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January 09, 2005

Songs, what are they all about then?

I’ve just watched a programme for an hour. Okay, not that impressive in itself, maybe impressive for someone with an attention disorder syndrome (they would be seriously chuffed), but what did impress me was what they were talking about.

They got the brightest sparks from Oxford and Cambridge, some of the most high brow music people and a couple of psychologists into one room , and talked about one of the most popular songs of all time. Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody. After an hour of debate, discussion, analysis and interviews, they found out, that, nobody had a clue what the song was on about and why Freddy Mercury wrote it.

So to be regarded as a truly great song, do the lyrics have to be great and meaningful? Well, obviously in this case, no. But having felt slightly guilty that I really didn’t know what my top ten songs of all time were trying to say, my plan for 2005 is to become slightly more lyrically aware.

So, I’m going to take my current top ten favourite tracks (the ones that I play over and over again) and try to understand them a bit more. They are my current top tunes, because I love the way they sound. In truth they could be singing about murder, differing exchange rates, dog names, shopping lists or double entry book keeping, the truth is, I don’t know.

#1 Counting Crows - Holiday in Spain

Ok, I can guess by the title, it’s something to do with taking a holiday in Spain. That’s a good start, I’ve been to Spain on holiday many times, whether I would write a song about it would be another thing, maybe he had a particularly good holiday, I don’t know, and that’s not that important now. Before I get sidetracked about the pros and cons of a cheap package to Spain, I should look at the lyrics.

Let’s start with the first verse:-

‘Got no place to go, but there's a girl waiting for me down in Mexico’

I’m confused already. He said he was taking a holiday in Spain? I know they speak Spanish in Mexico, but surely he couldn’t get Mexico and Spain mixed up. Maybe his head is so screwed up by this girl, he thinks she is in Spain?

“She's got a bottle of tequila, a bottle of gin, and if I bring a little music I can fit right in”

Okay, it’s definitely Mexico. Spain must have been a typo. No she seems to have a bit of a drink problem which he seems to be uncomfortable with. We have all turned up to parties late where you have been sober and everyone is drunk. The thing is my solution would be to try and get drunk before I turn up, bringing a CD would not really make me feel better. There’s normally one person who hogs the CD player all night anyway, so it maybe difficult for him to put his music.

‘We've got airplane rides ,We got California drowning out the window side’

Now you are confusing me. Who is ‘We’. ‘She’ is in Mexico. So it cant be her. So he is in a plane with a mystery person, flying over California. He must have a window seat, I’ve tried peering over seats B-D to get a look, and it is difficult. But I get the jist so far, he is on a plane with a friend and going to Mexico.

‘We've got big black cars , and we've got stories how we slept with all the movie stars’

Hang on. I was starting to feel sorry for this guy. Now he is starting to tell me about his big black cars and his sexual escapades? Maybe he is just nervous on the flight and is trying to impress the person next to him on the flight. We have all done it. After all you can lie a bit if you are never going to see them again. I’ve done it. I lied to this nice young lady next to me on the flight to Singapore that I was going there on business and that I was not a scruffy backpacker.

‘I may take a holiday in Spain , leave my wings behind me’

Oh no. Not Spain again. Just go to Mexico first. What wings? First he gets confused about where he is going, now he thinks he is a bird. I just hope he doesn’t try and walk off the plane mid-air and thinks he can fly, but then again, he did just say he had left his wings behind so he must rememeber. But would you trust the mental state of a person thinking Spain was Mexico.

’Drink my worries down the drain, and fly away to somewhere new’

Well I worried about this person. He’s probably on a first class flight and is getting free drinks. I would drink if I was in his position. Can’t blame him there. But I haven’t seen too many drains on airplanes. More worryingly, and confirming his ever growing confused state of mind, he thinks he can change where the plane is going. Okay, he is in first class, but there are other passengers to think about. Just because he does not want to go to Mexico anymore, it does not mean the other passengers are the same. Plus, and more importantly, modern international flight plans can only be changed by emergency situations.

‘Hop on my choo-cho, I'll be your engine driver in a bunny suit’

If I was sitting behind this man, I would be pressing the ‘air stewardess’ button right now. Not only does he want to fly somewhere different, he wants to drive a train dressed in a bunny suit? Is he mad? He will never get past security. And does he really think that he will impress this girl wearing a bunny suit? I hardly think spending a day on an old train will take her fancy anyway. We already know she likes Tequila, give the lady something she likes.

‘If you dress me up in pink and white, we may be just a little fuzzy 'bout it later tonight’

Fetish alert. So he likes to dress up as a bunny rabbits. Well each to their own. He obviously isn’t that proud about it though, needing drink to have the courage.


’She's my angel, she's a little better than the one that used to be with me’

Charming. This guy has got a real way with the words. He is basically saying she is only a little bit better than her ex-girlfriend. We all know that women do not like to be compared to their other half ex’s. I bet he told his ex she was an Angel, they probably broke up because of his bunny rabbit fetish, who knows.

‘Cause she liked to scream at me, man, it's a miracle that she's not living up in a tree’

Come on, you just compared her to your ex and said she is a little bit better. You can’t be that surprised. Okay, I know you said she was an Angel, surely she should be sitting on top of the tree, not living up it?

’I may take a holiday in Spain, Leave my wings behind me’

…..still confused/

’Drive this little girl insane, and fly away to someone new’

I’m starting to fell sorry for this lady now. You had me at the start, you wanted to get on a plane and fly and be with her. Now you just want to dress up and make this girl insane. What’s wrong with you?

‘Everybody's gone, they left the television screaming that the radio's on’

Ha ha. Are you surprised? Looks like they saw you coming.

‘Someone stole my shoes, but there's a couple of bananas and a bottle of booze’

Well they probably stole your shoes for a laugh. Getting the right size would be lucky. I can understand the bananas as well, I mean if I’m in a rush I always think “Right, keys, wallet, phone….. what have I forgot? Ah, yes, the bananas!”. Just count your lucky stars mate, they left the booze, you said you wanted to drown your sorrows down the drain, there you go.

‘Oh, well happy New Year's baby, we could probably fix it if we clean it up all day’

Clean what up? There are only a couple of banana’s and a bottle of booze. Hardly going to take you all day to clean up is it? And you want her to help you clean up as well? You are really pushing it now. It seems they had a New Years party without you, just deal with it.

‘Or we could simply pack our bags, and catch a plane to Barcelona 'cause this city's a drag’

Ah talking about Spain again. Well at least you know Barcelona is in Spain now. Just because they left you, don’t get all moody about it. Who says she wants to go with you anyway?

‘I may take a holiday in Spain , Leave my wings behind me’

…yes you have told us already

‘Flush my worries down the drain, And fly away to somewhere new’

…change the record please

’Take a holiday in Spain, leave my wings behind me’

Barcelona by any chance?

Drive this little girl insane, Fly away to someone new, Fly away to someone new , Fly away to someone new


……….I just hope I don’t sit next to you on the plane.

So, What was the point of the song? In his own words......

"I was sitting around, flipping through my songbooks, looking for lyrics to cover songs, when I found the lyrics to 'Holiday in Spain.' I had written them about a month before; they were all mixed up, out of order. I had forgotten to record the music or write down the chord pattern, so I didn't have any idea how the song went. I was exhausted, but I started playing this really pretty chord progression, and I started singing that melody with those lyrics. And this song, which had been a dumb song about going out and drinking, turned into this really sad, beautiful song about having a hangover. All of a sudden, it made total sense."

...... so I was completely out on that one.


1 Comments:

  • At 9:12 am, Blogger she said…

    when i have more time, i will post my top ten. though that will be really really hard because i am a music whore.

    australia is amazing.

    sending you some chrissie love.

     

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