1960s songs, breakup songs

Runaway- Del Shannon

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And I wonder where she will stay/
My little runaway…

Del Shannon’s “Runaway” was cutting edge rock/pop music when it was released in 1961. The song is remarkably innovative and show’s Shannon’s fearless experimentation (along with co-writer and keyboardist Max Crook). While the lyric is not detailed, we have no doubt about the sentiment behind them. And they are quite raw and personal–especially for that time.

Del Shannon Runaway
Del Shannon

The vocal is the highlight. Notice the transition in the vocal from the beginning of the song as it progresses. The song starts softer—it could almost go in the direction of the ballad. However, the pace of the song is surprisingly fast, and Shannon’s vocal’s and emotions are unleashed.

He is hurt, angry and confused about the fact that his girlfriend left him. He uses a falsetto brilliantly as he cries to the heavens “why!” would you leave me? This is one of the earliest uses of falsetto in pop/rock. Also, one of the best. The way his voice slightly strains at times helps to convey a floundering man is brilliant.

Runaway keyboardist
Max Crook on Keyboards

On any up-tempo song, the rhythm section must pull its weight and on “Runaway” we hear the bass really come to life. Listen to the great walking bassline. It is one of the first examples of a walking bass line in rock. The keyboard solo is unique and haunting. The piano playing during the verse is especially tight and advanced. Horns are mixed in to form a beautiful combination of sounds. Excellent production.

Del Shannon
Del Shannon

The most obvious innovation is a prototype electric keyboard called a Musitron-played by and invented by Max Crook. This provides one of the most memorable solos in music. The sound is so intrinsic to the song that it would be hard to imagine a cover of Runaway without it. Would it be recognizable? A couple similar songs with instruments so essential are Lucky Man, Good Vibrations, and If.

Runaway Lyrics
As I walk along, I wonder
A what went wrong whit our love
A love that was so strong

And as I still walk on
I think of the thing’s we’ve done
Together, while our hearts were young

I’m a walkin’ in the rain
Tears are fallin’ and I feel a pain
A wishin’ you were here by me
To end this misery
And I wonder, I wa wa wa wa wonder
Why a why why why why why
She ran away
And I wonder where she will stay
My little runaway
My run run run run runaway

I’m a walking in the rain
Tears are fallin’ and I feel a pain
A wishin’ you were here by me
To end this misery
And I wonder, I wa wa wa wa wonder
Why a why why why why why
She ran away
And I wonder where she will stay
My little runaway
A run run run run
Runaway

Written by Del Shannon and Max Crook

1980s songs, love songs

Love at the Five & Dime- Nanci Griffith

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Eddie was a sweet romancer, and a darn good dancer/
And they’d waltz the aisles of the five and dime…

Mood plays such a strong role in Nanci Griffith’s “Love at the Five & Dime”. It is essentially a love story—and overall, a happy love story—but the mood the music creates is dreary and fatalistic. Griffith delivers the lines the same way, whether Rita and Eddie are young and dancing in the corner store, or suffering through the death of their child, and their eventual breakup and reconciliation. It is peculiar. Emotions don’t run too high or too low in Rita’s world.

Their life is relatively simple and mostly uneventful: they had a few dreams that never materialized, and work was always top of mind. But the one thing that was always there was their love for each other. Griffith’s simple, beautiful vocal delivery elevates the song. Also, the steel guitar works perfectly here—it so rarely does. It sets the scene for a small shop in a small town in the middle of the country in a different time.

Love at the Five and Dime Lyrics Meaning
Nanci Griffith

Ultimately this is a story about a different generation. The Silent Generation. I have heard older people talk about their life and often they have a similar flat affect as Griffith sings the song. It is a way of keeping the emotions at bay as any feelings that escape would probably be negative or overwhelming. Perhaps it is a product of that time.

The message of young love carrying you through thick and thin is something that all generations can relate to. Even though nowadays this story would take place at a dollar store rather than the corner five and dime.

Love at the Five and Dime
Nanci

Love at the Five & Dime Lyrics
Rita was sixteen years, hazel eyes and chestnut hair
She made the Woolworth counter shine
And Eddie was a sweet romancer, and a darn good dancer
And they’d waltz the aisles of the five and dime

And they’d sing
Dance a little closer to me, dance a little closer now
Dance a little closer tonight
Dance a little closer to me, ’cause it’s closing time
And love’s on sale tonight at this five and dime

Eddie played the steel guitar
And his mama cried ’cause he played in the bars
And kept young Rita out late at night
So they married up in Abilene, lost a child in Tennessee
Still that love survived

‘Cause they’d sing
Dance a little closer to me, dance a little closer now
Dance a little closer tonight
Dance a little closer to me, ’cause it’s closing time
And love’s on sale tonight at this five and dime

One of the boys in Eddie’s band took a shine to Rita’s hands
So Eddie ran off with the bass man’s wife
Oh, but he was back by June, singin’ a different tune
And sportin’ miss Rita back by his side

And he sang
Dance a little closer to me, dance a little closer now
Dance a little closer tonight
Dance a little closer to me, ’cause it’s closing time
And love’s on sale tonight at this five and dime

Eddie traveled with the barroom bands
‘Til arthritis took his hands
Now he sells insurance on the side
Rita’s got a house to keep
Dime store novels and a love so sweet
They dance to the radio late at night
And they sing

Dance a little closer to me, dance a little closer now
Dance a little closer tonight
Dance a little closer to me, ’cause it’s closing time
And love’s on sale tonight at this five and dime

‘Cause Rita was sixteen years, with hazel eyes and chestnut hair
She really made the Woolworth counter shine
Eddie was a sweet romancer, and a darn good dancer
And they’d waltz the aisles of the five and dime
And they’d waltz the aisles of the five and dime

written by Nancy Griffith

1980s songs, toxic relationship

Live to Tell- Madonna

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A man can tell a thousand lies/
I learned my lesson well…

Madonna’s “Live to Tell” is strong lyrically and musically and her vocals are impeccable. The song is about the narrator losing her innocence. Perhaps she was a child, perhaps this is a relationship she experienced when she was fairly young.  She doesn’t get into details.

We do know that a man deceived her and that she carries that secret within her. She anticipates that a time will come when she will be able to release herself of this burden. Until then, she must survive, in part, so as to see the truth come out. She must “live to tell”.

Live to tell meaning
Madonna

The mystery behind the secret is part of the allure of the song. We can imagine all sorts of unimaginable things that a child might have to endure and what a burden it would be to keep that inside. A child who only desires to live so that one day her trauma can some day be told is quite a powerful story. The fact that this narrator is (partially) revealing their secret is captivating. This is Madonna’s best writing.

The bridge is especially good (If I ran away, I’d never have the strength/To go very far…). It addresses a question that the listener must be asking, “Why haven’t you left?” The answer is not completely satisfactory, but by addressing it she acknowledges that she, too, is looking at this problem logically and trying to solve it in any way she can. It also suggests that she is still very much involved in the relationship that caused the trauma. She has not yet escaped.

Live to Tell meaning
Madonna

While the story and lyrics are fantastic, it is Madonna’s vocals that make this song great. She sings the song with the proper emotion that such a story deserves. In the 1980s, producers had a bad habit adding bizarre keyboard sounds, but the keyboards here sound great…with the bizarre sounds.

In “Live to Tell” the keyboards supplement Madonna’s voice. The keyboards also have a nice intro that really adds to the song. It is also a rare occasion in which a song uses various modes on a keyboard and it doesn’t sound gimmicky. That is a credit to production.

Live To Tell Lyrics

I have a tale to tell
Sometimes it gets so hard to hide it well
I was not ready for the fall
Too blind to see the writing on the wall

A man can tell a thousand lies
I’ve learned my lesson well
Hope I live to tell
The secret I have learned, ’til then
It will burn inside of me

I know where beauty lives
I’ve seen it once, I know the warm she gives
The light that you could never see
It shines inside, you can’t take that from me

A man can tell a thousand lies
I’ve learned my lesson well
Hope I live to tell
The secret I have learned, ’til then
It will burn inside of me

The truth is never far behind
You kept it hidden well
If I live to tell
The secret I knew then
Will I ever have the chance again

If I ran away, I’d never have the strength
To go very far
How would they hear the beating of my heart
Will it grow cold
The secret that I hide, will I grow old
How will they hear
When will they learn
How will they know

A man can tell a thousand lies
I’ve learned my lesson well
Hope I live to tell
The secret I have learned, ’til then
It will burn inside of me

The truth is never far behind
You kept it hidden well
If I live to tell
The secret I knew then
Will I ever have the chance again

A man can tell a thousand lies
I’ve learned my lesson well
Hope I live to tell
The secret I have learned, ’til then
It will burn inside of me

Songwriters: Madonna Ciccone / Patrick Leonard