“Why can’t you stay here awhile
Stay here awhile
Stay with me”
—The Cranberries, Promises
The Cranberries, Collective Soul, Pinback, Jann Arden, Phil Collins, Tears For Fears, Depeche Mode, Bjork, Sarah McLachlan, Sade, Ellie Goulding, City and Colour, Lily Allen, Eminem/JZ, John Legend, Bob Seger …
Song Lyric Sunday, #SongLyricSunday
Another Sunday has come around.
Hmm.
It’s strange how my memory is blurry on this question. I don’t really know why that is.
It’s The Cranberries! It’s got to be The Cranberries!
They were my favourite band, back when I had a favourite. It was “likely” my first concert and I had a date.
Aw, how sweet. Innocence, but I would learn a lot about promises, in love mostly, soon enough.
I went on to see this band four times, if memory serves, with boyfriends, sister, friends.
Promises – The Cranberries (Live in Paris)
This song talks of vows broken. As the song’s title suggests, of broken promises.
What is a promise made, worth?
I chose it because it was the big single, that first concert experience of mine, back in 1999.
The song is indeed a powerful one. It speaks to one of the biggest battles I struggle with.
I try real hard not to judge, as I know what being judged feels like, but when it comes to love and relationships, I often wonder why?
I know life is not as simple as I’d like it to be, that a promise seems huge and binding when its a child’s promise, such as in the promise many young people make, to stay best friends forever.
That is the first lesson, that promises are only good when they are made, but don’t guarantee their continuation. They end, when feelings change, and people are left to pick up the pieces.
I hear the anger and the frustration in Dolores’s voice, when she sings
You better believe I’m coming You better believe what I say You better hold on to your promises Because you bet, you’ll get what you deserve
She’s going to leave him over She’s gonna take her love away So much for your eternal vows, well It does not matter anyway clickable
I wish every love would last, every relationship would be never-ending, but songs like this bring those realities out into the open.
Oh, all the promises we made All the meaningless and empty words I prayed, prayed, prayed
Oh, all the promises we broke All the meaningless and empty words I spoke, spoke, spoke clickable
It feels meaningless, at the time, but it’s not, none of it. But is giving up the answer, in all situations? Of course not. The hopelessness of a broken promise makes me think on how relationships flourish and how they crash and burn.
What of all the things that you taught me What of all the things that you’d say What of all your prophetic preaching You’re just throwing it all away
Maybe we should burn the house down Have ourselves another fight Leave the cobwebs in the closet Cause tearing them out is just not right clickable
They put on an excellent live show. I will never forget how their music moved through me, all around me, holding me to my seat, frozen in awe.
Of course, a live song clip here isn’t quite the same, but I love to think back on how it felt to be there.
Her Headache 
