Turn the Lights Back On (2024) – Billy Joel

Posted on April 4, 2026 by observationblogger — Leave a comment

‘Anybody who has really lived, must have regrets. I owe a thousand apologies to a thousand people‘
– Billy Joel on the Howard Stern show

Turn the Lights Back On is a recent release by the Piano Man, Billy Joel. It’s a bit of a shout out to the world – ‘Hey I’m Still Around‘. Talk about a long hiatus too – it was his first entry on the charts since his 1997 cover of Hey Girl and is his first new single since Christmas in Fallujah in 2007. So, he decides to give it another crack as 74 year-old. Good on him.

It’s an emotive outpouring on redemption and forgiveness, where he goes back to the fundamentals as an ageing star – delivering a lovely, melodic piano ballad and letting his heart do the talking in an attempt to save a relationship. He also performed it at the 2024 Grammys, so it’s nice to see older artists still getting exposure among younger audiences.

It doesn’t quite reach the dizzy heights of some of his top-tier and more original work, but I don’t think that matters. He’s not trying to be flashy or reinvent the wheel. It’s more of a direct and honest statement – owning past mistakes and recognising he may have fallen short. There’s a sense of quiet pleading running through it, especially in lines like:

You’ve had enough, but I won’t give up
On you

Joel explained in a Howard Stern interview that the song is partly about a relationship (he wouldn’t reveal who) and partly about his life as a music artist:

‘I’m putting out a new record..wait a minute do I get a second chance’?

The music video is heavily AI-rendered and shows Joel singing the song at different stages of his career. Some might see it as a nice sentiment, but personally I’d prefer to see him as he is now. That said, the final third does show Billy the 74 year-old and shifts to more personal footage, including moments with his children, which I found quite touching.

Recently, Billy Joel has been recovering from normal pressure hydrocephalus (NPH), a condition where fluid builds up in the brain and creates pressure. He must be doing well since he has returned to touring, with upcoming shows in Las Vegas.

[Verse 1]
Please open the door
Nothing is different, we’ve been here before
Pacing these halls, trying to talk
Over the silence
And pride sticks out its tongue
Laughs at the portrait that we’ve become
Stuck in a frame, unable to change
I was wrong

[Chorus]
I’m late, but I’m here right now
Though I used to be romantic
I forgot somehow
Time can make you blind
But I see you now
As we’re layin’ in the darkness
Did I wait too long
To turn the lights back on?

[Verse 2]
Herе, stuck on a hill
Outsiders inside the homе that we built
The cold settles in
It’s been a long winter of indifference
And maybe you love me, maybe you don’t
Maybe you’ll learn to and maybe you won’t
You’ve had enough, but I won’t give up
On you

[Chorus]
I’m late, but I’m here right now
And I’m tryin’ to find the magic
That we lost somehow
Maybe I was blind
But I see you now
As we’re layin’ in the darkness
Did I wait too long
To turn the lights back on?

[Chorus]
I’m late, but I’m here right now
Is there still time for forgiveness?
Won’t you tell me how?
I can’t read your mind
But I see you now
As we’re layin’ in the darkness
Did I wait too long
To turn the lights back on?

[Outro]
I’m here right now
Yes, I’m here right now
Looking for forgiveness
I can see as we’re layin’ in the darkness
Yeah, as we’re layin’ in the darkness
Did I wait too long
To turn the lights back on?

References:
1. Turn the Lights Back On – Wikipedia

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Tupelo (1985) – Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds 

Posted on April 3, 2026 by observationblogger — 4 Comments


This early Nick Cave song shows him deep in his gothic, post-punk phase. His music often leans into dark and sinister themes, and that’s very clear here in this gloomily pulsating and penetrating track. It’s one of the first songs I heard by him, and it has stayed a favourite from his early years. I’ve always found it creepy, but in a deeply mystical way.

When I listened to it on my headphones the other day, it felt like a whole new experience, almost like hearing it again for the first time. There is so much going on – the ominous, hypnotic instrumentation, that brutal bass loop, and the tribal drums all build a cinematic, apocalyptic mood. When the sound fills your ears, it really shudders through you.
I must remember to put this song on the next time a storm hits.

I don’t think I’ve heard Cave’s vocals as chilling, heavy, and gospel-like as they are here. He sounds like a frantic preacher, piling one apocalyptic image on top of another, building toward a climax where the birth of Elvis Presley is framed as a messianic event in the middle of chaos. That’s right – the song tells of Elvis’s birth during a violent storm in Tupelo, Mississippi.

It mixes imagery from the night of Elvis’s birth – his twin brother, who was born just before him, was stillborn – with echoes of the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927.

And a child is born on his brother’s heels
Sunday mornin’, the first-born dead

As it happens, Tupelo appears on the 1985 album The Firstborn Is Dead, recorded in Berlin, Germany.

Cave said about the recording experience in Berlin (Wikipedia):

“Berlin gave us the freedom and encouragement to do whatever we wanted. We’d lived in London for three years and it seemed that if you stuck your head out of the box, people were pretty quick to knock it back in. Particularly if you were Australian. When we came to Berlin it was the opposite. People saw us as some kind of force rather than a kind of whacky novelty act.”

Far Out ranked the song number six on their list of the 20 greatest Nick Cave songs, and in 2023, Mojo ranked the song number four on their list of the 30 greatest Nick Cave songs. It’s certainly in my top 10 by Cave as well.

[Verse 1]
Lookie yonder
Lookie yonder
Lookie yonder
A big black cloud come
A big black cloud come
Yeah, come to Tupelo, come to Tupelo
Yonder on the horizon
Yonder on the horizon
Stopped at the mighty river
Stopped at the mighty river
And sucked the damn thing dry
Sucked the damn thing dry
(Tupelo)
Oh, Tupelo
In a valley hides a town called Tupelo

[Verse 2]
Well, distant thunder rumble
Distant thunder rumble
Rumble hungry like the Beast
The Beast, it cometh, cometh down
The Beast, it cometh, cometh down
The Beast, it cometh, cometh down
Woah, woah, woah
Tupelo bound (Tupelo)
Yeah, oh, Tupelo
The Beast it cometh, Tupelo bound
Why the hen won’t lay no egg
Can’t get that cock to crow
The nag is spooked and crazy
Oh, God help Tupelo
Oh, God help Tupelo
Oh, God help Tupelo
Oh, God help Tupelo

[Verse 3]
You can say these streets are rivers
You can call these rivers streets
You can tell yourself you’re dreaming, buddy
But no sleep runs this deep
No, no sleep runs this deep
No, no sleep runs this deep, ah
Women at their window
Rain crashing on the pane
Writing in the frost
Tupelo’s shame, Tupelo’s shame
Tupelo’s shame, Tupelo’s shame
Oh, God help Tupelo
Oh, God help Tupelo
Oh, God help Tupelo
Oh, God help Tupelo

[Verse 4]
Oh, go to sleep, little children
The Sandman’s on his way
Oh, go to sleep, little children
The Sandman’s on his way
But the little children know
But the little children know
They listen to the beating of their blood
Listen to the beating of their blood
Listen to the beating of their blood
Listen to the beating of their blood
The sandman’s mud
The sandman’s mud
The sandman’s mud
The sandman’s mud
And the black rain come down
The black rain come down
The black rain come down
Oh, water, water everywhere
Water, water everywhere
Where no bird can fly, no fish can swim
No bird can fly, no fish can swim
No fish can swim
Until The King is born
Until The King is born (Tupelo)
In Tupelo
Until the King is born in Tupelo

[Verse 5]
In a clapboard shack with a roof of tin
Where the rain crashed down and it leaked within
A young mother frozen on a concrete floor
In a bottle and a box and a cradle of straw
(Tupelo)
Oh, Tupelo
In a bottle and a box and a cradle of straw
Saturday gives what Sunday steals
And a child is born on his brother’s heels
Sunday mournin’ the first-born dead
In a shoebox tied with a ribbon of red
(Tupelo)
Oh, Tupelo
In a shoebox buried with a ribbon of red
Oh, mama, rock your little one slow
Mama, rock your baby
Mama, rock your little one slow
God help Tupelo
God help Tupelo
Mama, rock your little one slow
Mama, rock your little one slow
The little one will walk on Tupelo
The little one will walk on Tupelo
[?] down
[?] down
[?]
The King will walk on Tupelo
The King will walk on Tupelo
And carry the burden of Tupelo (Tupelo)
And carry the burden of Tupelo
And carry the burden of Tupelo
And carry the burden of Tupelo
(Tupelo)
Oh, Tupelo
Yeah, the King will walk on Tupelo
(Tupelo)
Tupelo, Tupelo
The King will walk on Tupelo
(Tupelo)
Oh, Tupelo, oh, Tupelo
Yeah, the King will walk on Tupelo
(Tupelo)
Yeah, oh, Tupelo
He carried the burden of Tupelo
(Tupelo)
Yeah, yeah, Tupelo
He carried the burden of Tupelo
(Tupelo)
Hey, hey, hey, Tupelo
He carried the burden of Tupelo
(Tupelo)
Yeah, yeah, yeah, Tupelo
And you will reap just what you sow
Oh, oh, yeah, oh, Tupelo

References:
1. Tupelo (song) – Wikipedia

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Tunnel of Love (1980) – Dire Straits

Posted on April 2, 2026 by observationblogger — 7 Comments

Not only is Tunnel of Love my desert island Dire Straits song, it’s my ultimate rock song. If I had to choose just one track to show an extraterrestrial species what humans have achieved in rock ’n’ roll, this would be it. What would be yours? The guitar solo would also be my No. 1 pick among all solos. And the finale – the finale of finales. Throw all of that into the capsule as well. As you can see, I’m completely in awe of this track, and that’s been the case since I was a kid.

It’s also smart as heck. Forget the formula of a catchy riff on repeat – “Tunnel of Love” goes deeper, blending narrative with ballad sensibilities. You could easily call it a rock ballad. There’s something new to find with every listen. It’s as much driven by piano and organ as it is by guitar, and the instrumental journey is wide and varied. All 8:11 of it is a sublime listen. I don’t know how Knopfler pulled it off.

Mark Knopfler speaking to the Times of London:

“It’s the moment when you know you’re really on to something…It happened to me when I was writing ‘Tunnel of Love.’ There’s a certain part of the song that I call the breakdown and when I got there I could feel the drums, the piano, all the things that I wanted all the instruments to do. When you get to that state, there’s a strange sense of one thing following another, of elements falling into place quite naturally.”

The song really does speak for itself. Trying to explain it feels a bit like describing a fairground ride – you can talk all you like, but at some point you just say, “Jump on and see for yourself.” That fairground feeling isn’t accidental either. Knopfler has said that hearing loud rock ’n’ roll at fairs when he was young left a big impression on him.

The song mentions the Spanish City, a dining and entertainment centre in Whitley Bay, England, which, at the time of the song’s release, housed fair rides and other amusements, referenced throughout the song. As a boy, Knopfler lived in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, about 10 miles away. It would eventually close, but for a while “Tunnel Of Love” was its unofficial anthem.

And if this couldn’t get more interesting –  the song begins with a sample of “The Carousel Waltz” by Rogers and Hammerstein, a song that would typically be playing on the Tunnel Of Love amusement park ride. (Songfacts)

Wikipedia:

The song appears on Dire Straits 1980 album – Making Movies (image inset). The song also featured in the 1982 Richard Gere film An Officer and a Gentleman.

Tunnel of Love reached the position of number 54 in the UK Singles Chart upon its single release in October 1981, a rather modest position despite being one of the band’s most famous and popular compositions. However, it fared much better in other countries, especially Italy (7) and Spain (11).

[Verse 1]
Getting crazy on the waltzers
But it’s the life that I choose
Hey, sing about the six-blade, sing about the switchback
And a torture tattoo
And I’ve been riding on a ghost train
Where the cars they scream and slam
And I don’t know where I’ll be tonight
But I’d always tell you where I am
In a screaming ring of faces
I’ve seen her standing in the light
She had a ticket for the races, yeah
Just like me she was a victim of the night
I put a hand upon the lever
Said, “Let it rock and let it roll”
I had the one arm bandit fever
There was an arrow through my heart and my soul

[Chorus]
And the big wheel keep on turning
Neon burning up above
And I’m just high on the world
Come on and take a low ride with me girl
On the tunnel of love, yeah, love

[Verse 2]
It’s just the danger, danger
When you’re riding at your own risk
She said, “You are the perfect stranger”
She said, “Baby, let’s keep it like this”
It’s just a cake walk, twisting baby
Yeah, step right up and say
“Hey Mister, give me two, give me two now
‘Cause any two can play”

[Chorus]
And the big wheel keep on turning
Neon burning up above
And I’m just high on the world
Come on and take a low ride with me girl
On the tunnel of love, oh, love, love

[Bridge]
Well, it’s been money for muscle on another whirligig
Money for muscle and another girl I dig
Another hustle just to, just to make it big
And rockaway, rockaway
Oh, rockaway, rockaway

[Refrain]
And girl, it looks so pretty to me
Like it always did
Oh, like the Spanish City to me
When-a we were kids
Hey girl, it looks so pretty to me
Just like it always did
Oh, like the Spanish City to me
When-a we were kids

[Interlude]
Ooh-la
Check it out!

[Verse 3]
She took off a silver locket
She said, “Remember me by this”
She put her hand in my pocket
I got a keepsake and a kiss
And in the roar of dust and diesel
I stood and watched her walk away
I could have caught up with her easy enough
But something must have made me stay

[Chorus]
And the big wheel keep on turning
Neon burning up above
And I’m just high on the world
Come on and take a low ride with me girl
On the tunnel of love, yeah, love, love, love
On the tunnel of love, oh, love, love

[Bridge]
And now I’m searching through these carousels and the carnival arcades
Searching everywhere from steeplechase to palisades
In any shooting gallery where promises are made
To rockaway, rockaway
Rockaway, rockaway
From Cullercoats and Whitley Bay
Out to Rockaway

[Refrain]
And girl, it looks so pretty to me
Like it always did
Like the Spanish City to me
When we were kids
Girl, it looks so pretty to me
Like it always did
Like the Spanish City to me
When-a we were kids

References:
1. Tunnel of Love (Dire Straits song) – Wikipedia
2. Tunnel of Love – Songfacts

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Tuesday’s Gone (1973) – Lynyrd Skynyrd

Posted on April 1, 2026 by observationblogger — 7 Comments

This is about as quintessential Southern Rock as it gets. In many ways, Lynyrd Skynyrd helped define and popularise the genre.

In the mid-1990s, there was this girl Diane who was living in the beautiful seaside town of Mornington on the south-east coast of Australia who put me onto this group. Diane was a real rocker, man, and she even made her own sambuca, which was my favourite liquor at the time – like liquid licorice, just heaven. Well, her concoction… not so much – but no one’s perfect.

She even bought her own tobacco and rolled her own cigarettes. She was a wild girl with a husky voice, a real riot, and had a good heart. She put me onto so much great music – Lynyrd Skynyrd, Eric Clapton, Live – and she loved her some Janis Joplin. Whenever I hear Tuesday’s Gone my mind drifts back to those zany times we had.

The song itself tells of a man leaving on a train, with his woman left behind. “She’s gone with the wind,” he says – but really, he’s the one leaving. He’s seeking distance and solitude, and the reasons sit just beneath the surface. It feels like he’s letting her go, maybe for her own good, or because the love is no longer there on her side. Yet he still sounds deeply attached. You get the sense this departure is final – not a trip, but a turning point. He’s moving on, even if he doesn’t quite know where he’s going next.

So it goes… There was a train track near the place where the band rehearsed. The sound of passing trains inspired vocalist Ronnie Van Zant to write the opening line: “Train roll on, on down the line.”

Musically, the song is an epic, running around 7 and a half minutes. It opens with one of the most unforgettable guitar intros, followed by strong, expressive solos, a gentle and slightly looping piano part in the middle, and subtle sweeping strings. It’s easy to get carried away by it – thoughts of open air, passing landscapes, and your own memories start to blend with the music. It’s a real musical achievement.

Wikipedia:
Tuesday’s Gone is the second track on Lynyrd Skynyrd’s debut album, (Pronounced ‘Lĕh-‘nérd ‘Skin-‘nérd). It was written by guitarist Allen Collins and vocalist Ronnie Van Zant. Producer Al Kooper (credited as “Roosevelt Gook”) played bass, sang backup vocals, and added orchestral strings with a Mellotron. 

The record featured some other Southern Rock classics like Free Bird and Simple Man.

Won’t you please take me far away?
Now I feel the wind blow outside my door,
Means I’m leaving my woman behind.
Tuesday’s gone with the wind.
My woman’s gone with the wind.

And I don’t know where I’m going.
I just want to be left alone.
Well, when this train ends I’ll try again,
But I’m leaving my woman at home.

Tuesday’s gone with the wind.
Tuesday’s gone with the wind.
Tuesday’s gone with the wind.
My woman’s gone with the wind.

Train roll on many miles from my home,
See, I’m riding my blues away.
Tuesday, you see, she had to be free
But somehow I’ve got to carry on.

Tuesday’s gone with the wind.
Tuesday’s gone with the wind.
Tuesday’s gone with the wind.
My woman’s gone with the wind.

References:
1. Tuesday’s Gone – WIkipedia
2. Tuesday’s Gone – Song Meanings

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Tu Sin Mi (2010) – Dread Mar I

Posted on March 31, 2026 by observationblogger — 9 Comments

Tú Sin Mí (Eng: You Without Me) is an infectious, moderate-tempo reggae love ballad that I liked immediately on first listen. It’s about a man’s disillusionment after the breakdown of a relationship and his processing of it. Let me tell you – he’s having a tough time too, as he asks: “And what do I do with my love? The one that was for you?”

It’s sorrowful, but at least his suffering doesn’t turn into spite (accusatory, driven by jealousy, or seeking emotional revenge), which is common in Latin music – so much so that there is even a label for it called “música de despecho” (heartbreak or romantic pain). Rather, in Tú Sin Mí, it draws on sadness, but also acceptance and the slow process of letting go.

Born Mariano Javier Castro in 1978, Dread Mar I is an Argentine reggae singer whose songs address social issues, love, and spirituality. His stage name comes from “Dread” (for his dreadlocks), “Mar” (from Mariano), and “I,” (for very tall).

He is considered one of the leading exponents of Spanish-language reggae. He reached his widest audience with Tú Sin Mí (You Without Me). Around 2020, it was the most viewed Argentine song on YouTube, with 550 million views. At the time of writing, it has well over 1 billion views.

Although Dread Mar I has always kept a low profile and given few interviews, he has continued performing concerts in many countries. In 2018, he gave a concert in Argentina to an audience of around 100,000 people.

Other songs by him that have resonated with audiences include Árbol sin hojas (Leafless Tree), Hoja en blanco (Blank Leaf), and Así fue (That’s How It Was), to name just a few.

[Verse 1]
Es terrible percibir que te vas / It is terrible to realize that you are leaving
Y no sabes el dolor que has dejado justo en mí / And you don’t know the pain you’ve left right in me
Te has llevado la ilusión de que un día tú serás solamente para mi / You have taken the illusion that one day you will be only for me
Oh, para mí / Oh for me
Muchas cosas han pasado, mucho tiempo fue la duda y el rencor / Many things have happened, a lot of time was doubt and resentment
Que despertamos al ver, que no nos queríamos / That we woke up when we saw that we didn’t love each other
No, ya no, ya no nos queríamos / No, not anymore, we didn’t love each other anymore
Oh no

[Chorus]
Y ahora estás tú sin mí / And now you are without me
¿Y qué hago con mi amor? El que era para ti (El que era para ti) / And what do I do with my love? The one that was for you (The one that was for you)
Y con toda la ilusión, de que un día tú fueras solamente para mí (Solamente) And with all the hope that one day you would be only for me
Oh, para mi / For me
Y ahora estás tú sin mí / And now you are without me
¿Y qué hago con mi amor? El que era para ti (El que era para ti) / And what do I do with my love? The one that was for you (The one that was for you)
Y con toda la ilusión, de que un día tú fueras solamente para mí (Solamente) / And with all the hope that one day you would be only for me
Oh, para mi (Para mi) /For me

[Verso 2]
Hoy comprendo, puedo ver que el amor que, un día yo te di / Today I understand, I can see that the love that one day I gave you
No ha llenado tu interior, y es por eso que te vas / It hasn’t filled you inside, and that’s why you’re leaving.
Alejándote de mí, y sin mirar hacia atrás / Walking away from me, and not looking back
Hacia atrás / Looking back
Pero yo corazón, entendí en el tiempo que pasó / But my heart, I understood in the time that passed
Que no nos servía ya la locura de este amor / That the madness of this love no longer served us
Que un día así se fue, y que nunca más volvió / That one day like that she left, and that she never came back
No volvió / Never came back

[Chorus]

References:
1. ¿Qué fue de Dread Mar I, el cantante del exitoso tema “Tú sin mí”? – La Republica

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Symphony No. 29 in A major, K. 201; 1st Movement, Allegro Moderato (1774) – Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Posted on March 30, 2026 by observationblogger — 9 Comments
Detail from Portrait of the Mozart Family, c. 1781 (Wikipedia)

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was just 17 years old when he wrote this. Let that sink in for a moment. It’s hard to imagine the kind of beauty that must have stirred in him as he composed it – something almost sacred in its feeling. There’s a sense of exuberance, anticipation, and lightness that reflects his youth.

A lot of classical music can sound serious and weighty, but Mozart’s work can often feel bright, spirited, and radiant. You can picture him writing this, full of energy and excitement. It has a light, almost chamber-like style, yet there is still an impulsive drive behind it.

Symphony No. 29 is one of Mozart’s better-known early symphonies. It also appears in the Amadeus film, which is where I first heard it. Just about every piece from that soundtrack has found its way into my music library – it remains my favourite film soundtrack, as I’ve mentioned many times.

The film itself sits at No. 1 on my Favourite Movies List. It goes without saying that Mozart features here more than any other classical composer.

According to Wikipedia:

The symphony is scored for two oboes, two horns (in A, with the second movement in D), and strings. The first movement is in sonata form, with a graceful main theme marked by an octave drop and strong horn passages.

At 17, Mozart was working as a musician at the Salzburg court, but he was already growing restless and travelled in search of better opportunities. One reason was his low salary – about 150 florins a year. He also longed to compose operas, and Salzburg offered only limited chances to do so.

References:
1. Symphony No. 29 (Mozart) – Wikipedia
2. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – Wikipedia

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Tryin’ to Get to Heaven (1997) – Bob Dylan

Posted on March 29, 2026 by observationblogger — 13 Comments

When you think that you’ve lost everything
You find out you can always lose a little more

Welcome back to another music article on a Bob Dylan song. I’ve got to hand it to my small readership who have stayed along for the ride on this project so far – they’ll be well used to hearing about Dylan here time and again. When I was living in Melbourne in the early 2000s, I went on an eBay binge buying Bob Dylan memorabilia, mostly “still sealed” new LPs. I now have somewhere around 30, which my mother in Australia still looks after.

On the odd occasion I really splurged and bought other items, such as the “certified authentic” signature of the maestro shown above. Whether that signature is the real deal or made by a backwater schemer who forges signatures for a living in some Los Angeles basement akin to clandestine dives in Punch Drunk Love – well your guess is better than mine. I definitely didn’t take Dylan’s advice when I bought it: “Keep a good head and always carry a light bulb.”

Where am I going with this? Well, that photo of Dylan you see above was on the back of his widely praised “comeback to form” album Time Out of Mind (1997), for which he won three Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year. Today’s featured song, “Tryin’ to Get to Heaven,” comes from that record and is one of my favourites on it.

I remember clearly where I was when I first heard Time Out of Mind. I was living with an old Academy friend, Kevin, in a run-down house in the Canberra suburb of Dickson. One day I was just “lamping,” as Leon calls it on Curb Your Enthusiasm, by the fireplace and listened to the whole album. The song that struck me most was Not Dark Yet which I wrote about back in September 2023, but Tryin’ to Get to Heaven has only grown on me with each listen.

I really connect with these moody but highly evocative lyrics, set against a bouncy, bluesy rhythm. And a big shout-out to Dylan’s harmonica solo, which closes the song. It’s a real gem. Not long after recording this album, Dylan suffered a serious heart infection (histoplasmosis) that was close to fatal, but thankfully he recovered – and he’s still performing at the ripe old age of 84. I still read his setlists and audience reviews whenever they appear.

It almost feels as if, in making this record, he was sensing that brush with mortality and facing it head-on. No young person could have written this song – not even a young Bob Dylan. There are years of hard living in it. As critics have noted: like Not Dark Yet, it points toward the idea of redemption in the afterlife. He has travelled “all around the world” and, in the song’s unforgettable refrain, is “trying to get to heaven before they close the door.”

[Verse 1]
The air is getting hotter
There’s a rumbling in the skies
I’ve been wading through the high muddy water
With the heat rising in my eyes
Every day your memory grows dimmer
It doesn’t haunt me like it did before
I’ve been walking through the middle of nowhere
Trying to get to heaven before they close the door

[Verse 2]
When I was in Missouri
They would not let me be
I had to leave there in a hurry
I only saw what they let me see
You broke a heart that loved you
Now you can seal up the book and not write anymore
I’ve been walking that lonesome valley
Trying to get to heaven before they close the door

[Verse 3]
People on the platforms
Waiting for the trains
I can hear their hearts a-beatin’
Like pendulums swinging on chains
When you think that you’ve lost everything
You find out you can always lose a little more
I’m just going down the road feeling bad
Trying to get to heaven before they close the door

[Verse 4]
I’m going down the river
Down to New Orleans
They tell me everything is gonna be all right
But I don’t know what “all right” even means
I was riding in a buggy with Miss Mary-Jane
Miss Mary-Jane got a house in Baltimore
I been all around the world, boys
Now I’m trying to get to heaven before they close the door

[Verse 5]
Gonna sleep down in the parlor
And relive my dreams
I’ll close my eyes and I wonder
If everything is as hollow as it seems
Some trains don’t pull no gamblers
No midnight ramblers like they did before
I been to Sugar Town, I shook the sugar down
Now I’m trying to get to heaven before they close the door

References:
1. Tryin’ to Get to Heaven – Wikipedia

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How’s It Gonna End (2004) – Tom Waits

Posted on March 29, 2026 by observationblogger — 5 Comments

Here is Tom Waits at his murky, gloomy best and that suits me just fine. As an astute listener on SongMeanings put it, each of the verses in How’s It Gonna End seems like fragments of film plots, and we all want to know how each will end. He just leaves them out there, hanging like vignettes without resolution. So there’s that on one level.

Then on an existential level, we want to know how each of us, as individuals, will meet our demise – a morbid fascination, if you will. And if that wasn’t enough, because of the apocalyptic tone that pervades it, we also want to know how the world is going to end.

There are sometimes faint connections between the verses, like the father seeking revenge in the third verse for his little girl who disappeared in the second. But it’s never made clear, and some share the fate of “drowning” at the hands of miscreants and evil deeds – not that they didn’t have it coming. Also, while the song’s stories may not feel like they have a sense of closure, there is one theme that is resolute: death cannot be undone – its finality is stark.

“You can never go back, and the answer is no, and the wishing for it only makes it bleed.”

Tom is wickedly good here. You can see why Tom Waits is regarded as one of the great contemporary storytellers in song. I’ve always felt that through his music – the images he conjures – there’s a tinny, oxidised quality, like a wrecking yard where everything is worn down and left exposed. It can get pretty dirty. I love the grittiness and raw energy of it.

How’s It Gonna End is from his 16th studio album Real Gone (2004). Real Gone and Rain Dogs are often cited by fans among his best work. Real Gone was written and produced by Tom Waits and Kathleen Brennan, his wife and long-time collaborator. The album reached No. 27 in Australia and No. 28 on the US Billboard charts.

[Verse 1]
He had three whole dollars, a worn-out car
And a wife who was leaving for good
Life’s made of trouble, worry, pain, and struggle
She wrote goodbye in the dust on the hood
They found a map of Missouri, lipstick on the glass
They must’ve left in the middle of the night

[Chorus]
And I want to know the same thing
Everyone wants to know
How’s it going to end?

[Verse 2]
Behind a smoke-colored curtain, the girl disappeared
They found out that the ring was a fake
A tree born crooked will never grow straight
She sunk like a hammer into the lake
A long lost letter and an old leaky boat
Promises are never meant to keep

[Chorus]
And I want to know the same thing
I want to know
How’s it going to end?

[Verse 3]
The barn leaned over, the vultures dried their wings
The moon climbed up an empty sky
The sun sank down behind the tree on the hill
There’s a killer and he’s coming through the rye
But maybe he’s the father of that lost little girl
It’s hard to tell in this light

[Chorus]
And I want to know the same thing
Everyone wants to know
How’s it going to end?

[Bridge]
Drag your wagon and your plow over the bones of the dead
Out among the roses and the weeds
You can never go back and the answer is no
And wishing for it only makes it bleed

[Verse 4]
Joel Tornabene was broken on the wheel
Shane and Bum Mahoney on the lam
The grain was as gold as Sheila’s hair
All the way from Liverpool with all we could steal
He was robbed of twenty dollars, his body found stripped
Cast into the harbor there and drowned

[Chorus]
And I want to know the same thing
We all want to know
How’s it going to end?

[Verse 5]
The sirens are snaking their way up the hill
It’s last call somewhere in the world
The reptiles blend in with the color of the street
Life is sweet at the edge of a razor
And down in the first row of on old picture show
The old man is asleep as the credits start to roll

[Chorus]
And I want to know the same thing
We all want to know
How’s it going to end?

[Chorus]
I want to know the same thing
We all want to know
How’s it going to end?

[Chorus]
And then I just want to know the same thing
I want to know
How’s it going to end?

References:
1. Real Gone – Wikipedia

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A Passing Ship (1986) – Gordon Lightfoot

Posted on March 28, 2026 by observationblogger — 10 Comments

Gordon Lightfoot’s specific wish was for his song “A Passing Ship” to be played at his funeral.

I have a real penchant for songs and stories about ships and the sea, and this one by Gordon Lightfoot ticks all the right boxes – and then some. His strong, native Orillia, Ontario accent grounds the romantic storytelling, and when it combines with that open-to-the-wind, free-sailing ambience, it creates such a pure and aesthetic listening experience. It really puts you there, as if you’re about to set sail and embark on a quest of exploration and surrender to wherever the winds may take you.

The song also feels like a homage to seafaring ventures of the past – those told in books and songs that still captivate the senses and stir a sense of wonder about what lies far beyond the horizon, in that great unknown. When I served in the Navy as a young and impressionable person, with my future ahead of me, I often remained largely ignorant – obfuscated even (as we all were) – of what lay ahead on our journey.

So now, when I hear songs like “A Passing Ship”, I find it difficult, with time under my belt, not to feel overly sentimental and nostalgic. The experience of being at sea, as described in this song, is not just part of my own history – it also serves as a metaphor for the uncertainty and bewilderment of youth, with life still stretching out before you. It can feel disconcerting, but exhilarating at the same time.

If you’ll forgive me for getting a little trippy – my favourite part in the whole song, comes in the third line of the second verse (at 0:55 exactly), where he sings “How many ships”, followed by that very short instrumental phrase. It absolutely blew me away. Allow me to explain.

It’s like when you catch a scent that suddenly transports you to another time and place – a common enough phenomenon. That brief instrumental passage sent me straight to the introduction of an incredible cover of “Song to the Siren” by Tim Buckley, which ranks among the greatest ballads I’ve ever heard. And what’s more – lo and behold – it too is a romantic piece set against the imagery of ships and the sea.

So that fleeting instrumental moment in Gordon’s song carried me into a kind of romantic, transcendent recall – right into the opening of Paul Charlier & Paula Arundell’s version of “Song to Siren”. I’d be curious to know if anyone else hears that connection as well.

[Verse 1]
A passing ship
I have found the open ocean
Give me no lip
The waves roll by as I press on
A sunlit sea
On the first day in April
How fresh the wind
Will you miss me when I’m gone?

[Verse 2]
How many words
How many songs still unwritten?
How many ships
Of the line have come and gone
In the good old days?
May they never be forgotten
They had heavy wind
Or they had no wind at all

[Verse 3]
A passing ship
It is midnight on the ocean
Had a real long trip
I have been at sea all winter
When my ship came in
I was giving up the ghost
I think I should be
Leaving those passing ships alone

[Verse 4]
When the sea runs high
The sea runs wild and I’m unsteady
And I think of you
In the warmth of your home and family
When love is true
There is no truer occupation
And may this gale
Blow us to the ones we love

[Verse 5]
Another day
Another ocean
Give me no lip
But stand aside as I press on
A sunlit sea
On the last day in October
How fresh the wind
Will you miss me from now on?
I guess I should be
Leaving passing ships alone

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True Love Ways (1958) – Buddy Holly

Posted on March 27, 2026 by observationblogger — 8 Comments

Sometimes we’ll sigh…Sometimes we’ll cry…And we’ll know why…Just you and I…Know true love ways.

Since I was a youngen’, I always found True Love Ways to be such a tender and sweet song from Buddy. The orchestral sound was also quite a departure for him from his usual rocker numbers. What makes it all the more memorable and touching is that it was recorded just a few months prior to his death in that plane crash on February 3, 1959 – “the day the music died,” as it later became known.

This love song, True Love Ways, was also recorded in the presence of Buddy’s wife, Maria Elena Holly. The story goes that only hours after they met, Buddy proposed to Maria Elena Santiago at P.J. Clarke’s in New York on June 20, 1958. Holly’s widow later claimed that the song was written for her as a wedding gift.

His intonation and inflections of voice here are really interesting too – the way he elongates certain words, sometimes slightly off pitch, but in a way that feels natural and expressive. It still carries a hint of his usual vocal hiccups and stutters, though not as pronounced as on faster tempo songs like Rave On.

On 21st October, 1958, in his last ever recording session, Buddy worked with the Dick Jacobs Orchestra on the 4 songs: True Love Ways, It Doesn’t Matter Anymore, Moondreams, and Raining in My Heart. True Love Ways was first released on the posthumous album The Buddy Holly Story, Vol. 2 in March 1960. 

[Verse 1]
Just you know why
Why you and I
Will by and by
Know true love ways

[Chorus]
Sometimes we’ll sigh
Sometimes we’ll cry
And we’ll know why
Just you and I
Know true love ways

[Verse 2]
Throughout the days
Our true love ways
Will bring us joys to share
With those who really care

References:
1. True Love Ways – Wikipedia
2. True Love Ways – Vinyl Record Memories

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