I have no way of knowing how this song has actually aged, because I'm not old enough to know how it was received when it came out. But holy cow - every time I hear it, I cringe. I happen to think the Beatles are the greatest band of all time, but man does John lay the stalker/creep persona on thick with this one. Just the opening line along..."Well I'd rather see you dead, little girl, than to be with another man..."
Ha, yeah, John def had the more controlling machismo vibe of the four. Today we might call him a douche. No Reply is a great song, and totally not #metoo approved.
Quote:
This happened once before When I came to your door No reply They said it wasn't you But I saw you peep through Your window I saw the light I saw the light I know that you saw me 'Cause I looked up to see Your face
I tried to telephone They said you were not home That's a lie 'Cause I know where you've been And I saw you walk in Your door I nearly died I nearly died 'Cause you walked hand in hand With another man In my place
If I were you, I'd realize that I Love you more than any other guy And I'll forgive the lies that I Heard before, when you gave me no reply
Yep. "You Can't Do That" is another good example. Hell, on the still-very-popular "Norwegian Wood," he burns her [expletive] house down because she didn't sleep with him.
Joined: October 17 06, 11:19 am Posts: 36739 Location: Huis Clos
Joe Shlabotnik wrote:
The Beatles worst. On an otherwise great Rubber Soul, the final song should have been left off.
Ten Years After's "I'd Love To Change the World" - have no idea how this dodged controversy then or especially when Jetta's cover was released in 2015.
Dammit.
Never really listened to the lyrics of I’d Love to Change the World even though i have it on vinyl.
Edit: not true. After a fresh listen i realize that I’ve listened to the lyrics dozens of times but guess i always assumed that Alvin Lee wasn’t actually worried about running out of rich people. Just assumed it was kind of a cool song with banal hippie lyrics.
Joined: December 6 10, 1:09 am Posts: 11453 Location: Illinois
heyzeus wrote:
I don't know If I've ever quite grasped the tone of Brown Sugar by the Rolling Stones - ie, whether it condemns or condones the story it tells. It's about slavery and rape and possibly pedophilia? Is it sung ironically and critical of slavery and sex slavery? Kinda unclear, which is troubling. But the fact that it's been used unironically in ads (memorably, Pepsi. Brown Sugar! Why do you taste so good!) makes me feel gross about the whole endeavor and I don't enjoy hearing it on the radio.
Quote:
Gold Coast slave ship bound for cotton fields Sold in the market down in New Orleans Scarred old slaver knows he's doin' all right Hear him whip the women just around midnight
Brown Sugar, how come you taste so good Brown Sugar, just like a young girl should
Just a quick lyric correction, the bolded part is actually "Skydog slaver" as it is a reference to Dwayne Allman whose nickname was Skydog and who was at the Muscle Shoals recording session for Brown Sugar.
Joined: September 4 07, 1:48 pm Posts: 24129 Location: St. Louis
lukethedrifter wrote:
Joe Shlabotnik wrote:
The Beatles worst. On an otherwise great Rubber Soul, the final song should have been left off.
Ten Years After's "I'd Love To Change the World" - have no idea how this dodged controversy then or especially when Jetta's cover was released in 2015.
Dammit.
Never really listened to the lyrics of I’d Love to Change the World even though i have it on vinyl.
Edit: not true. After a fresh listen i realize that I’ve listened to the lyrics dozens of times but guess i always assumed that Alvin Lee wasn’t actually worried about running out of rich people. Just assumed it was kind of a cool song with banal hippie lyrics.
I am not so sure the meaning is all bad. Seems like he is just throwing out a bunch of sound bites and jingoistic solutions on topics of the time. Tax the rich feed the poor etc.
[expletive] and fairies not PC, but it was being thrown out as an issue - a thing people then (and now) were [expletive] about .
Then the conclusion to all these sound bite battles, is the song title with I don't know what to do, I leave it up to you.
I could be wrong.
Last edited by Freed Roger on August 8 19, 3:55 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Joined: September 4 07, 1:48 pm Posts: 24129 Location: St. Louis
A long this line Merle Haggard went on to recant the Okie from Muskogee theme. Dude wasn't a right winger in the end. Same for Johnny Cash ,(there is an ok documentary on Netflix about vietnam era Cash and Nixon)
It seems these guys were musicians first, fiercely independent and didnt want their views twisted.
Last edited by Freed Roger on August 8 19, 3:39 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Joined: April 18 06, 5:08 pm Posts: 43594 Location: Clowns to the left of me. Jokers to the right. Here I am.
Here’s what I found on Songfacts
Quote:
This song was written by guitarist Alvin Lee, who was the centerpiece of the group. "I'd love to change the world, but I don’t know what to do and I'll leave it up to you. I'm just saying the world does need changing," he said of the song in Vintage Rock. "I'd love to do it, but I haven't got the talent. I don't think I'm a world changer." The song is a good look at what were considered the big problems in the world in 1971: overpopulation, economic inequality, pollution, war. Alvin Lee often said in later interviews that the song remained just as relevant despite the passage of time. The first line in this song throws out a few slurs:
Every where is freaks and hairies, [expletive] and fairies
"Freaks" and "hairies" are terms that detractors used to describe the band - after all, they did play Woodstock. The [expletive] and fairies are likely a reflection on how others might see the world, and it also creates a memorable rhyme.
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