Must admit this is thread for the older posters (are there any young ones on here? ) Without getting too serious about this, what song lyrics, often just one liners, do you remember affected your life all those years back? It was at the back end of the 70's/early 80's at the time for me. Finished my time and was working locally for an electrical engineering company in Bridgend. I always enjoyed my music and latched on to something in common in a quite a few songs that emerged at the time. Pretty diverse but they all held the same message to me. There were others, but here's 3 of them.......... "tired of doing a day job with no thanks for what I do" "you can't erase my dreams, you can only wake me up" "you know when the truth is told, you can get what you want or you can just get old" Look back now 40 years ago and think - yep, some bumps along the way, but a Sinatra song springs to mind.....
My brother died suddenly when he was 44. We used to play in a band together in Belfast, late sixties. He was a very good guitarist and like me was mad about The Beatles. I did the eulogy at his funeral and, commenting on why he was taken so early, I quoted the song ‘there will be an answer, let it be’. When I returned to his grave my mum had a marble plaque made with these words on it. Of course there are so many other songs which will resonate with different stages of our lives. Just listen to the lyrics of country songs. Each one tells a story.My favourite of these is Highwayman by The Highwaymen ie Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings and Kris Kristoffessen. The words are haunting.
Not life changing but altered my views on music. As a teenager I followed whatever was on TOTP. Then my mates started listening to rock music and we joined a local club in Newport, the Kensington Court. They had music acts twice, sometimes 3 times a week with bands like Focus, Roxy Music, Climax Blues Band, Argent, Vinegar Joe and many others. This changed my views and opened my mind (the alcohol might have helped too). Then my mates started playing Yes and over a period blew me away, particularly as new albums, breaking new ground, were released. Have probably seen them 25 to 30 times over the years and am currently a bit pissed off as their 50th year tour comes no further south or west than Birmingham and London. As the years went by I got into Pink Floyd, Genesis and Queen but Yes, in all their formats, remains my go to listening choice.
“Where’s your mamma gone, where’s your mamma gone ..... far far away” “Mr Freers had sticky out ears and it made him awful shy.....” “Now Ernie had a rival, Two Ton Ted from Tennington who drove the bakers van....”
They would be if his mother went far, far away with Ted Freers. Heart breaking. It's an interesting post. Must give it some thought. Not sure individual lyrics were life changing, but songs may have crystalised things and songs / albums influenced your outlook.
But when the night is falling You cannot find the light (light) You feel your dreams are dying Hold tight You've got the music in you Don't let go You've got the music in you One dance left This world is gonna pull through Don't give up You've got a reason to live Can't forget We only get what we give I know this wasn't meant to be a serious thread but the lyrics above got me through my darkest hours years ago. When I say dark I mean really dark. Just about every radio station was playing the song many times a day - thank goodness! Anyway, I just thought I'd share that with my pals on here.
Nothing wrong with that post pal. It's strange how a particular piece of music can strike a chord and stimulate at the time, and then bring back vivid recollections years later.
Been giving this some thought. Trying to think back to changes in my life and how it affected me. Always been a bit of a home bird and enjoyed stability so some big steps do come your way. Finishing A levels and leaving the structure of school, finishing college and buying a first house in a different country (only 50 miles from home, but in Ingerlund). Another thing about me is I'm quite a straight forward sort of chap with no great hankering for the finer things in life, which can make life pretty easy. Cant say I was a huge listener of music until I met my now Mrs in our very late teens, who was an avid listener and having a brother 9 years older had a different spectrum of music that she listened to. Suppose its more moods of music, albums and songs rather than specific lyrics that stick with me. Or maybe the sentiment of lyrics. Putting aside the melancholy there are a few tracks that still sort of resonate, some up beat, some less so, some fatalistic. Two are quite linked in their views in Joni Mitchell's Big yellow Taxi and from one of my favourite bands, the Eagles (and no, Hotel California isn't the best track they did) and The Last Resort. Man's desire for happiness and perfection which is destroying what he desires. ('paved paradise and put up a parking lot' or They called it paradise, I don't know why You call some place paradise, kiss it goodbye). But going back to my straightforward way to life (though following the Bluebirds is never straightforward), maybe Lynyrd Skynyrd was more influential. Forget your lust for the rich man's gold All that you need is in your soul.......... ..........And be a simple kind of man Oh be something you love and understand Right, need a lie down in a darkened room for a bit after my philosophical deliberations. Taken me on a bit of a journey though. In my mind, revisiting times of my life, musical genre, albums, songs, moods. Thanks Sparkey.
Remote..... That's interesting remote. Whilst I enjoyed the music for the "sound" it made, it was usually the lyrics that struck a chord. Don't know if it was the testosterone kicking in, but in my early/mid 20's I felt as if I was invincible and wanted to take on the world..... Jacked in my job and headed out on the self employed route - hence the three one-liners in my OP from Eddie, Frampton and Joel. Travelled around the country a bit subbing before coming back home and setting up something locally. All over now TFFT, sold everything up and aren't I so glad. I now have the time to listen and look as an alternative to worry and stress.
Most of my early music listening was about the sound, but occasionally lyrics stick and you dig behind the meaning, though your meaning might be different from the intended meaning of the author. Though if you hear interviews with Joe Walsh I'm not sure he knew what his lyrics meant. Decades ago I heard Alexis Korner talking to him about The Smoker You Drink, the Player You Get. Bizarre. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00tyscs These days I do think more about the lyrics. Possibly as they are easily accessible on line. Never had a particularly good ear for picking lyrics off a track being played. As for listening and looking, I've always been observant and relatively attuned to my surroundings, though often miss subtleties with people (on the spectrum somewhere, as are we all). I take great pleasure in looking and listening. Yesterday while fishing it was the sounds of geese and oystercatches on the lake with a flash of electric blue from a kingfisher. Then a check on the swallow chicks in the apex of the stable. I was being that 'simple kind of man.....'.
Just about to leave my daughter's house in Poole to travel to the O2 to see Queen and Adam Lambert tonight. A pre Covid Christmas present. Not Freddie I know but should be a great night. Hope the roof is repaired after Storm Eunice. They will need to go some to beat Porthcawl's Queen tribute band, A Night at the Opera who perform regularly at the Hi Tide. Well worth seeing if performing locally to you.
While I'm in that melancholy mood after my musical deliberations, summer solstice today. Nights are drawing in, Christmas is coming.
Enjoy yourself Bluey - I'll put a good word in for you with Geoff Dower for that publicity. Don't want to put a damper on proceedings, but one strange thing about music (for me anyway) is it tends to remind you of sad times more often than the good. I've just pulled back a couple of memories from the past on that score. When I was a sprog, my mother used to have a record (one of those black shellac/bakelite things you stuck a needle on to play) of the Treorchy Male Voice Choir singing Myfanwy. Every time she played it she would cry with emotion. Didn't understand that at all back then - I do now every time I hear it sung. Also my elder brother died 20 years ago - prostate cancer. Diagnosed when he was just 58, he made it through until he was 63. At his funeral, his daughter had a song played in the service that he used to sing to her when she was just a few years old sitting on his knee. When I hear it now it takes me back to that day. Unfortunately, it's regularly sung at City games albeit with different words - You are my sunshine.
It is odd that we cling to dark or sad times and tag music to it. Maybe things stick more when you're low. There are albums or genres that I turn to when up beat, but maybe not as much as sad times. A bit chicken and eggy as well. Are you up or down because of the music or do you listen to the music because you're up or down? Must be tough if there are strong triggers though. Can catch you out unexpectedly no doubt. I get the same with films. Field of Dreams always gets my bottom lip going.
Very touching post Sparkey and I'm so sorry that you lost a brother in that way. I agree that music can provoke memories from both happy and sad times. Of course, the power of music in a situation like yours doesn't just bring back the pain but also keeps a part of a departed loved one still alive. As for Myfanwy, how can you not cry?
