There’s a lot of truth in them words

Posted 11/25/22

G et it on, bang a gong; get it on. If I might repeat: Get it on, bang a gong; get it on. Those are old song lyrics from T-Rex back in the 70s, and if it sounds like nonsense, it’s likely …

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There’s a lot of truth in them words

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Get it on, bang a gong; get it on. If I might repeat: Get it on, bang a gong; get it on. Those are old song lyrics from T-Rex back in the 70s, and if it sounds like nonsense, it’s likely because it’s out-of-context. Allow me to clarify with ensuing lyrics: “Well you’re windy and wild, you got the blues in your shoes and your stockings. You’re windy and wild, oh yeah. Well you’re built like a car, you’ve got a hubcap diamond star halo; you’re dirty, sweet and you’re my girl. Get it on; bang a gong ...”

You get the gist. OK, maybe those added lyrics didn’t clear up the confusion; perhaps they are nonsensical lyrics, but who cares? The words rhyme and it’s accompanied by a jaunty beat and that’s all that matters. In fact, sometimes the more nonsensical the better when it comes to song lyrics, as demonstrated from the greatest band of all time, (no, not the Strawberry Alarm Clock who were no slouches in their own rite) the Beatles. And I quote …

“Picture yourself in a boat on the river, with tangerine trees and marmalade skies; somebody calls you, you answer quite slowly: a girl with kaleidoscope eyes … (wait for it) “Lucy in the sky with diamonds; Lucy in the sky with diamonds …

I could go on and burden you with further details about following her down to a bridge by the fountain, where rocking chair people eat marshmallow pies, but I think it’s all pretty self-explanatory — the song was written in the throes of a wild LSD trip. And that’s … OK. When it turns into a hit song for the ages, who are we to judge the means to an end?

But not everyone’s flying on acid when they write these beautiful songs. Paul Simon teamed with Garfunkel in the 70s to give us a plethora of haunting tunes such as, “I am a Rock,” and “Cecelia,” who was so bereft of morals, “I got up to wash my face, when I come back to bed, someone’s taken my place.” I hope the poor sap at least salvaged a little pride by making it clear the gentleman was not welcome to spend the night.

The point is, Paul Simon dumped that carbuncle, Garfunkel and gave us plenty of golden hits with profound lyrics all on his own. In one, he asked, “Who will be my role model, now that my role model’s gone, gone?” That query was midway through the song, “You Can Call Me Al,” and he further explained, “He ducked back down the alley with some roly-poly little bat-faced girl; all along, along, there were incidents and accidents, there were hints and allegations ...”

Let’s stop right there. Is that not the most descriptive line you’ve ever heard – a roly-poly little bat-faced girl? You can almost see that double-bagger, so homely that she’d have to sneak up on a glass of water, sending funeral processions down alleys. But they often have an inner beauty, if you can get past the bat-face to try and find it.

But that’s neither here nor there; the point is I just can’t get enough of those nonsensical lyrics. Too many songs these days make sense, which is not an integral component of hauntingly beautiful music. I think we can best sum it up by once again quoting the immortal Beatles: “Ob-la-di, ob-la-da; life goes on, bra; la-la how the life goes on.” All I can say to that is: You ain’t just whistling Dixie, sister! 

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