I think that Bon Jovi is a talented writer and poet

Aloha !

You're all talking like Bon Jovi is still capable of doing it that good by coming up with examples from the nineties but when looking at the latest stuff you could say he's lost his edge a bit now didn't he? Also, reading the lyrics when you don't know the melodies yet makes clear that a lot of lyrics aren't as good as you all think. With most songs the melody makes the lyrics powerfull, not the lyrics themselves.

And I think the lyrics from Dry County are (very) overrated. They're not thát good. No one understands what the song is about unless Jon explains it a bit like he did during the KTF tour. To me the metaphores are overdone. Not every chorus and verse should have one; it makes lyrics hard to understand.

Salaam Aleikum,
Sebastiaan

The name of this topic reminds me of Henk-Jan Smits and that's not a pretty sight

You don't even know the name of the song?

It's "feeling like a Monday"...

Ice

If I had 5 minutes to talk to Jon I wouldn't be talking about his hair, or his rock star status or anything, I'd be asking him what influenced some of his songs. He is very poetic and I think many of the songs he writes alone have a certain meaningful feel to them.

(Alright Iceman, I give you props for that. This is the only place where someone could correct me on Bon Jovi but you did it - it is feeling like a monday duh. And, you did it in a somewhat polite manner).

I would definitely ask Jon about the lyrics too if I ever got an interview with him. So many people who interview Jon ask the dumbest questions that are so trivial. That would be a good topic to post: If you had the opportunity to interview Bon Jovi, what would you ask?

this is a good point...crush and bounce lyrics are very far from KTF - TD level..."...we got four kids all hungry and one on the way..." could be the script for a condoms advertisment.
Thief of hearts sucks too but Last Man Standing is a song that wants to say something...not the usual "hold on/living life each day" theme. This gives me a bit of hope for the new album.

...but the lyrics gives worth to the music...lyrics are written FOR the music..they have to rhyme in a metric way so maybe sometimes the compromise a writer find is not the best one for the words themself but simply sounds good with the song.

I'd have to say Dry County and Blaze also. But there are a few songs that struck me lyrically on the boxset like You Can Sleep While I Dream and Temptation, except I don't know if Jon wrote them, or if they're co-written or what.

Do you not think that lyrics with different interpretations are good lyrics? What, it has to be glaringly obvious what the song is supposed to be about in order to be any good?

Aloha !

I do think different interpretations will make lyrics better, as long as it's done in the right way. People who think Always is a romantic song that they want as their wedding song don't get the lyrics very well if you know what I mean.

The thing with Dry County is that about every line is a metaphore. It doesn't have to be glaringly obvious, but a few lines to make clear what the song is about wouldn't have done any harm to the lyrics themselves. If you'd hand over the lyrics from that song to anyone particular (not a Bon Jovi fan) that person wouldn't understand the song at all and think it's about trying to make a living in a town without water.

Salaam Aleikum,
Sebastiaan

If that person had a firm grasp of the English language, they would have to be an extremely literal thinker to not understand the song is about more than just an oil town going bust. Not undestanding the song would be a reflection of that person more than the song itself.

Becky