I recently saw Melanie perform and I think she has one of the most powerful and emotive voices ever. This song offers empirical evidence of that claim. Listening to this song raises the hairs on the back of my neck when Melanie’s voice kicks in on the chorus. I think her music is generally dismissed as people only remember her for her novelty hit “Brand New Key” (She clearly was annoyed/chagrinned performing this number in the concert I saw.). Her covers of “Lay Lady Lay”, “Mr. Tambourine Man” and “Ruby Tuesday” are eye and ear opening experiences. No one that I can think of uses the entire dynamic power of the voice like Melanie can. She can go from heart-felt whisper to brain-rattling blasts effortlessly. Melanie is an amazing vocal talent. While at the concert mentioned above, Melanie claims that the practice of raising one’s lighter in concert first happened while she performed “Beautiful People” (I think that is the song she mentioned) at Woodstock. She wrote this song, inspired by that event. This is an absolutely awesome tune.

No comments on this amazing, funky number prompt me to throw my two cents into the mix. Stevie Wonder created the perfect protest song with this entry. To me it has always been a generic protest song in many ways but since this song was released in the Nixon era, I believe Stevie was singing to him. To this day, when I hear this song and sing along, I think of that $%#@! Nixon. Now read the lyrics again and think of our current president. “and we are sick and tired of hearing your song”. Great, timeless stuff. I think Stevie Wonder is the one of the top 10 most important songwriters of the last 50 years.

This song holds a very special place in my heart. I am a son of a preacher man and growing up hearing this song made me think that I too one day would be smooth enough to steal kisses from the object of my desire. Unfortunately, I have always been totally disarmed by women and certainly never acquired the moves needed to compete with Billy Ray mentioned in the song (probably just as well as I have been married for 28 years in a couple of days). I am not sure if I heard Dusty’s or Aretha’s version first but Aretha’s version is the one version I own and hear all the time. What a great vocal by Aretha as she seems to be totally disarmed by that wolf Billy Ray. Helpless in his power she seems more resigned to her emotions than what I remember from Dusty. Both renditions are wonderful.

This song is riveting view of life in the city, which I have always assumed to use New York City as the model. I think the lyrics can be taken literally for this song which I take to be presenting the dichotomy of the economic spectrum of those living in the city. That schism is emphasized by the juxtaposition of the musical styles switching from Kristy’s mellow vocal to the haunting rap segments. When Kristy sings, “it’s not too far”, I think she is speaking both to physical location and to the change economic status. This song’s guitar riffs and groove can rattle and shake into your brain and is a great example of how music be affecting at many levels.

This is such a lovely song and because of that, I ignored the lyrics for years. I originally believed this was written about a physical/romantic encounter, from a woman’s perspective. Like something you might read in a romance novel. However, after learning of Mr. Townshend’s inclinations to swing both ways (as it were), this song could also be written from a man’s perspective. In either case, it is a really fine tune. Why is it that there are so few comments regarding Pete’s songs here? The Who songs have plenty of people commenting. He is such a interesting songwriter; he deserves more discussion of his solo work

This song has such a wonderful vocal performance by Rickie. The song is again an example of the lyrics not really being all that important to total experience. I really don’t know what this song is about but I think this song uses references to vehicle repair or maintenance as a metaphor for fixing or acquiring a relationship. I am always amused by the line “trust the man with the star” because it refers to the old Texaco TV commercials.

Since no one has commented on this song, I will offer mine up to the group. I interpret this as a divorce song. The protagonist is reminiscing about what he did and didn’t like about his lost relationship. The line “somebody to trust” is so important to any lasting relationship. I am not a huge fan of the post-1970’s Steely Dan records (a bit too jazzy for my tastes) but this song is a real gem. The lyrics/vocals and musical groove presented in this song are perfectly paired. Who does this better than Beck and Fagan?