"I Dig Rock And Roll Music"
I dig rock and roll music And I love to get the chance to play (And sing it) I figure it's about the happiest sound goin' down today The message may not move me Or mean a great deal to me But hey! It feels so groovy to say I dig The Mamas & The Papas at the trip Sunset Strip in L.A. And they got a good thing goin' when the words don't get in the way And when they're really wailing Michelle and Cass are sailin' Hey! They really nail me to the wall I dig Donovan in a dream-like, tripped out way His crystal images, hey, they tell you 'bout a brighter day And when The Beatles tell you They've got a word "love" to sell you They mean exactly what they say I dig rock and roll music I could really get it on in that scene I think I could say somethin' if you know what I mean But if I really say it The radio won't play it Unless I lay it between the lines
Peter, Paul and Mary 1967 Written by Paul Stookey, James Mason and Dave Dixon
This is as good a time as any to make the first comment. So let me do two things here.
First, I will comment on this post, as the first of many to come that will simply be a song’s lyrics. I don’t even give you a link to the music. I’ll let you do that if you are so inclined. Let the words speak to you without any embellishment.
Secondly, I will make a brief comment on comments.
This is a song I heard in childhood and it is a fun upbeat tune and rhythm. It’s one of those that, when I read it the words, the music automatically pops into my head. I think the key phrase is the last one, “But if I really say it The radio won’t play it Unless I lay it between the lines.”
Comments are the seeds of conversation that can grow a community, so please comment, and comment as often as you wish, but be thoughtful as to what you say and how you say it. Strident verbal blasts are what seem to dominate a lot of the social media sites today. These can get a lot of likes and shares but they are toxic to relationships. Thanks for reading and reflecting.
I love the lyrics to this song. They actually remind me of the still point concept that was mentioned in another article because for me, that still point is a place of complete honesty with the irrational nature of my reality. In other words, my actual reality is ultimately impossible to perfectly measure or capture with my thoughts and logic. But what does seem to capture it, or at least illustrate it, are other irrational sources of joy like music and art. Dancing makes no sense. But there's definitely something special to it, because it means something to us. We value it.
And so I like the lyrics because they illustrate the path one naturally takes if they start at that irrational point of their deepest reality, that still point: truths about the rational world start to become clearer.
And from that point the song becomes a metaphor of itself, and sets an example for how to continue, despite the simplicity. Pretty cool.