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The Righteous Brothers - Unchained Melody

The Righteous Brothers - Unchained Melody Youtube Music Videos and Lyrics

Album: Just Once In My Life
Released: 1965

Unchained Melody Lyrics

Oh, my love, my darling
I've hungered for your touch
A long, lonely time
Time goes by so slowly
And time can do so much
Are you still mine?
I need your love
I need your love
God speed your love to me

Lonely rivers flow
To the sea, to the sea
To the open arms of the sea
Lonely rivers sigh
"Wait for me, wait for me"
I'll be coming home, wait for me

Oh, my love, my darling
I've hungered, for your touch
A long, lonely time
Time goes by so slowly
And time can do so much
Are you still mine?
I need your love
I need your love
God speed your love to me

Writer/s: H. ZARET, A. NORTH
Publisher: Unchained Melody PUB LLC
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Unchained Melody Song Chart

This first appeared in the 1955 movie Unchained, starring the former football player Elroy "Crazy Legs" Hirsch. The movie takes place in a prison, and the song was written for the movie to reflect the mood of the prisoners as they wait for time to pass.

Alex North wrote the music, Hy Zaret wrote the lyrics, and a black singer named Todd Duncan sang the version in the movie. Duncan went on to become a popular vocal instructor.

When the movie came out, an orchestral version by Les Baxter was released along with a version by Al Hibbler. Baxter's version hit #1 in the US; Hibbler's went to #3.

Bobby Hatfield, who had a higher voice than Bill Medley, sang lead on this track. It was his idea to record it, since Medley and Hatfield were each allowed to choose a song to sing as a solo vocalist on their albums. As Medley tells us, Hatfield knew the song well, and was a big fan of the Roy Hamilton and Al Hibbler versions of the song. In 2003, Hatfield died of a heart attack at age 63.

The Righteous Brothers version was a huge hit, but it was recorded with far more modest expectations. Phil Spector considered it album filler and released it as a B-side. The single had "Unchained Melody," with no producer credit on the label, as the flip to Gerry Goffin and Carole King's "Hung on You," but many DJs preferred "Unchained Melody" and played that one instead. This infuriated Spector, who subsequently left no doubt as to which side of a Philles single was the A-side.

The famous climax of this song where Bobby Hatfield sings the high "I need your love" line wasn't how the song was written. In our interview with Bill Medley , he explained that Hatfield did two takes of the song, then left. He would often reconsider his performance and come back later to change it, and that's what he did on this track, returning to ask Medley if he could make an edit. This was no easy task, since with a maximum of four tracks to work with, you had to record over part of the original take, but Medley accommodated and Hatfield delivered that soaring vocal line. Said Medley: "I punched that in and he left. He said, 'No, I can do it better.' And I said, 'No, you can't.' [Laughs] And I think it's a big part of that song."

This was released on Philles Records, Phil Spector's label. Spector, known for his "Wall Of Sound" technique, did not produce this - Bill Medley did. In a 2007 statement to the Forgotten Hits newsletter, Medley said: "You have to remember that I was producing our stuff before Phil Spector... I mean I produced 'Little Latin Lupe Lu,' 'My Babe' and all that stuff. Then when we went with Phil, Phil asked me if I would produce the albums because it was too time consuming for him to produce the entire albums. So he was going to do the singles and I would do the album. And so that's how that happened and that's how I produced 'Unchained Melody,' which Phil Spector apparently now takes credit for. He can have the credit. And I'm not a producer. I know how to produce. But it's obviously not a Spector production. 'Unchained Melody' was never intended to be the single... it was produced to be on the album. It was put on the B side of a Phil Spector single 'Hung On You' and the minute it was released 'Unchained Melody' just went through the roof."

This returned to both the US and UK charts in 1990 after it was included in the motion picture Ghost (it was used in a scene featuring Patrick Swayze, Demi Moore, and pottery). Two versions charted in the US that year: a reissue of the 1965 original Righteous Brothers single was available only as a 45 RPM single, peaking at #13, and a 1990 re-recording of the song was available only as a cassette single, peaking at #19. For eight weeks, both versions were in the Hot 100 simultaneously.

When the re-release became a hit, the label that now owned the distribution rights underestimated it's popularity and the few copies that record stores had sold out quickly, with back orders that went into several weeks. Meanwhile the Righteous Brothers, who weren't making a dime off of the original any more, decided to re-record the song and release it on Curb, Bill Medley's current label. Since the charts are based on radio airplay (only the original version) and record sales (only the Curb release), both versions landed in the Top 20 at the same time. If these two figures had been added together, a song two decades old would have been the #1 song of the year. In the UK, that was exactly the case, as the song made #1 and was the biggest-selling single of 1990.

The song's renewed popularity in the UK resulted in the re-release of "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" in late 1990. That re-release reached #3 overseas.

Although the Righteous Brothers' version is the most-remembered today, it was by no means the first or most-successful "Unchained Melody." Four versions of the song made the Top 40 in 1955, three of them simultaneously in the Top 20: Les Baxter (#1 - from the movie Unchained), Al Hibbler (#3 - first vocal version), Roy Hamilton (#6), June Valli (#29). All four of these recordings were in the US Top 40 on May 14, 1955. Harry Belafonte also recorded a version that year.

When the movie Ghost brought this song back to the charts, it marked the second time a Patrick Swayze film boosted the fortunes of Bill Medley. In 1987, Medley's duet with Jennifer Warnes, "(I've Had) The Time of My Life," became a #1 US hit when the film it was written for, Dirty Dancing (also starring Swayze), took off at the box office.

Medley told us: "I had talked to him a few times over the years - I used to joke with him. I said, 'Why aren't you calling us to do every one of your movies?'"

In 1995, Robson And Jerome released this as a single with "The White Cliffs Of Dover." The single went to #1 in the UK and was the best-selling single there that year. Both songs were used in a TV show called Soldier Soldier.

The Righteous Brothers released just two more singles on Phil Spector's Philles Records, and they were both covers of older songs: "Ebb Tide" and "The White Cliffs Of Dover." Spector didn't want to put his efforts into recording original songs if the public just wanted to hear standards from the duo.

After these releases, MGM Records bought The Righteous Brothers' contract, which paid off for the label when their first single for the label, "(You're My) Soul And Inspiration" - an original song - went to #1.

The only record to be a #1 hit with four different versions, Jimmy Young, The Righteous Brothers, Ronson & Jerome, and Gareth Gates all topped the UK chart with this song. This is also the first song to be a million seller in the UK in more than one version (Robson & Jerome also had a million seller with this in 1995).

In 2002 Pop Idol runner up Gareth Gates scored a #1 single with this in the UK. At the age of 17 he became the youngest solo male British artist to have a UK #1. Gates' version was voted Record of the Year by ITV viewers in 2002. It sold 300,000 copies on its first day and 1.3 million overall. Gates performed this in the final of Pop Idol, in which he finished runner up to Will Young.

This was one of several songs that Simon Cowell said he never wants to hear again at an X Factor audition. "Whoever said that was my favorite song was joking," he said.

This was Gareth Gates' mother's favorite song and Gates himself knew this from The Righteous Brothers version in the film Ghost. It was the first song that Gareth learned to play on guitar. According to 1000 UK #1 Hits by Jon Kutner and Spencer Leigh, he knew it would be a great song to perform on Pop Idol: "It's a song you can sing very badly, lots of people mess up the 'I need your love' bit, but I knew I could do it okay." The CD single included Gareth's versions of "Anything Is Possible" and "Evergreen," which would have been the A-sides if he'd won the contest.

The 1990 re-release of this song went to #1 on the Adult Contemporary chart, giving The Righteous Brothers their only chart-topper on that tally.

The Supremes recorded a cover of this song for their album I Hear a Symphony. (thanks, Jerro - New Alexandria, PA)

Temple of the Dog - Hunger Strike

Temple of the Dog - Hunger Strike Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: Temple of the Dog
Released: 1990

Hunger Strike Lyrics

I don't mind stealing bread
From the mouth of decadence
But I can't feed on the powerless
When my cup's already over-filled
But it's on the table.

The fire's cooking.
And they're farming babies
While the slaves are all working.
Blood is on the table.
The mouths are choking

And I'm going hungry
I'm going hungry [Repeat: x3]

Writer/s: CORNELL, CHRIS
Publisher: Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Hunger Strike Song Chart

Temple of the Dog began when Chris Cornell of Soundgarden wrote two songs in honor of his good friend Andrew Wood, who died of a heroin overdose in March 1990. Wood was kept on life support for three days after he overdosed, during which time Cornell and his band mates came to see him. Wood was in a promising Seattle band called Mother Love Bone with Stone Gossard and Jeff Ament, who were forming their new band that would become Pearl Jam. Cornell teamed up with them and guitarist Mike McCready with the intention of recording some of Wood's solo songs along with Cornell's two tribute tracks. Responding to concerns that they were somehow exploiting Wood's work, the guys decided to release an album of all original material in tribute to Wood, and called the band Temple of the Dog after a Mother Love Bone lyric from their song "Man of Golden Words."

"Hunger Strike" was the last song recorded for the album; Chris Cornell wrote it because they had only nine tracks and he has a compulsive distaste for odd numbers. Describing the song in the Pearl Jam Twenty collection, he said, "I was wanting to express the gratitude for my life but also disdain for people where that's not enough, where they want more. There's no way to really have a whole lot more than you need usually without taking from somebody else that can't really afford to give it to you. It's sort of about taking advantage of a person or people who really don't have anything."

The same verse is repeated twice in this song, as Cornell felt he had said everything he could on the subject with those words. Once these verse lyrics are out of the way, it's all chorus and bridge, which works thanks to the second vocalist on the song: Eddie Vedder. Temple of the Dog recorded the song on the very day Vedder flew in from San Diego to audition for what would become Pearl Jam: October 8, 1990. It was the first time he met any of the guys, and for most of the sessions, he kept to himself. Chris Cornell planned to sing both the high and low parts of the "Going Hungry" chorus by himself with the help of overdubs, but he was struggling with the low register. In a defining moment, Vedder stepped up to the microphone and sang the low parts of the chorus, which made the song click for Cornell. With two distinct voices, Cornell could now sing the verse lyrics at the beginning of the song, and Vedder could follow with the same lyrics, giving it a different sound. With both voices on the chorus, the song really came together and became the highlight of the album. It was a huge moment for Eddie, as he interjected himself into Christ Cornell's song without coming off as arrogant, and gained the respect of his new bandmates in the process. It was Vedder's first recorded vocal for a major record, and it proved to those in the room that he understood their sound and was willing to contribute any way he could, even if it wasn't for his band.

The video for the song was shot in Discovery Park in Seattle. The western view at sunset with band members' backs to the camera facing Bainbridge Island, home of Andrew Wood, was a symbolic goodbye to their friend. (thanks, Eric - Bainbridge Island, WA)

Matt Cameron, who was with Soundgarden at the time, was the drummer for Temple of the Dog. He ended up joining Peal Jam a few years later.

Cornell has joined Pearl Jam on several occasions onstage to perform this song.

Scorpions - Wind Of Change

Scorpions - Wind Of Change Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: Crazy World
Released: 1990

Wind Of Change Lyrics

I follow the Moskva
Down to Gorky Park
Listening to the Wind Of Change
An August summer night
Soldiers passing by
Listening to the wind of change

The world is closing in
Did you ever think
That we could be so close, like brothers
The future's in the air
I can feel it everywhere
Blowing with the wind of change

Take me to the magic of the moment
On a glory night
Where the children of tomorrow dream away (dream away)
In the wind of change

Walking down the street
Distant memories
Are buried in the past forever
I follow the Moskva
Down to Gorky Park
Listening to the wind of change

Take me to the magic of the moment
On a glory night
Where the children of tomorrow share their dreams (share their dreams)
With you and me
Take me to the magic of the moment
On a glory night (the glory night)
Where the children of tomorrow dream away (dream away)
In the wind of change (the wind of change)

The wind of change
Blows straight into the face of time
Like a stormwind that will ring the freedom bell
For peace of mind
Let your balalaika sing
What my guitar wants to say

Take me to the magic of the moment
On a glory night
Where the children of tomorrow share their dreams (share their dreams)
With you and me (with you and me)
Take me to the magic of the moment
On a glory night
Where the children of tomorrow dream away (dream away)
In the wind of change (in the wind of change)

Writer/s: KLAUS MEINE
Publisher: BMG RIGHTS MANAGEMENT US, LLC
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Wind Of Change

The band wrote this during a visit to Moscow in 1989. The previous year, they became the first hard-rock band to play in Russia, and they returned to play the Moscow Music Peace Festival. At this show, they were inspired by the sight of thousands of Russians cheering them on even though they were a German band. In our interview with Scorpions guitarist Rudolf Schenker, he called this song, "a kind of message soundtrack to the world's most peaceful revolution on earth."

Lead singer Klaus Meine told NME: "Everyone was there: the Red Army, journalists, musicians from Germany, from America, from Russia-the whole world on one boat. It was like a vision; everyone was talking the same language. It was a very positive vibe. That night was the basic inspiration for Wind Of Change."

In 1990, this became the unofficial anthem for the German Reunification, an event that politically lasted from the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 to the official reunification on October 3, 1990. (thanks, Martin - Rostock, Germany)

Sinéad O'Connor - Nothing Compares 2 U

Sinéad O'Connor - Nothing Compares 2 U Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got
Released: 1990

Nothing Compares 2 U Lyrics

It's been seven hours and fifteen days
Since you took your love away
I go out every night and sleep all day
Since you took your love away
Since you been gone I can do whatever I want
I can see whomever I choose
I can eat my dinner in a fancy restaurant
But nothing
I said nothing can take away these blues
'Cause nothing compares
Nothing compares to you

It's been so lonely without you here
Like a bird without a song
Nothing can stop these lonely tears from falling
Tell me baby where did I go wrong
I could put my arms around every boy I see
But they'd only remind me of you
I went to the doctor guess what he told me
Guess what he told me
He said girl you better try to have fun no matter what you do
But he's a fool
'Cause nothing compares, nothing compares to you

All the flowers that you planted mama
In the back yard
All died when you went away
I know that living with you baby was sometimes hard
But I'm willing to give it another try
Nothing compares
Nothing compares to you
Nothing compares
Nothing compares to you
Nothing compares
Nothing compares to you

Writer/s: NELSON, PRINCE ROGERS
Publisher: Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Nothing Compares 2 U Song Chart

Prince wrote this song. He did a live version with Rosie Gaines on his album Hits.

Prince originally wrote this for The Family, a band that was signed to his Paisley Park record label. The song was inspired by a member who had just broken up with his girlfriend. The Family was made up of former members of The Time, and they released only one album.

This was a #1 hit in 17 countries. In the US, it was the #1 song of 1990, topping the charts for 4 weeks.

O'Connor released her first album three years earlier. It got a lot of play on college radio, earning her a small, but devoted fan base. This song thrust her into the spotlight, and the attention had some deleterious effects on the singer. O'Connor claimed she hated the fame the song brought her, and struggled with the commercialization of her music. "Nothing Compares 2 U" earned her a Grammy for Best Alternative Performance, but she refused to appear on the awards show in protest.

The director shot a lot of footage around Paris for the video, but ended up using just a simple tight shot of O'Connor singing. It was the first time most people saw what she looked like and were surprised that she was bald. She shaved her head when she first started recording because she wanted to make a statement and not be known for her beauty.

When Sinéad cried In the video, it was a real tear. In the Rolling Stone Top 500 songs issue, she said, "I didn't intend for that moment to happen, but when it did, I thought, 'I should let this happen.'"

She told The Daily Telegraph in 2014 that the tear was triggered because she associated the song's lyrics of love and loss with her mother, who was killed in a car accident in 1985.

Chris Hill, the co-director of O'Connor's label Ensign, recalled to Mojo magazine January 2009 the first time he heard this song: "Fachtna O'Kelly, Sinéad's manager, brought in a cassette and when I heard it I actually started crying. I just sat there with tears in my eyes."
Then O'Kelly rang up Sinead OConnor and went, 'Chris is crying.' 'Was it that bad?' Sinéad asked.

This was O'Connor's last big hit. She turned off a lot of people with her political statements, which included refusing to let the National Anthem be played before a concert in New Jersey and tearing up a picture of the Pope on Saturday Night Live.

In 1998, MTV named this #34 on their list of the greatest videos ever made.

Although this was a mainstream hit, O'Connor was considered an "Alternative" artist at the time. The album won the 1990 Grammy for Best Alternative Music Performance. She boycotted the awards show to protest materialism in the music industry.

The "2 U" in the title is a Prince thing. He has songs called "I would die 4 U" and "If I Love U 2 Nite."

This was produced by Beresford Romeo (Jazzie B.) and Nellee Hooper, two members of the group Soul II Soul.

It was Sinéad O'Connor's manager, Fachtna O'Kelly, who came up with the idea for the Irish singer to cover the Prince song.

The video for Miley Cyrus' "Wrecking Ball" also contained some very tight shots of the singer's face, and also a tear, which Cyrus claimed was shed for her recently departed dog. Speaking with Rolling Stone, Cyrus said, "It's like the Sinead O'Connor video, but, like, the most modern version."

This quote, which didn't even make the magazine (it was posted on the web), set in motion a feud between the singers, with O'Connor publishing what she called an "open letter" on her website, warning Cyrus about the dangers of her career path. Cyrus responded with a Tweet that simply said "Before Amanda Bynes.... There was....", a reference to O'Connor's past mental health issues.

The confrontation illuminated some of the strange parallels between the singers:

- Both shaved their heads. Sinéad did it so she couldn't be marketed for her looks; Miley so she could establish her style and blend in.

- Cyrus was a favorite on Saturday Night Live, and hosted the show the week after the feud. O'Connor was banned from the show after her first appearance.

- Their tearful songs were their first #1 hits, but both were written by others. O'Connor's song was written by Prince, Cyrus' by a team of five professional writer/producers.

Aretha Franklin covered this for her 2014 album, Aretha Franklin Sings the Great Diva Classics. Her version was produced by Andre 3000, who gives it a classic jazz feel. Aretha's longtime collaborator, Clive Davis, has known the Outkast rapper since he was 17, and that friendship led to his involvement. "He said his dream is to produce a cut or two for the great Aretha Franklin," said Davis.

Sinéad O'Connor announced in March 2015 that she will not be performing this song anymore. The Irish songstress explained: "The first principle of the manner in which I'm trained as a singer (Bel Canto) is we never sing a song we don't emotionally identify with. After twenty-five years of singing it, nine months or so ago I finally ran out of anything I could use in order to bring some emotion to it."

"I don't want audiences to be disappointed coming along to a show and then not hearing it, so am letting you know here that you won't. If I were to sing it just to please people, I wouldn't be doing my job right, because my job is to be emotionally available. I'd be lying. You'd be getting a lie."

The Clash - The Guns Of Brixton

The Clash - The Guns Of Brixton Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: London Calling
Released: 1979

The Guns Of Brixton Lyrics

When they kick at your front door
How you gonna come?
With your hands on your head
Or on the trigger of your gun

When the law break in
How you gonna go?
Shot down on the pavement
Or waiting on death row

You can crush us
You can bruise us
But you'll have to answer to
Oh, The Guns Of Brixton

The money feels good
And your life you like it well
But surely your time will come
As in heaven, as in hell

You see, he feels like Ivan
Born under the Brixton sun
His game is called survivin'
At the end of the harder they come

You know it means no mercy
They caught him with a gun
No need for the Black Maria
Goodbye to the Brixton sun

You can crush us
You can bruise us
Yes, even shoot us
But oh-the guns of Brixton

When they kick at your front door
How you gonna come?
With your hands on your head
Or on the trigger of your gun

You can crush us
You can bruise us
Yes, even shoot us
But oh-the guns of Brixton

Shot down on the pavement
Waiting in death row
His game is called survivin'
As in heaven as in hell

You can crush us
You can bruise us
But you'll have to answer to
Oh, the guns of Brixton

Writer/s: SIMONON, PAUL
Publisher: Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

The Guns Of Brixton

This song was written by bass player Paul Simonon, but only because he was envious of the royalties main songwriters Joe Strummer and Mick Jones were getting. He decided to get in on the songwriting himself, and this became one of the Clash's best known songs and a staple of their live set until their demise in the mid-'80s. Simonon takes lead vocal duties on the song, which is about gangsters in his home town Brixton, which is in South London.

Interestingly, he was reticent about singing lead vocals initially, but Strummer noted that "they're your lyrics, you sing them" and the rest of the band agreed. Simonon notes: "The vocal mike was right up against the glass panel of the control room and sitting two feet behind the glass was some American CBS bloke. That's probably why the vocals came out the way they did."

Brixton was the site of race riots in 1981 and again in 1985. This song captures the alienation many citizens of Brixton felt leading up to the riots.

The central plot has Ivan, the anti-hero character from the popular film The Harder They Come (the soundtrack of which contained many of The Clash's favorite Reggae songs, including the title track) in urban South London ("You see, he feels like Ivan, born under the Brixton sun, his game is called survivin', at the end of the harder they come") and on the wrong side of the law ("When the law break in, how you gonna go? Shot down on the pavement, or waiting on death row").

In 1990 the bassline to "The Guns of Brixton" was sampled in the Beats International (AKA Norman Cook, AKA Fatboy Slim) hit single "Dub Be Good To Me," and became a UK hit single, meaning Simonon received a credit of the royalties for his bassline. Interviewed by Scott Rowley on October 1999 for Bassist magazine, Simonon said that he "was surprised that it became number one, that was quite shocking. And the fact that it was my performance that they had lifted. The smart thing would've been to copy it and change it slightly, but they just lifted it straight off. So, really, I have done Top of the Pops! I met up with Norman [Cook] and we came to an arrangement which was much needed at the time. But I thought it was a really good idea and it was quite reassuring for that to happen to my first song."

This song was not released as a single when the London Calling album first came out, however in 1990 with the re-release of London Calling on CD, a remixed version entitled "Return to Brixton," which included the original "Guns of Brixton" mix on the B-side, was released and reached #57 on the UK charts in July 1990. Interestingly, a typo on the sleeve notes of the CD release meant Paul Simonon's name was misspelled as Paul Simon; although a very successful recording artist in his own right, the actual Paul Simon (half of Simon and Garfunkel) had nothing to do with the writing of "The Guns of Brixton"!

The song was always a popular live fixture, and Simonon's moment of glory onstage as he took lead vocals. He would swap instruments with Joe Strummer, who would play bass whilst Simonon played some rhythm guitar and sang (or usually bellowed) his vocals with great gusto. An example of this is the live version of the song which appears on the From Here To Eternity live compilation CD, taken from one of their many New York shows in June 1981. The song was first played live by the band at a September 1979 show in Chicago and at almost every show after that.

Five Man Electrical Band - Signs

Five Man Electrical Band - Signs Youtube Music Videos and Lyrics

Album: Good-byes And Butterflies
Released: 1970

Signs Lyrics

Signs
The 5 Man Electrical Band
lyrics as recorded by The Five Man Electrical Band in 1971 and included on
the 1990 compilation album "Made In Canada - Volume Three 1965-1974"
(BMG KCD1-7158)

And the sign said "Long-haired freaky people need not apply"
So I tucked my hair up under my hat and I went in to ask him why
He said "You look like a fine upstanding young man, I think you'll do"
So I took off my hat, I said "Imagine that. Huh! Me workin' for you!"
Whoa-oh-oh

Sign, sign, everywhere a sign
Blockin' out the scenery, breakin' my mind
Do this, don't do that, can't you read the sign?

And the sign said anybody caught trespassin' would be shot on sight
So I jumped on the fence and-a yelled at the house, "Hey! What gives you
the
right?"
"To put up a fence to keep me out or to keep mother nature in"
"If God was here he'd tell you to your face, Man, you're some kinda sinner"

Sign, sign, everywhere a sign
Blockin' out the scenery, breakin' my mind
Do this, don't do that, can't you read the sign?

Now, hey you, mister, can't you read?
You've got to have a shirt and tie to get a seat
You can't even watch, no you can't eat
You ain't supposed to be here
The sign said you got to have a membership card to get inside
Ugh!

------ lead guitar ------

And the sign said, "Everybody welcome. Come in, kneel down and pray"
But when they passed around the plate at the end of it all, I didn't have a
penny to pay
So I got me a pen and a paper and I made up my own little sign
I said, "Thank you, Lord, for thinkin' 'bout me. I'm alive and doin' fine."
Wooo!

Sign, sign, everywhere a sign
Blockin' out the scenery, breakin' my mind
Do this, don't do that, can't you read the sign?

Sign, sign, everywhere a sign
Sign
Sign, sign

Writer/s: EMMERSON, LES
Publisher: Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Signs Song Chart

Written by Five Man Electrical Band lead singer Les Emmerson, this song is a prescient look at class divisions and property rights. Emmerson wrote the song after taking a road trip on Route 66 in California, where he noticed a plethora of billboards that obscured the beautiful scenery. This posed a question: Who is allowed to put up signs that interfere with nature? This led to another query: Who gets to make the rules that appear on so many signs?

The song gave voice to those without power or property rights, which in many cases were young people.

Five Man Electrical Band are a Canadian group, Formed in the '60s as The Staccatos. "Signs" was included on their second album in 1970, but not considered single-worthy by their record label, as it didn't fit a standard pop format.

In 1970, it was issued as the B-side to the single "Hello Melinda Goodbye," which made #55 on the Canadian chart. Disk jockeys preferred the flip side, however, and started playing "Signs," which was then released as an A-side in 1971. It made #4 in Canada but took off in America, reaching #3 in August. The follow-up, "Absolutely Right," also did well in America, reaching #26.

This song starts with a line that became one of the most memorable in rock: "And the sign said, 'Long-haired freaky people need not apply.'"

By starting with the word "And," we feel that we are picking up a story, and it's clear that the singer has put a lot of thought into this. The first verse is a classic tale of how looks can be deceiving, as the difference between an "upstanding man" and a hippie can be something as superficial as hair.

The next verse finds the singer looking at a "no trespassing" sign and questioning its authority. This resonates with anyone who has seen beautiful beaches, vistas, and other points of nature marked as private property, often with nobody there to enjoy it.

We then enter a private club with a strict dress code, and we hear the line most willful wanderers have been confronted with: "You ain't supposed to be here."

Finally, we end up in church, which brings God into our story. If ever there is something that is open to all, it it God, but even in church, a donation is called for. At this point, our hero turns the tables and makes his own sign, thanking God for the wonder of life.

Tesla revived this song in 1990 when they recorded a live, acoustic version for their album Five Man Acoustical Jam, which was recorded at the Trocadero Theatre in Philadelphia on July 2, 1990.

The band was on tour with Mötley Crüe, opening for the rockers on the Dr. Feelgood tour. July 2 was an off-day, so Tesla booked the acoustic show and had each band member pick a cover song to perform. Lead singer Jeff Keith picked "Signs," a song he grew up listening to in Oklahoma. His bandmates, however, didn't know the song, so Jeff had to round up a copy so they could learn it.

The song was the highlight of the performance, and the set was so well-received that it was released as an album, which they titled Five Man Acoustical Jam as an allusion to the original artist. Released as a single ahead of the album, the song made #2 on the Mainstream Rock chart, but didn't crack the Hot 100. When the album started selling and MTV began the video, the song was re-released, making #8 on the Hot 100 in April 1991.

Tesla's version was one of the first acoustic hit songs of the '90s and helped launch the "Unplugged" trend. MTV ramped up their series of Unplugged concerts shortly after Tesla's cover became a hit.

The line, "If God was here he'd tell you to your face, Man, you're some kinda sinner" has a double-meaning, as "Man" could be just a throwaway expression, but could also be about man as a species.

In Tesla's unedited version they replace the phrase "Blockin' out the scenery, breakin' my mind" with "F--kin' up the scenery, breakin' my mind."

Queensrÿche - Silent Lucidity

Queensrÿche - Silent Lucidity Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: Empire
Released: 1990

Silent Lucidity Lyrics

Hush now don't cry
Wipe away the teardrop from your eye
You're lying safe in bed
It was all a bad dream
Spinning in your head
Your mind tricked you to feel the pain
Of someone close to you leaving the game of life
So here it is, another chance
Wide awake you face the day
Your dream is over
Or has it just begun?

There's a place I like to hide
A doorway that I run to in the night
Relax child, you were there
But only didn't realize it and you were scared
It's a place where you will learn
To face your fears, retrace the years
And ride the whims of your mind
Commanding in another world
Suddenly, you hear and see
This magic new dimension

I will be watching over you
I am gonna help you see it through
I will protect you in the night
I am smiling next to you, in Silent Lucidity

Visualize your dream
Record it in the present tense
Put it into a permanent form
If you persist in your efforts
You can achieve dream control
Dream control
How's that then, better?
Dream control
Dream control (hug me)
Dream control
Hug me

If you open your mind for me
You won't rely on open eyes to see
The walls you built within
Come tumbling down, and a new world will begin
Living twice at once you learn
You're safe from pain in the dream domain
A soul set free to fly
A round trip journey in your head
Master of illusion, can you realize
Your dream's alive, you can be the guide but

I will be watching over you
I am gonna help you see it through
I will protect you in the night
I am smiling next to you

Writer/s: CHRISTOPHER DEGARMO
Publisher: Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Silent Lucidity

Written by Queensrÿche guitarist Chris DeGarmo (who left the band in 1998), this is a song that deals with a person having a lucid dream. A lucid dream happens when you are aware that you are dreaming, and can control parts of it. DeGarmo got the idea from a book called Creative Dreaming , which explains how to tap into your subconscious mind and make like Leonardo DiCaprio in Inception. DeGarmo told Metal Edge in 1990: "Dreams tend to recur. Very often you have the same images, and it's being used in therapy, to confront the image in your dream. In a lifetime the average person spends about 4 ½ years in a vivid hallucination of the subconscious. You're doing things like flying, walking through walls - it's so intense. People can experience incredible physical sensations during dreaming."

In our interview with Queensrÿche's lead singer Geoff Tate, he said: "I love that song. I think it's a beautiful, beautiful piece. And although I didn't write it, I had a lot to do with shaping the destiny of that track through my melodic contributions and the way I sang it, and also in the mixing of the song and that kind of thing.

It had a strange beginning. It started out as simply just acoustic guitar and voice. And it wasn't until we were almost finished with the record, just in the last week of working on the record, that we added all the other instrumentation to it.

In fact, our producer (Peter Collins) didn't really want to put it on the record because he didn't think it was that well-developed as an idea. He was actually putting his foot down at one point saying, "No, I think you should come up with another song. You only have so many songs for the record, I don't think you should put that on the record." I think it's a good idea that he said that because it inspired Chris DeGarmo and I to really buckle down and finish the song and actually make it into what it is."

A piece of classical music is incorporated into this song: Brahm's "Lullaby" can be heard starting at 5:26, played by a cello.

Queensrÿche has had a long and illustrious career, but this is their only song to crack the Hot 100 in America. They fared better on the UK charts, where they placed six songs in the Top-40.

Lindisfarne - Fog on the Tyne

Lindisfarne - Fog on the Tyne Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: Fog on the Tyne
Released: 1971

Fog on the Tyne Lyrics

Fog on the Tyne

This bittersweet celebration of life on the dole in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne was written by Alan Hull, the lead singer of Tyneside folk rockers Lindisfarne. He originally performed it during his solo folk club shows.

When Lindisfarne learned they would be working on their second album with Bob Dylan producer Bob Johnston, they were delighted. However this rousing number was originally not intended for the record. During recording, that band played a date at the Royal Festival Hall, at which they performed "Fog." "It went down a storm at the Festival Hall," drummer Ray Laidlaw recalled to Uncut magazine, "and when we came back, Bob said, 'How come you haven't played me that?' We said, 'We don't think much of it...' It wouldn't have been on the album if it hadn't been for him."

The song not only became the title track of Lindisfarne's breakthrough album in England, it also became the band's signature tune.

A heavily reworked version of the song with vocals by Geordie footballer Paul Gascoigne was recorded in 1990 under the title "Fog on the Tyne (Revisited)." Released in the wake of Gazza's renown after the 1990 World Cup, it peaked at #2 in the UK singles charts.

The Black Crowes - Hard To Handle

The Black Crowes - Hard To Handle Youtube Music Videos and Lyrics

Album: Shake Your Money Maker
Released: 1990

Hard To Handle Lyrics

Baby here I am
I'm the man on the scene
I can give you what you want
But you gotta' come home with me

I have got some good old lovin'
And I got some more in store
When I get through throwin' it on
You
You gotta' come back for more

[Chorus]
Boys and things that come by the
Dozen
That ain't nothin' but drugstore
Lovin'
Pretty little thing let me light your
Candle
'Cause mama I'm so Hard To Handle now
Yes I am

Action speaks louder than words
And I'm a man of great experience
I know you've got another man
But I can love you better than him

Take my hand don't be afraid
I'm gonna prove every word I say
I'm advertising love for free
So you can place your ad with me

Boys come along a dime by the dozen
That ain't nothing but ten cent
Lovin'
Pretty little thing let me light your
Candle
'Cause mama I'm so hard to handle now
Yes I am

Baby here I am
I'm the man on the scene
I can give you what you want
But you gotta' come home with me

[Chorus]

Writer/s: REDDING, OTIS / ISBELL, ALVERTIS / JONES, ALLEN ALVOID JR.
Publisher: Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Hard To Handle Song Chart

This song was originally recorded by Otis Redding, who wrote it with Allen Jones and Al Bell. It was the only cover song on The Black Crowes debut album, which sold over five million copies.

Running a compact 3:08, The Black Crows turned the song into a rocker, using guitars instead of horns and extending the song from Redding's 2:18 original.

This was The Black Crowes' third single, following "Twice As Hard" and "Jealous Again." It made #45 in the US in December, 1990, as the group was rapidly gaining momentum. After "She Talks To Angels" hit #30 in May 1991 - over a year after the album was released - "Hard To Handle" was reissued, this time going to #26 and becoming the highest-charting single for the band on the Hot 100. The group had been together for five years before signing a record deal with Def American, which prepared them well for the onslaught of success. Their live act had already been honed, and many who saw them remained lifetime fans as they became more of a jam band.

EMF - Unbelievable

EMF - Unbelievable Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: Schubert Dip
Released: 1990

Unbelievable Lyrics

You burden me with your questions
You'd have me tell no lies
You're always asking what it's all about
Now listen to my replies
You say to me I don't talk enough
But when I do I'm a fool
These times I've spent, I've realized
I'm going to shoot through
And leave you

The things, you say
Your purple prose just gives you away
The things, you say
You're Unbelievable
You burden me with your problems
By telling me more than mine
I'm always so concerned
With the way you say,
You've always go to stop
To think of us being one
Is more than I ever know
But this time, I realize
I'm going to shoot through
And leave you

Seemingly lastless, don't mean
You can ask us
Pushing down the relative
Bringing out your higher self
Think of the fine times, pushing
Down the better few, instead of
Bringing out the clues, to what the
World and everything anger to, brace
Yourself with the grace of ease,
I know this world ain't what it seems.
What the fuck was that,
It's unbelievable

Writer/s: WALLACE, CHRISTOPHER/MARTIN, CHRISTOPHER E/KELLY, ROBERT S
Publisher: Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Unbelievable Song Chart

This song is about a girl who is "unbelievable" in the sense that she is very demanding and offers nothing in return - the singer feels he can do nothing right when he's around her.

This used a sample of raunchy comedian Andrew "Dice" Clay saying "Oh," followed on the album version by "What the f--k was that!"

EMF was led by their guitarist Ian Dench, who is also their primary songwriter, although the entire band was credited on this track. Dench was in a band called Apple Mosaic, who had a contract with Virgin Records but little impact. He formed EMF with some spirited young musicians from around England, and their first album, Schubert Dip, placed four songs in the UK Top 40, with "Unbelievable" peaking at #3 in November, 1990. Six months later, the song broke out in America, where its quirky charm was embraced by Pop radio and dance clubs looking for a new sound. Their US success was short lived, as they did little promotion in the country (their mainman Dench didn't even join them for their tour of the States in the summer of 1991), and after the #18 charting song "Lies," they weren't heard from Stateside again. The band members who did come to America apparently had a pretty good time; their keyboard player Derry Brownson and bass player Zac Foley were just 20 years old, and their hedonism on tour was a common topic in interviews. The band's follow-up album Stigma was a more somber affair, but did produce two more UK Top 40 hits. The band charted nine times in the UK Top 40 by 1995.

On their only American tour, EMF played this multiple times at every show. It was the only song most of the audience had heard of.

Tom Jones played this at some of his live shows, to the delight of the band. Jones performed the song with EMF on a British TV show where he told them about how he sang it in Vegas. According to the band, Jones got them really drunk that night.

This was used on the soundtrack to the movie Coyote Ugly.

The CD single for this contains a song with no title, it only says "EMF live at the Bilson," and contained the lyric: "Ectasy Motherf--ker From us to you." This adds fuel to the rumor their name means Ecstasy Mother F--ker. (thanks, chet - saratoga springs, NY)

Janet Jackson - Escapade

Janet Jackson - Escapade Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: Rhythm Nation 1814
Released: 1990

Escapade Lyrics

As I was walkin' by
Saw you standin' there with a smile
Lookin' shy, you caught my eye
Thought you'd want to hang for a while
Well I'd like to be with you
And you know it's Friday too
I hope you can find the time
This weekend to relax and unwind

My mind's tired
I've worked so hard all week
Cashed my check
I'm ready to go
I promise you
I'll show you such a good time

Come on baby, let's get away
Let's save our troubles for another day
Come go with me, we've got it made
Let me take you on an Escapade (let's go)

Escapade
We'll have a good time
Escapade
Leave your worries behind
Escapade
Well you could be mine
Escapade
An escapade

So don't hold back
Just have a good time, yeah yeah
We'll make the rules up as we go along
And break them all if we're not havin' fun

Come on baby let's get away
Let's save our troubles for another day
Come go with me we've got it made
Let me take you on an escapade

Come on baby let's get away
Let's save our troubles for another day
Come go with me we've got it made
Let me take you on an escapade (let's go)

Escapade
We'll have a good time
Escapade
Leave your worries behind
Escapade
Well you could be mine
Escapade
An escapade

(My mind's tired I've worked
Worked so hard all week
I just got paid, we've got it made
Ready to go
I promise you I'll show you
Such a good time)

Come on baby let's get away
Let's save our troubles for another day
Come go with me we've got it made
Let me take you on an escapade

Come on baby let's get away
Let's save our troubles for another day
Come go with me we've got it made
Let me take you on an escapade (let's go)

Come on baby let's get away
Let's save our troubles for another day
Come go with me we've got it made
Let me take you on an escapade

Writer/s: HARRIS, JAMES SAMUEL III/LEWIS, TERRY / JACKSON, JANET DAMITA JO
Publisher: Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, JANET JACKSON DBA BLACK ICE
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Escapade

Jackson was going to do a remake of the Martha Reeves and the Vandellas' 1965 hit "Nowhere to Run," but Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, who were her songwriters and producers, suggested they do an original song with a similar beat, which meant they would keep more of the songwriting royalties. Jam and Lewis pulled the word "Escapade" from a notebook they kept of song title ideas, and came up with the track while Jackson wrote the lyrics.

Former New Edition member Johnny Gill contributed finger snaps.

This album proved that Jackson's previous release, the breakthrough album Control, was not a fluke. Including this song, it brought her seven US Top-5 singles, an unheard of number of (Top-5) hits for one album.

Jackson embarked on her very first concert tour - "The Rhythm Nation World Tour 1990" - the same week this song hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Jimmy Jam remembered how the song came together: "While [Janet] was sitting in one room coming up with lyrics, I put it on the 24-track. We hooked the drum machine up. On my left hand I played the bass, on the right hand I played the chord. And it was just enough for her to sing to, which we do a lot. Because we like to let her sing to as minimum of a track as we can do, then fill in the track around her so that her part is the main part of the song. With 'Escapade,' she sang it and we kept saying we'll go back and redo the track... we never redid the track."

The Doors - L.A. Woman

The Doors - L.A. Woman Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: LA Woman
Released: 1971

L.A. Woman Lyrics

Well, I just got into town about an hour ago
Took a look around, see which way the wind blow
Where the little girls in their Hollywood bungalows

Are you a lucky little lady in the city of light
Or just another lost angel, city of night
City of night, city of night, city of night, woo, c'mon

L.A. Woman, L.A. woman
L.A. woman Sunday afternoon
L.A. woman Sunday afternoon
L.A. woman Sunday afternoon
Drive through your suburbs
Into your blues, into your blues, yeah
Into your blue-blue blues
Into your blues, ohh, yeah

I see your hair is burnin'
Hills are filled with fire
If they say I never loved you
You know they are a liar
Drivin' down your freeways
Midnight alleys roam
Cops in cars, the topless bars
Never saw a woman
So alone, so alone
So alone, so alone

Motel money murder madness
Let's change the mood from glad to sadness

Mister mojo risin', mister mojo risin'
Mister mojo risin', mister mojo risin'
Got to keep on risin'
Mister mojo risin', mister mojo risin'
Mojo risin', gotta mojo risin'
Mister mojo risin', gotta keep on risin'
Risin', risin'
Gone risin', risin'
I'm gone risin', risin'
I gotta risin', risin'
Well, risin', risin'
I gotta, wooo, yeah, risin'
Woah, ohh yeah

Well, I just got into town about an hour ago
Took a look around, see which way the wind blow
Where the little girls in their Hollywood bungalows

Are you a lucky little lady in the city of light
Or just another lost angel, city of night
City of night, city of night, city of night, woah, c'mon

L.A. woman, L.A. woman
L.A. woman, your my woman
Little L.A. woman, little L.A. woman
L.A. L.A. woman woman
L.A. woman c'mon

Writer/s: Smith, Wilson
Publisher: EMI Music Publishing
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

L.A. Woman Song Chart

"Mr. Mojo Risin'" is an anagram for "Jim Morrison." He repeats the phrase at the end of the song faster and faster to simulate orgasm. Early blues musicians often referred to their "Mojo," like in the Muddy Waters song "Got My Mojo Working."

A mojo is a Hoodoo charm, usually a bag filled with items like roots, lodestone, rattlesnake rattles, alligator teeth, charms, coins - whatever does the trick. Different bags would be used for different purposes: If the bag were red, it would be a mojo for love and you would have to put a personal item, such as hair or bit of clothing in order for the mojo to work. If the mojo were made out of a black bag it would be for death. Many white listeners, including Jim Morrison, thought mojo meant sexual energy, and that is how it's usually interpreted today, in part due to Austin Powers movies. (thanks, Kevin - Martinez, CA)

Keyboardist Ray Manzarek explained the song's meaning to Uncut magazine September 2011: "A song about driving madly down the LA freeway - either heading into LA or going out on the 405 up to San Francisco. You're a beatnik on the road, like Kerouac and Neal Cassady, barreling down the freeway as fast as you can go."

Morrison recorded his vocals in the studio bathroom to get a fuller sound. He spent a lot of time in there anyway because of all the beer he drank during the sessions.

The Doors performed this live only once, in Dallas at the State Fair Music Hall on December 11, 1970. The only live recording of this is on the bootleg If It Ain't One Thing, It's Another. The band wanted to bring more musicians along to simulate the studio sound, but Morrison died before they could launch the tour. (thanks, Tony - Westbury, NY)

This was the title track to the last Doors album before Jim Morrison died. The remaining members released two more albums, Other Voices and Full Circle, which both sold poorly. (thanks, Jim - Hopatcong, NJ)

The Doors needed extra musicians to record this. Jerry Sheff (famous for his work with Elvis Presley) was brought in to play bass, Marc Benno to play guitar. Sheff and Benno were going to tour with the band, but Morrison's death canceled those plans.

Morrison got the idea for the "City of Night" lyric from John Rechy's 1963 book of the same name. It describes a sordid world of sexual perversion, which Morrison translated to Los Angeles.

They put this together in the studio and recorded it live with no overdubs. It came together surprisingly well. Guitarist Robby Krieger has called it "the quintessential Doors song."

The first line, "Well, I did a little down about an hour ago," is a reference to a barbituate, specifically Rorer 714.

Billy Idol covered this on his 1990 album Charmed Life, his version hitting #52 in the US. Idol was in the 1991 Oliver Stone movie The Doors, but had to take a smaller role because of a 1990 motorcycle accident that limited his mobility.

At a press conference to promote the album, Idol explained that he had been playing "L.A. Woman" for years and was a big fan of the song. He would often use it to audition new band members.

The Doors produced this album with Bruce Botnick. Paul Rothchild, who produced their first 5 albums, did not want to work on this because he didn't like the songs. He produced an album for Janis Joplin instead.

In 2000, the surviving members of the Doors taped a VH1 Storytellers episode with guest vocalists filling in for Morrison. Perry Farrell, formerly of Jane's Addiction, sang on this.

Doors drummer John Densmore said in the The Story of L.A. Woman documentary: "The metaphor for the city as a woman is brilliant: cops in cars, never saw a woman so alone - great stuff. It's metaphoric, the physicality of the town and thinking of her and how we need to take care of her, it's my hometown."

Guns N' Roses - Civil War

Guns N' Roses - Civil War Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: Use Your Illusion 2
Released: 1991

Civil War Lyrics

Look at your young men fighting
Look at your women crying
Look at your young men dying
The way they've always done before

Look at the hate we're breeding
Look at the fear we're feeding
Look at the lives we're leading
The way we've always done before

My hands are tied
The billions shift from side to side
And the wars go on with brainwashed pride
For the love of God and our human rights
And all these things are swept aside
By bloody hands time can't deny
And are washed away by your genocide
And history hides the lies of our Civil Wars

D'you wear a black armband
When they shot the man
Who said "peace could last forever"
And in my first memories
They shot Kennedy
I went numb when I learned to see
So I never fell for Vietnam
We got the wall of D.C. to remind us all
That you can't trust freedom
When it's not in your hands
When everybody's fightin'
For their promised land
And

I don't need your civil war
It feeds the rich while it buries the poor
Your power hungry sellin' soldiers
In a human grocery store
Ain't that fresh
I don't need your civil war
Ow, oh no, no, no, no, no

Look at the shoes you're filling
Look at the blood we're spilling
Look at the world we're killing
The way we've always done before
Look in the doubt we've wallowed
Look at the leaders we've followed
Look at the lies we've swallowed
And I don't want to hear no more

My hands are tied
For all I've seen has changed my mind
But still the wars go on as the years go by
With no love of God or human rights
'Cause all these dreams are swept aside
By bloody hands of the hypnotized
Who carry the cross of homicide
And history bears the scars of our civil wars

I don't need your civil war
It feeds the rich while it buries the poor
Your power hungry sellin' soldiers
In a human grocery store
Ain't that fresh
I don't need your civil war
No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no
I don't need your civil war
I don't need your civil war
Your power hungry sellin' soldiers
In a human grocery store
Ain't that fresh
I don't need your civil war
No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no uh-oh-uh, no uh-oh, uh no
I don't need one more war

I don't need one more war
No, no, no, no uh-oh-uh, no uh-oh, uh no
Whaz so civil 'bout war anyway?

Writer/s: AX,MAGNUS/KILMISTER,LEMMY/DEE,MIKKEY/CAMPBELL,PHIL /
Publisher: Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Civil War

This song is politically charged, and has an entire verse about President Kennedy's assassination. It also deals with the Vietnam War and the battle for civil rights in the US.

Slash (Saul Hudson), Duff (Michael McKagan) and W. Axl Rose wrote this for Use Your Illusion 2, which was released simultaneously with Use Your Illusion 1. The song originally appeared on the 1990 album Nobody's Child, a fundraising compilation for Romanian orphans.

On September 27, 1993, Duff explained where the song came from in an interview with the radio show Rockline: "Basically it was a riff that we would do at soundchecks. Axl came up with a couple of lines at the beginning. I went in a peace march, when I was a little kid, with my mom. I was like 4 years old. For Martin Luther King. And that's when: 'Did you wear the black arm band when they shot the man who said: 'Peace could last forever?' It's just true-life experiences, really.'"

The speech at the beginning of the song is from the movie Cool Hand Luke: "What we have here is a failure to communicate..."

Part of the American Civil War song "When Johnny Comes Marching Home" is used at the beginning and end of the song, where it's whistled by Axl Rose.

The line, "Did you wear a black armband when they shot the man who said, 'Peace could last forever'" could be referring to the black hand's assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand that triggered World War I. It could also refer to the assassination of John Lennon, who strongly opposed the Vietnam War. The black armbands a sign of mourning, so the whole line asks whether we mourned for John Lennon as many others did at that time.

This was the only song on the Use Your Illusion albums that featured Steven Adler on drums. The rest were done by Matt Sorum , who replaced Adler in the band.

Guns N' Roses performed this at Farm Aid IV on April 7, 1990.

Alannah Myles - Black Velvet

Alannah Myles - Black Velvet Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: Alannah Myles
Released: 1989

Black Velvet Lyrics

Mississippi in the middle of a dry spell
Jimmy Rodgers on the Victrola up high
Mama's dancin' with baby on her shoulder
The sun is settin' like molasses in the sky
The boy could sing, knew how to move ev'rything
Always wanting more, he'd leave you longing for
Black Velvet and that little boy smile
Black velvet with that slow southern style
A new religion that'll bring her to your knees
Black velvet if you please
Up in Memphis the music's like a heat wave
White Lightnin' bound to drive you wild
Mama's baby's in the heart of ev'ry school girl
Love Me Tender leaves 'em cryin' in the aisle
The way he moved, it was a sin, so sweet and true
Always wanting more, he'd leave you longing for
Black velvet and that little boy smile
Black velvet and that slow southern style
A new religion that'll bring her to your knees
Black velvet if you please
Ev'ry word of ev'ry song that he sang was for you
In a flash he was gone, it happened so soon
What could you do?
Black velvet and that little boy smile
Black velvet in that slow southern style
A new religion that'll bring her to your knees
Black velvet if you please
Black velvet and that little boy smile
Black velvet in that slow southern style
A new religion that'll bring her to your knees
Black velvet if you please
If you please
If you please
If you please

Writer/s: TYSON, DAVID / WARD, CHRISTOPHER N
Publisher: OLE MM
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Black Velvet

This song is about Elvis Presley. Here's some lyric analysis:

"Jimmy Rogers on the Victrola up high" - Jimmy Rogers, an early Blues singer, influencing Elvis (the baby) at an early age. The Victrola is the record player, played loudly.
"Mama's dancin' with baby on her shoulder" - Gladys Presley dancing with the infant Elvis.

"Black velvet and that little boy's smile" - You can buy a black velvet Elvis painting at any respectable yard sale. Early female fans were drawn to his "Little boy smile."

"Black velvet with that slow southern style" - Elvis delivered some of his songs with slow, undulating hips. Check out "Steamroller Blues" live.

"Up in Memphis the music's like a heatwave" - Sun Studios. The epicenter of early rock music and where Elvis recorded.
"White lightning, bound to drive you wild" - rock music and booze.

"Mama's baby's in the heart of every school girl" - A reference to the baby in the early part of the song, being loved by all the young girls.

"Love Me Tender leaves 'em cryin' in the aisle" - Love Me Tender was a huge hit for Elvis in 1956.

"The way he moved, it was a sin, so sweet and true" - Elvis' legendary hips swivel, the Pelvis.

"Every word of every song that he sang was for you. In a flash he was gone, it happened so soon, what could you do?" - Elvis died suddenly in 1977.

This was a Canadian production: the song was written by the Canadian musicians David Tyson and Christopher Ward, and Myles is from Toronto. Ward and Myles were a couple and also worked together - she sang on his 1981 solo album Time Stands Still. Teaming up with Tyson, Ward put together a demo tape for Myles which got her a deal with Atlantic Records.

Produced by Tyson and Ward, Alannah Myles was her first album, and it was a huge hit in Canada, becoming the top-selling debut album in Canadian history. "Black Velvet" was the first US single, and it was a massive hit, rising to #1 in March 1990, where it stayed for two weeks. The US follow-up single was another song written by Tyson and Ward, "Love Is." That song went to #36 and was her last chart entry in America. She did have several more hits in Canada.

Christopher Ward got the idea for this song when he was a VJ for the Canadian music channel MuchMusic. He was sent to Memphis to cover the 10th anniversary of Elvis' death (August 16, 1987), which exposed him to many fervent Elvis fans. Inspired by their passion for the rocker, he took notes while he was working on the special (which was called Mecca in Memphis), writing lyrics based on what Elvis meant to his fans and what it must have been like for him growing up in the South.

Myles won a Grammy award for Best Female Rock Performance for this song, along with several Juno Awards. Additionally, this won a Diamond award for sales in excess of 1,000,000 in Canada, the only time an artist has won this for her debut record. ASCAP awarded the song a 'Millionaire Award' in 2005 for over 4 million radio plays in the USA.

According to the song's writer Christopher Ward, a key line in this song is "A new religion that will bring you to your knees." He says he got the idea for that line after realizing that Elvis' affect on fans was similar to what churchgoers would feel after being exhorted by Fundamentalist preachers.

The country singer Robin Lee, also signed to Atlantic Records, recorded a popular cover of this song on her 1990 album, which was also called Black Velvet.

Another popular cover of the song was by Crystal Bowersox, who performed the song when she was a contestant on season 9 of American Idol, where she finished second. Released as a single, her version bubbled under at #124 on the Hot 100.

In a CBC Newsworld interview, Myles revealed that she was cheated by her record company, which kept her from cashing in on this song. Myles said she received her first-ever royalty check for the song on April 1, 2008.

She signed that record deal when she was young and naive; the singer ended up paying $7 million on expenditures for her first three albums, all deducted out of her take. Myles said that when she should have been dining out on the success of this song and her other recordings, instead she had been living in poverty, at times struggling to pay her rent.

Bruce Dickinson - Accident Of Birth

Bruce Dickinson - Accident Of Birth Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: Accident of Birth
Released: 1997

Accident Of Birth Lyrics

Journey back to the dark side, back into the womb
Back to where the spirits move like vapor from the tomb
The center of the cyclone, blowing out the sun
Break the shackles of your union to the light

I might've had a brother
As I was born, they dragged him under
To the other side of twilight
He's waiting for me now

Nativity was lost on me
I didn't ask, I couldn't see
What created me
What and where and how

Welcome home - it's been too long, we've missed you
Welcome home - we've opened up the gates
Welcome home - to your brothers and sisters
Welcome home - to an Accident Of Birth

Feel our bodies breathing as you try to stop believing
There's nothing you can do about your shadows
You can fight us, you are like us
And your body will betray you
Lay down and die like all the others

Where are the angels and their wings of freedom?
Jesus had his day off when they pulled you through...

Welcome home - it's been too long, we've missed you
Welcome home - we've opened up the gates
Welcome home - to your brothers and sisters
Welcome home - to an accident of birth
(to an accident of birth)

Vision's growing dim as the daylight fades away
I'm spinning, twisting, black
Well, it's your dying day

Welcome home - it's been too long, we've missed you
Welcome home - we've opened up the gates
Welcome home - to your brothers and sisters
Welcome home - to an accident of birth

Welcome home - it's been too long, we've missed you
Welcome home - we've opened up the gates
Welcome home - to your brothers and sisters
Welcome home - to an accident of birth

Writer/s: DICKINSON, BRUCE/RAMIREZ, ROGER
Publisher: Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Accident Of Birth

This was Bruce Dickinson's fourth solo album, the previous three being Tattooed Millionaire (1990), Balls to Picasso (1994) and Skunkworks (1996). Dickinson was the lead singer of the British metal band Iron Maiden from 1981-1993. He replaced Paul Di'Anno , who had a distinctive raspy singing style. Dickinson, on the other hand, had loud, distinct, and powerful vocals which earned him the nickname "the air-raid siren" (his interest in flight helped this). After six critically acclaimed albums, he adapted a similar singing style for the less popular albums No Prayer For the Dying and Fear of the Dark. When he left the band to pursue his interests, he was replaced by Blaze Bayley, who recorded two albums (both with X in the title) until Bruce returned in 1999.

Dickinson: "'Accident of Birth' is about a family from Hell. Except they're in hell and one of them has accidentally been born, and they want him back and he doesn't want to go. For all the same reasons that you wouldn't want to go back to your family if they're a pain in the ass, he doesn't want to go back to his family. Ok, so they're in Hell, that makes a little difference too."

The songs Dickinson wrote for the album had a general "alchemy" theme (alchemy is the psuedo-science in which the practicers of alchemia attempted to make gold from other metals) "and specifically the poetry of William Blake, which is very much based on the philosophy of alchemy." Dickinson also said: "Each song has a sort of frame in which it operates. The first song is about fear, the second song is about tragedy, the third song is about union. You could pick a theme or a topic for each song so that's what the song is about and then you put it in a frame. For example, one of the songs is about failure and the song is called "The Trumpets of Jericho." In the story of the trumpets of Jericho in the Bible, the walls fall down when the tribes of Israel walk around the city and blow they trumpets. Except in this song they don't, it doesn't work. You're done everything right, everything's cool but the wall's still standing. And what do you do? How do you face up to that fact? And it's all part of the whole alchemy thing. What were the alchemists trying to do? They were trying to achieve something that was virtually impossible, they spent their whole lives trying to do it, and all of them failed, or pretty damn near all of them failed. So, what does that feel like, and how does that work, and why keep carrying on. So that's the way the songs kind of work. And you don't have to go into them in all this detail, you could just sit back there and let it hit you over the head like a sledgehammer cause the album works it's just a really heavy album. But it's all there if you want to dig through the words."

Dickinson resumed his previous, more popular air-raid siren vocals for his solo albums, much to the delight of critics and fans.

The cover art was designed by Derek Riggs, who designed all the early Iron Maiden cover art and created most of the different incarnations of the band's mascot, Eddie. He also designed the art for the single of this song. They both depicted an insane, club-wielding jester jack-in-the-box draped with the Union Jack. Derek named him "Edison" after Thomas Edison.

Most of the songs on the album featured Roy Z on guitar. His real name is Roy Romeriz but, in his words, "back in the '80s it wasn't really all that cool to have an ethnic last name, so I flipped it around and it became 'Zerimar.' Eventually, people just started abbreviating it for convenience sake's and called me 'Z,' and it stuck." However, the song "Ghost of Cain" (which was featured on the single) had Adrian Smith on guitar. Smith was the guitarist for Iron Maiden from 1980-1990 until leaving for his solo project, ASAP (Adrian Smith And Project). "Ghost of the Navigator" was the name of a song on Brave New World, the first Maiden album released after Dickinson rejoined the band.

Bruce Dickinson, about the album: "The truth is never clear... until it clobbers you over the head. That's what happened when I decided to make the ultimate metal record. My favorite stuff, legends, sci-fi, fairy stories, dark deeds of the occult, set to slamming riffs, soaring vocals and great tunes."

One line is "Jesus had his day off when they pulled you through." The album was rife with anti-Christ lyrics (for instance, "Man of Sorrows" is about Satanist Aleisteir Crowley, "Road to Hell" implies that Jesus was a sinner [and makes reference to a "brave new world," the name of the first Maiden album after Dickinson's return in 1999], and "The Magician" contains the line "I'll put Jesus in his place"). Rod Smallwood, manager of Iron Maiden, never let him use such controversial content under his management. (thanks, Brett - Edmonton, Canada, for all above)