1960s songs, life is hard

#204 Reflections of My Life- Marmalade

Leave a comment

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 Meaning
Marmalade

“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

1960s songs, life is hard

#203 These Days- Nico

1 Comment

Please don’t confront me with my failures/
I had not forgotten them.

Nico is an interesting character and a bit of an enigma. She was a supermodel who took up singing, but she was a real singer…not just someone who was hot. She joined Velvet Underground and was lead singer on some of their best work. She doesn’t have a huge catalog but everything I hear from her sounds good.

These Days meaning
Nico

“These Days” is a song Nico recorded as a solo artist after leaving Velvet Underground.  Interestingly, this song was written by a 16-year-old Jackson Browne and first recorded by Nico who made it a mild hit. Years later Browne would release his own version, and it was average. Browne would also write another huge Velvet Underground hit higher on this list.

These Days meanings
Nico and Jackson Browne

It seems like a lyric about a ramblin’ man might resonate better when sung by Browne, but Nico is the one who captured the heart of the song. Nico sings it like she is down on her luck; she sings it like she wrote it, or at least like she believes the lyrics.

We believe Nico when she says she might not love again, simply due to the tone in her voice. The lyrics tell a tale of a narrator undergoing deep introspection, but Nico’s version comes off more like depressed ambivalence. And it works.

These Days Lyrics

I’ve been out walking
I don’t do too much talking
These days, these days
These days I seem to think a lot
About the things that I forgot to do
And all the times I had the chance to.

I’ve stopped my rambling
I don’t do too much gambling
These days, these days
These days I seem to think about
How all the changes came about my ways
And I wonder if I’d see another highway

I had a lover
I don’t think I’ll risk another
These days, these days
And if I seem to be afraid
To live the life that I have made in song
It’s just that I’ve been losing so long

I’ve stopped my dreaming
I won’t do too much scheming
These days, these days
These days I sit on corner stones
And count the time in quarter tones to ten
Please don’t confront me with my failures
I had not forgotten them

written by Jackson Browne

1960s songs, depression

#202 Paint it Black- The Rolling Stones

Leave a comment

I look inside myself and see my heart is black/
I see my red door I must have it painted black.

The Rolling Stones “Paint it Black” is about a man whose girlfriend dies and he falls into depression. He describes his depression as his heart turning black. His hurt is so deep inside that he wants to manifest it outside too. So every time he sees something like flowers or the sun, he thinks about painting it black.

This song is an interesting description of mourning. Depression is a little different in that it usually doesn’t have a direct cause…like losing your girlfriend. Though we use similar words to describe our feelings.

Paint it Black Meaning
Rolling Stones

The lyric is sung angrily: Jagger is upset at the world and he wants to do something about it. The world should not be filled with colorful flowers when his love was taken from him. There is some experimentation in the use of instruments here…the sitar is featured prominently. The Stones, The Beatles and Beach Boys began a Cold War of sorts, trying to outdo each other by experimenting with the amount of sounds that could be produced on a rock record.

Paint it Black Lyrics

I see a red door and I want it painted black.
No colors anymore, I want them to turn black.
I see the girls walk by dressed in their summer clothes,
I have to turn my head until my darkness goes.

I see a line of cars and they’re all painted black.
With flowers and my love, both never to come back.
I see people turn their heads and quickly look away,
Like a new born baby, it just happens every day.

I look inside myself and see my heart is black.
I see my red door, I must have it painted black.
Maybe then I’ll fade away and not have to face the facts,
It’s not easy facing up, when your whole world is black.

No more will my green sea go turn a deeper blue.
I could not foresee this thing happening to you.
If I look hard enough into the settin’ sun,
My love will laugh with me before the mornin’ comes.

I see a red door and I want it painted black.
No colors anymore, I want them to turn black.
I see the girls walk by dressed in their summer clothes,
I have to turn my head until my darkness goes.

Hmm, hmm, hmm,
I wanna see it painted, painted black.
Black as night, black as coal,
I wanna see the sun, blotted out from the sky.
I wanna see it painted, painted, painted, painted black.
Yeah
Hmm, hmm, hmm

written by Jaggar/Richards