In this thematic episode of Ramblin’ Tunes with popular songs of music history you will hear tracks about fears, hopes, dreams or experiences that artists put in their songs.
| Title | Artist | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Dizzy | Tommy Roe | This snappy bubblegum song “Dizzy” is written and recorded by Tommy Roe and was an international hit in 1969. Instrumental backing was provided by the Los Angeles session musicians known as the Wrecking Crew. In this song, Tommy Roe gets a touch of vertigo every time he is near a girl who captivates him. At first, he’s not sure what to do because other guys are always after her, but when he gets his chance and tells her how he feels, she kisses him and melts his heart. At this point, he’s so dizzy he might need medical help. |
| Paranoid | Black Sabbath | “Paranoid” is a song by English heavy metal band Black Sabbath, released in 1970. Frontman Ozzy Osbourne’s narrative “I tell you to enjoy life” was sometimes misheard as “I tell you to end your life” and caused some controversy for apparently encouraging suicide. |
| Boulevard Of Broken Dreams | Green Day | “Boulevard of Broken Dreams” is a 2004 song by American rock band Green Day written by lead singer Billie Joe Armstrong. Armstrong stated that the title of the song was “nicked” from the picture of James Dean walking alone in New York and underneath it says ‘Boulevard of Broken Dreams.’ There’s also a 1995 biography by Paul Alexander titled “James Dean: Boulevard of Broken Dreams” |
| My Ever Changing Moods | The Style Council | “My Ever Changing Moods” was released in 1984 by The Style Council. Composed by lead singer Paul Weller, this song is a homage to Curtis Mayfield with overtones of nuclear threat. Paul Weller quoted: “I think it’s probably like a lot of songs I’ve done… they start of being about myself and then I get bored with it and I make it into something else.” |
| Move On Up | Curtis Mayfield | “Move On Up” is a song by Curtis Mayfield released in 1971. Mr. Superfly Curtis Mayfield’s “Move On Up” was covered by Paul Weller’s band The Jam in 1982. |
| Crazy | Gnarls Barkley | “Gnarls Barkley” is composed of producer Danger Mouse (Brian Burton) and vocalist Cee-Lo Green (Thomas Callaway). Their 2006 song “Crazy” is about insisting upon doing things your way, and the thin line between being crazy and being convinced that you’re right. |
| Happy Man | Jungle | “Happy Man” from the band Jungle in 2018 is a “wake-up” call for their generation. They stated: “‘Happy Man essentially engages with the idea that our generation isn’t coping with the expectations that have been placed upon them by society. People are waking up to what the system is now, and how we feel trapped within it and often very isolated from each other in our quest for ‘The Dream.’ I guess the song is really a wake-up call, to yourself, mostly to stop chasing this mythical ‘end-goal’ to life, and enjoy the ride a little more.” |
| Fly Too High | Janis Ian | “Fly Too High” from 1979 is one of Janis Ian’s more sultry songs, not typical of her other work. The lyrics are about a young teenage girl who is growing up quickly, perhaps too quickly. There are also suggestions of trying to fulfill ambitions as soon as possible, which Ian herself did shortly after leaving home at a young age. |
| Crunchy Granola Suite | Neil Diamond | Crunchy Granola Suite” is a pop rock song written and recorded in 1971 by Neil Diamond. The opening song of Diamond’s live album Hot August Night, is one of the coolest song ever written about breakfast food and exposes his adherence to the stereotypical California, macrobiotic, granola, health food lifestyle. |
| Never Alone / Always Together | The Black Box Revelation | The Black Box Revelation is a Brussels rock duo including the pounding drums of Dries Van Dijck and the roaring guitars and screaming voice of Jan Paternoster. “Never Alone / Always Together” was released in 2008. |
| Locomotive Breath | Jethro Tull | “Locomotive Breath” by Jethro Tull was released on March 30, 1971. Band leader and writer Ian Anderson expressed his concern regarding overpopulation and its impact on prosperity, happiness, food and spread of wealth. His frequent use of public transport made the link with trains. |
| The Beast In Me | Nick Lowe | The song “The Beast in Me” by Nick Lowe, released in 1994, features slow, mournful music and lyrics describing the narrator’s struggle with destructive habits and personality traits: “The beast in me / Is caged by frail and fragile bars” The recording debut for “The Beast In Me” was by American singer Johnny Cash from his American Recordings album released in April 1994. Cash was Lowe’s father-in-law from 1979 to 1990, during Lowe’s marriage to singer Carlene Carter. |
| Behind Blue Eyes | The Who | Behind Blue Eyes” was released by The Who in 1971. Band members Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey both have blue eyes, however writer Townshend expressed his own feeling of angst for the temptation by a groupie. |
| Reflections Of My Life | Marmalade | “Reflections of My Life” was a hit single for the Scottish band, Marmalade released on 14 November 1969. This dramatic ballad from the Age of Aquarius finds the singer describing a very bleak outlook on life and the times. The song was sort of a hippie version of the blues. |
| Simple Man | Lynyrd Skynyrd | Lynyrd Skynyrd these days dedicates the 1973 song “Simple Man” to their late frontman and song co-writer Ronnie Van Zant. The mother/son relation song says a lot about a young man’s life and his disposition. |
| Suddenly (ft. Weyes Blood) | Drugdealer | Drugdealer started in 2016 as a solo project by Michael Collins with vintage style often working with guest vocals such as Weyes Blood (pronounced: Wize Blood), with her gorgeous lower register (as Karen Carpenter said, “it is not in the high notes. the money is in the basement”), born Natalie Mering an American singer and songwriter (born 11 June 1988 in Santa Monica, California, USA) living now in New York. |
| Thinking of a Place | The War on Drugs | “Thinking of a Place” a song by the band “The War on Drugs”, written by frontman Adam Granduciel who attaches an aura of hazy nostalgia to the song. He’s thinking of a place, and, in his hypnotic way, he makes it real. |
| Nights In White Satin | The Moody Blues | Receiving a set of white satin sheets gave Moody Blue’s band member Justin Hayward the inspiration for “Nights in White Satin” in 1967 when he was 19. It was a series of random thoughts and was quite autobiographical. |
| A Whiter Shade of Pale | Annie Lennox | Keith Reid, very taken with surrealism, Magritte and Dali, wrote the lyrics to “A Whiter Shade Of Pale” Although not a band member he founded Procol Harum with Gary Brooker in 1967, named after a vanished cat called ‘Procul Harum’. Annie Lennox covered the song in 1995. Keith Reid recently died in a London hospital aged 76, after receiving cancer treatment for two years. |
| Have You Never Been Mellow | Olivia Newton-John | “Have You Never Been Mellow” is a song recorded by British-Australian singer Olivia Newton-John Olivia is addressing someone who is stressed out and she even wonders if there was ever a time when he was not so uptight. “mellow” was Olivia’s bands’ favourite word at the time. Olivia is also known by the nickname Lovely Livvy. |
| Mellow Yellow | Donovan | “Mellow Yellow”, a song by Donovan in 1966, about being cool, laid-back, and also the electrical bananas that were appearing on the scene – which were ladies vibrators. I used to have a mellow yellow mini. Anyway, the song came at the time when meditation became more serious for him and the members of The Beatles … |
| Mind Games | John Lennon & The Plastic U.F.Ono Band | “Mind Games” written by John Lennon, released in 1973 by the ‘John Lennon & The Plastic U.F.Ono Band’ is about making yourself a better person. John Lennon was inspired by the book ‘Mind Games: The Guide to Inner Space.’ written by Robert Masters and Jean Houston, which explains how we can improve ourselves on various levels by playing tricks on our minds. In 1973 John Lennon and his wife Yoko Ono had a period of separation (called “the Lost Weekend”) and he moved to Los Angeles with his assistant and new lover May Pang. The line-up of the ‘Plastic U.F.Ono Band’ included John Lennon (vocals, rhythm guitar, slide guitar, percussion), Jim Keltner (drums), David Spinozza (lead guitar), Kenneth Ascher (piano, organ), Gordon Edwards (bass), Arthur Jenkins (percussion), Michael Brecker (saxophone), Sneaky Pete Kleinow (pedal steel guitar), Rick Marotta (drums) and Something Different (chorus). |
Sources
The information sources of the song facts include, but are not limited to, Wikipedia, songfacts.com, discogs.com, secondhandsongs.com, YouTube and artists’ related websites.
