1970s songs, family problems

#119 Teach Your Children- CSNY

Don’t you ever ask them why, if they told you, you will cry,
So just look at them and sigh
And know they love you.

Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young created a lot of songs that were not only great, but also iconic: “Teach Your Children” is at the top of the list. This is a song that seems to transcend time. Doesn’t it feel more like a traditional song than like something that was written in the seventies? A lot of their songs give me that feeling. Another one that comes to mind is Our House.

Unique about “Teach Your Children” is that the first half of the song is advice to teach your children well and the second half is for young folks to “teach” their parents. We don’t normally think of kids teaching their parents, but Nash does an interesting thing here in trying to explain parents’ fears to the kids that at the time was his audience. Notice he doesn’t take a side. He feels we could both do better at teaching each other.

The slide guitar in “Teach Your Children” stands out as giving it that country rock vibe that CSN are so often associated with. Of course, CSNYs harmonies are amazing. The secondary singers weave in and out between singing harmony on the lead and singing backup to create a unique sound. It is a hard vocal to pull off.

Teach Your Children Lyrics

You who are on the road
Must have a code- that you can live by.
And so become yourself,
Because the past is just a good-bye.
Teach your children well,
Their father’s hell did slowly go by,
And feed them on your dreams
The one they picks, the one you’ll know by.
Don’t you ever ask them why, if they told you, you will cry,
So just look at them and sigh,
And know they love you.

And you, of tender years,
Can’t know the fears that your elders grew by.
And so please help them with your youth,
They seek the truth before they can die.

Teach your parents well,
Their children’s hell will slowly go by.
And feed them on your dreams
The one they picks, the one you’ll know by.
Don’t you ever ask them why, if they told you, you will cry,
So just look at them and sigh, and know they love you.
written by Graham Nash

1970s songs, conservation

#118 The Last Resort- The Eagles

admin 1 Comment

You call someplace Paradise/
Kiss it goodbye.

“The Last Resort” is The Eagles take on Manifest Destiny. Henley talks about how the west was referred to as the last resort and look what has happened to it. There is practically nothing left of it. It is all buildings. There is nowhere left to go. What we once called paradise is now…what? Not so great.

In the end he says isn’t it interesting how Christians talk about how Heaven is a paradise? Every time something gets called a paradise it is ruined. The song speaks to conservation but also to human propensity toward excess.

The soft piano coupled with Henley’s earnest story-telling combines to tell a harrowing tale…if we don’t start changing, we are in trouble. This is our last chance to get things right. There is no more new frontier on Earth. This song is a nice change of pace for The Eagles. It’s not a song about women or sex and rocknroll, it shows they are not a one-trick pony.

The Last Resort Lyrics

She came from Providence, the one in Rhode Island
Where the old world shadows hang heavy in the air
She packed her hopes and dreams like a refugee,
Just as her father came across the sea

She heard about a place people were smilin’,
They spoke about the red man’s way, how they loved the land
And they came from everywhere to the Great Divide
Seeking a place to stand or a place to hide

Down in the crowded bars out for a good time,
Can’t wait to tell you all what it’s like up there
And they called it paradise, I don’t know why
Somebody laid the mountains low while the town got high

Then the chilly winds blew down across the desert,
Through the canyons of the coast to the Malibu
Where the pretty people play hungry for power
To light their neon way and give them things to do

Some rich man came and raped the land, nobody caught ’em,
Put up a bunch of ugly boxes and, Jesus, people bought ’em
And they called it paradise, the place to be,
They watched the hazy sun sinking in the sea

You can leave it all behind and sail to Lahaina
Just like the missionaries did so many years ago
They even brought a neon sign ‘Jesus is Coming’,
Brought the white man’s burden down, brought the white man’s reign

Who will provide the grand design, what is yours and what is mine?
‘Cause there is no more new frontier, we have got to make it here
We satisfy our endless needs and justify our bloody deeds
In the name of destiny and in the name of God

And you can see them there on Sunday morning
Stand up and sing about what it’s like up there
They called it paradise, I don’t know why
You call some place paradise, kiss it goodbye.

written by Frey/Henley

1960s songs, infatuation

#117 Young Girl- Gary Puckett & The Union Gap

admin 1 Comment

Young girl, get out of my mind/
My love for you is way out of line/
Better run girl.

In my opinion, not only does “Young Girl” by Gary Puckett and The Union Gap sound great, this song is one of the most honest looks into the psyche of a man. Puckett tells a girl that she’s much too young for him and she needs to stay away from him cause his thoughts are way out of line. He is not certain he can control himself around this beautiful younger woman. So, he pleads with her to leave and get out of his mind before he does something stupid. Because he knows he is not to be trusted.

Young Girl Meaning — Gary Puckett & The Union Gap

Puckett sings the song in a bluesy tone: he is sad at the circumstances he finds himself in. Here this young woman is giving him looks. “Why can’t she be older?” “Where was she when I was that age?” These counterproductive thoughts run through his head.

Ultimately, he is honest with the girl and tells her to leave. He’s no good for her, and only bad things can come if she stays. But it tears at his heart to have to be in this position. But he is a moral man, and she is underage, so there is nothing he can do. Impure thoughts don’t make someone immoral, immoral actions do. And he avoids them.

Young Girl Lyrics

Young girl, get out of my mind,
My love for you is way out of line.
Better run girl,
You’re much too young girl.

With all the charms of a woman,
You’ve kept the secret of your youth.
You led me to believe you’re old enough
To give me love.
And now it hurts to know the truth.

Young girl, get out of my mind,
My love for you is way out of line.
Better run girl,
You’re much too young girl.

Beneath your perfume and your make-up.
You’re just a baby in disguise.
And though you know that it’s wrong to be
Alone with me,
That come-on look is in your eyes.

Young girl, get out my mind.
My love for you is way out of line.
Better run girl,
You’re much too young girl.

So hurry home to your mama.
I’m sure she wonders where you are.
Get out of here before I have the time
To change my mind,
‘Cause I’m afraid we’ll go too far.