| The Doors – Five to One Lyrics | 12 years ago |
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RIP Ray Manzarek (Feb 12, 1939 - May 20, 2013) Like the song says "No one here gets out alive" That's always been my literal interpretation of that line. |
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| REO Speedwagon – Golden Country Lyrics | 14 years ago |
| Yes, great song, but not entirely forgotten! I'm a big fan of REO and have all their CDs (except some of the compilations), and my local Classic Rock station plays this song every now and then. | |
| Neil Young – Rockin' in the Free World Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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Wow... great write-up, glad I took the time to read it. Others may not due to its length, but I hope they do. And I'm glad you cleared up the timeline of the origin. Kudos on the Springsteen reference, and I would also add two others: "Pink Houses" by John Mellencamp and "Golden Country" by REO Speedwagon. "Rockin' in the Free World", "Born in the USA", they all hint at the greatness and potential of the USA, but also point out some of the flaws of both the culture and the system. I take these songs not as "unpatriotic" but rather as constructive criticism. The USA is a great country, but like any nation, has problems. There are other countries which I would call "great" as well. Switzerland is one of my favorites, Germany is another. I'm sure we could all find something to love about any country, even if it is currently opposed to us, such as Iran... rich history & culture, warm people for the most part. I am proud to be citizen of my native country of the USA, and served in the military for 20 years. That gave me the opportunity to travel and see some of the other great nations and experience their cultures first-hand. I appreciate the USA more, but I also get to see the world through eyes that are opened just a little wider now. |
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| Billy Joel – We Didn't Start the Fire Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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OK, your lyrics made me chuckle. However, Billy Joel did a pretty good job of getting notable events in multiple categories (political, cultural, world, sporting) into each verse, and largely in chronological order. And most are events that still ring with enough people to know what they are. I hardly think Justin Bieber & disco, or Billy Mays & "Up in Smoke" are contemporaneous. |
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| Billy Joel – We Didn't Start the Fire Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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Since the earlier posted links no longer work, here is a link to a Wikipedia article which breaks down what each reference is about: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/We_Didn%27t_Start_the_Fire |
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| Billy Joel – We Didn't Start the Fire Lyrics | 14 years ago |
| The Wikipedia article quotes Billy Joel as saying "It's a nightmare to perform live, because if I miss one word, it's a train wreck." So even the original artist might have problems with it sometimes! | |
| Billy Joel – We Didn't Start the Fire Lyrics | 14 years ago |
| I don't think "harmful" but indicative of change or controversy. Political, cultural, artistic, etc. That's the "fire." These were all things in the news as Billy Joel grew up. Rock and roll was going to be the downfall of society, remember? They didn't even show Elvis below the waist because of his gyrations when he was on the Ed Sullivan show. Every generation thinks the world is going to end because of change! Wheel of Fortune is one of the most popular game shows in history, so it has made an impact, and when the hula hoop first came out, everyone had one, it seems. | |
| Billy Joel – We Didn't Start the Fire Lyrics | 14 years ago |
| Nope. Bhopal was in 1984, and the verse in question is covering the early 60s. And their was a new pope in 1963, same year that JFK was killed. | |
| Billy Joel – We Didn't Start the Fire Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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Yeah, the other links posted so far don't work anymore. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/We_Didn%27t_Start_the_Fire |
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| The Rolling Stones – Sympathy for the Devil Lyrics | 14 years ago |
| I pretty much don't agree with what you posted, but at least you posted from a point that makes sense! | |
| The Rolling Stones – Sympathy for the Devil Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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I think you nailed it. I was going through the posts out of curiosity, wanting to see how many "anti-Satan" posts there were. I think ultimately, the speaker is accusing mankind of evil: I shouted out "who killed the Kennedy's?" when after all it was YOU and me" (quoted, emphasis mine). I'm reminded of Flip Wilson's quote "The devil made me do it." When we absolve ourselves of responsibility, it is easy to blame someone else. (I was following orders... the devil made me do it, etc...) I don't believe in the "mythological devil" but I see "him" every day when I go out in public. YOU are the ones who do evil, ultimately. |
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| The Rolling Stones – Sympathy for the Devil Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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Ancient response, but I'm doing it anyway... I think you're right... whichever you first learn is "the" version is sometimes what you like best. I like The Stones version best, but GNR is good too. Just like Van Halen's cover of "Pretty Woman" was my first exposure as a teen and for a while my favorite, I now like Roy Orbison's original... evolution? I dunno. |
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| Bob Seger – Turn The Page Lyrics | 14 years ago |
| I too have always taken this as a 1st person perspective of touring. He's not complaining or glorifying it, just telling it like it is. Didn't know he had an actual run-in to inspire those lyrics, but that part always reminds me of that scene at the diner in the movie "Easy Rider" where the locals are harassing them. | |
| Bob Seger – The Fire Down Below Lyrics | 14 years ago |
| I agree with janeaparis1, but I'll add that if a man is getting what he wants from his wife/girlfriend, etc, that he probably won't seek the services of a prostitute. So whether it's life, or his partner not treating him right, he's using a prostitute to escape, if only for a short time. They don't call it the world's oldest profession for nothing, and "it ain't never gonna stop." | |
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