It was one of those evenings – good company, good food, good wine, great conversation. After dinner, the six of us who have known each other for nearly twenty years piled into a van and with the moon roof opened to a chilly, clear night began the drive back to the hotel. A classic vintage song cued up, a song instantly recognizable and one we collectively must have listened to a thousand times over the last four decades. The volume was cranked up by some random arm that reached across to the dashboard and grabbed at the knob. Singing the song in my head, I then declared “this next line is one of the best lines ever written in a rock and roll song”. I was stunned by the near unanimous response - “who listens to the lyrics?” And all the more perplexing, three of the passengers considered themselves musicians, or at least they play an instrument with some skill. (PLEASE CLICK ON THE TITLE ABOVE TO CONTINUE READING.)
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It was one of those moments when I realized that I didn’t even comprehend the question, so foreign was it from my lifelong experience with music. I had never considered the possibility that lyrics were ignored, incidental to the song. To me, they are written to be listened to, understood; the poetry explored, contemplated and its mysteries revealed; the lines committed to memory to be later used, quoted, sung, enjoyed and even played with. I was that kid who dived into the dust jacket of albums to get to the published lyrics. Just yesterday while working in our warehouse and listening to the radio, I recited from memory to the shock and amazement of my coworkers the poem Late Lament written by Justin Hayward, which is the one spoken at the end of the Moody Blues’ most famous song Nights in White Satin. To think that so many people do not really pay attention to the lyrics, other than perhaps the chorus or hook of a song, hit me right between the eyes. How can they possibly fully enjoy songs without this knowledge? How could they have a relationship with them? How could they mean anything to them over all these years? How could music for them be anything other than nice background noise? My gosh, they are missing so much! E.Y. Harburg, who penned the lyrics to Over the Rainbow, observed - Words make you think a thought Music makes you feel a feeling A song makes you feel a thought. Now I know why I can recall an appropriate lyric when events unfold in my life or when life just rolls on and things happen that trigger something within me. It’s because I can feel the thought. I have a friend who to this day maintains a sixty year friendship with someone he met in pre-school; so much of each other’s lives they’ve shared! I always thought it funny when I’ve witnessed that a shared experience will make each of them spontaneously break into the same song. They just feel the thought, I guess. I have long considered the singer/songwriters from the 70’s and 80’s as among my “personal advisors”. So wise were their words all those years ago when we were all so young. Could they have ever known that the songs they wrote at that time would still find relevance and inspiration in the world today? Maybe that’s why I still listen to them. Maybe that’s why I’ve committed their lyrics to memory. Maybe that’s why I still draw inspiration from them and continue to use them in my writings. And just maybe, that’s why I can still feel thoughts. |
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06-04-2017 15:42
Curious....what IS the best line ever written in rock n roll? I too can recite that poem from memory (I find the Moodies to have much profundity in their lyrics), but it doesn't impress too many friends, LOL. I love lyrics, too. this entry made me reflect upon how people experience music so differently. Where I find music to be mostly a personal experience, that's so incredibly evocative and transcendent, still, when a song from the 70's comes on, it's great when other folks will say, "wow, I remember that!" and we all sing along. Unfortunately, I don't find that a lot either. I know a lot of folks, many who are in the music field, to not really be moved by music the way I am. They seem to use it to connect socially (which I understand) but the depth of those connections aren't very deep. "I'm living in a land of make-believe, and trying not to let it show..." |