Do they still make songs like these?

I know, I have been remiss in updating this blog. Sorry. Anyway, just to make up for lost time, here's a load for you to read. Be patient, read on.

There's a shower going on outside my window as i write this. Rain sometimes makes me feel sad. Everything is wet and cold, one is left to lurk in his/her own private space as there's nowhere to go or a better ting to do. (Unless one is ready to get wet and bathe under the rain - - that can be fun. Not if you're more than 40, i guess.)

I have never known a song that spoke to me of sadness as stronger than Janis Ian's At Seventeen and Simon and Garfunkel's Sound of Silence. Yeah, I know, these songs are old. At Seventeen was released in 1975, while Sound of Silence was during the 60's. So, if you're about twenty years younger than I am or more, you're probably saying, "what the hell are these songs?" or "What is he talking about?" However, indulge with me a bit and see for yourself.

At Seventeen speaks of what it's like to be a plain and ordinary girl in her teens when the world is all about being beautiful. This is the time when pimples get heavy on your face, you feel awkward and confused as to how to react in certain situations. We have all been there and Janis has adroitly captured that moment. Just read the lyrics of the song. You need not be a scholar to figure out what she's talking about. And wait till you hear the song! Her voice will haunt you as you remember feeling the angst in each and every note that she sang.


AT SEVENTEEN
(Janis Ian)

I LEARNED THE TRUTH AT SEVENTEEN
THAT LOVE WAS MEANT FOR BEAUTY QUEENS
AND HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS WITH CLEAR SKINNED SMILES
WHO MARRIED YOUNG AND THEN RETIRED
THE VALENTINES I NEVER KNEW
THE FRIDAY NIGHT CHARADES OF YOUTH
WERE SPENT ON ONE MORE BEAUTIFUL
AT SEVENTEEN I LEARNED THE TRUTH

AND THOSE OF US WITH RAVAGED FACES
LACKING IN THE SOCIAL GRACES
DESPERATELY REMAINED AT HOME
INVENTING LOVERS ON THE PHONE
WHO CALLED TO SAY - COME DANCE WITH ME
AND MURMURED VAGUE OBSCENITIES
IT ISN'T ALL IT SEEMS AT SEVENTEEN

A BROWN EYED GIRL IN HAND ME DOWNS
WHOSE NAME I NEVER COULD PRONOUNCE
SAID - PITY PLEASE THE ONES WHO SERVE
THEY ONLY GET WHAT THEY DESERVE
THE RICH RELATIONED HOMETOWN QUEEN
MARRIES INTO WHAT SHE NEEDS
WITH A GUARANTEE OF COMPANY
AND HAVEN FOR THE ELDERLY

SO REMEMBER THOSE WHO WIN THE GAME
LOSE THE LOVE THEY SOUGHT TO GAIN
IN DEBENTURES OF QUALITY AND DUBIOUS INTEGRITY
THEIR SMALL-TOWN EYES WILL GAPE AT YOU
IN DULL SURPRISE WHEN PAYMENT DUE
EXCEEDS ACCOUNTS RECEIVED AT SEVENTEEN

(INSTRUMENTAL)

TO THOSE OF US WHO KNEW THE PAIN
OF VALENTINES THAT NEVER CAME
AND THOSE WHOSE NAMES WERE NEVER CALLED
WHEN CHOOSING SIDES FOR BASKETBALL
IT WAS LONG AGO AND FAR AWAY
THE WORLD WAS YOUNGER THAN TODAY
WHEN DREAMS WERE ALL THEY GAVE FOR FREE
TO UGLY DUCKLING GIRLS LIKE ME

WE ALL PLAY THE GAME, AND WHEN WE DARE
WE CHEAT OURSELVES AT SOLITAIRE
INVENTING LOVERS ON THE PHONE
REPENTING OTHER LIVES UNKNOWN
THAT CALL AND SAY - COME ON, DANCE WITH ME
AND MURMUR VAGUE OBSCENITIES
AT UGLY GIRLS LIKE ME, AT SEVENTEEN

lyrics taken from here


Simon and Garfunkel's Sound of silence is a little older. I believe it was released in 1964. The duo split sometime in the 70's but only after having made several hit tunes that are as equally profound. Who haven't heard of the famous "Bridge over troubled water?" Personally, Sound of Silence is very profound. The images of the song are so vivid that one can almost see them. The song is full of metaphors and very paradoxical. Who would've thought of associating sound with silence? And the song does not fail to incorporate more paradoxisms - i.e.
People talking without speaking,
People hearing without listening,

What the song tells me is that our sadness is brought about by too much materialism and our penchant for consumerism. This is how I interpret the lines:

And the people bowed and prayed
To the neon God they made.

Not that there are those who tried to stop it but to no avail. People would not listen:

Hear my words that I might teach you,
Take my arms that I might reach you.
But my words like silent raindrops fell,
And echoed
In the wells of silence

Maybe I am wrong. You tell me.




Sound of Silence

Hello darkness, my old friend,
I’ve come to talk with you again,
Because a vision softly creeping,
Left it’s seeds while I was sleeping,
And the vision that was planted in my brain
Still remains
Within the sound of silence.

In restless dreams I walked alone
Narrow streets of cobblestone,
’neath the halo of a street lamp,
I turned my collar to the cold and damp
When my eyes were stabbed by the flash of
A neon light
That split the night
And touched the sound of silence.

And in the naked light I saw
Ten thousand people, maybe more.
People talking without speaking,
People hearing without listening,
People writing songs that voices never share
And no one deared
Disturb the sound of silence.

Fools said i,you do not know
Silence like a cancer grows.
Hear my words that I might teach you,
Take my arms that I might reach you.
But my words like silent raindrops fell,
And echoed
In the wells of silence

And the people bowed and prayed
To the neon God they made.
And the sign flashed out it’s warning,
In the words that it was forming.
And the signs said, the words of the prophets
Are written on the subway walls
And tenement halls.
And whisper’d in the sounds of silence.


lyrics taken from this site

And since I am at it, allow me to share with you what I consider to be the best protest song of all time. I am talking about I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-To-Die-Rag by Country Joe McDonald. I first heard this song when I watched the film of that famous three day festival/concert in Yasgur's farm known to the world as Woodstock held in 1969. This was the height of the flower people, or what we call the hippies. If you see that Peace sign which is actually a "no nukes" sign designed by writer Bertrand Russel, this is the era I'm talking about. The song is a protest against the Vietnam war which America lost anyway. The song is lively and with a very catchy tune.

I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-To-Die-Rag
[Take 1 - 09 65]

Oh this is, this is just a try out. It's not ...
'Fixin'-To-Die-Rag', 'Fixin'-To-Die-Rag', Take 1.
One, two, three, four.
Well, come on all of you, big strong men,
Uncle Sam needs your help again.
Yeah, he's got himself in a terrible jam
Way down yonder in Vietnam
So put down your books and pick up a gun,
Gonna have a whole lotta fun.

And it's one, two, three,
What are we fighting for ?
Don't ask me, I don't give a damn,
Next stop is Vietnam;
And it's five, six, seven,
Open up the pearly gates,
Well there ain't no time to wonder why,
Whoopee! we're all gonna die.

Yeah, come on Wall Street, don't be slow,
Why man, this is war au-go-go
There's plenty good money to be made
By supplying the Army with the tools of its trade,
Just hope and pray that if they drop the bomb,
They drop it on the Viet Cong.

And it's one, two, three,
What are we fighting for ?
Don't ask me, I don't give a damn,
Next stop is Vietnam.
And it's five, six, seven,
Open up the pearly gates,
Well there ain't no time to wonder why
Whoopee! we're all gonna die.

Well, come on generals, let's move fast;
Your big chance has come at last.
Now you can go out and get those reds
'Cause the only good commie is the one that's dead
And you know that peace can only be won
When we've blown 'em all to kingdom come.

And it's one, two, three,
What are we fighting for ?
Don't ask me, I don't give a damn,
Next stop is Vietnam;
And it's five, six, seven,
Open up the pearly gates,
Well there ain't no time to wonder why
Whoopee! we're all gonna die.

Come on mothers throughout the land,
Pack your boys off to Vietnam.
Come on fathers, and don't hesitate
To send your sons off before it's too late.
You can be the first ones in your block
To have your boy come home in a box.

And it's one, two, three
What are we fighting for ?
Don't ask me, I don't give a damn,
Next stop is Vietnam.
And it's five, six, seven,
Open up the pearly gates,
Well there ain't no time to wonder why,
Whoopee! we're all gonna die.


lyrics was taken from this site.

Now, if you've gone this far, you would have known what good songs I grew up with. I must admit I do not know what kind of songs are being written these days. Too bad I don't know how to incorporate sound in my blog but if I was able to tickle your fancy, there're a lot of downloadables in cyberspace where you could listen to these songs.

Although I have four teen-aged children who are into music, too, I have not listened closely to the lyrics of the songs they listen to. It would be interesting if we can compare notes. Maybe you'd like to share them with me. Drop me a line in my comment box.

Better yet, why don't I start a tag of some sorts. And who is there better to tag than my good friend, Batjay who is just a music addict as I am. He'll kick this one up a notch, you'll see.