I took my love, I took it down
I climbed a mountain and I turned around
And I saw my reflection in the snow-covered hills
‘Till the landslide brought me down

Oh, mirror in the sky, what is love?
Can the child within my heart rise above?
Can I sail through the changing ocean tides?
Can I handle the seasons of my life?

Well, I’ve been afraid of changing
‘Cause I’ve built my life around yours
But time makes you bolder
Even children get older
And I’m getting older too

Oh, take my love, take it down
Oh, climb a mountain and turn around
And if you see my reflection in the snow-covered hills
Well the landslide will bring it down

The song below implies a sad story of a desperate runaway surviving on the streets. The visual images create new meaning and extend our thinking with irony: the song may appear to be an ode to beauty, while it laments the tragic impact of objectification.

Nicky’s in the corner
With a black coat on
Running from a bad home
With some cat inside

Now where did you find her?
Among the neon lights
That haunt the streets outside
She says, “Stay with me”

Beautiful girl (stay with me)
She wants to go home

From doorway to doorway
Street corner to corner
With the neon ghosts in the city
And she says, “Stay with me”

She’s so scared
So very frightened
Anything could happen
Right here tonight

Beautiful girl (stay with me)
She wants to go home

I’ve seen the world
Done it all
Had my cake now
Diamonds, brilliant
And Bel Air now

Hot summer nights, mid July
When you and I were forever wild
The crazy days, city lights
The way you’d play with me like a child

[Chorus]
Will you still love me
When I’m no longer young and beautiful?
Will you still love me
When I got nothing but my aching soul?
I know you will, I know you will
I know that you will
Will you still love me when I’m no longer beautiful?

[Verse 2]
I’ve seen the world, lit it up
As my stage now
Channeling angels in the new age now
Hot summer days, rock ‘n’ roll
The way you play for me at your show
And all the ways I got to know
Your pretty face and electric soul

[Chorus]
Will you still love me
When I’m no longer young and beautiful?
Will you still love me
When I got nothing but my aching soul?
I know you will, I know you will
I know that you will
Will you still love me when I’m no longer beautiful?

[Bridge]
Dear lord, when I get to heaven
Please let me bring my man
When he comes tell me that you’ll let him in
Father tell me if you can
Oh that grace, oh that body
Oh that face makes me wanna party
He’s my sun, he makes me shine like diamonds

[Chorus]
Will you still love me
When I’m no longer young and beautiful?
Will you still love me
When I got nothing but my aching soul?
I know you will, I know you will
I know that you will
Will you still love me when I’m no longer beautiful?

She packed my bags last night, pre-flight
Zero hour. Nine A.M.
And I’m gonna be high as a kite by then

I miss the earth so much, I miss my wife
It’s lonely out in space
On such a timeless flight

And I think it’s gonna be a long long time
‘Til touchdown brings me ’round again to find
I’m not the man they think I am at home
Oh, no, no, no.
I’m a rocket man
Rocket man burning out his fuse up here alone

Mars ain’t the kind of place to raise your kids
In fact it’s cold as hell
And there’s no one there to raise them if you did

And all this science I don’t understand
It’s just my job five days a week
A rocket man, a rocket man

And I think it’s gonna be a long long time
‘Til touchdown brings me ’round again to find
I’m not the man they think I am at home
Oh, no, no, no.
I’m a rocket man
Rocket man burning out his fuse up here alone

The science-fiction love story created for this music video was written and directed by Rian Johnson, who went on direct Star Wars: The Last Jedi.

Johnson also wrote and directed the whodunnit comedy, Knives Out.

The video below is a good example of story told visually with only tangential connection to lyrics. New meaning is created when the song and visual story are experienced together.

Oh baby

Oh baby
You’re having a bad dream
Here in my arms

Oh sugar
You came to me
Could all be a bad thing
Doing harm

Oh lover
You run from me
We move like a bad scene
Shot in the dark

Oh but please
Please wake me
For my love lies patiently
Please baby please
And my love life waits for me

Oh love
You came to me
Are you having a bad time
There in your home

Oh sugar
Give into me
You’re just having a bad dream
Of ringing alarms

Oh but please
Please shake me from my lovesick patient dream
Please baby please
And my love plays wait and see

Oh I’m on my knees
Yeah, I’m on my knees
I promise I’m clean
But my love life waits

You’re already gone
Yeah, you’re already gone
We are already home
My love life stumbles on

Oh baby
Lean into me
There’s always a side door
Into the dark

The video below combines clips from Baz Luhrmann’s film adaptation of The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, set to the song ‘Everybody Knows’ by Canadian poet/singer, Leonard Cohen (performed by Sigrid). The video is an excellent example of Luhrmann’s style of impressionistic adaptation (where music features heavily), combing images of an idyllic American Dream with the underlying tragedy of inequity.

Everybody knows that the dice are loaded
Everybody rolls with their fingers crossed
Everybody knows the war is over
Everybody knows the good guys lost

Everybody knows the fight was fixed
The poor stay poor, the rich get rich
That’s how it goes
Everybody knows

Everybody knows that the boat is leaking
Everybody knows that the captain lied
Everybody got this broken feeling
Like their father or their dog just died

Everybody talking to their pockets
Everybody wants a box of chocolates
And a long-stem rose
Everybody knows

Everybody knows that you love me baby
Everybody knows that you really do
Everybody knows that you’ve been faithful
Ah, give or take a night or two

Everybody knows you’ve been discreet
But there were so many people you just had to meet
Without your clothes
And everybody knows

Everybody knows, everybody knows
That’s how it goes
Everybody knows Everybody knows, everybody knows
That’s how it goes, Everybody knows

And everybody knows that it’s now or never
Everybody knows that it’s me or you
And everybody knows that you live forever
Ah, when you’ve done a line or two

Everybody knows the deal is rotten
Old Black Joe’s still pickin’ cotton
For your ribbons and bows
And everybody knows

And everybody knows that the Plague is coming
Everybody knows that it’s moving fast
Everybody knows that the naked man and woman
Are just a shining artifact of the past

Everybody knows the scene is dead
But there’s gonna be a meter on your bed
That will disclose
What everybody knows

And everybody knows that you’re in trouble
Everybody knows what you’ve been through
From the bloody cross on top of Calvary
To the beach of Malibu

Everybody knows it’s coming apart
Take one last look at this Sacred Heart
Before it blows
And everybody knows

I’m not in this world

To live up to your expectations

Neither are you here to live up to mine,

I don’t owe no one no obligation

No, I don’t mean none

So everything is fine, I said,

I am that I am

Don’t underestimate

My ability

Don’t define my character

Don’t belittle my authority

It’s time you recognized my quality

I said, I am that I am

Peter Tosh