I’m going to Wichita/
Far from this opera for evermore.

The White Stripes’ “Seven Nation Army” might be the most riff-centric song I have ever heard. It is good that it is such an iconic riff. There are few songs that I can think of where the baseline is the driving force of the song.  If bass riffs are your thing, two other great examples that are in the same category is Fleetwood Mac’s The Chain and Queen’s “Under Pressure”.

Some drama is haunting the mind of narrator—it is keeping him up at night…driving him to smoke and talk to himself. It is not clear if it is real or if the narrator has a persecution complex. I suppose it could be both. It is troubling the narrator so much that he is considering fighting everyone—or moving to a remote location and perhaps giving up being a singer and becoming a farmer …he is not sure which. The lyrics of “Seven Nation Army” don’t tell the most coherent story. But hey, it is fun and has a good beat.

Seven Nation Army Lyrics

I’m gonna fight ’em all
A seven nation army couldn’t hold me back
They’re gonna rip it off
Taking their time right behind my back
And I’m talking to myself at night
Because I can’t forget
Back and forth through my mind
Behind a cigarette

And the message coming from my eyes
Says, “Leave it alone”

Don’t wanna hear about it
Every single one’s got a story to tell
Everyone knows about it
From the Queen of England to the Hounds of Hell
And if I catch it coming back my way
I’m gonna serve it to you
And that ain’t what you want to hear
But that’s what I’ll do
And the feeling coming from my bones
Says, “Find a home”

I’m going to Wichita
Far from this opera forevermore

I’m gonna work the straw
Make the sweat drip out of every pore
And I’m bleeding, and I’m bleeding, and I’m bleeding
Right before the Lord
All the words are gonna bleed from me
And I will sing no more
And the stains coming from my blood
Tell me, “Go back home”

Songwriters: John Anthony White

Try another city babe, another town/
Wherever I have gone the blues keep following down.

“Blues Run the Game” is a song about life on the road being a musician. We’ll encounter several songs with that theme in this list. This is the most bleak. Compare this song with “Breakfast in America” by Supertramp, or Dan Fogelburg’s comments on being on the road in “Leader of the Band”.

Frank was not nearly as financially successful as either Supertramp or Fogelburg, so perhaps that colored his perception of the road. This song doesn’t just seem to be about the road though, Jackson Frank seems depressed, or as he calls it he ‘has the blues’. That is such a cooler way to describe depression.

He talks of crying, drinking, living his life in sin while missing his woman at home. And he doesn’t anticipate the next town will change his habits or mood all that much—it’ll bring more of the same.

“Blues Run the Game” contains all the elements of a great blues song lyrically but also musically: including Franke’s clear deep voice, solid finger-picking acoustic guitar–(an improvised style), a feeling of melancholy and lack of chorus.

Frank died in obscurity. He never really was a road musician for more than a couple years. He was in and out of mental hospitals his adult life and was homeless for some time. He was shot and blinded while homeless. The only surviving video of him performing is a 13 second clip.

There is a beautiful cover version of “Blues Run the Game” by the band Headless Heroes that is a bit more accessible for those who aren’t pure folk fans:

Blues Run The Game Lyrics

Catch a boat to England baby,
Maybe to Spain;
Wherever I have gone, wherever I’ve been and gone,
Wherever I have gone, the blues are all the same.

Send out for whisky baby, send out for gin,
Me and room service, honey,
Me and room service, babe,
Me are room service, well we’re livin’ a life of sin.

When I’m not drinking baby, you are on my mind.
When I’m not sleeping, babe,
When I ain’t sleepin’ mama,
When I’m not sleepin’,
Well you know you find me cryin’.

Find another city baby, another town,
Wherever I have gone, wherever I have gone,
The blues come followin down.

Livin’ is a gamble, baby,
Lovings much the same.
Wherever I have played,
Whenever I throw them dice,
Wherever I have played,
The blues have the run the game.

Maybe tomorrow honey, someplace down the line,
I’ll wake up older,
So much older, mama!
I’ll wake up older and I’ll just, I’ll stop all my tryin’.

Catch a boat to England baby,
Maybe to Spain.
Wherever I have gone, wherever I’ve been and gone,
Wherever I have gone, the blues are all the same.

written by Jackson C Frank

Oh, my sorrows/
Sad tomorrows/
Take me back to my own home.

There are specific, real-life circumstances that set the stage for Marmalade’s “Reflections of My Life”, and help in understanding the meaning. This song was written during the height of the Vietnam War. The song describes a person–probably a soldier–who is sitting somewhere, dying, as day turns to night.

He reflects on the decisions that brought him to this place and what he’d do differently if he could. He wants to go back home. Many of the decisions he has made brings him to tears.  The world is bad and changing but he still wants to live. These reflections make him weary.

“Reflections of My Life” is a sad song sung in a key that is traditionally a happy major key. This creates a really different effect and makes for a unique sounding song that brings about conflicting emotions in the listener.

Marmalade’s “Reflections of My Life” is driven by the rhythm section: the bass and drum both have a solid intro and unique adds throughout. The song sounds like psychedelic rock and it has many of its characteristics. The use of many horned instruments and the harmonies are worth pointing out. The harmonies are excellent throughout, and I consider them the key to the song. The sound is similar to the best the Mamas & Papas put out, but with lyrics that are slightly darker.

Reflections of My Life Lyrics

The changing of sunlight to moonlight
Reflections of my life
Oh, how they fill my eyes

The greetings of people in trouble
Reflections of my life
Oh, how they fill my eyes

Oh, my sorrows
Sad tomorrows
Take me back to my own home

Oh, my crying (Oh, my crying)
Feel I’m dying, dying
Take me back to my own home

I’m changing, arranging
I’m changing
I’m changing everything
Everything around me

The world is
A bad place
A bad place
A terrible place to live
Oh, but I don’t want to die

Oh, my sorrows
Sad tomorrows
Take me back to my own home

Oh, my crying (Oh, my crying)
Feel I’m dying, dying
Take me back to my own home

Oh, my sorrows
Sad tomorrows
Take me back to my own home

Songwriters: William Campbell Jr / Thomas McAleese