1960s songs, love songs

#462 For Once in My Life- Stevie Wonder

For once in my life I won’t let sorrow hurt me/
Not like it’s hurt me before.

Just like David Gray’s “This Year’s Love”, in “For Once in My Life”, Stevie Wonder is facing the prospect of a new relationship. Stevie seems like he’s in a much better place emotionally than Gray is.

Wonder realizes that he’s been hurt before but his enthusiasm over the woman lets him recognize that she is special, not just “this year’s love.” What is his is hers and he is excited that he has found someone who truly needs him. We can hear it in his voice and the melody and tempo of the song.

For Once in My Life Meaning — Stevie Wonder

This song is a Motown record and features a band with a full brass section, a gospel choir background group and a harmonica solo. You don’t hear this combination very often, but it works here perfectly. “For Once in My Life” is one of Stevie’s early and biggest hits.

For Once In My Life Lyrics

For once in my life I have someone who needs me
Someone I’ve needed so long
For once unafraid I can go where life leads me
Somehow I know I’ll be strong

For once I can touch, what my heart used to dream of
Long before I knew
Oh someone warm like you
Would make my dream come true, yeah yeah (For once in my life)

For once in my life I won’t let sorrow hurt me
Not like it’s hurt me before (Not like it’s hurt before)

For once I have someone I know won’t desert me
I’m not alone anymore (I’m not alone anymore)

For once I can say
This is mine you can’t take it
As long as I know I have love I can make it
For once in my life I have someone who needs me (Someone who needs me)

Hey hey hey, yeah (Someone who needs me)
Oh baby, Lord baby

For once in my life I won’t let sorrow hurt me
Not like it’s hurt me before (Not like it’s hurt before)

For once I have something I know won’t desert me
I’m not alone anymore (I’m not alone anymore)
For once I can say
This is mine you can’t take it
As long as I know I have love I can make it
For once in my life I have someone who needs me (Someone who needs me)
For once in my life (Someone who needs me)
Somebody that needs me (Someone who needs me) Oh baby, for once in my life

Songwriters: Ronald N Miller / Orland Murden

2000s songs, depression

#461 Colorblind- Counting Crows

admin Leave a comment

I am covered in skin/
No one gets to come in/
Pull me out from inside.

Counting Crows “Colorblind” begins with the lyrics “I am colorblind”. This is an often-misunderstood lyric. If you interpret it in the context of the rest of the song, he is saying that he is numb to the world. That is, he is not seeing things in color. He is looking forward to someone looking below the surface and the walls he puts up–to pull him out of this rut and help him experience life again.

We don’t know why he is feeling this way; perhaps he is in a funk. Depression has been described in similar terms. He is looking to connect with another person. He is ready but at the same time he is tongue-tied and not sure about how to go about fixing the problem.

The music is dark featuring the brooding piano. I am not certain, but I think that is a recorder for the solo. Could that be right? Whatever it is, it is the perfect instrument for the mood of the song. The song also uses a xylophone, so there is a lot of experimentation to create the unique sound of the record.

Colorblind Lyrics

I am colorblind.
Coffee black and egg white.
Pull me out from inside.
I am ready, I am ready, I am ready,
I am taffy stuck and tongue tied.

Stutter shook and uptight.
Pull me out from inside.
I am ready, I am ready, I am ready,
I am fine.

I am covered in skin,
No one gets to come in.
Pull me out from inside.
I am folded and unfolded and unfolding,
I am colorblind.

Coffee black and egg white.
Pull me out from inside.
I am ready, I am ready, I am ready,
I am fine.
I am fine.

written by Adam Duritz

1990s songs, death

#460 Awaiting Eternity- Rose Chronicles

admin Leave a comment

The violets adorned her, and wishers would mourn for hours/
but fountains of joy have hollowed her eyes.

Rose Chronicles “Awaiting Eternity” is an obscure song by- and it will not appear on other top 500 lists, but you’ll find it belongs here. The song is haunting and beautiful. The lyrics are purposely obscured, but we know the song is about a woman dying or dead. I am not sure it really matters. The experience I have listening to this song is similar to an opera- you can appreciate it without knowing the words.

Awaiting Eternity Meaning — Kristy Thirsk

“Awaiting Eternity” might have the largest vocal range of any in pop or rock. It is not a sing-along. It sounds like a typical rock song until Kristy Thirsk decides to hit the high notes. They are insane. They don’t sound gratuitous-like those crazy ‘runs’ you find in Mariah Carey songs. These sound like the woman is being vaulted into eternity propelled by the emotion escaping from Thirsk’s voice!

Awaiting Eternity Lyrics

A violent encounter
The red sky was bleeding
Glimpses of heaven
In sections of seven
Awaiting eternity

The violets adorned her
And wishers would mourn for hours
But fountains of joy
Have hollowed her eyes

Soul bound in my body
My eyes are broken windows
Go inside of me
Awaiting eternity

Her breath was all given
And torn by a living heartache
Who’s choking despair
Wrenched with claws she could not bear
Awaiting eternity

Her death withdrew sunshine
Now drops of the separation
Find sharp, jagged mountains
To echo her cries