This was one of those songs that actually had to grow on me, but since it starts out the CD and since it is right before "Life of Riley", I never saw the point in skipping over it. Interestingly enough, it is co-written by Terry Hall, who was the lead singer of the band, The Specials. In fact, he co-wrote a few of the songs on this album. It wasn't until I actually took the time to look up the lyrics that I realized how intense this song actually was. In fact, there seemed to be a huge transition from the whimsical and hopeful nature of the lyrics for the songs on Cloudcuckooland to a darker and drearier nature of the lyrics for a majority of the songs on Sense, aside from this one (which is just intense, not dark and dreary) and "Life of Riley", of course.
And this song has a crazy-cool harmonica solo, and who doesn't enjoy a good harmonica solo from time-to-time?!?!? ;-)
I'm flying high on something beautiful and aimless,
it's got a name but I prefer to call it nameless.
It comes and goes and leaves me on a bed of splinters,
feels like I'm living in a town closed down for winter.
The taste of Love,
the more you get, the more you want,
and all because,
the only reason is just because.
It all makes Sense,
when you're near
it all makes Sense.
I'm standing high on tiptoes looking over fences,
waiting for somebody like you to kiss me Senseless.
First and foremost, I should mention to you that the video version of this song is way different than the version that is on the CD, but I cannot definitively decide which one I prefer more. What I absolutely know that I love about this song is the focus on listening. Do people even really listen to or hear one another anymore? It seems like everyone is so occupied with all of their gadgets these days, and I witness so many "uh-huhs" & "mmhmmms" & "yeahs" when people are having so-called conversations while pecking at their electronics. It's like everyone is too busy or too socially-engaged to pay sincere attention anymore. It's really sad to me when I think about it!!! Even though I did not end up pursuing a career in substance abuse counseling, one thing that I did learn from all of those courses that I took was how to really listen and to really hear a person. Being listened to and being heard is one of the kindest and most validating acts a human being can do for another human being. Don't get me wrong, I love my iPhone as much as the next person, but I also know when to shut the silly thing off and have a meaningful conversation with the individual in my presence.
When I was reading up about this song on Wikipedia, I had to laugh a bit because, as I mentioned in yesterday's post, Ian Broudie worked with Echo & The Bunnymen, and if you read my "Killing Moon" post, you might remember the quote that I included from Ian McCulloch about his own feelings towards that song. Well, it appears that Ian Broudie did not posses the same level of self-assurance as Ian McCulloch because Wikipedia mentioned that Ian Broudie wasn't even certain that he should release his own material: He was originally apprehensive: "I didn’t think that many people would be interested if I’m going to be honest, I suppose I didn’t have the confidence really and I wasn’t in a band but I did want to put my music out and get it heard." - Ian Broudie I'm glad he found that confidence to release this tune and all of the others, as well, because I think this song is amazing and so incredibly sweet and loving. Ian Broudie seems like such a kind and gentle soul just based on what I've read about him and on his lyrics alone... The imagery he uses is unbelievable, and he has an amazing talent for painting vivid pictures through his word choice!!!
