My 10 Most Relatable Classic Rock lyrics/Guest Podcast Appearance

Recently, I appeared on the Haggis & Mash podcast and I had a blast talking about classic rock and other stuff with Harley Quinn Lover & SonicHugs. Video embedded below:

The main topic on this podcast is song lyrics that are the most relatable to you. Being me, all my picks were classic rock. In this post, I’ll go more in detail about my picks. This time, I added five more songs. Let’s go!

(in no particular order)

1. “Hide in Your Shell” – Supertramp

“Hide in your shell, cos the world is out to bleed you for a ride. What will you gain making your life a little longer?”

 

“But you’ve got demons in your closet, And you’re screaming out to stop it, Saying life’s begun to cheat you, Friends are out to beat you, Grab on to what you can scramble for.”

I’ve totally mentioned this one before, but I don’t care about mentioning it again because it really is such a good song.

Don’t just take my word for it, Jeremy Clarkson of Top Gear called “Hide in Your Shell” the “finest piece of music ever written”.

Anyone who has suffered from depression or anxiety can relate to this song. Personally, I have felt like hiding because I thought the world is out to bleed me for a ride and the thought of living longer felt unbearable to me.

The second quote is something very relatable for me because a common emotion in my life is “screaming out to stop it” and I’ve definitely worried about if my friends are really my friends or are they just laughing at me behind my back.

This song is just beautiful and definitely the best Supertramp song.

Note, in the video I erroneously said that Roger Hogdson and Rick Davies wrote it. Rick Davies didn’t write it at all. It was Roger Hogdson. Sorry.

2. “Magic Man” – Heart

“‘Come on home, girl’ Mama cried on the phone. ‘Too soon to lose my baby, yet my girl should be at home’ But try to understand, try to understand, Try, try, try to understand, he’s a magic man, Mama”

What makes “Magic Man” amazing is the guitar work and the fact that this is a love song written by a woman from a woman’s point of view.

While Heart were not the first sisters of rock and roll (because The Ronettes, The Shangri-Las, The Pleasure Seekers, Fanny, et al came before them), they were game changers. Ann and Nancy Wilson played hard rock – not softer rock, they wrote their own music, they were the leaders and faces of the band, and they played their own instruments.

“Magic Man” is based on the true story of a 20-year-old Ann Wilson falling in love with long-time boyfriend from 1970-1980 Michael Fisher. Michael Fisher dodged the draft and hid in Vancouver. Occasionally, he would sneak across the border to Seattle to visit his little brother, Roger. Ann Wilson saw Michael Fisher at a concert and was smitten. She ended up moving away to Vancouver to be with him, which explains why Heart got their start in Canada and why some people mistakenly think they are Canadian (well, Seattle is basically Canada 😝).

My own love story was a bit like that. When I was 20, I was on my study abroad year. The summer right before I was to go, I was looking for a pen pal who was a student at the school I was going to. This guy in the same year of school as me messaged me.

Every day, until I arrived in Ireland, I would speak to this guy. Sometime that summer, my grandparents’ friend who was originally from Ireland, said to me, I think you’re going to find love in Ireland, watch out for those Irish guys. I kind of laughed off the comment and said something along the lines of “Sure, like that’s gonna happen”.

I arrived in Ireland on the 2nd of September 2014 and I met the guy I was messaging for the first time. Three weeks later, we were boyfriend and girlfriend, and three years later, we went on our honeymoon. The rule of three at work.

3. “1905” – Shona Laing

“1905, you won your battle with life. The turn was mine 50 years later. So it’s no use crying, time obviously didn’t even want me to start trying”

When Shona Laing was a teenager, she wrote this song about her celebrity crush, Henry Fonda and this is the song that shot her into stardom. The title, “1905,” is in reference to the year he was born. Shona was born 50 years later, in 1955.

I didn’t know about this song when I was a teenager, but when I heard it and listened to it, I realise that if there was a biographical movie made about me, this would be played during scenes depicting my teenage years.

My celebrity crushes are pretty much around 50 years older than me. When I look at this particular lyric, it really does resonate with me because all these classic rockers that I idolise, dead or alive, have won their battles with life. They made the big time, they achieved something, they created something that will live on, even a century or more after their passing. Fifty years after they were on top of the world, it’s now my turn to make something of myself, create something that will live on, achieve my goals. I’m not a musician, but I love to write about the musicians who have inspired me and take pictures of the nature and architecture in the places I visit. I hope that I have inspired someone.

 

4. “Brain Damage” – Pink Floyd

“If the cloud bursts… Thunder In your ear. You shout and no one seems to hear, and if the band you’re in starts playing different tunes, I’ll see you on the dark side of the moon.”

Dark Side of The Moon is the first album I ever owned. When I have the money, I want to get a tattoo of the heartbeat on my forearm or wrist.

Dark Side of the Moon has many inspirations, one of them being Syd Barrett and his struggles with mental illness. While I had different struggles than Syd, I found this album relatable.

The one line that stands out in this lyric is “you shout and no one seems to hear”. My confidence has never been that great and I’ve always been very shy when it comes to interacting with others.

Secondary school was a bleak and depressing time for me and I was crying out for help and wanting to get out of that situation, but no one seemed to listen or care, so I had to help myself to the best of my ability.

Even beyond that I felt like I wasn’t listened to or that anyone cared about what I had to say. I wasn’t even a thought in anyone’s minds. I was basically invisible, despite dressing in that unique way I do.

5. “Love Reign O’er Me” – The Who

“Only love can make it rain the way the beach is kissed by the sea. Only love can make it rain like the sweat of lovers’ laying in the fields. Love, reign o’er me!”

I can’t make a list of song lyrics that stand out without mentioning The Who.

Quadrophenia spoke to me, even though I grew up and was born on the wrong continent and decade. I loved the simple, timeless, put together fashions of the mods and The Who are my favourite band.

I went to a concert for a mod revival band, Secret Affair, and when I spoke to a roadie for The Lambrettas, they were stunned that an American loved the mod subculture so much, enough to travel to see a mod revival band.

As much as I loved the mod fashion and music popular amongst members of the subculture, something didn’t click. The hard partying lifestyle. I’m introverted, shy, and a bit awkward and I didn’t fit in. Now I just do my own thing, despite still using the angiemoonthemod handle on all my social media, I guess nostalgia factor is why I hold onto that.

This was the song playing when Jimmy realised he felt disillusioned with the mod subculture after seeing that Ace Face is just an ordinary guy who works an ordinary job.

The “Quad” in Quadrophenia means 4, the number of Who members and the number of themes. Pete Townshend wrote the concept album and gave each member a theme. “Love Reign O’er Me” is Pete’s theme and Pete is the member I relate to most.

6. “Imagine” – John Lennon

“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… You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one”

SonicHugs mentioned this song in the livestream and it got me thinking why this song resonated with me.

Before I got into classic rock and the era it’s from, a therapist told me they saw me as someone who belonged in that generation of idealistic hippies, the people who went to Woodstock.

I didn’t just hear that from that therapist. My mum and I were watching a movie about John Lennon and she said that I reminded her of him, because of the idealism and loving peace.

Since the age of 10, I’ve been an atheist. In my mid-late teens, I became more of an anti-theist, thinking that religion has done more harm than good and wishing that religion didn’t exist in the first place.

In secondary school I was a socialist and I dreamed of a world where everyone got along, we didn’t focus on nationality, and we could all live in peace. Sure it’s idealistic, but doesn’t everyone have their ideals?

7. “Little Miss Strange” – Jimi Hendrix

No one knows where she comes from. Maybe she’s a devil in disguise. I can tell by looking in her eyes.

My husband said that this song described me well. I’m little and a strange person. I don’t fit any mould and I am a bit mysterious.

I’m living for the lead guitar part, which jumps right out at me. Electric Ladyland is also an excellent album.

8. “Disorder” – Joy Division

“It’s getting faster, moving faster now, it’s getting out of hand,
On the tenth floor, down the back stairs, it’s a no man’s land,
Lights are flashing, cars are crashing, getting frequent now,
I’ve got the spirit, lose the feeling, let it out somehow.”

Ian Curtis wrote the opening track of Unknown Pleasures likely about his epilepsy.

While I do not have epilepsy, I could relate to the lyric quoted above. Sometimes I feel like the world is moving so quickly, getting out of hand and I feel trapped, like I’m on a 10th floor flat. Being on the autism spectrum, I could relate to the “lights are flashing, cars are crashing, getting frequent now” – how that causes sensory overload and I have to get away from it all.

9. “Going to California” – Led Zeppelin

“Standing on a hill in my mountain of dreams, telling myself it’s not as hard, hard, hard as it seems”

This Led Zeppelin song is about going somewhere else after a tough breakup and that place is California.

While I’ve never been through a tough breakup, I can relate to going somewhere new and starting off with a clean slate because that happens every few years in my life.

This particular lyric is beautiful and I have definitely had that moment standing on a mountain literally or figuratively and reminding myself that it’s not as hard as it seems, reassuring myself I can make it.

10. “Blackbird” – The Beatles

“Blackbird singing in the dead of night, take these broken wings and learn to fly. All your life, you were waiting for this moment to arise.”

Paul McCartney wrote this song about the civil rights movement in America.

The tapping in this song is beautiful and I love the sounds of the birds.

“Take these broken wings and learn to fly” is the line I can most relate to because when you’re marginalised, your wings are broken and you gotta learn to fly like everyone else.

Another part that strikes me is the “waiting for this moment to arise,” for me I’m not sure what moment I’m waiting for, but I hope one day it comes.