and it is ragin’
It’ll soon shake your windows and rattle your walls
For the times they are a-changin’

Come mothers and fathers
Throughout the land
And don’t criticize
What you can’t understand
Your sons and your daughters
Are beyond your command
Your old road is rapidly agin’
Please get out of the new one if you can’t lend your hand
For the times they are a-changin’

The line it is drawn
The curse it is cast
The slow one now
Will later be fast
As the present now
Will later be past
The order is rapidly fadin’
And the first one now will later be last
For the times they are a-changin’

Best Song Lyrics (Part V)

Anyone over 40 who gives a damn about music will remember the artist formerly known as Cat Stevens. He made a lot of popular acoustic music in the late sixties and early seventies, including songs like, 'Oh Very Young' and, 'Wild World'. Like a lot of singers those days, his music was as much about the words as the melody. He had something to say.

After a religious conversion in 1977, he changed his name to Yusaf Islam and left the recording industry behind for more than two decades. He's since returned to write and perform music to communicate a message of political and religious tolerance.

This blog entry showcases the lyrics from the 1971 hit, 'Peace Train'. (I always thought Obama could have used this as an election theme song in 2008, had the artist not been somewhat controversial.)

Now I've been happy lately,
thinking about the good things to come
And I believe it could be,
something good has begun

Oh I've been smiling lately,
dreaming about the world as one
And I believe it could be,
some day it's going to come

Cause out on the edge of darkness,
there rides a peace train
Oh peace train take this country,
come take me home again

Get your bags together,
go bring your good friends too
Cause it's getting nearer,
it soon will be with you

Now come and join the living,
it's not so far from you
And it's getting nearer,
soon it will all be true

Cause out on the edge of darkness,
there rides a peace train
Oh peace train take this country,
come take me home again

Best Song Lyrics (Part IV)

So far in this blog, I've covered songs from The Eagles, Dave Matthews Band, and John Mellencamp. There are lots of great songs and songwriters to go, and this IVth installment brings me to the classic singer/songwriter Billy Joel.

Here again, Joel has many good lyrics from which to choose, typically from uses a variety of relationship topics. I'm going with the following classic narrative from Scenes From An Italian Restaurant. Getting married too young still ends up like this:

Brenda and Eddie were the popular steadies / And the king and the queen of the prom
Riding around with the car top down / And the radio on
Nobody looked any finer / Or was more of a hit at the Parkway Diner
We never knew we could want / More than that out of life
Surely Brenda and Eddie / Would always know how to survive.

Brenda and Eddie were still going steady / In the summer of '75
When they decided the marriage would be / At the end of July
Everyone said they were crazy / "Brenda you know you're much too lazy
Eddie could never afford / To live that kind of life."
But there we were wavin' / Brenda and Eddie goodbye.

They got an apartment with deep pile carpet / And a couple of paintings from Sears
A big waterbed that they bought with the bread / They had saved for a couple of years
They started to fight when the money got tight / And they just didn't count on the tears.

They lived for a while in a very nice style / But it's always the same in the end
They got a divorce as a matter of course / And they parted the closest of friends
Then the king and the queen went back to the green / But you can never go back there again.

Brenda and Eddie had had it already / By the summer of '75
From the high to the low to the end of the show / For the rest of their lives
They couldn't go back to the greasers / The best they could do was pick up the pieces
But we always knew they would both / Find a way to get by

That's all I heard about Brenda and Eddie
Can't tell you more than I told you already
And here we are wavin' Brenda And Eddie goodbye.

Best Song Lyrics (Part III)

It's hard to believe I waited until Part III to get to a John Mellencamp song. It will not be the only mention he gets - he has too many good song lyrics.

In fact, I'm going to reference two of them right now. First, these lyrics from the song The Real Life were the ones I actually used when I wrote some friends to tell them I was changing careers a few years ago:

Jackson Jackson [William Streff] was a good kid
He had four years of college and a bachelor's degree
Started workin' when he was 21
Got fed up and quit when he was 43
He said, "My whole life I've done what I'm supposed to do
Now I'd like to maybe do something for myself
And just as soon I figure out what that is
You can bet your life I'm gonna give it hell!"
He says
I want to live the real life
I want to life my life close to the bone
Just because I'm middle-aged that don't mean
I want to sit around my house and watch TV
I want the real life
I want to live the real life

I still don't understand why Mellencamp left that song off of his greatest hits CD years ago. Anyway, the next one is from an anthem for the ages, Check It Out. Similar to The Real Life, it's about letting time slip away, but in this case also regretting not doing something about it:

A million young poets, screamin' out their words
To a world full of people just livin' to be heard
Future generations, ridin' on the highways that we built
I hope they have better understanding
Check it out
Goin' to work on Monday
Got yourself a family
All utility bills have been paid
Can't tell your best buddy that you love him
Check it out
Where does our time go
Got a brand new house in escrow
Sleepin' with your back to your loved one
This is all that we've learned about happiness
Check it out
Get too drunk on Saturdays
Play football with the kids on Sundays
Soarin' with the eagles all week long
And this is all that we've learned about living

Best Song Lyrics (Part II)

How about this from Dave Matthews Band in their song, Grey Street, about how some people aren't willing or able to break free from the drudgery of their lives.

There's a stranger speaks outside her door
Says take what you can from your dreams
Make them as real as anything
It'd take the work out of courage
But she says "Please
There's a crazy man that's creeping outside my door,
I live on the corner of Grey Street
And the end of the world. "
There's an emptiness inside her
And she'll do anyrthing to fill it in
And though it's red blood bleeding from her now
It's more like cold blue ice in her heart
She feels like kicking out all the windows
And setting fire to this life
She could change everything about her
Using colors bold and bright
But all the colors mix together - to grey
And it breaks her heart

Best Song Lyrics (Part I)

Like most people my age, I miss the good old days when song lyrics meant something. There are still plenty of good songwriters out there, but they are mostly being drowned out by the commercialization of today's music industry.

I didn't always feel that way. When I was in my teens and 20s, all I cared about was the beat and popularity of a song. Not much has changed for today's youth, except that now it's hip-hop and rap music with empty (or stolen) lyrics, instead of disco.

But eventually you mature, and realize that music without meaning is pointless. So I've decided to begin a recurring blog entry about what I consider to be great song lyrics. Note that I am the sole arbiter of what's considered great, but I welcome your comments and suggestions.

Let's start with these lyrics from the Eagles and their song about addiction, Hotel California.

Mirrors on the ceiling
The pink champagne on ice
And she said,
"We are all just prisoners here, of our own device."
And in the master's chambers,
They gathered for the feast
They stab it with their steely knives,
But they just can't kill the beast
Last thing I remember, I was
Running for the door
I had to find the passage back
To the place I was before
"Relax," said the night man,
"We are programmed to receive.
You can checkout any time you like,
but you can never leave!"