Jackson Browne's songs bring me back to a simpler time, a time that was more pure and freshly ideological, more hopeful, most just- at least in my mind and soul. That is the gift he brings. Especially this one. When I saw him in concert last summer, ,he brought me and others in attendance back to that place, back to that mindset, through the cobwebs and over the mental and emotional roadblocks. It is bittersweet. The feelings welling up inside are real and positive, oh so positive. Yet, it is a bit sad because I wonder where and when those feelings began to seemingly evaporate into thin air. To connect again with those hopes (and fears) and inner truths is magical. The truths remain, buried deep perhaps, but still there. Jackson Browne unearths them, mining a deep and rich vein. The imagery is simple yet powerful. Same with the plea. Eternal.
This was ubiquitous back when, and I've heard it too many times, and I had a hard time liking it back in the 80s because it was just so drama-filled. Enough bombast already. But...that piano, that guitar, the steady rhythm, the plaintive vocals. When you hear it years later you realize that it's just excellent, and it makes sense these guys took the road less traveled to become the paradigmatic rock band for so many years. Maybe even still.
Is a dream a lie if it don't come true or is it something worse?
That line — alone — is worth the price of admission here. Stops me dead in my tracks each and every time. Afraid to know the answer; afraid not to know.
Whether one likes the music of the Beach Boys or not, one should acknowledge that Brian Wilson was a genius in the music field. Lennon and McCartney viewed him as competition, and copied some of what he was doing in the studio. That speaks for itself. In many respects, he was confined by the Beach Boys, and, later, isolated by his own demons. I wonder what he would have been producing all those lost years.
Bowie, perhaps more than anyone I have seen in concert, had the ability to transform an entire audience. You were someplace else, someplace magical. He led you through the portal.
What I think is funny is how Bruce's crappy music attracts such pretentious snobs.
I must be a pretentious snob! Seriously, I can understand certain criticisms of Bruce and his music -- not that I would necessarily agree with them -- but to label his music as being pretentious or his fans as being pretentious snobs, well, that is just so far off the mark that I had to comment. If anything, he's always been somewhat of a working man's hero. And Greetings from Asbury Park -- one of 2 albums that were out there before he became widely known outside of the eastern coast -- reflects just that.
Tracy Chapman is a one-note artist, and that one note is whiny resentment. I've always liked her music OK, but the simple-minded coffeehouse radicalism is starting to get old (everything is the Man's fault, it's all the struggling poor vs the complacent rich, etc.)
She had first-hand experience being poor. Have you?
Perspectives matter. I appreciate hers. And I appreciate song lyrics that at least attempt to dig deep. This one does just that.
Save my soul, save my life.
Simply powerful. I saw John Lee Hooker late in his career -- and life -- when he was almost led on to the stage, and plopped down on a chair. And then he wailed!
After a quick glance at the more recent comments, I wonder if people are more into Elliott Smith as a tragic figure than an artist. I know I used to be when I first started listening to him, but I feel confident in saying that he was extraordinarily expressive for a pop musician. His life difficulties no doubt informed his expression enormously, but his ability to bring out human emotion in music was unique. From what I understand, he worked very hard at what he did. He wrote his accompaniment first, and then, from those chord progressions, chiseled his melodies free as if from stone, creating songs that organically emerged from his harmonies. He also played with our ears, able to make a song written in a major key sound like it was written in minor. Talk about expressive. He was able to take a sound that is strongly associated with happiness, joy, and triumph in our culture, and then turn it into something that sounded sad, anxious, and dark, as though it were in a minor key. No small feat. He then added lyrics that aptly complimented the emotions already presented perfectly in his music. He deeply thought about what he was doing and, it seems, went at it with a strong eye for purpose and deliberation. The man was a true artist, working in a medium he loved. Despite his many sad songs, I often experience joy when listening to him because I find his work so beautiful. Just wonderful stuff, in my thinking anyway.
One of the best song comments I have read. Thanks.
This album changed my life when it came out. Simply brilliant.
I have seen comments similar to this among the song comments for various songs played here at RP. Says it all, really. The sheer power and wonder of music. Some may say such statements are hyperbole. They are wrong.
A few weeks ago I fired up London Calling on the iPod during a flight back home to LA. I hadn't listened to it from start to finish in more than a few years and it still sounds awesome. Not only are the songs in themselves strong or brilliant, it holds up as a cohesive piece of work...
Somewhere deep inside, I'm still that dreamer.
.
Indeed.
Heck, the art of writing, period.
For me, part of the appeal was that lunatic singing
That line — alone — is worth the price of admission here. Stops me dead in my tracks each and every time. Afraid to know the answer; afraid not to know.
Bard. Indeed.
But that guitar . . . .
Bowie, perhaps more than anyone I have seen in concert, had the ability to transform an entire audience. You were someplace else, someplace magical. He led you through the portal.
Missing emotion.
One of the best song comments I have read. Thanks.
I so disagree; the lyrics are unsurpassed. Simple, profound, and personal.
Indeed.
Had to be there, I guess.
Worked for me then; works for me now.
Uh, um, ah . . . brilliant.
I have seen comments similar to this among the song comments for various songs played here at RP. Says it all, really. The sheer power and wonder of music. Some may say such statements are hyperbole. They are wrong.