1990s songs, memories

#161 Nightswimming- R.E.M.

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Nightswimming deserves a quiet night/
It’s not like years ago.

R.E.M.’s “Nightswimming” is about the carefree days of our youth. Remember those fun days?  Not every time was great, but there are certain memories we have that are precious to us that are so vivid in our mind that we can see them play out as if they happened yesterday. Michael Stipe of R.E.M. imagines one such memory he had as a kid—a time he went skinny-dipping at night with his friends: or as he calls it “Nightswimming”.

Nightswimming meaning
rem

Thinking about “Nightswimming” brings back feelings of nostalgia for REM and Stipe. It takes him back to that time. Regardless of the struggles he was having at the time, he remembers that time when he and his friends jumped naked into the lake and enjoyed their night together. It is a touching story about lost youth and memory.

The music goes so well with the lyrics, which is why this song is so resonant and beloved. The orchestration is tender, as is Stipe’s voice. We feel that this event was special to him. Although he does not describe the event in much detail, we still picture young kids cannon-balling off a pier naked into a lake in the moonlight. And it is a happy thought.  But his days of “Nightswimming” are behind him, as the fear of repercussions he would face as an adult lead him to simply remember the fun times as a young man. The feeling is bittersweet.

Nightswimming Lyrics

Nightswimming deserves a quiet night
The photograph on the dashboard, taken years ago
Turned around backwards so the windshield shows
Every streetlight reveals the picture in reverse
Still, it’s so much clearer
I forgot my shirt at the water’s edge
The moon is low tonight

Nightswimming deserves a quiet night
I’m not sure all these people understand
It’s not like years ago
The fear of getting caught
Of recklessness and water
They cannot see me naked
These things, they go away
Replaced by everyday

Nightswimming, remembering that night
September’s coming soon
I’m pining for the moon
And what if there were two
Side by side in orbit
Around the fairest sun?
That bright, tight forever drum
Could not describe nightswimming

You, I thought I knew you
You I cannot judge
You, I thought you knew me
This one laughing quietly underneath my breath
Nightswimming

The photograph reflects, every streetlight a reminder
Nightswimming deserves a quiet night, deserves a quiet night

written by Bill Berry / Peter Buck / Michael Mills / Michael Stipe

2000s songs, life is hard

#160 The Beauty Of The Rain- Dar Williams

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the beauty of the rain/
Is how it falls, how it falls, how it falls.

For Dar Williams, “The Beauty of the Rain” is its constancy…you can always count on the rain doing what it does…it falls. Dar William’s world has changed rapidly, significantly for the worse due to a relationship ending. She feels overwhelmed. Wasn’t it just yesterday that they were falling in love with each other? She is looking to the heavens (figuratively and perhaps literally) for answers.

The Beauty Of The Rain Meaning
Dar Williams

She sees a familiar, recognizable pattern that is almost comforting. She sees the rain falling down. Just like it did throughout her relationship. At least she has that! She’s being sarcastic; this is not a celebration of the rain.

Dar William’s “The Beauty of the Rain” is a simple folk song with little more than the singer and a guitar. Sometimes those can be the most impactful songs. While the majority of the sound is just Dar Williams and her guitar, she does mix in a variety of other instruments in a very minute way to make the sound a little more voluminous.

Williams uses a standard but pleasant finger-picking pattern and uses minor percussion, keyboards, bass, a sax solo and a muted trumpet to fill out the mix of the underrated classic “The Beauty of the Rain”.

The Beauty of The Rain Lyrics

And you know the light is fading all too soon.
You’re just two umbrellas one late afternoon.
You don’t know the next thing you will say.
This is your favorite kind of day,
It has no walls, the beauty of the rain,
Is how it falls, how it falls, how it falls.

And there’s nothing wrong but there is something more,
And sometimes you wonder what you love her for.
She says you’ve known her deepest fears,
‘Cause she showed you a box of stained-glass tears;
It can’t be all, the truth about the rain,
Is how it falls, how it falls, how it falls.

But when she gave you more to find,
You let her think she’d lost her mind.
And that’s all on you.
Feeling helpless if she asked for help
Or scared you’d have to change yourself.

And you can’t deny this room will keep you warm.
You can look out of your window at the storm.
But you watch the phone and hope it rings,
You’ll take her any way she sings;
Or how she calls, the beauty of the rain,
Is how it falls, how it falls, how it falls.
How it falls, how it falls, how it falls.

written by Dar WIlliams

1960s songs, relationship problems

#159 If I Fell- The Beatles

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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 Greatest Songs Alltime Meaning
The Beatles

“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