Lyrics - the Good, the Bad, and the Inane
(part I)

"And as it was/then again it will be/'though the ports may change sometimes/rivers always reach the sea" (Led Zeppelin, Physical Graffiti, "Ten Years Gone")  Riff-bashing band, or dark and mysterious? I dunno, but I find this one to be pretty deep. It speaks to the inevitability of things that are, know what I mean? Along the same lines as "Those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it." Plus, some damn good rock ' roll.

"Mr. DJ, play that m****r f*****g song" (Jennifer Lopez, J Lo, "Mr. DJ") Looks like J Lo left it hangin' out again. 'Cept this time it's a lack of class showing. No question she is one of the most well-rounded stars out there today (Hey! C'mon! I meant acting, singing and dancing. Get your mind out of the gutter. Sheesh). However, is it just me, or should this chick be seen and not heard? (He says, while deftly ducking a right hook thrown by his wife.....)

"My heart is like an open highway/like Frankie said I did it my way/I just wanna live while I'm alive/It's my life" (Bon Jovi, Crush, "It's My Life")  Might have a word or two wrong in the middle there, but what the hey. Not a bad line, when all is said and done. Point of the song ain't bad either - live your life (while you've got it), let your voice be heard, do it your way. I'd give it high marks, except I have some additional advice for Jon: Live those lyrics when you write your next album. Don't try so hard to make it rhyme all the time (oh damn, now I'm doing it too). Seriously -- you've reached the pinnacle. You get high marks as an actor, you've got a top-notch band behind you -- your guitar player is married to Heather freakin' Locklear, for crying out loud -- and any album you put your name on now will go platinum.  Isn't it time you lived the lyrics of this song? I mean, write and play some music you'll be really proud of, regardless of its commercial success? The kind you would've listened to back in Sayerville? Bruce did Nebraska, that took some guts. Go for it. Make us proud.

"If you can just get your mind together/then come on across to me/we'll hold hands and then we'll watch the sunrise/from the bottom of the sea/but first: are you experienced?/have you ever been experienced?/well, I have" The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Are You Experienced, "Are You Experienced"  He goes on to sing "...not necessarily stoned/but ....beautiful" I can only believe by this he means, "not necessarily stoned, but really, really, really stoned." Jimi was a musical genius, there's no doubt in my mind about that one. Lyrics were not always his strong point, though. But this lyric, it just sums up a big part of the late '60s (or so I'm told, I was ~5 when he wrote this). It was about a generation finding itself, after 20+ years of unprecedented post-war peace and prosperity, in the midst of changing values, increased freedoms, the Viet Nam war, and mind-altering drugs. Just think, those folks are raising teenagers now....

"A court is in session, a verdict is in/no appeal on the docket today, just my own sin/the walls cold and pale, the cage made of steel/screams fill the room, alone I drop and kneel/So I held my head up high/hiding hate that burns inside/which only fuels their selfish pride/We're all held captive out from the sun/a sun that shines on only some/we the meek are all in one" Creed, My Own Prison, "My Own Prison"  Whew. Someone's got issues, eh? The key line in the song is "I created my own prison". There's the clue as to who here is the prosecutor. We are our own prosecutors - against ourselves. We all do this to ourselves sometimes, don't we? Carry around a little guilt, maybe? Bad thing, right? So, cut it out!  I wish I could write lyrics like that. I would have probably written "I feel like crap, And it's my own fault, too" to try and convey the same thing. Who wants to hear that? (Hint: they probably own several Ramones albums).

"Shove me in the shallow water/Before I get too deep" Edie Brickell & The New Bohemians, "What I Am"   I just thought this fit perfectly after the last one. Some whimsical philosophy going on here. Another way of re-phrasing the old saying "Whack me over the head with a 2x4 if I start getting too full of myself." (What, you never heard that one? Try saying it sometime around a construction site - you'll inevitably find someone thinks you're too full of yourself). Like the lyrics, like the song; it's got a good beat, I give it three stars. Well, this is Mrs. Paul Simon we're talking about here, make it 3-1/2 stars.

"And what's to stop us, pretty baby/but what is and what should never be" Led Zeppelin, "What is and what should never be"   Love the song, learned how to play the bass guitar to this one a loooong time ago. What's it all mean? Hmm, my interpretation is "Life would be great if only it weren't for this pesky reality thing."  Man, don't we all know it sometimes.