2000s songs, relationship problems

#437 The Scientist- ColdPlay

Running in circles; coming up tails/
Heads on a science apart.

That line above is really good. A guy is trying to decide how to fix a relationship he screwed up (and seems to be continuing to screw up), his thought is to flip a coin, if it comes up tails go talk to her, heads he’ll be silent and hope she comes to him. This man is clearly using “reason” the wrong way, so calling him “The Scientist” is facetious-nor is this “coin-flipping” meant to be literal.

It is a good device to show that he is using all the wrong tools to connect with this girl (his own reason) and it is clearly failing. In the beginning of the relationship things were much better, now they are strained.

“The Scientist” has one of the most famous introductory piano parts in a pop song. It is a great piano song. Does anyone else think of Gwyneth (in her prime—pre-goop) when they hear this? It has the typical Coldplay structure, it starts out slow and builds into more instruments as more verses go by. It is a winning formula.

Martin’s voice is especially good. Interestingly, he begins to almost howl at the end of the song as if his words are betraying him but he still has things to communicate. And he does communicate a lot during that coda. It is very heartfelt.

The Scientist Lyrics

Come up to meet you
Tell you I’m sorry
You don’t know how lovely you are
I had to find you
Tell you I need you
Tell you I set you apart

Tell me your secrets
And ask me your questions
Oh, let’s go back to the start
Running in circles, coming up tails
Heads on a science apart

Nobody said it was easy
It’s such a shame for us to part
Nobody said it was easy
No one ever said it would be this hard
Oh, take me back to the start

I was just guessing at numbers and figures
Pulling your puzzles apart
Questions of science, science and progress
Do not speak as loud as my heart

Tell me you love me
Come back and haunt me
Oh, and I rush to the start
Running in circles, chasing our tails
Coming back as we are

Nobody said it was easy
Oh, it’s such a shame for us to part
Nobody said it was easy
No one ever said it would be so hard
I’m going back to the start

Songwriters: Christopher Anthony John Martin / Guy Rupert Berryman / Jonathan Mark Buckland / William Champion

2000s songs, secular hymn

#436 I Look to You- Whitney Houston

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And every road that I’ve taken/
Led to my regret.
And I don’t know if I’m gonna make it/
Nothing to do but lift my head.

“I Look To You” is off Whitney Houston’s last studio release. It was not a hit, but it is one of her best songs. She puts aside some of the more pretentious vocal runs she had in her youth and delivers a somber performance about finding strength after losing it all.

This is a different Whitney Houston song. Her voice is equally strong, it is just more mature. The lyrics are hopeful, but the delivery is sad. Perhaps her premature death adds a bit to the emotion of this song.

“I Look to You” could be interpreted in several ways-if you were so inclined- but the “You” Whitney Houston is looking to is clearly God. That makes “I Look to You” a religious song hidden in a love song. However, it works equally well as a love song. There are only three others on this list that are overtly religious. We’ll hear “Every Grain of Sand” by Bob Dylan. It just shows that rock and pop music can find inspiration in any and everything.

I Look To You Lyrics

As I lay me down
Heaven hear me now
I’m lost without a cause
After giving it my all

Winter storms have come
And darkened my sun
After all that I’ve been through
Who on earth can I turn to

I look to you
I look to you

After all my strength is gone
In you I can be strong

I look to you
I look to you
Yeah
And when melodies are gone
In you I hear a song
I look to you

After losing my breath
There’s no more fighting left
Sinking to rise no more
Searching for that open door

And every road that I’ve taken
Led to my regret
And I don’t know if I’m gonna make it
Nothing to do but lift my head

I look to you
I look to you
Yeah
And when all my strength is gone
In you I can be strong

I look to you
I look to you
Oh yeah
And when melodies are gone
In you I hear a song
I look to you

Coming down on me
All the rain is falling
Set me free
Take me far away from the battle
I need you
Shine on me

I look to you
I look to you
After all my strength has gone
In you I can be strong
I look to you
I look to you
And when melodies are gone
In you I hear a song
I look to you
Yeah
I look to you
I look to you

Songwriters: Robert S. Kelly

1980s songs, love songs

#435 The Rose- Bette Midler

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Some say love, it is a hunger, an endless aching need/
I say love, it is a flower, and you, its only seed.

“The Rose” by Bette Midler is a beautiful song written by Amanda Mcbroom. The lyrics are especially good. This song gets over-looked. Is it because we hear it on the radio too often? Is it because it is soft-rock? (I maintain that soft rock does not get its due as “serious” music for whatever reason.) Regardless this is beautifully sung by Midler, and a great song.

So, what is The Rose and what is McBroom trying to tell us? Midler starts off by telling us how some people can wrongly view love: as a hunger that needs or a razor that cuts. That isn’t love. Love is within us and is the ultimate culmination of our beings: like a seed become a flower, we grow Love.

In the final verse Midler talks about how the winter can challenge the seed. However, we know that with a little help from the sun, the seed will grow to become the rose. Similarly, with a little perseverance on our end, we can survive the tough times and spring will be right around the corner and we will blossom into a rose.

It is a message of hope in three verses with no bridge. Not many pop and rock songs with such a simple structure, but it works. The piano and strings arrangement work perfectly.

The Rose Lyrics

Some say love, it is a river, that drowns the tender reed
Some say love, it is a razor, that leaves your soul to bleed
Some say love, it is a hunger, an endless aching need
I say love, it is a flower, and you, its only seed

It’s the heart afraid of breaking, that never learns to dance
It’s the dream afraid of waking, that never takes the chance
It’s the one who won’t be taken, who cannot seem to give
And the soul afraid of dying, that never learns to live

When the night has been too lonely and the road has been too long
And you think that love is only for the lucky and the strong
Just remember in the winter, far beneath the bitter snows
Lies the seed, that with the sun’s love in the spring becomes the rose

Songwriters: Amanda Mcbroom

Top 500 Greatest Rock Songs of All-time