JackLuis
Well-known member
I found a you tube of El Condor Pasa ( If I Could) for a baritone Uke a Simple three chord song, and being a fan of Simon and Garfunkel went looking for lyrics to put down the chords in my Music book. I have it with notes and staff but wanted a chord sheeet as my copy has the lyrics in 4 pt text! Which I can't read unless my nose is 3" from the paper.
I've heard this song about a million times but never thought about what the lyrics mean.
I'd rather be a sparrow than a snail
Yes I would, if I could, I surely would
I'd rather be a hammer than a nail
Yes I would, if I only could, I surely would
Away, I'd rather sail away
Like a swan that's here and gone
A man gets tied up to the ground
He gives the world its saddest sound
Its saddest sound
I'd rather be a forest than a street
Yes I would, if I could, I surely would
I'd rather feel the earth beneath my feet
Yes I would, if I only could, I surely would
but the site I was on (http://songmeanings.com/songs/view/7340/) also discusses the song and I was taken by a comment about what it was about.
"My Interpretation
I believe it is about power, oppression, futility, despair, and freedom. Almost everyone who has posted a comment in the last 7 years recognises that hammers strike nails, but no one has mentioned that sparrows eat snails, and that forests eventually overcome streets. Power. Winners. Losers.
Has anyone reading this heard "When you're a nail, all the world is a hammer, and when you're a hammer all the world is nails." Everyone recognises that it is better to be the one with power, but do the song's listeners also hear that even the oppressors, for all their power, are not free? Oppression takes time and energy to maintain. Could a driver achieve toil from a slave without force and threat? Can the cat expect to catch the mouse if she is not prowling it? Will the shepherd get wool off the sheep if he doesn't get out there and keep track of them? Better to hold power, best to have freedom.
Swans symbolize people who are very rare. Swans are the real winners. Most people are either oppressed or oppressors. But even the oppressors are not free. They have locked themselves to the unending occupation of persecuting their victims or subordinates, and it eats their lifetimes. They cannot disengage, least their captives escape. They forge lifetimes of chains for others to wear, but inadvertantly also chain themselves to the lifelong task of oppression. The real winners are the swans. Freedom."
I wonder how many other songs I've heard and never really considered the hidden meaning, until I took up the Ukulele?
I've heard this song about a million times but never thought about what the lyrics mean.
I'd rather be a sparrow than a snail
Yes I would, if I could, I surely would
I'd rather be a hammer than a nail
Yes I would, if I only could, I surely would
Away, I'd rather sail away
Like a swan that's here and gone
A man gets tied up to the ground
He gives the world its saddest sound
Its saddest sound
I'd rather be a forest than a street
Yes I would, if I could, I surely would
I'd rather feel the earth beneath my feet
Yes I would, if I only could, I surely would
but the site I was on (http://songmeanings.com/songs/view/7340/) also discusses the song and I was taken by a comment about what it was about.
"My Interpretation
I believe it is about power, oppression, futility, despair, and freedom. Almost everyone who has posted a comment in the last 7 years recognises that hammers strike nails, but no one has mentioned that sparrows eat snails, and that forests eventually overcome streets. Power. Winners. Losers.
Has anyone reading this heard "When you're a nail, all the world is a hammer, and when you're a hammer all the world is nails." Everyone recognises that it is better to be the one with power, but do the song's listeners also hear that even the oppressors, for all their power, are not free? Oppression takes time and energy to maintain. Could a driver achieve toil from a slave without force and threat? Can the cat expect to catch the mouse if she is not prowling it? Will the shepherd get wool off the sheep if he doesn't get out there and keep track of them? Better to hold power, best to have freedom.
Swans symbolize people who are very rare. Swans are the real winners. Most people are either oppressed or oppressors. But even the oppressors are not free. They have locked themselves to the unending occupation of persecuting their victims or subordinates, and it eats their lifetimes. They cannot disengage, least their captives escape. They forge lifetimes of chains for others to wear, but inadvertantly also chain themselves to the lifelong task of oppression. The real winners are the swans. Freedom."
I wonder how many other songs I've heard and never really considered the hidden meaning, until I took up the Ukulele?