''By all means write new songs but don't give them a label which they don't deserve. If the songs are good they will last." correct,furthermore levellers diatribe proves one thing,that deciding what he thinks is good is just a reflection of his taste, however if we listen to Nick drakes perfomance of 3 hours, his performance diction wise is bad, he makes a pleasant sound, and he is musically competent,but what is he trying to say, lyrics are important they should be performed so that we can understand them, and the meaning of the song should be clear. levellr please explain what 3 hours is supposed to be about. now here is a modern song palaces of gold whose meaning is very clear, i do not know if it is a folk song but it is well written and its meaning is clear. If the sons of company directors, And judges' private daughters, Had to got to school in a slum school, Dumped by some joker in a damp back alley, Had to herd into classrooms cramped with worry, With a view onto slagheaps and stagnant pools, Had to file through corridors grey with age, And play in a crackpot concrete cage. Chorus (repeated after each verse): Buttons would be pressed, Rules would be broken. Strings would be pulled And magic words spoken. Invisible fingers would mould Palaces of gold. If prime ministers and advertising executives, Royal personages and bank managers' wives Had to live out their lives in dank rooms, Blinded by smoke and the foul air of sewers. Rot on the walls and rats in the cellars, In rows of dumb houses like mouldering tombs. Had to bring up their children and watch them grow In a wasteland of dead streets where nothing will grow. I'm not suggesting any kind of a plot, Everyone knows there's not, But you unborn millions might like to be warned That if you don't want to be buried alive by slagheaps, Pit-falls and damp walls and rat-traps and dead streets, Arrange to be democratically born The son of a company director Or a judge's fine and private daughter. compare it to 3 hours Three hours from sundown Jeremy flies Hoping to keep The sun from his eyes East from the city And down to the cave In search of a master In search of a slave Three hours from London "Jacomo's free Taking his woes Down to the sea In search of a lifetime To tell when he's home In search of a story That's never been known Three hours from speaking Everyone's flown Not wanting to be Seen on their own Three hours is needed To leave from them all Three hours to wonder And three hours to fall Three hours from sundown Jeremy flies Hoping to keep The sun from his eyes East from the city And down to the cave In search of a master In search of a slave." I never judge a song by its label but on its merit.
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