«Today’s Lyrics Are Pathetically Bad» Rick Beato

@8th-note , I recall my two older sisters listening to them (The Beatles and Dylan) when I was growing up. There was a pretty good age gap between them and me, and back then I didn’t have a real appreciation for music, however I did find a lot of what they listened to interesting, and I now credit their (my sisters) influence to be why I became a fan of Dylan as I grew older.

Speaking of offensive lyrics, I remember them playing a protest song quite loudly (my oldest sister’s bedroom had the "stereo" and it was down in the basement) and what I remember was "GIMME AN F!! [. . .] WHAT’S That SPELL!!" I remember that rather clearly. I think my oldest sister did that to piss my folks off. I also remember some interesting songs off of the Hair (was it a sound track?) album. The one I am thinking of at the moment was titled Sodomy. The line that got my attention back then was, ". . . masturbation can be fun . . .". I wouldn’t be surprised if the reason she played that was also to get on my folks ’nerves.

@immatthewj, I had older sisters too! I remember my father getting my ’big baby sister’ a small 45 rpm record player for her birthday I think, and believe or not, my Dad got a policeman he knew to cord off with wooden horses right in front of the house in the middle of the street so she could have a ’sock hop’ for her as that’s what she wanted! Amazing, you got that memory out of me! I couldn’t’ have been more than 5 years old. That 45 rpm record player was the one first in the neighborhood that any young person had got and he made a way for her to have a blast of a time! Wow! I think those positive thoughts made my blood pressure go down some! And yes it was that same sister that got me Yeah, yeah she loves you too a host of other Beatle records as the years went by.

In the sixties and seventies there was a measure of musical artists that went "...yes, but do they have anything to say?" This was certainly applied to Dylan and many of the song writers mentioned in this thread. And many of them did. History may well decide that that period was a cultural renaissance and that we were blessed with a lot of music that not only entertained but also spoke to the political times and the human experience on many levels. It seems much of the lyrical content today only seeks to entertain.

In 1970 Grateful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter wrote ‘Ripple’, ‘Brokedown Palace’, and ‘To Lay Me Down’ in a single day! As he himself said: "Oh would that those days would come again. Oh, they will-but not for me."

P.S. I like a lot of Country music too. Just the other day I listened to some George Jones...

Speaking of Jones, I'm of the mind of Quincy Jones who said a record (or album). 'It's like a photo or snapshot in time.'

@tyray

". . .Memories can be friends
they can take you to a place
That you never thought you’d be again
And take you to a place
That you never ever thought
That you would see again. . ."

Jim Croce/Recently