Travis
"Driftwood"
Everything is open
Nothing is set in stone
Rivers turn to oceans
Oceans tide you home
Home is where the heart is
But your heart had to roam
Drifting over bridges
Never to return
Watching bridges burn
You're driftwood floating underwater
Breaking into pieces, pieces, pieces
Just driftwood, hollow and of no use
Waterfalls will find you, bind you, grind you
Nobody is an island
Everyone had to go
Pillars turn to butter
Butterflying low
Low is where your heart is
But your heart has to grow
Drifting under bridges
Never with the flow
And you really didn't think it would happen
But it really is the end of the line
So I'm sorry that you've turned to driftwood
But you've been drifting for a long, long time
Everywhere there's trouble
Nowhere's safe to go
Pushes turn to shovels
Shovelling the snow
Frozen you have chosen
The path you wish to go
Drifting now forever
And forever more
Until you reach your shore
You're driftwood floating underwater
Breaking into pieces, pieces, pieces
Just driftwood, hollow and of no use
Waterfalls will find you, bind you, grind you
And you really didn't think it would happen
But it really is the end of the line
So I'm sorry that you've turned to driftwood
But you've been drifting for a long, long time
You've been drifting, for a long, long
Drifting for a long, long time
=x=
The La's
"There She Goes"
There she goes
There she goes again
Racing through' my brain
And I just can't contain
This feelin' that remains
There she blows
There she blows again
Pulsing through my vein
And I just can't contain
This feelin' that remains
There she goes, there she goes again
She calls my name, pulls my train
No one else could heal my pain
But I just can't contain
This feelin' that remains
There she goes
There she goes again
Chasing down my lane
And I just can't contain
This feelin' that remains
=x=
Pulp
"Common People"
She came from Greece she had a thirst for knowledge
She studied sculpture at Saint Martin's College, that's where I caught her eye.
She told me that her Dad was loaded
I said in that case I'll have a rum and coke-cola.
She said fine and in thirty seconds time she said, I want to live like common people
I want to do whatever common people do, I want to sleep with common people
I want to sleep with common people like you.
Well what else could I do - I said I'll see what I can do.
I took her to a supermarket
I don't know why but I had to start it somewhere, so it started there.
I said pretend you've got no money, she just laughed and said oh you're so funny.
I said yeah? Well I can't see anyone else smiling in here.
Are you sure you want to live like common people
You want to see whatever common people see
You want to sleep with common people,
you want to sleep with common people like me.
But she didn't understand, she just smiled and held my hand.
Rent a flat above a shop, cut your hair and get a job.
Smoke some fags and play some pool, pretend you never went to school.
But still you'll never get it right
'cos when you're laid in bed at night watching roaches climb the wall
If you call your Dad he could stop it all.
You'll never live like common people
You'll never do what common people do
You'll never fail like common people
You'll never watch your life slide out of view, and dance and drink and screw
Because there's nothing else to do.
Sing along with the common people, sing along and it might just get you thru'
Laugh along with the common people
Laugh along even though they're laughing at you and the stupid things that you do.
Because you think that poor is cool.
I want to live with common people, I want to live with common people
=x=
The Cure
"Friday I'm In Love"
I don't care if Monday's blue
Tuesday's grey and Wednesday too
Thursday I don't care about you
It's Friday I'm in love
Monday you can fall apart
Tuesday, Wednesday break my heart
Thursday doesn't even start
It's Friday I'm in love
Saturday wait
And Sunday always comes too late
But Friday never hesitate...
I don't care if Monday's black
Tuesday, Wednesday heart attack
Thursday never looking back
It's Friday I'm in love
Monday you can hold your head
Tuesday, Wednesday stay in bed
Or Thursday watch the walls instead
It's Friday I'm in love
Saturday wait
And Sunday always comes too late
But Friday never hesitate...
Dressed up to the eyes
It's a wonderful surprise
To see your shoes and your spirits rise
Throwing out your frown
And just smiling at the sound
And as sleek as a shriek
Spinning round and round
Always take a big bite
It's such a gorgeous sight
To see you eat in the middle of the night
You can never get enough
Enough of this stuff
It's Friday
I'm in love
I don't care if Monday's blue
Tuesday's grey and Wednesday too
Thursday I don't care about you
It's Friday, I'm in love
Monday you can fall apart
Tuesday, Wednesday break my heart
Thursday doesn't even start
It's Friday I'm in love
=x=
The Sugarcubes
"Birthday"
She lives in this house over there,
has her world outside it.
Grapples with the earth with her fingers and her mouth,
she's five years old.
Thread worms on a string, keeps spiders in her pocket,
collects fly-wings in
A jar scrubs horse flies and pinches them on a line.
she's got one friend
He lives next door, they listen to the weather,
he knows how many freckles
she's got,
She scratches his beard. she's painting huge books,
glues them together,
They saw a big raven; it glided down the sky,
she touched it.
Today's a birthday, they're smoking cigars,
he got a chain of flowers,
Sows a bird in her knickers, they're smoking cigars,
lie in the bathtub, chain of flowers.
=x=
Radiohead
"Fake Plastic Trees"
Her green plastic watering can
For her fake Chinese rubber plant
In the fake plastic earth
That she bought from a rubber man
In a town full of rubber plans
To get rid of itself
It wears her out, it wears her out
It wears her out, it wears her out
She lives with a broken man
A cracked polystyrene man
Who just crumbles and burns
He used to do surgery
For girls in the eighties
But gravity always wins
It wears him out, it wears him out
It wears him out, it wears him out
She looks like the real thing
She tastes like the real thing
My fake plastic love
But I can't help the feeling
I could blow through the ceiling
If I just turn and run
It wears me out, it wears me out
It wears me out, it wears me out
If I could be who you wanted
If I could be who you wanted all the time
All the time...
All the time...
=x=
The Church
"Under The Milky Way"
Sometimes when this place gets kind of empty
Sound of their breath fades with the light
I think about the loveless fascination
Under the Milky Way tonight
Lower the curtain down on Memphis
Lower the curtain down all right
I got no time for private consultation
Under the Milky Way tonight
[Chorus]
Wish I knew what you were looking for
Might have known what you would find
Wish I knew what you were looking for
Might have known what you would find
And it's something quite peculiar
Something shimmering and white
Leads you here despite your destination
Under the Milky Way tonight
[Chorus]
Under the Milky way tonight
Under the Milky Way tonight
=x=
Echobelly
"Great Things"
I want to do great things,
I don't want to compromise,
I want to know what life is,
I want to know everything,
I want to do great things,
I don't want to compromise,
I want to know what love is,
Is it something I do to myself.
All is fair in love and war,
Or so they say and so the saying goes,
But I've seen more broken hearts,
Than you can count the bullets in a war,
Oh what do I know,
There's gotta be so much I don't know.
I want to do great things,
I don't want to compromise,
I want to know what life is,
I want to try everything,
I want to do great things,
I don't want to compromise,
I want to know what love is,
Is it something I do to myself,
Something I do to myself.
What is life apart from memories or
Dreams and friendships we have known
And it smells childhood tales
Contemplating clothes that you have worn
Oh what do I know
There's gotta be so much I don't know
I want to do great things,
I don't want to compromise,
I want to know what life is,
Is it something I do to myself,
Something I do to myself.
Never wanted many things,
Except the chance to learn,
From my mistakes
Funny how you never learn,
But know them when they,
Come around again,
Oh what do I know,
There's gotta be so much I don't know.
Lectori Salutem,
ReplyDeleteI always have a quick look at the “Four songs” post, but I never felt the urge to comment since I had nothing to say about any of the songs: until now. This time I saw a song of one of my favourite bands: The Cure. They were famous in the 80’s and early 90’s but somehow lost popularity after that. The first time I heard about this band was at a festival in The Netherlands called “Pinkpop” in 2012. I went there to see one of my other famous artists, Bruce Springsteen, who was headlining that day, but then I by accident also visited the performance of The Cure. I felt in love with the voice of Robert Smith and the way he sings. The next day, when I was back in Amsterdam, I directly went to the record store and bought four albums. Up until today, I still listen to them at least once a week.
I love the list of songs you’ve chosen here Mr.Adrian, they all have the similar hypnotizing vibes that 80s songs have. I especially loved the song ‘Under the Milky Way’ by The Churches. The bass line and the vocalist’s voice made the song so hypnotizing and so enjoyable to listen to. I never knew that an acoustic guitar and synth sounds could compliment each other so well up until the song started to end and fade out. It’s as hypnotizing as The Smiths’ ‘There is a Light That Never Goes Out’. They’re both beautiful and great songs in their own way, but both so iconic masterpieces. Although I wouldn’t call it my second favorite, I can’t seem to get enough of The Sugarcube’s ‘Birthday’. It’s so unique, it doesn’t have the same lyric structure that a normal song would have, which would seem weird, but it all works. The vocalist’s voice is so beautiful and shows it off in an odd way by almost growling but the more you listen to it, the nicer they are to listen to.
ReplyDeleteWow, again Mr Adrian came up with the list of songs that probably most of us didn’t know that the songs do exist, i do believe that the song’s listed are coming from the 80s era since i read the 2 comments before i wrote this comment haha. from this songs listed above, the only song that i listened to it beforehand is the song from the band “The Church” as soon as i listened to the beats, i was simply amazed by how it’s different from the type of songs that i frequently listened to in my Spotify, since mostly i listened to raps, lo-fi jams etc. i rarely listened to these retro songs except when my friend played it or someone asked me to do so like my dad for example. Also, to be honest i’ve never know these songs and bands listed from this list up until i read this post.
ReplyDeleteThis list got more songs than usual, Sir. Songs on this list are not familiar in my ears, but I always love songs produced before 2000s. I am not saying that I do not like current playlist, but we can really feel and hear the genuine feeling and soul they offer us as the audience of their songs. I believe that every musician has their own way and method on how they want to deliver their ideas or thoughts. But, I need to take my hat off to 80s or 90s musician which wrote and produced their songs with the limitation of technology and everything. If I am not mistaken, they use a tape to record their songs, so they could not make any mistake. Unless, you need to retake it over and over again. Because once you make a mistake, you couldn’t just go back and fix the mistake of the recordings.
ReplyDeleteNowadays, there are tons of method to record or arrange an arrangement for a song. But, musician then didn’t easily record their songs, they need to be careful towards what they record on the tape. As I said before, if we made a mistake on the previous tape, we could not just go back and change it, but we need to retake it from the beginning. If I might quote what Irwin Fisch, a Professor at NYU Steinhardt has said, “Now it’s very easy digitally. You chop it on the screen, if you made a mistake, you can fix it. Everything now is non-destructive, everything they did then was destructive, so it took a lot of commitment and a lot of knowledge, and a very, very intense, deep skillset to be able to piece that stuff together and have it sound smooth.” Respect to the ones who are persevere on making new music from now generation and then!
DeleteEchobelly’s “Great Things” is the first song that catches my eye. The name of the band, Echobelly, is quite unique it makes me do the research on the band. It turns out that Echobelly is a British rock band, yet it has the genre of indie rock, alternative rock, and Britpop. Britpop is quite unfamiliar for people who don’t listen songs from the 80s. Let me just describe what Britpop is, a UK based music and culture movement in the mid-90s, which emphasized "Britishness", and produced brighter, catchier alternative rock. So it turns out that it is in reaction to the popularity of that US-led grunge music, with darker lyrical theme, an alternative rock genre, and to the UK’s own shoegazing music scene. It’s very interesting, that when I heard “Great Things” it is very relatable. The music video itself got a Britpop vibe, also the lyrics and beats are just easy to catch.
ReplyDeleteAgain, this is one of the sections of ‘Four Songs’ that I didn’t know before. I think most of us didn’t know the songs before looking at this section. These songs are not the type of songs that are played on the radio every day. But I can see from the comments above, there are people that also knew those songs. After listening to all of the songs, I find that I really like “Great Things” by Echobelly. The lyrics are very catchy, makes it easy to remember and to sing to it. I never heard of the Echobelly band before, but after listening to one of their songs and googling them, I now know that Echobelly is a British rock band which started in London in 1992. Another song that I like from this section is “Under the Milky Way” by The Church. Once again, I never heard of the band, but I honestly like the song and I think that it’s the type of song that I will listen again because it’s very satisfying to listen to.
ReplyDeleteRadiohead! My favourite band is finally in the Four Songs article again after a long time after the band made its mark here. “Fake Plastic Trees“ is one of the most recognisable Radiohead songs, and it is not as dark and surreal as their other songs. In fact, the album that the song is in, The Bends, is probably the ‘softest‘ Radiohead album ever made, yet it is not a Radiohead song if it does not talk about alienation and estrangement of people from the society. “Fake Plastic Trees“ is a satire towards capitalism that deceives people to consume more and more. On a lighter note, for me, the song tells about a girl that tried really hard to fit in with her environment, to the point that the girl is no longer the person that she was once, due to the influence that consumerism brought to her life.
ReplyDeleteOut of all the songs above, I could listen to Driftwood over and over again. Travis' lyrics are often called simple, as it were a fault. But Driftwood is quiet simple. It is literally a song about a piece of wood that is consantly drifting from river to ocean. For me it creates a wonderful image of the vast beauty of nature. But without even a mention of human struggles or emotions, it seems apparent that this is also about a person who is drawn to roam instead of finding a place where they are comfortable in their own skin. Yes both interpratations are obvious, but creating such a metaphorical song is not easy. My favorite line would be ‘Everywhere there's trouble Nowhere's safe to go’ and ‘And you really didn't think it would happen But it really is the end of the line’ This is a beautiful song of simple genius.
ReplyDelete