There Must Be More I Can Tell Her

Sometimes song lyrics are direct and clear. You know what they're about and you respond accordingly.

Sometimes, though, they are open to interpretation. Like the kid in the lit class that challenges the hapless teacher as he/she attempts to pronounce the one, curriculum-approved interpretation of a poem, some songs challenge the listener to imagine different possibilities.

Sad Lisa by Cat Stevens is one such song.

The song is about a sad female called Lisa. That much we know.

But what's her problem? Heartache? physical abuse? autism? insanity? We sense the pain is deep. We also feel something sinister is afoot. The piano shifts between normal and underwater, rising and submerging throughout the song. The tension builds in symphonic fashion as the piano yields to strings and guitar, the strings at first echoing the melody, then taking up a nervous counterpoint.

Who is she? A lover? sister? child? In fact, is she even real? She's lost in the dark. She can't hear the speaker. No one can see her. Is she a tortured soul, a prisoner, or an imaginary friend?

What a poet.

p.s. - like so many great songs, especially from that era, optimism never fully yields to sadness and despair. There must by more he can tell her, maybe one day he will free her.

And maybe that's the central point of the song: never give up.

Let's Make Nice

Are there any nice lyrics out there?  Anyone not angry, depressed or who-gives-a-damn selfish?

Music is an art and art, should make you feel so any emotion is valid, but do you have to tune in country station to hear something positive or uplifting?

Or does "let's party" pass for positive these days?

Take Rude Boy by Rihanna, for example:
Come on rude boy, boy
can you get it up
Come here rude boy, boy
Is you big enough

Well, it's not negative.  And I guess its main virtue is that it's direct.  Not every song has to be deep poetry filled with metaphor, but is there any emotion involved here?  I suppose it serves for some fun gesturing on the dance floor, but then what?

In contrast, take Happiness Runs by Donovan:
Happiness runs in a circular motion
Thought is like a little boat upon the sea
Everybody is a part of everything anyway
You can have everything if you let yourself be

Now, I haven't got a clue what it means, but it makes me feel positive, optimistic, nice.

Nice is good for a change, isn't it?

Optimism

Here's a question:  does a crappy world make for an unhappy culture, or does an unhappy culture make for a crappy world?

How come you have to go to church to hear a song with uplifting or life-affirming lyrics any more?  I mean, there are a lot of things out there to be ticked off about or afraid of, but come on.

Have we lost the ability to look at the bright side of things?  Is the present so bleak and the future only bleaker?  Has our sense of irony become so cynical that we can't juxtapose the positive and the negative in the same song?  Or have we become so artless?

Take Yesterday for example.  It's a sad song, right?  But the melody is heartbreakingly pretty, so the song is actually uplifting.  And even though he's hurting, Paul sings "I believe in yesterday."  He believes.  An affirmation.  A positive stand in the face of heartache.

Way to go, Paul.  Show us how to do more of that.  It beats "you piss me off" any day.