I love songs (love songs especially, for some reason) with lyrics that engage the listener to ponder over the feelings conveyed. I want to share my thoughts on some of my favourite songs, why I love them, what exactly draws me into them, not as much out of my overflowing desire to share these things in itself, or a wish to promote the songs and artists, but as a way to understand myself better and put these thoughts in a word format, so what I will write may not necessarily be very coherent.
Here's the first song:
Aubrey, performed by Perry Como
Here are its lyrics:
Perry Como delivers this song with an almost nostalgic tone, his character doesn't grief over "a love that wouldn't bloom", he muses over a memory while walking down a memory lane. While he does sing "And I'd go a million times around the world, just to be closer to her than me", the way he delivers it makes me feel like deep down he has accepted that this love wouldn't come to be.And Aubrey was her name
A not so very ordinary girl or name
But who's to blame?
For a love that wouldn't bloom
For the hearts that never played in tune
Like a lovely melody that everyone can sing
Take away the words that rhyme, it doesn't mean a thing
And Aubrey was her name
We tripped the light and danced together to the moon
But where was June?
No, it never came around
If it did it never made a sound
Maybe I was absent or was listening too fast
Catching all the words but then the meaning going past
But God I miss the girl
And I'd go a thousand times around the world just to be
Closer to her than to me
And Aubrey was her name
I never knew her but I loved her just the same
I loved her name
Wish that I had found the way
And the reasons that would make her stay
I have learned to lead a life apart from all the rest
If I can't have the one I want, I'll do without the best
But how I miss the girl
And I'd go a million times around the world just to say
She had been mine for a day
In the end we are left with a beautiful song about a man reminiscing over a past love that didn't get fulfilled.
Some of the most beautiful lyrics of this song are:
"Like a lovely melody that everyone can sing
Take away the words that rhyme, it doesn't mean a thing"
And the entire second verse:
"And Aubrey was her name
We tripped the light and danced together to the moon
But where was June?
No, it never came around
If it did it never made a sound
Maybe I was absent or was listening too fast
Catching all the words but then the meaning going past"
I don't think I'll ever be able to express my feelings in words at this lever of mastery.
Perry Como is exceptional when it comes to singing melancholy lyrics that enduce nostalgia. Other examples of his mastery over this niche are "And I love you so" and "Killing me softly". His voice doesn't seem very "strong", but it's unique and it draws you in when you listen, as if he's telling you a fairytale.
The second song is not as lyrically sophisticated as the first, but it still brought a tear or two from my eye:
Introducing "Angel flying too close to the ground", performed by Willie Nelson.
Lyrics:
This song doesn't rhyme. I'm certain it takes a great deal of skill and effort to deliver this song without butchering it. But when it's delivered properly, it hits hard.If you had not have fallen
Then I would not have found you
Angel flying too close to the ground
And I patched up your broken wing
And hung around for a while
Trying to keep your spirits up
And your fever down
I knew someday that you would fly away
For love's the greatest healer, to be found
So leave me if you need to
I will still remember
Angel flying too close to the ground
Fly on, fly on past, the speed of sound
I'd rather see you up, than to see you down
So leave me if you need to
I will still remember
Angel flying too close to the ground ...
There's an instrumental break in the middle of this song in Willie Willson's version, and it's heartbreaking.
There are two interpretations I can think of: one is that it's a eulogy to a loved one, and the other is that the character, from whose point of view this song is, is left by their loved one to pursue greater heights and they are letting go.
In any case, I love this part especially:
"Fly on, fly on past, the speed of sound.
I'd rather see you up, than to see you down
So leave me if you need to
I will still remember angel flying too close to the ground"
I don't know what, but there is something haunting in these words. The first sentence has an ethereal feeling to it "fly on... Fly on... Past the speed of sound...", it's very depressing and yet somehow hopeful. Is it the narrator wishing for this to happen, is it them describing what they see, or them describing how they feel?
And the last part strikes gives the final punch in the gut:
" So leave me if you need to
I will still remember
Angel flying too close to the ground ..."
Being abandoned, in one way or another, and being thankful for the person having been there by you, having left the memory of them in your mind, the narrator managed to convey this complicated mood in just a single sentence.
Speaking of loved ones passing, "Honey" performed by Dean Martin tells a tale of how it feels less consisely and with a more concrete terms.
The lyrics I love are the last two verses, which all the preceding ones culminate into:See the tree, how big it's grown
But friend, it hasn't been too long it wasn't big
I laughed at her and she got mad
The first day that she planted it, was just a twig
Then the first snow came and she ran out
To brush the snow away so it wouldn't die
Came runnin' in all excited slipped and almost hurt herself
And I laughed till I cried
She was always young at heart
Kinda dumb and kinda smart and I loved her so
And I surprised her with a puppy
Kept me up all Christmas Eve two years ago
And it would sure embarrass her
When I came in from workin' late 'cause I would know
That she'd been sittin there an' cryin'
Over some sad and silly late, late show
And Honey, I miss you
And I'm bein' good
And I'd love to be with you
If only I could
She wrecked the car and she was sad
And so afraid that I'd be mad, but what the heck
Though I pretended hard to be
Guess you could say she saw through me and hugged my neck
I came home unexpectedly
And caught her cryin' needlessly in the middle of the day
And it was in the early spring
When flowers bloom and robins sing, she went away
And Honey, I miss you
And I'm bein' good
And I'd love to be with you
If only I could
One day while I was not at home
While she was there and all alone the angels came
Now all I have is memories of Honey
And I wake up nights and call her name
Now my life's an empty stage
Where Honey lived, and Honey played and love grew up
And a small cloud passes over head
And cries down on the flower bed that Honey loved
And see the tree, how big it's grown
But friend, it hasn't been too long, it wasn't big
And I laughed at her, she got mad
The first day that she planted it, was just a twig
"One day while I was not at home
While she was there and all alone the angels came
Now all I have is memories of Honey
And I wake up nights and call her name",
"Now my life's an empty stage
Where Honey lived, and Honey played and love grew up
And a small cloud passes over head
And cries down on the flower bed that Honey loved".
"One day while I wasn't home and she was there and all alone, the angels came" is such a dignified way of describing someone's death.
I said the description of how the narrator feels wasn't consise, but I may take this back. Just the words "Now all I have is memories of Honey, and I wake up nights and call her name" speak volumes of the deep sorrow and emptiness the he feels. This sentence is the epitome of "Show, don't tell". There's no need for lengthy passages of how broken his heart is, how bleak everything became, just telling that sentence managed to convey everything.
The next verse does elaborate, however, and it does it beautifully. "All I have is memories of Honey" resonates with "Now my life's an empty stage where Honey lived and Honey played and love grew up", painting the picture of a rich store of memories of a vibrant and happy life, parts of which we, as the listeners are privy to from the first verses, and those memories overwhelm any further meaning besides those memories. "A small cloud passes overhead and cries down on the flower bed that Honey loved" is a powerful example, in which the thought culminates.
I also love how we feel like we know Honey well, despite her description took only a sentence. It makes the song so much more powerful.
How could I go without mentioning Sinatra, after talking about a Dean Martin song?
Of course, there are plenty of songs that were performed by him that I love for various reasons: Moonlight in Vermont, The Way You Look Tonight, We Wanted It All, The Single Man, Swinging On a Star and many, many more. But since the songs so far have been about heartbreak, I'll go with my favourite one:
I feel that the punchline of this song hits very hard. Sinatra sings this song jazzy, he swings and you don't really feel how his character feels until the last sentence. But the last "Oh, you crazy moon, you broke my heart" strikes. It feels final. Yes, this all happened, they are happy and you (the Moon) must be so happy too, you are feeling proud. But my heart is broken. I was led on by you, you promised that it would never end and this ended so painfully. That must be how the character must feel, and this is a masterful use of the lyrics.When they met, the way they smiled, I saw that I was through
Oh, you crazy moon, what did you do?
And when they kissed, they tried to say that it was just in fun
Oh, you crazy moon, look what you've done
Once you promised me, you know, that it would never end
You should be ashamed to show your funny face, my friend
There they are, they fell in love, I guess you think that you're smart
Oh, you crazy moon, you broke my heart
I would like to go over other songs I love but I'm tired, so that will be it
Interesting lyrics in songs
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The Hamster Overlord
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