In the second half of the twentieth century there was an upswell of desire for change, and the songwriter and the poet was an influential instrument for that change. It would of course bring many into direct confrontation with a society who were not ready for any divergence from the status quo. The taboo subjects which everyone knew existed but lazily or cowardly refused to confront became the target for those who sought a different world, free from the misery and suffering they inflicted on the individual. If conversation about injustice was frowned upon, centuries of misogyny and a patriarchal society ensured that human emotion and personal angst were equally off the table. Both aspects of this societal thinking put pressure on the sexes in their own unique way. Men were to be strong, and the display of emotion completely disparaged. Women in general, were discouraged from expressing their opinions and often their emotions were viewed as secondary to their purpose. We still struggle with these opinions today although thankfully not as prevalent and they are confined to a small cohort of conservatives who believe life was ‘better back then’ and simpler because you were not allowed to talk about these issues, conveniently allowing us to avoid having to search for bravery in our repertoire and speak out to say that is wrong or I need help. Reserved also for a small section of religious society who are perfect Catholics but poor Christians, who seem to have completely misunderstood that simple carpenter from Galilee, that ordinary man who if he did and said what he is reputed to have said and done, had a simple message of looking out for each other.
Within this atmosphere the lyrics of Dory Previn are an extraordinary biography of life’s experiences and emotions. They are honest and unashamed, her cry to be wanted, to feel needed, is explicitly written in ‘I Dance and Dance and Smile and Smile.’ The lyric comes from a personal place, an upswell of emotion that spills on to the page. Her efforts to please her father, her mother or school friends is a heartfelt expression of loneliness and the deep desire within everyone to feel wanted. She leaves no aspect of human emotion untouched. Repressive societies are a breeding ground for loneliness. We do not have to examine the American society in which Previn grew up to explore these issues, we have our own prime example of such a society. The combination of organised Church and State which Ireland experienced, created a society built upon a fictional purity that displayed intolerance at an alarming rate. The manufactured guilt with which they controlled society not only caused great physical harm to many but also condemned a substantial proportion of the population to a lifetime of silence, forcing them to endure loneliness and heartache. If you were marginalised because of your faith, your gender, or your sexual orientation there was little opportunity to speak about or share emotional problems. People internalised their issues and in doing so exacerbated them and created subsidiary issues which only led to more problems. This is what makes Previn’s lyrics so powerful. She says it as it is, touching on every emotion the human can experience, hate, love, jealousy, fear, joy, and heartache. The turbulence of her childhood without doubt brought certain emotions to the fore and she wrote specifically about these, but she also looked at the human as a cornucopia of emotion and explored every avenue those emotions may travel, examining the ones we do not normally display but keep for ourselves to mull over constantly and oftentimes agonisingly. For example, in ‘Angels and Devils the Following Day’ she is indicating the far greater devastation of an emotional injury in comparison to a physical injury. The emotional injury can last much longer and possibly a lifetime, whereas the physical one will heal. It also examines the question of a love that can be simple, with no need to question the rights or wrongs of it, and to do so can complicate an emotion that is basic to us all, the overwhelming desire to be there for someone and care for them. Analysing something to the extreme will invariably raise questions that may tear at the conscience and create feelings of guilt as to whether the love is right and acceptable in society.
Although artistically in complete contrast to Previn, John B Keane raised comparable questions in the sixties exploring the heartache and conflict within a person who found themselves falling in love with someone while already in love with the person they were with. The concept of being able to love two people in equal measure and the maelstrom of emotions it can generate, torn by not wanting to hurt one, and the bleakness of the realisation of never being able to be with the other. In doing so creating a juxtaposition or we could even say a total contradiction of the most powerful emotion we have, love, being the genesis for the equally powerful emotion of sadness. This is where Previn excels, she does not stick to basic emotions of love, hate or jealously but delves deep into every variation or subplot that the basic emotions can spark. The often profoundly influencing subplot of emotions that effect a person’s life. ‘My Daddy Says’ highlights how even a throw away remark can profoundly scar and leave a legacy with someone. “My Daddy says I ain’t his child, ain’t that something, ain’t that wild.” “He told Mama and she told me, back about when I was three.” There is no doubt that Previn’s childhood and family was dysfunctional, but the fact that she specifically mentions such a young age clearly demonstrates how hurt can remain with the individual for a lifetime, and even though it is slightly portrayed as a throw away comment by her mother and included a certain amount of tenderness when she ‘felt her face and kind of smiled’ it still generated feelings of inadequacy within Previn and she searches out all the aspects about herself that she feels makes her different and not part of the family. There is an immense feeling of inferiority expressed in the lyrics. It is a stark reminder that even what may be said in jest, or a comment that we may forgive ourselves for by showing mock surprise by the recipient’s reaction or placate our conscience with ‘I was only joking’ may want to be taken out and looked at before we speak. My favourite forgiveness phrase now is, ‘I am not a racist, but!’ When you hear this phrase the next thing you will hear is guaranteed to be profoundly racist. More importantly, it is an effect that can be cruel and long lasting. At the time Previn was writing this material in the 1970s it was an America and indeed a world which would not have been receptive to such topics being discussed.
The purpose of writing such lyrics can be twofold, in one instance a vehicle to unburden the writer who may themselves struggle to express their own emotion to another individual but can release them on to a page or to reach out to the rest of us, to declare the emotive issues we experience are commonplace and they have no boundaries or favourites. They are the lifeforce that drive and direct each one of us regardless of race, sex, age, or strength. They are the real influencers in our world, and our attempts to control and manage them can be successful or not, either way they are the fabric of each one of us and some days the songwriter or the poet can mend it and stitch it back together.