1960s songs, protest songs

#240 Something in the Air- Thunderclap Newman

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We’ve got to get together sooner or later/
Because the revolution’s here, and you know it’s right.

What happened to all the great protest music? Thunderclap Newman was a one-hit wonder, but what a hit they had in “Something in the Air”! In 1969, there was something in the air, and they were feeling revolution. The impetus behind the protest at the time was the Vietnam war. This song is a little more insidious than other protest songs. It talks about handing out ammo to all the instigators because the revolution is here. You know it’s right, the time is now; it is in the air. The lyrics are actually quite radical.

Something in the air Meaning
Thunderclap Newman

The music is great. The verse and chorus have a great melody. Following the trend of many of the songs of the psychedelic movement, the bridge seems like it could stand alone as a different song. It doesn’t have much similarity with the rest of the song, but it works. (Also see Tuesday Afternoon, Live for Today, A Day in The Life). The bridge has piano and hand-clapping and the rest of the song has a full symphony. It is an interesting juxtaposition.

Something in the Air Lyrics

Call out the instigators,
Because there’s something in the air,
We’ve got to get together sooner or later.
Because the revolution’s here, and you know it’s right!
And you know that it’s right.

We have got to get it together,
We have got to get it together, now.

Lock up the streets and houses,
Because there’s something in the air.
We’ve got to get together sooner or later,
Because the revolution’s here, and you know it’s right!
And you know that it’s right.

We have got to get it together,
We have got to get it together now.

Hand out the arms and ammo,
We’re going to blast our way through here.
We’ve got to get together sooner or later,
Because the revolution’s here, and you know it’s right!
And you know that it’s right.

We have got to get it together,
We have got to get it together now.

Songwriters: John Keen

1970s songs, breakup songs

#239 Baby I’m Gonna Leave You- Led Zeppelin

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I’ve got to quit you, yeah…
Don’t you hear it callin’ me?

Led Zeppelin’s “Babe I’m Gonna Leave You” has an interesting history. It was originally written by Anne Bredon as a folk song and covered by Joan Baez. Jimmy Page supposedly heard it and turned into something different. Baez’ version is not that similar to Led Zeppelin’s at all, but it is interesting to see the influence.

Led Zeppelin did this on a lot of their songs. Sometimes they credited the original artist and sometimes they didn’t. This is the one thing that keeps them from being in the all-time greatest band discussion. Some of their hits seem to be derived from other people’s music.

Babe I'm Gonna Leave You Meaning
Led Zeppelin

“Babe I’m Gonna Leave You” is about a man who loves a woman but who has an urge to leave because “it” is calling him away. He is vague about what it is. The road? Adventure? Home? Maybe he is just restless.

Nonetheless, he is leaving. The song alternates between tender and hard rock in a way unique to Led Zeppelin. They seem to pull this off the best. Both the acoustic and electric guitar parts are great. Plant’s vocals are great as always. He sounds broken up yet oddly certain about the fact that he must leave this woman who he loves. It’s a very interesting song.

Babe I’m Gonna Leave You Lyrics

Babe, baby, baby, I’m gonna leave you
I said baby, you know I’m gonna leave you

I’ll leave you when the summertime
Leave you when the summer comes a rollin’
Leave you when the summer comes along

Babe, babe, babe, babe, babe, babe, baby, baby
I don’t want to leave you
I ain’t jokin’ woman, I got to ramble
Oh yeah
Baby, baby, babe, I believin’
We really got to ramble
I can hear it callin’ me the way it used to do
I can hear it callin’ me back home

Babe, I’m gonna leave you
Oh, baby, you know, I’ve really got to leave you
Oh I can hear it callin ‘me
I said don’t you hear it callin’ me the way it used to do?
Oh

I know, I know
I know I never never never never never gonna leave your babe
But I got to go away from this place

I’ve got to quit you, yeah
Ooh, baby baby baby baby baby baby ooh
Don’t you hear it callin’ me?
Woman, woman, I know, I know
It feels good to have you back again
And I know that one day baby, it’s really gonna grow, yes it is
We gonna go walkin’ through the park every day

Come what may, every day
Oh, mama baby
I’m gonna leave you go away

It was really, really good
You made me happy every single day
But now
I’ve got to go away

Baby, baby, baby
That’s when it’s callin’ me
I said that’s when it’s callin’ me back home

Songwriters: Jimmy Page / Robert Plant / Anne Bredon

1960s songs, young love

#238 A Summer Song- Chad and Jeremy

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But don’t you know that it hurts me so/
To say goodbye to you.

Chad and Jeremy’s “Summer Song” is a beautiful song about a man reminiscing about a former summer fling. This is not the song of a bitter breakup or of a deep sorrow. The narrator feels a bittersweet pang for his youth while remembering the fun time he had with a girl one summer when he was younger. Chad and Jeremy sing of the new love of summer with its soft breezes and soft kisses and beautiful leaves.

A Summer Song Meaning
Chad and Jeremy

But then Autumn came–and with it the rain, and the end of a love. Perhaps due to school, we don’t know. The lyrics are simple and express a common motif—the transition of summer to autumn is similar to the way a new love can turn to an old love. Paul Simon was fond of this imagery: he used it in Leaves that are Green and April Come She Will.

The chord progression on “Summer Song” is simple and this is a fun song for a beginning guitar student. The magic comes from the harmonies between Chad & Jeremy and the lovely melody. They sing the song with tenderness. There is an innocence to the lyrics. This song has one of the best bridges of any song (“They say that all good things must end…”). It is a great transition and the mood is a contrast to the upbeat tone of the rest of the song. We feel as if the narrator is getting down but then springs out of the dark mood and ends with an overall positive memory.

A Summer Song Lyrics

Trees swayin’ in the summer breeze
Showin’ off their silver leaves
As we walked by

Soft kisses on a summer’s day
Laughing all our cares away
Just you and I

Sweet sleepy warmth of summer nights
Gazing at the distant lights
In the starry sky

They say that all good things must end some day
Autumn leaves must fall
But don’t you know that it hurts me so
To say goodbye to you
Wish you didn’t have to go
No, no, no, no

And when the rain
Beats against my windowpane
I’ll think of summer days again
And dream of you

They say that all good things must end some day
Autumn leaves must fall
But don’t you know that it hurts me so
To say goodbye to you
Wish you didn’t have to go
No no no no

And when the rain
Beats against my windowpane
I’ll think of summer days again
And dream of you
And dream of you

Songwriters: Clive Metcalf / David Stuart / Keith Noble