Surely this statement may invoke some fury, but I really do think that people generally don’t know how to write melodies and poetic lyrics that speak anymore.

I remember how in the very early 1990s, when my schoolmates were consuming the works of Michael Jackson, Janet Jackson, Paula Abdul, Guns ‘N Roses, Taylor Dayne, Mariah Carey, and Whitney Houston, among many others, I was into folk. That was rather strange for a kid my age.

I recall how every single day, after returning from school, I would sit down and listen to James Taylor, Paul Simon, and Don McLean sing for hours upon hours.

Don McLean, he’s a prophet, if you know what I mean. I could just listen to him for hours without getting bored. He sang so much about life. His songs made me sad, angry, excited, loved, these and a whole plethora of other emotions… he sang about real stuff. I’ve hardly met a singer-songwriter who’s so connected with life.

There’s this one particular song of Don’s I used to listen to every single day: Crossroads. Over time, listening to it over and over again became like a prayer. Here it is, and it’s making me pray all over again:

Listen to this:

Who ever writes lyrics like that anymore?