Hey, everyone...
So, for today's song, I've chosen Owner Of a Lonely Heart by Yes.
I really love this music, although it cost them the title of "one hit wonder". The guitar background/solo are pretty sweet. From a musical perspective, it's rather technically solid.
The song meaning is pretty much clarified by the video. Which is an adaption of the Franz Kafka novel "The Trial". The script remains faithful to the novel till the very last scene, where in typical Yes fashion we have a happy ending (this is not a betrayal of the novel as Kafka postulates the alternative ending anyway and Yes have simply taken him up on it).
The novel starts with an ordinary guy with an ordinary job leading an ordinary life being arrested. He is told that he is on trial and , to cut a long story short, his sentence is death. In other words, this guy "goes with the flow" and does not question the world around him. The first couple of verses have Yes admonishing this bloke and urging him to make up his own mind about things and take control of his life. Following verses do much the same thing (Give your free will a chance...)
Sufficient to say that the song is a great piece of music and the lyrics open up worlds to those who care to follow it through. See the clip, read the book and the lyrics will have another level of meaning.
In a more personal interpretation we may say that the song is addressing the owner of a lonely heart and saying that the reason for it is that he's too afraid to get his heart broken: Say, you don't want to chance it, you've been hurt so before. But it's actually saying you should chance it and there's no reason to be lonely: in the end, you've go to go.... it will excite, it will delight.
I think that if you really love someone, it doesn't matter how hurt you felt, you should always give it another try (if you think it's worth it) and if the other person envolved is willing to comit and make sacrifices for the benefit of the relationship. Look before you leap owner of a lonely heart/And don't you hesitate at all - no no, won't you please give it another try?
xoxo, Lucy