Category Archives: 1960s songs

The top 500 best music and songs from the 1960s. Song meanings, lyrics and interpretations from your favorite artists. The Beatles, Beach Boys, Simon and Garfunkel, Dylan. See who rates the highest!

1960s songs, new love

#155 Sweet Caroline- Neil Diamond

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I Look at the night/
And it don’t seem so lonely.

Few songs are as feel good as Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline”. It is hard to feel sad while this song is playing. There is something about the happy feel of the song along with singing about meeting a woman that has never made you feel so good. That is a recipe for happiness, I guess.

Sweet Caroline meaning
neil diamond

The lyrics tell a story of a burgeoning love, an unexpected love. The narrator sounds surprised and in a really good mental space. Isn’t new love fantastic? The things that seemed to bother him no longer concern him as long as Caroline is around. I think “Caroline” would be a good thing to name your kid. You get automatic good vibes associated just from this song. (Though I wonder if people named Caroline grow to hate this song?)

“Caroline” sounds simple, but it has a lot of nuance. Take the intro, for example. The choice of horns in 1969 seems like a bizarre choice, but it is clearly the right one. The orchestration is unique. There really is a lot going on under the vocals. Diamond’s vocals don’t get mentioned enough. They are great. His voice sounds raw on the record—like it was the 50th take. The song does not require a dynamic vocal range, so it requires someone with a unique voice to pull it off. It is a great sing-along.

Sweet Caroline Lyrics

Where it began, I can’t begin to knowing.
But then I know it’s growing strong.
Was in the spring…
And spring became the summer.
Who’d have believed you’d come along.

Hands, touching hands,
Reaching out, touching me, touching you.

Sweet Caroline,
Good times never seemed so good.
I’ve been inclined,
To believe they never would.
But now I…

Look at the night and it don’t seem so lonely.
We filled it up with only two.
And when I hurt,
Hurting runs off my shoulders.
How can I hurt when holding you.

One, touching one,
Reaching out, touching me, touching you…

Sweet Caroline,
Good times never seemed so good.
I’ve been inclined,
To believe they never would.
Oh no, no…

Sweet Caroline,
Good times never seemed so good.
Sweet Caroline,
I believe they never could.
Sweet Caroline,
Good times never seemed so good.

Written by Neil Diamond

1960s songs, contentment

#146 Here Comes The Sun- The Beatles

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Here comes the sun and I say/
It’s alright.

“Here Comes the Sun” is Beatles song written by George Harrison for the Abbey Road record. By this time, Harrison was beginning to establish himself as a peer with Lennon and McCartney. The origin of this song came about through his friendship with Eric Clapton.

He was hanging out with Clapton after dealing with The Beatles nonsense, and he felt a special camaraderie and new sense of excitement about music. That led him to write this simple but elegant song about the exciting days that are yet to come, and that the cold days of winter will soon be melting.

Here Comes The Sun Meaning
Beatles

Though “Here Comes The Sun” sounds quite simple, there are a lot of moving pieces going on in the production. You have hand-clapping, electric keyboards, strings, flutes, percussion and of course guitars. This song foreshadows the work that Harrison would later do during his solo years: Songs like My Sweet Lord have a similar vibe to them. The feel is upbeat and spiritual, and the instrumentation is experimental.

Here Comes The Sun Lyrics

Here comes the sun, doo-dun-doo-doo
Here comes the sun, and I say
It’s all right

Little darling, it’s been a long cold lonely winter
Little darling, it feels like years since it’s been here

Here comes the sun, doo-dun-doo-doo
Here comes the sun, and I say
It’s all right

Little darling, the smile’s returning to their faces
Little darling, it seems like years since it’s been here

Here comes the sun
Here comes the sun, and I say
It’s all right

Sun, sun, sun, here it comes
Sun, sun, sun, here it comes
Sun, sun, sun, here it comes
Sun, sun, sun, here it comes
Sun, sun, sun, here it comes

written by George Harrison

1960s songs, cheating

#133 Hey Joe- Jimi Hendrix

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I’m goin’ down to shoot my old lady/
You know I caught her messin’ round with another man. And that ain’t cool.

Jimi Hendrix “Hey Joe” is so badass. I always thought it was written by Hendrix, but it turns out it was written by a man named Billy Roberts. I know that The Byrds recorded the song first, but to say the song is different is an understatement.

The ultimate improvement you can make to a song when you cover it is to “make it your own”…and Jimi certainly did. He slowed down the tempo, emphasized the guitar and bass and simplified the lyrics. He made it his own.

Hey Joe meaning
Jimi

The way Jimi describes Joe is great. Joe caught his woman with another man and wants to shoot her.  But it isn’t so much his words, it’s how he’s saying the words. Hendrix tells the wild story of trying to talk Joe out of killing his own wife. By the end of the song, Jimi is sympathetic to Joe saying, “Shoot her one more time for me”! “You better get outta here to Mexico.” I love it. “Hey Joe” is one of Jimi’s best.

His performance of this song at the Monterey International Pop Festival in 1967 is the most outrageous live performance I have ever seen. Have you seen it? I almost don’t want to spoil it but SPOILERS ahead… (Go watch it above).

He plays guitar with his teeth! And plays guitar behind his back! And sings while chewing gum. And the song sounds perfect. He was such a great showman. This performance is breathtaking.

Hey Joe Lyrics

Hey Joe,
Where you goin’ with that gun in your hand?
Hey Joe,
I said “where you goin’ with that gun in your hand?”
Alright.

“I’m goin down to shoot my old lady,
You know I caught her messin’ ’round with another man.
I’m goin’ down to shoot my old lady,
You know I caught her messin’ ’round with another man.”
And that ain’t too cool.
(Ah-backing vocal on each line)
Uh, hey Joe, I heard you shot your woman down,
You shot her down now.

Uh, hey Joe, I heard you shot you old lady down,
You shot her down to the ground. Yeah!
Yes, I did, I shot her
You know I caught her messin’ ’round,
Messin’ ’round town.
Uh, yes I did, I shot her,
You know I caught my old lady messin’ ’round town.
And I gave her the gun and I shot her!

Alright
(Ah! Hey Joe)
Shoot her one more time again, baby!

written by Billy Roberts