Life is a Lemon (and I frackin love this song for some reason)

Life is a Lemon (and I frackin love this song for some reason)

Written by Kevin Richards  

                                                                     

It’s corny as hell. It's long (I'm talking Pink Floyd on mescaline looooong), repetitive and… ugh! I find myself listening to it again and again. I feel like Guy Pearce from Memento trying to trace back my steps and remember how I ended up listening to this song again. 

Then it goes dark....and I suddenly find myself listening to it again. 

This enigma of a song is “life is a lemon (and I want my money back)” by rock legend and cheeseburger enthusiast, Meatloaf. Even the title warns you of the potential for cringe-worthy lyrics. Corniness comes mainly (for me) when the song gets a little to specific in it metaphors.

To give you an idea, here is a stanza from the song:

“(Desperation)…Leaves a stain on all your clothes and no detergent get it out”

-Meatloaf “Life is a Lemon”

I think it's that line that makes me check the room to insure no one sees me listening to it. I mean I'm not thinking, 'yeah desperation is dirty', I'm thinking “a stain that bad? it's too bad he doesn’t know my grandma, she's got something to get it out”. Getting stains out does not invoke a feeling of desperation, it invokes thoughts about manual chores. The only hint of desperation I feel from laundry is trying to find a place that’s willing to lessen their vice grip on their precious quarters.

Yet I keep listening. I bang my head at the appropriate parts and thoroughly get into the song.        
                                           

Now to be fair there are some parts that I find powerful.

Chorus: "what about school”

The loaf: “it’s a pack of useless lies!!”

Chorus: “what about your job”

The Loaf: “it’s a crock and then you die”

This whole section of the song is pretty relate-able. It's hard to imagine any person who hasn't felt frustration to the point of giving up or everything around them is pointless.

Maybe it’s possible I’ve become a cynical ass and lost sight of purely enjoying music on that basic level. Sometimes I feel like that friend we all have, you know the one who can’t just watch a movie without pointing out every minor problem (me).  Does it have to be perfect? Would perfect even be enjoyable?

HELL NO! Perfect is mechanical and for lack of a better term, soulless. You think Otis Redding's “Sitting at the Dock of the Bay” would have been so impactful if someone said “your voice needs to be more constant, it’s too shaky”?

On a personal level I used to make what I would label music in a pseudo-industrial style. After listening to much of what I had worked legitimately hard on, I realized I had no pathos or organic “imperfections” in my music.  Methodical, logical rhythm and perfect pitch (I'm not saying I do, because I definitely don't) does not make a good song.

Even a white and frankly, in perspective of the world, a fairly privileged white boy like me can feel like Otis and how powerless he feels, because it sounds like he’s barely keeping it together. Like he could cry, but if know one sees or cares, there’s no point, so I’m just going to watch the world pass by, the ships are in a state of working towards a goal, and he is willing but unable.  

So what do I conclude from this? Well I could try to make sense of it, but frankly I think I'll just go listen to "life is a lemon" while I still have my place to myself. :)