# "Singing my life with his words" -- the lyrics you identify with **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [April 21, 2021, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singing-my-life-with-his-words-the-lyrics-you-identify-with/940449 "2021-04-21T11:59:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Chad\_Sudan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chad_sudan/32/4509_2.png) [@Chad\_Sudan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chad_Sudan)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2021, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singing-my-life-with-his-words-the-lyrics-you-identify-with/940449/1 "2021-04-21T11:59:54Z")
While listening to a song, have you ever gotten the uncanny feeling that a lyric fits your own specific personal circumstances? Tell us about it. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUBv.2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanubv.2/32/3260_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUBv.2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUBv.2)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2021, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singing-my-life-with-his-words-the-lyrics-you-identify-with/940449/2 "2021-04-21T12:21:55Z")
When I first left my home and moved across the country alone, I very much had B-Movie’s _Nowhere Girl_ running like a tape (no pun intended) in my head. Especially the part: “Nowhere girl what you had you need, Nowhere girl all functional and neat, Nowhere girl in self-imposed exile, Nowhere girl a martyr-like denial.” [Here’s the song with lyrics](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_jCry8Mvh8) On a related note, I just saw a Dr. Phil rerun (yeah, I know) about a woman named Annie who is _convinced_ Michael Jackson’s _Smooth Criminal_ was written about her. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2021, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singing-my-life-with-his-words-the-lyrics-you-identify-with/940449/3 "2021-04-21T12:28:03Z")
After a girl broke up with me, my first serious relationship in college, I had Bob Dylan’s ‘Blood on the Tracks’ and especially the song ‘If you see her, say hello’ on constant replay. Every single word of that song seemed to be written specifically for my former relationship. Reading back on the lyrics now, they are vague enough that they are like a horoscope that is so unspecific that anybody can relate to it (Except for the ex being in Tangier part, don’t think she ever actually went there). But the real-sounding grief in the way he sang it was as relatable as the lyrics. Great song and great album. Apparently he denied the album was directly autobiographical about the breakup of his marriage, but I think he doth protested too much. I had owned the album for awhile before the breakup but it hadn’t really registered with me until then. What a great post-breakup album to listen to; it was a great comfort in those days and weeks afterward. > [@WOOKINPANUBv.2](#): > > On a related note, I just saw a Dr. Phil rerun (yeah, I know) about a woman named Annie who is _convinced_ Michael Jackson’s _Smooth Criminal_ was written about her. Was she OK about it? ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUBv.2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanubv.2/32/3260_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUBv.2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUBv.2)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2021, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singing-my-life-with-his-words-the-lyrics-you-identify-with/940449/4 "2021-04-21T12:41:16Z")
> [@solost](#): > > > [@WOOKINPANUBv.2](#): > > > > On a related note, I just saw a Dr. Phil rerun (yeah, I know) about a woman named Annie who is _convinced_ Michael Jackson’s _Smooth Criminal_ was written about her. > > Was she OK about it? Well, she’d been struck down; it was her doom (_and_ she was telling Dr. Phil about it, so no). She was really gobsmacked to find out that the Annie of the song was inspired by a CPR dummy. Still didn’t change her mind. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2021, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singing-my-life-with-his-words-the-lyrics-you-identify-with/940449/5 "2021-04-21T12:46:02Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUBv.2](#): > > Well, she’d been struck down; it was her doom ( _and_ she was telling Dr. Phil about it, so no). She was really gobsmacked to find out that the Annie of the song was inspired by a CPR dummy. It sounds like Annie was NOT ok. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2021, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singing-my-life-with-his-words-the-lyrics-you-identify-with/940449/6 "2021-04-21T12:49:38Z")
Sometimes I feel like this: You are young and life is long, and there is time to kill today And then one day you find ten years have got behind you No one told you when to run, you missed the starting gun (_Time_ by Pink Floyd) ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2021, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singing-my-life-with-his-words-the-lyrics-you-identify-with/940449/7 "2021-04-21T13:08:59Z")
20 years ago I had traveled to South Africa to meet a woman I had connected with online. No, it wasn’t a scam, but the clickage faded instantly upon first ftf meeting. My soundtrack for the trip was Delerium’s Poem, inside cover w/ all sorts of African animals. We went our separate ways, and I drove to a small town on the coast, St. Lucia & its bay. The song A Poem For Byzantium played as I approached the town’s outer environs: _Unbidden shadows of you formed yesterday_ _I ran away to a room here on the bay_ _Interrupted life again, another new beginning_ _Where the silence echoes_ _You’re no longer with me_ _Here and now_ _I feel that I’m embracing freedom_ _Even though I may be alone_ _But that’s okay_ _I do not seek and do not intend to find_ _A calmer ocean or a sun that’ll never be mine_ _My world will never change_ _And time will bring you to a portent_ _I’ll move on and forget you all over again_ _Moving on, I can forgive you all over again_ There was a partial eclipse of the sun that weekend (not visible from the states), annnd I took my first swim & boat trip on the Indian Ocean (saw some humpbacks), tho it was fairly rough that day. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2021, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singing-my-life-with-his-words-the-lyrics-you-identify-with/940449/8 "2021-04-21T13:19:43Z")
Bruce Springsteen’s “Rosalita.” _Tell him this is his last chance To get his daughter in a fine romance 'Cause the record company, Rosie Just gave me a big advance._ ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2021, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singing-my-life-with-his-words-the-lyrics-you-identify-with/940449/9 "2021-04-21T13:23:17Z")
> [@solost](#): > > After a girl broke up with me, my first serious relationship in college, I had Bob Dylan’s ‘Blood on the Tracks’ and especially the song ‘If you see her, say hello’ on constant replay. Every single word of that song seemed to be written specifically for my former relationship. So, you’d say that… _every one of them words rang true_ _and glowed like burning coal,_ _pouring off of every page_ _like it was written in my soul,_ _from me to you…_ (Tangled Up In Blue.) . from ‘Blood on the Tracks’ ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2021, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singing-my-life-with-his-words-the-lyrics-you-identify-with/940449/10 "2021-04-21T13:23:23Z")
> [@hogarth](#): > > Sometimes I feel like this: > > You are young and life is long, and there is time to kill today > And then one day you find ten years have got behind you > No one told you when to run, you missed the starting gun Ooh, good one. I remember well listening to that at 17 and thinking, no way I’m going to let that happen to me! Then these days, sometimes I realize, almost 40 years have got behind me since then… 😲 > [@digs](#): > > So, you’d say that… > _every one of them words rang true_ > _and glowed like burning coal,_ > _pouring off of every page_ > _like it was written in my soul,_ > _from me to you…_ Yes, I would definitely say that! Lord knows I’ve paid some dues getting through… ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2021, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singing-my-life-with-his-words-the-lyrics-you-identify-with/940449/11 "2021-04-21T13:31:53Z")
> [@solost](#): > > After a girl broke up with me, my first serious relationship in college, I had Bob Dylan’s ‘Blood on the Tracks’ and especially the song ‘If you see her, say hello’ on constant replay. Every single word of that song seemed to be written specifically for my former relationship. > > Reading back on the lyrics now, they are vague enough that they are like a horoscope that is so unspecific that anybody can relate to it (Except for the ex being in Tangier part, don’t think she ever actually went there). But the real-sounding grief in the way he sang it was as relatable as the lyrics. > > Great song and great album. Apparently he denied the album was directly autobiographical about the breakup of his marriage, but I think he doth protested too much. I had owned the album for awhile before the breakup but it hadn’t really registered with me until then. What a great post-breakup album to listen to; it was a great comfort in those days and weeks afterward. That’s exactly what I wanted to post, almost word for word. It was my first real break up with a woman, and all my pain, grief and anger was perfectly expressed in those songs. It’s a fantastic album. Dylan once was complimented by, I think, a journalist, about how much many people enjoyed this album, and he answered (I paraphrase, I don’t remember the exact words) “Enjoyed? How can anybody enjoy so much pain?”. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2021, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singing-my-life-with-his-words-the-lyrics-you-identify-with/940449/12 "2021-04-21T13:41:06Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > That’s exactly what I wanted to post, almost word for word. It was my first real break up with a woman, and all my pain, grief and anger was perfectly expressed in those songs. So you’d say about my post that… > [@digs](#): > > _every one of them words rang true_ > _and glowed like burning coal,_ (Me quoting digs quoting Dylan…sorry, getting a little too meta!) Yes, fantastic album. Still to this day probably my favorite Dylan album and the one of his I most listen to. One day when one of my sons has his first serious breakup I will recommend it to him. ---
**Author:** ![Akaj](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/akaj/32/145_2.png) [@Akaj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Akaj)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2021, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singing-my-life-with-his-words-the-lyrics-you-identify-with/940449/13 "2021-04-21T14:05:52Z")
There’s a line in [John Moreland’s “Heart’s Too Heavy”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9pkvFxHaZQ) that crushes me every time: _Thought I was somebody nobody could love_ And if you haven’t met Mr. Moreland, please check him out. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2021, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singing-my-life-with-his-words-the-lyrics-you-identify-with/940449/14 "2021-04-21T14:22:00Z")
> [@solost](#): > > After a girl broke up with me, my first serious relationship in college, I had Bob Dylan’s ‘Blood on the Tracks’ and especially the song ‘If you see her, say hello’ on constant replay. Every single word of that song seemed to be written specifically for my former relationship. For me, it was Positively 4th Street. Due to the fact that this was someone that I still saw all the time (at the same college, worked at the same place, lots of friends in common, she didn’t seem to understand that I had no interest in being in the same room as her etc), that one really spoke to me. Particularly the line “I wish that for just one time you could stand inside my shoes You’d know what a drag it is to see you”. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2021, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singing-my-life-with-his-words-the-lyrics-you-identify-with/940449/15 "2021-04-21T14:37:54Z")
Yes, I wondered about the Tangier part too, the rest was just my story. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2021, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singing-my-life-with-his-words-the-lyrics-you-identify-with/940449/16 "2021-04-21T14:48:29Z")
And then there was my Leonard Cohen phase, were Dress Rehearsal Rag stands out among many other great songs: _Four o’clock in the afternoon_ _and I didn’t feel like very much._ _I said to myself, "Where are you golden boy,_ _where is your famous golden touch?"_ _[…]_ _Once there was a path_ _and a girl with chestnut hair,_ _and you passed the summers_ _picking all of the berries that grew there;_ _there were times she was a woman,_ _oh, there were times she was just a child,_ _and you held her in the shadows_ _where the raspberries grow wild._ _And you climbed the twilight mountains_ _and you sang about the view,_ _and everywhere that you wandered_ _love seemed to go along with you._ _That’s a hard one to remember,_ _yes it makes you clench your fist._ _And then the veins stand out like highways,_ _all along your wrist._ _And yes it’s come to this,_ _it’s come to this,_ _and wasn’t it a long way down,_ _wasn’t it a strange way down?_ […] I still like this song. ---
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2021, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singing-my-life-with-his-words-the-lyrics-you-identify-with/940449/17 "2021-04-21T15:28:28Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > That’s exactly what I wanted to post, almost word for word. It was my first real break up with a woman, and all my pain, grief and anger was perfectly expressed in those songs. Yep. But a different song for me: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/bpNw7jYkbVc/maxresdefault.jpg "Joan Jett & the Blackhearts - I Hate Myself for Loving You (Official Video)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpNw7jYkbVc) ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2021, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singing-my-life-with-his-words-the-lyrics-you-identify-with/940449/18 "2021-04-21T15:34:46Z")
I have a song that keeps resonating in different ways, and that is Madonna’s “Human Nature.” She wrote it after receiving blowback from her _Sex_ book. As an anthem for empowering women to embrace their sexuality, it’s great. But for me it’s about a lot more than that. It’s about speaking up about abuse despite extraordinary social pressure to shut up, it’s about writing candidly about sexuality and following my creative vision no matter what others think about it. Its relevance to my life spans two decades. _Wouldn’t let me say the words I longed to say You didn’t want to see life through my eyes You tried to shove me back inside your narrow room And silence me with bitterness and lies_ _Did I say something wrong? Oops, I didn’t know I couldn’t talk about sex (I must’ve been crazy) Did I stay too long? Oops, I didn’t know I couldn’t speak my mind_ _You punished me for telling you my fantasies I’m breakin’ all the rules I didn’t make You took my words and made a trap for silly fools You held me down and tried to make me break_ _Did I say something true? Oops, I didn’t know I couldn’t talk about sex (I must’ve been crazy) Did I have a point of view? Oops, I didn’t know I couldn’t talk about you_ And then we have the chorus _I’m not sorry It’s human nature I’m not your bitch, don’t hang your shit on me_ Thanks, Madonna. ---
**Author:** ![P-man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/p-man/32/3606_2.png) [@P-man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/P-man)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2021, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singing-my-life-with-his-words-the-lyrics-you-identify-with/940449/19 "2021-04-21T16:03:50Z")
In my twenties I identified with Roy Orbison’s “Windsurfer”. “He said let’s sail away together She told him no no never no.” “Why do we always go for something out of reach?” ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2021, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singing-my-life-with-his-words-the-lyrics-you-identify-with/940449/20 "2021-04-21T16:25:51Z")
If y’all can stand another story of an “after a breakup” song… This happened several years later on from my ‘Blood on the Tracks’ phase I mentioned up thread-- in my mid to late 20s, after a break up with a girl I had been with for several years and almost proposed to. Actually early on in that next breakup, when it was still fresh, I’m sure I broke out my Blood on the Tracks album and wore it out all over again. But a few months after that, while I was finally starting to get over her and gain a sense of acceptance, Don Henley’s ‘Heart of the Matter’ was getting a lot of radio play, and the lyrics of that song really spoke to me: > **[Don Henley – The Heart of the Matter](https://genius.com/Don-henley-the-heart-of-the-matter-lyrics)** > > “The Heart of the Matter” is the tenth and final track from Don Henley’s 1989 album, The End of the Innocence. It peaked at #21 on the Billboard 100. > > The song is about forgiveness [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singing-my-life-with-his-words-the-lyrics-you-identify-with/940449.md?page=2)