The single itself was inspired by a near-death experience John Lennon had during a sailing trip in Bermuda when his little vessel was attacked by an intense storm… however, John wasn’t going to let a bit of rain stop him making some dosh for his beloved Yoko…
Okay, so we appreciate that John wasn’t brilliant about practising what he preached, what with singing about imaging no possessions whilst shacked up in a million dollar apartment.
Anyway, John’s hypocrisy didn’t seem to bother his uber-fan Mark David Chapman, who showed his love for the ex Beatle by showering him in bullets six months after the song was penned… Hopefully, Lennon practiced what he preached this time around considering he sang about not having a "thought for tomorrow," and unless that thought was "be dead," he was guaranteed to be pretty disappointed.
Hank Williams - "I'll Never Get Out of this World Alive"
"No matter how I struggle and strive. I'll never get out of this world alive."
Okay, so this might not shock you as a particularly scary lyric, because unless you’re an astronaut, you probably don’t have a chance of getting off this world alive, and it’s a given that we’re all going to pop our clogs at some point or another.
The bizarre thing about this song though, was that the track, which was released in 1952 was the last single Hank Williams released in his lifetime, and after a lot of, erm, struggling and striving, Hank hardly made it out of the rest of the year alive and on the first day of 1953, just months after the song was released, he was pronounced dead at the Oak Hill Hospital emergency room.
Jeff Buckley - "Dream Brother"
"The dark angel he is shuffling in. Don't be like the one who left behind his name. Asleep in the sand with the ocean washing over."
Whilst we all love Jeff Buckley and wish he was still singing his little songs for us, it’s his track, “Dream Brother” that has really caught our attention.
Despite claiming that the track was about a friend who was about to leave his girlfriend and child and that it would reap loads of sadness on the family, just like his father, Tim Buckley had done when Jeff was a nipper… and died of an accidental heroin overdose years later.
Anyway, back to the song, so we’ve never thought a "dark angel shuffling in," is the best way to convince a friend that a relationship isn’t on the right track - unless he’s been sleeping with the lass next door - so how that fits into a man leaving his girlfriend we don’t really know… but we can see how the second on fits with the ret of the story.
The weird line is the; "Asleep in the sand with the ocean washing over," now, it might sound alright to you and me, but when you remember that Jeff Buckley died by drowning it does give you the heebie jeebies.
Lynyrd Skynyrd - "That Smell"
"Say you'll be alright come tomorrow, but tomorrow might not be here for you. Angel of darkness upon you. The smell of death surrounds you."
You know when you get dead mad at someone and write stuff on Facebook like; “I hope you’re head falls off” and you don’t really mean it literally? (okay, so maybe a little bit), well this song is kinda like that in music form.
The track was originally penned to vent singer Ronnie Van Zant's disappointment with the lifestyle his fellow band member, Gary Rossington was leading, as his drug and alcohol problems began to tear the band apart, but after a verse which made fun of an alcohol-fuelled car accident Rossington had, Van Zant then steps into rather nasty territory. (see naughty lyrics above)
However, unfortunately forVan Zant, it was Rossington who had the last laugh, metaphorically speaking of course, as on October 20, 1977, three days after the release of the now unfortunately titled Street Survivors, the plane Lynyrd Skynyrd was travelling in crashed in a forest near Gillsburg, Mississippi.
So, Van Zant was made to eat his words as the line "the smell of death surrounds you" took on a whole new meaning after Rossington survived but three band mates, including Van Zant, were all killed.
And as if these lyrics weren’t enough of a kick in the stomach, the album title and cover art were probably the most ironic ever as Street Survivors featured a picture of the band on fire… get it, fire, plane crash, death?
FemaleFirst - Ruth Harrison
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