Music Lyrics #21 – Shine (David Gray)

Some people ask me why I have done so much with music and lyrics on a site about Bullying Stories and the Long Term Effects of Bullying. Well…studies show that music has great healing powers for mental pain and mental illness. One of the better studies is in this Psychology Today article.

I knew this even before the study and knew that, for me, music bring me memories, happiness, sadness, and even a belief in myself. I believe it can do this and great musical artists use lyrics like modern poets to help people recover (even if that was not the original intention of the artist).

One musical artist that I find to be one of the deepest lyricists today is David Gray. Most are familiar with his song, Babylon, but his first song and first hit was “Shine”. This song can mean many different thing to different people. But the heart of the song is that we all go through hard times, but in the end we can recover and SHINE. That is the heart of the lyrics of the song. I find great comfort in this belief.

David Gray has many songs to choose from and I could share them here with you, my dearest readers, but I hope you will discover some of his great songs yourself. In the meantime, here is the song and lyrics that I hope will help you out of any dark you are in so you can SHINE!

“Shine”

I can see it in your eyes
What I know in my heart is true
That our love it has faded
Like the summer run through
So we’ll walk down the shoreline
One last time together
Feel the wind blow our wanderin’ hearts Like a feather
But who knows what’s waiting
In the wings of time
Dry your eyes
We gotta go where we can shine

Don’t be hiding in sorrow
Or clinging to the past
With your beauty so precious
And the season so fast
No matter how cold the horizon appear
Or how far the first night
When I held you near
You gotta rise from these ashes
Like a bird of flame
Step out of the shadow
We’ve gotta go where we can shine

For all that we struggle
For all we pretend
It don’t come down to nothing
Except love in the end
And ours is a road
That is strewn with goodbyes
But as it unfolds
As it all unwinds
Remember your soul is the one thing
You just can’t compromise
Take my hand
We’re gonna go where we can shine
We’re gonna go where we can shine
We’re gonna go where we can shine

(and look, and look)
Through the windows of midnight
Moonfoam and silver

Music Lyrics #20 – Dreams I’ll Never See (Molly Hatchet)

I’m sure as you read the title of this post, those of you that know Molly Hatchet’s music might be saying to yourself, ‘OK how is this song related to bullying recovery?’

As you know, I have been doing music lyrics for a while on the website and this is number 20 of those. I have discussed, partially, the reason why, but also one of the biggest reasons why is that music has been tied to helping in the recovery of depression and anxiety. Think about hearing how a certain song makes you feel when you hear it. Many, like myself, are transported back in time when they hear a song from the past, reminding me of how much I appreciated hearing the music during tough times and good times. Psychology Today has a good article about music as therapy.

In the article, they discuss how long music has been a part of therapeutic help:

All forms of music may have therapeutic effects, although music from one’s own culture may be most effective. In Chinese medical theory, the five internal organ and meridian systems are believed to have corresponding musical tones, which are used to encourage healing.

Types of music differ in the types of neurological stimulation they evoke. For example, classical music has been found to cause comfort and relaxation while rock music may lead to discomfort. Music may achieve its therapeutic effects in part by elevating the pain threshold.

So, now on to today’s music choice. A few years ago, I was driving and this song by Molly Hatchet came on. It is good ole Southern Fried Rock and I started to tear up when it came on. It had been many many years since I heard it, but I wasn’t sure what memory (happy or sad) it was bringing up. What I missed, yet again, at that time were the lyrics. So the music evoked in me something deep and maybe I did hear the lyrics then for the first time as an adult.

I went back and studied the song and lyrics. They are lyrics for “Dreams I’ll Never See” were written by Greg Allman for the Allman Brothers Band. When the Allman Brothers Band recorded it, it was a slow moving ballad and not a big hit. Molly Hatchet had other ideas. They turned it into a great rock song with great guitar rifts, but still it retains the original message that is so important. It reminds us, in between the rock, to remember that we all have dreams, many we’ll never see, but to be satisfied on the success of the dreams we do see. I think it’s a very important message, and I think Molly Hatchet turned it into a staple of late 70’s and early 80’s Southern Fried Rock ballads.

“Dreams I’ll Never See”
(originally by The Allman Brothers Band)

Just one more morning, I have to wake up with the blues.
Pull myself outta bed, yeah, put on my walkin’ shoes.
Climb up on a hilltop, baby, see what I can see, yeah.The whole world’s fallin’ down oh babe, right down in front of me.Cause I’m hung up, on dreams, I’m never gonna see, yeah.
Lord help me baby, dreams get the best of me yet.Pull myself together, gonna put on a new face, yeah.
Gonna climb down from the hilltop, baby, Lord, get back in the race.
Cause I got dreams, I got my dreams, to remember, the love we had.
I got dreams, I got my dreams, to remember, the love we had.Cause I’m hung up, on dreams, I’m never gonna see, yeah.
Lord help me baby, dreams get the best of me yet.

Music Lyrics #19 – If I Die Young (The Band Perry)

I find so much importance for me in music, as I have explained in the past. Many people hear the music and like a song, but miss the lyrics. When I first heard The Band Perry’s “If I Die Young”, I was immediately struck by how many different levels it spoke to.

At first listen, I thought it a sad song about someone who died early and what was missed for them in their life. According to the lead singer, Kimberly Perry, in an interview in The Boot, the song has many meanings for them:

“That song works on so many levels and means different things to different people. It was just one of those songs that you felt like was meant to be on planet earth. We were just real humble to have the pen and paper in hand when it was ready to come, and for us it is a statement of contentment. We finished that song and just looked at each other and said, ‘How cool is this that we were able to put feet to our dreams?’ So many people work so hard for so long and for whatever reason are not able, or don’t have the opportunity to access their dreams. So for us it was a statement of you know what, if it all ends at this moment for whatever reason even at our young ages, we’ve gotten to live and love so well and so completely. And that’s what it means to us.”

But as we know, art is subjective. I would believe most of the idea of song is just a person leaving early until, to me, the most meaningful lyric of the song, when she sings “funny when your dead, how people start listenin'”. To me, it spoke of an unheard voice and the only way this young person would be heard is through their death. I find this same thing in those that commit bullycide. Many don’t believe they are heard or believed until the drastic day they take their own life. That is a tragedy that cannot be reversed, but is heard by everyone after they are gone.

So I share now with you, the song “If I Die Young” and the lyrics that speak to me of the importance of listening to our youth and not waiting until a tragic young death to hear what is being said.

“If I Die Young”

If I die young, bury me in satin
Lay me down on a bed of roses
Sink me in a river at dawn
Send me away with the words of a love song
Uh oh, uh oh

Lord make me a rainbow, I’ll shine down on my mother
She’ll know I’m safe with you when she stands under my colors, oh,
And life ain’t always what you think it ought to be, no
Ain’t even grey, but she buries her babyThe sharp knife of a short life, oh well
I’ve had just enough time

If I die young, bury me in satin
Lay me down on a bed of roses
Sink me in the river at dawn
Send me away with the words of a love song

The sharp knife of a short life, oh well
I’ve had just enough time

And I’ll be wearing white, when I come into your kingdom
I’m as green as the ring on my little cold finger,
I’ve never known the lovin’ of a man
But it sure felt nice when he was holdin’ my hand,
There’s a boy here in town, says he’ll love me forever,
Who would have thought forever could be severed by…

…the sharp knife of a short life, oh well?
I’ve had just enough time

So put on your best, boys, and I’ll wear my pearls
What I never did is done

A penny for my thoughts, oh, no, I’ll sell ’em for a dollar
They’re worth so much more after I’m a goner
And maybe then you’ll hear the words I been singin’
Funny when you’re dead how people start listenin’

If I die young, bury me in satin
Lay me down on a bed of roses
Sink me in the river at dawn
Send me away with the words of a love song

Uh oh (uh, oh)
The ballad of a dove (uh, oh)
Go with peace and love
Gather up your tears, keep ’em in your pocket
Save ’em for a time when you’re really gonna need ’em, oh

The sharp knife of a short life, oh well
I’ve had just enough time

So put on your best, boys, and I’ll wear my pearls.

Music Lyrics #18 – Midnight (Coldplay)

I haven’t put up a music lyrics post in a while, so please either forgive or indulge me. By now, you know I have an affinity for Coldplay music and lyrics, particularly their early music. Coldplay has recently released an album far different from the last few. Pretty much the whole album are songs of pain from Chris Martin’s dissolved marriage to Gweneth Paltrow.

This is nothing new, as the Fleetwood Mac album “Rumors” is almost exclusively songs about the breakup of the relationship between band members Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks. In fact even the title, Rumors, was named so to stop the spread of rumors about the breakup as they had not announced it.

According to Chris Martin, Coldplay’s lead singer, he said about the entire Ghost Stories album and songs:

“The idea of Ghost Stories, for me, was “how do you let the things that happen to you in the past – your ghosts – how do you let them affect your present and your future?” Because there was a time when I was feeling like they were going to drag me down and ruin my life, and the lives of those around me. I was very lucky to meet a very good sufi teacher who started to introduce the idea of “if you sit with your experiences and the things you’ve been through, they alchemize.” At the time he said that, I didn’t really know what that meant, but I trusted that it would work, and the more that I was learning about that, the more music just started flowing through.”

To me, this is very much akin to the long-term effects, or in this case, “ghosts” of bullies past and how they do affect your present and future. You can either let them drag you down and ruin your and other’s life or work through it, as Mr. Martin says above.

Recently, I had a friend commit suicide from the depression brought on by his divorce and crumbling business. He needed an outlet, like music or a teacher/mentor/therapist, but didn’t have one. We all have hard times, some of us more than others. But, as has been said many times, it does get better. It is only when you are at the bottom of a hole that you can start to climb back up, because there is nowhere else to go but up. But the light is dim at the bottom of the hole and only gets brighter as you climb back up.

This song, Midnight, on the new Coldplay album, Ghost Stories, is about exactly that. When the pain is deep and you are at the bottom, Coldplay asks that you leave a light on so that it can guide you home, where you belong. Simple lyrics that can mean many things to many people…and I personally like the music as well.

 

MIDNIGHT

In the darkness before the dawn
In the swirling of this storm
Rolling round, and with apologies
And hope is gone
Leave a light, a light on

Millions of miles from home
In the swirling, swimming on
When I’m rolling with the thunder
But bleed from thorns
Leave a light, a light on
Leave a light, a light on

Leave a light, a light on
Leave a light, a light on

In the darkness before the dawn
In the darkness before the dawn
Leave a light, a light on
Leave a light, a light on

Music Lyrics #17 – Invisible (Hunter Hayes)

Hunter Hayes, a modern and young country chart singer, debut his new song, “Invisible” on the 2014 Grammy Show some weeks ago. It truly shows how today’s society has brought the bullying problem to the forefront of our conscious and news. Now the great question is, what do we do about it? I have some ideas that I hope to share with you this year. In the meantime, I hope you will listen to and read the lyrics to Hunter’s perfect song on the issue.

Crowded Hallways are the loneliest places for outcasts and rebels
Or anyone who just dares to be different
And you’ve been trying for so long to find out where your place is
But in their narrow minds, there’s no room for anyone who dares to do something different
Oh, but listen for a minute

Trust the one who’s been where you are wishing all it was sticks and stones
Those words cut deep but they don’t mean you’re all alone
You’re not invisible
Hear me out, there’s so much more to life than what you’re feeling now
Someday you’ll look back on all these days and all this pain is gonna be… Invisible
Oh, invisible

So your confidence is quiet
To them quiet looks like weakness but you don’t have to fight it
Cause you’re strong enough to win without the war
Every heart has a rhythm, let yours beat out so loudly
That everyone can hear it, yeah, promise you don’t need to hide it anymore
Oh, and never be afraid of doing something different
Dare to be something more

Trust the one who’s been where you are wishing all it was sticks and stones
Those words cut deep but they don’t mean you’re all alone
You’re not invisible
Hear me out, there’s so much more to life than what you’re feeling now
Someday you’ll look back on all these days and all this pain is gonna be… Invisible
Oh, invisible

These labels that they give you just ’cause they don’t understand
If you look past this moment, you’ll see you’ve got a friend
Waving a flag, for who you are, and all you’re gonna do
Yeah, so here’s to you and here’s to anyone who’s ever felt invisible

Yeah….
You’re not invisible
Hear me out, there’s so much more to life than what you’re feeling now
Yeah, someday you’ll look back on all these days and all this pain is gonna be… Invisible
It’ll be invisible

Music Lyrics #16 – Don’t Give Up (Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush)

There are some special songs that only come around once in a lifetime. I have been honored to see Peter Gabriel in concert. I never had the honor to see the incomparable Kate Bush. But, honestly, if there is one song that should make you realize that you are loved, that you can conquer life, that you should never give up, it is this one. “Don’t Give Up” by Peter Gabriel is an amazing piece. And it is an amazing and simple video that is just beautiful. I hope you find comfort in the lyrics as I have.

in this proud land we grew up strong
we were wanted all along
I was taught to fight, taught to win
I never thought I could fail

no fight left or so it seems
I am a man whose dreams have all deserted
I’ve changed my face, I’ve changed my name
but no one wants you when you lose

don’t give up
‘cos you have friends
don’t give up
you’re not beaten yet
don’t give up
I know you can make it good

though I saw it all around
never thought I could be affected
thought that we’d be the last to go
it is so strange the way things turn

drove the night toward my home
the place that I was born, on the lakeside
as daylight broke, I saw the earth
the trees had burned down to the ground

don’t give up
you still have us
don’t give up
we don’t need much of anything
don’t give up
’cause somewhere there’s a place
where we belong

rest your head
you worry too much
it’s going to be alright
when times get rough
you can fall back on us
don’t give up
please don’t give up

‘got to walk out of here
I can’t take anymore
going to stand on that bridge
keep my eyes down below
whatever may come
and whatever may go
that river’s flowing
that river’s flowing

moved on to another town
tried hard to settle down
for every job, so many men
so many men no-one needs

don’t give up
’cause you have friends
don’t give up
you’re not the only one
don’t give up
no reason to be ashamed
don’t give up
you still have us
don’t give up now
we’re proud of who you are
don’t give up
you know it’s never been easy
don’t give up
’cause I believe there’s a place
there’s a place where we belong

Music Lyrics #15 – Jeremy (Pearl Jam)

In the very early 1990’s, the Grunge movement of music started. Most people saw it as the new hard rock. But the lyrics in the Grunge music, no matter how hard the beats were, always spoke to the truth of the youth at the time. When I first heard Jeremy, by Pearl Jam, on their first major album called 10, I knew it was about bullying and the awful results of what can happen. Listen between the hard rock beat and you’ll hear the pain of the lyrics. Now you can look up and read the true story that the song was written for. It is about a boy who walked into his school and killed himself in front of his bullies. Very powerful story, very powerful lyrics. We should all pay attention to this ongoing issue, even 23 years after the song came out. We have yet to solve the issue.

At home
Drawing pictures
Of mountain tops
With him on top
Lemon yellow sun
Arms raised in a V
Dead lay in pools of maroon below

Daddy didn’t give attention
To the fact that mommy didn’t care
King Jeremy the wicked
Ruled his world

Jeremy spoke in class today
Jeremy spoke in class today

Clearly I remember
Pickin’ on the boy
Seemed a harmless little f&@k
But we unleashed a lion
Gnashed his teeth
And bit the recess lady’s breast

How could I forget
He hit me with a surprise left
My jaw left hurting
Dropped wide open
Just like the day
Like the day I heard

Daddy didn’t give affection
And the boy was something that mommy wouldn’t wear
King Jeremy the wicked
Ruled his world

Jeremy spoke in class today
Jeremy spoke in class today
Try to forget this…
Try to erase this…
From the blackboard.