Friday 15 April 2011

Musical Conversations

Friday, April 15th, 2011

During one part in the end of the book the boys across the street and girls have musical conversations. They call each other but instead of talking they play songs of their current emotions. Here are some lyrics to each of the songs.

Lisbon girls: "Alone Again, Naturally" by Gilbert O'Sullivan
In a little while from now,
If I'm not feeling any less sour
I promised myself to treat myself
And visit a nearby tower,
And climbing to the top,
Will throw myself off
In an effort to make it clear to who
Ever what it's like when your shattered
Left standing in the lurch, at a church
Where people 're saying,
"My God that's tough, she stood him up!
No point in us remaining.
May as well go home."
As I did on my own,
Alone again, naturally

The boys: "You've Got a Friend" by James Taylor
When you're down and troubled and you need a helping hand
and nothing, whoa, nothing is going right.
Close your eyes and think of me and soon I will be there
Testi Canzoni
to brighten up even your darkest nights.

You just call out my name, and you know where ever I am
I'll come running to see you again.
Winter, spring, summer, or fall, all you have to do is call and I'll be there, yeah, yeah,
you've got a friend.
The girls: "Where Do the Children Play" by Cat Stevens
Well I think it's fine, building jumbo planes.
Or taking a ride on a cosmic train.
Switch on summer from a slot machine.
Get what you want to if you want, 'cause you can get anything.

I know we've come a long way,
We're changing day to day,
But tell me, where do the children play?
The boys: " Dear Prudence" by The Beatles
Dear Prudence won't you come out to play
Dear Prudence greet the brand new day
The sun is up the sky is blue
It's beautiful and so are you
Dear Prudence won't you come out to play
The girls: "Candle In The Wind" by Elton John
Goodbye Norma Jean
Though I never knew you at all
You had the grace to hold yourself
While those around you crawled
They crawled out of the woodwork
And they whispered into your brain
They set you on the treadmill
And they made you change your name

And it seems to me you lived your life
Like a candle in the wind
Never knowing who to cling to
When the rain set in
And I would have liked to have known you
But I was just a kid
Your candle burned out long before
Your legend ever did

Loneliness was tough
The toughest role you ever played
Hollywood created a superstar
And pain was the price you paid
Even when you died
Oh the press still hounded you
All the papers had to say
Was that Marilyn was found in the nude
The Boys: "Wild Horses" by the Rolling Stones
Childhood living is easy to do
The things you wanted I bought them for you
Graceless lady you know who I am
You know I can't let you slide through my hands

Wild horses couldn't drag me away
Wild, wild horses, couldn't drag me away

The Girls: "At Seventeen" by Janice Ian
I learned the truth at seventeen
That love was meant for beauty queens
In high school girls with clear skinned smiles
Who married young and then retired
The valentines I never knew
The Friday night charades of youth
Were spent on one more beautiful
At seventeen I learned the truth
And those of us with ravaged faces
Lacking in the social graces
Desperately remained at home
Inventing lovers on the phone
Who called to say come dance with me
And murmured vague obscenities
It isn't all it seems
At seventeen

The boys: "Time In a Bottle'' by Jim Croce
If I could save time in a bottle
The first thing that I'd like to do
Is to save every day
Till Eternity passes away
Just to spend them with you

If I could make days last forever
If words could make wishes come true
I'd save every day like a treasure and then
Again, I would spend them with you


The girls: "So Far Away" by Carole King
So far away, doesn't anybody stay in one place anymore?
It would be so fine to see your face at my door
Doesn't help to know you're just time away

Long ago I reached for you and there you stood
Holding you again could only do me good
How I wish I could, but you're so far away


These were some lyrics of each songs they sent to each other. It seems as if with every song the girls sent the boys sent a response back that said "I'll save you". Some songs I really loved were "At Seventeen" because the first two lines are I learned the truth at seventeen
That love was meant for beauty queens.
 
The two lines basically say that they learned the truth about life rather quick and that love was never meant to be in their lives and that maybe someone who deserved love was somebody better than them--like beauty queens. "You've Got a Friend' is also a very sweet response by the boys because it is saying,  don't worry, we are there for you. However, the first song basically sums up their life becuase it has the lines "alone again, naturally". The Lisbon girls feel very alone in the world because their parents are not really there for them. 

Some of these songs made me want to cry because there was so much emotion in each one of them and gave you a harsher insight to the girls' lives.
 


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