People Songs
Falling Angel is one of my more literally truthful songs – without adding to the story. It’s about a very beautiful young girl I met in NYC when I too was young. Within hours of meeting this enchanting young girl her dark self unfolded before me. I remember thinking how sad it was that at one time she was some mother’s newborn innocent … and to see what she became!
Is there a song that reminds you of someone who may only have crossed your path for minutes, or someone you knew closely for many years? Share your music memories here …
Categories: People songs
I know this is centering around specific Monkees tunes, so I must mention the song “SHE”, which encompasses all nasty user women who have broken the hearts of poor decent men. I can never forget the words: “And now I know just why she keeps me hanging round…she needs someone to walk on so her feet don’t touch the ground…but I LOVE HER; I NEED HER; I WANT HER…YEAH YEAH YEAHYEAHYEAHYEAH <<>>”. What a plaintive cry for the woman he loves but does not love him…it breaks my heart to this day.
@ShelleyCT
LOL you just reminded me of the “Behind The Music” series on VH-1. Oh, I loved that! And “Monkeemen”–ha ha, gosh that show was sooo funny! I don’t watch TV anymore ’cause there’s no substance in them, nothing to keep me interested. But “BTM” and “The Monkees” TV show–which I saw in re-runs, not born yet in 1966–that was some really good TV! As for other people songs by the Monkees, forgot Mike Nesmith’s penned Mary Mary? Another one I can think of–not particularly well known–is Don’t Listen To Linda. Ironically, that was the name of Davy Jones’ first wife. Just thought of something–when you say people songs, do you mean by proper names? Right now, off the Monkees’ 4th album(long title)the track Salesman is playing in my head. Too late to play vinyl on the turntable now *sigh*
I love the people BEHIND the music, as well as the people in FRONT of the music. Fun to learn and relive. Vance, you also answered the question (in MONKEEMEN) of why we don’t see many superheros anymore……no telephone booths.
Boyce & Heart, the writers of Valleri and many other hits!
After all “Monkeemen” are People too! You can be sure there WAS a song somewhere in that episode!
I listened to the words MANY times repeating through my head before I was able to get back to sleep. So, excuse me…….I have to go open the door.
I will be going to the Monkees’ show on June 17 at Capital One Theater in Westbury. That will be my 8th Monkees show(unfortunately without Mike Nesmith)and I know it will be great. Vance, you might be interested to know that back in the mid/late 80′s, when the Monkees came back with their 20th anniversary “comeback” , I got turned on to them–I was a teenager at that time–and also a musician.
I had bought songbooks–including a poor condition 1st album songbook for 25 cents–of their music and your own penned That Was Then, This Is Now. I still have That Was Then … and the others. OK, I went off topic … on to people songs. I always loved the TV version of the Monkees’ Valleri; more for musical reasons, a bit hard for me to explain here.
I do remember when I first heard That Was Then…, I thought that the writer was trying to convey a message of being vulnerable and authentic, not a phony. I think this too makes a people song, when the writer is able to be open about him/herself, or when the he/she can describe someone to the point that they seem as real as if you knew them. This is just my opinion. I hope I’ve been of some help.
Anyone named Valleri out there remember this one? Even if your name isn’t Valleri … how about sharing another People Song by the Monkees. There must be others?
Anyone out there have a Carrie Anne in your life? How about sharing some songs about people that bring back memories of good, bad, maybe even frustrating times in your life!
@Vance
It was so amazing to see Vance after all these years, especially so far from Northport. How random and wonderful the universe is.
My husband and I never forgot how talented Vance was. That night at Gunther’s he was taking requests. He knew every song requested and I mean every song! My husband asked for a song from the musical, The Music Man. How in the world did Vance know the words and music from a song in a musical from 1957?!?!? Back then we were just out of high school so for such a young person to know so much, he had to be a genius, right? I think so, anyway. It’s hard to forget someone that special. The end of the story is that night was Valentine’s Day, we found out from Vance the Beatles had recorded it too and it became our wedding song.
Not sure if this should be under Love Songs or People Songs, but since the story is about people & luv, seems that adding the comment here works …
I recently had an email from someone saying she didn’t know if I’d remember her, but we crossed paths back in 1985-86 when I bought a car from her for $50. Soon after that she and her soon to be husband came to see me sing at Gunther’s in Northport and I sang Till There Was You for them on Valentine’s Day. This ended up being their wedding song.
25 years later this couple lives in Arizona & I reconnected with them when they came to see me play with Herman’s Hermits at Harrah’s in Maricopa, AZ last week. Of course, I remembered them! Maybe one of them will comment here and share more about how/why they still remember me. You can bet that MUSIC has something to do with it!
Music definitely brings people together and makes the world go round. The Spanish subtitles on the video linked here say it all!
Great idea! I incorporate music into a reading/social studies program and the kids open up in ways untold before.
@ShelleyCT Of course, a teacher would know the poem, Shelley! I don’t recall what age I was when I learned it, but it certainly stayed with me and has more and more meaning as the years go by! One of the things Jim does is tour the country doing his Forever Wild and Kids’ School Shows. He has released several fun CDs for kids with songs like Mountain Goat Promenade and You Don’t Need Ears To Listen. He notes in his recent newsletter that his Fall tour included singing for over 6,000 kids in schools from Michigan, to Pennsylvania, to Maine, to Virginia, to Georgia! Maybe you can get him to come to your school next time he’s in your part of the country?
@Dana
“The Road Not Taken”? Dana, that is a biggee with my 5th graders. As time has changed, it is important to introduce that poem at an earlier age now, and YES, they memorize it. WITH PROPER ATTITUDE.
Music inspires creativity. Vance’s music IS creativity! People and places inspire songwriters like Vance to create music … all kinds of music. This year I celebrate a 20 year friendship with a very special man known as Walkin’ Jim Stoltz. His website describes him as a “long-distance hiker, adventurer, author, painter, photographer, poet, wilderness activist, musician, songwriter, and troubadour for the Earth.” He has dedicated his life to the causes in which he believes. I have to share a few of his songs that have special meaning for me.
I think of my friend, Jim and my favorite poet, Robert Frost, when I hear the song Searching For The Road Not Taken. It was inspired by the Robert Frost poem, The Road Not Taken. Anyone else have to memorize that poem in school? This is the song that started our friendship when after hearing Jim’s song, I sent him a recording I had of Robert Frost reciting this poem. Jim’s opening recital of the poem is exactly as Robert Frost did it himself … and Jim had never heard it.
I was always fascinated with the history of the West. Listening to Way Out West makes me feel like I really knew Lewis & Clark. Speaking of people, I can’t help thinking of friends old and new when I hear Friends Along the Way.
Jim’s music even inspired the creation of a YouTube video that shows what Jim sings of in River Runnin’ Through It. You never know how music will inspire someone, or how someone or something will inspire music!
Look at what you have created from that experience. (Falling Angel) Crossing paths briefly inspire and help us create our next steps. I can not create wonderful music like the great talent that you have “in” you. However I have been inspired by you to draw the people that have touched my life. Music memories that inspire me will be the ones that I will listen to as I create each character. I can not wait until I see how they come to life with music as the background.
Listening to “Falling Angel” has a tendency to bring tears to my eyes…if not have me in tears, and I’m not saying that to be offensive. This is a case where a songwriter has met his goal of touching the listener’s soul. To answer the question of someone I knew closely for many years, there was my sister. As the song would suggest, she was enchanting–an artist–but she had a “dark self” and eventually the facets of this self would lead to her early death at age 28. As the song mentions, I tried to reach out, “but both my hands were tied.”