I've never liked "J&D," ["Jack and Diane"] that and "Glory Days" are the songs that make me wonder why more boomers haven't killed themselves.― miccio (miccio), Tuesday, 12 July 2005 08:53 (8 years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
It occurred to me while listening to the radio tonight that "Summer of '69" is another one of these, despite the upbeat music.
― EveningStar (Sund4r), Saturday, 24 August 2013 02:25 (eleven years ago) link
The song is about being young and discovering sex. You need to look a bit deeper in the lyrics to find the meaning.
I got my first real six-stringBought it at the five-and-dimePlayed it till my fingers bledWas the summer of '69
MEANING - he is talking about masturbation here. the six string is his "guitar" and the reference to 5 and dime refers to his hands (5 and 10 fingers). he "played it" till his fingers "bled" means he really got after it in that he masturbated so much it like hurt.
Me and some guys from schoolHad a band and we tried real hardJimmy quit, Jody got marriedShoulda known, we'd never get far
MEANING - here he has discovered group masturbation. "had a band" refers to his little group "tried real hard" means they really went after it. two of his friends move on and they no longer do it. he seems a bit sad that they did not progress or "get far" which probably means he was looking for a little something more.
Ain't no use in complainin'When you got a job to doSpent my evenings down at the drive-inAnd that's when I met you
MEANING - he keeps a positive attitude because he has a "job" to do meaning he needs to touch himself again. so he spent his nights at some "drive-in" and it is unclear here if he is talking about drive in movies that might very well be pornographic or he is talking about a drive in fast food place where he sits in the car watching.
Standin' on your mama's porchYou told me that you'd wait foreverOh and when you held my handI knew that it was now or neverThose were the best days of my life
MEANING - once again he has found someone to masturbate with. apparently this person reaches climax faster than he does so they reassure him they will "wait forever" but wait what happens next ? that person then holds his "hand" (penis) and he knew he could no longer wait and climaxes - wow those were great times he thinks the best days of his life.
Man we were killin' timeWe were young and restlessWe needed to unwindI guess nothin' can last forever, forever, no
MEANING - they were "killin' time" and were "young and restless" because they were basically bored and did not have cable television or the internet or anything so what did they do ? then "needed to unwind" meaning they needed to masturbate so that is how they killed time.
And now the times are changin'Look at everything that's come and goneSometimes when I play that old six-stringThink about you wonder what went wrong
MEANING - they grow up and get older and he reflects on things that have "come and gone" but sometimes, probably when he is alone, he whips out "that old six-string" and thinks about his buddy or buddies.
Back in the summer of '69Un-huhIt was the summer of '69, oh yeahMe and my baby in '69, oh
MEANING - This is a reference to the sexual position "69" where two people come together for oral sex and resemble the letters 6 and 9 together. look at the number 69 and imagine two people facing each other but turned 180 degrees. the position allows for mutual direct access to each others sexual parts for mutual gratification. So there it is "the summer of 69" has nothing to do with 1969 it is basically a fond reflection on group masturbation.
― ship who you wanna ship (flamboyant goon tie included), Saturday, 24 August 2013 03:47 (eleven years ago) link
otm
― Euler, Saturday, 24 August 2013 03:54 (eleven years ago) link
This is pretty much what I've always assumed every Bryan Adams song is about.
― Josh in Chicago, Saturday, 24 August 2013 17:52 (eleven years ago) link
Fire and Rain
― wk, Saturday, 24 August 2013 17:55 (eleven years ago) link
"Night Moves""Against The Wind"
It's a wonder we still have Seger around.
― A Made Man In The Mellow Mafia (C. Grisso/McCain), Saturday, 24 August 2013 18:08 (eleven years ago) link
Oddly enough, I like "Glory Days" and "Jack And Diane" a lot more now. I TOTALLY missed the humor in Bruce's song initially, and while "hold on to 16 as long as you can" is sad as fuck imo, it feels mean to begrudge a "peaked in high school" anthem so detailed and hooky.
― da croupier, Saturday, 24 August 2013 18:17 (eleven years ago) link
Intended to post "Turn the Page" last night but got sidetracked.
Well you walk into a restaurantStrung out from the roadAnd you feel the eyes upon youAs you're shakin' off the coldYou pretend it doesn't bother youBut you just want to explode
xpost
― Andy K, Saturday, 24 August 2013 18:18 (eleven years ago) link
Blood, Sweat & Tears - "My Days Are Numbered"
I see the heaven moonlightsyrup drippin' down my windowflowing like a riverthrough the tears that I have criedI gotta find myself, heya reason to go on livin’but you can't breathe life into somethin'that's already died
― Andy K, Saturday, 24 August 2013 18:20 (eleven years ago) link
LET THE TACO BELL COME AND SAVE MY SOULLLLL
― da croupier, Saturday, 24 August 2013 18:22 (eleven years ago) link
Suicide is painless
duh
― what's up ugly girls? (Shakey Mo Collier), Saturday, 24 August 2013 18:37 (eleven years ago) link
Deacon Blues
duh deux
― BISH HOOS aka the teendrimer (Craig D.), Sunday, 25 August 2013 01:23 (eleven years ago) link
40,000 men and women every day(Like Romeo and Juliet)40,000 men and women every day(Redefine happiness)Another 40,000 coming every day(We can be like they are)
― President Keyes, Sunday, 25 August 2013 01:49 (eleven years ago) link
We Didn't Start the FireWhen We Was Fab
Not sure these count, but maybe?
― Darin, Sunday, 25 August 2013 01:54 (eleven years ago) link
XTC- The Last Balloon
Maybe they are not thought of as a boomer band idk. I checked and Andy Partridge was born in 1953, though (60 later this year!).
― consume less love (Eight Model Play), Sunday, 25 August 2013 02:01 (eleven years ago) link
A lot of good answers. "Against the Wind" works, I think, but "Night Moves" seems a little different to me. It's nostalgic but I never get the sense that he's remembering those experiences as 'the best days of his life': he even acknowledges that they were loveless and awkward, that he and his partner were just using each other.
― EveningStar (Sund4r), Sunday, 25 August 2013 10:34 (eleven years ago) link
Then that backward-looking section at the end is just knife-twistingly real: it's clear that he has romantic feelings about the past, while at the same time acknowledging how unromantic the coupling was.Because nostalgia often has little to do with the quality of the experiences, and a lot to do with our own shifts in feeling about ourselves. This is actually a pretty feckin wise point, and one that I don't think was ever made in song before "Night Moves."...― The Mad Puffin, Tuesday, 3 May 2005 14:06 (8 years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
Because nostalgia often has little to do with the quality of the experiences, and a lot to do with our own shifts in feeling about ourselves. This is actually a pretty feckin wise point, and one that I don't think was ever made in song before "Night Moves."
...― The Mad Puffin, Tuesday, 3 May 2005 14:06 (8 years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
― EveningStar (Sund4r), Sunday, 25 August 2013 10:39 (eleven years ago) link
"baker street" -- the sax solos are the feeling of getting the rope ready and hanging it, the concluding guitar solo is when you kick the chair away and forget about everything
― reggie (qualmsley), Sunday, 25 August 2013 11:43 (eleven years ago) link
also, the police -- "Ωmegaman" (which could double as an ILM posting anthem)
― reggie (qualmsley), Sunday, 25 August 2013 11:46 (eleven years ago) link
Genesis- I Can't Dance
― mizzell, Sunday, 25 August 2013 13:20 (eleven years ago) link
The Who - "Cry If You Want"
― Shart Week (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Sunday, 25 August 2013 13:51 (eleven years ago) link
There's gotta be a couple Byrds songs that fit this bill, right? 5D maybe?
― kaleb, Sunday, 25 August 2013 18:43 (eleven years ago) link
Rock N Roll Suicide, maybe?
― Imagined Rayguns (flamboyant goon tie included), Sunday, 25 August 2013 18:52 (eleven years ago) link
"hold on to 16 as long as you can" is sad as fuck imo
^ cf. "Life goes on long after the thrill of living has gone".
― Vast Halo, Sunday, 25 August 2013 21:10 (eleven years ago) link
how did we go this long without acknowledging the deadhead sticker on a cadillac
― da croupier, Sunday, 25 August 2013 21:17 (eleven years ago) link
Randy Newman- I'm Dead(But I Don't Know It)
― buggerlugs (Eight Model Play), Sunday, 25 August 2013 21:21 (eleven years ago) link
Yeah, that's about as miserable as it gets. The first time I ever heard the song, I think I imagined that the protagonist had become severely disabled in an accident when he turned 20 or something. These songs are interesting imo in that not only do the remembered experiences seem pretty ordinary but nothing extremely tragic seems to have happened afterwards in the lives of the protagonists. Apparently, this sentiment really resonated with a large number of people who were approaching middle age in a time of relative prosperity and stability.
― EveningStar (Sund4r), Monday, 26 August 2013 04:00 (eleven years ago) link
The Statler Brothers have at least a few cuts straddling this line between An Innocent Man/"Pencil Thin Mustache" nostalgia ("Do You Remember These," "Carry Me Back") and boomer suicide, especially "The Class of '57":
Helen is a hostess, Frank works at the millJanet teaches grade school and prob'ly always willBob works for the city and Jack's in lab researchAnd Peggy plays organ at the Presbyterian ChurchAnd the Class of '57 had its dreamsOh, we all thought we'd change the worldWith our great works and deedsOr maybe we just thought the world would change to fit our needsThe class of '57 had its dreams
And the Class of '57 had its dreamsOh, we all thought we'd change the worldWith our great works and deedsOr maybe we just thought the world would change to fit our needsThe class of '57 had its dreams
― shandemonium padawan (Doctor Casino), Sunday, 28 February 2016 18:53 (eight years ago) link
(obviously, they couldn't be boomers proper graduating high school in '57, so maybe this is some other sub-generational statement of ennui worth noting, but still)
― shandemonium padawan (Doctor Casino), Sunday, 28 February 2016 18:54 (eight years ago) link
"many rivers to cross"?
― a but (brimstead), Saturday, 4 March 2017 22:00 (seven years ago) link