Hey Jude by The Beatles

Imagine you are going to visit a 5 year old whoes parents are getting a divorce. Now imagine that the child’s father is one of the most famous people in the world that has been absent for most of this child’s life and cheated on his wife.

This is what Paul McCartney faced in as he went to visit Julian Lennon, John Lennon’s son with his first wife Cynthia. In 1968, John met Yoko Ono and had an affair with her that resulted in a divorce leaving young Julian at the center of it all. Paul sat down to write down his thoughts to Julian and what these comforting words became was one of Beatles most enduring classics “Hey Jude.”



This song shattered pop music’s song forms as one of the longest songs ever to be a number 1 hit but what makes this song uniquely meaningful is what this song is at its heart: a song of comfort and reassurance.

Amidst love songs, protest music and psychedelic rock, Paul is singing to comfort us all balancing an ambiguous subject with emotional clarity, the Beatles created a universal song of comfort and reassurance that has stood the test of time.

The song begins giving advice about how to approach a girl.

Hey Jude, don’t be afraid,
You were made to go out and get her.
The minute you her under your skin,
Then you begin to make it better.

In the refrains where Paul digs deeper the situation with Julian helping him understand that the divorce is not his fault, “don’t carry the world your shoulder.” Then there is the most touching line in the song in the last refrain when Paul reassures Julian that he is worth something and that all he needs is within himself.

So let it out and let it in, hey Jude, begin,
You’re waiting for is one to perform with.
And don’t you know that it’s just you, hey Jude, you’ll do,
The movement you need is on your shoulder.

Paul wraps up all of these thoughts and feelings in an extended ending sections, a sing-a-long of sorts with a chorus of na’s repeated for the last half of this seven minute song. What is going on here? It’s repetitive, lyrically non-sense and up until this point in pop music was something that was never heard before.  Even though this sections seems illogical something about it works.

The ending of “Hey Jude” provides space to reflect on the song. It frames all of the emotions and give focuses us on one of the main points of the song, making one’s life better.  It is not the words that we speak that we comfort each other in times of need.  The words are merely an expression of being there with someone in a time of need that makes them meaningful.

Hearing a chorus of people singing inviting us as an audience to sing along creates the ultimate feeling of comfort as a chorus of voice beyond is saying that things will be okay. It is not just one person’s belief that things will improve, it’s our shared humanity, our shared hope that this ending expresses which is what gets us through the darkest moments in our lives.

Bui-Doi (from Miss Saigon)

[A conversation between myself (T) and one of my fourth grade student (J)]

J: Mr. Tang, are you married?
T: Yes I am
J: What’s your wife’s name?
T: Diana
J: Is she Asian?
T: No, actually she’s Caucasian, white like you
J: hmm . . . so when you have kids are they going to be Asian or normal?
T: [sigh], no actually. . . well, our kids aren't going to be either, they will be a mix of Asian and Caucasian
J: ohhhhhhh . . .

Most people are mixed race. My wife for example is 1/4 British, 1/4 Polish and 1/2 um. . . white. Keep in mind that once upon a time Polish, Jewish as well as Italians were perceived to be a different race and not "white."

As American culture has developed being "white" has taken on many groups that used to be minorities with the influx of other minorities including, Hispanics, Asians and African-Americans. The only difference between a mixed-race person who is Polish, English and Jewish and someone who is African-American and Asian is that the latter person is visually more apparent to be a mixed race because of the fact that there simply are fewer of that "mixture" in our country.

Diana and I are going to have children that are mixed and I'm glad that we live in a society that in general speaks highly of mixed race kids. Many people both Asian and Caucasian have commented that kids who are half-Asian and half-white are very attractive (i.e. Keanu Reeves, Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Jennifer Tilly).  In a way, our children represent the American dream of racial harmony however that’s not necessarily the case for all children of mixed race.

There were many things left behind by the American military when we left at the end of the Vietnam war, devastated cities, unexploded bombs that littered the countryside and mixed raced children created by members of the American military. In no way am I implying that the American are completely at fault for this. Vietnamese woman had a role in this in many different ways but regardless of who’s to blame for these children the bottom line is that they exist as “Bui-Doi,” the dust of life, outcasts from society.

In the middle of the brilliant musical “Mrs. Saigon” a remake of the opera, Madam Butterfly, a Vietnam Veteran makes an impassionate speech to raise money to aid these children.



Starting with an a capella men’s choir coming out of the darkness, this songs unfolds into a solo voice. There is passion and desperation built into the songs which while framed as a persuasive speech making us reconsider the role that we played in these children’s lives.

I don’t think anyone would disagree with the tragedy and the sentiment in this song. These really are “all our children too.” While I’m glad that my children will not be viewed as “half-breeds” I can’t but think that we all have the potential to view children in our country as “Bui-Doi” to a degree.

No matter how much my children try to be “American” they will always be perceived byr the mainstream as a minority. Some of this may be positive stereotypes like that they are good at math, or more disturbing negative stereotypes like that they are North Koreans who want to blow up America. I’m not saying we are there right now but it doesn’t take a lot of imagination to picture people getting there.

“Bui-Doi” is reminder not only a plea crisis that we must take responsibility for but it’s also a reminder of the danger of projecting our fears, insecurities and anger upon children punishing them for our own failures.

They are all our children too.

Feed The Birds (Tuppence A Bag) from Mary Poppins

When I was a kid about in second or third grade I used to listen to audio-cassettes as I would go to bed and my favorite one to listen to was the soundtrack to Mary Poppins. Like many other things I encountered as a child I fixated on the music but the difference between Mary Poppins and other things I got into when I was a child, I’m still obsessed with Mary Poppins.

The pinnacle of Walt Disney’s creative ambitions, Mary Poppins still holds up today as one of the most finely crafted musical and films for that matter ever created. Dick Van Dyke’s often-criticized cockeyed accent can’t take away form his irresistible charm and virtuosic performance as Bart.



Karen Dotrice and Matthew Garber’s heartwarming performance as Jane and Michael Banks reminds us how good children actors can be.



And of course there’s Mary Poppins herself played by the “practically perfect in every way” Julie Andrews.


Mary Poppins came out one year before The Sound Of Music in 1964. Nominated for consecutive Academy Awards for both of these films, Andrews won for Mary Poppins (as well as Golden Globes for both of these roles). Let’s pause for a second, isn’t it just a little mind-blowing that Julie Andrews stared in two of the greatest films of all time in consecutive years?

Andrew’s Mary Poppins is dark and a little creepy with just as much charm as Maria from Sound Of Music. Manipulative, crazy and enigmatic Mary Poppins is one of the most enduring characters in film.

While the soul of The Sound of Music is “Edelweiss” (which I discussed in this earlier post), the soul of Mary Poppins is “Feed the Birds (Tuppence A Bag).” Representing the antitheses of Mr. Bank’s capitalistic motivation, the story of the old lady who feeds birds is one of giving and warmth. This is exactly what Jane and Michael so eagerly want from their father, which is why the children so badly want to feed the birds.



The verses are mysterious in their harmony, while the instrumentation paints a dark and uncertain picture of a foggy London street. A lilting waltz begins when Mary quotes the old lady before the verse comes to a rest.

I don’t know what it is about the way that Julie Andrews sings “feed the birds,” but it’s truly magical. Her singing warms your soul like a hot chocolate on a snowy day.  Maybe it’s the fact that what she is saying is a plea for all of us to just slow down our hectic lives and care for someone else.

Whatever it is, every time that first chorus starts I get chills. There is something so intimate, so immediate about this song. While "Feed The Birds" masterful musical arrangements and performance with subtle and nuanced meaning in the words, none of this gets in the way of the simple joy of knowing and loving this song as a child. 

10 Reasons To Get Excited About Music: #4-1

[to see the first part of this list #10-8 click on this link]
10. Music Gods Still Walk The Face Of The Earth
9. American Idol and Glee are teaching the youth of America (and some of us who need refreshers) the history of pop music.
8. Rock Is Broadway
[to see the second part of this list #7-5 click on this link]
7. Teen Music Doesn’t Suck
6. Rolling Stone Is A Great Magazine
5. Music Is Everywhere

Now, we have the final four . . .

4. Genre? What's A Genre?
The lines between musical genres have been obliterated. Marketing people would love to define what we listen to into categories, too bad popular music has made this nigh impossible.

You Want to rap over rock? Go for it.



You want to record a country album? Why not?



Record a hit song as a kids record? Sure



Breaking genres is awesome for artists so they can express their art and not categories. As for us as an audience, we get to listen to anything we want as we explore music not because of its genre but despite it. Marketing companies no longer have power to tell us what we shall listen. We have the power.

3. Music Is Funny Again
Sometimes we take music too seriously. In the 1980s Weird Al Yankovich provided much needed perspective and relief from the sometimes preposterous hits of the 1980s. I mean really, Michael Jackson stopping a gang knife fight? Really?



While artist like The Barenaked Ladies and Brad Paisley continue to inject humor into music, there is a certain amount of darkness and gravity in popular music. Thank God the clouds are breaking and it's okay to laugh again.

From "I'm On A Boat" to "D*&$ In A Box," Andy Samberg with help from Saturday Night Live has reintroduced to us how great it is to laugh at music.



Glee is showing us how the context can point out the absurdity of great pop music and watching people sing atrociously bad on American Idol is a little bit of Shadenfruede we've all enjoyed. We can't forget youtube.com which as disseminated more musical humor both intentional and unintentional than Weird Al could ever imagine.

2. Twilight Is Changing The Way We Listen To Music

The soundtrack to the Twilight film adaptations of the best-selling Stephanie Meyer vampire saga are actually soundtracks. These aren't corporate marketing tools laced with singles meants to cash out on a film. Remember soundtracks like Batman Forever that featured the Seal hit "Kiss From A Rose"? That sound was recorded before the film and had nothing to do with Batman.

But it's not the return of the "real" film soundtrack that is exciting but the deliberate integration of literature and music. If you go to the official Twilight website, Stephanie Meyers has playlists for each of the Twilight books. Fans are encouraged to listen to this music as they read the books and fans themselves create their own playlists.

Now you may not like Twilight or the music associated with this series but you to admit that the integration of these two art forms is an exciting developments in literature and music. When done right like in a great film, combining the right music with the right book has the potential to create deeper and more powerful artistic experiences.

I can't wait to buy a book that comes with its own soundtrack.

1. Music Can't Die.
The idea that "rock is dead" or any kind of music or art being "dead" is like saying that humanity is dead. This pessimistic viewpoint not only goes against music but ourselves, our potential, our hopes and our dreams.

Yes, there are ups and downs in music. Even at the best of times there is mediocre music in our popular culture but without fail great artists and great music remind us why we love music.

The only way that the people we love truly die is if we somehow exorcise their spirit from our being. This however is an impossibility because every moment, every conversation and every song not only influences who we are but is everything that we are.

Love the music you listen to and the listen to music that you love.

Rainbow Connection by Kermit The Frog

There are things from our childhood that stick with us in our entire lives. These are memories that remind us of the wonder of life, the beauty of innocence and the pure joy that only children experience.

When we revisit these things a lot of times we find that they served us better in our memory. I loved watching the He-Man cartoon as a child but watching it now . . . man is it bad. Even for an extended toy commercial, it was horrendous.



I wish hadn’t recently watched this show, I’d rather have the memory of the watching as a kid and loving it. It doesn’t ruin the memory but it kind of sours it.

Occasionally when we visit something from our childhood and it’s even better than we remember. As much as I loved “Rainbow Connection” as a child, it means so much more to me now as adult.



The opening of The Muppet Movie, the first film to star Jim Henson’s creations features one of the unforgettable opening scenes in film. Like Dorothy singing “Somewhere Over The Rainbow,” Kermit’s version of the “I Want” song speaks to our dreams and hopes.

Kermit gently ponders the way that we find hope in our lives. The first verse is about rainbows, discussing how they are only illusions and that there really isn’t anything on the other side. In the second verse, Kermit explains that the only reason we wish upon a star is that someone made up the idea.

The rising and falling melody is filled with hope and the end of the verses has a gentle rocking pattern which mirrors Kermit’s thoughts. We get the sense not so much that he is being a pessimist but that he needs to find his own way to believe in the future, to make something happen in this life, to find his own rainbow connection.

Kermit's connection doesn’t come from a song or someone else’s idea about wishing upon a star but rather a voice that comes from inside. A voice that “I’ve heard it too many times to ignore it” that tells him “ there’s something that I’m suppose to be.”

“Rainbow Connection,” is a beautiful song of reflection that questions the way that we move forward in our lives contemplating the nature of our dreams and who we are. What makes it all the more powerful is Kermit himself.

I know that Jim Henson was sitting in an underwater tank looking at a monitors performing Kermit’s mouth while other puppeteers amazingly controlled his arms. There seems on the surface so little possibilities for expression in this puppet. The eyes don’t move, there’s no eyebrows and he stays seated the whole song but somehow we believe that he truly is singing this song.

I don’t know how Jim Henson injected so much soul and heart into his creations but somehow he did and of course I didn’t think of this when I was a kid. He was Kermit The Frog and this song was just fun to sing and made me happy. The Amazing things is that as an adult I feel the same way. All my adult realism and logic disappears for a couple minutes when I watch Kermit sing this song and I find my own rainbow connection to my childhood.

Santa Claus Is Coming To Town by The Jackson 5

Now I never believed in Santa Claus.

My parents being immigrants and not Christians did their best with Christmas. They did the gift thing, got a tree decorated the house but that was as far as it went with my family. We visited Santa in the mall and took pictures with the guy but there was never any illusion that anyone but our parents were responsible for getting us gifts. It wasn't so much that my brother and I were motivated to be good because of Santa but rather our parents.

Now perhaps having an outside influence, an omnipresent force like Santa to remind kids to be good is helpful but it kind of seems like a parental cop-out. I mean if your child is acts better when you mention Santa Claus as opposed to behaving well just for you then it seems you may have some behavior and respect issues to deal with.

The one song that most directly addresses the Santa Claus myth is "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town." Originally performed on sung on Eddie Cantor's radio show in 1934, this song became an instant Christmas classic.

Now most recordings of "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town" come from the perspective of an adult warning a child to be good. The words are a little ominous and foreboding saying telling a child that they should not only be good for Santa sake but "good for goodness sake."



Just think about the lyrics a second. Every line of the verse starts out with "you better." If that's not a veiled threat I don't know what is. I mean the song never explicitly describes what will happen if you are bad but I got to wonder if there isn't something punitive involved with Santa besides not getting gifts. This in addition to the fact that Santa is kind of a stalker is kind of disturbing, I mean this guys knows EVERYTHING!!

Here's the thing, I actually like this song the connotations don't work from me but it’s different hearing the words come from a child. This is one reason that my favorite version of "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town" is by The Jackson 5.



Not that it was enough for The Jackson 5 to break out with "I Want You Back" (which was one of the first posts I wrote), but the Jackson 5 and the geniuses at Motown continued to revolutionize popular music.

The Jackson 5 reved up the "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town," adding a classic up tempo Motown beat. They also changed the melody on the line "Santa Claus is coming to town." Instead of starting low and rising up and down using broken thirds, it starts on high note out of nowhere falling down before jumping up for another high note. I mean Michael just gives that high note everything that he's got. You can just picture him closing his eyes, throwing his head back and letting free his voice.

In Michael's hands this song is less about being good or being bad, but just celebrating the fact that Santa is on his way. Michael captures a child like joy and innocence like other children singers but his vocal power and expression adds a layer of soul to his performance that takes this song to a whole different level.

The Jackson 5's version is so influential that many artist like Bruce Springsteen “Santa Claus Is Coming To Town” is as the Jackson 5 did modifying the melody and mimicking the Jackson 5's joyous spirit.



Listening to Michael makes you feel that he actually believes that Santa coming to town and his joy makes me want to believe in Santa Claus.

Octopus’s Garden by the Beatles

"Octopus's Garden" album version
"Octopus's Garden" live performance

Ringo Starr has spent his life first as a member of the Beatles and now as a solo artist sharing joy and happiness through his music. He was the last of the four Beatles to join the group before they made their meteoric rise to worldwide super-stardom. As the drummer of the Beatles he contributed to almost all of the songs musically but was the least prolific song-writer and vocalist in the group.

On all of the Beatles albums, Ringo sang at least one song, which Lennon and McCartney composed for Ringo. The most famous of these songs is “Yellow Submarine.” This gave Ringo a voice in the group but these songs were more often not as popular as the other songs on the albums and were not released as singles. So it was understandable that Ringo, who at one time was the leader of his own band, became frustrated with being in the shadow of the other three Beatles.

Ringo felt he had enough during the sessions for The White Album and left the group for two weeks in 1968. During this time, he took his family on a vacation, which included a boat ride with his family. On this boat ride he had a conversation with the boat’s captain that inspired on one of the Beatles most enduring songs.

“We were talking about octopus and he was actually telling me that they build these gardens. Octopuses go around the seabed find shiny things, nice stones and they put them around and I just thought, ‘this was the happiest thing I’ve heard.’”

Ringo took the happiness that he felt in the idea of an octopus’s garden and transformed it into a song. There is joy in the inspiration of the song matches the mood it which it was created as can be seen in this clip showing Ringo working on “Octopus’s Garden” with George Harrison.

Watching the look on George and Ringo’s face, there is a sense of pride and pure joy coming from the magic of musical creation when Ringo starts playing chords on the piano. It is interesting to see George suggest some different chords to bring the song out of the chorus, which shows George’s amazing musical intuition. When they start it again after working at some chords from the beginning of the song (at 1:40), their producer George Martin comes into listen (he is on the top left corner) and starts adding back-up vocals, fascinated by what is watching. John and Yoko walk in and John adds some playful percussion while leisurely lighting a cigarette.

“Octopus’s Garden” is a description of a fantasy world. The lines in the song speak to basic needs that we all have to feel safe and at home. The octopus “knows where we’ve been,” and the garden is warm and restful. It’s a place where we feel free to sing, dance, shout and swim about. Most of all Ringo is singing about a place that we can be happy and safe, and really, that is all that we really want in our lives after facing the storms of the day.

Ringo speaks from the first person using the inclusive “we” to describe how great the garden is, “we would be warm . . we would sing and dance.” This is not an experience for Ringo alone but for us all to share. After describing how the garden, Ringo ends the songs with “I want to be under the sea in an octopus’s garden with you.” With this one line, we realize that Ringo does not want the octopus’s garden for himself but as something that he can share with us.

There is something different in Ringo’s voice. It’s not just the fact that he has a lower baritone voice while the other three Beatles had higher tenor voices. Ringo’s voice is not as resonant or bright as Paul’s voice but it has a familiarity to it. In some ways, his singing is closer to speaking. Ringo reminds me of a children song singer who focuses more on the character in their voice than the vocal beauty and it is Ringo’s character that makes this song feel some warm.

Adult logic tells us that we can’t live under the sea, and that an octopus’s garden would probably be a horrible place to live, but even though the literal meaning of the song is child-like and fantastic, the song’s heart is true. We all yearn for the place that Ringo is singing about and we all, hopefully have an “octopus’s garden” in our lives. It can be in our apartment, our car, or the arms of a loved one. What I love about this song is that for me “Octopus’s Garden” is exactly what it sings about: a song that takes me to place inside of myself where I am happy and safe.

Hard Knock Life (Ghetto Anthem) by Jay-Z & It's a Hard Knock Life (from Annie)

"It’s a Hard Knock Life" from Annie:

1982 film version
1999 film version

My first memory of the term ghetto was when I was learning about the holocaust in elementary school as the area that the Nazi’s forced the Jews to live in. When I got to high school “ghetto rap” music emerged and the idea of a “ghetto” began to change in my head.

There was a time when hip-hop culture and rap music was on the fringes of society but now the influence of “ghetto culture” is clearly seen every aspect of our lives. While there are artists who have genuine experiences growing up in the ghetto there are many who do not and romanticize this idea of “gangsta life” to sell more records. This has led to feeling being ghetto is overexposed and a little tiring.

Now it seems that “ghetto” has become a word to describe something that is humorously lower class. There some who feel that it is detrimental to use the word “ghetto” to mock others. This may be true and in asking myself “what is truly ghetto?” my mind goes back to the ghetto anthem I heard in high school “Hard Knock Life” by Jay-Z.

One thing attracted me to “Hard Knock Life,” the fact that Jay-Z utilized a sample from the musical Annie based on the comic strip Little Orphan Annie. You know Annie with the curly red hair and the red dress with the dog and sings that “Tomorrow” song and how it’s only a day a way. Unlike most of the planet, my favorite song from Annie isn’t “Tomorrow.” I was also more intrigued by “It’s a Hard Knock Life” and when I heard Jay-Z’s version it blew my mind.

Rap artist have been sampling music since the art form came to life. Most of these samples come from soul and R & B music. The melding of show tunes into rap music is something that hadn’t been seen before in the mainstream culture and proved to me the unlimited possibilities of sampling

When I first came to know the “It’s a Hard Knock Life” from Annie and Jay-Z’s version of the song my fascination was mostly because I liked the melody. However, each time I come back to “It’s a Hard Knock Life” it becomes more stark and depressing and Jay-Z’s version gains a deeper level of meaning.

The original cast recording of “It’s a Hard Knock Life” which Jay-Z sampled is much slower than the film versions of the song. In the original cast recording, the tempo is at 120 beats per second, which is the standard American march tempo. Bands perform most traditional American marches like “Stars & Stripes Forever” by John Philip Sousa at this tempo. There is an instant feeling of marching, an almost protest like rally call that the orphans sing as the clean up the orphanage. The brash brass and timpani make it seem like a call to arms, an angry declaration of worker grievances, which mirrors the setting of the musical during the great depression.

Even though the girls are angry and complaining the fact they are doing just that is shockingly sad. Children who grow up in the lower class or without parents often do not realize what they are missing. They often think that their lives are normal and in some ways this is less painful the knowing what they are missing the children. In “It’s a Hard Knock Life” one girls complains about never seeing Santa Claus and another girl responds saying “What’s that?” She doesn’t even know that it’s a person and for that girl, her ignorance of Santa Claus means there is one thing less that she isn’t depressed about missing. With its stilted rhythm and jagged melody “It’s a Hard Knock Life” is a declaration of a different kind of ghetto life, one that these orphans dream of leaving and in “Hard Knock Life” Jay-Z has left the ghetto but has found that it hasn’t left him.

Jay-Z, in “Hard Knock Life,” describes his journey from living in the ghetto to becoming a successful rap star. He explains that is from the “school of the hard knocks” a place of fierce loyalty. This makes him feel responsible to help the people that he has left behind in the ghetto. In the second verse, he explains that he “flows” or raps for girls so that they do not have to strip to pay college tuition. Later in the third he explains how ghetto life is still inside of him, something that he can’t escape, “Hustling's still inside of me.” There is a sense of burden that Jay-Z carries with him. As much as Annie looks forward to tomorrow, Jay-Z is haunted by yesterday.

When asked about Annie, Jay-Z commented “I watched the movie and was mesmerized ... They're too strong to let life bring them down. That's the ghetto right there . . . these kids sing about the hard knock life, things everyone in the ghetto feels coming up ... That's the ghetto anthem.”

As much as we would like to think that we moved away from our hometown and our experiences growing up, we can never truly separate ourselves from all of that because, they are who we are.

When you are haunted a childhood that you know you didn’t deserve, a place that you feel you must give back to, a lifestyle that you don’t feel like you can ever move past, only then will you have a true understanding of what is ghetto.

Love Child by the Supremes

I took a sociology class my freshmen year at Northwestern University. One of the books I read for this class was Sidewalk by Mitchell Duneier. This book documented the life of homeless people in New York City and explained how they handled different aspects in their life like how they made money found food. One aspect that I never thought about was their romantic life. I just assumed that homeless people didn’t have boyfriends or husbands. I didn’t really think that someone who get their food from a trash could have a sex life, but they do.

Duneier discuss where homeless people find places to be romantic, make love and how these relationships in many way are not that different than the relationships of those of us who are fortunate enough to live comfortably. However, like most things for people who are in poverty, romance and sex is more challenging and in some ways is not as enjoyable.

Everything from fancy dinners, sexy underwear and romantic vacations all contribute to people’s enjoyment of each other. One of the less apparent advantages but important ones is birth control. Whether it’s condoms or pills, these things all cost money. If those things fail, people of means have much more resources and options when it comes to abortions and putting children up for adoption. The lack of options of people in poverty and the fear of an unwanted baby drives the narrator in “Love Child.”

I always found “Love Child” to be one of the most intriguing songs that the Supremes recorded. The Supremes set the standard for what it meant to be a girl group. Motown built up the Supremes with an image of high-class elegance singing some of the best crated pop songs in music history. Most of the songs are relatively light in their subject matter, contemplating idealized romantic love through a variety of situations.

After two failed singles, Berry Gordy the owner of Motown records got a group of songwriters called The Clan to work on a new hit single for the Supremes. What they created was not a song about romantic love but a song about a woman trying to explain to her boyfriend why she doesn’t want to have sex with him. Can you imagine pitching this song idea to a pop radio station? The subject doesn’t sound like something that most people would want to listen to but “Love Child” holds as the Supremes best selling single, outselling all of their other 45 releases. It was so successful it knocked off The Beatles’ enormous hit “He Jude” off the number one spot on the pop charts.

Diana Ross, the lead singer of the Supremes takes on the roll of a woman who was born a “love child.” This is another term for a child born to unwed parents. Her mother was poor and Diana’s character grew up in a tenement slum. She describe is the first verse how she never knew her father and that she carries the guilt from her mother about the fact that she has no name. In the second verse Diana, describe starting school in a second hand dress. There is pain in not having the things that her friends had but what is even more painful is the guilt that she carries.

This first hand experience as a “love child” motivates Diana’s character to try to convince her boyfriend to hold off making love because the possibility of creating a “love child” that they will both end up hating this child. Diana’s character asserts that if she has a illegitimate child that it will carry the same shame and guilt that she carries.

There are attitudes in our society about children born out of wedlock, but I wonder if the level of shame and guilt that Diana’s character experiences comes more from her mother than society. Diana’s character herself feels ashamed of her own existence and this is one of the most shocking things about this song. She talks about a “love child” as being “never meant to be” and if there is any doubt that she is referring to herself, she sings in the end of the first chorus “take a look at me.”

“Love Child” ends with a declaration of love. In an earlier section she explains to her boyfriend that she wants to please him and that she needs him which is followed by talking about a the love child they may create. So when Diana starts signing “I’ll always love you,” my initial thought was that she was singing to her boyfriend. In declaring that she loves him, maybe she is attempting to assuage his advances by expressing a level of commitment that would make up for not making love. The more I listen to this song, the more I think that she’s probably not singing to him, but to herself and to her child.

As Diana sings “I will always love you” it sounds more like a desperate cry than a declaration of romantic love. After telling herself and her future child how much she thinks they are both mistakes, she realizes how wrong she is and tries to convince them otherwise. Was she being so negative as a reflection of how she truly feels or in an effort to convince her boyfriend not to force her to have sex? Either way by the end of the song, with the back-up singers reminding us that the being a “love child” is on her mind, she sings about love, apologizing to herself and her future child.

Diana Ross stretches her dramatic abilities as a singer in “Love Child.” In earlier songs written for the Supremes, Diana’s thin, gentle and conversational voice worked in those songs. She doesn’t have a large range, or a great degree of variety in her tone but “Love Child” she approaches a level of rawness, expressing an internal struggle as she pushes her voice creating a level of intensity that drives the song as much as background instruments.

The Andantes, Motown’s session singers sang on this record instead of the Mary Wilson and Cindy Birdsong, the other two members of the Supremes. The Andantes begin the song singing on “oo” while softly rising. Then right before Diana enters they sing a high tense “ah” that comes across like a woman screaming. This happens a couple times during the song expressing the turmoil in the main character’s mind and makes it clear to the listener that there is a level of pain to be dealt with in this song.

Sometimes I wonder, what is the point of a song like “Love Child.” It’s not especially happy and it doesn’t put me in a great mood to listen to it. I’m sure some people who feel like Diana Ross’ character can relate to it, but I don’t really relate to most of this song. Is this song suppose to make me feel bad about poor people motivating me to go help them? I don’t think so, and that’s one reason why I like this song. It’s not preachy but instead it’s an interesting examination of a human conflict. These kinds of stories come from all different place, sometimes it’s from Green Bow, Alabama with a guy names Forrest and other times it comes from a tenement slum. What great stories do is help us know another person for a moment and in that experience we feel things that we don’t normally do, and get perspective on our lives.

It’s important that we are aware of the struggles of others, not so that we can feel guilty all of the time and spend our lives doing charity work. We all should work to help others but people’s choices about charity are their own prerogative. However, it is essential that we are aware of struggles like the one in “Love Child” because it is through understanding each struggle that we realize that there is no individual experience but only a shared humanity that binds us, challenges us and brings us closer to each other and ourselves.

When She Loved Me (from Toy Story 2) by Sarah McLachlan

"When She Loved Me" live at the Academy Awards

I didn't cry when Bambi's mom died. I didn't cry when Simba walked off into the dust believe that he had killed his father, but I did cry when Jessie told us her story about the love she once shared with her Emily.

Pixar continues the grand Disney tradition of animated films that feature incredible technical innovations but more importantly powerful character-driven stories that examine the human conditions. One of the central themes in Disney animated features is love. In Sleeping Beauty, it was the kiss of a her true love that woke her but like in many early Disney films this love was more based on destiny rather then human interaction. Later Disney film took a deeper more realistic examination into love like in Beauty And the Beast. Belle and the Beast both learned to love from a relationship that started in conflict and evolved into friendship. This was not love at first sight but rather love that born out of struggle and true caring.

In Pixar's first film Toy Story, romantic love took a back seat to the love between friends. Woody and Buzz, two toys learned to care about each other like a family and enjoyed a mutual love for their owner Andy. In Toy Story 2, released four years later in 1999 we found out just how powerful and beautiful love between friends could be when Jessie another toy told Woody about the owner she had lost.

Randy Newman the composers of “When She Loved Me,” is a master orchestrated who has composed soundtracks for over twenty films and is a skilled song writer as well. Great orchestra composers show their skill not by using as many instruments as possible but by using particular instruments at specific times like a painter with a palette of colors. For example, in the last verse, the word loved of “like she loved me, ” is colored with the high strings, the woodwinds, the French horns, and accentuated by plucked notes in the lower string. These instruments warm up the song like a gentle ray of sunlight and are made effective by the fact that this is the first time this particular group of instruments appear in the song.

“When She Loved Me” feels like a simple song and one of the reasons that it speaks so clearly to us is the way the lyrics and the rhythm in the melody work together. If you were to say “when somebody loved me,” you would probably have a slight emphases on “loved.” It would come out as “when somebody loved me,” as opposed to “when somebody loved me.” Newman also emphases “when,” which doesn’t necessarily feel natural but it changes the meaning of the line to be more reflective.

Later Newman sets “So the years went by, I stayed the same” working so closely to the rhythm of the words that he disregards the meter and drops beats. This doesn’t seem awkward because people don’t speak in perfectly organized meters. Working from the natural rhythm in our language makes the melody an organic extension of the words that helps the melody be more accessible while allows the composer to add layers of meaning within the text.


“When She Loved Me” is a perfect marriage between the song and the singer and Sarah McLachlan performs this song as only she can. Sarah McLachlan is an accomplished songwriter and singer with a unique and powerful artistic voice. She has a dynamic singing voice that can start at a whisper and grow to an incredible full glorious sound flowing between different colors in her voice effortlessly. Sara McLachlan often will slide up to notes in an almost like yodel way but slower and with more grace. She does this at the beginning on the word “was” in “everything was beautiful.” The best example of the power in her voice is when she sings “I will always love you” at the climax of the song, the clarity of the tone, the way she colors the pitch by pulling each note flat and the shape in each word creates sublime and emotionally draining moment.

At it's core "When She Loved Me" is about a break-up. Jessie was Emily's toy. While Emily drifted away, Jessie stayed the same and Emily eventually gave Jessie away. The love that they shared has never left Jessie and this not a selfish love. Jessie reminisces about making her happy when she was sad and comforting Emily when she was lonely. As beautiful as the descriptions of love are, each verse reminds us of the heartbreaking truth that this love is gone. The first line “when somebody loved me,” sets the mood for the whole song and does not only imply that Jessie has lost love but also that she does not feel like anyone currently loves her. This song describes love so well that the thought of life without love almost too much to bear.

Jessie gets a second taste of love in the last verse and it is wonderful but Jessie knows that it’s not real as Emily holds her “like she loved me.” Most people I know after a break-up would rather not have that person give them the same feeling of love if they knew that it wasn’t true. The reason that Jessie accepts it and speaks so warmly about it isn’t that because is ignorant of the way that Emily truly feels but because she is so sad that even illusion of Emily’s love makes her feel alive.

“When She Loved Me,” is one of the saddest songs I know, but I love listening to it. We listen to sad music not because we like being sad but because the experience of feeling makes us feel alive. In “When She Loved Me” we experience great sadness, it touches our hearts and we may cry but when it’s over we appreciate the love we have in our lives even more.

If you have never watched Toy Story 2,please do. It’s a beautiful film. After seeing it I promise that you will never forget “When She Loved Me” the same way that Jessie never forgot her Emily. . . with love in her heart.

Puff the Magic Dragon by Peter, Paul & Mary

A couple weeks ago I was driving my with one of my fiends, Allie. My iPod was plugged into my car stereo and was playing a random selection of songs. The guitar introduction of “Puff the Magic Dragon” started and Allie immediately asked me to change the song. “Why? This song is awesome, I know it’s a kid’s song but it’s great,” I replied and then she explained, “I can’t listen to this song, every time I hear it, I cry.” I didn’t understand why at the time, but after some reflection, I think I know why.

Peter Yarrow and Leonard Lipton composed “Puff the Magic Dragon” in 1963 and was made popular by Yarrow’s singing group Peter, Paul & Mary. This group was part of the folk music revival movement of the 1960s which including Joan Baez, and Bob Dylan. This movement carried on American folk traditions and featured songs with acoustic backgrounds, simple melodies and an emphasis on lyrics. “Puff the Magic Dragon” follows this tradition featuring two acoustic guitars. It also features a melody that utilizes a small range of notes that is repetitive and easy to sing along with which is an important feature in social nature of folk music.

The lyrics tell the story of an immortal dragon named Puff and his friend, Jackie Paper. They play together in a land called Honalee. Jackie grows up and looses interest in playing with Puff leaving Puff alone and depressed. I’ve known this song all my life and as a child this song was fun to sing with an imaginative story. The wonder of having dragon to play with and the Peter Pan-like adventures captured my imagination as a child. The part about growing up didn’t mean much but now as adult I understand the hardships of growing up described in this song.

Is it inventible that when we grow up we lose the wonder and imagination of being a child and like Jackie Paper does? The transition to adulthood is hard. The fun of school transforms into work, weekends, which once were mini-vacations, are now opportunities to run errands and the hopes and dreams in our hearts become weighed down by the practicality of life. As an adult, there are freedoms that children dream of but they come with the price of responsibility that sometimes makes theses freedoms seem not worth the trouble.

Probably the saddest realization in this song is the Puff is dead because we grew up. The first line of the song is “Puff the magic dragon lived by the sea.” He “lived” by the sea and even though the song explains that dragons live forever, the song reminds up that he is no longer with us. When Puff ceases his fearless roar and goes into his cave, it becomes clear that he only lives forever with Jackie Paper as people who have passed on live in our hearts.

After listening to “Puff the Magic Dragon” if we aren’t feel bothered by the ending, it may be because we accept it’s message as part of life. However, if we feel sad at the end, its because we are mourning what is lost in adulthood and because we don’t accept that losing the wonder of childhood is part of our destiny. Sometimes I look at children and become envious of their innocence and the simplicity of their lives but then I catch myself because I don’t believe that it is inevitable that we lose the wonder of childhood as adults and now neither do Peter, Paul & Mary.



In the 1960s Peter, Paul & Mary may have believed the story they were telling but in recent performances (see the “live performance” link at the top of this article) they have made one small but significant change in “Puff the Magic Dragon.” In the last chorus, Mary calls out “present tense” and they sing “Puff the magic dragon lives by the sea.” Maybe after 30 years of singing this song and seeing the wonder of and joy in children’s faces when they sing this song they realized that Puff is alive in all of us. We don’t lose the wonder of being a child, we just seem to forget about it, and like Puff, it’s waiting there for us whenever we want to go play again as a child.

Allie, I think the reason why this song makes you cry is because the original recording of the song is saying something that you don’t want to believe. Maybe on some level, you feel sad that the rest of the world seems to become pessimistic and disheartened. The thing is that I like that about you. I believe you should admire the people you keep close to you and one of the things I admire about you is your optimistic and sense of wonder that you hold in your heart and the fact that you want others to share in that.

I hope this song brings you tears of joy knowing that Puff is still with us. We write the next verse of this song with the way we live our lives and I have no doubt you will have further adventures with your dragon and that he can’t wait to see you again.