Songs I wish I wrote: "I'll Come Running" by Brian Eno

Song lyrics can be poetry with deep meaning, but I don't think this is required. It can be the way the sounds work together--a sequence of words rather than a sentence. Lyrics can be a component of the song just like the rhythm or the instrumentation. Phrases can also be allusions to things that have meaning to the artists, an inside joke with friends, or a pop culture reference. Like an expressionist painting, the audience must figure it out for themselves--everyone finds a different meaning.

Any of Eno's songs could be used as an example of this, but this one from "Another Green World" (1975) is one I wish I wrote. I like to play it on the guitar and sing it to my kids.

I'll find a place somewhere in the corner 

I'm gonna waste the rest of my days 

Just watching patiently from the window 

Just waiting, seasons change, some day, oh oh, 

My dreams will pull you through that garden gate

I want to be the wandering sailor 

We're silhouettes by the light of the moon 

I sit playing solitaire by the window 

Just waiting, seasons change, ah hah, you'll see 

Some day these dreams will pull you through my door

And I'll come running to tie your shoe 

I'll come running to tie your shoe 

I'll come running to tie your shoe 

I'll come running to tie your shoe

Oh, oh oh-oh-oho-oho-oho-oho-oho-o-o-o

Oh, oh oh-oh-oho-oho-oho-oho-oho-o-o-o

I'll come running to tie your shoe I'll come running to tie your shoe I'll come running to tie your shoe I'll come running to tie your shoe