Song 1

They say that you should always start an album with your strongest song.

They also say that you should not start with a disclaimer.

This is not my strongest pick. Sorry.

The reason for it being the first song on my list of strikingly beautiful songs is that it was written first. Whether I continue chronologically is yet to be determined. I almost had a song from every decade starting from the 30s but was struggling for a 1950s pick. This one kind of covers both the 30s and the 50s, as it turns out .

Anyway, the music was written in 1936 by Charlie Chaplin, and the lyrics were written by John Turner and Geoffrey Parsons in 1954.

'Smile'

Smile tho' your heart is aching,
Smile even tho' it's breaking,
When there are clouds in the sky
You'll get by,
If you smile
thro' your fear and sorrow,
Smile and maybe tomorrow,
You'll see the sun come shin-ing thro' for you

Light up your face with gladness,
Hide ev-'ry trace of sadness,
Al -'tho a tear may be ever so near,
That's the time,
You must keep on trying,
Smile, what's the use of crying,
You'll find that life is still worth-while,
If you just smile.

I, until recently, laboured under the misapprehension that Charlie Chaplin wrote the lyrics. This added to its beauty, in my mind, with the idea of it being written by a melancholy clown.

The melody and lyrics do work beautifully together, though. The melody is kind of a sedate rollercoaster. There are lots of sequences heading generally down the scale, but kind of heading up, and then ending where they started. The lyrics reflect this rolling continuity. They are kind of one long line made up lots of little phrases.

They convey the co-existence of melancholy and optimism which is simply part of life. Well, mine anyway. There are time when I would find these lyrics irritating. There's no point in pretending that everything is okay- and certainly 'putting on a happy face' is not necessarily going to solve anything.

But sometimes smiling is all you can do.

Subjectively Speaking: Songs You Should Like

There are some songs that are so beautiful that you simply must stop whatever you are doing and listen to them. Listen to them with your whole being. Lay down on the floor, close your eyes and put it on repeat. And wonder if there is anyone else out there who feels this way about a song.

Sometimes the songs are more poignant because they are associated with something else: a place, a person, a kiss, or even a film. Sometimes it is because they are associated with nothing real at all. They allow you to forget everything and to simply be.

These are the songs that melt my cynicism, or confirm my cynicism, and make me so conscious of my heart and everything that it holds. And yet, I know if I listened to only these songs it would be unbearable.

Over the next few weeks, I'd like to share these songs with you, beginning with a song penned in 1936.