Category Archives: 1970s songs

The best 500 songs from the 1970s. Meanings, lyrics and interpretations from your favorite seventies artists. Fleetwood, The Eagles, Cat Stevens, Joni Mitchell, Queen and all your favorite 70s artists ranked.

1970s songs, life is hard

#167 Dream On- Aerosmith

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Half my life Is books, written pages/
Live and learn from fools and from sages.

Aerosmith’s “Dream On” is their best song, and it was written by Steven Tyler at the age of seventeen. Much of the theme of the “Dream On” has to do with time and aging. We spend so much time preparing for life (by going to school and paying our dues) and we wake up one day and see an old person staring back at us in the mirror. What happened? What happened to my dreams? What happened to the happy person I once was? Tyler says that we must keep dreaming until the dreams come true as today could be our last day. So, let’s laugh, sing and dream.

Dream On Meaning
Aerosmith

The chorus is extremely recognizable and anthem-like, but the verses do a great job in building up the anticipation to the chorus. The guitar work is stellar, especially during the lead but also throughout. Tyler’s all-out singing style works well with this song. He makes the message seem urgent as he is almost gasping for breath at the end of the chorus.

With all these theatrics, we should probably be paying attention to whatever it is he is saying because he is almost killing himself saying it! “Dream On” does a good job of modulating the volume to heighten the excitement of the delivery. Notice the gradual buildups to the chorus when Stephan Tyler really starts belting.

Dream On Lyrics & Meaning

Every time when I look in the mirror,
All these lines on my face getting clearer,
The past is gone.

And it went by, like dusk to dawn.
Isn’t that the way?
Everybody’s got their dues in life to pay.

Yeah, I know nobody knows,
Where it comes and where it goes.
I know it’s everybody’s sin,
You got to lose to know how to win.

Half my life’s in books, written pages,
Live and learn from fools and from sages.
You know it’s true, oh…

All the things come back to you.

Sing with me, sing for a year,
Sing for the laughter, and sing the tear.
Sing with me, if it’s just for today.
Maybe tomorrow, the good Lord will take you away.

Yeah, sing with me, sing for the year,
Sing for the laughter, and sing for the tear.
Sing it with me, if it’s just for today,
Maybe tomorrow, the good Lord will take you away.

Dream on.
Dream on.
Dream on.
Dream until the dream come true.
Dream on.
Dream on.
Dream on.
Dream until your dream come true.
Dream on.
Dream on.
Dream on.
Dream on.
Dream on.
Dream on.
Dream on, ah.

Sing with me, sing for the year,
Sing for the laughter and sing for the tear.
Sing with me, if it’s just for today.
Maybe tomorrow, the good Lord will take you away.
Sing with me, sing for the year,
Sing for the laughter, and sing for the tear.
Sing it with me, if it’s just for today,
Maybe tomorrow, the good Lord will take you away.

Songwriters: Steven Victor Tallarico

1970s songs, anthem

#162 All The Young Dudes- Mott The Hoople

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And Freddy’s got spots from ripping off the stars from his face/
Funky little boat race.

“All the Young Dudes” by Mott The Hoople is not necessarily the most exegetically friendly song. Are the lyrics nonsense? I don’t think so, but I think Bowie was deliberately obscuring them, because, well, why not?

It sounds like a song about how the troubles of youth are a serious concern, but they are trivialized by the older population (the dad) and the news. So, the meaning seems to be that the youth should join the movement to spread the news.

All the Young Dudes meaning
Mott the Hoople

The combination of sounds here is what makes this song amazing. You rarely hear a distorted electric guitar with a Hammond organ. The hand-clapping and background singing is extremely well done. The call and answer background singing is an effect technique that you don’t see everyday. The song feels live. It feels like we were dropped in the middle of a concert. It has that raw feel. The song is a bit ahead of its time in mentioning cross dressing as a normal thing.

Heroes

All The Young Dudes Lyrics

Well, Billy rapped all night about his suicide,
How he’d kick it in the head when he was twenty-five.
Speed jive, don’t want to stay alive,
When you’re twenty-five.

And Wendy’s stealing clothes from Marks & Sparks,
And Freddy’s got spots from ripping off the stars from his face,
Funky little boat race.
Television man is crazy saying we’re juvenile delinquent wrecks,
Oh, man, I need TV when I’ve got T.Rex.
Oh brother, you guessed,
I’m a dude, dad!

All the young dudes (hey dudes!)
Carry the news (where are you?)
Boogaloo dudes (stand up, come on)
Carry the news.
All the young dudes (I want to hear you),
Carry the news (I want to see you),
Boogaloo dudes (I want to talk to you, all of you)
Carry the news (now).

Lucy looks sweet ’cause he dresses like a queen,
But he can kick like a mule, it’s a real mean team.
But we can love,
Oh yes, we can love.

And my brother’s back at home with his Beatles and his Stones,
We never got it off on that revolution stuff.
What a drag, too many snags.

Now I’ve drunk a lot of wine and I’m feeling fine,
Got to race some cat to bed.
Oh, is that concrete all around,
Or is it in my head?
Yeah,
I’m a dude, dad.

All the young dudes (hey dudes)
Carry the news (where are you?)
Boogaloo dudes (stand up),
Carry the news.
All the young dudes (I want to hear you)
Carry the news (I want to see you)
Boogaloo dudes (I want to relate to you)
Carry the news
All the young dudes (what dudes?)
Carry the news (let’s hear the news, come on)
Boogaloo dudes (I want to kick you)
Carry the news,
All the young dudes,
(With the glasses),
Carry the news (I want you)
Boogaloo dudes (I want you in the front)
Carry the news (now)

(Now, you’re his friends)
All the young dudes (now you bring him down)
(‘Cause I want him)
Carry the news
Boogaloo dudes (I want him right here)
(Bring him, come on)
Carry the news (bring him)
(Here you go)
All the young dudes
(I’ve wanted to do this for years)
Carry the news
(There you go!)
Boogaloo dudes
(How’d it feel?)
Carry the news

written by David Bowie

1970s songs, looking for love

#158 Hard Headed Woman- Cat Stevens

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I know many fine feathered friends/
But their friendliness depends on how you do.

One of the frequent motifs in Cat Stevens writings are the weariness that comes along with being a pop star. “Hard-headed Woman” is an exposition on this theme. Interestingly, he began writing songs about this before he really achieved that much fame. Ultimately, he abandoned his career altogether, and would not perform for thirty years, so he definitely walked the walk.

Hard Headed Woman meaning
cat

“Hard-headed Woman” is about finding a special woman who won’t be swayed by his fame. I imagine that once you reach a certain level of fame or fortune, you may doubt if anyone really loves you for you, or do they just love the status and the money.

Cat’s voice sounds great in both the verse and chorus. Notice how he sings tenderly in the verse when he is speaking about what he wants in a woman, and then changes his singing voice when he speaks about “fine feathered friends”. He is great at this technique, and we will see him use this technique similarly in another song later in this list to an even greater effect. The guitar intro is unique and really sets the stage and says, “a serious message is coming”.

Hard Headed Woman Lyrics

I’m looking for hard headed woman
One who’ll take me for myself
And if I find my hard headed woman
I won’t need nobody else, no no no

I’m looking for hard headed woman (hard headed woman)
One who’ll make me do my best
And if I find my hard headed woman
I know the rest of my life will be blessed, yes (yes), yes, yes

I know a lot of fancy dancers
People who can glide you on the floor
They move so smooth but have no answers (ooh whoa oh)
When you ask them, “What you come here for? (I don’t know)
Why?”

I know many fine feathered friends
But their friendliness depends on how you do
They know!
Many sure fired ways
To find out the one who pays
And how you do

I’m looking for hard headed woman (hard headed woman)
One who will make me fell so good
And if I find my hard headed woman (ooh whoa oh)
I know my life will be as it should, yes, yes, yes

I’m looking for hard headed woman (hard headed woman)
One who’ll make me do my best
And if I find my hard headed woman

written by Cat Stevens