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#95836 02/17/03 01:00 AM
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 4,189
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 4,189
Why Can't We Be Friends

War

Why can't we be friends?
Why can't we be friends?
Why can't we be friends?
Why can't we be friends?

I seen you 'round for a long long time
I really 'membered you when you drink my wine

Why can't we be friends?
Why can't we be friends?
Why can't we be friends?
Why can't we be friends?

I seen you walkin' down in Chinatown
I called you but you could not look around

Why can't we be friends?
Why can't we be friends?
Why can't we be friends?
Why can't we be friends?

I bring my money to the welfare line
I see you standing in it every time

Why can't we be friends?
Why can't we be friends?
Why can't we be friends?
Why can't we be friends?

The color of your skin don't matter to me
As long as we can live in harmony

Why can't we be friends?
Why can't we be friends?
Why can't we be friends?
Why can't we be friends?

I'd kinda like to be the President
so I can show you how your money's spent

Why can't we be friends?
Why can't we be friends?
Why can't we be friends?
Why can't we be friends?

Sometimes I don't speak too bright
but yet I know what I'm talking about

Why can't we be friends?
Why can't we be friends?
Why can't we be friends?
Why can't we be friends?

I know you're working for the CIA
they wouldn't have you in the Mafia

Why can't we be friends?
Why can't we be friends?
Why can't we be friends?
Why can't we be friends?

Why can't we be friends?
Why can't we be friends?
Why can't we be friends?
Why can't we be friends?

Why can't we be friends?
Why can't we be friends?
Why can't we be friends?
Why can't we be friends?

Why can't we be friends?
Why can't we be friends?
Why can't we be friends?
Why can't we be friends?

Why can't we be friends?
Why can't we be friends?
Why can't we be friends?


© 1975 by Eric Burdon



#95837 02/17/03 01:13 AM
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 4,189
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 4,189
YOU'VE GOT A FRIEND

Words & Music by Carole King
Also recorded by James Taylor


When you're down and troubled
and you need a helping hand
and nothing, whoa nothing is going right.
Close your eyes and think of me
and soon I will be there
to brighten up even your darkest nights.

You just call out my name,
and you know whereever I am
I'll come running,
oh yeah baby to see you again.
Winter, spring, summer, or fall,
all you have to do is call
and I'll be there, yeah, yeah, yeah.
You've got a friend.

If the sky above you
should turn dark and full of clouds
and that old north wind
should begin to blow
Keep your head together
and call my name out loud
and soon I will be knocking upon your door.
You just call out my name
and you know where ever I am
I'll come running to see you again.
Winter, spring, summer or fall
all you got to do is call
and I'll be there, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Hey, ain't it good to know
that you've got a friend?
People can be so cold.
They'll hurt you and desert you,
Take your soul if you let them.
Ah, but don't you let them.


You just call out my name
and you know wherever I am
I'll come running to see you again.
Oh babe, don't you know that,
Winter spring summer or fall,
Hey now, all you've got to do is call.
Lord, I'll be there, yes I will.
You've got a friend.
You've got a friend.
Ain't it good to know you've got a friend.
Ain't it good to know you've got a friend.
You've got a friend.

© by 1969 Carole King




#95838 02/17/03 01:55 PM
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 10,542
Likes: 1
W
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
W
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 10,542
Likes: 1
Maybe I'm naive, but I don't see in many of these songs who is the man and who the woman. There is the singer and the person being addressed...I suspect our assumption of the gender, and the role, of the one or the other depends in large measure on our own experiences.


#95839 02/17/03 03:32 PM
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 322
B
enthusiast
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enthusiast
B
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 322
People are people so why should it be
You and I should get along so awfully

So we're different colours
And we're different creeds
And different people have different needs
It's obvious you hate me
Though I've done nothing wrong
I never even met you
So what could I have done

I can't understand
What makes a man
Hate another man
Help me understand

People are people so why should it be
You and I should get along so awfully

Help me understand

Now you're punching and you're kicking
And you're shouting at me
I'm relying on your common decency
So far it hasn't surfaced
But I'm sure it exists
It just takes a while to travel
From your head to your fist

I can't understand
What makes a man
Hate another man

Help me understand

© 1984 Martin Lee Gore - Depeche Mode




#95840 02/17/03 03:57 PM
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 1,692
D
dxb Offline
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
D
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 1,692
TRY TO SEE IT MY WAY
How in the world do you deduce that the man thinks he is right?


I know its risky for me to get into this, but...

I also know the song was sung by the Beatles, but...

There is nothing in the actual words that tells you whether it is a man or woman speaking. Either could sing the song with equal validity.

I like the tune too.

Belated, cross threaded, Valentines Day fondness to you both.

xx


#95841 02/17/03 05:06 PM
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296
W
Carpal Tunnel
OP Offline
Carpal Tunnel
W
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296
And I agree, dxb. There's nothing in the isolated lyrics that indicates whether the speaker is male or female. But looked at either way--male or female speaker--there still is the admission that communication has broken down on both sides, that the speaker could be right or wrong, that the person to whom the lyric is addressed is caught in a single-sided viewpoint, and that "working it out" for the sake of the relationship is the point of the song.

I just disagreed with modestgoddess's point of view that the speaker believed he was 'right'--that is, if we can agree for sake of argument that the speaker is male. I think the lyrics show that the speaker doesn't know who is right, but that being right or not isn't the point. The point is they are in disagreement and they need to work to come back together to a point of peace.

The discussion here on AWAD about these lyrics is interesting to me. Different points of view about things we hold dear are often edifying.

Best regards,
WW


#95842 02/17/03 05:14 PM
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,819
A
Pooh-Bah
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A
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,819
etaoin I too thought of that Genesis song when I saw the title of the thread. I've always been a sucker for a song in 6/8 time.




#95843 02/17/03 05:15 PM
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Carpal Tunnel
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Posts: 13,803
from both sides now,
From boy and girl and still somehow
It's songs' illusions I recall.
I really don't know songs at all.


#95844 02/17/03 05:27 PM
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Carpal Tunnel
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Posts: 11,613
Valentines Day fondness to you both. !!! [chopped liver]
Nice improv, Faldage.


#95845 02/17/03 06:17 PM
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 4,189
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Posts: 4,189
Only Love Can Break Your Heart

Neil Young

When you were young and on your own
How did it feel to be alone?
I was always thinking of games that I was playing.
Trying to make the best of my time.
But only love can break your heart
Try to be sure right from the start
Yes only love can break your heart
What if your world should fall apart?

I have a friend I've never seen
He hides his head inside a dream
Someone should call him and see if he can come out.
Try to lose the down that he's found.

But only love can break your heart
Try to be sure right from the start
Yes only love can break your heart
What if your world should fall apart?

I have a friend I've never seen
He hides his head inside a dream
Yes, only love can break your heart
Yes, only love can break your heart


© 1972 by Neil Young






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