The Power of a Lyric

There are some songs that were so special to me in my formative years that they became a philosophy of life. Whenever I heard certain bits of songs it could change how I felt, comfort me and make me stronger. Around the time I was at college, I was having a hard time due to some personal bereavements and one day I painted some of these lyrics on my bedroom wall. Being an insomniac at the time, I spent a long time staring at these during the night.

“You know it’s hard to tell when you’re under the spell if it’s wrong or if it’s real, but you’re bound to lose if you let the blues get you scared to feel.” Joni Mitchel, from the song ‘Willy’ on the Ladies Of The Canyon album. I took this to mean, no matter what mistakes you make, or how many times you get hurt, don’t let life get you down, and harden your heart.

“All you need is love” The Beatles, from the song ‘All You Need Is Love’ on the album ‘Magical Musetry Tour’. Whilst this might seem obvious, and hopefully exactly what John Lennon meant when he wrote it, I took this to mean that material things are not what life is about – it’s the impact you have on people.

“You know I’d sooner forget but I remember those nights, when life was just a bet on a race between the lights. You had your head on my shoulder and your hand in my hair, now your acting a little colder, like you don’t seem to care.” Dire Straits from ‘Telegraph Road’ – I had a live version of this on the album ‘Money For Nothin”. This seemed to call to my sense that life has changed after what had happened in my personal life. The rude awakening that life is precious. Sometimes I used to yearn for simpler times when I didn’t struggle with grief everyday. I took this lyric to be a metaphor for life rather than the love song it seemed on the surface. It continues “but just believe in me baby and I’ll take you away, get you out of this darkness and into the day” which was a message to me that this will pass and it will get easier. Later on, I’ve looked back at this and, as an artist, realised that people can read all sorts of things you never intended into your work, (I’m pretty sure Mark Knopfler had something else in mind when he wrote it) and that still has huge value.

“I am he as you are he as you are me and we are all together” The Beatles again from ‘I Am The Walrus’ also on ‘The Magical Mysetery Tour’. To me, this professed that underneath it all, we’re all the same. Fat, thin, rich, poor, black, white, whatever – we’re all people.