Rant #1,433: Legends Lost

Two of the greatest soul singers of all time have passed on during the past few weeks.

First, we lost Percy Sledge, and then, this past Friday, Ben E. King left us.

I am not going to go into their histories, because you can find that elsewhere.

But these were two of the really, truly, greatest soul singers of all time, even though each had large musical catalogs but each was also basically known for one song over all the others.

For Sledge, it was "When a Man Loves a Woman," a paean to love if there ever was one.

For King, it was "Stand By Me," a song that speaks about love, too, but in a different way.

Each song could be interpreted in any way the listener wanted, but it all boiled down to one theme: that human emotion called love, and all of its ups and downs and curves that it takes.

We have all been through what love brings to us, and I think these two songs put our thoughts into words and memories that will live forever.

Each artist had other big songs and major hits on their resume, but these two songs resonated from each of their catalogs like no other.

Each of these songs had movies named after them, each of them continue to be played on radio stations to this day, and people from nine to 90 know these songs like they know their names.

I guess it is the pure emotion of each of these tunes that grab you and never let go.

To me, music has become somewhat emotionless in today's world, and most songs appear to lack any passion.

But these two songs were just the opposite. You could hear the pain--and pride--in each singer's voice when the song was played. You just don't hear that passion in today's music.

Each song has been covered by many--I do believe that there is even a female version of Sledge's tune--but probably the most well known of the covers is John Lennon's rendering of "Stand By Me."

It is tough, it is gritty, it is good, but it can't hold a candle to King's version.

Now, these two giants are gone, but the great thing about our music is that it can be found anywhere, whether on records, CDs, tapes, YouTube, streaming, etc.

Those tunes not only outlived their creators, they will outlive us all.

So yes, each singer has his own personal history, but you can get that anywhere.

This is just my own personal views on each singer and his song, and I hope that if not sharing what you already thought, that maybe I opened your eyes--and your ears--a bit.

"When a Man Loves a Woman" and "Stand By Me"--I mean, music doesn't really get any better than that, does it?