“My Little Town” by Paul Simon. Sort of half-listening to it when it came out, I thought it was an American Penny Lane. No. He hated the place. Phony patriotism, fake piety (“I grew up believing/God watched over us all/And he would lean on me/As I pledged allegiance to the wall”), stifled intellect (the black rainbow), ecological degradation. “Nothing but the dead and dying back in my little town” indeed.
“Goodbye, Yellow Brick Road” by Elton John and Bernie Taupin. I knew it was a break-up song and gradually understood it to be a gay break-up song. But Elton always sang it so melancholy. It was written as a very angry gay break-up song. “Mongrels who ain’t got a penny/sniffing for tidbits like you/ON THE GROUND.”
Aint No Way by Aretha Franklin
The lyrics:
Stop trying to be something you’re not.
Hard, cold, cruel is the man
Who paid too much for what he got.
I was a teenager when I first heard this song.
But it wasn’t until I was many years older
that I fully understood the meaning of those lines.
I still think they are some of the most profound lyrics on popular music.
Also curious about this. And wondering, unless the genders of the people involved are mentioned, how can any love song be inherently gay or straight? I mean, a lot of them are vague enough lyrically that the listener can insert themselves as appropriate, so…
I’m not exactly sure what the song means, but it’s one of the most poignant songs I know. My own take is that Bob’s getting a little famous and is going on tour -leaving his woman behind- and while that’s sad it’s part of fulfilling their dreams. “In this bright future, you can’t forget your past.” It’s a bittersweet continuation of their bittersweet lives. His recounting of simple joys in the midst of oppression and poverty is poignant in a way that a broken heart is not.
But maybe I’ve got the meaning all wrong.
I don’t know the song, but read the lyrics and can’t figure out what the above quote means.
I didn’t realize until a few years ago that the Prince and the Revolution song “I Would Die 4 U” was about a God as savior conveyed through Christianity.
It could only be about her in a couple of ways. Perhaps she’s lamenting dating so many rich douchebags that no one really knows which douchebag she’s singing about. Or unless she’s schizophrenic, and one of her personalities is singing about another one.
No, I go with my explanation above. She’s dated tons of rich douchebags who are all egotistical enough to believe that she wrote a song about them.
I generally agree with this. She never explicitly says that the person who thinks the song is about him is wrong.
