Size Isn't Everything

Today's blog entry will be about the best Bee Gees album almost no one has ever heard about. I know, admitting I like a Bee Gees album is really dangerous in some quarters, even the the album here was not a disco album in the least. In fact, Size Isn't Everything was released in 1993, during the height of the "grunge" era, halfway between the Bee Gees' two successful "comeback" albums: 1989's "One" and 1997's "Still Waters. Yet somehow, this album did not do well. The album had two singles, the #88 "hit" "Paying The Price Of Love" and the excellent, should have been a big hit "For Whom The Bell Tolls," which failed to chart. I first became aware of this album during my sophomore year of college, when my roommate had me listen to some of the tracks from this album. I was very impressed (which is not easy), and the album is now a mainstay in my car cd changer. This album appears to be the kind of album that was intentionally crafted to be great, but obscure. At least it seems that way. Since the album, at 11 songs, is a little too long to analyze in great depth, I will choose three songs, of varying tempos (all of the songs on the album are about romantic love, usually the downside of it). In doing so, a lot will probably be revealed about me (perhaps too much). But anyway, here goes.

"Kiss Of Life"

Lyrics:

Never more aware of what you do.
I've got you leavin' me and missing you.
And me believing that you've never done right
When you've never done wrong.

You've been comin' to me late at night.
It's not the eye alone that gives you sight.
I've never given anybody my soul,
But I'm comin' undone.

I'm a survivor but I'm reaching my low,
But I'm not ready to die.

I'm here for the kiss of life.
I'm here for the kiss of life.
Just give me the kiss of life.

Watch them hold you.
Count their faces,
A never ending line.
But they're only imitations
Existing out of time.

So now you're telling me it's just a ring.
You say it's nothing but it's everything.
I'm under pressure and I'm under
Your gun and I'm fingers and thumbs.

You got the questions and the answers I know.
I'm being buried alive.

I'm here for the kiss of life.
I'm here for the kiss of life.
Just give me the kiss of life.

I can't stay here,
Lost without you.
We're strangers in the dark.
Holy angel,
Living for you,
To love and never cry.

I'm a survivor but I'm reaching my low,
But I'm not ready to die.

I'm here for the kiss of life.
I'm here for the kiss of life.
Just give me the kiss of life.

Analysis:

This is a really upbeat song, despite the rather depressing lyrics. This is a catchy song, and one of the standout tracks on this excellent album. This particular song deals with the fallout from a relationship. When things are going badly, all one wants is the kiss of life, even if one never gets it. Here we see a relationship (a marriage, presumably) falling apart with cheating and arguing, and yet there is the desire to make things right, a desire that will probably be frustrated. For some reason I like songs with depressing lyrics and upbeat, bouncy music, as weird and contradictory as that may be. This song definitely fits the bill.

"Omega Man"

Lyrics:

We set the same scene,
Circumstances different than they
Might have been.
People in two places can be
Pulled into a scheme;
Never what you're fighting for.

Life alone,
Lose a lover's arms.
Never makes it easy when you try too hard.
I wish you would define what you feel--
Hard on or letting go.

I'm the Omega Man,
Stand tall and understand.
Everybody needs a plan.
Mine is a better way.
There'll be trouble in the world:
Sex and the single girl.
I'm an over-eager man.
Find me a better way.
Find me a better way.

We share the same pain.
Underneath the covers I will set you free.
I will prove to you my love is
Older than the sky,
Stronger than the night is long.

Lord of hearts,
Leader of us all.
Let it be together if we rise or fall.
Or is it just my imigaination,
Or the light of a precious stone.
(You'll never be alone).

I'm the Omega Man,
I travel over land.
Everybody needs a plan.
Mine is a better way.
There'll be trouble in the world:
Sex and the single girl.
I'm an over eager man.
Find me a better way.
Find me a better way.

Here at the scene of the crime,
Laid in your arms I will die.
I know it's more than infatuation
That's keeping this man alive.

I'm the Omega Man,
Stand tall and understand.
Everybody needs a plan,
Mine is a better way.
There'll be trouble in the world:
Sex and the single girl.
I'm an over-eager man.
Find me a better way.
Find me a better way.

Analysis:

I can't say too much about the lyrics of this song about incriminating myself. The song is uproariously funny, sung tongue and cheek and all. This is good, considering the song itself has a lot of things to say about the dating world (see previous rant on dating in the church). Omega Man, of course, refers to being the "last man," for those who do not know the Greek alphabet, and this song certainly comments on the difficulties of romantic love. I happen to find a lot of the lyrics of this song hit a little close to home (such as "I wish you would define how you feel", and so forth). Some of the lyrics of the song (probably the ones people would focus on the most) don't apply to me or anything I've done (yet), which is a good thing, I guess. *Shrugs*.

"For Whom The Bell Tolls"

I stumble in the night,
Never really knew what it would've been like.
You're no longer there to
Break my fall.
The heartache over you,
I gave it everything but I couldn't get through.
I never saw the signs.
You're the last to know when love is blind.

All the tears and the turbulent years
When I would not wait for no one.
I didn't stop, take a look at my life,
And see me losing you.

When the lonely heart breaks,
It's the one that forsakes,
It's the dream that we stole.
And I'm using you more,
And the fire that will roar,
There's a hole in my soul.
For you it's goodbye,
And for me it's to cry
For whom the bell tolls.

Seen you in a magagine,
A picture at a party
Where you shouldn't have been,
Hangin' on the arms of someone else.
I'm still in love with you,
Won't you come back to your little boy blue.
I've come to feel inside
This precious love was never mine.
Now I know but a little too late
That I could not live without you.
In the dark or the broad daylight,
I promise I'll be there.

When the lonely heart breaks,
It's the one that forsakes,
It's the dream that we stole.
And I'm using you more,
And the fire that will roar,
There's a hole in my soul.
For you it's goodbye,
And for me it's to cry
For whom the bell tolls.

I never knew there'd be times like this,
When I couldn't reach out to no one.
Am I never gonna find someone
That knows me like you do.
Are you leaving me a helpless hcild
When it took so long to save me.
Fight the devil and the deep blue sea--
I'll follow anywhere,
I promise I'll be there.

Analysis:

This is one of the saddest songs ever. Not sad in that sappy "My Heart Will Go On" way, but said in that "this song is really depressing but I've totally felt that way before" way. This song reminds me of the situation where you have a great friend who you could have had a great relationship with, but you completely blew it and then afterwards you realize what a moron you were. Man, I hate that feeling. But it's a great song, and it should have been a smash hit.