#37 - Every Word Was a Piece of My Heart

Artist: Jon Bon Jovi
Album: Destination Anywhere
Other Versions: None
Era: Jon's pretentiousish phase

Lyrics

Destination Anywhere is, for me, about a 3/5 * album. There's some terribly mundane crap, there's some moderate-to-good stuff, and then there's one or two good tracks. It's too bad this album disappoints me so much, because I love Blaze of Glory, and I was expecting more of the same quality.

But I like this song. It's got Jon doing his mid-tone husky, almost-but-not-quite bored voice, but this time instead of that voice contending with boring instrumentation, it's got a cool shaker-y beat and a tempo that actually kicks it up a bit.

I really really like the lyrics to this one. That's what has me sold on the song. "These love letters mix with whiskey / just don't light a match when you kiss me" is a line I adore. Someone just has to mention matches or whiskey or lighters for this to pop in my head and the whole song to get stuck in there. It's good writing, plain and simple.

"You've been the blood in my veins / the only one who knows my middle name / and the smiles they came easy 'cause of you

You know I love you / but I hate you / 'cause I know I could never escape you / so let the choir sing, for tonight I'm an easy mark"

Those lines turn this into one of the most interesting views on love I've heard. it's such a realitic, stream-of-consciousness kind of thought process. Melancholy, but he really does love her. The whole point of the song - everything I said, I meant it and felt it - is undermined and enhanced at the same time by the melancholiness of the delivery and word choice. Jon is an excellent songwriter, and this is a prime example.

My Rating: 8/10

(Anyone else catch the Soul game today? Gonna be a good season!)

Edited 3/25/06: Added lyrics