When you boil it all down, what matters most to you in a song? Is it the guitar, the rhythm, the melody, the performance? Or is it all about the song lyrics for you? Are you one of those people who dives into the words, dissecting them as if they were a frog in science class? If so, we understand completely!
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And that’s just what we wanted to do here below. We wanted to dive into three classic rock songs that boast incredible lyrics. We wanted to highlight three songs that offer poetry in their performance. Indeed, these are three classic rock songs with amazing lyrics that you may have forgotten about.
“Maggie’s Farm” by Bob Dylan from ‘Bringing It All Back Home’ (1965)
Of course, Bob Dylan is one of the most celebrated songwriters ever. He is often credited with bringing poetry into the genre. But while all that is true, it’s funny how some songs from Dylan are celebrated, and others are remembered less frequently. We wanted to highlight Dylan’s hard-hitting protest blues song “Maggie’s Farm” here. On it, he sings: “Well, he hands you a nickel, he hands you a dime / He asks you with a grin if you’re havin’ a good time / Then he fines you every time you slam the door / I ain’t gonna work for Maggie’s brother no more.”
“Old Man” by Neil Young from ‘Harvest’ (1972)
A song about two generations encountering one another, this classic rock track chills you to the bone. On it, Neil Young belts out lyrics about time, lifespan, and the collision of the past and future. Indeed, he offers: “Love lost, such a cost / Give me things that don’t get lost / Like a coin that won’t get tossed / Rolling home to you.”
“White Rabbit” by Jefferson Airplane from ‘Surrealistic Pillow’ (1967)
The lyrics for this indelible classic rock song are plucked from literature. As the song title suggests, they come from the story of Alice in Wonderland. Lead vocalist Grace Slick recounts the story of drug use, psychedelia, and disoriented bliss that comes from the novel. Sings Slick: “And if you go chasing rabbits / And you know you’re going to fall / Tell ’em a hookah-smoking caterpillar / Has given you the call / He called Alice / When she was just small.”
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