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For no particular reason other than that I like this song, I was just streaming this and singing it aloud while I was doing things in the house the other day, and thought I’d put it up as today’s theme music.
Here’s Chris Rea’s “Road to Hell” (1989).
Good morning. Welcome to the latest edition of Overthinking Song Lyrics.
Today’s show is about the Alicia Keys’ song, “Girl On Fire” (2012).
Alicia Keys is a remarkable talent, and we enjoy her many songs and skills here at the Overthinking Institute. To be fair, she’s one of three co-writers on the song, the others being Jeff Bhasker and Salaam Remi. We’d be remiss to not mention that Billy Squier has a writing credit on the song, as it’s based in some aspects on a previous song that he wrote.
The following verses trouble us at the Overthinking Institute:
She got both feet on the ground
And she’s burning it down
Ohhhh oh oh oh oh
She got her head in the clouds
And she’s not backing down
This girl is on fire
Read more: Alicia Keys – Girl On Fire Lyrics | MetroLyrics
To us, if she has both feet on the ground, what is she burning down? One would presume she’s burning down the ground that she stands upon. Indeed, if that’s the case, it’s no wonder she’s on fire. One must also ask, can you burn the ground down?
But to continue, having her head in the clouds brings to thought a person who’s not engaged with reality. It’s then disturbing that she’s not backing down, burning it down, and she’s on fire. I worry for her state of mind.
“Girl On Fire” achieved notable success and critical claim, and is a quite memorable ballad. Nevertheless, these seem like some troubling lyrics. Our colleagues over at the Just Get Over It Institute tell us to just get over it.
You tell us: are we making too much of this here at Overthinking?
Good day.
I have mixed thoughts and emotions about today’s theme music, “Bad Motor Scooter”, by Montrose (1973). It’s an energetic song, but when I listen to the lyrics, I sometimes cringe. Then again, escaping on my bad motor scooter is really appealing on some days. Just race up through the gears and away from cares and civilization.
What the hell. It’s music. Love the rock attitude (rockitude?) on display in this video.
This is such a maudlin, sloppy song. It started streaming apropos of nothing that I can recall, but as I streamed it from memory, I thought about how meaningless the words might be for a younger listener.
“Sealed With A Kiss” came out in 1962, when I was six. It was a hit, so it was on the radios often, but I’m more familiar with the Bobbie Vinton version released when I was a teenager. This song is all about being morose because they’re missing their love, so they’ll send all their love, every day in a letter, sealed in a kiss.
I thought, well, these days, they probably wouldn’t be sending a letter. I imagined youth saying, why didn’t they just send them a text or a selfie? Why didn’t they just Skype?
I decided that, “I’ll send you all my love, every hour in a selfie, clicked with a kiss.”
WTH.
Surfing my thoughts this morning as I thought of my dream and tended my dream, I began streaming a Rolling Stones song, “Beast of Burden” (1978). I always considered the song a defiant protest song, but also a pondering reflection of relationships’ complexities, asking at its base, what does it take?
This was in direct response to dealing with Quinn. I was giving him his meds. He doesn’t like them, and hides in anticipation of receiving them. Giving them to him is a small battle, but with experience, I’ve developed a winning technique. Afterward, Quinn takes off and hides from me, distrusting my approach. Yet, he returns in a little while, looking to me for comfort and food.
As an aside, the meds seem to be doing as hoped. His energy levels have gone up and he seems less miserable. While he’d been declining, he’d stopped grooming himself, and had lost his voice. Yesterday, I saw him wash his face after eating for the first time in weeks, and today, he’d found his meow, and his tall was pointed up in classic Quinn fashion when we went into the room for me to feed him.
So I’m hopeful, but I usually am.
According to Wikipedia.org, today’s song choice was released in 2007 and has been used in movies and televisions. I hadn’t heard it until I was shopping in Fred Meyers yesterday. Listening to the words, I told myself to look it up when I returned home. And ‘lo, I remembered and did.
Here is “New Shoes” by Paolo Nutini.
Walking before writing, heading toward the coffee shop, almost there, I checked my steps and saw 5150. Oh, Van Halen, I thought, which was an immediate invitation for my mind to begin streaming in songs from 5150 (1986).
This was the first album with Sammy Hagar as the lead vocalist, replacing David Lee Roth. I remember that a friend hadn’t like either singer for the band. He thought Roth was too flamboyant and his skills didn’t impress him. However, Sammy Hagar wasn’t the answer in my buddy’s mind because, with Sammy, Van Halen performed softer rock. I recall trying to suggest other vocalists to him, like Ronnie James Dio. We didn’t come up with a new singer.
I never saw him again as our military tours completed and we went separate ways. I always wondered what he thought of Gary Cherone as the singer.
Here’s “Why Can’t This Be Love”.
This is another one that I blame on the cats. Little Quinn is suffering from lymphoma. Picking him up and holding him last night, I sang this to him, but softly and slowly.
Here’s Jimmy Eat World with “The Middle” (2001). It’s amazing to think of this song coming out so long ago. It seems like yesterday. So much has changed since then, but that’s the nature of our existence, innit?
Singing it to Quinn – whispering it, really – I focused on the chorus part that goes, “It’ll take some time, but everything, everything will be all right, all right.”
We were both doubtful.
“Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic” (1981) has me hooked today. I enjoy the middle part where the vocalist (Sting) laments,
I resolve to call her up a thousand times a day
And ask her if she’ll marry me in some old fashioned way
But my silent fears have gripped me
Long before I reach the phone
Long before my tongue has tripped me
Must I always be alone?
I think that passage captures the angst that so many encounter when trying to move their relationship forward through the waves of love, hope, fear, and doubt.
I also think often of this song, and how the magic of a relationship changes through the years. The magic remains but often comes in different guises from the magic that we first experienced. Every now and then, though, that first magic is felt and remembered, one more time.
I have friends who love this song, “The Safety Dance” (1982). It is quite catchy, and troubling for me, once it’s in my ear, it’s hard to dislodge. Those lyrics —
We can dance if we want to
We can leave your friends behind
‘Cause your friends don’t dance and if they don’t dance
Well, they’re no friends of mine
Say, we can go where we want to
A place where they will never find
And we can act like we come from out of this world
Leave the real one far behind
And we can dance
The words are easy to exploit to use for other purposes. For example, I have sung to my cats, “You can eat if you want to, or you can leave your food behind. But if you don’t eat, you won’t get a treat, and it’s your fault, not mine.”
So, here, enjoy “Men Without Hats”.
Michael Seidel, writer 