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Tuesday, August 26, 2003


LYRICS and ALLEGIANCE

“I can’t imagine him not being in my life.”

Julia Roberts- extolling her (enduring) friendship with singer Lyle Lovett, after their marriage (1993-1995) ended in a sudden divorce.
One wonders if the song “She makes me feel good” that Lovett included on his album “Joshua judges Ruth” in 1992, must be interpreted as a premonition of the angelic actress’ rapprochement; or just Lovett’s insider reference to a budding and telltale romance?

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From “She makes me feel good”:

“She’s got big red lips
She’s got big brown eyes
When she treats me right
It’s a big surprise
She won’t do anything
That she said she would
She makes me feel good
She makes me feel good”

© Lyle Lovett – JOSHUA JUDGES RUTH 1992 – Curb Records

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I grew up with music as a steady consort. From the teen spirit soaked garage parties of my youth, onwards through daily aural cascades in my studio. From the mid 60s onwards I have omnivorously added to my personal record collection; which currently consists of Vintage and Modern Classics, Jazz , Blues, avant-garde soundscapes, and ethnic music. Pop Music however still provides the best part of my daily musical fare.

Presently I don’t pay half as much attention to the lyrics resident in Pop music as I used to in the 60s and 70s. At a time when young Pop fans are drooling over their idols in prefab Karaoke broadcasts, hosted by tightly choreographed presenters: I have become indifferent to the relevance and actuality of most Pop lyrics. Popular music has been overwhelmed by glitzy cosmetics and global merchandising. At their best, the lyrics of classic Pop song are instant flags to the trials and tribulations of teens, their loves, their anxieties and their quests. At their worst they will merely be perfunctory stuffing in a half competent musical mirage.

An example of just how hard it is to express heartfelt music and consolidate an individual signature in the jungle of mass marketing was expressed by Iggy Pop on his CD “American Caesar”.
Scribbled in personal handwriting “directly” onto the surface of the compact disk, he writes:

“25 years I’ve been sittin’ in my bedroom, thinkin’ stuff up, and thinkin’ how I feel. You tell how you really feel, you get burned. I’m ready to go down in flames. But I don’t want to, In normal life I bottle things up and smile. Only in this world, the music world, can I deliver something worth living for to my life. I tried to make this album as good as I could with no imitations of other people and no formula shit. This is individual expression. If you want to know more about me, write me and I’ll reply.”

Going through my CDs, looking for poetic and existential narrative resident in the countless tracks available; I reconnected with the emotions and incentives that prompted me into buying these recordings. My selection of the final CDs and the resulting anthology, also confronts me with the fact that my own sublimations; desires, and personal chagrin have not altered much since my adolescence.

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A Man needs a Maid

I was thinking that maybe I get a maid
Find a place nearby for her to stay
Just someone to keep my house clean-
Fix my meals and go away.
A maid – A man needs a maid.

© Neil Young – HARVEST 1972 – Warner Brothers

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Old Man

Everyone has gone away
Can you hear me? Can you hear me?
No one cared enough to stay
Can you hear me? Can you hear me?

© Randy Newman – SAIL AWAY 1972 – Reprise Records

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The Great Curve

The world moves on a womans hips
The world moves and it swivels and bops
The world moves on a womans hips
The world moves and it bounces and hops

Talking Heads – REMAIN IN LIGHT 1980 – Sire Records Company

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Walking and Falling

I wanted you. And I was looking for you
But I couldn’t find you
I wanted you. And I was looking for you all day
But I couldn’t find you. I couldn’t find you.

© Laurie Anderson – BIG SCIENCE 1982 – Warner Brothers

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I can’t Forget

I stumbled out of bed. I got ready for the struggle.
I smoked a cigarette and I tightened up my gut.
I said this can’t be me, must be my double.
And I can’t forget. I can’t forget. I can’t forget
But I don’t remember what.

© Leonard Cohen – I’M YOUR MAN – 1988 CBS Records

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Bad Wisdom

Mother the doctor knows something is wrong
Cause my body has strange information
He’s looked in my eyes and knows I’m not a child
But he doesn’t dare ask the right question
Mother my friends are no longer my friends
And the games we once played have no meaning
I’ve gone serious and shy and they can’t figure out why

© Suzanne Vega – 99.9 F – 1992 A&M Records

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Fuzzy

Bring me home
To this house of many days
Just lay me on the floor
Hard and cold as slate
You know I love it more and more
Than before I ran away
It triggers off so many hurts
Hurtful words and broken plates

© Grant Lee Buffalo – FUZZY 1993 – Slash Records

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Last Chance Lost

Last Chance Lost-
In the tyranny of a long good-bye
Last Chance Lost-
We talk of us with deadly earnest eyes
Last Chance Lost-
We talk of love in terms of sacrifice and compromise
Last Chance-
Last Chance Lost

© Joni Mitchell – TURBULENT INDIGO 1994 – Reprise Records

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A Long Time Ago

And in the land where I grew up
Into the bosom of technology
I kept my feelings to myself
Until the perfect moment comes

Then into your bloodstream I will go
Until I turn into a part of you
Flooding the garden of delights
That was a long time ago
That was a long time ago

© David Byrne – DAVID BYRNE 1994 – Warner Brothers

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Driving with the Brakes on

Driving through the long night
Trying to figure who’s right and who’s wrong
Now the kid has gone. I sit belted up tight,
She sucks on a match light, glowing bronze, steering on.
And I might be more a man if I stopped this in its tracks
And said come on, let’s go home. But she’s got the wheel,
And I’ve got nothing except what I have on.

© Del Amitri – TWISTED 1995 – A&M Records

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A Rush Of Cold Blood to the Head

So meet me by the bridge
Meet me by the lane
When am I gonna see that pretty face again
Oh meet me on the road
Meet me where I said
Blame it all upon a rush of blood to the head

© ColdPlay – A RUSH OF COLD BLOOD TO THE HEAD – 2002 Parlophone

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posted by Walter at 8/26/2003