Song of the Week #4
So we’re taking a little break from the classic rock and turning to a different style for today and what is that style you ask? Well, it’s none other than good ol’ Southern Soul and R&B!
Now, I don’t listen to a lot of Soul music and this song was actually introduced to me by my voice teacher a month or two ago as a song I could sing for The Voice audition I was planning to do. I didn’t really care for it much at first but now after spending time with it and hearing the story behind the words, I love it! It’s kinda confusing at first since the chord structure and melody aren’t that sad or bluesy, at least it didn’t sound that way to me, and the words at first glance seem kinda hopeful (I know, I know, call me crazy) And if you look at it a certain way, I guess it could really be both happy and sad. So let's take a look...
The first verse is about well, sitting on the dock of the bay. And the words are,
Sittin' in the mornin' sun
I'll be sittin' when the evenin' come
Watching the ships roll in
And then I watch 'em roll away again, yeah
Seems like he’s got a lot of time on his hands and to me that sounds amazing! Getting to just sit there all day without a care in the world writing songs and singing, and there’s also that line in the chorus that sounds kinda carefree:“Sittin’ on the dock of the bay / wasting time”. But then we hear more of the story...
I left my home in Georgia
Headed for the 'Frisco bay
Cause I've had nothing to live for
And look like nothin's gonna come my way
I can kinda relate to that. I may not live in Georgia but South Carolina is close enough. I’ve been to California and have visited San Francisco. It’s a lousy comparison, I know, but just picturing how it would feel to leave everything I know to go live all the way across the country? That would be hard. Though, that’s kinda what I want to do. And looking at the rest of the verse it could go either way. It could be sad that he’s had nothing to live for and that nothing’s going to change anytime soon or it could be that since he had nothing to live for back home so he took the chance to move to San Francisco because it doesn’t really matter anymore and the fact that you’re doing something helps. Heh. I’m probably reading to much into this. Anyways, onto the bridge!
Look like nothing's gonna change
Everything still remains the same
I can't do what ten people tell me to do
So I guess I'll remain the same, yes
Ok, I can kinda get what people are saying here that it’s a sad song, but I still have my own thoughts about it. So here he is, miles away from home, and people are telling him to do things he can’t do, so he decides to stay the same. But, I saw (and this probably means I should stop watching TV) someone being told what to to to try and fit into a certain mold, but he couldn't do that so he decided to go against the flow and stay the same, even if it’s not universally accepted. (Yeah, you can stop laughing now) It may seem far-fetched, and not what Redding intended when he wrote it, but I still got that out of it. And last but not least, verse three,
Sittin' here resting my bones
And this loneliness won't leave me alone
It's two thousand miles I roamed
Just to make this dock my home
Defiantly the saddest of the four sections (not counting the chorus) in this song. And it’s my favorite part out of the entire song! Don’t really have much to say about it except that it really does show a lot of feeling.
There are many covers of this song out there as it is/was very popular. I won’t link any here, but you should totally go check them out! One of the more well-known covers is by Sara Bareilles.
Well, as this SotW post comes to an end I’d like to thank you for putting up with my nonsense and (finally) finish up with the link to the original song on Youtube: (Sittin’ On The) Dock of The Bay by Otis Redding and the iTunes link: iTunes and don’t forget our new Spotify Playlist hosting all of our Song of the Week songs!
*disclaimer: I am in no way affiliated with iTunes or Youtube. I just wanna share the music!
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