Specifically, how important are lyrics for you in a song? Are they as important, less important or equally as important as the tune?
Which song / songwriter has made a real impact and lasting impression on you?
Going down the music rabbit hole on Saturday night I was struck by the power of some of the lyrics I was listening to..... now dear reader, this may well have been Tallisker whiskey induced but methinks not
When I was a child
I caught a fleeting glimpse
Out of the corner of my eye
I turned to look but it was gone
I cannot put my finger on it now
The child is grown
The dream is gone
I have become comfortably numb
Comfortably Numb - Pink Floyd
Now that transported me back in a flash ... troubled recollections of dream versus reality. Sleep versus wakefulness (Is there such a word?)
Your body like a searchlight
my poverty revealed,
I would like to try your charity
until you cry, "Now you must try my greed."
And everything depends upon
how near you sleep to me
Just take this longing from my tongue
all the lonely things my hands have done.
Let me see your beauty broken down
like you would do for one your love.
Hungry as an archway
through which the troops have passed,
I stand in ruins behind you,
with your winter clothes, your broken sandal straps.
I love to see you naked over there
especially from the back.
Take this longing - Leonard Cohen
Can there be a better musical poet than Leonard Cohen? I am sure Bob Dylan would have his supporters....
Made famous (or more famous) by Johnny Cash, this Nine Inch Nails number to my mind is very powerful... for very personal reasons...
I wear this crown of shit
Upon my liar's chair
Full of broken thoughts
I cannot repair
Beneath the stains of time
The feelings disappear
You are someone else
I am still right here
What have I become?
My sweetest friend
Everyone I know
Goes away in the end
Hurt - Johnny Cash
I apologise to Nine Inch Nails as I wanted to show the original .... but the impact is no where near as powerful as JC's rendition
Powerful....powerful and even more powerful. That is written from someones experience (and certainly applicable to the Man in Black) ... I can listen to that over and over.
The last one I would like to share....
and I really hope someone steps up to the plate and shares some of their most impactful lyrics
How many roads must a man walk down
Before you call him a man?
How many seas must a white dove sail
Before she sleeps in the sand?
Yes, and how many times must the cannonballs fly
Before they're forever banned?
Yes, and how many years can a mountain exist
Before it's washed to the sea?
Yes, and how many years can some people exist
Before they're allowed to be free?
Yes, and how many times can a man turn his head
And pretend that he just doesn't see?
Blowin in the wind - Bob Dylan
Initially I was not going to include the music videos .... but this appears to be a pretty bland post without them...
SO...I hope you enjoyed the music and found at least some of the lyrics thought provoking.
All lyrics courtesy of AZLyrics