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
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, 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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