I Am a Rock (1966) – Simon & Garfunkel

Posted on July 16, 2026 by observationblogger — 9 Comments

Despite its melancholy lyrics, I Am a Rock is a refreshing, upbeat folk-rock number from the ’60s turtleneck, college-crowd-pleasing duo. I could picture myself eating this up if I’d lived back then. It begins as the meandering, folky acoustic tune we are accustomed to hearing from them, with a fleeting guitar that has us pondering ‘a winter’s day’, before abruptly shifting into a harder-driving sound.

I’ve always liked this musical duality, and of course its classic refrain, “I am a rock, I am an island,” which reaffirms the singer’s state of solitude. I love that jangly guitar, and the organ has a sound that feels like a precursor to Dylan’s Like a Rolling Stone. As we’ll see, the Dylan connection in terms of musicianship becomes even more apparent.

That now well quoted line ‘I am an Island’ is closely tied to a difficult period in Paul Simon’s life. After his debut album flopped in 1964 he moved to England and performed in folk clubs and lived a relatively solitary life. During this period he recorded the solo album The Paul Simon Songbook, on which “I Am a Rock” first appeared. Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel re-recorded it on December 14, 1965, and included it as the final track on their album Sounds of Silence.

Along with most of the other tracks on the album, it was recorded in New York at Columbia Recording Studios using some of the same session players that had appeared on Bob Dylan’s recent Highway 61 Revisited LP. They released I Am a Rock as a single in the late spring of 1966 and it reached No. 3 on the Billboard. Their third single (chronologically) by Simon & Garfunkel to reach the top 5 (after The Sound of Silence and Homeward Bound).

I can’t help thinking of Hugh Grant’s funny line in the comedy-drama About a Boy whenever I listen to I Am a Rock: “I am an island. I am bloody Ibiza!” In this song, Paul Simon also finds himself in that same frame of mind. I love that crossover between film and song.

While I’m at it, there isn’t a scene in that film that I don’t enjoy watching. It’s probably one of my favourite guilty pleasure films. Its salient message is delivered in such a way that it doesn’t bludgeon the audience with a big, “Dah!… No man is an island.”. That by the way, ‘No man is an Island‘ is a play-off on English poet and cleric John Donne John Donne’s same line who wrote in 1624 that every person is part of humanity and that our lives are bound together rather than lived in isolation.

This message is also reflected in the closing lines in this song: “And a rock feels no pain / And an island never cries.” which are deliberately ironic and suggest the opposite – that he is deeply wounded.

Over the years Simon has suggested that the song represents the voice of someone trying to protect themselves rather than a philosophy he personally embraced. In fact, much of Simon’s later songwriting celebrates human connection rather than emotional isolation.

[Verse 1]
A winter’s day
In a deep and dark December
I am alone
Gazing from my window
To the streets below
On a freshly fallen, silent shroud of snow

[Refrain]
I am a rock
I am an island

[Verse 2]
I’ve built walls
A fortress, steep and mighty
That none may penetrate
I have no need of friendship
Friendship causes pain
It’s laughter and it’s loving I disdain

[Refrain]
I am a rock
I am an island

[Verse 3]
Don’t talk of love
Well, I’ve heard the word before
It’s sleeping in my memory
I won’t disturb the slumber
Of feelings that have died
If I never loved, I never would have cried

[Refrain]
I am a rock
I am an island

[Verse 4]
I have my books
And my poetry to protect me
I am shielded in my armor
Hiding in my room
Safe within my womb
I touch no one and no one touches me

[Refrain]
I am a rock
I am an island

[Outro]
And a rock feels no pain
And an island never cries

References:
1. I Am a Rock – Wikipedia

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Western Stars (2019) – Bruce Springsteen

Posted on July 15, 2026 by observationblogger — 2 Comments

Western Stars is late, late Bruce, and it’s as steeped in country as I’ve ever heard him. The moment I first saw him sing it in his film of the same name, I immediately added it to my music collection. I could see why he was so inspired by it that he turned it into the title track of his 19th studio album and made a film around it.

It sounds epic and unfolds like a movie on the big screen. The story is intense and paints such rich images of Americana. The music, with that slide guitar, resembles a snake slithering across the vast, desolate desert.

A coyote with someone’s Chihuahua in its teeth skitters ‘cross my veranda in the night

This is the Bruce I always like, where he is furthest removed from leaning into modern politically correct themes and excess sentimentality. He’s getting back to what he does best, kicking up some dirt and getting lost in where it all started.

Way back he was writing about circuses, carousels, boardwalks, cars, women, family and Vietnam vets, and now he’s venturing into an even earlier time that still echoes as the wind blows the tumbleweeds and desert dust.

When the western stars shone brightly, guiding the cowboys, this song pays tribute to them, but through the life of an ageing Hollywood actor in the twilight of his career:

Once I was shot by John Wayne, yeah, it was towards the end

Here’s to the cowboys, riders in the whirlwind

While there’s much less of the latter-day Bruce music that resonates with me after his magnificent The Rising (2002), Western Stars is one of the exceptions, showing glimpses of the singer-songwriter brilliance that made him a global music phenomenon.

Snippets from Wikipedia:

The album was a chart success in the United States – where it became Springsteen’s 20th top-10 album – and abroad. It was also met with widespread acclaim from critics, who found the music elegiac and evocative of the American West.

Upon announcing the album in April 2019, he called it “a return to my solo recordings featuring character-driven songs and sweeping, cinematic orchestral arrangements“, with a press release characterizing it as about a “range of American themes, of highways and desert spaces, of isolation and community and the permanence of home and hope“.

A documentary film (Western Stars) marked Springsteen’s directorial debut and features a full performance of the album.

[Verse 1]
I wake up in the morning, just glad my boots are on
Instead of empty in the whispering grasses
Down the Five at Forest Lawn
On the set, the makeup girl brings me two raw eggs and a shot of gin
Then I give it all up for that little blue pill
That promises to bring it all back to you again

[Chorus]
Ride me down easy, ride me down easy, friend
Tonight the western stars are shining bright again

[Verse 2]
Here in the canyons above Sunset, the desert don’t give up the fight
A coyote with someone’s Chihuahua in its teeth skitters ‘cross my veranda in the night
Some lost sheep from Oklahoma sips her Mojito down at the Whiskey Bar
Smiles and says she thinks she remembers me from that commercial with the credit card

[Chorus]
Hell, these days there ain’t no more, now there’s just again
Tonight the western stars are shining bright again

[Verse 3]
Some days I take my El Camino, throw my saddle in and go
East to the desert where the charros, they still ride and rope
Our American brothers cross the wire and bring the old ways with them
Tonight the western stars are shining bright again

[Verse 4]
Once I was shot by John Wayne, yeah, it was towards the end
That one scene’s bought me a thousand drinks, set me up and I’ll tell it for you, friend
Here’s to the cowboys, riders in the whirlwind
Tonight the western stars are shining bright again
And the western stars are shining bright again

[Chorus]
Tonight the riders on Sunset are smothered in the Santa Ana winds
And the western stars are shining bright again
C’mon and ride me down easy, ride me down easy, friend
‘Cause tonight the western stars are shining bright again

[Outro]
I woke up this morning just glad my boots were on

References:
1. Western Stars – Bruce Springsteen

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Persuasion (1817) – Part 2 – Louisa’s Fall (Jane Austen)

Posted on July 15, 2026 by observationblogger — 8 Comments

The above sketch is the closest thing we have to a real portrait of English writer Jane Austen. It was drawn by Jane’s sister, Cassandra Austen (c.1810). It is an unfinished pencil-and-watercolour sketch and it shows Jane seated, looking away, with a rather serious expression. It is considered the only portrait known to have been drawn from life.

Welcome again to my Wednesday literature segment, which features the second and final extract from Jane Austen’s Persuasion. Despite finishing the book a month ago, it still lingers in the recesses of my mind. I point you to my previous article on the book, The Navy (Jane Austen), for a more detailed breakdown of my connection with it.

As an aside, one of my favourite gifts is a bookmark I received from my family here in Colombia. You may have seen it sticking out of my books in some of the images I’ve shared before. I thought I’d show it to you because it’s just so sweet, while also being uplifting and encouraging.

Now back to today’s very short 2 page excerpt from Persuasion, about the turning point in the novel where Louisa Musgrove takes a fall from a ‘cobb‘ – which, if you were wondering like me, is a stone harbour wall. It’s a serious fall too. She strikes her head and is left badly injured and unconscious.

The fall comes about because she is flirting with Captain Frederick Wentworth and asks him to catch her as she jumps down from the harbour wall. It causes particular heartache for the novel’s protagonist and heroine, Anne Elliot, because she still loves Wentworth. In fact, the novel tells the story of their delicate and tentative reunion after Wentworth returns from years of naval service.

We learn that eight years earlier Anne and Wentworth had been engaged, but Anne is persuaded not to marry him by her close family friend and former governess, Lady Russell, who believes the match is imprudent because Wentworth has little fortune or position at the time. Hence the title of the book – Persuasion.

Also, this was Austen’s final completed novel before she succumbed to an undiagnosed illness in 1817 at just forty-one years of age. Austen herself remained unmarried and childless throughout her life, and in light of Anne Elliot’s frustrations and regrets at being once so close, yet so far from the love of her life because of societal pressure, it’s easy to see why many readers have felt there are echoes of Austen’s own circumstances in the story. It makes the novel all the more poignant.

Without further ado, I present to you ‘Louisa’s Fall’ from Jane Austen’s Persuasion. Below that you can find the film adaptation from Persuasion (2007) of the incident and its immediate aftermath.

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Western Line (2015) – Aly Cook

Posted on July 14, 2026 by observationblogger — Leave a comment

One of the rare treats of this blog is when a music artist pops in to say hello. It happened in the comments section of my article on Australian country music artist Kasey Chambers’ song (Am I) Not Pretty Enough.

A fellow blogger asked if I had heard of New Zealander country artist – Aly Cook, whom I hadn’t. When I looked up Aly’s music I found today’s featured song – Western Line and it immediately grabbed me.

Lo and behold, soon afterwards Aly Cook herself came in to say ‘Hi’ and linked her new album – Caught in the Middle. You can hear Aly’s own version of Kasey Chambers’ breakthrough song through the previous link on her website.

Sydney from Kurrajong Heights

My first impression of Western Line was how much I enjoyed the no-nonsense old-school country sound. The instrumentation is clean and crisp. There are lots of references to Sydney, where I was born, and the Blue Mountains, where I grew up. In the song, Aly tells her friend she visited in Double Bay about her train trip to the Blue Mountains, around 80 km west of Sydney.

The music video “features an old-world train ride inside a beautiful vintage train.” It’s just so much fun and feels as real and authentic as you’re ever likely to see in a music video. I’m also a sucker for the romance surrounding trains. Such was my fascination that after buying my first camera as a young adult, I spent hours taking scenic photos of train tracks fading into the distance across the landscape.

Western Line is a homely song that I enjoy coming back to. It feels like being reconnected to my home country, but especially to western Sydney, where my family lived. I never grow tired of hearing it, and I like to show it to my children from time to time, as I did yesterday morning, to give them a taste of the sounds and scenery that are part of their Australian heritage.

Another aspect of the song I enjoy is the deep bass backing vocals in the chorus echoing the words “Western Line“. It reminds me of my father talking about his fondness for the baritone singing of Ian “Pee Wee” Wilson in the Australian rock and roll group The Delltones.

For more information about this song, I point you to the extensive description provided with the video below.

(Western Line) The 6th single to lift from the album Horseshoe Rodeo Hotel which has already produced 3 x number one radio singles on the Australian Top 40 Country Tracks Chart.

Excerpt from Aly Cook’s official website:

Aly Cook is a New Zealand based Multi award-winning recording artist with a deep passion for all things musical. She is a consummate songwriter and performer, who has taken her music to the world, delighting audiences wherever she roams and carving a career as a respected live performer. With a power house vocal and a maturity to bring out the best in her voice Aly’s style site across Country Blues and Roots.

Only one change here in Town Hall
Quickly make my way to platform two
Through mountains in my sight
Yes I’ll be home tonight
On the train that always brings me back to you

On the Western Line
Taking it easy
On the Western Line
Take me back to you
On the Western Line
Travelling such a long way
Cause I am leaving Sydney this cloudy day

A thousand faces fill the view at Central
Commuting all about their busy lives
Can’t imagine what it’s like to live so close and survive
That is why I stay the Western Line

On the Western Line
Taking it easy
On the Western Line
Take me back to you
On the Western Line
Travelling such a long way
Cause I am leaving Sydney on a cloudy day

Passing Redfern station see the writing high up on the wall
Spray that up there must have climbed
Like spiders ’round ten feet tall
This old town is full of city slickers rich and poor
And you see them all when you roll this way

On the Western Line
I’m taking it kind of easy
On the Western Line
Send me back to you
On the Western Line
Travelling such a long way
Cause I am leaving Sydney on a cloudy day

On the Western Line
On the Western Line
On the Western Line
Travelling such a long way
Cause I am leaving Sydney on a cloudy day

References:
1. Aly Cook (Official Web Site)

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Werewolves of London (1978) – Warren Zevon

Posted on July 11, 2026 by observationblogger — Leave a comment

“I saw a werewolf with a Chinese menu in his hand”
– The line BBC listeners voted as having the best opening line in a song.

Who can forget that scene in The Color of Money when Tom Cruise is strutting his stuff to this song while playing pool? Perhaps it was wrong for me to lead with that, since I don’t want to reduce this gem to a snippet from a movie. I can’t even play the song while I’m writing about it, since it’s just too good not to get into your bones and rattle your core. You can forget thinking about anything else, because the Werewolves of London have got you in their sights.

Do you remember that poor man alone in the subway in the movie An American Werewolf in London, being pursued down the empty passageways of that desolate London station? Well, that’s how enrapturing this song is. People say I exaggerate a million times, but I’m not kidding – this song won’t let go once it’s got a hold of you. They talk about catchy songs, but Werewolves of London takes that whole idea to another level.

I think the first song I heard by Warren Zevon, which I knew was by him, was Keep Me In Your Heart (2003). Yeah, I know, I was a real latecomer to his music. I had, of course, heard Lawyers, Guns and Money and Werewolves of London on the airwaves and whatnot, but I didn’t realise they were his until later. Werewolves of London was Zevon’s one and only Top 40 hit, by the way.

The funny thing is, everyone in music fan circles was raving about Zevon and saying how underrated he was, and I’d say, “Yeah – he did this neat song called Keep Me in Your Heart.” He also wrote many other great songs was what they were probably thinking. So over the next couple of decades I gradually caught up with them, although only in brief opportunities and with plenty of time in between.

Now I get it – just so much great stuff. I can also see why people keep asking when he’s finally going to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. If Bob Dylan covers your music, you know you’ve done something pretty special.

That being said, Warren Zevon never had it easy. He endured years of critical neglect as well as battles with alcohol and drug abuse. Although he enjoyed only modest commercial success, he produced the classic songs that eventually secured his place in rock history. Zevon continued writing and recording right up until his death from mesothelioma in September 2003 at just 56 years of age. I’ll never forget his unforgettable performance of his masterpiece Mutineer on Late Show with David Letterman, less than a year before his death.

Snippets from Wikipedia:

(Werewolves of London) first appeared on Excitable Boy (1978), Zevon’s third studio album, then it was released as a single, becoming a Top 40 US hit, the only one of Zevon’s career, reaching No. 21 on the US Billboard in May.

The song began as a joke by Phil Everly (of the Everly Brothers) to Zevon in 1975, over two years before the recording sessions for Excitable Boy. Everly had watched a television broadcast of the 1935 film Werewolf of London and “suggested to Zevon that he adapt the title for a song and dance craze.”

Zevon played with the idea with his band members LeRoy P. Marinell and Waddy Wachtel, who wrote the song together in about 15 minutes, all contributing lyrics that were transcribed by Zevon’s wife Crystal. However, none of them took the song seriously.

According to band guitarrist Waddy Wachtel  “Werewolves of London” was “the hardest song to get down in the studio I’ve ever worked on.”…Although 59 takes were recorded, Jackson Browne and Zevon selected the second take for the final mix. Wachtel recalled that the session began in the evening and went into the next morning. The protracted studio time and musicians’ fees led to the song eating up most of the album’s budget.

[Verse 1]
I saw a werewolf with a Chinese menu in his hand
Walking through the streets of Soho in the rain
He was looking for the place called Lee Ho Fook’s
Gonna get a big dish of beef chow mein

[Chorus]
Ah-hoo, werewolves of London
Ah-hoo
Ah-hoo, werewolves of London
Ah-hoo

[Verse 2]
You hear him howling around your kitchen door
You better not let him in
Little old lady got mutilated late last night
Werewolves of London again

[Chorus]
Ah-hoo, werewolves of London
Ah-hoo
Ah-hoo, werewolves of London
Ah-hoo, huh

[Verse 3]
He’s the hairy-handed gent who ran amok in Kent
Lately, he’s been overheard in Mayfair
You better stay away from him
He’ll rip your lungs out, Jim
Huh, I’d like to meet his tailor

[Chorus]
Ah-hoo, werewolves of London
Ah-hoo
Ah-hoo, werewolves of London
Ah-hoo

[Verse 4]
Well, I saw Lon Chaney walking with the queen
Doing the werewolves of London
I saw Lon Chaney, Jr. walking with the queen, uh
Doing the werewolves of London
I saw a werewolf drinking a piña colada at Trader Vic’s
And his hair was perfect
Na!

[Chorus]
Ah-hoo
Werewolves of London
Huh, draw blood, uh
Ah-hoo
Werewolves of London

References:
1. Werewolves of London – Wikipedia

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We’re All the Way (1977) – Eric Clapton

Posted on July 10, 2026 by observationblogger — 6 Comments

I came to this song only recently when I was researching the music of country great Don Williams and his close friendship with guitar legend Eric Clapton. Clapton first saw Williams perform as a musical guest on the syndicated Dinah Shore variety show in April 1976, and they later met in person in England during Clapton’s 1976 tour.

They always seemed an unlikely pairing to me, but it became clear that each man’s music had quite an impact on the other. For example, Eric began embracing a more country-influenced sound with songs like Lay Down Sally. But the real clincher, at least for me, was today’s featured song – We’re All the Way.

I think it’s one of Eric Clapton’s finest yet most underrated songs. Not just that, but for someone like yours truly, who has been listening to the music of the gentle giant Don Williams for nearly all my life and has featured his music here so prominently, We’re All the Way seems about as close as Eric could come to sounding just like his good friend Don Williams. Not surprising, really, since… (drum roll please)… it was written by Don Williams in 1976. Ta-daaa! Here’s Don’s version.

After he and Don met, Eric seemed to embody a smoother, more relaxed style in his singing, and it couldn’t have been on silkier display than in We’re All the Way. There’s so much to the texture and feel of the song, and it’s got these magical guitar interludes that seem to twinkle.

It also possesses my favourite singing by Clapton – the style that moves me the most. Very tender and sensitive, not unlike the voice he uses in his iconic romantic masterpiece Wonderful Tonight, which shan’t be too long from featuring here.

[Verse 1]
There’s no cause to think that I won’t stay
Haven’t I been with you all the way?
There’s no time like now to make amends
After all, we are more than friends

[Chorus]
This could be the time for you and me
We could go wherever we should be
So don’t put words between us we shouldn’t say
And don’t be acting halfway
When you know we’re all the way

[Verse 2]
There are times when I don’t see the light
I don’t know if what I do is right
But when I’m wrong, it’s never meant for you
So don’t confuse my words with what I do

[Chorus]
This could be the time for you and me
We could go wherever we should be
So don’t put words between us we shouldn’t say
And don’t be acting halfway
When you know we’re all the way

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We’re All Gonna Die Someday (1999) – Kasey Chambers

Posted on July 9, 2026 by observationblogger — Leave a comment

This is such a fun and cheeky song from my beloved Australian country artist Kasey Chambers. The lyrics are pretty outrageous and, to some, could be considered distasteful, but I find them humorous and playful, very much in keeping with the ‘dinky-di’ Australian outback spirit. I mean, if you’re going to sing about how we’re all going to die someday, you may as well have some fun with it and not beat around the bush.

It feels like a song I’ve been listening to most of my life; one of those songs that, as a kid, your parents might have been aghast to discover you were listening to. It’s certainly a long way removed from John Denver’s jolly and rollicking Grandma’s Feather Bed, which was probably more what we were accustomed to hearing back then.

I’d only been listening to Kasey since her breakthrough album Barricades & Brickwalls in 2002, which remains one of my all-time favourite Australian albums. I remember exactly when and where I first heard her hit song (Am I) Not Pretty Enough from that record, which I’ve recalled time and again in other posts about Kasey’s music and won’t repeat here.

We’re All Gonna Die Someday is the closing track on Kasey’s debut album The Captain, which won the ARIA Award for Best Country Album. The song was written by Kasey, her father Bill Chambers, and her roadie and lifelong best friend Worm Werchon. It borrows a little of the melody from The Ballad of Jed Clampett (The Beverly Hillbillies theme song), written by Paul Henning.

Before launching her solo career, Kasey had spent more than a decade performing with her family’s Dead Ringer Band, a popular Australian country music group. From 1976, the Chambers family travelled around the Nullarbor Plain for much of each year while her parents hunted foxes and rabbits for their pelts. Kasey’s childhood seems to have come straight from the pages of a country music songbook.

For more information about Kasey’s fascinating upbringing and career, I point you to the video – At home with country superstar Kasey Chambers | 60 Minutes Australia.

[Chorus]
We’re all gonna die someday, lord
We’re all gonna die someday
Mama’s on pills, daddy’s over the hill
But we’re all gonna die someday

[Verse 1]
Well it hurts down here on Earth, lord
It hurts down here on Earth
It hurts down here ’cause we’re running out of beer
But we’re all gonna die someday

[Chorus]
We’re all gonna die someday, lord
We’re all gonna die someday
Mama’s on pills, daddy’s over the hill
But we’re all gonna die someday

[Verse 2]
Well all of my friends are stoned, lord
All of my friends are stoned
Janie got stoned cause she couldn’t get boned
But we’re all gonna die someday

[Chorus]
We’re all gonna die someday, lord
We’re all gonna die someday
Mama’s on pills, daddy’s over the hill
But we’re all gonna die someday

[Verse 3]
Well they can all kiss my ass, lord
They can all kiss my ass
If they want to kiss my ass, well they better do it fast
‘Cause we’re all gonna die someday

[Chorus]
Yeah, we’re all gonna die someday, lord
We’re all gonna die someday
Mama’s on pills, daddy’s over the hill
But we’re all gonna die someday

[Chorus]
I said
We’re all gonna die someday, lord
We’re all gonna die someday
Mama’s on pills, daddy’s over the hill
But we’re all gonna die someday

References:
1. The Captain (album) – Wikipedia

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Wenn Du Liebst (2016) – Clueso (Ft. Kat Frankie)

Posted on July 8, 2026 by observationblogger — 2 Comments

Wenn Du Liebst (Eng: If You Love) is a single by German singer-songwriter Clueso featuring Australian-born, Berlin-based artist Kat Frankie.

For the launch of my Music Library Project on July 25, 2019, I wanted to present a single song that could encapsulate the breadth and depth of the music I planned to feature. I ultimately chose today’s featured track Wenn Du Liebst. A friend, Tatiana, who shares a deep appreciation for German culture and language, introduced me to the song soon after its release.

Since then, my appreciation of Clueso (born Thomas Hübner on 9 April 1980) has grown, and his music has featured quite prominently here.

Below is an extract of an interview with Kat Frankie about her working with Clueso:

I met Clueso through a good friend of mine, the singer/songwriter Tim Neuhaus. Tim happens to also play drums for Clueso. A few years ago I sang a duet with Tim for his last album, and Clueso heard it. When Clueso wrote ‘Wenn Du Liebst’, he thought I should be the one to sing it with him. There will probably be more duets in the future, because they’re really fun to do. I don’t have to do anything but sing.

Wir stürzen uns gerne / We love to plunge
Ins Bodenlose und Leere / Into the bottomless pit
Nichts, was uns hält / Nothing to hold us back
Und nehm’n keine Rücksicht / And we take no care
Finden es schön, was kaputt ist und kei’m gefällt / We find beauty in what’s broken and no one likes
Jeden Raum stecken wir an / We set every room on fire
Nur wenn es brennt, sind wir zusamm’n und fühl’n uns nah / Only when it’s burning are we together and feel close
Wir sind lebendige Strophen, berühren uns wie Chopin / We are living verses, touching each other like Chopin
Und es gibt kein’n Refrain / And there is no chorus

[Chorus]
Und doch fällt’s mir so leicht / And yet it’s so easy for me
An uns zu glauben und nichts Schlechtes zu seh’n? / To believe in us and see nothing bad?
Doch irgendwas sagt mir leise / But something whispers to me
„Wenn du sie liebst, dann lass sie geh’n“ / “If you love her, then let her go”
Warum fällt’s mir nur so leicht / Why is it so easy for me
An uns zu glauben, darin nichts Schlechtes zu seh’n? / To believe in us, to see nothing bad in it?
Doch irgendwas sagt mir leise / But something whispers to me
„Wenn du sie liebst, dann lass sie geh’n“ / “If you love her, then let her go”

Ich tanz’ mit dir gerne / I love to dance with you
Ins Bodenlose und Leere / Into the abyss and emptiness
Und ich bin es nie leid / And I never tire of it
Denn Sehnsucht nach Ferne / Because longing for distant lands
Und das Zähl’n der Sterne / And counting the stars
Das war uns immer zu leicht / That was always too easy for us
Es heißt, es wird schwerer mit der Zeit / They say it gets harder with time
Was kümmert uns die Wirklichkeit? Wir war’n ja normal / What do we care about reality? We were normal, after all
Ich könnt ewig mit dir leben, Dreivierteltakt wie Chopin / I could live with you forever, in three-quarter time like Chopin
Ich brauch’ kein’n Refrain / I don’t need a chorus

Chorus

[Bridge]
Wenn du sie liebst / If you love her
Wenn du ihn liebst / If you love him

Chorus

Outro
Wenn du sie liebst, lass sie geh’n / If you love her, let her go
Es ist so mies, ich will noch nicht geh’n / It’s so awful, I don’t want to leave yet

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Weeping in the Forest (1993) – Archie Roach

Posted on July 7, 2026 by observationblogger — Leave a comment

Wikipedia:

Jamu Dreaming is the second studio album by Australian singer song writer Archie Roach. The album was released in March 1993 and peaked at number 55 on the ARIA Charts. The album was recorded with musical assistance from David Bridie, Tiddas, Paul Kelly, Vika and Linda Bull, Ruby Hunter, Dave Arden and Joe Geia.

Jamu is the Pitjanjatjara word for grandfather or old one. 

One, two,three, four

Uncle Benjo called me
Before the children went a while
Life was good Life was free
Not like it yesterday

Children running everywhere,
and the tree were looking after Little spirits dancing there
Among the sweet sweet laughter

Oh but there’s weeping in the forest
Now that the children have gone
And the trees at night get no rest
They were there when the children were born

Hmm hmm hmm
Uncle let me fly, away with you
Let me see thing you see
The children laugh, the children do
As they play among the tree

Oh but there’s weeping in the forest
Now that the children have gone
And the trees at night get no rest
They were there when the children were born

Hmm hmm hmm Hmm hmm hmm

References:
1. Jamu Dreaming – Wikipedia

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Posted in Music

Wedding Song (1974) – Bob Dylan

Posted on July 6, 2026 by observationblogger — Leave a comment

[Verse 1]
I love you more than ever, more than time and more than love
I love you more than money and more than the stars above
Love you more than madness, more than dreams upon the sea
Love you more than life itself, you mean that much to me

[Verse 2]
Ever since you walked right in, the circle’s been complete
I’ve said goodbye to haunted rooms and faces in the street
To the courtyard of the jester which is hidden from the sun
I love you more than ever and I haven’t yet begun

[Verse 3]
You breathed on me and made my life a richer one to live
When I was deep in poverty you taught me how to give
Dried the tears up from my dreams and pulled me from the hole
I love you more than ever and it burns me to the soul

[Verse 4]
You gave me babies one, two, three, what is more, you saved my life
Eye for eye and tooth for tooth, your love cuts like a knife
My thoughts of you don’t ever rest, they’d kill me if I lie
I’d sacrifice the world for you and watch my senses die

[Verse 5]
The tune that is yours and mine to play upon this earth
We’ll play it out the best we know, whatever it is worth
What’s lost is lost, we can’t regain what went down in the flood
But happiness to me is you and I love you more than blood

[Verse 6]
It’s never been my duty to remake the world at large
Nor is it my intention to sound a battle charge
’Cause I love you more than all of that with a love that doesn’t bend
And if there is eternity I’d love you there again

[Verse 7]
Oh, can’t you see that you were born to stand by my side
And I was born to be with you, you were born to be my bride
You’re the other half of what I am, you’re the missing piece
And I love you more than ever with that love that doesn’t cease

[Verse 8]
You turn the tide on me each day and teach my eyes to see
Just being’ next to you is a natural thing for me
And I could never let you go, no matter what goes on
‘Cause I love you more than ever now that the past is gone

References:
1. Dylan’s Wedding song: the meaning of the music and the words – Untold Dylan
2. DB’s Song of the Day (day 270): “WEDDING SONG” (1974) Bob Dylan – blogocentrism

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