Good evening, friends.
Just your old pal, JFish, here with some more musings.
And if you guys want to, I’d love to enlist your help with
today’s countdown.
So, 11 days left, right? So here’s what I propose:
I’ll select 11 songs (in a random order), and I’ll try to write a quick blurb about each one – a brief descriptor of what I think the song means. (And most importantly, I guess, what the particular song means to me.)
And for all of you, same deal. When you think of music that moves you, in whatever way that might be, your opinion is the only one
that matters.
If you’ve ever seen the movie Mr. Holland’s Opus, there’s a great sequence in which the title character explains that some guy in a music store once talked him into buying a particular record. After which, he went home and put it on the machine.
He played it. And then he played it again. And then, well, as he explains, he just couldn’t stop playing it.
And hey, isn’t that the way it is for most of us? Sure, songs come and go, but I’ll bet each of us can point to certain tunes that were our
former obsessions.
Yeah, the ones we just played over and over again, either because we just had to learn every word of the lyrics, it reminded us of something – or more likely, someone – or maybe somehow we just saw ourselves in
the music.
And as above, if you guys are up for this, I’d love it if you’d send me some of your personal favorites. (Feel free to send them to me on FaceBook, or you can just use the CONTACT page here on JohnLFish.com. And you certainly don’t have to send me 11!)
For today, for you guys, and for all things 11, I humbly offer up the following (as above, listing them in random order), with a quick take
on each:
- “The Only Living Boy in New York” (Simon and Garfunkel) [Don’t hide the truth from the ones who count on you the most; they’ll call you on the lies.]
- “Runaway” (Jefferson Starship) [“…I love you like the sun…” Jesus, what else is there?]
- “Prophecy” (Remy Zero) [A big time reach maybe, but I swear I think the lyrics may somehow be comparing the dangers of certain human emotions – especially lust and greed – to the death of Christ.]
- “Mr. Bojangles” (Jerry Jeff Walker, as performed by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band) [The story of the real Mr. Bojangles is pretty well-documented. Apparently, a very young J. Walker spent a night in the tank in New Orleans. And a homeless man, imprisoned along with him, cheered up the other inmates by
tap dancing. For me, the song is a metaphor of sorts, reminding us to make the best of things no matter what.] - “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” (Elton John) [Pretty sure it chronicles E. John’s actual life – or, at least, parts of it when he was struggling with some personal issues early in his career – but again, metaphorically, I think it’s a reminder that fame doesn’t always equal happiness.]
- “Driver’s Seat” (Sniff ‘n the Tears) [The story of a bygone relationship, maybe, where being in the proverbial “driver’s seat” was far more important to one of the former lovers vs. the other?]
- “Whisper to a Scream, AKA ‘Birds Fly” (Icicle Works) [Imagine what it takes to get your point across in a heated debate or argument – especially when you’re trying to make your point to more than one person. You want to be heard, huh? Well, whispering probably won’t do it.]
- “I’m Your Captain” (Grand Funk Railroad) [Lots of possibilities here, I think, but my gut tells me that it chronicles the journey to try to get past addiction. “I’m getting closer to my home” = “I’m on my way back to myself?” Thoughts?]
- “Out of Time” (The Rolling Stones”) [Former lovers, especially those you decide you want back, may have already moved onto
greener pastures.] - “New York City Serenade” (Bruce Springsteen) [An undercover cop, on assignment in a dangerous New York City neighborhood, fears being unmasked. Another reach on my part, perhaps, but that’s what I hear and see when I sit down to listen.]
- “Drive” (The Cars) [Sure, you break my heart sometimes, but no one will ever love you like I do. ]
Hope you guys are having, at least, some fun here.
Man, I could do this all day long. (-:
In a tough year for all of us, with so many questions still remaining, be sure to lean on your love for music.
‘Gotta say that I can’t think of anything better.
“Where words leave off, music begins.” – Heinrich Heine, 19th century German poet
JFish