| The Guess Who – Truckin' Off Across the Sky Lyrics | 3 years ago |
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I thought the same thing about this song for years & years - a great party song about all the goodies needed to take off and go "truckin' off across the sky..." presumably at a concert. The fact that it was never recorded in the studio or released as a single seemed to indicate as much. There was also a 'naughty' quality to it that you could jam out like crazy to the song, but couldn't belt out the lyrics in 'polite' company. I didn't do drugs but I sure drove my parents crazy by playing it at high volume behind closed doors in my bedroom. Recently, and like the another comment here, I read that it was actually an ANTI-drug song. Hmmm...I suppose a case could be made for that in how it starts with the "Reaper wants to take y'all for a ride..." that will slip you "...to the other side..." Add to that the party atmosphere it describes in the entertainment (Miss America!) and you have an attitude akin to or even a forerunner of "Highway To Hell" (AC/DC). A further description of how you can feel in the morning - and what you have to do to beat it - can also show or be a warning about addiction and being stuck in a rut. The 'rut' being the "fly now, crash later" cycle and having to take more junk to feel normal or to be able to function. Also, the song closes with "...only the Reaper can get you on the train..." and fades out repeating a checklist of what you need or can take in order to board & ride. Yeah, I could see it interpreted as an anti-drug song but it sounds too damned fun to think about it while rockin' out. Besides, try selling that idea with this song & "The Pusher" (Steppenwolf) to your parents or grandparents - we already know the only parts or lyrics they would hear ???? |
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| Laura Nyro – Stoney End Lyrics | 11 years ago |
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It's labeled "Song Comparison" not "Song Meaning" because I was comparing it with my memories & comments I made about a different song called "Wind Up" by Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull. There are several possible reasons & categories for commenting on the lyrics of these songs... where are yours & what do YOU think the song means?? |
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| Laura Nyro – Stoney End Lyrics | 11 years ago |
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I saw the performance of this song with its original lyrics (above) on the 2012 Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame induction of Laura Nyro - with an excellent review of her professional life (although it left out the lesbianism). God, I can't believe how I cried like a baby (and still do) when it's full weight came crashing down on me. I was a very faithful Christian for most of my life until "losing my religion" about the time I saw the performance. In fact I had just sent the letter requesting my excommunication the week before. In response to the previous comments, remember Laura was barely 19 years old when she recorded this song on her first album in 1966 (released in '67). I don't know when she wrote it, but she was 17 (or younger) when she wrote "And When I Die"... which already showed great depth of thought by the time "Stoney End" was written and/or recorded by her, then others. It took me until my 55th year to begin to see or understand really what she did before she was 20 ("I was raised on the Good Book Jesus / Till I read between the lines") .. and what a long & painful process it was for me. How did she do it? The only thing, for me, that compared to that was Ian Anderson (same age) with Jethro Tull on "Aqualung"... which was recorded almost 5 years later. I don't fault my parents & the generations before them for bringing me up as such... it was a process & labor of love for them based on all they were taught & knew at the time. Yet, how I questioned my own mother's sanity when I saw go through this process! God, how I wish (like in the lyrics) that I could be cradled again by my mother in the innocence of my youth before the learning & realizations of my adulthood. I did label this as a "Song Comparison", didn't I? Rather than elaborate this more with my sentiments or analysis, the best I feel I can do is to tie it in with my comments on Ian Anderson's "Wind Up". I feel they dovetail nicely, his a great compliment to hers. Here's the link: http://www.songmeanings.net/songs/view/45570/ Thank God for her pure genius & talent - and the many more songs she wrote of equal quality & depth. |
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| Jethro Tull – Wind-Up Lyrics | 11 years ago |
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I can readily agree with all or parts of all of the previous comments. As a once-faithful Christian who "lost my religion" last year, this song was very much on my mind throughout the long process of evaluation, wondering, doubt & determination. I'm not completely sure that Ian Anderson was even giving God his props here when you listen to the whole album (remember those?). However, he sure condemns the lot of those who bend & interpret God, Christ & religion according to their whims & fancy. You have to remember the awful suffering still a part of the British institutional memory that was caused by the pairing of power & religion throughout the medieval period & the supposed "Renaissance" of mankind's understanding of his universe & existence. What wanton ignorance & corruption! For some reason, the whole composition always came back to me over the years since hearing it in my youth the year it was released. I was still young trying to tow the line that was fed to me innocently enough by my parents & those who loved me. I was conscious also that the depth & emotion of Ian's writing reflected someone who had already "done the thinking" that I was yet incapable of doing for myself. I can't believe it took some 40+ years to pay attention & give in. The lyric that grabs me the most after all these years is the assertion that "I'd rather look around me -- compose a better song / 'Cause that's the honest measure of my worth..." as a frank statement of whose responsibility it is to get what they will from this life rather than to blame or to put it in the hands of others. "Do not go gentle into that good night..." (Dylan Thomas), Indeed!! |
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