The Themes of These Days

I see it the other way, as the lyrics are written:
"These days the stars seem out of reach" - it seems so hard to achieve things that you want from life.
"and these days there ain't a ladder on the streets" - can't even find a helping hand to achieve those things.
I think of it as a dig at the US government at the time (nothing new there), making life so hard for everyone.

Same with "Jimmy Shoes, busted both his legs, trying to learn to fly" - to me, that's a suicide attempt, but to my wife it's someone trying to reach for the stars and falling short.

Different drinks for different needs my friend. Not everyone likes the same thing

Heard again, sounds he says seem and aint in different chorus. the first one sounded seem, the second chorus aint.

Sorry I'm typing on the tablet.

I hear "ain't" too.

I was just pointing out that age has nothing to do with the fact that you don't like the album.

Age HAS got to do with the fact that I dont like the album. Its a bit arrogant to think you know what does/doesn't influence me. Everyone takes music to theirselves in very different ways for different reasons. For me of all the Bon Jovi albums These Days has or has had no baring on my life whatsoever. At the age of 15 when the album was released I was in a very different place to the album. I was 15. FOR ME (just so you understand) age was a factor of me not being drawn to These Days at the time.

Interesting. I was 15 when These Days came out, and no album has in any way ever had more of an impact on me. Ever. Not then, not now, and unlikely never will. It was the soundtrack to my life then, and the soundtrack to my life now.

So I highly doubt age has anything remotely to do with it, but merely if the album resonates with oneself.

Totally agree.

These days is great, best record and best song ever. Made me realise I'd rather have a gloomy dark Bon Jovi than the complicated wildflower optimistic Bon Jovi.

OFFTOPIC: Since we are talking about what we listen and what it says in the lyrics, everytime I listen to It's my life studio, I hear "like frankestein I did it my way". I can't help it. There is at least one chorus where IM SURE he sings that. There is surely a "-ein" instead of a "said".

In my opinion, These Days is Bon Jovi taking several theme's and styles that were popular at the time, and shaping it into a Bon Jovi album... basically doing what they do. It is their best album because they each played their part extremely well. The lyrics are some Jon's finest and the guitar work is some of Richie's best. And for once (and the last time), the album wasn't over produced.

But let me go back to my first point. These Days is in some cases Jon trying to write a grunge song. You can hear it most clearly in Prostitute, but lyrically in others like As My Guitar. He never nailed the grunge theme, but I believe that was he was going for. Also keep in mind that NIN was very popular at the time and for the first time their take on religion was thrown into the mainstream. For a brief time in music anger towards God was a popular theme in rock... not devil worship or a discussion of the devil that many others in rock were doing in the 70s and 80s, but simply anger towards God. Thus, for the first and last time we get a song like Hey God... not to mention the faithlessness themes and unforgiven themes also in album.

Take the seed that was started with the success from Always, add a little grunge/alternative rock influence, add a big dose of Aerosmith's popularity/influence, and you have These Days.

And they are still doing it today. It's just they did that album particularly well. They were all at their peak.

When we first got The Circle and had it on in the car, my sister thought Jon said in Working Man "I lost my pencil, they took my ice cream" and that was all I've ever been able to hear.