Posts tagged lyrics

“Just give me one good reason

and I promise I won’t ask you any more

just give me one extra season

so I can figure out the other four.”

-John Prine

Today while taking out CDs from the library I came across a Nick Cave CD. I had never heard of Nick Cave until my ex introduced me to him. It’s weird when an ex (well, someone you’re with at the time) introduces you to music and you like it. What happens when you break up? Stop listening to it? Claim it as your own? Some of the music he introduced me to I claimed (Magnetic Fields), but Nick Cave…was his. 

Anyway, the first song he gave me on a mix CD was Nick Cave’s Ship Song, and today, when I listened to it again (I do like Nick Cave’s music enough to take out the CD) I realized how the lyrics were so amazingly mirrored in our relationship and most of all: what he wanted from our relationship. 

What’s interesting to me, as I was driving and thinking about this, is that Eric also began his first mix CD to me with a song somewhat about ships, but alas, with a very different meaning. He started with Gordon Lightfoot’s Go My Way (Tony Rice version). 

Here’s the difference in some of the lyrics: 

Nick Cave’s Ship Song snippet: 

Come sail your ships around me
And burn your bridges down
We make a little history, baby
Every time you come around 

Come loose your dogs upon me
And let your hair hang down
You are a little mystery to me
Every time you come around 

And, indeed, that was what he wanted me to do: burn all my bridges (relationships with everyone else in my world), and he always said I was so elusive and a mystery to him (if you actually know me, you know I’m not). 

The song ends with: 

Your face has fallen sad now
For you know the time is nigh
When I must remove your wings
And you, you must try to fly 

He knew it would never last, and he wanted to be the one to “teach me” and be the remover of the wings—so I could “try to fly” on my own. 

Interesting. 

Now, Gordon Lightfoot’s Go My Way snippet: 

Go my way and I’ll be good to you
Go my way and your dreams will all come true
In the sunset the wild waves are callin’
My shadow is followin’ you
Go my way and I’ll take you by the hand
Believe in me and I’ll do the best I can
I can’t be anything but just what I am
I can’t help it if I’m in love with you 
Why must I sail my ship alone without a friend
My thoughts are on you
I dare not ask again 

Go my way it’s the only way to go
If things aren’t workin’ out you’ll be the first to know
Come on along and together we’ll go
Please love me and say that you’ll be mine 

A totally different meaning! I mean, how more romantic can you get than “believe in me and I’ll do the best I can”? And, it isn’t about “teaching” or being a mystery or, most important, burning bridges, but it’s about being a friend, and ta-da: a co-captain on the ship of life. I also love the “if things aren’t working out, you’ll be the first to know”—no mystery, no hiding. Just love. 

Sometimes songs can really do a number on you, eh? 

What songs have meaning to you?

What is a home without a baby?
To love and to tease and adore?
What is home without a sweet wife?
To kiss you each night at the door?
What is a home without sunshine?
To spread its bright rays from above?
You can have wealth and its pleasures
But what is a home without love?

-What is a Home Without Love, The Louvin Brothers

“You got to drift in the breeze
Before you set your sails
It’s an occupation where the wind prevails
Before you set your sails
Drift in the breeze.”

Learn How to Fall, Paul Simon

I think I want to teach this song to my middle schoolers.

“My mind’s distracted and diffused
My thoughts are many miles away
They lie with you when you’re alseep
And kiss you when you start your day.”

Simon and Garfunkel, Kathy’s Song

“Time it was, and what a time it was, it was
A time of innocence, a time of confidences.
Long ago, it must be, I have a photograph
Preserve your memories; they’re all that’s left you.”

Simon and Garfunkel, Bookends

This song makes me cry every time I hear it.