"Yesterday" Paul McCartney Paul McCartney
Included on the Beatles' 1965 album Help! 》
The songwriter and singer Paul McCartney was born in the 1940s, older than my grandmother. Without him, without the Beatles, perhaps I wouldn't have believed that these old songs would have loved many of our generation, including me. It's been a song for decades, but I've only heard it in recent years, and shortly after the art exam, a friend of the same age recommended it to me, and I was close to decadence because I fell off the list.
“Yesterday all my troubles seemed so far away, now it looks as though they're here to stay, oh I believe in yesterday, suddenly I'm not half the man I used to be.” (Yesterday all my troubles will be gone, but now I am worried, I would rather believe yesterday, and in a flash I will be like the previous judgment)
The first few words describe me too closely at that time, and I don't know what the lyrics behind me are expressing, but it may be precisely because of this ambiguity that many people resonate, that is, the helplessness of yesterday and the powerlessness of the present. Maybe what he wants to express is that the world is impermanent, the world changes, but the past has become the past...
I've heard that the melody was inspired by a dream by Paul McCartney that still lingers when he wakes up, who always thought it was someone else's creation, and after many questions he confirmed that it was his original, and then began to fill in the words. I always believe that everything in the dream comes from his heart, which is the voice of his heart, and he played it to his friends countless times before writing the lyrics, which interpreted this unforgettable song.
"Hey Jude" by The Beatles
Released in 1968 and included in the collection The Beatles
Mentioning this song, many people should think of the familiar circular melody "Na na na na na na hey Jude..." When I first heard it, I don't remember, I just remember from the time I saw those few lines of Chinese subtitles, it was deeply in my heart. "Take a sad song and make it better, remember to let her into your heart, then you can start to make it better." (Find a sad song to sing happier, remember to hide it deep in my heart, the world can start to get better) Whenever I am depressed or decadent, I will look for a melody to regulate my mentality, most of the time it is not this song, but it makes me begin to understand the joy that the song brings me.
I learned years later that the song was written for a five-year-old. That year, Beatles member John Lennon's marriage to his ex-wife came to an end, fearing that his son Julian would have a psychological shadow, and another member, Paul McCartney, wrote the song in the hope of encouraging him to face reality bravely. After hearing this story, whenever a friend confides in me, I will recommend or sing a melody for him to help him release his emotions, most of the time it is not this song, but it makes me believe in the unique power of music.
"Imagine" John Lennon John Lennon
Released in the United States in 1971 and released in the United Kingdom in 1975
Eight or nine years old I did not have a mobile phone, only an mp4, at that time electronic products were not very common and high-end, for the third and fourth grade children, there is a device that can listen to songs and watch mv is already very good. This is a song that comes with me in mp4, I still clearly remember that the song has only audio and no video, to be honest, the sound effect is not too good, I could not understand these English lyrics at that time, but it still deeply attracted me. I think this is the greatness of him, just by the melody can impress the young me, I believe there are many people.
“Imagine there's no countries, it isn't hard to do, nothing to kill or die for, and no religion too. Imagine all the people, living life in peace. You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one.” (It's not hard to think about what the world will be like regardless of the kingdom, there is no killing, no death, and no religious doctrine.) Imagine a picture of people living in peace and quiet. Maybe you will think that I am just a fool's dream, but I am not the only one who has this wish)
When I understood the meaning of the lyrics and heard the ending of John Lennon, he was shot to death by a deranged fan in 1980. The world-famous musician left his imaginary picture in the song and also left it to the world. Now, a full forty years have passed since his death, but the shootings have not stopped, and the deaths that should not have occurred are still continuous, which is really sad...
《We Are The World》
Michael Jackson Michael Jackson
Lionel Brockman Richie, Jr. Leonard Ritchie
And 45 singers from the United States sang together
Released in 1985 by Columbia Records
Jackson's song, which I was probably the first to hear, at first I didn't know the background of the song, but was simply moved by the lyrics, "We are the world, we are the children, we are the ones who make a brighter day, so let's start giving. But there's a chance we're taking, we're taking our own lives, it's true we'll make a brighter day just you and me." (We are all god's people, and we want to create a brilliant tomorrow, so now we have to give.) It was our choice, we grasped the life we had, and it was up to you and me to create a better world) Later I learned that Jackson and Leonard co-wrote this song to raise money for the hungry people of Africa.
In the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, more than 100 singers from China collaborated to complete the Chinese version of "Love", which was used as the theme song of the disaster relief party. There is a lyric I like very much, "Life is like a flower and a butterfly, and it is beautiful to snuggle with each other." In the 2010 Earthquake in Haiti, 85 singers in the United States recorded "We Are the World 25 For Haiti"; more than 50 Latin singers recorded the Spanish version of "Somos El Mundo" to raise funds to support the Haitian people. The same melody, different languages, condensing and transmitting the same love, this is its greatness, and it is also the original intention of Jackson and Lionel...
Heal The World by Michael Jackson
It was released on his solo album Dangerous in 1991
One afternoon, during the summer of the fifth and sixth grades, I was at home alone, flipping through Jackson's life and repertoire on the computer, and the entry said that he had founded a "children's fund", and that he had written "heal the world" for children, which I had never heard before. At the beginning of the song, it is the children's laughter, crying, talking, shouting, mixed with each other, a teenager with disappointment, helplessness, and expectation, expressing the appeal of the heart.
“Think about um... the generations and say we wanna make it a better place for our children and our children's children，so that they ,they,they,they know it's a better world for them． And think they can make it a better place." (Contemplating the tide of life and the tide, the change of generations, we want to create a better home for our children and their children and grandchildren, so that they can understand that they live in a world that is better than in the past, so that they can believe that they can also build a better world.)
Just like a documentary, when I click on the mv of the song, a scene that I still remember to this day appears in front of my eyes, a group of children are still innocent when danger comes, in the face of their smiles, the original cruel soldiers put down their weapons, and maybe peace comes... It's been nine years, and I still remember that picture and my mood at the time, which is enough to illustrate the greatness of this song, this creation. (Of course, it is also because I have a good memory)
Earth Song by Michael Jackson Michael Jackson
Released in 1995 on his solo album HIStory
Jackson's greatness goes without saying, and it is not something that can be described and expressed in simple words. But when I started listening to his songs and loving his songs, I didn't know what he had achieved, I didn't know his influence on the world, and even two years after his death I didn't know his name, and I didn't know that the songs that moved me were written and sung by him. I think the greatest regret and sorrow is that when you first start to understand a person you love and admire, he is no longer there, and this regret and sorrow is permanent as long as it exists.
"Earth Song" was the song I wanted to hear the most after I knew Jackson was dead, because in my memory, it had his near-collapse emotions and his high-pitched screams. “What about nature's worth？ It's our planet's womb" What about the common man? What about us？ Can't we set him free？ (What about ordinary people?) How do we do? Can't we let him be free? ）
What about the sunrise, what about the rain, the dwindling of the land, the weeping of the earth, the weeping of the coast, the earth of flowers, all the dreams that belong to you and me? The sacred land has been torn apart, have you forgotten the children who cried dead in the war? What about the years, what about humanity, and then about destruction... Jackson counted in his roar all these beautiful things that were moving away from us, and he himself had a good meaning in the hearts of many people, but he left early.
Writing this, it occurred to me that Jackson has been gone for nearly eleven years, that he has written a life-giving song, that he calls on people to cherish peace and protect the planet... If he knew that many things in nature are still going to be destroyed; if he knew that there are still wars in some places as there are constant disasters today; if he knew that because of the greed of some people, countless people were in desperate situations, in danger, and countless people lost their "freedom", how heartache would he be?
"Tell Me Why" by Declan Galbraith Dickran Galbraith
Released in 2002
Compared to Jackson and the Beatles, the young singer is naturally not great, and he was only an eleven-year-old when he recorded the song. But I put it on this list because it made me feel the same shock, it was a natural sound, and it was a soul-touching torture. The song begins with the sound of birdsong and running water, which always makes me imagine the beauty of nature, and when the lyrics appear, it is like being pulled back to reality in an instant. Why did the tigers run; why did we shoot; why did we let the forest catch fire; why did the dolphins cry; why did we let the sea dry up... The phrase "tell me why" is his heartfelt call, but also a rebuke to the world, and he represents thousands of children.
When I first heard this song, I was only a child of about ten years old, and perhaps the reason why it attracted me at that time was the singer's clear and loud voice, and the curiosity brought to me by the "why". Now, ten years later, what makes me think most is "Cos I don't understand, when so many need somebody, we don't give a helping hand." Fight for land" (why do we run away from condemnation, why do we have such a greedy life, why do we fight for territory) These questions, these accusations, these tortures of the heart and the soul, there are still no answers, but who does not want to be able to answer, who does not want to be able to disappear?