I tell my love to wreck it all/
Cut out all the ropes and let me fall.

What is this “Skinny Love” that Birdy and Bon Iver are speaking of? A “skinny love” seems to be with an unhealthy love…perhaps there is not much love left. The relationship is passionate and volatile. Perhaps they get physical with each other. They argue. They make threats to leave each other. The couple is constantly fighting.

But he also seems to realize he needs her. He makes pleas: he tells her that it will be better in the morning.  Eventually she leaves him and his tune changes. While in the beginning of the song he was telling her to leave, by the end he is asking her “who will love you as good as I”?

Bon Iver wrote this song and made it famous. When I hear Birdy’s “Skinny Love”, I hear an all-time great song. The song sounds better with a piano. Birdy brings the proper emotion to the song: she makes it hers.

There are a couple other songs on this list where a cover version eclipses the original. That doesn’t take away from the original version; sometimes (though not often) someone can interpret and perform your work better than you. She made this recording when she was 14–which sounds impossible and unbelievable.

Skinny Love Lyrics

Come on, skinny love, just last the year
Pour a little salt, we were never here
My, my, my, my, my, my, my, my
Staring at the sink of blood and crushed veneer
I tell my love to wreck it all
Cut out all the ropes and let me fall
My, my, my, my, my, my, my, my
Right in this moment, this order’s tall

And I told you to be patient
And I told you to be fine
And I told you to be balanced
And I told you to be kind
And in the morning I’ll be with you
But it will be a different kind
And I’ll be holding all the tickets
And you’ll be owning all the fines

Come on, skinny love, what happened here?
Suckle on the hope in light brassieres
My, my, my, my, my, my, my, my
Sullen load is full, so slow on the split

And I told you to be patient
And I told you to be fine
And I told you to be balanced
And I told you to be kind
And now all your love is wasted
And then who the hell was I?
And I’m breaking at the britches
And at the end of all your lines

Who will love you?
Who will fight?
Who will fall far behind?

written by Bon Iver

From the second that I was born it seems I had a loaded gun/
And then I shot, shot, shot a hole through everything I loved.

The narrator of Imagine Dragons’ “Shots” feels he is constantly hurting the people he loves. He always seems to be saying the wrong thing or making the wrong choices and causing pain. In his mind, he feels he’s letting his loved ones down or at the very least he is being reckless.

Who would want to be around a person who carries a loaded gun and randomly shoots wildly in the air? Who would want to stand near that person? A person who is so careless cannot be considered a good person, right?

Is the narrator an overly reckless person or is there another explanation?  Is he overly hard on himself?  We can’t know. Perhaps it is impossible to escape the fact that we will hurt the ones we love unintentionally–at times. I suppose it is the real question is “how often is this happening”?  And how severe is the pain that we are causing?

He doesn’t believe it is purposeful, but why does it seem to always happen? Should we be judged by our actions or our intentions? Good intentions are great, but if everyone around you is constantly getting hurt by the things you do, perhaps something is wrong with you.

The acoustic, piano version of “Shots” provides everything I want in a song. The pacing is a little better than the electric version. The piano allows the lyrics to truly be highlighted—and they are good lyrics that deserve attention.

The piano introduction sounds memorable and is the perfect length. The piano arrangement is quite good. Note all the different patterns–the intro, verse, chorus and solo all sound different yet perfectly coherent.

The vocals are delivered with the proper amount of intensity. We can hear the feelings of confusion, disappointment and resignation in his voice. “Shots” is an underrated classic.

Shots Lyrics

Am I out of touch?
Am I out of my place?
When I keep saying that I’m looking for an empty space
Oh, I’m wishing you’re here
But I’m wishing you’re gone
I can’t have you and I’m only gonna do you wrong

Oh, I’m going to mess this up
Oh, this is just my luck
Over and over and over again

In the meantime we let it go
At the roadside we used to know
We can let this drift away
Oh, we let this drift away

And there’s always time to change your mind
Oh, there’s always time to change your mind
Oh, there’s always time to change your mind
Oh, love, can you hear me?

I’m sorry for everything
Oh, everything I’ve done
From the second that I was born it seems I had a loaded gun
And then I shot, shot, shot a hole through everything I loved
Oh, I shot, shot, shot a hole through every single thing that I loved

Am I out of luck?
Am I waiting to break?
When I keep saying that I’m looking for a way to escape
Oh, I’m wishing I had what I’d taken for granted
I can’t help you when I’m only gonna do you wrong

Oh, I’m going to mess this up
Oh, this is just my luck
Over and over and over again

In the meantime we let it go
At the roadside we used to know
We can let this drift away
Oh, we let this drift away

And there’s always time to change your mind
Oh, there’s always time to change your mind
Oh, there’s always time to change your mind
Oh, love, can you hear me?

I’m sorry for everything
Oh, everything I’ve done
From the second that I was born it seems I had a loaded gun
And then I shot, shot, shot a hole through everything I loved
Oh, I shot, shot, shot a hole through every single thing that I loved

written by Mckee Benjamin Arthur / Platzman Daniel

If I trust in you oh please don’t run and hide/
If I love you too.

“If I Fell” is the end of The Beatles beginning period. Most of the songs were about love, the lyrics were simple and so were the chord progressions and instrumentation. “If I Fell” begins to experiment in to more dangerous waters: it is a song asking a future lover if she will love him, while he is currently in another relationship. This is not “Love Me Do”.

“If I Fell” is the next progression in  expression that The Beatles are able to achieve and it would transition them into a more experimental era. The song also sounds much more autobiographical than previous works by The Beatles. “If I Fell” marked a new era of songwriting for the band.

The instrumentation is still very standard. You can clearly hear they are tied to their roots of a lead, rhythm and bass with drums. What stands out about this song is that the verses and chorus are both very strong and both are mostly sung with harmonies throughout. There aren’t that many Beatles songs that use harmony to such effect.  They are good but I am not sure they ever achieved elite status as harmonizers.

If I Fell Lyrics

If I fell in love with you
Would you promise to be true
And help me understand
‘Cause I’ve been in love before
And I found that love was more
Than just holding hands

If I give my heart to you
I must be sure
From the very start
That you would love me more than her

If I trust in you oh please
Don’t run and hide
If I love you too oh please
Don’t hurt my pride like her

‘Cause I couldn’t stand the pain
And I would be sad if our new love was in vain

So I hope you see that I
Would love to love you
And that she will cry
When she learns we are two
‘Cause I couldn’t stand the pain
And I would be sad if our new love was in vain

So I hope you see that I
Would love to love you
And that she will cry
When she learns we are two
If I fell in love with you

written by lennon/mccartney