I’m featuring this song a second time, because it has special meaning for me today and the message — that beauty and grace can still be found even when everything has been lost — is profound and so important, especially to those of us who have often felt (and feel) so lost.
Original post:
The early 2000’s weren’t exactly the best time for popular music. Sirius, Youtube, and EDM (for the most part) were still in the future, and radio rock, though still ubiquitous, was well past its prime. The airwaves were full of interchangeable post-grunge, nu-metal, Britney Spears, and unmemorable R&B and rap. But there were a few gems that stood out all the more because they were so rare. One of those gems was 2000’s “Beautiful Day” by the supergroup U2–this was one of the last great rock songs.
From the Wikipedia entry for the song:
According to Bono, “Beautiful Day” is about “a man who has lost everything, but finds joy in what he still has.” Blender interpreted the song and the line “it’s a beautiful day” as “a vision of abandoning material things and finding grace in the world itself”
The heart is a bloom
Shoots up through the stony ground
There’s no room
No space to rent in this townYou’re out of luck
And the reason that you had to care
The traffic is stuck
And you’re not moving anywhere
You thought you’d found a friend
To take you out of this place
Someone you could lend a hand
In return for grace
It’s a beautiful day
Sky falls, you feel like
It’s a beautiful day
Don’t let it get away
You’re on the road
But you’ve got no destination
You’re in the mud
In the maze of her imagination
You love this town
Even if that doesn’t ring true
You’ve been all over
And it’s been all over you
It’s a beautiful day
Don’t let it get away
It’s a beautiful day
Touch me
Take me to that other place
Teach me
I know I’m not a hopeless case
See the world in green and blue
See China right in front of you
See the canyons broken by cloud
See the tuna fleets clearing the sea out
See the Bedouin fires at night
See the oil fields at first light
And see the bird with a leaf in her mouth
After the flood all the colors came out
It was a beautiful day
Don’t let it get away
Beautiful day
Touch me
Take me to that other place
Reach me
I know I’m not a hopeless case
What you don’t have you don’t need it now
What you don’t know you can feel it somehow
What you don’t have you don’t need it now
Don’t need it now
Was a beautiful day
I’ve been thinking about this song a lot today and have been listening to it tonight. I like the melancholy but introspective mood it evokes in me.
I might be wrong, but I feel like the lyrics are about a Borderline guy singing about a relationship with a Narcissist woman and the way he sees his inner emptiness reflected in her and they can’t stop hurting each other. Pretty deep and depressing stuff, if I’m right.
Everything about this song is intense.
And you
Can bring me to my knees
Again
All the times
That I could beg you please
In vain
All the times
That I felt insecure
For you
And I leave
My burdens at the door
But I’m on the outside
I’m looking in
I can see through you
See your true colors
‘Cause inside you’re ugly
You’re ugly like me
I can see through you
See to the real you
All the times
That I felt like this won’t end
Was for you
And I taste
What I could never have
It’s from you
All those times
That I tried
My intentions
Full of pride
And I waste
More time than anyone
But I’m on the outside
I’m looking in
I can see through you
See your true colors
‘Cause inside you’re ugly
You’re ugly like me
I can see through you
See to the real you
All the times
That I’ve cried
All that’s wasted
It’s all inside
But I feel
All this pain
Stuffed it down
It’s back again
And I lie
Here in bed
All alone
I can’t mend
And I feel
Tomorrow will be okay
But I’m on the outside
I’m looking in
I can see through you
See your true colors
‘Cause inside you’re ugly
You’re ugly like me
I can see through you
See to the real you
I’m a Jersey girl myself, so Jersey boys Bon Jovi bring back great memories of carefree summer days spent “down the shore.” This popular 1986 hit about a young blue collar couple facing hard times is my favorite Bon Jovi song. It never gets old.
“Shine” is one of those ’90s songs that sounds positively dated by today’s standards, but this is not a bad thing, not at all. The feel of the song, technically classified as post-grunge (even though it came out in 1994 during the height of grunge), owes a lot more to classic rock than it does to popular music today–or even other music of its time.
Unlike many post-grunge/grunge songs that tend toward dark, ironic, and nihilistic lyrics, “Shine” has a positive, inspiring, unironic message. If you didn’t know better, you might even think it was a Christian song, even though the band insists that it was not intended as one. But the overall mood of “Shine,” with its distorted guitar and heavy bass line, is as dark as anything else from that time, which creates an interesting juxtaposition with its upbeat lyrics.
“Shine” sounds so much like classic rock that it gets airplay on my local classic rock radio station, which plays very little music that came out after the early 1980s. They also play a lot of Pearl Jam, another ’90s rock band that could easily be mistaken for classic rock.
Give me a word,
Give me a sign.
Show me where to look,
Tell me what will I find?
What will I find?
Lay me on the ground,
Or fly me in the sky.
Show me where to look,
Tell me what will I find?
What will I find?
(Yeah)
(Yeah)
(Yeah)
Whoa, heaven let your light shine down
Whoa, heaven let your light shine down
Whoa, heaven let your light shine down
Whoa, heaven let your light shine down
Love is in the water,
Love is in the air.
Show me where to look,
Tell me will love be there?
Will love be there?
Teach me how to speak,
Teach me how to share.
Teach me where to go,
Tell me will love be there?
Love be there?
(Yeah)
(Yeah)
(Yeah)
Whoa, heaven let your light shine down
Whoa, heaven let your light shine down
Whoa, heaven let your light shine down
Whoa, heaven let your light shine down
Give me a word,
Give me a sign.
Show me where to look,
Tell me what will I find?
What will I find?
Lay me on the ground,
Or fly me in the sky.
Show me where to look,
Tell me what will I find?
What will I find?
(Yeah)
(Yeah)
(Yeah)
Whoa, heaven let your light shine down
Whoa, heaven let your light shine down
Whoa, heaven let your light shine down
Whoa, heaven let your light shine down
I’m gonna let it shine
I’m gonna let it shine
Heaven, let your light
Shine on me
Looking over my list of Monday Melodies so far, I noticed I only included two songs from the ’90s so far, which surprises me since the ’90’s may be my favorite decade for music (It was a lot more versatile than other decades) before it all went to hell.
Although Pearl Jam was classified as “grunge” and came out of Seattle at the same time as Nirvana, Soundgarden, and Alice in Chains in the early ’90s, some grunge purists argue that Pearl Jam isn’t really grunge at all and really owes more to classic rock than to punk or grunge. I probably agree with that, but for me it’s not a problem, because I grew up listening to classic rock. On my local classic rock station, you can hear Pearl Jam played along with Led Zeppelin and the Stones. There was no one who could look crazier than Eddie Vedder on stage, but he sure could sing his butt off and there really aren’t any Pearl Jam songs I don’t like.
Betterman was released in 1994 (has it really been 22 years?!) and is one of their more well known songs. It’s not everyone’s favorite, but I love it. I actually like its pop-rock sound.
NarCissistic Mary, a hard/punk rock indie band my friend (and narcissistic abuse survivor) Mary Pranzatelli started after leaving her abusive relationship last year is doing well, getting lots of gigs, and now they have a brand new song: “The Devil’s Son.” Mary is the group’s frontwoman and writes all the lyrics. I’m going to see if I can get the lyrics for this and post them here later.
The early 2000’s weren’t exactly the best time for popular music. Sirius, Youtube, and EDM (for the most part) were still in the future, and radio rock, though still ubiquitous, was well past its prime. The airwaves were full of interchangeable post-grunge, nu-metal, Britney Spears, and unmemorable R&B and rap. But there were a few gems that stood out all the more because they were so rare. One of those gems was 2000’s “Beautiful Day” by the supergroup U2–this was one of the last great rock songs.
From the Wikipedia entry for the song:
According to Bono, “Beautiful Day” is about “a man who has lost everything, but finds joy in what he still has.” Blender interpreted the song and the line “it’s a beautiful day” as “a vision of abandoning material things and finding grace in the world itself”.
The heart is a bloom
Shoots up through the stony ground
There’s no room
No space to rent in this townYou’re out of luck
And the reason that you had to care
The traffic is stuck
And you’re not moving anywhere
You thought you’d found a friend
To take you out of this place
Someone you could lend a hand
In return for grace
It’s a beautiful day
Sky falls, you feel like
It’s a beautiful day
Don’t let it get away
You’re on the road
But you’ve got no destination
You’re in the mud
In the maze of her imagination
You love this town
Even if that doesn’t ring true
You’ve been all over
And it’s been all over you
It’s a beautiful day
Don’t let it get away
It’s a beautiful day
Touch me
Take me to that other place
Teach me
I know I’m not a hopeless case
See the world in green and blue
See China right in front of you
See the canyons broken by cloud
See the tuna fleets clearing the sea out
See the Bedouin fires at night
See the oil fields at first light
And see the bird with a leaf in her mouth
After the flood all the colors came out
It was a beautiful day
Don’t let it get away
Beautiful day
Touch me
Take me to that other place
Reach me
I know I’m not a hopeless case
What you don’t have you don’t need it now
What you don’t know you can feel it somehow
What you don’t have you don’t need it now
Don’t need it now
Was a beautiful day
I’m not usually a big fan of all-female punk rock acts, but there are a few exceptions. One of the very first all-female punk bands was The Runaways (where the still-gorgeous rocker Joan Jett got her start), which got their start in the mid 1970s. The Runaways paved the way for early all-female rock bands like The Go-Gos in the early 1980s and even later than that, the riot grrrl movement of the late 1980s and early 1990s, which included acts like Bikini Kill, Hole, and Sleater-Kinney.
I wasn’t going to include “Cherry Bomb” as a Monday Melody, because it was never a huge hit in the United States. However, most of those who enjoyed hard rock and punk rock back in the day could really groove to this, and it’s full of attitude and swagger. These girls can rock like the boys. I love their raw sound. I just heard this song today and couldn’t stop watching this live video recorded in 1977, so this week it makes the list. Check out a 19-year old Joan Jett on guitar. She’s just as pretty today, at age 57! So is lead singer, Cherie Currie, who’s only a year younger. It’s truly hard to believe these girls are now all pushing 60!
My friend Mary’s ’90s-style hard rocker, “It’s In Your Head,” a song about narcissistic abuse, is now up on Youtube! (I posted the soundcloud version a few weeks back).
Please listen! She and her band are great. More new music from them will be coming soon!
Mary is a huge inspiration to me because since she left her abuser(s), she has come out of her shell and had the confidence to finally discover her musical talents and put together her band.
The two mirror images of Mary with her guitar form two white owls. You might have to look at the graphic from a distance, but it’s clear as day once you see it. Mary assured me this was COMPLETELY unintentional. So eerie!
Lucky Otters Haven 