So I think if I just stick to the lyrics of modern songs, we should avoid the sadness I was experiencing earlier when I was trying to draft an entry about lyrics that either I find really clever, or evocative, or both. Mainly both.
It seems like an appropriate title, since blogging is all about words and writing.
Of course, my first entry isn’t modern really. But it does come from the musical that’s had the most impact on me, ever.
take my hand
and lead me to salvation
take my love
for love is everlasting
and remember the truth that once was spoken
to love another person is to see the face of God
That’s from Les Miz… the finale. Yes, very Christian, but I love it nonetheless. Because even if I don’t believe in a monotheistic, “old man in the clouds,” god, I think the sentiment is perfect. Plus, harmony from my two favourite Les Miz characters, Fantine and Eponine.
and sometimes when we touch
the honesty’s too much
and I have to close my eyes and hide
I want to hold you ’til I die
’til we both break down and cry
I want to hold you ’til the fear in me subsides
Okay, this isn’t modern either… but I swear all the others are!
You’d have to be of a certain era to get this one… it’s Dan Hill’s most famous song (some would say one-hit wonder), Sometimes When We Touch. Basically I love it because my mum loved it, and it always makes me think of her. But on top of that, it does a great job of describing love.
Also, please don’t die of the cheese factor of this particular video. Shot in Hell (aka Toronto) apparently. I suspect Krista will enjoy. LOL
Although it’s true I was never attention’s sweet centre
THIS LINE. THIS ONE LINE. Possibly the best single lyric I’ve ever come across, so no surprise it’s from modern-day poet Sara Bareilles. Lucky me, I got to hear it belted out live by Jessie Mueller in Waitress on Broadway. The show, while not perfect, was worth it just for Mueller’s performance of this song. While this lyric stands out like a beacon, the entire song is fantastic.
And all those things I didn’t say
wrecking balls inside my brain
I will scream them loud tonight
can you hear my voice this time?
this is my fight song
take back my life song
prove I’m all right song
my power’s turned on
starting right now
I’ll be strong
I’ll play my fight song
and I don’t really care if nobody else believes
’cause I’ve still got a lot of fight left in me
This is Rachel Platten’s Fight Song. “Wrecking balls inside my brain” of things I stopped myself from saying is pretty much exactly what it’s like to be me 90% of the time.
If you need a little pick-me-up in terms of your self-esteem, I recommend putting this on repeat, putting in your headphones, cranking up the volume, and hiking along an urban parkway in Paris.
You’re from the 70s but I’m a 90s bitch
Hmmn… someone might identify with this song, I think. It’s from I Love It by Icona Pop, btw. While I was born in the 70s, I may have mentioned that I hate that decade, and when I first heard this line, I interpreted it as “time at which you came of age,” and if I’m a child of any decade, it is the 90s. So picturing myself sassily tossing this off to someone brings me great merriment. ??
Maybe there’s a way out
of the cage where you live
maybe one of these days
you can let the light in
show me
how big your brave is
say what you want to say
and let the words fall out
honestly
I want to see you be brave
and since your history of silence
won’t do you any good
(did you think it would?)
let your words be
anything but empty
why don’t you tell them the truth?
Oh that parenthetical remark… is she talking to me?! “She” being, once again, Sara Bareilles, in this, her most well-known song, Brave. Totally a coming out song, which she’s confirmed, not that you’d know it by either the lyric video or the official one. (I do like the “girl power” theme of the lyric video, though, so that’s the one I’ve included.)
Like Marvin Gaye, like Hathaway1
you’re over my head
I’m out of my mind
thinking I was born
in the wrong time
you’re one of a kind
living in a world gone plastic
baby you’re so classic
out of my league
old-school chic
like a movie star
from the silver screen
A star in the 40s, centerfold in the 50s
Got me tripping out like the sixties hippies
Queen of the discotheque
A 70s dream and an 80s best
Hepburn, Beyoncé, Marilyn, Massey2
Girl you’re timeless, just so classic
This is MKTO’s Classic, hereinafter and forever referred to as the Melia song, after my friend Melia who it so perfectly encapsulates. Melia3 could have easily stepped out of the 1920s and she is maybe the classiest person I know, so this extremely clever “let’s review the glamour of the entire 20th century” song is perfect for her.
And we certainly do live in a “world gone plastic.” That’s why anyone who isn’t plastic (e.g. Melia and all my other friends) is so precious to me.
And that, my friends, is it. A perfect note to end on.4
- when I first was listening to this song, I was like: what does Anne Hathaway have to do with Marvin Gaye?? [↩]
- Just a warning: be very leery of trusting online lyric listings, because this was alternately transcribed as “Marilyn Manson” and “Marilyn, Massive.” Thank goodness I found a better source and was able to cross-check the name Massey. [↩]
- of “I can’t stand it that people in Vancouver wear Birkenstocks to the symphony” fame [↩]
- and yes, I do see what I did there ? [↩]