| Don McLean – American Pie Lyrics | 18 years ago |
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So many comments, I haven't had time to read them all. I was 4 years old when Buddy Holly died, so I was too young to remember it. My older sister said that news reports just said that three rock and roll stars died. They didn't bother to say who they were. Such was the status of rock and roll with the "older generation" in those days. I don't know if it's true, but I heard that the lyric about the jester (Bob Dylan) playing for the "king" and "queen" refers to the Isle of Wight concert. I also see that at least one comment mentions the possibility that the "queen" was Little Richard. I read an article years ago where someone guessed that it might be Little Richard. I don't know. |
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| Phil Ochs – Outside Of A Small Circle Of Friends Lyrics | 18 years ago |
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I like the way the song progresses. It starts out with an incident involving one person (inspired by the Kitty Genovese murder). The next verse involves a larger group but can still be rationalized as being of interest to a (relatively) small circle of friends - just not as small as in the first verse. By the third verse, he has worked his way up to a large segment of the population. The fourth verse involves rights of the whole country. The irony in the fifth verse is that it refers to " a friend of ours" but still he says it would not interest anyone outside of a small circle of friends. The song concludes by repeating the first verse. It reminds us that if we ignore an injustice to one person, then it is easy to ignore more widespread injustices, and soon we are victims, too. |
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| Phil Ochs – Outside Of A Small Circle Of Friends Lyrics | 18 years ago |
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I like the way the song progresses. It starts out with an incident involving one person (inspired by the Kitty Genovese murder). The next verse involves a larger group but can still be rationalized as being of interest to a (relatively) small circle of friends - just not as small as in the first verse. By the third verse, he has worked his way up to a large segment of the population. The fourth verse involves rights of the whole country. The irony in the fifth verse is that it refers to " a friend of ours" but still he says it would not interest anyone outside of a small circle of friends. The song concludes by repeating the first verse. It reminds us that if we ignore an injustice to one person, then it is easy to ignore more widespread injustices, and soon we are victims, too. |
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| Leonard Cohen – Famous Blue Raincoat Lyrics | 18 years ago |
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I'm glad I found this site. I was familiar with this song from the Angela McCluskey version. Now that I have read the reviews, I have discovered about 5 more versions sung by women. I think the McCluskey version is hauntingly beautiful. (I think at least one other person referred to this song as haunting.) However, I couldn't make out all the words, so I went looking for the lyrics online. One thing I was not able to understand was the last thing she sang. I heard the word "sincerely" but didn't realize what the rest was. It sounded like L Something or El something. Now I know it was L. Cohen! There are some differences between the lyrics Angela McCluskey sings and the Leonard Cohen original. For instance, she says that the recipient of the letter gave "some woman" a flake of his life (rather than "my woman.") Instead of "my brother, my killer," she repeats "what can I tell you." After "your enemy is sleeping," she sings "your woman is free" instead of "his woman is free." The McCluskey version has a different geometry from the Leonard Cohen version. I don't know if that is true of the other versions sung by women. Anyway, this is all very interesting. |
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