Sunday, May 08, 2005
Powerful lyrics
Among more nationally known political bloggers that I follow regularly there has been a thing called a "meme" going around with several cool questions about one's personal favorite music. What a "meme" is actually is a kind of a modern online chain letter. Anyway, if you look at my really old archives when absolutely no one was reading this, I tried to get a project going where I would write little essays about my favorite songs. I lost inspiration after about 2 essay songs.
But I think the question in this "meme" that's being past around about most powerful song lyrics is interesting for me, since it takes me a long time for the lyrics of a song to settle in, and most of the time I can't really accept the cryptic pseudo-poetic content of some songs. I take the words and music as a whole package and try not to study the sung words intensively. So after listening to an album for the umpteenth time, when a passage from the lyrics finally reaches my brain, its a pretty non-mundane profound moment of revelation.
So maybe occasionally I will past lyrics that have been perfectly poignant, that either hit me with their direct message the first time or took some months or years to finally understand. Maybe you all would like to contribute some of your favorite lyrics on your pages.
Anyway, the first song that immediately came to mind was Dismemberment Plan's "You Are Invited." It's too bad that I had to choose this because the music really adds an air of uncertain tension to the story the lyrics tell. Still, here the lyrics are in their entirety.
I got it in the mail one morning
There was no return address
Just my name in gold leaf on the front
There was no time or location
There was really no info at all
No date no place no time no RSVP
But it said:
You are invited by anyone to do anything
You are invited for all time…
I didn’t think much about it
It seemed like a really dumb joke
But later that week it was Friday—once again
So I took it down to a disco
That wouldn’t have me in am million years
I flashed it once and I was inside with a drink
I really didn’t stay too long there
‘Cause no one was having much fun
I made my way to a party all the way across town
It was thrown by the friend of an ex-thing
I wasn’t sure if I should go
But when I got in the place there were smiles all up and down
I grabbed my ex in the kitchen
I told her I was sorry I came
But she looked at me with a glazed smile and said:
You are invited by anyone to do anything
You are invited for all time…
You are so needed by everyone to do everything
You are invited for all time
I headed home kinda early
The party wasn’t all that great
I saw my neighbor out crying on his front porch
I stopped to see what his deal was
I couldn’t catch much through the sobs
Something about a party and he didn’t go
I thought about it for a second
The invite in my hand
I threw it down at his feet and I said:
You are invited by anyone to do anything
You are invited for all time…
You are so needed if you really want to go
You are invited for all time
For all time
Good stuff. It was a beautiful day in Chicago today. You can't really be lonely in a big city like this.
Goodnight, have an OK Monday (that's the best we can hope for on Mondays, right?)
But I think the question in this "meme" that's being past around about most powerful song lyrics is interesting for me, since it takes me a long time for the lyrics of a song to settle in, and most of the time I can't really accept the cryptic pseudo-poetic content of some songs. I take the words and music as a whole package and try not to study the sung words intensively. So after listening to an album for the umpteenth time, when a passage from the lyrics finally reaches my brain, its a pretty non-mundane profound moment of revelation.
So maybe occasionally I will past lyrics that have been perfectly poignant, that either hit me with their direct message the first time or took some months or years to finally understand. Maybe you all would like to contribute some of your favorite lyrics on your pages.
Anyway, the first song that immediately came to mind was Dismemberment Plan's "You Are Invited." It's too bad that I had to choose this because the music really adds an air of uncertain tension to the story the lyrics tell. Still, here the lyrics are in their entirety.
I got it in the mail one morning
There was no return address
Just my name in gold leaf on the front
There was no time or location
There was really no info at all
No date no place no time no RSVP
But it said:
You are invited by anyone to do anything
You are invited for all time…
I didn’t think much about it
It seemed like a really dumb joke
But later that week it was Friday—once again
So I took it down to a disco
That wouldn’t have me in am million years
I flashed it once and I was inside with a drink
I really didn’t stay too long there
‘Cause no one was having much fun
I made my way to a party all the way across town
It was thrown by the friend of an ex-thing
I wasn’t sure if I should go
But when I got in the place there were smiles all up and down
I grabbed my ex in the kitchen
I told her I was sorry I came
But she looked at me with a glazed smile and said:
You are invited by anyone to do anything
You are invited for all time…
You are so needed by everyone to do everything
You are invited for all time
I headed home kinda early
The party wasn’t all that great
I saw my neighbor out crying on his front porch
I stopped to see what his deal was
I couldn’t catch much through the sobs
Something about a party and he didn’t go
I thought about it for a second
The invite in my hand
I threw it down at his feet and I said:
You are invited by anyone to do anything
You are invited for all time…
You are so needed if you really want to go
You are invited for all time
For all time
Good stuff. It was a beautiful day in Chicago today. You can't really be lonely in a big city like this.
Goodnight, have an OK Monday (that's the best we can hope for on Mondays, right?)
