What Do These Songs Mean??

The song – it make no sense. Well maybe not in a typical story kind of way; but in others it makes all kinds of sense. These are those songs that you listen to and say – what a great song . . . what does it mean? You delight in the images, the catchy lines, the confusion, and the feeling – yes the feeling that in the end it makes all kinds of sense. The song is poetry and doesn’t need to tell a story – it rather paints a picture. You remember the picture and the music imprints it in your mind.

Big Frank presents his favorites. First of all the great – “She Came In Through The Bathroom Window”. There is the drama of the entrance – through the bathroom window; probably up to no good. She should have been told – but nobody said anything to her. She depends on him, but he is having trouble delivering. But, wait, he depends on her – and she can’t deliver. Oh woe!


SHE CAME IN THROUGH THE BATHROOM WINDOW
By John Lennon and Paul McCartney

Oh,look out!!...
She came in through the bathroom window
Protected by a silver spoon
But now she sucks her thumb and wonders
By the banks of her own lagoon

Didn't anybody tell her
Didn't anybody see
Sunday's on the phone to Monday
Tuesday's on the phone to me

She said she'd always been a dancer
She worked at fifteen clubs a day
And though she thought I knew the answer
Well I knew, but I could not say

And so I quit the police department
And got myself a steady job
And though she tried her best to help me
She could steal, but she could not rob

Then there is Neil Young’s “Broken Arrow”. Once again a very dramatic beginning; literally some kind of show – or was it. Perhaps it was just a dream. The mysterious “they” waiting at the melancholy stage door with the impressive but ominous “black limousine”. Abrupt switch to a different “them” now at the river with the empty quiver and the Indian, with the broken arrow (we are in a dream now, and as in a dream the scene now abruptly shifts to a kind of family nightmare). Then we are back in the river again but now someone is waving, and the Indian and the quiver are still there with that broken arrow. Then another dream sequence, this time a wedding. However with black caissons?! Not to worry it was for peace and then they were gone. Where to – back to the river, the Indian, the quiver, and that sad broken arrow. What a beautiful sad lament.

"Broken Arrow"
By Neil Young

The lights turned on
and the curtain fell down,
And when it was over
it felt like a dream,
They stood at the stage door
and begged for a scream,
The agents had paid
for the black limousine
That waited outside in the rain.
Did you see them,
did you see them?
Did you see them in the river?
They were there to wave to you.
Could you tell that
the empty quivered,
Brown skinned Indian on the banks
That were crowded and narrow,
Held a broken arrow?

Eighteen years of American dream,
He saw that his brother
had sworn on the wall.
He hung up his eyelids
and ran down the hall,
His mother had told him
a trip was a fall,
And don't mention babies at all.
Did you see him, did you see him?
Did you see him in the river?
He were there to wave to you.
Could you tell that
the empty quivered,
Brown skinned Indian on the banks
That were crowded and narrow,
Held a broken arrow?

The streets were lined
for the wedding parade,
The Queen wore the white gloves,
the county of song,
The black covered caisson
her horses had drawn
Protected her King
from the sun rays of dawn.
They married for peace
and were gone.
Did you see them,
did you see them?
Did you see them in the river?
They were there to wave to you.
Could you tell that
the empty quivered,
Brown skinned Indian on the banks
That were crowded and narrow,
Held a broken arrow?

Finally, there is Paul Simon’s “Senorita With a Necklace”
Here the refrain is “That’s the way it’s always been, and that’s the way I like” and then finally “that’s the way I want it to be”. So the thread of acceptance winds its way through. But what a wild road it takes: the wisdom tooth, tangled intricacies of reincarnation, the miracles of nature, the amazing contrarieties of humans, the beautiful sad regretful memories, and the perseverance of some – “That’s the way it’s always been, And that’s the way I like it, And that’s how I want it to be.” What a terrific affirming and accepting song about the wonder of this life on earth – wisdom teeth and frogs and all.

Senorita With A Necklace
By Paul Simon

I have a wisdom tooth
Inside my crowed face
I have a friend who is born again
Found his savior's grace
I was born before my father
And my children before me
We are born and born again
Like the waves in the sea
That's the way it's always been
And that's how I want it to be

Nothing but good news
There is a frog in South America
Whose venom is a cure
For all the suffering that mankind
Must endure
More powerful than morphine
And soothing as the rain
A frog in south america
Has the antidote to pain
That's the way it's always been
And that's the way I like it

Some people never say no
Some people never complain
Some folks have no idea
And others will never explain
That's the way it's always been
And that's the way I like it
And that's how I want it to be
That's the way it's always been
And that's the way I like it
And that's how I want it to be

If I could play all the memories
In the neck of my guitar
I'd write a song called
Senorita with a necklace of tears
And every tear a sin I'd committed
Oh these many years
That's who I was
That's the way it's always been

Some people always want more
Some people are what they
Some folks open a door
Walk away and never look back
I don't want to be a judge
And I don't want to be a jury
I know who I am
Lord knows who I will be
That's the way it's always been
And that's the way I like it
And that's how I want it to be
That's the way it's always been
And that's the way I like it
And that's how I want it to be

OK, send in your favorites. What songs on the surface seem nonsensical. Big Frank expect lots of Bob Dylan, there are more Neil Young – what about Leonard Cohen? Send in your favorites and I’ll post them.