Musical Interpretations

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Does anyone speak 1960s?

I need an interpreter.

I am trying to crack the lyrical code.

The 1960s have been described as tumultuous, turbulent, violent, and divisive decade.  It was a time of dangerous incidents around the world and civil and political unrest at home.  The country was engaged in the Cold War with Cuba and the Soviet Union.  North Korea captured the USS Pueblo, a naval intelligence ship.  The negotiations dragged on and on.  Marchers and activists filled the streets of America’s cities demonstrating against racial injustices and the war in Vietnam.  Teens and young adults no longer trusted parents, leaders, and government.  A generation gap developed with traditional, conservative parents on one side of the divide and questioning, liberal, non-traditional, rock-and-rollers on the other side. Assassinations of politicians and civil rights activists filled the news.  The 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago was surrounded by barbed wire, police, and protesters.

I was just a child, but I was in the room when Walter Cronkite or Chet Huntley and David Brinkley delivered the news.  Those black and white images are forever pressed into the pages of my mind.  I will never forget the moment Walter Cronkite removed his eyeglasses and shed a tear as he reported that President Kennedy had been shot in Dallas.  I watched my parents and other adults around me respond to each of these events.  I didn’t understand it all, but I knew that it was serious and unsettling.

Fast forward to 2020. The international, civic, and political climate seems similar.

The big difference as far as I can tell is in the music.

1960s music is my favorite jam.  Protest songs were gentle and thought-provoking and included songs like Sam Cooke’s A Change is Gonna Come or Bob Dylan’s Blowin’ in the Wind.  A listener could feel the peace and love and calm the shattered nerves without selling out.

But it was the '60s love songs that contained the mysterious mood elevator.  If you can’t have peace, might as well have love.  What was in that music? Someone spiked the punchline.  These songs prove love has its own language, hence my need for an interpreter.  In this contentious time, it is my civic duty to crack the code.  Can’t we get some National Security folks workin’ on this?

Here’s what I mean.  Sing a few bars.  You will feel the effects.

Let’s start with this 1963 hit by The Crystals:

               I met him on a Monday and my heart stood still
               Da doo ron ron ron, da doo ron ron
               Some boy told me that his name was Bill
               Da doo ron ron ron, da doo ron ron
 
In 1964 Manfred Mann had the hit Do Wah Diddy Diddy: 

               There she was just a-walkin' down the street, singin'
'               "Do wah diddy diddy dum diddy do"
               Snappin' her fingers and shufflin' her feet, singin'
               "Do wah diddy diddy dum diddy do"
               She looked good (looked good), she looked fine (looked fine)

Moving along to 1967, a song from the musical Hair became very popular:

               Glibby gloop gloopy Nibby Nabby Noopy La La La Lo Lo
               Sabba Sibby Sabba Nooby abba Nabba Le Le Lo Lo
               Tooby ooby walla nooby abba nabba
               Early mornin' singin' song
               Good morning starshine!
 
By 1968 the Beatles got in on the act:

               Desmond has a barrow in the marketplace
               Molly is the singer in a band
               Desmond says to Molly, girl, I like your face
               And Molly says this as she takes him by the hand
 
               Ob-la-di, ob-la-da, life goes on, bra
               La-la, how the life goes on
              Ob-la-di, ob-la-da, life goes on, bra
              La-la, how the life goes on
 
I think I might have been at the wedding of Desmond and Molly Jones.  When I sing along, I can practically remember dancing with the groom.
 
If only we could get our da-doo-ron-ron’s to do-wah-diddy-diddy and nibby nooby abba nabba maybe we could ob-la-di, ob-la-da as life goes on.  The answer to feeling better is in the music.  I swear it is so.

In-a-gadda-da-vida, baby!

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