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What song changed your life?
Granted, most of us get our life-changing experiences in adolescence when everything weighs in so much heavier. Growing up in St. Louis, the late-night DJ on K-SHE would play "Desolation Row" each night at about 3 a.m. When I was about thirteen I'd wake up every night to listen to it.
It taught me how layers of meaning could come from strong imagery and metaphor in songs and poetry and that nobody need ever settle for the cliche, even among simple chords.
What song changed your life?
It taught me how layers of meaning could come from strong imagery and metaphor in songs and poetry and that nobody need ever settle for the cliche, even among simple chords.
What song changed your life?
Tags: AOR, Bob, Desolation, Dylan, K-SHE, Louis, Radio, Row, St.
Views: 36
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Bill Lawlor on -
During the glory days of The Earl of Old Town Pub in Chicago, my older brother would tell me about these great performers he would see there - John Prine, Steve Goodman, Bonnie Koloc, etc. . However, I was going through my early high school rock and roll phase and wasn't interested in singer/songwriters (besides, I was too young to get in to see them). One day I put on his John Prine album and heard "Sam Stone"for the first time. Right there I realized how incredibly powerful a song could be. The first line of the chorus "There's a hole in Daddy's arm where all the money goes..." still gives me the chills whenever I hear it.
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Permalink Reply by Kit Kellison on -
Omg, that's a heartbreaker! That's one sensitive, brilliant human being. I sing Angel from Montgomery once in a while...one of those songs exactly in my vocal range...I can' t get over those images..."flies in the kitchen...I can hear them buzzin'...and I ain't done nothin' since I woke up today..." How the hell can a kid of 23 write lyrics from that old woman's perspective and hit the nail right on the head?? Terrifying for us mere mortals!
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Permalink Reply by Will James on -
Kit, in my opinion Prine's best song ever. When I spoke with him back then he still thought of himself as being on leave from being a mailman, I think fully expecting to return.
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Permalink Reply by Barry Gornell on -
What song has changed you since you were thirteen? It's an ongoing process.
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Permalink Reply by Jim Moulton on -
I could give many answers, but "I Hope You Dance" by Lee Ann Womack comes to mind now, The words are so true, it is a great song, with a great message
Jim
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Permalink Reply by Kit Kellison on
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Oh gosh, Barry, so many songs have stopped me in my tracks. I hadn't heard of Townes Van Zandt before Willie and Merle did "Pancho and Lefty." Those similes are so strong and brilliant: "breath as hard as kerosene," "horse as fast as polished steel."
Yeah, kerosene isn't hard, it's liquid, and polished steel isn't fast, it's inanimate...but everyone knows exactly what he meant.
Townes' songs are a lesson in writing, period. Jim Morrison, afterall, taught us that there is no poem too awful to be a great rock song.
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Permalink Reply by Wepecket Island Records on -
"Better Things for You" The Holy Modal Rounders.
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Permalink Reply by Adam Sheets on -
I plan on doing a blog on this particular artist someday and his influence on certain Americana artists and later active participation in the genre, so I'm not going to go into too much detail here. But the song was "The Great Midwest" and the album was John Cougar and it was the first time I had heard a song where I said, "That guy somehow got into my head and is writing my life story." He has since done that many times and it is in no way, shape, or form his best song, but it was maybe his first great one.
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Permalink Reply by Adam Sheets on
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And as a side note, for fans of the Drive By-Truckers who understand the anger and feelings in their music but do not share the Southern heritage, this is a must-listen.
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Permalink Reply by Darren Walsh on
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As I came to all of these artists much later than their debut albums, it was the first time I heard:
The Beatles - 'Drive My Car'
John Lennon - 'Instant Karma' - first single '45 I bought with my own $$
Neil Young - 'Like a Hurricane'
Bob Dylan - 'Like a Rolling Stone'
The Kinks - 'Misfits'
Bruce Springsteen - 'Racing in the Streets'
The Guess Who - 'Star Baby'
Allison Moorer - 'Steal The Sun'
The Band - 'It Makes No Difference' (from the Last Waltz)
Emmylou Harris - 'Pancho and Lefty'
Willie Nelson - 'Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain'
Van Morrison - 'MoonDance'
The Clash - 'Safe European Home'
REM - 'Radio Free Europe'
Sex Pistols - 'God Safe The Queen'
Nirvana - 'Smells Like Teen Spirit'
Chicago - 'Does Anyone Really Know What Time It Is?'
Moody Blues - 'Nights in White Satin'
X - 'The Once Over Twice'
Elvis Presley - 'Suspicious Minds'
U2 - 'I Will Follow'
Elton John - 'Madman Across The Water'
The Who - 'Baba O'Riley'
Beach Boys - 'Good Vibrations'
Lou Reed - 'Sweet Jane'
Miles Davis - 'So What'
Don McLean - 'American Pie'
Elvis Costello - 'Radio, Radio'
Visqueen - 'A Viewing'
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Permalink Reply by David Williams on -
Your post caught my eye. I wouldn't go so far to say they changed my life, but there are a handful of songs that when first heard filled me with that rare awe & wonder of experiencing something truly original & meaningful (to me at least). A few off top of head - Nirvana Smells Like Teen Spirit, AC/DC Highway to Hell, and Hank Williams Cold Cold Heart.
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Permalink Reply by Victor Barclay on
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In approximate order of discovery:
I'm All Shook Up - Elvis
I Wanna Hold Your Hand - The Beatles
Back in Black - AC/DC
Panama - Van Halen
Los Angeles - X
About A Girl - Nirvana
Bone Machine - The Pixies
Folsom Prison Blues - Johnny Cash
Lonegone Lonesome Blues - Hank Williams
Bye Bye Blues - Les Paul / Mary Ford
Stratosphere Boogie - Speedy West / Jimmy Bryant
So What - Miles Davis
and many more that I'm forgetting right now...
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