What Are Words For? (6/22)

[Railyn]

I was going to start this up on Monday, but I'm suffering from a major bout of insomnia, so I figured no time like the present.

Anyway, I think this will be fun. I am a nut for well written songs, no matter by who, or what genre. I used to keep a notebook of cool quotes from songs.

It's my goal to have some discussion about song lyrics - good, bad, or indifferent. My taste is a bit ecclectic, so I may be all over the map. I may pick oldies, not-so-oldies, or ones you may have never heard of, but are on my list of interesting songs.

I also take requests. ;D (I also tend to be a bit verbose sometimes, so please bear with me )

Today's song is one of my very favorites. It's a song about friendship. We chose it as the song dedicated to our wedding party at our reception. It's not the standard wedding fare by a long shot, but we didn't want the standard stuff (ie: Queen's "You're My Best Friend - done at so many weddings) because that's just not who we, or our friends are. It spoke volumes about how we felt about our long-time relationship with our friends.

Friendship either evolves as you do, or drifts off. We had many friends at our wedding, but only 6 special enough to be in our party. Since these were people we chose to share the special day with us, it's obvious they had evolved to that level. These were people who had been to heck and back with us, seen our good an bad sides, and through it all, were still our friends. Even though this song is in the male point of view, our female friends got the meaning as well.

Written by a pair of longtime friends, it doesn't say it the most eloquently, but nonetheless, it's heartfelt.

That being said, the song of the day is:

WAITING ON A FRIEND
by The Rolling Stones
Album: Tattoo You
Authors: M. Jagger/K. Richards

Watching girls go passing by
It ain't the latest thing
I'm just standing in a doorway
I'm just trying to make some sense
Out of these girls go passing by
The tales they tell of men
I'm not waiting on a lady
I'm just waiting on a friend

A smile relieves a heart that grieves
Remember what I said
I'm not waiting on a lady
I'm just waiting on a friend
I'm just waiting on a friend

Don't need a w-h-o-r-e
I don't need no booze
Don't need a v-i-r-g-i-n priest
But I need someone I can cry to
I need someone to protect
Making love and breaking hearts
It is a game for youth
But I'm not waiting on a lady
I'm just waiting on a friend

My opinion in a nutshell: Your friends who have been with you through thick and thin will generally be there for life.

Favorite line: "A smile relieves a heart that grieves"

[Dawn]

I've been looking forward to this feature! It will be interesting to compare our views on different lyrics.

My take on this song is pretty similar to yours.

As you say, good friendships have to be strong enough and flexible enough to withstand the changes in ourselves and our lives. Sometimes, that doesn't happen, unfortunately. But when it does, it's truly a thing to be valued.

Friendship is definitely a two-way street - you need to be there for the other person when he/she needs you, and vice versa, as the lines "But I need someone I can cry to, I need someone to protect" suggest.

I also like the line "a smile relieves a heart that grieves'. We may not always know the impact that a kind gesture will have on a friend who is in pain, but speaking from personal experience, I can say that the concern of friends has helped me tremendously during the difficult times in my life.

[kathyb]

This is one of my favorite Rolling Stones songs, and also one of my favorites about friendship. Good choice for your wedding party, and good first choice for this post!

[Laura--I wuv u all :)]

Railyn said:

Don't need a w-h-o-r-e
I don't need no booze
Don't need a v-i-r-g-i-n priest

Hmmmm...they wouldn't let you enter the "w" word OR the "v" word?? How bizarre, how bizarre...

[Railyn]

Dawn said:

I've been looking forward to this feature! It will be interesting to compare our views on different lyrics.

My take on this song is pretty similar to yours.

As you say, good friendships have to be strong enough and flexible enough to withstand the changes in ourselves and our lives. Sometimes, that doesn't happen, unfortunately. But when it does, it's truly a thing to be valued.

Friendship is definitely a two-way street - you need to be there for the other person when he/she needs you, and vice versa, as the lines "But I need someone I can cry to, I need someone to protect" suggest.

I also like the line "a smile relieves a heart that grieves'. We may not always know the impact that a kind gesture will have on a friend who is in pain, but speaking from personal experience, I can say that the concern of friends has helped me tremendously during the difficult times in my life.

You are 100% correct, Dawn. Friends are such a precious commodity. People who have seen you at your best and worst and still like you are something to hold on to.

[Railyn]

kathyb said:

This is one of my favorite Rolling Stones songs, and also one of my favorites about friendship. Good choice for your wedding party, and good first choice for this post!

Thanks, Kathy. It is a good song. It's a shame most people who generally only know the main Stones songs don't know it.

[Railyn]

Laura said:

Railyn said:

Don't need a w-h-o-r-e
I don't need no booze
Don't need a v-i-r-g-i-n priest

Hmmmm...they wouldn't let you enter the "w" word OR the "v" word?? How bizarre, how bizarre...

I had that problem on another Proboards board so I figured I'd just take care of it in advance rather than go back and edit it later.