JPF Home Page Forums General Messages Songwriter Message Forum Why are there so many lyric-only folks?

Hi Mark,

I must have an extra "why" chromosome or something..(smiling when I said that..) I'm okay with being in a minority about "Your Song."

No, I mean..I get what you're saying and have understood that about the song, but it still feels phony to me..

You say, "flawed narrator" --but have you considered perhaps it to be an authentic young narrator?

I could imagine that BT really wrote the lyric when he was fourteen or something. I think I'd like the song, actually, if it was coming out of the mouth of an adolescent, cuz then the stammering shyness makes more sense to me.

Or if Randy Newman wrote it, him being a guy who changes characters with every song he sings--I'd imagine that same 14 yr old POV..

If it actually came out as some point that BT DID write the lyric when he was a kid, would that change how you felt about it?

Since the lyric could possibly double as that of adolescent writing, it's remarkable that the majority of folks quickly suspend disbelief with EJ, a grown man and now mature man, singing it.

It could be argued that at least the lyrical phrasing is beyond what an untrained kid could write..I'm not so sure..

It could be called "The Being There Effect" in that everyone in that movie ("Being There") thinks Chauncy Gardner a sage, but we in the audience know he's just repeating what he's seen on TV. So with "Your Song" --we think it genius! But ANY 14 yr old with a crush on someone coulda written the lyric. EJ is mostly responsible for the great phrasing of some awkward line constructions..again..all my conjecture and opinion..

You have to admit it's an easy song to poke fun at and I confess part of me doing that was me mining for stand-up material, since I'm trying to get that solid 8th and 9th minute of a ten minute monologue that I can rap by heart, in a club in front of people cuz I plan on doing that at some point, and really, let's face it, there's nothing like dying in front of a room full of people! --don't worry, I won't quit my day job.

Side note--Rocketman/Yesterday mashup in my brain..I imagine if BT and EJ actually HAD hooked up, there would be no catalogue of songs as we know it.

Perhaps Bernie wrote "Your Song" for Elton after Elton made an unsuccessful pass or confessed his feelings, giving Elton "true words" to sing, cuz those always sing with more passion. "I'm not one of those who can easily hide" could be interpreted as him realizing he can't stay 'closeted' forever, since he was no Liberace but still pretty flamboyant..

Thanks for making having different opinions fun again.

Mike