You know that I would be a liar/
If I was to say to you/
Girl we couldn’t get much higher…

The Doors’ “Light My Fire” is a very distinctive sound. One reason is due to Jim Morrison’s voice.  Morrison’s has one of the manliest and sexiest male voices. Another reason The Doors sound so distinct is that they rely on keyboards and don’t use a bass guitar. Does any other band not use a bass? None that I know of. It obviously creates a tinny sound. I do wonder if this song would have been enhanced with a bass part. Though, it apparently does fine without.

If you like keyboards The Doors “Light My Fire” is the song for you. I cannot think of any song that utilizes keyboard solos to the extent that “Light My Fire” does. And they are great solos. The lyrics were extremely risqué at the time, but now they seem relatively tame by today’s standard.

“Light My Fire” references sex and drugs in a roundabout way…it doesn’t use those words anyways. This is a good way to write about risqué topics. Hint at the topic, rather than say it directly. Current musicians could look to Morrison for inspiration in this regard. At the time of release, The Doors “Light My Fire” wasn’t considered so circumspect.

Another great Doors song on this list is Break on Through.

Lyrics Light My Fire

You know that it would be untrue
You know that I would be a liar
If I was to say to you
Girl we couldn’t get much higher

Come on baby light my fire
Come on baby light my fire
Try to set the night on fire

The time hesitate is through
No time to wallow in the mire
Try now we can only lose
And our love become a funeral pyre

Come on baby light my fire
Come on baby light my fire
Try to set the night on fire

You know that it would be untrue
You know that I would be a liar
If I was to say to you
Girl we couldn’t get much higher

Come on baby light my fire
Come on baby light my fire
Try to set the night on fire

written by Jim Morrison

Lookin’ out for love.
Big, big love.

Listen to Fleetwood Mac’s “Big Love” on The Dance performed by Lindsey Buckingham. How many guitars do you think that is? I’ll post the answer at the bottom while you look and listen.

The original album version of “Big Love” was not good. It was very 80s sounding. In the 90s Fleetwood Mac did a live tour called The Dance and Lindsey Buckingham rearranged the song. Everything you hear on the live version is just Lindsay playing live with his acoustic guitar. One guitar. That’s Lindsey Buckingham playing “Big Love” solo.

“Big Love” shows Lindsey Buckingham at the top of the game and establishes him as one of the greatest guitar players of all-time. Also, one of the most under-rated guitar players ever.  It is baffling that he can get all of that sound out of the guitar at the same time that he sings. It is simply superhuman. And the guitar arraignment is extremely unique. The precision and speed is mind-blowing.

The vocals on the song sound great. I am ambivalent about the oohs and ahhs at the end, but whatever. It is a difficult vocal to perform. His voice often gets overlooked because he is in a band with two other great vocalists: Stevie Nicks and Christine McVie. The concept of “looking for a big love” is solid, but there is not much to the lyrics.

Check out another deep cut of Fleetwood Mac that feature’s Lindsay.

Big Love Lyrics

Looking out for love.
In the night so still.
Oh, I’ll build you a kingdom
In that house on the hill.

Lookin’ out for love.
Big, big love.

You said that you love me.
And that you always will.
Oh, you begged me to keep you
In that house on the hill.

Lookin’ out for love.
Big, big love.

I wake up
Alone with it all.
I wake up
But only to fall.

Lookin’ out for love.
Big, big love.
Just lookin’ out for love.
Big, big love.

written by Lindsay Buckingham

I felt all flushed with fever, embarrassed by the crowd/
I felt he’d found my letters and read each one out loud.

“Killing Me Softly” has a somewhat similar theme to Superstar by The Carpenters. Roberta Flack sings about her experience seeing a singer at a concert and being blown away by his talent. His art speaks to her. It feels like, “He’d found my letters and read each one out loud”. Great line. The music hits her so hard she feels flushed. She feels a personal connection. As the song concludes she realizes that their “connection” is very one-sided. The artist looks right past her. Obviously.

That one-way connection between artist and fan is unique. In my opinion it is probably best not to seek to reach out to establish a connection with a celebrity you admire. 99 times out of 100 it will end in disappointment, as is the case here. And something you love (their work) might be diminished due to your perfectly rational response of disappointment.

The melody of “Killing Me Softly” coupled with Flack’s amazing vocal performance make this song great. Flack sings it like a love song—which it is, in a sense. Lori Lieberman also has a beautiful version of the song. She was the first to record it and there seems to be some controversy regarding whether she co-wrote the song upon seeing Don Mclean perform.

Killing Me Softly Lyrics

Strumming my pain with his fingers
Singing my life with his words
Killing me softly with his song
Killing me softly with his song
Telling my whole life with his words
Killing me softly with his song

I heard he sang a good song, I heard he had a style
And so I came to see him to listen for a while
And there he was this young boy, a stranger to my eyes

Strumming my pain with his fingers
Singing my life with his words
Killing me softly with his song
Killing me softly with his song
Telling my whole life with his words
Killing me softly with his song

I felt all flushed with fever, embarrassed by the crowd
I felt he found my letters and read each one out loud
I prayed that he would finish but he just kept right on
Strumming my pain with his fingers

Singing my life with his words
Killing me softly with his song
Killing me softly with his song
Telling my whole life with his words
Killing me softly with his song

He sang as if he knew me in all my dark despair
And then he looked right through me as if I wasn’t there
But he just came to singing, singing clear and strong

Strumming my pain with his fingers
Singing my life with his words
Killing me softly with his song
Killing me softly with his song
Telling my whole life with his words
Killing me softly with his song