Quote:
Originally Posted by Captain_jovi
I don't know if I 100 percent agree. His writing style took a massive change after his two most lyrically-personal albums failed in the US. There isn't really anything as...I guess dumb is the right word, lyrically as It's My Life on either of those two albums. He's always been a cliche-ridden guy but 2000 onwards it became more touch the sky, fly, never die, never give up. To an extent, yeah, the band has always been that but it was never as obvious. You're right though, when his voice was at it's peak the passion was there and you believed it. In These Arms isn't a great song lyrically but he belts it out like it is.
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You're talking about These Days and Destination Anywhere?
Well, I do love both albums and lyrics but not all that glitters is gold.
"These days, the stars ain't out of reach
These days, there ain't a ladder on the streets"
"I can't write a love song the way I feel today
I can't sing no song of hope, I've got nothing to say"
"Hey God, tell me what the hell is goin' on
It seems like all the good shit's gone
It keeps on gettin' harder hangin' on"
Of course those were better than what the rock fan was used to. But still those lyrics are far away from being the new Dylan or Bruce.
I think Bon Jovi's success always was about the performance. Like you said, In These Arms has cheesy lyrics as well, but Jon performs it like it's a masterpiece. But the more his voice declined, the less he could do new songs justice performance-wise. And that's why we're sitting here for decades saying "that new song xy is terrible but just imagine the 80s/90s Jon singing it - it would've been a hit!".