A song that always feels profound to you no matter how often you've heard it?

Nights in white satin.

Wish you were here.

 

Eleanor Rigby - The Beatles
The Boy in the Bubble - Paul Simon
Walk Away Renee - The Four Tops
A Man Out of Time - Elvis Costello

 

20th Century Man - The Kinks

 

Aqualung

 

Pretty much that whole album, really.

 

I mean, throw a dart at any early Neil Young and odds are you'll hit one.

 

Songs Ohia: Farewell Transmission

 

The Beatles- A Day In The Life always makes me think "Wow! That song is making some interesting musical statements" every time I hear it.

 

Fighting the urge to post "Shaving Cream" again.

 

Smog: Held

 

Jeremy Soule - Njol
Martin Kohlstedt - KSY
Jonny Greenwood - Open Spaces

 

Miles From Nowhere

 

If I Had A Hammer
Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright

 

If I Can Dream - Elvis Presley
Hallelujah - Jeff Buckley
In The Ghetto - Elvis Presley
Bridge Over Troubled Water - Elvis Presley
How great Thou Art - Elvis Presley

 

I’ll say it: Led Zeppelin- Stairway to Heaven , especially the live version on TSRTS.

Van Der Graaf Generator- pretty much the entire Godbluff lp

Black Crowes - Thorn in my Pride

 

My Son-Gary Puckett & the Union Gap.

 

Most Janis Ian songs. "In the Winter", "Tea And Sympathy", "Stars", "Jessie", "Dance With Me", "Hymn", "Watercolors", "Roses"...

She does write less profound, more playful songs now and then, but usually there are profound aspects of even those.

 

Tom Paxton - "Whose Garden Was This?", "The Last Thing On My Mind", "My Son John".

 

Kate & Anna McGarrigle: "I Eat Dinner". What a lovely song that is. Beautiful, evocative, profound... And just so sad.

 

Emmylou Harris - Prayer In Open D

 

The Alan Parsons Project - Don't Answer Me

Moody Blues - Your Wildest Dreams

Mike + The Mechanics - Living Years

 

Taxi-Harry Chapin

 

"Things We Said Today' by The Beatles. Popped straight into my head. I get the feeling that it's going to mean more to me as the years go by. In my mind, it's unlike anything - a mid tempo melancholy tune.
The lyrics try (and succeed in) saying something profound.
It's about looking forward into the future with hope, yet it's in a minor key, with a major section. Maybe it's also saying 'enjoy what we have now'. It could be about someone who is leaving for a number of different reasons.
Listening to the lyrics, the singer is committed, resolute and a little unsure. To me, it's an incredible song - people like to talk about their 'really big songs'. This is one of those, but you have to be in a certain frame of mind to accept what it is saying (and maybe teaching us). It is a gift.

 

Christine McVie - Songbird
The Byrds - Wasn't Born To Follow
Don Henley - The Last Resort
Joaquin Phoenix - Ring Of Fire
John Lennon - Imagine

 

This and I'll Follow The Sun are two early McCartney songs that really showcase his talent for melody and yes lyrics.