Killing me softly

What makes you like a song? Is it the lyrics? The catchiness of “the hook”? The overall message? The sound in general? It is about how complicated or “different” it is to other things?

I had an interesting conversation about this the other day. The guy I was talking to particularly liked a song and its lyrics, a song (much to his dismay) that I found painfully boring. The sound in general did nothing for me, and the lyrics left me cold. Yet we were listening to the same song…

We concluded it comes down to HOW you listen to it. I am not a musician, I cannot read music, I do not play an instrument and I am tone deaf. When I listen to a song, I do not break it down into parts; I hear it is a whole.

My friend, however, IS a musician and can play an instrument. He finds the pop music I enjoy boring, and thinks it all sounds the same. The basic drum beats, the same-y guitar sounds, the vocals.

He likened it to watching a movie after you have studied film; you will never watch a movie the same way.

I am glad I don’t play and instrument, or read music, or have a singing voice…because if it ruins my pop it is not worth it.

Some of the most beautiful lyrics can be found in pop songs though….if you look/listen closely.

If you read the below lyrics as poetry, you would be hard pressed not to be moved.

What day is it?
And in what month?
This clock never seemed so aliveI can't keep up and I can't back down
I've been losing so much time
Cause it's you and me and all of the people with nothing to do
Nothing to loseAnd it's you and me and all of the people
And I don't know why, I can't keep my eyes off of you

All of the things that I want to say just aren't coming out right
I'm tripping on wordsYou've got my head spinningI
don't know where to go from here
There's something about you nowI can't quite figure out
Everything she does is beautiful
Everything she does is right

What an amazing expression of finding “the one” for you in a world of possibilities!

My friend assures me it’s all or nothing
I am not worried- I am not overly concerned
My friend implores me for one time only,
Make an exception.
I am not worried

Wrap her up in a package of lies
Send her off to a coconut island
I am not worried - I am not overly concerned
With the status of my emotions
Oh, she says, were changing.
But were always changing

It does not bother me to say this isn’t love
Because if you don’t want to talk about it then it isn’t love
And I guess I’m going to have to live that
But, I’m sure there’s something in a shade of gray
Or something in betweenAnd I can always change my name if that’s what you mean

My friend assures me it’s all or nothing`
But I am not really worriedI am not overly concerned
You try to tell your self the things you try tell your self to make
Yourself forget
To make your self forget
I am not worried

If it’s love she said, then were gonna have to think about the consequences
She can’t stop shaking and I can t stop touching her and.....
This time when kindness falls like rain
It washes her away and Anna begins to change her mind
These seconds when I’m shaking leave me shuddering for days she says.
And I’m not ready for this sort of thing

But I’m not gonna break
And I’m not going to worry about it anymore
’m not gonna bend. and I’m not gonna break andI’m not gonna worry about it anymore
It seems like I should say as long as this is love...
But it’s not all that easy so maybe I should just
Snap her up in a butterfly net-
Pin her down on a photograph album
I am not worried
I’ve done this sort of thing before

But then I start to think about the consequences
Because I don’t get no sleep in a quiet room and...

The time when kindness falls like rain
It washes me away and Anna begins change my mind
And every time she sneezes I believe it’s loveAnd oh lord....
I’m not ready for this sort of thing

She s talking in her sleep-it s keeping me awakeAnd Anna begins to toss and turn
And every word is nonsense but I understand it and
Oh lord. I m not ready for this sort of thing

Her kindness bangs a gong
It’s moving me along and Anna begins to fade away
It s chasing me away. she disappears, and oh lord I’m not ready for this sort of thing

The uncertainty to accept love when you find it; being swept away by it and then having it leave you. Spine tingling. “Every time she sneezes I believe it’s love” and “every word is nonsense, but I understand” are two of my favourite lines to appear in a song EVER.

Come now baby
Stay in bed, don't think that it's lazy
Get ourselves another god
Don't let them tell us there isn't one (isn't one)

Stay, sweet honey
Life's so fast, ya know it ain't funny
Get ourselves another god
Don't let them tell us there isn't one (isn't one)

Like we are just skinCan you beholdKnow beauty within
Know beauty inside your body
You don't love any body
Why do lovers
Choose others
We circle, entwine one-another
In that mask that we wear with each other
Oh my god how I looked in that mirrorI looked in a hollow picture
It was something I could frame

That's right, sweet-heart
Life's tough now, life can be hard
Don't blame me for these pressures in life
Don't blame me for this sacrifice (sacrifice)

Ok, sweet-heart
Take your time, I know lovers they part
Time slows when you're in love
And time moves so fast when it's gettin' on (gettin' on)

Cos we are just skin
Can you behold
I know beauty within
Know beauty inside my body
I don't love any body
Why do lovers choose others
To mirror their pain, yeah
Slow down stranger
ou know that you're in danger
These demons have got their own names, yeah
Ready for you to lay it on

In a word…wow.

And finally these…

You were my rainbow
You coloured my life
But sure as rain will come again
You faded out of sight
You disappeared as discreetly as you arrived
And continue to break me
Behind my care-free attitude and pride
Your pure nature shattered my dreams
And enchanted me wholly, if only you could see

As the rain returns
I search for you
A mass of colour
Emerging from the dreary blue
But you are no-where to be found
And searching does no good
And as I gaze, stranded on the ground
I realize I wished for more than I should
For you belong high in the sky
Unattainable
And as I dream of you from a far
I should have known I was replaceable

Last, but not least...

You are my marijuana
You are my drug
You are that constant craving
The one I cannot shrug
I say that I don’t need you
I say I’m not addicted
Just one more hit, I need
And then I will not see you

I have this painful wanting
An unbelievable yearning
Baby only you
Can extinguish this unforgivable yearning

I need to feel you in my veins
Feel you flowing through my blood stream
Only then I feel no pain
And let go of all this hurting

I can’t handle the withdrawals
Such immense and stabbing pain
Continual inner-turmoil
No sun behind the rain

I cling to this good feeling
As brief as it may be
A flicker of joy
Enveloped by gloom
Not worth it in reality….

Pop Princess xoxox