George P. Smackers wrote:Bent Fabric wrote:I will say, also, that whatever IS innocent or naive about this sort of thing ("Love Is All Around" by the Troggs puts a lump in my throat for this very reason) is a virtue in my eyes.
I won't belabor the point, especially after Davey's gracious and even-tempered response to my grousing about a song he loves. (I'm a refugee from another forum where I found the Beatles worship to be too much!)
But I like "Love is All Around" too, and that makes me think about the difference. With the Troggs, it's a charming expression of a personal feeling, directed at a particular person. I love "I feel it in my fingers, I feel it in my toes." It's circumstances-based and a little manic. I.e. totally justified.
The Lennon song is him telling us, like a lecture. He knows, we don't. It's not personal--it's a general statement. I guess to like the song, you have to hear it as an encouraging, friendly lecture, but I can't.
The Troggs song is really such a lovely thing, I can certainly see how it constrasts in that way for you. There are times in which something personal and wistful like that is just the right medicine.
What I'd counter with (not to try to win a debate, or convince you of anything - but perhaps to help illuminate what moves me so much) is the out and out joy AYNIL is delivered with. It's feels like it's just bursting with life and celebration. It's not a statement of personal contentment, but like the O'Jays...an invitation onto a love train.
Listening to it today, I thought back on all of the comments here making it out to be musically uninspired. But that mistakes simplicity for lack of imagination. How anyone could listen to the counter melody in the string arrangement and hear it as anything but glorious eludes me. Not to mention the lovely melodic rise on "love...love" (just before resolving with "love is all you need."
On a lyrical level...it reads more like an affirmation than a lecture to me. The simple abstraction of the verses challenging us to question the logic of the mundane, and maybe getting us to think about love itself differently. The key line to me is, "there's nowhere you can be that isn't where your meant to be" - a sentiment that goes so far as to encourage us not to bother with the oppression of meeting one's destiny (because if you think about it...you can't miss your destiny).
All of that packed in...plus the video (and as was mentioned before...the colors).
As for the Beatles-love that's caused you to feel claustrophobic. I can't speak to that. It's understandable. But baby...bath water..