Lines From Songs That Stand Out

[bellowbelle]

Just a note about why I added some lines from the second verse of 'Side By Side' to my signature....should anyone actuallly wonder, hehe.

 

Well, I didn't think of that song for years, though my grandmother and my aunts used to sing it a bit when I was very young. It's not that it's a favorite song, really. It most likely was used at Girl Scout meetings, which they had more to do with than I did, since Girl Scouts sorta got phased-out around here and replaced by sports teams.

 

However, it was nicely significant for me to have played this particular song, onstage with the group I was in for the Saturday concert, at this past Northeast Squeeze-In. When I heard those lines from the last verse, I had that 'wheel-has-come-full-circle' feeling. Something clicked. Not sure I can really explain it all concisely, but...

 

For one thing, 'all things musical' in my life sort of crashed and burned when (by personal choice) I no longer was active in the religious-related types of groups I'd been in. (One, I recently found out, is back together again but I won't call them....) It's not as if I wanted to just go find a bar with a band for some entertainment....that didn't work. Getting back to 'the same as we started' was difficult -- there wasn't much musical activity for me before I'd started playing in a church. When I tried to recall what actually WAS before that, though, I realized that it was....basically, my (late) grandmother, singing 'Side By Side' and 'Do Re Mi,' to me. (I remember too, at the time, taking note that SHE thought it was okay to do music that was 'outside' the church! I'd felt very guilt-driven, even then, by some of those off-kilter church-goers....)

 

(Hmmm...getting wordy but not sure I'm even saying what I mean....at the risk of sounding a bit disconnected here, I'm going to post this anyway and then get going, have a busy day ahead....shall come back and reiterate/clarify if necessary....)

 

Re the quoted lines from the song:

 

1) This is a simple TRUTH. An observation a bit on the negative side: When the dust settles around me, I will most likely be 'the same,' no better off and no worse -- like it or not! In my life, none of the quarrellers' petty buzz has much to do with me, in particular....kinda laughed a little when I realized the wry humor in that. (Though, I realize that, in the song, it's more or less a statement about the strength of a friendship.)

 

2) This is a GOOD simple truth, looking more at the positive side of things. I suddenly remembered, after playing 'Side By Side' on my concertina, how I would never win at Monopoly -- had a friend who insisted on playing it, and she always won. One day I realized that I never intended to win, that I'd actually been nicely trained, more or less, to 'break even.' Breaking even (in real life) is nice. (Of course, I suppose all this talk could raise some annoying discussion about the pros/cons of capitalism, but....well, forget that, for now!) I didn't particularly want Park Place or Boardwalk, though the game would go on forever it seemed (and I wouldn't take much loss, either).

 

I still don't like Monopoly, I'm proud to 'break even,' and I don't want to join in on those never-ending quarrels, either....

 

So, before I get going...anyone else got lines from songs that have become guideposts, mantras, or favorite quotes?

[JimLucas]

So, before I get going...anyone else got lines from songs that have become guideposts, mantras, or favorite quotes?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Before I answer that, I'll say that when you directed our/my attention to the lines

when they've all had their quarrels and parted,we'll be the same as we started...

the first thing I thought of was the C.net Forum, and how much it's free of the sort of quarrels that lead to parting, something which I hear is common in many another internet discussion group.

 

But yeah, there are lines of songs that stick in my mind and have become parts of my personal philosphy. Here are just a few:

 

The title of "Oh, What a Beautiful Morning" (from the musical Oklahoma!) could stand as one, but I particularly like the line, "All the sounds of the earth are like music," from the same song.

 

Another song with more than one memorable line is "Come By the Hills".

"The cares of tomorrow can/may/must/shall wait till this day is done." [i've heard each of those words used there.]

"... the future is still to be won."

But especially, "Come ... to ... where life is a song, and sing...."

 

In a very different spirit is a line I've never forgotten from Dave Bromberg's singing: "A man should never gamble more than he can stand to lose."

[Mark Evans]

You are my sunshine, my only sunshine

You make me happy when skys are grey.

You'll never know dear how much I love you.

Please don't take that sunshine away.

 

A song about a rather sad break up, but for me it brings me close to my father who passed in 91'.

 

Dad was stationed at an Air Force base in Stillwater, Oklahoma when I was born. He took the early shift duties with baby Mark (I woke at 4:00 am) and we would listen to Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys' early morning radio program. Dad would dance around the room with me in his arms singing along with You Are My Sunshine in his sweet baritone voice.

 

On a visit to his home in the middle 80's I related how deeply moved I was on hearing Norman Blake sing that song (I wept at the concert alarming my friends). Dad told me of our early morning dance and song sessions. A very nice connection for us both. I just regret I never sang it for him.

Edited May 8, 2005 by Mark Evans

[bellowbelle]

In a very different spirit is a line I've never forgotten from Dave Bromberg's singing: "A man should never gamble more than he can stand to lose."

 

Jim, I'll have to look that song up sometime. Sounds interesting.

 

...But, certainly a Monopoly game between myself and someone of that philosophy could go on and on for days...weeks...a year, maybe! Hmm. We'd probably both end up the same as we started!

 

On a visit to his home in the middle 80's I related how deeply moved I was on hearing Norman Blake sing that song (I wept at the concert alarming my friends). Dad told me of our early morning dance and song sessions. A very nice connection for us both. I just regret I never sang it for him.

 

Mark, that's such a nice memory to have, of your father!

 

It's amazing, the power that a song can have (as you well know!). Just the other day, although I am not usually one to cry while listening to the radio (especially while driving...), I was moved to tears over hearing an old church song, one that's not often known or heard -- because it happened to be the very first song that I ever sang in church, as a duet with another girl. I don't even know if I'd ever heard it anywhere publicly, other than our own presentation. But, I turned on the radio, expecting to hear the usual rock or pop, and there it was.

 

It was just the....reflection, ponderance, etc., that it caused. Gave me a chance to think and breathe a sigh, I guess. I know that not only I, but the girl I sang with, have been through an awful lot in our personal lives over the years -- some very ugly events, in fact. Thought back to that long-ago day...seems like centuries ago!

[groeswenphil]

At the school wwhere I work, none of the teachers ever get promotions or move to better jobs. Hence, we have a staffroom song....or at least a line from a song. It's by the Eagles, from 'Hotel California'.

"You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave."

Phil

[David Barnert]

I always go back to Gilbert and Sullivan for my wisdom. For instance, from The Gondoliers:

 

"Of that there is no manner of doubt, no probable, possible shadow of doubt, no possible doubt whatever."

 

Of course, it helps that it has a catchy tune.

[Henk van Aalten]

So, before I get going...anyone else got lines from songs that have become guideposts, mantras, or favorite quotes?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Here are a few:

From Bob Dylan:

"When you ain't got nothing, you've got nothing to lose"

"I gave her my heart but she wanted my soul"

From the Rolling Stones:

"Cash your dreams before they slip away"

From Kate and Anne McGarrigle:

"Je laisserez des traces pour mon retour". Translated into English it is (more or less): "I will leave traces for my return". However, the melancholy of the French words completely disappear by this translation

[John Wild]

From the song 'Come by the hills'

 

- And the cares of tomorrow must wait until this day is done.

 

 

Time for bed said Zebedee

 

 

- John Wild

[John Wild]

From the song 'Come by the hills'

 

- And the cares of tomorrow must wait until this day is done.

 

- John Wild

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

My apologies to Jim. I must have missed the first part of this thread where I now see you got in first with this quote. It just popped into my head late at night for no obvious reason.

 

Best wishes,

 

John

[ucyljad]

From The Sloth by Flanders & Swan

 

"The world is such a cheerful place when viewed from upside down"

 

and

 

"The door's not shut on my genius but I just don't have the time"

 

see

http://www.network54.com/Forum/thread?foru...2&lp=1115505395

 

The piano accompaniment written by Donald Swan is quite simple and can be adapted to concertina.

 

 

Andy

[Robert Booth]

"One man gathers what another man spills"

Hunter/ Garcia

[oruairc]

On my way to the dole office to sign on some years ago I found myself whistling:

 

'we're off to see the wizard, the wonderful wizard of Oz' etc

 

Answers on a postcard please.

[Rod Newman]

The band (RigAJig) does a song from the 1860s that I found in PJ Thomas' "Songs of the Pacific Northwest". It's called "Teamin' Up the Cariboo Road".

 

The verses are about frolics of the freight wagonners who carried people and goods hundreds of miles through the canyons and forests to Barkerville during the Cariboo Gold Rush.

 

The tune is a parody of "Climbing Up the Golden Stairs" The last verse:

 

Well the Driver's on the deck, with a rag around his neck.

Teamin up the Cariboo Road

While the swamper in the stable makes sure the teams are able

Teamin up the Cariboo Road

When the roads are in a mire, then the freighters earn their hire

Teamin up the Cariboo Road

BUT THEY CAN BEAT THE WEATHER, WHEN THEY ALL WORK TOGETHER

Teamin up the Cariboo Road.

 

The last line is a basic principle for surviving a northern weather.

[sympathy]

So, before I get going...anyone else got lines from songs that have become guideposts, mantras, or favorite quotes?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Used to be:

"Sex and Drugs and Rock and Roll" and

"Take a Walk on the Wild Side"

 

but now it's: "show me the way to go home, I'm tired and I wanna go to bed ............. "

[David Barnert]

"If looks could kill it would've been us instead of him."