"Love is the answer ... for most of the questions in my heart."
I realize Lennon & McCartney may have expressed a similar sentiment more succinctly in the title of their classic hit All You Need Is Love. But for me, the terse lyric above from Better Together - a Jack Johnson tune from 2005 - holds its own alongside all the lyrics I've used here as words for the ages since initiating this series in May 2017. And pardon my hubris but I submit John & Paul would agree the seven additional words Johnson used - vs. their original five - provide a fresh dimension to their thought.
From the start, I made a commitment to resist using any lyricist more than once for this series. Now sometimes, when several months pass between iterations, the treasures of lyricists already used (e.g., Paul Simon, Joni Mitchell, Jackson Browne) test my commitment. But before succumbing and repeating someone, I recall how many greats have yet to be represented (e.g., Johnny Mercer, Smokey Robinson, Stephen Sondheim) and return to the task at hand. That task is to continue carefully listening for a terse lyric that stands alone, i.e., does not depend on a rhyme to complete the thought, and that lyric should be able to be easily recalled by an average listener. (FYI, the longest lyric used to date contains twenty words.) Finally, the thought must contain a universal truth that will stand the test of time, i.e., these must be words for the ages.
Any other nominations from Jack Johnson's catalog? Or how about a nomination of a lyric from one of the three greats mentioned above that I haven't yet used? I'm always listening.
Gerry Rafferty, "Cause if you get wrong, you'll get it right next time." For many of us this is like to story of our lives, whether we're talking about golf shots or marriages.
ReplyDeleteJim; Pretty sure I checked out that Rafferty song when you first mentioned it to me a while back. If memory serves, isn't the title of that song "Get It Right Next Time"? FYI, for this long-running series I've been mostly avoiding using the titles (also called "hooks") of songs, instead searching for/paying attention to terse lyrical phrases that occur just once in a song, making them easier to miss. My aim has been to persuade anyone reading these posts to pay closer attention to all the lyrics. In many otherwise well-written tunes, the titles/hooks get repeated so frequently the power contained in those words can get a bit dull around the edges. However, this is not a "rule", and I agree that Rafferty's phrase is an apt one so I'm not ruling it out for a future iteration. Thanks for the thought you put into your comment.
DeleteGlad to see that your email notifications are back. My favorite lyric from Jack Johnson is " Don't let your dreams be dreams".
ReplyDeleteHey Chris; Yeah, it only took a month and a half for me to get the e-mail whoosit working again but who ever said I was a slow learner? BTW, I like that Jack Johnson lyric you cited - what song is it from?
Delete“Dreams Be Dreams” from the 2003 album On and On.
DeleteHello, Pat. I'm staying, purposely, away from my usual choice of Neil Young lyrics, and instead am going to make a different choice this time and nominate most of the lyrics from 'Year of the Cat' by Al Stewart. There are so many descriptive lines in that song that it's difficult, for me at least, to pick just one.
ReplyDeleteBe well,
Bob
Bob; Believe it or not, because you've cited that Neil Young couplet from "Old Man" more than once when commenting on this series, I've been paying really close attention to Neil's lyrics for a long time, hoping to unearth something of his that I can use here. Like Mercer, Sondheim, and Smokey, Neil is still missing after 34 iterations so I'm working to remedy that. In the meanwhile, I'm going to take a peek at "Year of the Cat" as soon as I finish responding to your comments from today. Always liked that song. For a while I thought "Time Passages" might yield a usable phrase for this series. But when I examined the lyric to that song closely not long ago, I decided there wasn't a terse phrase not dependent on a rhyme from that other good Stewart song that made the cut. I'm still listening. Thanks for the thought you put into this.
Delete