Best advice ever given in a song

[Pinball1970]

Let the sunshine
Let the sunshine in
The sunshine in
Come on (the sunshine in)
Now everybody, just sing along (let the sunshine)
And let the sunshine on in (let the sunshine in)
Open up your heart, let it shine on in (the sunshine in)
You got to feel it (let the sunshine)
You got to feel it (let the sunshine in)
Open up your heart and let it shine on in (the sunshine in)
Now let me tell you one thing (let the sunshine)
I want you to sing along with The 5th Dimension (let the sunshine in)
Hey, open up your heart (the sunshine in)
Come on! (let the sunshine)
And let it shine every day (let the sunshine in)

This really needs to be in context.

 

[parmalee]

It's not going to earn any music awards.

Tucholsky is largely unknown outside of Germany and Eastern Europe, but Hanns Eisler's collaborations with Bertolt Brecht are pretty highly regarded--not quite the status of Brecht and Weill, but not that far removed either.

 

[parmalee]

I am trying to find specific advice in tracks because a lot of great songs are a narrative. I have a few though.

I think such only comes in bits and pieces--you know, a line here and there, as opposed to the entirety of the song. Otherwise you just wind up with a protracted screed or polemic. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but I suspect that such is off-putting to the vast majority of listeners.

The following is a fine example of this, and keep in mind, these are just from the last two minutes of a sixteen minute song. It's mostly instrumental, but there's still a whole lotta words, in a very similar vein, preceding these:


Now is the time to begin to go forward - advance from despair
The darkness of solitary men - who are chained in a market they
Cannot control - in the name of a freedom that hangs like a pall
On our cities. And their towers of silence we shall destroy

Now is the time to begin to determine directions, refuse to admit
The existence of destiny's rule. We shall seize from all heroes and
Merchants our labour, our lives, and our practice of history : this
Our choice, defines the truth of all that we do

Seize on the words that oppose us with alien force; they're enslaved
By the power of capital's kings who reduce them to coinage and
Hollow exchange in the struggle to hold us, they're bitterly
Outlasting… Time to sweep them down from power
- deeds renew words

Dare to take sides in the fight for freedom that is common cause
Let us all be as strong and as resolute. We're in the midst of
A universe turning in turmoil; of classes and armies of thought
Making war - their contradictions clash and echo through time

I think it's fuckin great, but I recognize that most people are gonna absolutely hate both the music and the lyrics--even Tim Hodgkinson's very Messiaen-ish organ bits. Funnily, Hodgkinson kinda felt the same, and post-Henry Cow, some five years on, he opted for concision and simplicity with The Work:

(No advice there, it's more just a rant.)

It's always kind of weird to be preached at, in such a manner, by born-posh sorts (which Hodgkinson very much was). Crass, with Steve Ignorant being the only working class member, made some great records, but their messaging always rang a bit hollow.

 

[gmilam]

I usually don't have a clue what Elvis Costello is singing about, but he has some great lines here and there.

From the song Riot Act: "Don't wear your heart out on your sleeve when your remarks are off the cuff."

 

[DaveC426913]

"You gotta kick at the darkness till it bleeds daylight"
- Lovers in a Dangerous Time
(Bruce Cockburn)
Barenaked Ladies