Remember When Songs Told a Story?

Those Were Truly the Good Old Days

 There was a time (our time-our generation) when you could find a song that would relay the exact message about how you felt about some person you loved or were interested in.  Some great examples are:  I Want To Hold Your Hand, PS I love you – The Beatles, I love How you Love me - Paris Sisters, Breaking Up Is Hard To Do, Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen - Neil Sedaka, Venus In Blue Jeans – Jimmy Clanton, There’s a Kind of a Hush - Barry Manilow, In The Misty Moonlight – Dean Martin.  Even something as basic and repetitious as The Twist – Chubby Checker, and Rock Around the Clock – Bill Haley and the Comets told a story.  I could go on for a month writing song titles.

Breaking Up Is Hard To Do - Neil Sedaka

Music beyond the 80’s took a direction where not only did music not tell a story, but even the songs titles were purposely misspelled.  When searching for a song, you didn’t (and still don’t) know if you should use proper grammar or slang for the title.  To this day I still listen to many songs for the melody, and many others for the message.  A great example of the message is the song Yesterday with Roy Clark.  That song always makes me sad, because even though I don’t have any regrets, in my life (not the same as I didn’t make any mistakes), I know that many of us ended up well, because of some force bigger than us.  I still like to use the old saying better lucky than good.

In The Misty Moonlight - Dean Martin

Another great song for the message as well as the melody is a newer song with Alan Jackson “Remember When.”  That song tells a story that fits the majority of us in our generation, and the appropriate music combined with the lyrics can bring you to tears if the moment is right.  We were very fortunate to have lived in a time where musicians (artists) were made humble by the environment they lived and worked in.  The artists of our times were not spoiled by the record companies with millions of dollars, and fake life styles, that today is the ruin of many performers.

Abraham, Martin and John - Dion

Whenever I need a mood adjustment, I can count on music from my era to put me in the right frame of mind.  The best is yet to come….