Saturday, January 15, 2011

Name That Tune

I love music. Specifically, the lyrics. Growing up, my friends would always joke that I knew every word to every song on the radio…they still do. It’s true. And it stands to reason…I’m a writer. While I love the beat, the rhythm, the sound, it’s the lyrics that grab me and pull me in. My kids inherited this love of music. My oldest, my love of words. He is a talented writer, at just 13, and of course, studies the lyrics, more than the score, of all his favorite songs.

The old standards – lyrically speaking – are my favorite:

A tinkling piano in the next apartment

Those stumblin' words that told you what my heart meant

A fairground's painted swings

These foolish things remind me of you

Or this one by the incredible Etta James:

At last, my love has come along


My lonely days are over


And life is like a song


Oh, yeah, at last


The skies above are blue


My heart was wrapped up in clovers


The night I looked at you


I found a dream that I could speak to


A dream that I can call my own


I found a thrill to rest my cheek to


A thrill that I have never known


Oh, yeah you smile, you smile


Oh, and then the spell was cast


And here we are in heaven


For you are mine


At last

Dreamy.

When Maroon 5 entered the music scene about 5 years ago (at least that’s when I first heard them), I immediately liked them. They remind me of Supertramp, with their melodies, and their lyrics that have that intelligent, but ethereal quality that I just love:

Sunday morning rain is falling

Steal some covers share some skin

Clouds are shrouding us in moments unforgettable

You twist to fit the mold that I am in

But things just get so crazy living life gets hard to do

And I would gladly hit the road get up and go if I knew

That someday it would bring me back to you

RUSH (known in some circles as “the thinking man’s band) is another band I admire for their smart lyrics.

Case in Point, a selection of the lyrics from NEW WORLD MAN:

He's a rebel and a runner

He's a signal turning green

He's a restless young romantic

Wants to run the big machine

He's got to make his own mistakes

And learn to mend the mess he makes

He's old enough to know what's right

But young enough not to choose it

He's noble enough to win the world

But weak enough to lose it

He's a New World Man...

He's a radio receiver

Tuned to factories and farms

He's a writer and arranger

And a young boy bearing arms

And, of course, Closer to the Heart, one of my favorites:

And the men who hold high places

Must be the ones who start

To mold a new reality

Closer to the heart

The blacksmith and the artist

Reflect it in their art

They forge their creativity

Closer to the heart

Philosophers and ploughmen

Each must know his part

To sow a new mentality

Closer to the heart

And I couldn’t write about lyrics without mentioning Supertramp…

If only I could find a way to feel your sweetness through the day

the love that shines around me could be mine.

So give us an answer, won't you,

We know what we have to do,

There must be a thousand voices trying to get through.

Got any favorite lyrics of your own?

Speaking of music, I’m heading to a friend’s for a night of Karaoke. Should be fun ; )

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