Daily Cascade

Songs and their Lyrics

Prompt: Songs
What do you think of song lyrics in general and which songs have vivid memories for you? Also, do you remember if any song taught you anything about life?

---------

I can't tell exactly how songs cut through the noise, even with some of the music that sounds more like noise, and connect with people on a deep emotional level. I wonder, sometimes, if it's the storytelling in them, but then, some songs just say it without offering a story, like the one song by the Beatles, Let it Be, that made a huge impact on my young life when it came up on the charts. I guess, at that young age, I needed resilience more than anything.

Songs about love, heartbreak, joy, pain, nostalgia, and many other things bring to light the feelings we may experience in our everyday lives. I guess when we listen to them, we feel understood and validated.

Songs are particularly powerful if they capture how we feel especially when we are going through a difficult time. Be it fictional, they may do this through some storytelling that may be relatable by most of us. Working class struggles that Bruce Springsteen brings to life as well as the relationship issues voiced by Taylor Smith are good examples for this.

I believe certain lyrics, paired with melodies, can trigger powerful memories. When people hear songs that were significant at different points in their lives—perhaps a song that was playing during a significant life event—the lyrics can transport them back to that moment.

In my personal case, however, I have been more impressed by the older songs' lyrics, mostly those sung by the Beatles.

How do I love thee, old songs? Let me count the ways:

Let it Be by the Beatles (John Lennon)
I want to Hold Your Hand by the Beatles (John Lennon)
Imagine by John Lennon
Stand by Me by John Lennon
I'm a Rock, I'm an Island by Paul Simon
Bridge Over Troubled Waters by Paul Simon
The Sound of Silence by Paul Simon
El Condor Pasa by Paul Simon

Also:
Man In The Mirror by Michael Jackson, and especially this: “If you wanna make the world a better place/Take look at yourself and make a change”
And The Beatles' ‘Hey Jude’ “Anytime you feel the pain, hey Jude, refrain/ Don’t carry the world upon your shoulders”

Still, above all of it:
Histoire d'un amour by Gloria Lasso
                   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mz0udo1hKms
Better yet when Dalida sang it:
                   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t80p5eWbViE
Then as the tango by Cristina Dăscălescu -- Maria Filali & Özgür Karahan
                   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJH2QsRgo1g