Lyrics: Take them with a huge grain of salt

[Mark L]

Ummm, while we be talking about words……

It’s “poring”. Pouring is what one does with liquids.

Sorry, just thought I’d be “that guy”.

As for Dylan, yes there is usually meaning, not yeah yeah yeah.

[jaymarsch]

Once a song is out there, it is totally up for each listener’s interpretation. That’s the beauty and power of art and music. I can write a song and it can have deep meaning for me as a writer but once I share it, I let it be whatever it ends up being to others. However it speaks or doesn’t speak to someone is fine with me.
Best,
Jayne

[ewalling]

Originally Posted by zmf

All of Dylan's lyrics make sense. You're going to have to go through them again and figure out the meaning.

Neil Young? You're probably right.

I agree. Dylan? His lyrics in the early-to-mid 60s are worthy of being included on college literature courses.

[Bluenose]

Helter Skelter and Number Nine are two of my favorites off the Beatles White Album. Would somebody that's not Charles Manson please tell me what the lyrics are all about.

[Corndog]

I'd be careful lumping both Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell into any generic group of songwriters.

[peetar]

There are different types of songs. A story song has to be coherent but still has to work with the instrumental part to create a whole song.

The songs I tend to love, the lyrics spark spark emotions or memories of the audience or paint an abstract picture... that humans relate too /personalize and really feel a connection too.

There are songs who's lyrics are bad gibberish, the vocals are merely another instrument.

Most of the best verses come out involuntarily, you can here it when there is one verse that's not as good as the other two, the one you're not keen on is the one they had to work on writing.

[SongwriterFan]

I've written 21 songs now. With most of the songs, I can tell you what I was intending to write, and why I may have changed the song a bit, and what each verse or chorus is exactly about.

Other times, some of the lines just seemed to come out of nowhere, and I can't explain exactly why I chose those words at that time. Sounds weird, I know.

This is an example of a song where I was having my hair cut, and the phrase that most would've used as the song title ("Why'd it have to be you?" popped into my head out of nowhere. I immediately knew what the line meant to me, though, and how I would use it in a song.

The problem was that I had already written a song to my friend after she passed away under tragic circumstances, and I did not need/want another one. So I initially wrote the verses to be very specific and NOT about her story.

But then I realized that I didn't want to tell that exact story (and also didn't want to explicitly tell her story) . . so I went back and changed the verses to paint more of a background onto which one could paint their own details. The verses don't really tell my friend's story, but if one extrapolates a bit from the lyrics, they can be made to fit. The chorus, though . . she remains there . . it was impossible to write her out of it. The bridge is a bit that way, too . . though there are other possible interpretations . . at least I think there are.

This is the demo I had done in Nashville (and I love how the demo singer sang this one).



“Second Chances”
(David Pennybaker)

You hung out with the wrong crowd / From an early age
I never understood / Those dangerous games you played
I tried to warn you / I tried to steer you right
You wouldn’t listen / Your dusk turned into night
In your darkest hour / You thought your life was through
It could’ve been someone else / Why’d it have to be you?

Why’d it have to be you? / It just don’t seem fair
Why’d it have to be you? / Why do I even care?
You ran out of second chances / Doing the best you could do
It could’ve been someone else / Why’d it have to be you?

After some time away / I hoped you might change
Why that was so hard to do / You never could explain
You must have thought / You were a modern-day Bonnie and Clyde
Your friends all turned on you / There was nowhere left to hide
You knew it was over / There was nothing left to do
It could’ve been someone else / Why’d it have to be you?

Why’d it have to be you? / It just don’t seem fair
Why’d it have to be you? / Why do I even care?
You ran out of second chances / Doing the best you could do
It could’ve been someone else / Why’d it have to be you?

You’ve been running all your life / Your demons finally caught up with you
Without you here / What am I supposed to do?

Why’d it have to be you? / It just don’t seem fair
Why’d it have to be you? / Why do I even care?
You ran out of second chances / Doing the best you could do
It could’ve been someone else / Why’d it have to be you?

Oh, it could’ve been someone else / So why’d it have to be you?

[zmf]

Sounds to me like you walked through a curmudgeon patch and got a burr under your saddle, KindaOld. A statement which is not meant to be literal, and, even worse, it's a mixed metaphor.

[M19]

If you can make sense of Jon Anderson's lyrics you're likely certifiable (says the Seasoned witch that called you from the depths of your disgrace).

[SongwriterFan]

One of the songs I "hate myself for loving" is "The Weight" (by "The Band" . . . quite pretentious, when you think about it ).

The fourth verse, in particular, just makes NO SENSE to me.

Crazy Chester followed me, and he caught me in the fog
He said, "I will fix your rack, if you'll take Jack, my dog."
I said, "Wait a minute, Chester, you know I'm a peaceful man."
He said, "That's okay, boy, won't you feed him when you can."


The first two lines are OK . . . . a trade of one service for another.

But what the heck does that third line mean?

I suppose the fourth line means that the deal was done?

[Joe Beamish]

Originally Posted by SongwriterFan

One of the songs I "hate myself for loving" is "The Weight" (by "The Band" . . . quite pretentious, when you think about it ).

The fourth verse, in particular, just makes NO SENSE to me.

Crazy Chester followed me, and he caught me in the fog
He said, "I will fix your rack, if you'll take Jack, my dog."
I said, "Wait a minute, Chester, you know I'm a peaceful man."
He said, "That's okay, boy, won't you feed him when you can."


The first two lines are OK . . . . a trade of one service for another.

But what the heck does that third line mean?

I suppose the fourth line means that the deal was done?

I know. I never understood the lyrics, except in some vaguely imagistic way. I don’t mind.

[sinistral]

Originally Posted by M19

If you can make sense of Jon Anderson's lyrics you're likely certifiable (says the Seasoned witch that called you from the depths of your disgrace).

I wonder how many peoples’ livers were rearranged to the solid mental grace trying to figure that one out?

[Rev Roy]

PSA: You folks need to stay away from poetry, art house movies and any art more complicated than Norman Rockwell. You’re way too literal.

[Mbroady]

Originally Posted by Kinda Old

Often, compromises are necessary to make the puzzle fit together.
t"

From Cole Porter to Tom Waits, and many in-between, I think most at this threshold would disagree. The songwriters job is to not compromise but to keep looking till you find the perfect words to sing over the perfect musical motif. That’s what makes them legends.

[RLetson]

I've telegraphed and telephoned,
I sent an air mail special too.
You answer was goodbye
And there was even postage due.
I fell in love just once,
And then it had to be with you.
Everything happens to me,
Everything happens to me.

--Matt Dennis and Tom Adair, 1940