Music that moved you

[VelvetSin]

How has this not made it on the thread yet?

(Sorry.)

 

[DVS]

Another old Billy Joel song that I love. I wanted to find a video where he was about the age he was when the song came out. To do that, I had to include someone that might frighten a few of you. Dont' Let Helen Reddy scare you...she's only there for a few seconds.

I played this in one band. Not much of a dance tune. People just stood around and watched us play.


The Ballad of Billy the Kid-Billy Joel

From a town known as Wheeling, West Virginia
Rode a boy with a six-gun in his hand
And his daring life of crime
Made him a legend in his time
East and west of the Rio Grande

Well, he started with a bank in Colorado
In the pocket of his vest, a Colt he hid
And his age and his size
Took the teller by surprise
And the word spread of Billy the Kid

Well, he never traveled heavy
Yes, he always rode alone
And he soon put many older guns to shame
And he never had a sweetheart
And he never had a home
But the cowboy and the rancher knew his name

Well, he robbed his way from Utah to Oklahoma
And the law just could not seem to track him down
And it served his legend well
For the folks, they'd love to tell
'Bout when Billy the Kid came to town

(PIANO INTERLUDE)

Well, one cold day a posse captured Billy
And the judge said, "String 'im up for what he did!"
And the cowboys and their kin
Like the sea came pourin' in
To watch the hangin' of Billy the Kid

Well, he never traveled heavy
Yes, he always rode alone
And he soon put many older guns to shame
And he never had a sweetheart
But he finally found a home
Underneath the boothill grave that bears his name

From a town known as Oyster Bay, Long Island
Rode a boy with a six-pack in his hand
And his daring life of crime
Made him a legend in his time
East and west of the Rio Grande

 

[DVS]

Another song with telling lyrics by Joel. I think we all have a stranger inside of us, though most of us in this group have probably let it out.

The Stranger-Billy Joel

Well we all have a face
That we hide away forever
And we take them out and
Show ourselves
When everyone has gone
Some are satin some are steel
Some are silk and some are leather
They're the faces of the stranger
But we love to try them on

Well we all fall in love
But we disregard the danger
Though we share so many secrets
There are some we never tell
Why were you so surprised
That you never saw the stranger
Did you ever let your lover see
The stranger in yourself?

Don't be afraid to try again
Everyone goes south
Every now and then
You've done it, why can't
Someone else?
You should know by now
You've been there yourself

Once I used to believe
I was such a great romancer
Then I came home to a woman
That I could not recognize
When I pressed her for a reason
She refused to even answer
It was then I felt the stranger
Kick me right between the eyes

Well we all fall in love
But we disregard the danger
Though we share so many secrets
There are some we never tell
Why were you so surprised
That you never saw the stranger
Did you ever let your lover see
The stranger in yourself?

Don't be afraid to try again
Everyone goes south
Every now and then
You've done it why can't
Someone else?
You should know by now
You've been there yourself

You may never understand
How the stranger is inspired
But he isn't always evil
And he is not always wrong
Though you drown in good intentions
You will never quench the fire
You'll give in to your desire
When the stranger comes along.

 

[DVS]

I like this one because of how beautiful it is, but also because of the lyrics.
Read the lyrics and it's a totally different song. Let me know, if you don't understand.

Rosie-Jackson Browne & Donald Miller

She was standing at the load-in
When the trucks rolled up
She was sniffing all around
Like a half grown female pup
She wasn't hard to talk to
Looked like she had nowhere to go
So I gave her my pass
So she could get in and see the show

Well I sat her down right next to me
And I got her a beer
While I mixed that sound on stage
So the band could hear
The more I watched her watch them play
The less I could think of to say
And when they walked off stage
The drummer swept that girl away

But Rosie you're all right - you wear my ring
When you hold me tight - Rosie that's my thing
When you turn out the light - I've got to hand it to me
Looks like it's me and you again tonight Rosie

Well I guess I might have known from the start
She'd come for a star
Might have told my imagination not to run too far
Of all the times that I've been burned
By now you'd think I'd have learned
That it's who you look like
Not who you are

But Rosie you're all right - you wear my ring
When you hold me tight - Rosie that's my thing
When you turn out the light - I've got to hand it to me
Looks like it's me and you again tonight Rosie

 

[DVS]

Greg Lake has a voice that just won't quit. Sure, it was enhanced by effects, but it had a richness to it that made it almost unnecessary for other instruments to be in the song. And that synth solo at the end. OMG! This is just one of the ELP songs I remember fondly, but I'll spare you the drive down memory lane.

Lucky Man-Greg Lake (Emerson, Lake & Powell)

He had white horses
And ladies by the score
All dressed in satin
And waiting by the door

Oooh, what a lucky man he was

White lace and feathers
They made up his bed
A gold covered mattress
On which he was laid

He went to fight wars
For his country and his king
Of his honor and his glory
The people would sing

A bullet had found him
His blood ran as he cried
No money could save him
So he laid down and he died

Oooh, what a lucky man he was

 

[DVS]

It's said that Neil Young wrote this song in a little more than 10 minutes, after Graham Nash gave him a newspaper clipping of the Kent State killings.

Ohio-Neil Young (Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young)

Tin soldiers and Nixon's comin'.
We're finally on our own.
This summer I hear the drummin'.
Four dead in Ohio.

Gotta get down to it.
Soldiers are gunning us down.
Should have been done long ago.
What if you knew her and
Found her dead on the ground?
How can you run when you know?

Na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na.

Gotta get down to it.
Soldiers are cutting us down.
Should have been done long ago.
What if you knew her and
Found her dead on the ground?
How can you run when you know?

Tin soldiers and Nixon's comin'.
We're finally on our own.
This summer I hear the drummin'.
Four dead in Ohio.
Four dead in Ohio.
Four dead in Ohio.
Four dead in Ohio.

 

[DVS]

Another protest song from the 70s. This video doesn't feature the song writer, Stephen Stills. I looked, but sadly, I couldn't find a decent version. So, this VERY short version features David Gilmour singing Stephen's part. But this video at least has nice quality sound as well as David Crosby and Graham Nash. And you can't go wrong with David Gilmour.

I don't know if there is even a video of the longer version. Either way, this song raised eyebrows when it came out and some radio stations actually refused to play it because of the subject matter.

Find the Cost of Freedom-Stephen Stills (Crosby, Stills and Nash)

Find the cost of freedom, buried in the ground
Mother earth will swallow you, lay your body down
Find the cost of freedom, buried in the ground
Mother earth will swallow you, lay your body down

 

[Keroin]

I really like the young Billy Joel. Just like Elton John, Billy Joel went full blown commercial, once he saw the income potential from it. Maybe he had to pay for his alcohol habit, I don't know. But when he was still young and spirited, his lyrics were too. He wrote songs that a young outsider like myself related to.

File "movin' out" under guilty pleasures for me. If you were less bruised than the people in Springsteen songs, but still blue collar, it's gratifying.

I think in each case the songs had added power because the lyrics themselves were poetry, and good poetry at that, set to the right music. An awful lot of lyrics are just plain rubbish, but some transcend that. The moments where the songwriter's art moves beyond the performing artist (see Leonard Cohen, though I am not a fan) are the ones that affect me most.

Hey, I love Billy Joel. Commercial or not, he’s written some powerful stuff.

The Downeaster “Alexa” grabs my heart and tugs, every time. On this last trip, after seeing how dead the inside passage is and listening to L’s tales of “coho so thick you could walk on them”, this song came on and I teared up.


Well I'm on the Downeaster "Alexa"
And I'm cruising through Block Island Sound
I have charted a course to the Vineyard
But tonight I am Nantucket bound

We took on diesel back in Montauk yesterday
And left this morning from the bell in Gardiner's Bay
Like all the locals here I've had to sell my home
Too proud to leave I worked my fingers to the bone

So I could own my Downeaster "Alexa"
And I go where the ocean is deep
There are giants out there in the canyons
And a good captain can't fall asleep

I've got bills to pay and children who need clothes
I know there's fish out there but where God only knows
They say these waters aren't what they used to be
But I've got people back on land who count on me

So if you see my Downeaster "Alexa"
And if you work with the rod and the reel
Tell my wife I am trawling Atlantis
And I still have my hands on the wheel

Now I drive my Downeaster "Alexa"
More and more miles from shore every year
Since they tell me I can't sell no stripers
And there's no luck in swordfishing here.

I was a bayman like my father was before
Can't make a living as a bayman anymore
There ain't much future for a man who works the sea
But there ain't no island left for islanders like me

 

[DVS]

Hey, I love Billy Joel. Commercial or not, he’s written some powerful stuff.

The Downeaster “Alexa” grabs my heart and tugs, every time. On this last trip, after seeing how dead the inside passage is and listening to L’s tales of “coho so thick you could walk on them”, this song came on and I teared up.


Well I'm on the Downeaster "Alexa"
And I'm cruising through Block Island Sound
I have charted a course to the Vineyard
But tonight I am Nantucket bound

We took on diesel back in Montauk yesterday
And left this morning from the bell in Gardiner's Bay
Like all the locals here I've had to sell my home
Too proud to leave I worked my fingers to the bone

So I could own my Downeaster "Alexa"
And I go where the ocean is deep
There are giants out there in the canyons
And a good captain can't fall asleep

I've got bills to pay and children who need clothes
I know there's fish out there but where God only knows
They say these waters aren't what they used to be
But I've got people back on land who count on me

So if you see my Downeaster "Alexa"
And if you work with the rod and the reel
Tell my wife I am trawling Atlantis
And I still have my hands on the wheel

Now I drive my Downeaster "Alexa"
More and more miles from shore every year
Since they tell me I can't sell no stripers
And there's no luck in swordfishing here.

I was a bayman like my father was before
Can't make a living as a bayman anymore
There ain't much future for a man who works the sea
But there ain't no island left for islanders like me

Hey don't kill the messenger. And in my defense, this is an old song of his, too.

 

[DVS]

I like this song because of the tension in the lyrics. This is the version I first heard the song. Simply a great album. Almost as good as 'Yellow Brick Road'. Incidentally, Elton didn't write the lyrics of his most famous songs. He put music to Bernie's words.

Ticking-Music by Elton John, Lyrics by Bernie Taupin

"An extremely quiet child" they called you in your school report
"He's always taken interest in the subjects that he's taught"
So what was it that brought the squad car screaming up your drive
To notify your parents of the manner in which you died
At St. Patricks every Sunday, Father Fletcher heard your sins
"Oh, he's unconcerned with competition he never cares to win"
But blood stained a young hand that never held a gun
And his parents never thought of him as their troubled son
"Now you'll never get to Heaven" Mama said
Remember Mama said
Ticking, ticking
"Grow up straight and true blue
Run along to bed"
Hear it, hear it, ticking, ticking
They had you holed up in a downtown bar screaming for a priest
Some gook said "His brain's just snapped" then someone called the police
You'd knifed a Negro waiter who had tried to calm you down
Oh you'd pulled a gun and told them all to lay still on the ground
Promising to hurt no one, providing they were still
A young man tried to make a break, with tear-filled eyes you killed
That gun butt felt so smooth and warm cradled in your palm
Oh your childhood cried out in your head "they mean to do you harm"
"Don't ever ride on the devil's knee" Mama said
Remember mama said
Ticking, ticking
"Pay your penance well, my child
Fear where angels tread"
Hear it, hear it, ticking, ticking
Within an hour the news had reached the media machine
A male Caucasian with a gun had gone berserk in Queens
The area had been sealed off, the kids sent home from school
Fourteen people lying dead in a bar they called the Kicking Mule
Oh they pleaded to your sanity for the sake of those inside
"Throw out your gun, walk out slow just keep your hands held high"
But they pumped you full of rifle shells as you stepped out the door
Oh you danced in death like a marionette on the vengeance of the law
"You've slept too long in silence" Mama said
Remember Mama said
Ticking, ticking
"Crazy boy, you'll only wind up with strange notions in your head"
Hear it, hear it, ticking, ticking

 

[DVS]

Are you tired of me, yet?

I could go on and on when talking about 'Goodbye Yellow Brick Road'. There's a story behind that song, by the way. But I picked "Harmony" because I love harmony and this song reminds me of younger days when life was fun and everything was new.

Harmony-Music by Elton John, Lyrics by Bernie Taupin

Hello, baby hello
Haven't seen your face for a while
Have you quit doing time for me
Or are you still the same spoiled child

Hello, I said hello
Is this the only place you thought to go
Am I the only man you ever had
Or am I just the last surviving friend that you know

Harmony and me
We're pretty good company
Looking for an island
In our boat upon the sea
Harmony, gee I really love you
And I want to love you forever
And dream of the never, never, never leaving harmony

Hello, baby hello
Open up your heart and let your feelings flow
You're not unlucky knowing me
Keeping the speed real slow
In any case I set my own pace
By stealing the show, say hello, hello

 

[DVS]

OK, sorry for this song, but yes, I like some Barry Manilow songs. This song's lyrics really hit home for me when I was younger. I couldn't find any other videos of this, so sorry about how this one looks and how Barry looks. Just keep in mind, it's the song, not the image. Forget it's Barry Manilow and just listen to the song.

All The Time-Barry Manilow & Marty Panzer

All the time I thought there's only me
Crazy in a way that no one else could be,
I would have given everything I own,
If someone would have said you're not alone

All the time I thought that I was wrong,
Wanting to be me
But needing to belong,
If I had just believed in all I had,
If someone would have said you're not so bad

All the time,
All the wasted time,
All the years waiting for a sign,
To think I had it all
All the time

All the time I thought there's only me
Crazy in a way that no one else could be
I can't believe that you were somewhere too,
Thinking all the time there's only you

All the time,
All the wasted time,
All the years waiting for a sign,
To think we had it all
All the time

 

[DVS]

Joe Walsh isn't really known for emotion in his songs, even after joining the Eagles. He writes about smoking too much pot or drinking too much booze and not being able to find the door or driving too fast, so now he don't drive. But there's no doubt, he can write a song. This song was written straight from his heart to his daughter. She was killed in an auto accident on the way to nursery school in 1974. Not just the song and the sentiment, but I love this arrangement.

Song for Emma - Joe Walsh

There's a feeling I get when I look to the sky
As if someone is watching,
Someone hears every word.
We are filled with regrets, it was such a short time,
But we told Him we loved you, hoping somehow He heard.
We hoped He heard
You were with us for a while and He took you,
And He made your mama cry.
I can see it in her eyes, there's a question as to why.
And after all this time still I find that I'm without an answer.
Good Bye. Bye love.

 

[Seurat]

The Who's 'Quadrophenia'. Some of the greatest music ever came out of concept albums, such as those done by The Who, Genesis, and Pink Floyd. There is certainly something to be said for the impact an entire album can have as opposed to a single song.