In the Lyrics Groove

Showering this morning and for some reason “Sultans of Swing” is stuck in my head. “Earworms” they say some tunes are. “Check out Guitar George, he knows all the chords, he doesn’t want to make it cry or sing when he gets up under the lights to do his thing.” It would be easier to forget my own birthday than that line. Lot of romance in rock music of course, how about “If I had the sun and moon, and they were shinin’, I would give you both night and day of satisfyin.'” Of course it’s Bad Co.’s “Feel Like Makin’ Love.” Great for your Valentine night playlist maybe. Bob Seger is a Hall of fame songwriter, gotta love stuff like “She took his hand and she led him along that golden beach, they watched the waves tumble over the sand.” Sheer poetry. Who’s this?: “She’s got eyes of the bluest skies, and if they thought of rain, I’d hate to look into those eyes and see and ounce of pain.” Yup, Axl and the gang. That’s misty-eyed stuff right there. This Eagles lyric is a favorite of mine for just the stark and brutal honesty in it: “Look at us baby, up all night tearing our love apart. Aren’t we the same two people who lived through years in the dark?” Tom Petty could paint a picture with the best of ’em too, like this from “Even the Losers,” “Two cars parked on the overpass, rocks hit the water like broken glass, I should have known right then it was too good to last, God it’s such a drag when you’re livin’ in the past.” “The screen-door slams and Mary’s dress waves, like a vision she dances across the porch as the radio plays. Roy Orbison singing for the lonely, he that’s me and I want you only, don’t turn me home again I just can’t face myself alone again.” Springsteen in “Thunder Road.” No wonder to me The Boss is on Broadway. “My hands are tied, my body bruised, she’s got me with nothing to win and nothing to lose.” U2. I bet you recognized that one. The lyrics that get wedged in our brains are the ones I suppose we identify most with. They are genuine, human and real, whether it is “Tutti Frutti, oh Rudy!” or “Shot through the heart and you’re to blame…” I could go on and on with this, they are indelibly saved to the disc-drive of my mind and these have all come right off the top of my head, so any inaccuracies will have to be excused. I wasn’t going to make the effort to fact-check them for accuracy. Besides, there is some real work around here I should be doing now! Okay, just one more, from Mr. Romance himself, Terrible Ted Nugent; “You remember the night that you left me, you put me in my place. Got you in a stranglehold baby, I’m gonna crush your face!” Nice. Maybe I should free-up some hard-drive space in the cranium after all…

Rock On! Bobby Cook