Lyrics & The Singer's Life
On a recent thread re: favorite cover versions, a response reminded me that Warren Zevon covered "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" when he knew he was dying of cancer. For me, it makes that performance much more moving. I also thought about a similar case of a lyric being more meaningful given the singer's personal situation: When Mark Everett ("E") of the Eels lost his entire family (mother, father, sister IIRC) over the course of a year, he released a depressing record "Electro-Shock Blues" - no surprise. But the first track from his next record is called "Grace Kelly Blue"s.
After describing a bunch of depressed characters, the song concludes:
"Me, I'm doing pretty good as of now, Not sure when I got here, or how"
I found it notably uplifting, given his circumstances. A nice "good to have you back" moment.
Even some of the angry ones like Lennon at Macca ("Now you're just another day") or Lindsey Buckingham at Stevie Nicks ("Think of me whenever you don't come") are enhanced by the personal context.
Any other songs resonate more for you in light of your understanding of the singer/writer's circumstances?
Marty