Thursday, June 19, 2008

Dueling Ballads

So I'm listening to my Pandora radio at work this morning and I make the discovery that there are TWO songs in this world entitled "Glory of Love." One, of course, is Chicago's classic theme to Karate Kid II. The other (playing on my Sinatra station) is by Vic Damone, who has a surprisingly committed fan base. I wanted to take a closer look at these doppelgangers....

"The Glory Of Love"

Tonight its very clear
As we're both lying here
There's so many things I wanna say
I will always love you
I will never leave you alone
Sometimes I just forget,
Say things I might regret
It breaks my heart to see you crying
I don't want to lose you
I could never make it alone

[Chorus:]
Cause I am the man who will fight for your honor
I'll be the hero
That you're dreaming of
Gonna live forever knowing together
That we did it all for the glory of love

You keep me standing tall
You help me through it all
I'm always strong when you're beside me
I have always needed you
I could never make it alone...

[Chorus]

It's like a knight in shining armor from a long time ago
Just in time I'll save the day
Take you to my castle far away...

[Chorus x3]

"The Glory Of Love"

You've got to give a little, take a little,
and let your poor heart break a little.
That's the story of, that's the glory of love.

You've got to laugh a little, cry a little,
until the clouds roll by a little.
That's the story of, that's the glory of love.

As long as there's the two of us,
we've got the world and all it's charms.
And when the world is through with us,
we've got each other's arms.

You've got to win a little, lose a little,
yes, and always have the blues a little.
That's the story of, that's the glory of love.
That's the story of, that's the glory of love.


Who's the winner? Well...

Cramming every trite generalization of love into one song
-Chicago

Internal, rather than end-of-phrase, rhyming
-Damone

Assertion that knights in shining armor lived "a long time ago"
-Chicago

Learning a life lesson
-dead heat photo finish

KNIGHT REFERENCE!!!
-Chicago

There you have it. Cetera wins this round.

1 comment:

blob bladewig said...

Good eye (ear) Sullivan... and while the two songs don't sound too much alike - they are the same song.
One is a poppier, more positive song and the other is bordering on yacht rock.
My favorite line from Peter Cetera is the unspecific time period for knights, "From a long time ago..."