He certainly did earn that reputation.
Faces of stone that watched from the dark
As the wind swirled around and you took my arm in the park
Images framed, hung high in the trees
And you talked of your youth
But the years had turned dry as the leaves
Your lover was gone, his replacement to hand
And just what the difference was, you could not understand
In darkening grey we walked back through the streets
Then you talked all night long of your childhood home by the sea
And I, my disguise a mask chosen by you
Believed every word I heard
At least I think that's what I tried to do
We sat on the roof, the night overflowed
No more was said but I learned all I needed to know
Your Hollywood smile shone a light on the past
But it was the future that you held so tight to your heart
As the wind swirled around and you took my arm in the park
Images framed, hung high in the trees
And you talked of your youth
But the years had turned dry as the leaves
Your lover was gone, his replacement to hand
And just what the difference was, you could not understand
In darkening grey we walked back through the streets
Then you talked all night long of your childhood home by the sea
And I, my disguise a mask chosen by you
Believed every word I heard
At least I think that's what I tried to do
We sat on the roof, the night overflowed
No more was said but I learned all I needed to know
Your Hollywood smile shone a light on the past
But it was the future that you held so tight to your heart
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Show Me a Little Shame
Ben Harper & the Innocent Criminals
Ben Harper & the Innocent Criminals
Light Up The Sky
Van Halen
Van Halen
The song lyrics were written by the band Van Halen, as they were asked to write a song for the 1979 movie "Over the Edge" starring Matt Dillon. The movie (and the lyrics, although more obliquely) are about bored, rebellious youth with nothing better to do than get into trouble. If you see the movie, these lyrics will make more sense. It's a great movie if you grew up in the 70s/80s you'll definitely remember some of these characters from your own life. Fun fact, after writing the song, Van Halen decided not to let the movie use it.
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
"Fast car" is kind of a continuation of Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run." It has all the clawing your way to a better life, but in this case the protagonist never makes it with her love; in fact she is dragged back down by him.
There is still an amazing amount of hope and will in the lyrics; and the lyrics themselve rank and easy five. If only music was stronger it would be one of those great radio songs that you hear once a week 20 years after it was released. The imagery is almost tear-jerking ("City lights lay out before us", "Speeds so fast felt like I was drunk"), and the idea of starting from nothing and just driving and working and denigrating yourself for a chance at being just above poverty, then losing in the end is just painful and inspiring at the same time.
Bron-Y-Aur Stomp
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
This is about bronies. They communicate by stomping.
Cajun Girl
Little Feat
Little Feat
Overall about difficult moments of disappointment and vulnerability. Having hope and longing, while remaining optimistic for the future. Encourages the belief that with each new morning there is a chance for things to improve.
The chorus offers a glimmer of optimism and a chance at a resolution and redemption in the future.
Captures the rollercoaster of emotions of feeling lost while loving someone who is not there for you, feeling let down and abandoned while waiting for a lover. Lost with no direction, "Now I'm up in the air with the rain in my hair, Nowhere to go, I can go anywhere"
The bridge shows signs of longing and a plea for companionship. The Lyrics express a desire for authentic connection and the importance of Loving someone just as they are. "Just in passing, I'm not asking. That you be anyone but you”
Gilmour himself, on "Unmask Us, writes:
‘Faces Of Stone’ was prompted by a memory of a day walking in Ladbroke Gardens with my mother when she was suffering with dementia. As we were walking through the trees, under the trees, she was saying, “Isn’t it lovely.” She would see pictures that were there hanging in the trees. That was a moment that sparked it off and I had a line that went, “Faces of stone that watched from the dark, As the wind swirled around and you took my arm in the park.” So it’s basically about my mother’s decline and the ending of one life and beginning of another ‘cos Romany was born 9 months before my mother died. So there was a period when they were alive together. She came to our house and held Romany in her arms as a tiny baby and I have a picture of that. So the moment in the park which is a mental picture and the picture of her holding Romany in her arms sparked a little thing that became the lyric.” David Gilmour (727)