I would give everything I own/
Just to have you back again…

“Everything I Own” was written by David Gates specifically about his father—that he presumably lost. He mentioned that in a concert. Don’t let that stop you from letting the song mean something different to you. The song works on several levels.

Don’t we all have someone in our past who is gone—someone we wish we could have done things differently with? Whether they are gone due to death, a breakup, or circumstance–we can all relate to this sentiment. That is one of the reasons this song is a classic.

Taking a particular experience and making a song about a universal experience is a good way to connect with many people. Here, the catalyst for writing the song may have been a particular event—(the loss of his father) but he wrote a song about feelings of loss in general. This is a recipe for success in pop and rock music.

The melody of the both the verse and the chorus are so great—especially the chorus. It sounds timeless, in the same way that a classic folk song does or Yesterday. The way the lyrics and melody combine with the orchestration to build to a crescendo and the quick dénouement is quite the emotional rollercoaster.

But it is earned. The raw expression of love, gratitude and loss in the lyrics are quite touching and fit the song perfectly. Bread has many great songs you might want to check out.

Everything I Own Lyrics

You sheltered me from harm;
Kept me warm, kept me warm.
You gave my life to me,
Set me free, set me free.
The finest years I ever knew
Were all the years I had with you.

And I would give anything I own.
I’d give up my life, my heart, my home;
I would give everything I own.
Just to have you back again.

You taught me how to love.
What it’s of, what it’s of.
You never said too much
But still you showed the way.
And I knew from watching you.

Nobody else could ever know
The part of me that can’t let go.

And I would give anything I own.
I’d give up my life, my heart, my home;
I would give everything I own.
Just to have you back again.

Is there someone you know?
Your loving them so
But taking them all for granted?
You may lose them one day.
Someone takes them away
And they don’t hear the words you long to say.

I would give anything I own.
I’d give up my life, my heart, my home;
I would give everything I own.
Just to have you back again.

written by David Gates of Bread

There’s one thing that’s real clear to me/
No one dies with dignity…

Jason Isbell’s “Elephant” may be one of the most emotionally moving songs you will ever hear. Elephant will disturb you. Can this make for great music? Yes. If a song can evoke any feeling in you that is a success. The point of art (if there is one) is to try to convey a feeling from one person to another through a particular medium.

Elephant discusses how we deal with our friends dying. Dying is really the only thing to talk about, but at the same time, time is short, and what is there really to say? Nothing will change the fact that the end is near. So, we dance around the elephant in the room and don’t mention the change in our dynamic. Is this the best way to handle a loved one dying? Probably not. But what is the alternative? Addressing the elephant is an equally bad alternative. Who wants to talk about the fact that soon your friend will be gone?

Elephant is in the country and blues tradition. Isbell’s voice is rightfully restrained. The sound is stripped down to just a guitar, background piano and Isbell’s voice. You could imagine a lesser singer ruining this song by adding unwanted vocal runs which distract from the lyrics and the somber tone.

Elton John’s Last Song and Death Cab for Cutie’s What Sara Said are two other fine songs that deal with death. None are sing-alongs, but each is emotionally moving in their own way.

Elephant Lyrics

She said, “Andy, you’re better than your past”
Winked at me and drained her glass
Cross-legged on a barstool, like nobody sits anymore
She said, “Andy, you’re taking me home”
But I knew she planned to sleep alone
I’d carry her to bed, sweep up the hair from her floor

If I’d fucked her before she got sick
I’d never hear the end of it
She don’t have the spirit for that now
We just drink our drinks and laugh out loud
And bitch about the weekend crowd
And try to ignore the elephant somehow
Somehow

She said, “Andy, you crack me up”
Seagram’s in a coffee cup
Sharecropper eyes, and the hair almost all gone
When she was drunk, she made cancer jokes
Made up her own doctors’ notes
Surrounded by her family, I saw that she was dying alone

But I’d sing her classic country songs
And she’d get high and sing along
She don’t have a voice to sing with now
We burn these joints in effigy
And cry about what we used to be
Try to ignore the elephant somehow
Somehow

I buried her a thousand times, given up my place in line
But I don’t give a damn about that now
There’s one thing that’s real clear to me
No one dies with dignity
We just try to ignore the elephant somehow
We just try to ignore the elephant somehow
We just try to ignore the elephant somehow
Somehow
Somehow

Song by Jason Isbell

But I’m thinking of what Sarah said:
“That love is watching someone die.”
Whose gonna watch you die?

“What Sarah Said” by Death Cab for Cutie takes on a topic you don’t hear often in music: death in a hospital. “What Sarah Said” is unique just in that sense alone. The waiting, the powerlessness, the antiseptic environment feels like an alien world. Yet it is often an important time and place for people.

Families come and say their goodbyes to loved ones and reminisce; it is sad. But consider the alternative. Imagine if no one came to see you or if you had no one close to you to watch die. That is the message of the song. While Death Cab for Cutie tries to put a happy face on with their words, the melancholy tone of the song says that death is painful.

The music and vocals are gorgeous. The piano is particularly well done. The outro is powerful in a surprising way, even if the lyrics might sound nonsensical out of context. The song makes you think about the people in your life and your own mortality and how many songs have the ability to do that and sound good as well?

What Sarah Said Lyrics

And it came to me then
That every plan
Is a tiny prayer to father time

As I stared at my shoes
In the ICU
That reeked of piss and 409

And I rationed my breaths
As I said to myself
That I’d already taken too much today

As each descending peak
On the LCD
Took you a little farther away from me
Away from me

Amongst the vending machines
And year old magazines
In a place where we only say goodbye

It sung like a violent wind
That our memories depend
On a faulty camera in our minds

And I knew that you were truth
I would rather lose
Than to have never lain beside at all

And I looked around
At all the eyes on the ground
As the TV entertained itself

‘Cause there’s no comfort in the waiting room
Just nervous paces bracing for bad news
And then the nurse comes round
And everyone lifts their heads
But I’m thinking of what Sarah said

That love is watching someone die
So who’s gonna watch you die
So who’s gonna watch you die
So who’s gonna watch you die

Songwriters: Benjamin D. Gibbard / Christopher Ryan Walla / Jason Patrick McGerr / Nicholas Scott Harmer