3 of 61

Write now Article Tools

I am sorry but I have to write about this conceptually, rather than figuratively - like I do with many of my articles here at HELIUM. Two songs have made me cry over the past 6 month period; a song by Neil Young called, CORTEZ THE KILLER, and a song by Bob Dylan called IDIOT WIND.

I have heard these songs over and over, many, many times over the years of my life and always felt their groove and energy, thinking "yeah man, dig that guitar..." or, "Wow, Neil (or Bob) really mean something deep here...", but I never took the time to contemplate the meaning of the words, or the real meaning of the emotions being conveyed before. Not until this past summer.

You see, I think that a person needs to understand themselves before they can understand others. What do you think it would mean to Bob Dylan if no one ever found deeper meaning in his songs. (Well, if you've read anything about what he really thinks about that subject you will know he doesn't care that much!) But I think that in his heart of hearts he yearns to be understood and appreciated.

I was in love last summer with someone that took the time and energy to make me pay closer attention to the lyrics that songwriters pen. And one day, while listening to IDIOT WIND, for like the hundreth time, I decided to look up the lyrics and see exactly what it was that Bob Dylan was crooning about. At this point the ryhtyms of the song were deeply familiar to me, rooted in my body, beating in accord with my own heart's beat.

Then I read along. "Someone's got it in for me. They're planting stories in the press..." That was it. That was all it took. I lost myself, right there, right then. I heard his words "speak" to me. As if he were sitting right next to me. Whispering his story into my ear, as if it were a secret. And that is exactly what it was. Bob Dylan wrote the story of a secret from his heart, from his blood. He didn't care if anyone ever understood it. Didn't need anyone to because his freedom came in the singing.

But it broke me open. It cracked my hard heart in two and I started to cry. My god, just now thinking back to that one moment in my life that I am describing to you now I am starting to cry again. And I'm not even listening to that song right now! I haven't heard that song in months and it is making me cry. It could have been a song about anything really, but it was the experience of hearing it as it was meant to be told; from a point of familiarity and vulnerability that it's power reached me.

And when I say "I cried" I mean I broke down. I fell over in my seat and bawled. God, I almost can't continue writing this right now, the emotions are starting to come back up again. Anyway, I had a comparable experience with Neil Young's song Cortez the Killer. Listened to it for so long that just the simple emotions of the melody echoed in my body. My body could feel the intensity of the mood, of the hidden, indecipherable words. Then I found the lyrics and read along...

"He came dancing across the water, with his galleons and guns..."

And I lost myself... again.

Learn more about this author, Daryl Barnett.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.

Add your voice

Know something about Sad songs that will make you cry?
We want to hear your view. Write now!