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How deep is your song...

Bryan Burnett | 20:06 UK time, Tuesday, 5 April 2011

There is nothing wrong with being a bit shallow now and then but on Wednesday's show we are getting deep. I'm looking for your suggestions of songs that have a deeper meaning. That could be anything from Imagine to Greatest Love of All. Perhaps it's those songs that took two or three listens before you really 'got' it. Maybe it's the ones that took years to figure out. For me it would have to be Mary Chapin Carpenter's Closer and Closer Apart. I just assumed it was a break up song about a couple who still love each other but have decided to split. When she revealed to me the inspiration behind the song it became a totally different song and of course it had a much deeper meaning than I'd read into it. The title came from a phrase that iris Murdoch's husband used to describe the changes in their relationship as he nursed her during her tragic battle with dementia. It's a stunning song and like so much of MCC's work it has layers and layers of meaning.

Comments

  • Comment number 1.

    This theme will probably say more abut the requester than the song.

  • Comment number 2.

    and your request is, Glen? No buts, abut.

  • Comment number 3.

    That is a fantastic suggestion by the presenter. Would wholeheartedly second that. I wrote in a long time ago and requested a theme based around caring and MCC's Closer and Closer Apart and Chocolate Genoius with My Mom were my suggested tracks for those caring with relatives suffering from dementia.

  • Comment number 4.

    Tubby The Tuba - Danny Kaye - It has served me well as a template for life

  • Comment number 5.

    #3

    You don't have to look far to encounter dementia these days.

  • Comment number 6.

    #5 tempted as I am I am not going to reply for fear of offending anyone.

  • Comment number 7.

    #4 humbled

  • Comment number 8.

    Yoko......listen up john, the next train to barnsley's at 2317 hrs.
    John......did i never tell ye that i could do the spock sign?
    6th. Beatle........ah 'ad 'arold wilson on last week y'kno'.....an' he was 'ay ba' goom

    prize money.....yes please!!

    cheers frea the dale

  • Comment number 9.

    #8 one for the caption pot

    and its

    cheers frae the dale.....not a hidden meaning of domestic enslavement

  • Comment number 10.

    I would like to nominate Van Morrison. Not been played for a while.

    Van Morrison - Have I told You Lately That I Love You

    This is not a throwaway love song by The Man. The Poet Brian Hinton MBE described it as "Earthly love transmutes into that for God, just like in Dante, "there's a love that's divine and it's yours and it's mine". The morning sun has set by the end of the song, suggesting love shading into death...on the same album When Will I Learn To Live In God, Whenever God Shines His Light and on the track These Are The Days Van describes "His timely grace and our treasured find
    This is the love of the one magician, Turned the water into wine...". Van's meaning is clear.

    Having said that if it suits your purpose for first wedding dance, good on you and enjoy it!

    At the opposite end of the spectrum:

    Van Morrison - Across The Bridge Where Angels Dwell

    "Across the bridge where angels dwell
    Across the bridge where angels
    Across the bridge where angels dwell
    Children play"

    What is the mystic meaning Van? Eh nothing, my children lived across the bridge in San Fransisco........


  • Comment number 11.

    The summer of 69 according to Bryan Adams was not about 1969.

  • Comment number 12.

    #10 Here we go again......thought it would be The Rising at least you saved us that....

  • Comment number 13.

    'You Haven't Done Nothin'' - Stevie Wonder

    A diatribe against Richard Nixon...I especially like the hard-hitting chorus...

    Doo doo wop - stand up be counted, say
    Doo doo wop - co co co
    Doo doo wop - ow
    Doo doo wop - bum bum bum
    Doo doo wop - ah hum

  • Comment number 14.

    You're A Big Girl Now - Bob Dylan

    ....a sort of "I Will Survive" from the other person's perspective....


    Both Sides Now - Judy Collins


    .....with the profound lyrics supplied by Joni Mitchell.......


    Avalanche - Leonard Cohen


    ....no idea what it's all about but it doesn't get much deeper than a big pile of snow......

    Paul from Ayr

  • Comment number 15.

    #13 Maaahn that IS deep!!

    ....then again you could have.....

    Almost Cut My Hair - David Crosby (CSNY)


    :-D

  • Comment number 16.

    Little 15 ~ Depeche Mode

    A latter day Mrs. Robinson type tale..

  • Comment number 17.

    Not sure these are all on-theme, but here's hoping:

    On a bus to St Cloud - Trisha Yearwood or Gretchen Peters
    Mary - Patty Griffin
    I hope you dance - Lee Ann Womack
    If I should fall behind - Springsteen
    ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ to Houston - Steve Earle
    Three wishes - the Pierces
    Solsbury Hill - Peter Gabriel

    Joe
    Linlithgow

  • Comment number 18.

    Before I forget...'Whispering Pines' by The Band...I'll explain later!

  • Comment number 19.

    She Loves You? Yeah, yeah yeah.................

    Was this the hidden meaning? Was there a missing question mark in the lyrics?



    Cue X-files music........................

  • Comment number 20.

    WEDNESDAY


    'Ride 'em Jewboy' - Willie Nelson

    A song about a Jewish cowboy. Or Kinky Friedman's poignant reflection on the Nazi Holocaust.


    'Farther Down the Line' - Willie Nelson

    A song about a rodeo rider. Or Lyle Lovett's take on romantic relationships.

  • Comment number 21.

    an absoloutely stunningly beautiful song.
    i've heard it ONCE on radio, decades ago.
    it's dedicated to the wonderful glasgow artist oscar marzaroli.
    it's one of the finest pieces of songwriting i've ever heard and the tune's not even original.
    feel free to take whatever depth you may from it, and it has depth.
    it's too good, even for youtube
    the songs a showstopper...........guaranteed.
    this is less a request more a plea.

    'take me to the place'...........deacon blue

    cheers frae the dale

  • Comment number 22.

    Bryan Ferry's lyrics have never really been clearly about anything but leaving them open for many interpritations. However the video for Slave To Love has a twist in it. The video shows howm heading back to see his wife/lover/girfriend. All the papparazzi are hanging around waiting for him, following him to see catch a photo of him with his his new mystery woman. When he gets there it turns out that he has rushed back because he is missing his children, a different kind of love.

    Spare a wee thought for Mr Ferry as he was taken to hospital yesterday :

    "Bryan Ferry is undergoing tests in hospital after pulling out of an event last night suffering from a mysterious illness
    It is understood he had been feeling unwell for several days and called doctors as he was preparing for the event.

    It was initially feared the singer had suffered a heart attack but this was denied by a spokesman who said: ‘He has been feeling unwell and is having tests".

  • Comment number 23.

    Me Neither - Brad Paisley - funny, yes, but also about shyness and that awkward first date - ah yes, the years roll back

    Dance Called America - Runrig

  • Comment number 24.

    #18 jeez talking about getting kept in suspense

  • Comment number 25.

    ‘Whispering Pines’ – The BandÌýBeautiful song, often quoted as a masterpiece, from The Band.Ìý Richard Manuel composed the music but he struggled with lyrics so took the song to Robbie Robertson to complete. ÌýThe imagery in the song conveys loneliness and emptiness which, no doubt, ‘troubled soul’ Manuel, who eventually took his own life, was inclined to feel.

  • Comment number 26.

    The Eagles: Hotel California (Not immediately obvious, but I think the 'hotel' in the title is infact a rehab centre... hence; 'you can checkout any time you like, but you can never leave).

    Don Henley: The Boys Of Summer (I've since summised that 'Summer' is not the 4-months of the year, but the 'summer years' of his life and Don is promising that he will still be devoted to his loved-one once his years partying with 'the lads' are over).

    Peter, Paul and Mary: Puff The Magic Dragon... OK, I believe them, it's not about the other 'puff'... just like Turning Japanese by The Vapours is about love so strong it makes your eyes slanty... and I came up the Clyde in a wheelbarrow.

  • Comment number 27.

    I had thought Gaie would have been along to discuss one of the many great Jackson Browne lyrics. I'll pitch in with one of my favourites, which has a couple of interesting things about it.

    Jackson Browne - The Naked Ride ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ

    The song starts with the singer setting out what seems to be a romantic dare to his partner and he describes driving along the freeway at night with a beauty known only to him...and a big rig or two...but she speaks of all the things she has not yet done, and he has to face up to a truth that would eventually dawn, forcing him to decide. But to decide what?

    Jackson Browne in this song is using the relationship as a parable to demonstrate how hard and important it is examine your life and recognise it for what it is. The lesson is that to examine your life and to be honest with yourself is a valuable and neccessary process but which is very difficult.

  • Comment number 28.

    DON VAN VLIET claimed it was about telling people to quit putting labels on him and to take off the labels they had already attached to him. JOHN FRENCH claims it was about something else – deep, man.

    LICK MY DECALS OFF, BABY from LICK MY DECALS OFF, BABY by CAPTAIN BEEFHEART AND HIS MAGIC BAND.

  • Comment number 29.

    Just about my favourite Springsteen song (cue collective groan) is the track

    Bruce Springsteen - Long Walk ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ.

    On the face of it the song is similar to My City of Ruins, with the Boss seeming to be simply reflecting on the changes to his hometown, and yearning for a place that has changed.

    But the track is really a reflection on the changes that took place, as Springsteen sees it, in the USA under the Presidency of George W. Bush. The experiences of the Iraq War and the treatment of POW's and terror suspects, Hurricane Katrina and the economic crisis facing many of the Nations poorest. Springsteen reflects:

    "You know that flag flying over the courthouse
    Means certain things are set in stone
    Who we are, what we'll do and what we won't"

    And he sees that is is a long way back for his Country.

    I'm off for a lie down.

  • Comment number 30.

    Previously on the blog....

    #37 - #41 - #56 - #70 - #71 - If you're talking about me you're leaving someone else alone!

    ;o)


    The Last Chance Texaco - Rickie Lee Jones

    The broken down car isn't really a broken down car. I can't remember the word for that. Glen?

    :o)

  • Comment number 31.

    #29 Concerto village

  • Comment number 32.

    #20 collagen evictor

  • Comment number 33.

    #27

    happy to leave it to you, Norrie - you're far more knowledgeable than me - and happy to second your choice.

    I do actually wish I paid more attention to lyrics. I listen to the tune and go wandering in my head. The voices haven't told me to do anything yet, something to be thankful for.

    Going to try for yesterday's choice again - the beginnings of Peter Green's troubles are heralded in

    Man of The World - Fleetwood Mac


    I guess I've got everything I need
    I wouldn't ask for more
    And there's no one I'd rather be
    But I just wish that I'd never been born




  • Comment number 34.

    #17/#29 There's a much more obvious Brooooce song, but it'll get the klaxon...

    Otherwise:
    * The Specials - The Lunatics Have Taken Over the Asylum
    * The Vapors - Turning Japanese (We've been threatening this one for a loooong time now)
    * Dream Factory - Life in a Northern Town (About Nick Drake)

  • Comment number 35.

    Oh, missed off a biggie (actually 2):

    * U2 - Gloria No, not the same subject matter as the Van Morrison track of the same name
    * U2 - 40 Confused a *lot* of people who didn't understand the title reference (it's Psalm 40)

  • Comment number 36.

    A more obvious Brooce track that has lyrics as meaningful as Turning Japanese....im intrigued...do tell...

  • Comment number 37.

    #34 SOLID AIR from SOLID AIR by JOHN MARTYN (About Nick Drake)

  • Comment number 38.

    Ho! Try no Jam

  • Comment number 39.

    ...nearly

  • Comment number 40.

    #35 re U2 Patti Smith beat them to the idea by about 4 years and I'm site Julie suggested her track last week.

  • Comment number 41.

    #40

    Good point - and no-one can suggest that U2 wouldn't be aware of it.

    (I'd not really heard much Patti before - listening to now and really enjoying it. It's bringing John Cale to mind)

  • Comment number 42.

    #40/41

    Of course that *is* the Van Morrison song with some religious stuff at the start.

  • Comment number 43.

    Aaah yessss! back to the nearlies again!

  • Comment number 44.

    #41/42 John Cale produced. The Them track is very cleverly worked in, I think it equalls some of her best work. Certainly a Mozz influence too. All good stuff.

  • Comment number 45.

    Bang The Drum All Day - Todd Rundgren

    Pop music is a product designed to separate you from your GBPs (though HMV may take some convincing). This track is from Todd's contractual obligation album The Ever Popular Tortured Artist Effect which gives you a clue about value of lyrics. Any search for meaning is pointless. The best music just makes you want to get up and dance like this one.

  • Comment number 46.

    Now far be it from the likes of me to disagree with our hero and Aladdin MacLean on the same evening and on the same subject: but... Mary Chapin-Carpenter's finest work and deepest meaning is in her song 'The Rhythm Of The Blues' - the realisation that even as the protagonist, you still have to see both sides ' Lonely looks as bad on me as lonely looks on you' and the insight to the hidden world of internal longing for change that will not happen. This is the track immediately after 'He Thinks He'll Keep Her' -itself a stunning double take/play on words.

    But what I'd really like to hear is Leonard Cohen's 'The Captain' - about the hidden battle in us all over good and evil... this is the track after Hallejuiah and much much better imho.. it's also upbeat, cheery and great fun... sincerely, we deserve to hear this (despite my success with PJ Proby, last night).

    Also, I think ther may be a theme in this... the track after Halleujiah is..The Captain The track after Imagine is .. Crippled Inside..the track after He Think's He'll Keep Her is The Rhythm of the Blues... The track after Whole Lotta Love is .. What Is and What Should Never Be.. all as agood as or better than the famous one.

    How often is the famous track followed by one equally great that never gets airplay.

    Of course, the team won't fancy that..

    regardez youse

    henri

  • Comment number 47.

    Henri - I salute you.

    and a fantastic theme idea.

  • Comment number 48.


    I missed last night's show. Still no playlist. Did 'Oliver's Army' get played last night as well?

  • Comment number 49.

    Caption


    Yoko:- "Here are some finger puppets I prepared earlier!"

    John:- "It's puppets, Michael. But not as we know them..."

    Michael:- "Eh, bah gum! I'll go to the foot of our stairs!"

  • Comment number 50.

    #48 yes

  • Comment number 51.


    Uncle Vic owes us a Tull tune...

    >8-D

  • Comment number 52.

    That's a tull order.....

  • Comment number 53.

    "It says here I get a free Parker pen just for applying"

  • Comment number 54.

    Is it too late for...

  • Comment number 55.

    #46 Thanks for the suggestion Henri, hmmm interesting, and I'll be ploughing thro some of my favourite albums to put your theory to the test, as well as adding your idea to our batch of themes.
    We enjoy receiving all your ideas here on the blog so please keep them coming bloggers.
    Miss B

  • Comment number 56.

    Well there ye go, we are telt. Get suggesting. I think it would be good to....


    What?




    We've started another threed??????

  • Comment number 57.

    So the blog has exploded....,,, no opperchancity to post.

    Whose fault is that?

    Just caws I diss'd the smiffs, has Bryan taken offence? Has @ ya kev fae dalevin offended the episcopalians? Has Glin Meller got so fed up wi the themes that he's bombed pacific quay? Has ThingFish confessed to her alter-ego? Or has Scotch finally come out?

    We need tae be telt!!!!!!

  • Comment number 58.

    Actually, what scotch does in his spare time is up to her

  • Comment number 59.

    #58 is an anagram by the way


    Ho hum....

  • Comment number 60.

    I'd just like to say hello to DC

    I'm just back from afternoon tea with a couple of fellow bloggers and have an alibi.


    The answer is that no songs from the 80s have stood the test of time, the golden age stopped at 1979.


  • Comment number 61.

    #57, #58

    As if gettin' cuffed at Blackjack isnae' bad enough. Whit is this numpty bangin' oan aboot?

    Jeezo.......

  • Comment number 62.


    DC,

    Nivvir mind. It's a blessing in disguise. The only decent song in 1981 was Cliff, and Adam is sure to request it.

    'Daddy's ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ' - Cliff ~ Sounds as fresh now as it did then. Signed Adam

  • Comment number 63.

    Sounds like a good night for both GM & SG!

    Here! Anybody seen the article in today's Herald about the new album being released next week in memory o' Ian Stewart? Adam will nae doot be on about how the Stones are really a Pittenweem band. I remember them coming to Cellardyke to see Stu's auntie who stayed next door to us.

    Looks like I'll hae tae order a copy.

    DC

  • Comment number 64.

    I think Stewart got a raw deal from the Stones and it's a bit late to redress the balance.

  • Comment number 65.

    Futurely on the blog

    Na scotch didn't get on the boat but I got a fotie. Did get the offer though but whilst i was out playing he was working. Got the famous fish supper in that part of the world though. Another one off the bucket list.

  • Comment number 66.

    Ian Stewart was the second lowest answer on Pointless recently for rolling stones members. Lowest answer was Mick Taylor

  • Comment number 67.

    Got tae say that I prefer this threed tae the one wi discussion on 1981.

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