There was something to the song that is extremely touchy. As one of the interpretations did mention. At the surface it is easy to song with slight melancholic twist. And that is what caught me attention when I first heard during my early days in my early membership to this country.
But as all classic(it is num#7 in List of top 100 songs of the century), it gets even better as you know it better. And as I came more about the song, I not only came to know it even better but also identified with it more. Specially the historical change in Music as interpreted by Don Lean. ( a good interpretation here)
But I suppose the identification with oneself and a person's life is what makes a song cling to you. It could be melancholic as Don remembers his growing year's music ("And the music died") or symbolically going through similar life experiences.
This song in its core is a repentance of sort. Repentance of a bygone era. The loss of an innocent era. The early era which were simple and clean. And as always with everyone somehow they are always connected with events of the childhood. Though on a side note, for me being a GenX, I certainly would say my early childhood was not that bad at all, surely better than the present. Paradoxically this is the generation to which Don refers to "when the music died".
But this melancholic remembering the past events especially the early childhood and how when compared to the present adulthood world around us, makes those events look so much better.
And this to me is the chord that makes this song rhyme with so many generation, even if they are paradoxical like me. Melancholic yearning the old good old days. When things were simple and life easier. In reality though it might have happened or not might be irrelevant. Don's golden age of 50s was not clean anyway. The American public and I would say the whole world was very optimistic about the future, especially after defeating the Satanic Nazis (UN is an embodiment of it certainly). But then seeds of poising of the future had already began. Be it in the music or Politics. Though Bob Dylan started the revolutionary transition from feel good music to societal challenges, it was a matter of time when the followers of it took to other level, the drugged Rock and Roll of 70s and 80s. And this good intentions going bad also followed in Politics. Trying to advance the "Better" western or more succinctly democratic Political ways, lead to mayhem of the later 70s era. Be it the Korean war or even UN's poverty elevation or the WWII Keynesian economics.
For GenX we also cling to the 70s as our Golden era. When the time was good. It was more simpler compared to today's connected another euphemism of complicated world. Today we are living on the other side of the barrel of things that went wrong in Afghanistan or Kissinger's way of making a "better" world. A boomeranged that got us so much pain such a big pain. Or more at person level where boundaries and changes are happening at such high speed. So though we lacked so many things that we have today, the comfort of simplicity is what many of us miss.
This is even more pertinent for us Indians. As for the India of the 70s was certainly in may ways the USs 50s. Be it how the society was at that time. See my Mona Lisa Smile and Walmart Blog. For us with the new connected world we certainly have come to a world with more growth avenues and prosperity but is it a better world of the simple 70s or 80s Indian past is debatable. Though we had one channel and the world used to stop becos Mahabharat was being shown. And unlike today's DVR and YouTubed Internet where we can watch it at our convenience, there still is something to the one TV-ed family and one channel TV network. And though for many of us have gone to places and done things which were just not possible for our parent's generation. But for this development we certainly have paid with breaking of the old extended family structure. So beautifully captured in the article "". And though the resistance to change is inherent to humans, we still feel the old days were simpler and better. Even though for the earlier generation the same time period was the complicated one. Case in point, when Erie Canal was built in the late 1800s old timers lamented of the "Slow" old days when things were moved by horse only. "What Erie Canal days were complicated?" would certainly aghast us.
This remembering the old Golden age that is now past. Which now only lives only in our memory is so well captured by this interpretative songs.
It is where this song hits the chords of the heart. The chords of a person's yearning for the old gone days. Were they correct would always be our interpretation of reality. I suppose that is what Don's meant when he was asked about the meaning of his lyrics in "but long ago I realized that songwriters should make their statements and move on".
Links
A societal and historical interpretation of the song
Interpretation of the song Interpretation 1
But as all classic(it is num#7 in List of top 100 songs of the century), it gets even better as you know it better. And as I came more about the song, I not only came to know it even better but also identified with it more. Specially the historical change in Music as interpreted by Don Lean. ( a good interpretation here)
But I suppose the identification with oneself and a person's life is what makes a song cling to you. It could be melancholic as Don remembers his growing year's music ("And the music died") or symbolically going through similar life experiences.
This song in its core is a repentance of sort. Repentance of a bygone era. The loss of an innocent era. The early era which were simple and clean. And as always with everyone somehow they are always connected with events of the childhood. Though on a side note, for me being a GenX, I certainly would say my early childhood was not that bad at all, surely better than the present. Paradoxically this is the generation to which Don refers to "when the music died".
But this melancholic remembering the past events especially the early childhood and how when compared to the present adulthood world around us, makes those events look so much better.
And this to me is the chord that makes this song rhyme with so many generation, even if they are paradoxical like me. Melancholic yearning the old good old days. When things were simple and life easier. In reality though it might have happened or not might be irrelevant. Don's golden age of 50s was not clean anyway. The American public and I would say the whole world was very optimistic about the future, especially after defeating the Satanic Nazis (UN is an embodiment of it certainly). But then seeds of poising of the future had already began. Be it in the music or Politics. Though Bob Dylan started the revolutionary transition from feel good music to societal challenges, it was a matter of time when the followers of it took to other level, the drugged Rock and Roll of 70s and 80s. And this good intentions going bad also followed in Politics. Trying to advance the "Better" western or more succinctly democratic Political ways, lead to mayhem of the later 70s era. Be it the Korean war or even UN's poverty elevation or the WWII Keynesian economics.
For GenX we also cling to the 70s as our Golden era. When the time was good. It was more simpler compared to today's connected another euphemism of complicated world. Today we are living on the other side of the barrel of things that went wrong in Afghanistan or Kissinger's way of making a "better" world. A boomeranged that got us so much pain such a big pain. Or more at person level where boundaries and changes are happening at such high speed. So though we lacked so many things that we have today, the comfort of simplicity is what many of us miss.
This is even more pertinent for us Indians. As for the India of the 70s was certainly in may ways the USs 50s. Be it how the society was at that time. See my Mona Lisa Smile and Walmart Blog. For us with the new connected world we certainly have come to a world with more growth avenues and prosperity but is it a better world of the simple 70s or 80s Indian past is debatable. Though we had one channel and the world used to stop becos Mahabharat was being shown. And unlike today's DVR and YouTubed Internet where we can watch it at our convenience, there still is something to the one TV-ed family and one channel TV network. And though for many of us have gone to places and done things which were just not possible for our parent's generation. But for this development we certainly have paid with breaking of the old extended family structure. So beautifully captured in the article "". And though the resistance to change is inherent to humans, we still feel the old days were simpler and better. Even though for the earlier generation the same time period was the complicated one. Case in point, when Erie Canal was built in the late 1800s old timers lamented of the "Slow" old days when things were moved by horse only. "What Erie Canal days were complicated?" would certainly aghast us.
This remembering the old Golden age that is now past. Which now only lives only in our memory is so well captured by this interpretative songs.
It is where this song hits the chords of the heart. The chords of a person's yearning for the old gone days. Were they correct would always be our interpretation of reality. I suppose that is what Don's meant when he was asked about the meaning of his lyrics in "but long ago I realized that songwriters should make their statements and move on".
Links
A societal and historical interpretation of the song
Interpretation of the song Interpretation 1
