George Michael - "Listen Without Prejudice" Albüm Şarkı Sözleri (1990)

 George Michael'ın İçsel Yolculuğu: "Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1"

George Michael’ın 1990 yılında yayımlanan **Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1** albümü, popüler müziğin zirvesindeki bir sanatçının, şöhretin parlak ışıklarından uzaklaşarak kendi iç dünyasına ve insani değerlere dönüşünü simgeleyen, oldukça derinlikli bir eserdir. Bu albüm, dış dünyanın beklentileriyle içsel gerçeklik arasındaki çatışmayı merkeze alan, samimi ve sorgulayıcı bir yapıya sahiptir. Söz yazarı, popüler kültürün yarattığı maskelerin ardındaki insanı aramaya çıkarken, dinleyiciyi de hem toplumsal hem de bireysel bir yüzleşmeye davet eder.

### Praying For Time

 * **Ana Tema:** Toplumsal yozlaşma, vicdan muhasebesi ve umutsuzluk.

 * **Lirik Analizi:** Şarkı, insanlığın içinde bulunduğu manevi boşluğu eleştirel bir dille yansıtır. "God's stopped keeping score" (Tanrı artık puan tutmuyor) ifadesi, insanların ahlaki sorumluluktan kaçışını ve bencilleşmesini vurgulayan çarpıcı bir metafordur. Umudun tükendiği bir dünyada, zamana sığınmanın (praying for time) tek kurtuluş yolu olarak sunulduğu karamsar bir tablodur.

### Freedom '90

 * **Ana Tema:** Kişisel özgürlük, otantik benliği arayış ve geçmişle hesaplaşma.

 * **Lirik Analizi:** Geçmişin başarılarına ve üzerine inşa edilen imajlara veda metnidir. "Sometimes the clothes do not make the man" (Bazen kıyafetler insanı yapmaz) dizeleri, dış görünüşün ve yaratılan persona'nın ötesindeki gerçek benliği kabullenme arzusunu temsil eder. Geçmişin "yalanlarını" geride bırakıp, artık kendi kurallarıyla yaşamaya karar veren bir ruhun özgürleşme manifestosudur.

### They Won't Go When I Go

 * **Ana Tema:** Manevi arınma, yalnızlık ve ölüm sonrası huzur.

 * **Lirik Analizi:** Dünyevi hırsların ve yalan dostlukların ötesine geçme isteği şarkının temelidir. "They won't go when I go" nakaratı, kişinin kendi ruhsal yolculuğunda tamamen yalnız olduğunu ve gerçek kurtuluşun ancak sahteliklerden arınmakla mümkün olacağını anlatır. İnsanın kendi kaderine yürüyüşünde kimseyi yanına alamayacağı vurgulanır.

### Something To Save

 * **Ana Tema:** İletişimsizlik, dürüstlük ve kaybedilmekte olan bir bağın kurtarılma çabası.

 * **Lirik Analizi:** İlişkideki gizemlerin ve konuşulamayanların yarattığı uçurumu ele alır. "We're moving further from heaven / And closer to the deep blue sea" dizeleri, ilişkinin kutsallığından kopup bilinmezliğe sürüklenişi anlatır. Şarkı, bir şeyleri kurtarmak için geç kalmadan dürüstçe yüzleşme çağrısıdır.

### Cowboys And Angels

 * **Ana Tema:** Karşılıksız sevgi, geçmişin izleri ve savunmasızlık.

 * **Lirik Analizi:** Aşkın getirdiği acıyı ve partnerin geçmişinden gelen yaraların ilişki üzerindeki ağırlığını işler. "That scar on your face" metaforu, kişinin yaşadığı acı dolu geçmişin, şu anki duygusal mesafesinin sebebi olduğunu belirtir. Teslimiyet ve mesafenin birbirine karıştığı melankolik bir anlatımdır.

### Waiting For That Day

 * **Ana Tema:** Yas, kabullenişin zorluğu ve geçmişe özlem.

 * **Lirik Analizi:** Bir ayrılığın ardından iyileşememe halini ve zihnin sürekli geçmişte takılı kalmasını konu alır. Şarkı, "memory serves me far too well" ifadesiyle, unutmanın imkansızlığını ve kişinin kendi kendini iyileştirme çabası ile duyduğu özlem arasındaki savaşı betimler.

### Mothers Pride

 * **Ana Tema:** Savaşın anlamsızlığı, annelik ve kurban edilen nesiller.

 * **Lirik Analizi:** Vatanseverlik kisvesi altında bir annenin çocuğunu savaşa, yani ölüme göndermesinin trajedisini anlatır. "He's a soldier waiting for war" ile başlayan süreç, "He's a soldier now forevermore" ile hüzünlü bir sona erer. Şarkı, sistemin bireyler üzerindeki yıkıcı etkisini ve hiçbir kahramanlık hikayesinin bir anne acısını telafi edemeyeceğini vurgular.

### Heal The Pain

 * **Ana Tema:** Şefkat, iyileştirici sevgi ve güvenin yeniden tesisi.

 * **Lirik Analizi:** Yaralı bir kalbi onarma vaadi üzerine kuruludur. "How can I help you / Please let me try to" dizeleri, güveni sarsılmış birine uzatılan samimi bir eldir. Geçmişte yaşanan hayal kırıklıklarının, bugünkü sevgiyle telafi edilebileceği mesajını taşıyan iyimser bir tondadır.

### Soul Free

 * **Ana Tema:** Tutku, teslimiyet ve duygusal özgürleşme.

 * **Lirik Analizi:** Mantığın ötesine geçen, tutkunun rehberliğinde yaşanan bir özgürlük arayışıdır. İnsanların birbirlerini anlamasalar bile, tenin ve sesin yarattığı çekimle kurdukları bağ, ruhun özgürleşmesi için bir araç olarak kullanılır.

### Waiting (Reprise)

 * **Ana Tema:** İtiraf, döngüsellik ve kabullenme.

 * **Lirik Analizi:** Albümün kapanışında, başa dönüldüğünü ve ancak geçmişle yüzleşerek geleceğe kapı aralanabileceğini hatırlatır. "I can't say that I've found a cure for these / But at least I know them" sözleri, kusurların ve yaraların tamamen silinmese bile, artık onları tanıyarak onlarla yaşamayı öğrenme evresine geçildiğini gösterir.

**Editörün Notu:** *Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1*, popüler müziğin sadece bir eğlence aracı değil, aynı zamanda derin bir içgörü kaynağı olabileceğini kanıtlayan, zamansız bir başyapıttır.

*Bu derinlemesine incelemeyi okuduktan sonra, sizce albümün genelinde hakim olan "geçmişten kurtulma arzusu" mu yoksa "geçmişin acılarına rağmen devam etme zorunluluğu" mu daha ağır basıyor?*

George Michael - "Listen Without Prejudice" Albüm Şarkı Sözleri (1990)

"Praying For Time"

These are the days of the open hand

They will not be the last

Look around now

These are the days of the beggars and the choosers

This is the year of the hungry man

Whose place is in the past

Hand in hand with ignorance

And legitimate excuses

The rich declare themselves poor

And most of us are not sure

If we have too much

But we'll take our chances

'Cause God's stopped keeping score

I guess somewhere along the way

He must have let us all out to play

Turned his back and all God's children

Crept out the back door

And it's hard to love, there's so much to hate

Hanging on to hope

When there is no hope to speak of

And the wounded skies above say it's much much too late

Well maybe we should all be praying for time

These are the days of the empty hand

Oh, you hold on to what you can

And charity is a coat you wear twice a year

This is the year of the guilty man

Your television takes a stand

And you find that what was over there is over here

So you scream from behind your door

Say, "What's mine is mine and not yours"

I may have too much but I'll take my chances

'Cause God's stopped keeping score

And you cling to the things they sold you

Did you cover your eyes when they told you

That he can't come back

'Cause he has no children to come back for

It's hard to love, there's so much to hate

Hanging on to hope when there is no hope to speak of

And the wounded skies above say it's much too late

So maybe we should all be praying for time

☆☆☆☆☆

"Freedom '90"

I won't let you down

I will not give you up

Gotta have some faith in the sound

It's the one good thing that I've got

I won't let you down

So please don't give me up

Because I would really, really love to stick around

Oh yeah

Heaven knows I was just a young boy

Didn't know what I wanted to be

I was every little hungry schoolgirl's pride and joy

And I guess it was enough for me

To win the race, a prettier face

Brand new clothes and a big fat place

On your rock and roll TV

But today the way I play the game is not the same, no way

Think I'm gonna get me some happy

I think there's something you should know

I think it's time I told you so

There's something deep inside of me

There's someone else I've got to be

Take back your picture in a frame

Take back your singing in the rain

I just hope you understand

Sometimes the clothes do not make the man

All we have to do now

Is take these lies and make them true somehow

All we have to see

Is that I don't belong to you

And you don't belong to me (yeah, yeah!)

Freedom!

I won't let you down (Freedom!)

I will not give you up (Freedom!)

Gotta have some faith in the sound

(You got to give what you take)

It's the one good thing that I've got, (Freedom!)

I won't let you down (Freedom!)

So please don't give me up (Freedom!)

'Cause I would really, really love to stick around (You got to give what you take)

Heaven knows we sure had some fun, boy

What a kick, just a buddy and me

(What a kick, just a buddy and me)

We had every big-shot good-time band on the run, boy

We were living in a fantasy

We won the race, got out of the place

Went back home, got a brand new face for the boys on MTV

But today the way I play the game has got to change oh yeah

Now I'm gonna get myself happy

I think there's something you should know

I think it's time I stopped the show

There's something deep inside of me

There's someone I forgot to be

Take back your picture in a frame

Don't think that I'll be back again

I just hope you understand

Sometimes the clothes do not make the man

All we have to do now

Is take these lies and make them true somehow

All we have to see

Is that I don't belong to you

And you don't belong to me (yeah, yeah!)

Freedom

I won't let you down (Freedom!)

I will not give you up, (Freedom!)

Gotta have some faith in the sound

(You got to give what you take)

It's the one good thing that I've got (Freedom!)

I won't let you down (Freedom!)

So please don't give me up (Freedom!)

'Cause I would really, really love to stick around (You got to give what you take)

Well it looks like the road to heaven

But it feels like the road to hell

When I knew which side my bread was buttered

I took the knife as well

Posing for another picture

Everybody's got to sell

But when you shake your ass

They notice fast

And some mistakes were built to last

That's what you get

I say that's what you get

That's what you get for changing your mind

And after all this time

I just hope you understand

Sometimes the clothes do not make the man

All we have to do now

Is take these lies and make them true somehow

All we have to see

Is that I don't belong to you

And you don't belong to me (yeah, yeah!)

Freedom! (Oh!)

Freedom!

(My) Freedom!

You got to give what you take!

Freedom!

I'll hold on to my (Freedom!)

My (Freedom!)

You got to give what you take! (You got to give what, to give what, to give what you take!)

Yeah!

You got to give what, to give what, to give

May not be what you want from me

Just the way it's got to be

Lose the face now

I've got to live

☆☆☆☆☆

"They Won't Go When I Go"

No more lying friends

Wanting tragic ends

Though they do pretend

They won't go when I go

All those bleeding hearts

With sorrows to impart

Were right here from the start

And they won't go when I go

And I'll go where I've longed

To go so long away from tears

Gone from painful cries

Away from saddened eyes

Along with him I'll bide

Because they won't go when I go

Big men feeling small

Weak ones standing tall

I will watch them fall

They won't go when I go

And I'll go where I've longed

To go so long away from tears

Unclean minds mislead the pure

The innocent will leave for sure

For them there is a resting place

People sinning just for fun

They will never see the sun

For they can never show their faces

There ain't no room for the hopeless sinner

Who will take more than he will give

He will give he will give

He ain't hardly gonna give

The greed of man will be far away from me

And my soul will be free

They won't go when I go

Since my soul conceived

All that I believe

The kingdom I will see

'Cause they won't go when I go

When I go

Where I'll go

No one can keep me

From my destiny

☆☆☆☆☆

"Something To Save"

If you've got something to say, why don't you say it

If you've got something to give, why don't you give it to me

Day after day I have to say it

We're moving further from heaven

And closer to the deep blue sea

'Cause I have no secrets from you

And I have nothing left to hide

And I'm open to all your questions

Why can't you reach inside

Like I have

Like I have for you

And all these games that you play

Don't tell me how a man should be

Some would say if you knew

You wouldn't be here with me

I love you

I still love you

But I guess it's time to let you be

'Cause I have no secrets from you

And I have nothing left to hide

And I'm so tired of all these questions

'Cause maybe you just changed your mind

Like I have

Like I have

Like I have

Like I have

When I was at your doorstep

You told me to look around

Said come in

You and your heart sit down

But you'd better watch your step

'Cause you're not far from the ground

And one fine day this all falls down

Like I have

Like I have

If you've got something to say

Why don't you say it

If you've got something to give

Why don't you give it to me

Day after day I have to say it

If we've got something to save

Why don't we save it

☆☆☆☆☆

"Cowboys And Angels"

When your heart's in someone else's hands

Monkey see and monkey do

Their wish is your command

Not to blame

Everyone's the same

All you do is love and love is all you do

I should know by now the way I fought for you

You're not to blame, everyone's the same

I know you think that you're safe

Mister

Harmless deception

That keeps love at bay

It's the ones who resist that we most want to kiss

Wouldn't you say?

Cowboys and angels

They all have the time for you

Why should I imagine that I'd be a find for you

Why should I imagine

That I'd have something to say

But that scar on your face

That beautiful face of yours

In your heart there's a trace

Of someone before

When your heart's in someone else's plans

Things you say and things you do

That they don't understand

It's such a shame

Always ends the same

You can call it love but I don't think it's true

You should know by now

I'm not the boy for you

You're not to blame

Always ends the same

I know you think that you're safe

Sister

Harmless affection that keeps things this way

It's the ones who persist for the sake of a kiss

Who will pay

Cowboys and angels

They all have the time for you

Why should I imagine that I was designed for you

Why should I believe

That you would stay

But that scar on your face

That beautiful face of yours

Don't you think that I'd know

They've hurt you, before

Take this man to your place

Maybe his hands will help you forget

Please be stronger than your past

The future may still give you a chance

☆☆☆☆☆

"Waiting For That Day"

Now every day I see you in some other face

They crack a smile, talk a while

Try to take your place

My memory serves me far too well

I just sit here on this mountain

Thinking to myself

You're a fool boy

Why don't you go down

Find somebody

Find somebody else

My memory serves me far too well

It's not as though we just broke up

It's not as though it was yesterday

But something I just can't explain

Something in me needs this pain

I know I'll never see your face again

C'mon now

I've got to be strong now

Now everybody's talking about this

New decade

Like you say the magic numbers

Then just say goodbye to

The stupid mistakes you made

Oh my memory serves me far too well

Don't you know that

The years will come and go

Some of us will change their lives

Some of us still have nothing to show

Nothing baby

But memories

And if these wounds

They are self inflicted

I don't really know

How my poor heart could have

Protected me

But if I have to carry this pain

If you will not share the blame

I deserve to see your face again

C'mon now

You don't have to be strong now

Come back

Come back to me darling

I will make it worth your while

Come on back to your baby

I miss your kiss

I miss your smile

Seems to me the peace I search to find

Ain't gonna be mine

Until you say you will

Don't you keep me waiting for that day

I know

You hear these words that I say

You can't always get what you want

☆☆☆☆☆

"Mothers Pride"

Oh she knows

She takes his hand

And prays the child will understand

At the door they watch the men go by

In the clothes that daddy wore

Mother's pride

Baby boy

His father's eyes

He's a soldier waiting for war

Time will come

He'll hold a gun

His father's son

And as he grows

He hears the band

Takes the step from boy to man

And at the shore she waves her son goodbye

Like the man she did before

Mother's pride

Just a boy

His country's eyes

He's a soldier waving at the shore

And in her heart the time has come

To lose a son

And all the husbands, all the sons, all the lovers gone

They make no difference

No difference in the end

Still hear the women say your daddy died a hero

In the name of god and man

Mother's pride

Crazy boy

His lifeless eyes

He's a soldier now forevermore

He'll hold a gun

'Til kingdom come

☆☆☆☆☆

"Heal The Pain"

Let me tell you a secret

Put it in your heart and then keep it

Something that I want you to know

Do something for me

Listen to my simple story

And maybe we'll have something to show

You tell me you're cold on the inside

How can the outside world

Be a place that your heart can embrace

Be good to yourself

'Cause nobody else

Has the power to make you happy

How can I help you

Please let me try to

I can heal the pain

That you're feeling inside

Whenever you want me

You know that I will be

Waiting for the day

That you say you'll be mine

He must have really hurt you

To make you say the things that you do

He must have really hurt you

To make those pretty eyes look so blue

He must have known

That he could

That you'd never leave him

Now you can't see my love is good

And that I'm not him

How can I help you

Please let me try to

I can heal the pain

Won't you let me inside

Whenever you want me

You know that I will be

Waiting for the day

That you say you'll be mine

Won't you let me in

Let this love begin

Won't you show me your heart now

I'll be good to you

I can make this thing true

Show me that heart right now

Who needs a lover

That can't be a friend

Something tells me I'm the one you've been looking for, oh

If you ever should see him again

Won't you tell him you've found someone who gives you more

Someone who will protect you

Love and respect you

All those things

That he never could bring to you

Like I do or rather I would

Won't you show me your heart

Like you should

How can I help you

Please let me try to

I can heal the pain

That you're feeling inside

Whenever you want me

You know that I will be

Waiting for the day

That you say you'll be mine

Won't you let me in

Let this love begin

Won't you show me your heart now

I'll be good to you

I can make this thing true

And get to your heart somehow

☆☆☆☆☆

"Soul Free"

Higher, higher

Won't you come with me?

Baby, gonna get my soul free

Now you and me

I guess we see things differently

We're night and day

A bad connection, some would say

And I don't want nothing to change

I don't want nothing to change

Because when you touch me baby

I don't have no choice

Oh, that sweet temptation

In your voice

Higher, higher

Won't you come with me?

Baby, gonna get my soul free

Now seems to me

Some things have just got to be

The games we play

Break up make-up day by day

And I don't want nothing to change

Said I don't want nothing to change

Because when you touch me baby

I don't have no choice

Oh that sweet temptation

In your voice

Higher, higher

Won't you come with me?

Baby, gonna get my soul free

☆☆☆☆☆

"Waiting (Reprise)"

Well, there ain't no point in moving on

'Til you've got somewhere to go

And the road that I have walked upon

Well it filled my pockets

And emptied out my soul

All those insecurities

That have held me down for so long

I can't say that I've found a cure for these

But at least I know them

So they're not so strong

You look for your dreams in Heaven

But what the hell are you supposed to do

When they come true?

Well there's one year of my life in these songs

And some of them are about you

Now I know there is no way I can right those wrongs

Believe me

I would not lie you've hurt my pride

And I guess there's a road without you

But you once said

There's a way back for every man

So here I am

Don't people change, here I am

Is it too late to try again?

Here I am