1970s songs, love songs

#388 Wedding Song (There is Love)- Paul Stookey

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For if loving is the answer then who’s the giving for?
Do you believe in something that you’ve never seen before?
Oh there’s love, oh there’s love.

“Wedding Song (There is Love)” is written and sung by Paul, from the great folk group Peter, Paul & Mary. This is the one of the best and most unique wedding songs. It is written by a great artist who you know– but you might not recognize his name. Paul asks “what is a wedding?” and sings a beautiful melody with simple instrumentation that explains marriage and the importance of weddings.

Wedding Song There is Love Meaning
Paul Stookey

The song has religious overtones–specifically Christian overtones- but it doesn’t get bogged down in them and Stookey allows for more universal themes of love and community to carry the song. It is religious but can appeal to atheists–it celebrates the union of two souls.

For Paul, weddings are a union of two spirits, and the culmination of the life of a man and a woman (remember there was no such thing as gay weddings back then). It is a time of growing up and leaving the nest. This is how it always has been and how it always will be. But why get married at all? Because whenever two people come together to celebrate their love for each other and declare their love for each other, God also is there with you.

Stookey’s voice on “Wedding Song (There is Love)” is so pure and the simple instrumentation is heavenly. Interestingly, I have never heard this at a wedding- or on the radio. It feels like the type of vibe and message I would want at my wedding.

Wedding Song (There is Love) Lyrics

He is now to be among you at the calling of your hearts,
Rest assured this troubadour is acting on His part.
The union of your spirits here has caused Him to remain,
For whenever two or more of you are gathered in His name.
There is love, there is love.

Well a man shall leave his mother, and a woman leave her home,
They shall travel on to where the two shall be as one.
As it was in the beginning is now until the end,
A woman draws her life from man and gives it back again.
And there is love, there is love.

Well then what’s to be the reason for becoming man and wife?
Is it love that brings you here or love that gives you life?
For if loving is the answer then who’s the giving for?
Do you believe in something that you’ve never seen before?
Oh there’s love, oh there’s love.

Oh, the marriage of your spirits here has caused Him to remain,
For whenever two or more of you are gathered in His name.
There is love, oh there’s love.

Songwriters: Noel Paul Stookey

2010s songs, depression

#387 November- Azure Ray

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I was afraid to be alone/
Now I’m scared thats how I’d like to be.

Last November Azure Ray lost someone special. It is not clear if it is a family member, friend or significant other; it doesn’t matter. It is not clear what type of loss it is either. Is it a break up? A death? We are not sure. What we know is that the narrator is deeply changed even one year later and she ponders how much she has changed. It seems like she is an entirely different person.

November great songs Meaning
Azure Ray

Once she was strong, now she is hoping to get up “the strength to give it one more shot” (love? Life?). She doesn’t know if she’ll ever be able to pick herself out of her depression. In her suffering she starts to see a lot more suffering in other people too. She doesn’t see an end, but asks that her friends understand and be patient with her.

Azure’s “November” is one of the best songs depicting loss and depression. It is beautifully and tenderly sung as well. The only instruments are an acoustic guitar and a cello and the arrangement is perfect. The chorus is a fantastic fit and serves as a crescendo point: “I’m about to give this one more shot…” Azure Ray is a lesser known band and song and it is great to introduce it to a larger audience. It is a true gem.

November Lyrics

So I’m waiting for this test to end,
So these lighter days can soon begin.
I’ll be alone by maybe more carefree,
Like a kite that floats so effortlessly.

I was afraid to be alone.
Now I’m scared that’s how id like to be.
All the faces none the same,
How can there be so many personalities.

So many lifeless empty hands,
So many hearts in great demand.
And now my sorrow seems to far away,
Until I’m taken by these bolts of pain.

But I turn them off and tuck them away,
Till these rainy days that make them stay.
And then ill cry so hard to these sad songs,
And the words still ring, once here now gone.

And they echo through my head everyday.
And I don’t think they’ll ever go away.
Just like thinking of your childhood home,
But we can’t go back were on our own.

Oh…
But I’m about to give this one more shot.
And find it in myself,
I’ll find it in myself.

So were speeding towards that time of year,
To the day that marks your not here.
And I think ill want to be alone,
So please understand that I don’t answer the phone.

I’ll just sit and stare at my deep blue walls.
Until I can see nothing at all.
Only particles some fast some slow,
All my eyes can see is all I know.

Oh…
But I’m about to give this one more shot.
And find it in myself,
I’ll find it in myself.

Songwriters: John Abercrombie / Marc Johnson / Peter Erskine

2010s songs, party songs

#386 We Are Young- Fun

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I need to get my story straight/
My friends are in the bathroom getting higher than the Empire State.

Fun’s “We Are Young” does a great job of capturing the party lifestyle of young twenty-somethings, where the ultimate thing you can do for a friend is help them get home when they are drunk or high. In this world, relationships might not be the best in an objective sense (He did give his girlfriend a scar, but nevermind), but it sounds fun in a certain light.

We Are Young Meaning
Fun

In “We are Young”, we progress through the author’s night from when everyone starts getting high– to the end, when everyone can barely walk home. In between, he party’s hard because all his friends are in town and because “we’re young so let’s set this world on fire.”

Fun’s “We are Young” hits on so many levels. First it is fun (lowercase ‘f’): It isn’t trying to be preachy; it is just a day in the life. Those songs are okay too. Great production: the tone of the song matches the lyrics really well, and the beautiful Janelle Monáe sings the part of “the girlfriend”. The song sounds like one big party- which is what the song is about. And like any good party song it has a great use of percussion: the drums in the intro verse and chorus are especially good.

We Are Young Lyrics

Give me a second I
I need to get my story straight,
My friends are in the bathroom getting higher than the Empire State.
My lover she’s waiting for me just across the bar,
My seat’s been taken by some sunglasses asking about a scar, and
I know I gave it to you months ago,
I know you’re trying to forget,
But between the drinks and subtle things
The holes in my apologies, you know
I’m trying hard to take it back.
So if by the time the bar closes
And you feel like falling down, I’ll carry you home-

Tonight, we are young.
So let’s set the world on fire,
We can burn brighter than the sun.

Tonight, we are young.
So let’s set the world on fire,
We can burn brighter than the sun.

Now I know that I’m not
All that you got. I guess that I, I just thought
Maybe we could find new ways to fall apart.
But our friends are back,
So let’s raise a tab,
‘Cause I found someone to carry me home.

Tonight, we are young.
So let’s set the world on fire,
We can burn brighter than the sun.

Tonight, we are young.
So let’s set the world on fire,
We can burn brighter than the sun.

Carry me home tonight (Na na na na na na),
Just carry me home tonight (Na na na na na na).
Carry me home tonight (Na na na na na na),
Just carry me home tonight (Na na na na na na).

The world is on my side,
I have no reason to run.
So will someone come and carry me home tonight.
The angels never arrived,
But I can hear the choir,
So will someone come and carry me home…

Tonight, we are young.
So let’s set the world on fire,
We can burn brighter than the sun.

Tonight, we are young.
So let’s set the world on fire,
We can burn brighter than the sun.
So if by the time the bar closes
And you feel like falling down,
I’ll carry you home tonight.

Songwriters: Jeff Bhasker / Andrew Dost / Jack Antonoff / Nate Ruess