NUMB

LINKIN PARK

SONGWRITERS: BENNINGTON CHESTER CHARLES; WEST KANYE OMARI; CARTER SHAWN C; SHINODA MICHAEL KENJI; HAHN JOSEPH; DELSON BRADFORD PHILIP; BOURDON ROBERT G. & FARRELL DAVID MICHAEL

COUNTRY: U. S. A.

ALBUM: METEORA

LABEL: WARNER BROS.

GENRE: POP ROCK

YEAR: 2002

 

        "Numb" is a song by American rock band Linkin Park. It was released as the third single from their second studio album, Meteora(2003), and is the closing track on the album. One of Linkin Park's most well-known and critically acclaimed songs, "Numb" topped the Billboard Alternative Songs chart for 12 weeks. The song spent six weeks at the top of the chart in 2003 and six weeks in 2004. The song also spent three weeks atop the Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart and peaked at number 11 on the Billboard Hot 100.

    The song was remixed as "Numb/Encore", a collaboration between the band and American rapper Jay-Z. It was a massive hit for both artists that was featured on the álbum Collision Course and earned them the Grammy Award for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration. "Numb" was ranked number 95 on Rhapsody's list of the "Top 100 Tracks of the Decade".

           In January 2011, "Numb" was released in a Linkin Park DLC pack for Rock Band 3. In August 2020, it, together with several other Linkin Park songs, was added in an update to Beat Saber.

I'm tired of being what you want me to be

Feeling so faithless, lost under the surface

Don't know what you're expecting of me

Put under the pressure of walking in your shoes

 

Every step that I take is another mistake to you

(Caught in the undertow, just caught in the undertow)

 

I've become so numb

I can't feel you there

Become so tired

So much more aware

 

I'm becoming this

All I want to do

Is be more like me

And be less like you

 

Can't you see that you're smothering me

Holding too tightly, afraid to lose control?

'Cause everything that you thought I would be

Has fallen apart right in front of you

 

Every step that I take is another mistake to you

(Caught in the undertow, just caught in the undertow)

And every second I waste is more than I can take

 

I've become so numb

I can't feel you there

Become so tired

So much more aware

 

I'm becoming this

All I want to do

Is be more like me

And be less like you

 

And I know

I may end up failing too

But I know

You were just like me with someone disappointed in you

 

I've become so numb

I can't feel you there

Become so tired

So much more aware

 

I'm becoming this

All I want to do

Is be more like me

And be less like you

 

I've become so numb

I can't feel you there

(I'm tired of being what you want me to be)

I've become so numb

I can't feel you there

(I'm tired of being what you want me to be).

LOVE STORY

TAYLOR SWIFT

SONGWRITER: TAYLOR SWIFT

COUNTRY: U. S. A.

ALBUM: FEARLESS

LABEL: BIG MACHINE RECORDS

GENRE: COUNTRY POP

YEAR: 2008

 

           "Love Story" is a song written and recorded by American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift. It was released on September 15, 2008, by Big Machine Records, as the lead single from Swift's second studio album Fearless(2008). Produced by Swift and Nathan Chapman, the song was inspired by a love interest of Swift who was unpopular to her family and friends. Swift based the song's narrative on the plot of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet(1597), as told from the perspective of Juliet, but replaced the play's tragic conclusion with a happy ending. Musically, "Love Story" is a midtempo country pop song featuring soprano vocals and a slow-building melody.

          The song received widespread critical praise with many complimenting Swift's writing style and the song's catchiness. The single peaked atop the chart in Australia, where it was certified ten times platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). It reached the top five on charts in Canada, Ireland, Japan, New Zealand, Scotland, and the U.K., and was one of the best-selling singles of 2009 worldwide. In the U.S., "Love Story" peaked at number four on the Billboard Hot 100 and was certified eight times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). A success on pop radio, "Love Story" was the first country song to top the Billboard Mainstream Top 40 chart. It has sold over six million copies in the U.S., and over eight million copies worldwide.

            The accompanying music video was directed by Trey Fanjoy. The video is a period piece that drew influences from the Medieval, Renaissance, and British Regency eras. It follows Swift and model Justin Gaston as they meet in a university campus and imagine themselves in a prior era. "Love Story" was included in the set lists of all of Swift's headlining tours: the Fearless Tour (2009–2010), the Speak Now World Tour (2011–2012), the Red Tour(2013–2014), the 1989 World Tour(2015) and the Reputation Stadium Tour(2018).

       The re-recording of the song, "Love Story (Taylor's Version)", was released on February 12, 2021. Critics praised it for its crisper production, nostalgic emotion, and Swift's matured vocals. The song topped the Hot Country Songs chart, making Swift the second artist after Dolly Parton to reach number one on the Hot Country Songs with both the original and re-recorded versions of a song.

We were both young when I first saw you

I close my eyes and the flashback starts

I'm standin' there

On a balcony in summer air

See the lights, see the party, the ball gowns

See you make your way through the crowd

And say, "Hello"

Little did I know

 

That you were Romeo, you were throwin' pebbles

And my daddy said, "Stay away from Juliet"

And I was cryin' on the staircase

Beggin' you, "Please don't go, " and I said

 

Romeo, take me somewhere we can be alone

I'll be waiting, all there's left to do is run

You'll be the prince and I'll be the princess

It's a love story, baby, just say, "Yes"

 

So I sneak out to the garden to see you

We keep quiet, 'cause we're dead if they knew

So close your eyes

Escape this town for a little while, oh oh

 

'Cause you were Romeo, I was a scarlet letter

And my daddy said, "Stay away from Juliet"

But you were everything to me

I was beggin' you, "Please don't go, " and I said

 

Romeo, take me somewhere we can be alone

I'll be waiting, all there's left to do is run

You'll be the prince and I'll be the princess

It's a love story, baby, just say, "Yes"

Romeo, save me, they're tryna tell me how to feel

This love is difficult, but it's real

Don't be afraid, we'll make it out of this mess

It's a love story, baby, just say, "Yes"

Oh, oh

 

I got tired of waiting

Wonderin' if you were ever comin' around

My faith in you was fading

When I met you on the outskirts of town, and I said

 

Romeo, save me, I've been feeling so alone

I keep waiting for you, but you never come

Is this in my head? I don't know what to think

He knelt to the ground and pulled out a ring

And said, "Marry me, Juliet

You'll never have to be alone

I love you and that's all I really know

I talked to your dad, go pick out a white dress

It's a love story, baby, just say, "Yes"

Oh, oh, oh

Oh, oh, oh, oh

'Cause we were both young when I first saw you.

DON’T KNOW WAY

NORAH JONES

SONGWRITER: JESSE HARRIS

COUNTRY: U. S. A.

ALBUM: COME AWAY WITH ME

LABEL: BLUE NOTE RECORDS

GENRE: JAZZ-POP

YEAR: 2002

 

          "Don't Know Why" is a song written and composed by Jesse Harris that originally appeared on his 1999 album, Jesse Harris & the Ferdinandos. A cover of the song was the debut single of American singer Norah Jones from her debut studio album, Come Away with Me(2002).

          Jones' version of "Don't Know Why" was released on January 28, 2002, peaked at number 30 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and was a critical success. The single went on to win three Grammy Awards in 2003 for Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. It remains Jones's biggest hit single in the United States to date, and her only one to reach the top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100. "Don't Know Why" was also a modest hit abroad, reaching number five in Australia, number 24 in New Zealand, and number 59 in the United Kingdom. The song was ranked number 459 in Blender magazine's "500 Greatest Songs Since You Were Born".

Jones' piano-playing has been compared to that of Floyd Cramer, having a "style and grace, a musical maturity not found in many keyboard players today."

I waited 'til I saw the sun

I don't know why I didn't come

I left you by the house of fun

Don't know why I didn't come

Don't know why I didn't come

 

When I saw the break of day

I wished that I could fly away

Instead of kneeling in the sand

Catching tear-drops in my hand

 

My heart is drenched in wine

But you'll be on my mind forever

 

Out across the endless sea

I would die in ecstasy

But I'll be a bag of bones

Driving down the road alone

 

My heart is drenched in wine

But you'll be on my mind forever

 

Something has to make you run

I don't know why I didn't come

I feel as empty as a drum

I don't know why I didn't come

Don't know why I didn't come

I don't know why I didn't come.

MORNING HAS BROKEN

CAT STEVENS

SONGWRITERS: CAT STEVENS & ELEANOR FARJEEN

COUNTRY: U. K.

ALBUM: TEASER AND THE FIRECAT

LABEL: A & M RECORDS

GENRE: FOLK ROCK

YEAR: 1971

 

       Yusuf Islam(born Steven Demetre Georgiou; 21 July 1948), commonly known by his stage names Cat Stevens, Yusuf, and Yusuf/Cat Stevens, is a British singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. His musical style consists of folk, pop, rock, and, later in his career, Islamic music. He returned to making secular music in 2006. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2014.

          His 1967 debut album and its title song "Matthew and Son" both reached top ten in the UK charts. Stevens' albums Tea for the Tillerman(1970) and Teaser and the Firecat(1971) were certified triple platinum in the US. His 1972 album Catch Bull at Four went to Nº 1 on Billboard Pop Albums and spent weeks at the top of several major charts. He earned ASCAP songwriting awards in 2005 and 2006 for "The First Cut Is the Deepest", which has been a hit for four artists. His other hit songs include "Father and Son", "Wild World", "Moonshadow", "Peace Train", and "Morning Has Broken".

          In December 1977, Stevens converted to Islam and adopted the name Yusuf Islam the following year. In 1979, he auctioned all of his guitars for charity, and left his musical career to devote himself to educational and philanthropic causes in the Muslim community. He has since bought back at least one of these guitars as a result of the efforts of his son Yoriyos. He was embroiled in a long-running controversy regarding comments he made in 1989 about the death fatwa on author Salman Rushdie. His current stance is that he never supported the fatwa: "I was cleverly framed by certain questions. I never supported the fatwa." He has received two honorary doctorates and awards for promoting peace as well as other humanitarian awards.

         In 2006, he returned to pop music by releasing his first new studio album of new pop songs in 28 years, entitled An Other Cup. With that release and subsequent ones, he dropped the surname "Islam" from the album cover art – using the stage name Yusuf as a mononym. In 2009, he released the album Roadsinger and, in 2014, he released the album Tell 'Em I'm Gone and began his first US tour since 1978. His second North American tour since his resurgence, featuring 12 shows in intimate venues, ran from 12 September to 7 October 2016. In 2017, he released the album The Laughing Apple, now using the stage name Yusuf/Cat Stevens, using the Cat Stevens name for the first time in 39 years. In September 2020, he released Tea for the Tillerman 2, a reimagining of his classic album Tea for the Tillerman to celebrate its 50th anniversary.

         Teaser and the Firecat is the fifth studio album by Cat Stevens, released in October 1971.

       At the Australian 1972 King of Pop Awards the album won Biggest Selling L.P.

          English keyboardist Rick Wakeman played piano on a song, "Morning Has Broken." Linda Lewis also contributed female vocals on "How Can I Tell You".

Morning has broken like the first morning

Blackbird has spoken like the first bird

Praise for the singing, praise for the morning

Praise for them springing fresh from the world

 

Sweet the rains new fall, sunlit from Heaven

Like the first dewfall on the first grass

Praise for the sweetness of the wet garden

Sprung in completeness where His feet pass

 

Mine is the sunlight, mine is the morning

Born of the one light, Eden saw play

Praise with elation, praise every morning

God's recreation of the new day

 

Morning has broken like the first morning

Blackbird has spoken like the first bird

Praise for the singing, praise for the morning

Praise for them springing fresh from the world.