Tunnel of Love (1980) – Dire Straits

Posted on April 2, 2026 by observationblogger — 2 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 — 6 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 — 8 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 — 7 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 — 7 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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Basket Case (1994) – Green Day

Posted on March 26, 2026 by observationblogger — 4 Comments

Basket Case is a high-energy, frenetic punk rock song that matches well with the nervous and restless feeling in the lyrics. My favourite part of the song is the chord change from D to A at the end of the second and fourth lines of the verses. It leaves the music hanging, almost like a question. This feels like a signature sound in Green Day’s music, and in alternative rock more generally.

Basket Case is about lead singer and guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong’s struggles with anxiety. Before he was diagnosed with a panic disorder, he thought he was going crazy. He first tried writing it as a love song while he was using crystal meth, but he later found those lyrics embarrassing after he sobered up.

He rewrote the song based on his experiences with panic attacks, saying, “The only way I could know what the hell was going on was to write a song about it,” and that it was “probably the best decision I ever made as a songwriter.” The music video was filmed in an abandoned mental institution in California. It’s amusing at the start, when a nurse helps Green Day bassist Mike Dirnt to the microphone stand.

The song was released as the second single from the band’s third studio album, Dookie (1994). It spent five weeks at number one on the US Billboard Alternative Songs chart. It is often named as one of Green Day’s best songs and was ranked number 150 on Rolling Stone’s “500 Greatest Songs of All Time.”


Do you have the time to listen to me whine
About nothin’ and everything all at once?
I am one of those melodramatic fools
Neurotic to the bone, no doubt about it

[Chorus]
Sometimes, I give myself the creeps
Sometimes, my mind plays tricks on me
It all keeps adding up
I think I’m cracking up
Am I just paranoid?
Am I just stoned?

I went to a shrink to analyze my dreams
She says it’s lack of sex that’s bringin’ me down
I went to a whore, he said my life’s a bore
So quit my whinin’ ’cause it’s bringin’ her down

[Chorus]
Sometimes, I give myself the creeps
Sometimes, my mind plays tricks on me
It all keeps adding up
I think I’m cracking up
Am I just paranoid?
Uh-yuh-yuh-yuh
(Ooh, ooh)

[Bridge]
Grasping to control
So I better hold on

[Chorus]
Sometimes, I give myself the creeps
Sometimes, my mind plays tricks on me
It all keeps adding up
I think I’m cracking up
Am I just paranoid?
Am I just stoned?

References:
1. Basket Case (song) – Wikipedia

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Killing Me Softly With His Song (1973) – Roberta Flack

Posted on March 25, 2026 by observationblogger — 3 Comments

I fondly recall this song being used in the movie About a Boy. None of the versions there feature the stunning, natural soul singer Roberta Flack. Instead, it’s used for both comedic and dramatic effect, like in this this scene.

In the video below, we see the late Roberta Flack perform Killing Me Softly With His Song. I agree with many viewers’ comments about the class on display:

Just a woman and a microphone. No theatrics, no gaudy outfits, no big band, no choir, no fireworks. Just a pure voice and real talent.

This is the second song featured here after her other standout hit, the slow-burning and passionate The First Time I Ever Saw Your Face.

Roberta Flack passed away in February 2025. Many people describe her as a true professional, and her voice was just as good live as it was on record. Flack credited her success to her classical training. She was a gifted piano student in her teens, but later changed her focus from piano to voice during her studies.

“My classical background made it possible for me to try a number of things with [Killing Me Softly’s arrangement]”

The backstory to Killing Me Softly With His Song is quite involved, but also one of the most fascinating I’ve come across. So here goes:

The original version was recorded by Lori Lieberman (image inset). She was inspired after seeing Don McLean perform at the Troubadour in Los Angeles. One song in particular, Empty Chairs, moved her deeply. She wrote down her thoughts on a napkin during the performance. Later, she shared these ideas with songwriter Norman Gimbel. As she described the feeling of “a singer reaching deep inside her world with his song,” Gimbel was reminded of a phrase he had written earlier: “killing me softly with his blues.”

Gimbel fleshed out Lieberman’s notes into lyrics and passed them to composer Charles Fox, who set them to music. Fox and Gimbel had signed Lieberman into a management contract in which they would write her songs and manage her career, and take 20% of her income. Also, Gimbel, despite being twice her age and married was having an affair with Lieberman.

I’m surprised Lori Lieberman’s original didn’t do anything – it didn’t even chart, but it’s just so beautiful. She is really living in that song and not just singing it. Her voice has shades of Barbra Streisand and Anne Murray. Roberta Flack heard it on a flight and was so impressed she jotted down notes and as soon as she landed she called Quincy Jones. 2 days later she had the music.

When Flack released her recording, it became a massive hit. It reached No. 1 in the United States (where it stayed for five weeks), as well as in Australia and Canada, and reached No. 6 in the UK.

What’s so sad and seems unjust is Lori Lieberman was denied writing credit by Fox and Gimbel who later earned the Song of the Year Grammy. In a 2020 interview, Lieberman said she was not seeking money or official credit. She simply wanted people to understand the true origin of the song.

In 1996, the Fugees recorded their version with Lauryn Hill on lead vocals. Their take on the song was also a huge success, reaching No. 1 in twenty countries.

[Chorus]
Strummin’ my pain with his fingers
Singin’ my life with his words
Killing me softly with his song
Killing me softly with his song
Tellin’ my whole life with his words
Killing me softly with his song

[Verse 1]
I heard he sang a good song
I heard he had a style
And so I came to see him
To listen for a while
And there he was, this young boy
A stranger to my eyes

[Chorus]

[Verse 2]
I felt all flushed with fever
Embarrassed by the crowd
I felt he found my letters
And read each one out loud
I prayed that he would finish
But he just kept right on

[Chorus]

[Verse 3]
He sang as if he knew me
In all my dark despair
And then he looked right through me
As if I wasn’t there
And he just kept on singin’
Singin’ clear and strong

[Chorus]

[Bridge]
Oh, oh-oh, oh-oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh
La-la-la, la-la
Oh, oh-oh, oh, oh-oh
La-ah, ah, la
La, ah-ah, ah-ah-ah-ah

[Chorus]

References:
1. Killing Me Softly with His Song – Wikipedia
2. The back-story to ‘Killing Me Softly’ – Luis Dias

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