2. Christmas In Cape Town—by Randy Newman. This is possibly the darkest, ugliest song that Randy Newman has ever written, and he’s written some ugly ones. Consider yourself warned: Listen. The thing you have to understand about Randy Newman, though, is that he often writes songs from the viewpoint of despicable characters—polar opposites from...
List: Top Five Story Songs—No. 5
“You see, I knew that song so long before we met, that it means so much more than it might” —Elvis Costello, King Horse Elvis is onto something here, I think. There are certain songs that take on meanings that are far beyond whatever the songs are “about.” Surely everybody has their own songs...
Lyrics In Exile
One of my favorite lines from a music review comes from way back in 1977, after Linda Ronstadt released the Simple Dreams album. About her version of the Rolling Stones’ song Tumbling Dice, the reviewer wrote something to the effect that “the lyrics meant so much more when when we couldn’t understand them.” I’ve...