Songs That Stimulate Your Brain and Impact Your Life

Some songs grab you with the hook. Others, the lyrics. If you’re lucky the song has both. For me, there have been several songs whose words, to me, have had a tremendous impact. Below I’ll list them. Let's start at the beginning . . .

Nowhere Man - The Beatles (1965)

It should come as no surprise that the four guys from Liverpool were the first to write a song that made me think. Before “Nowhere Man” I just liked music for the beat and the melody, never expecting to learn anything. Still, when I heard these lyrics I was mesmerized . . .

Doesn’t have a point of view
Knows not where he’s going to
Isn’t he a bit like you and me?

You know, I was just a kid but I knew exactly what they were saying - wake up, young man, and see what’s all around you.

Blowin in the Wind - Bob Dylan (1964)

Although this song came out before “Nowhere Man,” it never made it to my rural Ohio existence until later. Let’s just say Dylan’s protest stuff wasn’t in rotation on Mom and Dad’s turntable. When I finally got a listen, though, I was blown away:

Come senators, congressmen please heed the call

Don't stand in the doorway don't block up the hall

For he that gets hurt will be he who has stalled

There's a battle outside and it is ragin'.

It'll soon shake your windows and rattle your walls

For the times they are a-changin'.

Those lyrics, which addressed political divide and the generation gap, may have planted the seeds that eventually grew into my liberal outlook, much to the chagrin of a couple of my conseravtive RHT brethren. The song became an anthem of the civil rights movement as well. Powerful stuff.

The "Fish" Cheer / I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-To-Die Rag - Country Joe & the Fish (1967)

Well, if I hadn’t had it figured out yet Country Joe drove the point home with these lyrics:

Well, come on mothers throughout the land,

Pack your boys off to Vietnam.

Come on fathers, don't hesitate,

Send 'em off before it's too late.

Be the first one on your block

To have your boy come home in a box.

Ouch. Needless to say the song didn’t get a lot of airplay on conservative WLW over in The Natti. After midnight I could get WLS out of Chicago though, and my ears were forever cooked.

Good Vibrations - The Beach Boys (1966)

It wasn’t the lyrics that blew me away with this song, but rather the music. Brian Wilson’s “pocket symphony” showed me that a rock song could go deeper musically than it ever had before. The varied instrumentation was groundbreaking (A cello? Are you serious?). And what the hell was that woo-woo sounding thing? I found out later it was an electro-theremen, but all I knew at the time was that it sounded cool as hell. We all know that Lennon and McCartney were trying desperately to keep up with Wilson in the studio production department during the mid-60’s. The album Pet Sounds, and this song, illustrates why.

Fortunate Son - Creedence Clearwater Revival (1969)

Ah, John Fogerty’s ode to the advantages of the privileged as they related to the draft. It is sung from the viewpoint of somebody being drafted, and since I was 14 at the time the draft was looming ominously in my future. I listened, and when Fogerty sang these lyrics, it hit home with me . . .

Some folks inherit star spangled eyes,

Ooh, they send you down to war, lord,

And when you ask them, how much should we give?

Ooh, they only answer more! more! more!

It ain’t me, it ain’t me, I aint’ no military son, son.

It ain’t me, it ain’t me; I ain’t no fortunate one.

Southern Man - Neil Young (1970)

This was Neil’s shot at racism in the south, and I was listening intently. I’d remembered the “white’s only” drinking fountains on my family’s yearly vacations down south, and I also remember my parents pointing out why that was terribly wrong.

Southern man better keep your head

Don't forget what your good book said

Southern change gonna come at last

Now your crosses are burning fast, southern man.

Pretty strong stuff that elicited a legendary response from Skynyrd with “Sweet Home Alabama.” The song also led to a bunch of death threats aimed at Neil Young, which he famously ignored.

The Last Resort - The Eagles (1976)

This was Don Henley’s missive about the American west directed at polluters and corporate greed. I always thought it was vastly underrated.

Some rich men came and raped the land, nobody caught ‘em
Put up a bunch of ugly boxes, and Jesus, people bought ‘em.

And later on . . .

We satisfy our endless needs and justify our bloody deeds,

In the name of destiny and the name of God.

And you can see them there, on Sunday morning

They stand up and sing about what it's like up there

They call it paradise, I don't know why

You call someplace paradise, kiss it goodbye.

Well, there they are. The most influential songs of my life. So, what are the songs that influenced you or had an impact? Whaddaya got?