I’ll be giving a talk soon and I’m looking to use some quotes from rock music about parents and children. I’d consider Forever Young, by Bob Dylan, but that is so overused around here that it won’t work. Same for Teach Your Children, by Crosby, Stills and Nash. I’m thinking that perhaps Rickie Lee Jones did a song with a name that included “wild horses” in the title.
Folk songs, e.g The Circle Game, or show tunes, e.g. Sunrise, Sunset, might also work.
All suggestions will be appreciated and considered. Thanks.
Anyway, what exactly are you trying to show with these quotes? There are millions of 'em, so we need to narrow it down a bit.
Also, must they be from very well known songs? One of my favorites is from “Slow Turning” by John Hiatt–
*I’m driving in my car,
I’ve got the radio on.
And I’m yelling at the kids in the back,
'Cause they’re banging like Charlie Watts…"
“Julia” by John Lennon–it’s a song to his mother.
The 4 Bitching Babes have a song about “My Father”–about an Irish Dad, drinker, angry, but loved. (can’t remember which Babe it is–but she sang as Patsy Cline in the movie).
Into the darkness he was sent by parents’
Who were ignorant hm, hm
Tied down to his mother’s strings
Unable to be anything hm, hm
Puzzled by the things he hears His questions fall on their deaf ears << Not in lyrics page
The father thinking work comes first
Ain’t got the time to quench a thirst
No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,
No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,
Once he was a child, a beautiful child
A child of clay shaped and molded
Into what he is today
But who is to blame for this child of clay
It’s still kind of free form. Maybe the best way to explain it at this point is that I’d like an entertaining quote or two or three to break the monotony of some dry statistics and theories. Kind of like I might put up a cartoon via Power Point. For instance: Before I show you the stats on the effect of broken homes on drug usage by teens let me tell you what Eminem had to say, and throw in a few lines from Cleaning out my closet. Also I have a few weeks to go so I can read the lyrics over the next few days, then sleep on it/obsess over it for two weeks until I find whatever fits.
He’s right you know. I know you’ve said it’s freeform but the references are so ubiquitous that you probably need to say precisely what aspects your want the quotes for. Otherwise this thread will run for a hundred pages.
To give you some idea what I mean I grabbed a random dozen CDs from my collection and based on that sample 3/4 of all albums contain parental references. Granted the selection I grabbed happened to be largely in what might be termed the ‘mellow” section but even so it’s far higher than I would have suspected.
The list is as follows.
I a grabbed a Harry Chapin compilation CD. Man, Harry produced dozens of ‘em. Aside from “Cat’s in the Cradle” there’s also “WOLD” (What did the kids say when they knew it was there long lost Daddy), “Tangled Up Puppet” (You don’t need to grow up all alone”), “Sniper” (That same blank stare that she saves for me alone…) and at least 4 others on that album alone. That man had some serious issues with parenthood.
Dan Fogelberg: “Leader of the Band”. The entire song is a dedication to his father
Tori Amos: “Winter” (You must learn to stand up for yourself cause I can’t always be around.)
Eric Clapton :“ “Tears in Heaven””. The entire song is about his son.
MeatLoaf: ““Objects in the rearview Mirror””. (I still believe he’d never let me leave, I had to run away alone.)
George Thorogood: ““Get a Haircut” (My parents taught me what life was about, so i grew up the type they warned me about)
Live ““Lightning Crashes””. (Lightning crashes, a new mother cries, this moment she’s been waiting for. The angel opens her eyes.)
I know that’s only a bot over 50% of a 12 CD selection but I haven’t included those already mentioned such as Paul Simon, Cat Stevens etc.
I think you really do need to narrow this down.
Or that one from The Wall…