Song Analysis #45: The Four Tops – It’s the Same Old Song

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Title: ‘It’s the Same Old Song’
Where to find it: ‘Four Tops’ Second Album’ (1965, Motown)
Performed by: The Four Tops
Words by: song was written by Holland-Dozier-Holland

Happy new year everyone. I haven’t forsaken you. I had every intention to post a goodbye to 2014 styley post but it never happened (I’ve been drowning with last minute / end of year stuff at work). I was never all that good at posting every week on Music in Notes but I promise I’ll try and do better in 2015.

All right, so be honest. Who here remembers the BMG 1-cent CD club promotion? ::raises hand:: Very early on in my music collecting career in the ’80s, my father used to buy a lot of classical CDs from the company, and every once in a while, he’d ask me if I wanted to buy any. I still have kept a lot of them from those days, notably the soundtrack to the film The Bodyguard, Henry Mancini’s Greatest Hits (who doesn’t love the schmaltzy ‘Days of Wine and Roses’ and the irrepressible theme to The Pink Panther?), and the CD that this song appears on. It still works, though I must have played and replayed the whole thing again and again.

In the days leading up to the end of the year, I was marking time thinking about some people who left my life in the 10 years, wondering what they were up to now. Some folks I used to be quite close with are profiled in this school newspaper article I came across and one of them is doing quite well now, and I’m happy for him. I always knew he’d be a success, but it’s always nice to see validation for the talent you saw long before anyone else did. I was reminded me of a conversation he and I had about them visiting Detroit and how they were disappointed to be unable to visit the Motown museum before they came down to DC to do a show for us, as the museum was closed 1 day a week, Monday, which happened to be the only day they were in Motor City.

The reason this song sticks out to me with this random new year’s remembrance: if you’ve ever seen the Four Tops performing this song – whether in a latest incarnation of the group, or from old footage back in the ’60s as I’ve embedded at the bottom of this post – they’re always so dang happy singing what seems lyrically pretty sad stuff! I guess you could argue that with the tempo and the over the top in joy xylophone notes, they don’t really have much choice in the matter. And when I was young and first heard it, I didn’t understand heartbreak because it would be years before I felt it firsthand. All I knew was this song was catchy at all hell and I would remember it forever.

The song is great because it weirdly and eerily can evolve along with your feelings directly after a break-up and beyond. When you’re first hurt, the lyrics act as a soothing pat on the back, a “yes, I understand what you’re going through.” But then as time passes and the pain is less fresh and eventually almost completely goes away, the actual happiness of the song – the vocals and the upbeat melody – allows you to reflect on your past love no longer with hurt but with a fondness. And what better thing do us music lovers have to remind us of our experiences than a song to evoke the memories of someone?

First, the words:

Verse 1
You’re sweet (you’re sweet) as a honeybee
But like a honeybee stings
You’ve gone and left my heart in pain
All you left (all you left) is our favorite song
The one we danced to all night long
It used to bring sweet memories (sweet memories)
Of a tender love that used to be

Chorus
Now it’s the same old song
But with a different meaning since you been gone
It’s the same, same old song
But with a different meaning (since you been gone)
And it breaks me up to hear it

Verse 2
Ah, oh, ah, sentimental fool am I (sweet memories)
To hear a old love song and want to cry
But the melody keeps haunting me
Reminding me how in love we used to be
Keep hearing the part that used to touch our hearts
Saying (together forever)
Darling (breaking up never)

Chorus
(Now it’s the same old song) Can’t bear to hear it
(With a different meaning since you been gone) Since you’ve been gone
Oh, it hurts to hear it
It’s the same old song
But with a different meaning since you been gone

Instrumental bridge (with an awesome sax solo, I might add!)

Verse 3
Precious memories keep lingering on
Every time I hear our favorite song
Now you’ve gone (sweet, sweet memories)
Left this emptiness
I only reminisce the happiness we spent
We used to dance to the music (we used to dance to the music)
Make romance to the music (make romance to the music)

Chorus (outro extended)
Now it’s the same old song
But with a different meaning since you been gone
Now it’s the same old song
But with a different meaning since you been gone
I, oh, I can’t bear to hear it
It’s the same old song
But with a different meaning since you been gone
Ooh, it breaks me up to hear it
It’s the same old song
But with a different meaning

Now, the analysis:

When I listen to Motown, and frankly anything from the ’60s, I’m reminded how different music was back then. Turn on the radio now and everything is sex, sex, sex and there’s leaving nothing to the imagination. This song in a nutshell: a man is telling us how he can’t listen to a song because it reminds him of a former love that meant everything to him. He never tells us in lurid detail how physical they got or anything about the relationship: he’s not the type to kiss and tell, and you have to applaud him for that. The only line in here that suggests something more salacious, and in a borderline way, is the line “make romance to the music,” which has to be hands-down the most elegant way to describe being intimate. Pop these days? You’re practically smacked in the face with a waffle iron – oh, excuse me, tablet – and given every disgusting description of how they got it on. This song benefits from the clear lack of such musical sacrilege, describing “sweet memories / of a tender love that used to be”. ::angelic chorus::

In verse 1 he points out, shall we say, his former love’s shortcomings. Like Muhammad “I float like a butterfly and sting like a bee” Ali, a relationship isn’t all sweetness and honey, and when this relationship ended, he felt stung in the heart. He was (and quite possibly still is) in pain. Do you also hear that sad violin line during “it used to be bring sweet memories“, hmm? I’m pretty sure that was done on purpose, as if sympathetic to the singer’s feelings. (The same violin line comes in again during “keep hearing the part that used to touch our hearts” in verse 2, and “we used to dance to the music (we used to dance to the music) / make romance to the music (make romance to the music)” in verse 3. Suspect, eh?)

In verse 2, he admits his own shortcomings, namely calling himself “sentimental fool am I.” To admit you miss a woman is something incredibly difficult for most men. In my experience, most men would rather break something promising off rather than confront their own feelings when those feelings make them feel out of control. Because men “aren’t” supposed to show their feelings. I’m gonna leave that there…

Despite his sentimentality, I think it’s also important to notice that throughout this song, you feel no sense of urgency, desperation, or despondency. He’s sad that she’s no longer in his life, but he makes no effort to get her back, which makes ‘It’s the Same Old Song’ so unique from many other sob story, “I miss her!” type tunes of that era, or even of today. This sentimentality makes him think of his former love every time “their song” gets played on the radio or at the disco. Verse 3 supports this, as he says, “I only reminisce the happiness we spent.” Wow. Even though he was stung by the breakup and her actions, he prefers to remember the good times they had together as a couple.

While we certainly have our fair share of inspirational, you’re better off without him/her songs – Gloria Gaynor’s ‘I Will Survive’ and Kelly Clarkson’s ‘Stronger’ immediately spring to mind – ‘It’s the Same Old Song’ is actually more powerful and life-affirming in its message. The problem with those two songs is that the singer (or sympathiser) has to point out flaws in her former love and their relationship in order to puff herself up, as if to provide appropriate reasons why they’re better off apart. Is that really necessary? No, if you’ve come to terms with the end of the relationship. In contrast, the voice of this Four Tops song never attacks his former love or what went wrong. He’s saying, “you know what? We had a good run and it was great while it lasted. You might be gone from my life, but I don’t have to forget you. I can still hold on to the memories of us that make me happy.” What positive sentiment. Huh, no wonder the Four Tops are so happy singing it!

Lastly, the song, performed live on American tv back in the ’60s by the band themselves. Check out those moves. Killing it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uS2nWLz-AbE

Song Analysis #44: Kodaline – Honest

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Title: ‘Honest’
Where to find it: ‘Honest’ single, ‘Coming Up for Air’ album (2015, RCA)
Performed by: Kodaline
Words by: Steve Garrigan

I have incredibly fond memories of the first time I saw Kodaline perform live. They were playing to a small crowd in the Gibson Room of Maggie Mae’s as part of an Irish showcase at SXSW 2013. Most of the people in the room were either Irish and/or were involved with the Irish contigent’s programming that year in Austin, so I was an outsider. I was so impressed by their live experience, I ended up seeing Kodaline 3 different times in Austin and their manager saw me at the Hype Hotel when they were supporting The Specials, pointed at me because he’d recognised seeing me so many times, and said, “you’ve come to see the boys so many times this week!” Ha. Early on, they recognised and appreciated us promoting them on TGTF. I’m proud of all of their successes, and I’m proud to call them my friends.

At that time, we didn’t have Kodaline’s debut album ‘In a Perfect World’ yet, which would not be released until June 2014. What we did have was a couple tracks from the ‘High Hopes’ EP and that was enough for me to determine that these guys were going to be a huge deal. ‘High Hopes’ was my favourite song of theirs until this one came along.

‘Honest’ by Irish pop band Kodaline marks the first time I’ve reviewed a song that hasn’t actually come out yet! The single got its first play on Fearne Cotton’s BBC Radio 1 programme last week and I only got around to listening to it on Friday. The most obvious thing to notice, even to a casual fan, is the added muscle and pomp of Kodaline’s new sound. (I discuss this in my single review that posted yesterday on TGTF.) I’ve yet to hear the new album, but if this single is any indication of what’s to come, it’s the sound of a more confident musical group ready to take their rightful place in the limelight of superstardom.

If you’ve been keeping up here on Music in Notes, you’ve noticed that I have a penchant for pop songs with deeper meaning. I was sad when Keane broke up. But you know how massive Keane was? Kodaline are ready to fill that void.

Many thanks to Lorna Kemble of the Kodaline Fan Base for her kind assistance in transcribing the song. I’ve made a couple of corrections in my version of the transcription below.

Update: a lyric video has appeared 17 December 2014, so I’ve added it below, and the lyric that was incorrect in my transcription is in bold below.

First, the words:

Verse 1
We don’t communicate, can you not say what’s on your mind?
And I see that every day you hide the truth behind your eyes.
Honestly, there’s no need for you to hide.
Talk to me, can’t you see, I’m on your side.
Honest, honest.

Chorus
Say what it is you’re trying to say.
But if you lie to me again,
I’ll be the one that walks away.
Is it in you to be honest, honest?
Is it in you to be honest?

Verse 2
I still remember the day we met, I was hanging on your every word.
I didn’t think I would ever let somebody see into my world.
Honestly, can’t you see, I’m on your side.

Chorus
Say what it is you’re trying to say.
But if you lie to me again,
I’ll be the one that’s walking away.
Is it in you to be honest, honest?
Is it in you to be honest?

Bridge
Is it all in my head, or was it something I said?
Because I’m trying to forgive, and now I’m trying to forget.
You’re telling me all of this, no more hearing of this,
it was all just a lie, was it all just a lie?
Now I’m walking away ‘cos everything that you said,
all that you ever tell to me is lies, lies.
Honest, honest. Is it in you to be honest?

Chorus
Say what it is you’re trying to say,
But if you lie to me again,
I’ll be the one that walks away.
Is it in you to be honest, honest?
Is it in you to be honest?

Spoken quietly outro
Is it in you to be honest?

Now, the analysis:

So if you read my single review linked above in the introduction to this piece, I kind of already outlined what I think this song is about. The basic premise is just like Robert Plant sang on the first Led Zeppelin album: “communication breakdown, it’s always the same!” How true this is! And it’s also true not just of romantic relationships, but friendships as well. Incommunicado? Well, unless you’re willing to meet the other person halfway or you’re both masochists, you can be sure your relationship is soon vamanos.

The message Kodaline is giving us in ‘Honest’ is this: you need real communication in any relationship for it to work. It doesn’t matter if it’s a boyfriend and girlfriend having a misunderstanding, or a disagreement in a marriage, or friends that are having a tiff. This is amazing to me, because Kodaline has and has had a large fan base made up primarily of young-ish girls and women, and this song’s message can be applicable to all ages and both sexes. Whether they knew this while they were writing it or not, it’s clear to me this single has much broader appeal than any of their previous releases. For the ease of my writing this review, I’m going to make it a boyfriend/girlfriend relationship, but feel free to apply it to whatever situation you need it to be.

In the first verse, singer Steve Garrigan is setting the scene by explaining what he sees from his side, him getting the silent treatment: “We don’t communicate, can you not say what’s on your mind? / And I see that every day you hide the truth behind your eyes.” Further, he is gently coaxing out the other person, lovingly trying to assure that whatever she has to say, he will listen: “Honestly, there’s no need for you to hide. / Talk to me, can’t you see, I’m on your side.“

The song has been pretty quiet, prior Kodaline-sounding up to this point. Well, until the chorus starts up. BOOM. The power of the chorus is massive, with synth chords that start in minor key. Think of it like when you’re watching a film and when you start hearing ominous music. It’s usually in a minor key to add to the suspense, to fill you with negative feelings. Yet when the chorus reaches its height in the last line at “Is it in you to be honest?”, the chord progression has turned major. It’s positive now. (I’m a big fan of purposefully emotional chord changes; Tim Rice-Oxley of Keane is a master at this [read my analysis of ‘Can’t Stop Now’ from last year for more].) In the case of this song, I feel like it’s as if the voice of the song is trying to be positive, as if he knows she *can* be honest. He has faith in this. And faith is a good thing.

However, you cannot ignore the fact that the rest of the chorus is some pretty heavy stuff. He’s been given the silent treatment. He’s been lied to when the other person finally opened his/her mouth. But he has come to a good place for himself: he is ready to walk away from the toxic relationship. Also noteworthy is that in the first chorus, Garrigan sings “walks away”, whereas in the second chorus, he sings “walking away.” This is important. Earlier in the song, he is only threatening to leave in the face of more lies. The action being described in the second chorus is him actually leaving. Him making a stand that they cannot go on like this anymore.

But like all things when you love someone, either romantically or platonically, things can get complicated. Like all human beings, in the bridge we see him second-guessing his decision to leave. Up to this point in ‘Honest’, the lyrics have been pretty placid and easy to keep up with. I feel like Garrigan’s frenetic delivery in the bridge is reflecting his own confusion and disappointment in finding out that the woman he loved and trusted, a person he gave so much of himself to, is really a liar: “You’re telling me all of this and then I’m hearing that it, / it was all just a lie, was it all just a lie? / Now I’m walking away ‘cos everything that you said, / all that you ever tell to me is lies, lies.” Probably one of the worst emotions we as humans can ever feel. He started out thinking it was him, not her: “Is it all in my head, or was it something I said? / Because I’m trying to forgive, and now I’m trying to forget.“ But wait! There is more as the song nears its finish.

For me, the greatest line in this song is “Is it in you to be honest?”, which is used as a refrain throughout. In all its uses except in the outro, the chord changes used to propel the line are, as I mentioned above, sounding pretty positive and inspiring. But it’s when Garrigan speaks the words – sadly, softly – at the end that you realise he’s fully acknowledged and accepted this woman in his life is full of lies. Though the ending is sad, it will lead him to better things, because he can move on from all this pain the lies she told him inflicted. “Is it in you to be honest?”, every time it comes up in here, is a challenge to the woman. It isn’t until the end where he admits he realises that she cannot be honest with him.

What does that really boil down to?

She has no integrity. How can she be honest with him, if she cannot be honest with herself?

I will end this analysis with this: I hope the crappy people in the world, those who think it’s okay to lie to and cheat their friends and loved ones, will listen to this song and finally GET THE MESSAGE. It may take us some time, but we WILL suss what you are doing. And you’ll be sorry when we’re gone.

Lastly, the song, in stream form as provided by the band. Update 17 December 2014: also included now is the lyric video released today, and the story that unfolds in the promo agrees with my overall interpretation above that the song meaning may not necessarily refer to a romantic relationship. (Thank you, thank you…)

Song Analysis #43: The Crookes – Two Drifters

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Title: ‘Two Drifters’
Where to find it: ‘Dreaming of Another Day’ EP (2010, Fierce Panda)
Performed by: the Crookes featuring Little Glitches
Words by: Daniel Hopewell

Last month I was contacted by a Crookes fan to help her with a project she was doing on them. Why she contacted me: she complimented me on my writing, had read all I’d written about the band, and was interested in my journalist’s opinion on them. It felt pretty special to be asked and I’ve been told the feature on me would be running this Thursday, so stay tuned, I’ll update this post with the link once I have it. Update: read the Q&A with me on One Week // One Band this way.

Her interviewing me had me revisit all the Crookes music I had and think about the unique journey I had with them, first as a fan, then as a journalist and friend of theirs. I came across this one, which seems like such a huge departure from their current album ‘Soapbox’. It seems to fit my current mindset; I’ve been doing a lot of writing lately and came up with a four-word phrase that I will use to name my memoirs.

The phrase is oddly closely aligned to the message in ‘Two Drifters’: despite how fairy tales end, relationships aren’t forever. When one has run its course, it’s best to say goodbye, move on, and keep the good times you had together tucked away in your heart.

First, the words:

Verse 1
Oh, it may be that we are neverending,
but I wouldn’t ever shine my shoes for you.
And you may think that we are done pretending,
that the rain that I wrote came from the blue.

Chorus
Drain my wine like that widow at the window,
and it plays through my mind,
but I’m on another skyline,
from you, from you, from you, from you.

Verse 2
Oh, I look back on when we were two drifters,
drifting along so aimlessly.
We lost our way, forget those days,
because I’m done pretending
that there’s still so much for us to see.

Chorus (modified)
Drain my wine like that widow at the window,
and it plays through my mind,
but I’m on another skyline from you.
Dress in my best clothes just to lean against a lamppost,
and I think of those days,
and times spent the wrong way with you.

Bridge
Ink seeps in through my skin,
forgotten as I etch it in.
Though I may feel better for a while,
even moods grow in and out of style.
I let you get ahead…

Remember me fondly when I’m gone,
I’ve already been happy for far too long.
I know it’s such a shame that we pretend,
my darling, we’re racing towards different ends.
Remember me fondly when I’m gone…

Verse 3
Oh, I look back on when we were two drifters,
drifting along so aimlessly.
We lost our way, forget those days,
I’m done pretending
that there’s still so much for us to see.

Now, the analysis:

There are three things about ‘Two Drifters’ that I think are important to note about this song:

1) The protagonist is a writer. This might not be obvious but in verse 1, it sounds to me like he’s writing a Dear John letter, with rain being a metaphor for darker days ahead and the end of their time together but perceived by the girl as coming out of nowhere:

“And you may think that we are done pretending,
that the rain that I wrote came from the blue.”

There is also a clue later on in the bridge that the ink (or pen) he uses to write with is all-pervading, even in his most absent-minded of moments:

“Ink seeps in through my skin,
forgotten as I etch it in.”

2) He’s having trouble letting go, yet he’s cognisant that he and his lover exist on two entirely different planes. He is drinking, presumably to numb and dull the pain he’s having, wrestling with the decision of ending this relationship. He’s comparing the way he’s drinking himself into oblivion to the way a widow – a woman who has lost her greatest love – downs her liquor:

“Drain my wine like that widow at the window,
and it plays through my mind,
but I’m on another skyline,
from you, from you, from you, from you.”

In the second chorus, he admits to trying to hold on to the fondest memories of them being together by going through familiar motions:

“Dress in my best clothes just to lean against a lamppost,
and I think of those days, and times spent the wrong way with you.”

Later on in the bridge, he explains his difficulty in making his choice:

“Though I may feel better for a while,
even moods grow in and out of style.”

3) He once was aimless, but now he’s grown up. He understands the fairy tale is over and is done with continuing with the façade that there is anything left to their union. The road ends here.

“Oh, I look back on when we were two drifters,
drifting along so aimlessly.
We lost our way, forget those days,
because I’m done pretending
that there’s still so much for us to see.”

Those are the basic building blocks. But let’s turn our attention to the most beautiful part of this song, the bridge. In its entirety, the bridge is a gorgeous piece of work on its own, with frontman George Waite emoting its full melancholy. The protagonist is trying to make a clean break but feels the need to give an excuse for why: “Remember me fondly when I’m gone, I’ve already been happy for far too long.” Is it really possible to have been happy for too long? It is as if he was uncomfortable the way the relationship was making him feel, as if it was disturbing his core sadness.

Then he says to her, “I know it’s such a shame that we pretend, my darling, we’re racing towards different ends.” Again, it’s another excuse, an interesting departure from “it’s not you, it’s me.” But in contrast to the latter, it is an actual admittance by him that he and she are different people, wanting different things, having different goals in life. A pretty mature conclusion to come to after presumably younger days and “times spent the wrong way with you.”

When I built my first-ever, rinky-dink Web site on my university’s server many moons ago (complete with JPEGs and GIFs of weathered Greek architecture; don’t ask me why, I don’t think there was any particular reason except that they looked cool to me), I set up a page listing variants of that old chestnut about love. You know which one I’m talking about:

“If you love somebody,
Set her free…
If she comes back, she’s yours,
If she doesn’t, she never was….”

I’m not entirely sure why I devoted so much time to hand code an HTML page that looks like this one (except with awesome graphics and a coloured background, ha). In my first year at school, I’d never even had a boyfriend before. I suspect though that it had to do with being a hopeless romantic, something I’ve carried with me to today. As we get older and gain more experience with life and love, we can take those experiences and use them towards the relationship(s) that will end up working. That’s a positive thing. As Elvis once sang, “don’t be cruel / to a heart that’s true.” Letting go is hard. Knowing when to let go and the process of letting go is a compassionate act.

Lastly, the song in stream form, as it was never released as a single, so there’s no promo for it..