Lyrics music

You’re getting married!  Congratulations!  You’re trying to choose songs with music and lyrics that will escalate this event from special to extraordinary.  But if “Here Comes the Bride,” makes you think, “There goes my lunch,” something less traditional—and more distinctive—might be more your style.  Even though you’re going for music and lyrics that are less customary, be clear on what those lyrics are actually about.  There are numerous songs with beautiful, romantic melodies whose lyrics tell a very different story.  The dearly beloved who are gathered together to witness holy matrimony should be gasping at the bride’s beauty or the groom’s elegance, not at a song blaring inappropriate lyrics.

Yet it’s amazing how many couples choose contemporary music whose lyrics — or their intended meaning — goes over their heads like a bride’s bouquet.  Guns ‘N’ Roses’ “November Rain,” which has been played at many weddings, is about a couple on the verge of a breakup, and has melancholy lyrics like, “When I look into your eyes/I can see a love restrained/But darlin’ when I hold you/Don’t you know I feel the same?”  Although there’s a ray of hope at the end of the song, don’t use this one unless its lyrics mirror something you and your future partner have personally experienced, and surmounted.

Don’t invite any Lou Reed fans to your wedding if you intend to play his song, “Perfect Day.”  Yes, its lyrics are sung tenderly, and yes, they’re accompanied by beautiful piano and orchestral parts.  But they’re widely regarded as describing Reed’s previous heroin addiction.  Some of those lyrics include:  “I thought I was someone else/Someone good/You’re going to reap just what you sow.”  But then again, the song raised scads of money for a children’s charity, so maybe using it for a wedding isn’t that farfetched, after all.

And maybe it’s not so unbelievable that Billy Idol’s “White Wedding” has been played at many marital unions.  Not because the couple already made whoopie before getting married, but because the lyrics are actually anti-marriage.  Inspired by his contempt for the man his sister was marrying, Idol wrote this song and its lyrics about the anger felt by a man whose true love marries someone else:  “There is nothin’ fair in this world/There is nothin’ safe in this world/And there’s nothin’ sure in this world/And there’s nothin’ pure in this world.”

“Every Breath You Take,” by the Police, is another popular wedding song, probably because of its dreamy-sounding music.  But it’s lyrics are a nightmare — they’re about a stalker:  “Every breath you take/And every move you make/Every bond you break, every step you take/I’ll be watching you.”  Singer Sting wrote the obsessive lyrics after he and his first wife separated.  Coincidentally, Sting created so much tension in the studio over the recording of this song, that the Police broke up after the album containing it was released.  Two breakups related to one song — don’t use it for your wedding, unless you enjoy gambling.

Romantic music and Percy Sledge’s powerfully expressive delivery of the lyrics to “When a Man Loves a Woman” make it a popular wedding song.  Beware, though — the lyrics caution men about being blinded by love for a woman who treats them like dirt:  “When a man loves a woman, down deep in his soul/She can bring him such misery/If she plays him for a fool, he’s the last one to know/Lovin’ eyes don’t ever see.”  In an emotional tirade set to music, Sledge improvised this song’s lyrics onstage after being dumped by his girlfriend.

So, before you take that magical walk down the aisle, make sure the spell isn’t broken by songs with lyrics that make you want to sprint in embarrassment in the opposite direction!



nudist