I’m not a Springsteen devotee, so I thought The Rising was a good song but a little odd. Then I found out it was about the New York firefighters on 9/11, and that changed everything. Now I can’t hear
Sky of memory and shadow Your burnin’ wind fills my arms tonight Sky of longing and emptiness Sky of fullness, sky of blessed life
Without tearing up, at least a little. And even though I’m not religious in the usual sense, I always get an image of the firefighters, whatever their sins may have been, taken directly to Paradise for their sacrifice.
The Rolling Stones’ “Gimme Shelter” has long been a favorite of mine, to no small degree because of the solo by Merry Clayton. She was pregnant at the time. Legend has it that the session was so grueling that when she returned home in the middle of the night, exhausted, she had a miscarriage. She’s said she was unable to even listen to the song for many years. That story has ever since tainted the song for me.
I don’t want to doubt a fellow woman, but that’s not really the way miscarriages and pregnancy work. Unless she was humping amps around while recording, it wouldn’t have been the reason for her miscarriage.
In Boulder to Birmingham, Emmylou’s backstory is in the lyrics and adds a particular poignance.
And I don’t want to hear a sad story
Full of heartbreak and desire
The last time I felt like this
It was in the wilderness and the canyon was on fire
And I stood on the mountain in the night and I watched it burn
I watched it burn, I watched it burn.
On the Chicks, (née Dixie Chicks) Home album, the song Godspeed (Sweet Dreams) seemed like a simple filler ballad, a lullaby. Until I watched the concert video and Natalie Mains related the backstory.
I’ve always loved Layla and the backstory makes it even more powerful.
The backstory of the Filipino classic (and remakes in multiple languages) Anak (Child) by Freddie Aguilar often brings tears to my eyes.
Freddie Aguilar left home at the age of 18 without graduating from school. His father, who had wanted him to be a lawyer, was disappointed. Freddie traveled to faraway places carrying with him only his guitar. With no one to guide and discipline him, he got into gambling. Realizing and regretting his mistakes five years later, Freddie composed “Anak”, a song of remorse and apology to his parents. He went back home and asked for forgiveness from his parents, who welcomed him with open arms. After his father read the lyrics of “Anak”, the two became closer. The homecoming proved timely as his father died not long after
I like listening to Song Exploder, that had artists talk about making the song, and while it can be mostly about the process of writing and actual parts and productions, they will sometimes talk about the inspiration or meaning too.
No. I barely even know the lyrics of my favorite songs. To me, it’s all about the music itself. The lyrics, heck with them, you could just remove all the lyrics from songs and I’d probably be perfectly happy. That might be a little extreme, but you get the idea. Those instrumentals that even rock and metal bands have some times? Those are my favorite.
So, the backstory of the lyrics has no meaning to me, since I barely even know what the lyrics are - I truthfully don’t listen to them when I listen to a song.
How does one who doesn’t listen to the lyrics listen to a capella music? I wouldn’t expect it to be enjoyable, but is it something that you avoid entirety?
Oh, sure. For instance, one of R.E.M.'s early classics is a sweet, country-tinged tune called “(Don’t Go Back To) Rockville” that I liked on its own merits, but I liked it that much more after learning that it was written by bass player Mike Mills in the hopes of convincing his girlfriend to not move back home. (Learning that Michael Stipe didn’t write the song also cleared up why it was so uncommonly direct and comprehensible, given the band’s typical output.) And then you have “Father of Mine” by Everclear, which I found even more moving after learning that Art Alexakis was fuming at his own neglectful parent. “This Year” by The Mountain Goats is another story of a hellish upbringing that, unfortunately, John Darnielle didn’t really have to imagine.
I’ve always wondered about this lyric. To an American, it means she lives on an upscale property. In England, it might mean she lives in an awful housing project. Or something in between.
I do enjoy and appreciate songs more if they have a good backstory. I like “The Chain” by Fleetwood Mac better knowing about all the behind the scenes drama. I like “What’s the frequency Kenneth?” by REM but it’s even better knowing it was about the 1986 assault of journalist Dan Rather. (Or even better, that “Losing My Religion” is about the painful ambiguity of a same - sex crush.)
I’ve always liked “Closing Time” by Semisonic… Turns out it’s about childbirth.
Alice in Chains “The Rooster” is about his Vietnam vet father.
I figured, but (and I can’t help but be Murica-centered here) that wouldn’t occur to us on the other side of the pond. Living on an estate would be awesome.
True, when I listened to that song as a kid, I always assumed that his sister had married some rich guy and was living in a palatial country house. It wasn’t until much later that I found out about the British meaning of estate living.
I went through a similar evolution of feelings with “Come Dancing” as Ann_Hedonia describes. At first, I figured the whole story the song tells was fictional. Then later I read that it was inspired by Ray Davies’s actual sister, and thought, “Oh, that’s nice. I wonder if they did go dancing together after he grew up.” Then I read (undoubtedly a few paragraphs later in the same article) that she had died young, and was sad about it.
