Monday, December 18, 2006

Reverse-o

Most times you find that a song has fantastic music or a great beat but the lyrics suck. Here's an example of an amazing song with the crappiest music. Enter Dan Fogelberg's "Same Old Lang Syne." It's been on the radio 10x already today and it's the whiniest whine of all time, but give it a read and I suppose the whining makes sense, as it's real life:


Met my old lover in the grocery store
The snow was falling christmas eve
I stole behind her in the frozen foods
And I touched her on the sleeve

She didnt recognize the face at first
But then her eyes flew open wide
She went to hug me and she spilled her purse
And we laughed until we cried.

We took her groceries to the checkout stand
The food was totalled up and bagged
We stood there lost in our embarrassment
As the conversation dragged.

We went to have ourselves a drink or two
But couldnt find an open bar
We bought a six-pack at the liquor store
And we drank it in her car.

We drank a toast to innocence
We drank a toast to now
And tried to reach beyond the emptiness
But neither one knew how.

She said shed married her an architect
Who kept her warm and safe and dry
She would have liked to say she loved the man
But she didnt like to lie.

I said the years had been a friend to her
And that her eyes were still as blue
But in those eyes I wasnt sure if I saw
Doubt or gratitude.

She said she saw me in the record stores
And that I must be doing well
I said the audience was heavenly
But the traveling was hell.

We drank a toast to innocence
We drank a toast to now
And tried to reach beyond the emptiness
But neither one knew how.

We drank a toast to innocence
We drank a toast to time
Reliving in our eloquence
Another auld lang syne...

The beer was empty and our tongues were tired
And running out of things to say
She gave a kiss to me as I got out
And I watched her drive away.

Just for a moment I was back at school
And felt that old familiar pain
And as I turned to make my way back home
The snow turned into rain --

11 comments:

newbluebaby said...

Awful.

And promotes drunk driving.

whipcreamy said...

aaron and i heard it at lunch today. aaron says it promotes a simpler time.

anne altman said...

drunk driving, yes. a simpler time? no, running into an ex is never simple. this song could be re-named:

Running into the Ex Always Sucks

newbluebaby said...

What about Running Over The Ex?

anne altman said...

that's a great time provided there are no witnesses

Elizabeth said...

i think it just promotes sadness.

Jenny Jenny Flannery said...

I remember when I was a kid and this song was new. One time, this song came on the radio when we were riding around in the car. We got home before the song was over and my parents were so moved by the sentiments, they actually sat in the car in the garage until this song was over.

It was kind of creepy and in hindsight raises all kinds of questions.

@alyssa ettinger said...

oh man, that f'ing song. i've written about it now two years in a row, and hearing it each year catches me off guard always. stupid song.

Just Dave said...

Kinda reminds me of Harry Chapin's song, Taxi. Same sentiments.

Berry said...

I dunno. I think letting groceries sit in the car like that is just irresponsible.

Ty Unglebower said...

Just what the hell is so funny about spilling your purse? If you don;t love the architect, leave him. If she didn't recognize his face at first, how is it she saw his picture in the record store, and knew he was doing so well? And letting her go with half a sixpack in her just as the snow turned to rain???

And best of all IT IS NOT A CHRISTMAS SONG. Just because something happens on Christmas Eve doesn't mean it is a Christmas song. Its horrible anyway...but at the holiday season...worse.