.
OK, this has really begun to bug me.
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When I selected the seven songs (and one instrumental) for Spunk On A Stick’s ‘Sad Songs Blogfest’, I went with tunes that are sad for me in very personal ways; I have numerous associations to go with those lyrics and melodies that give real meaning to them.
But there are some songs so overtly sad that everyone everywhere will immediately pick up on the sentiment. And that’s why it was so shocking to me to find that some of those no-brainers went unmentioned in the ‘Sad Songs Blogfest’.
Kudos to DiscConnected and Jennie Bailey for putting one of those obvious choices, ‘Cats In The Cradle’, on their lists. An additional half-kudo goes to DiscConnected for listing as an ‘Honorable Mention’ the equally obvious no-brainer ‘Alone Again (Naturally)’ by Gilbert O’Sullivan, which went to #1 on the Billboard pop music chart in 1972. I nearly played my vinyl copy of that song grooveless in my high school years, and I came within a gnat’s-eyelash-width of including it on my original ‘Sad Songs Blogfest’ list here.
It seems to me that it’s almost criminal when over 50 participants make lists of sad songs and nobody includes ‘Alone Again (Naturally)’ nor the song ‘Shannon’ by Henry Gross, which went to #6 on the Billboard chart in 1976.
I found three very good YouTube videos for three songs I now regret having left off my list and I intend to correct that oversight by posting them below.
The images included in this video are perfect for the moodiness of the song. This is for everyone who has ever felt very alone and/or suicidal:
'Alone Again (Naturally)' by Gilbert O'Sullivan
Back in '76, when we were all hearing ‘Shannon ’ played on Top 40 radio once every few hours, we all knew that the song was about the death of a family’s dog.
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What I never learned until just an hour ago while searching for a good YouTube video for the song, is that Henry Gross was inspired to write the hit as a kind of tribute to his Irish Setter named Shannon, and to Beach Boy Carl Wilson’s Irish Setter, also named Shannon, which had recently been hit by a car and killed.
No coincidence, I suppose, that ‘Shannon ’ by Henry Gross has a very Beach Boys-like tone to it.
This one is for everybody who has ever loved and lost a dog:
'Shannon' by Henry Gross
This final song is one I had fully intended to include on my original ‘Sad Songs Blogfest’ list. It came to my mind while I was on the road in my truck and contemplating which songs to post on my blog. But when I got home (as sleep-deprived as I’ve been for the last month), I completely forgot to jot it down. Uhp! I’m an idiot!
This is ‘My Friends, My Friends’ by Eddie Money, and it’s dedicated to my old buddies “The League Of Soul Crusaders” (you ol’ bastards know who you "Beee!") and it’s also dedicated to the “Long Island Girls” who ROCK! :
'My Friends, My Friends' by Eddie Money
OK, I feel better now. (Maybe I can finally get some sleep!)
~ Stephen T. McCarthy
YE OLDE COMMENT POLICY: All comments, pro and con, are welcome. However, ad hominem attacks and disrespectful epithets will not be tolerated (read: "posted"). After all, this isn’t Amazon.com, so I don’t have to put up with that kind of bovine excrement.
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OK, I didn't participate in this challenge (and kinda wish I had time to). If I had I would have put "Hurt" By Johnny Cash in there. A remake of a nine inch nails song. And proof that an interpretation of a song can be FAR BETTER than the original. You can hear and feel that the words have different meaning for Johnny than they did for Trent Reznor the original artist. The video is chilling, June Carter passed shortly before or after and was in bad health. And he shows the house of cash when he's singing, "You can have it all, My empire of dirt." You should check out the video on you tube if you haven't seen it.
ReplyDeleteBr'er Marc
BR'ER MARC ~
ReplyDeleteThe Johnny Cash version of 'HURT' may have been the most frequently listed song in the 'Sad Songs Blogfest'; I know I saw it listed and mentioned several times.
I did watch the video on someone's blog (DiscConnected's blog, possibly), and I know I had seen it once before, somewhere, within the last year or so.
To be honest, it doesn't do much for me. With the exception of a couple songs, I've never been much of a Johnny Cash fan. And I know that when that bio-pic about him was made a few years back, he was sort of "rediscovered" and became the new old "big thing", and suddenly everybody and his two-legged sister was a huge Johnny Cash fan.
I saw the movie. It was... eh, OK. Frankly, I just thought his voice was such that everything he did pretty much sounded kinda monotone.
I also think that both voice-wise and personality-wise, Waylon Jennings was 100+% better than Johnny Cash EVER was, and if there was even a shred of sanity in the U.S.A., all the adoration Americans have suddenly started expressing for Cash over the last 10 years or so, would be heaped on Waylon instead.
And that's not to say that a person can't be a fan of BOTH Waylon AND Johnny - many people are! And in fact, Waylon was a huge Cash fan and vice versa. They were really good friends who even shared an apartment in their early, pre-fame years.
But, to me, anyway, Johnny Cash will always seem like "the poor man's Waylon Jennings".
I guess my CD collection pretty much tells the story best:
8 Waylon albums Vs. 0 Cash albums
Was 'Hurt' by Johnny Cash produced by Tom Petty? I think Petty produced one of Johnny's last albums, and if so, was 'Hurt' on it?
I know Cash recorded a version of Petty's 'I Won't Back Down', and Petty publicly said he almost wished that he himself had never recorded it because Cash did it better.
Well, I've heard BOTH versions and (sorry, Tom!) I thought Johnny's version sounded like just another Johnny Cash "baritone monologue". Petty sings it, Cash "talks" it.
Anyway... one man's music is another man's "whatever". I raise my glass to BOTH!
~ D-FensDogg
'Loyal American Underground'
Interesting selections all. Some are obviously,very personal. I listened to every one except 'Shannon'. I know that song and I'm not going there.
ReplyDeleteBABSKIDDO ~
ReplyDeleteYeah, I wouldn't expect most people to think of 'Sing' by The Carpenters as "sad", and most probably would listen to Van Morrison's 'Pagan Streams' and not think it was too terribly sad either.
There are very personal memories that I associate with some of those lyric lines in 'Pagan Streams' that really do me in. I can hardly listen to it without gettin' all weepy 'n' shit.
I suspect you'd previously heard all the songs on my lists, with the likely exceptions of 'Pagan Streams', ‘Magic Journeys’, and 'Sarah's Crime'. Is that about right?
~ D-FensDogg
'Loyal American Underground'
About right. I'm a fan of Van. I had heard 'Pagan Streams".
ReplyDeleteHola, Amigo -
ReplyDeleteI missed the activity on the SSB blog, so I will chime in on the "addendum" portion.
I did not read any blogfest entries but yours, as I don't really READ any blogs but yours. I guess when you finally stop blogging, I shall simply burn my computer.
Some of your sad songs were very unusual. I would not have chosen ANY of them! They are indeed sad (mostly), but... one has to have an interest or have listened to those people to pick 'em. Eddie Money is a guy I like a great deal, but this song was new to me. The Disney thang? That only has 600 views or so on YouTube, so you and 600 other people are the only ones familiar with that one!
Like Seger, but that one didn't seem that sad to me. The Beach Boys song that always stuck me as saddest was "Surfer Girl", not because the lyrics are sad, but because the tone of it just sounds like a bunch of dudes crying in harmony!
The Carpenters and Paul Anka? Can't stand those people. Just listening to them under any circumstances makes me sad. Hated Shannon, but sad. Also disliked Alone Again... though it soitainly is sad.
Sarah's Crime was totally unknown to me.
So, as I usually do, I will add a little bit for your consideration.
One of the saddest songs I've ever heard was the theme of a little known western: From Noon Till Three. I'll bet you've seen it, though NOBODY else reading this blog has! It starred Charles Bronson and Jill Ireland, and here is Jill singing the song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gTIu7CCRbc&feature=related
Joni Mitchell, "The Circle Game"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yt9H19kdcSA
Finally (I won't give you too many), Joe Cocker and Leon Russell singing Dylan's "Girl From North Country". Theirs is my favorite version of a truly great song.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03HG7OtMI0A&feature=results_main&playnext=1&list=PLC7E410E61494B25B
Thanks, Stephen McTeary-eyed!
BABSKIDDO ~
ReplyDeleteReally? I mean, REALLY?! You'd heard 'Pagan Streams' before? An almost completely unknown track from one of his later, lightly regarded albums?
It's not really even a song, actually, but just a monologue spoken over a meandering piano background. (There's one or two other tracks like that on his 'Hymns To The Silence' double-disc.)
One would pretty much have to own that album to have heard that track. (You do or have owned it?)
The lines about "Honey Street" and "I want to climb that hillside again, with you, one more time" are especially meaningful to me. I pretty much fall apart at the "hillside" point.
Van Morrison is a genuine JERK! I once almost idolized the guy, but the more I learned about him, the more convinced I became that I would probably be more apt to slug him than shake his hand. For a famous, wealthy, talented man who has been able to live his whole life doing what he loves, he is one sour, bitter, curmudgeonly, sad piece of work!
Nevertheless, I specifically named at least three of his songs to be used in the soundtrack for certain scenes in my 'Billy 'N' Billie' screenplay.
In fact, the movie opens with a shot of the Pacific Ocean while THIS SONG plays.
If you’re a good girl and learn how to behave yourself, you may be given the rare opportunity to read my masterpiece screenplay someday.
(HA! Ain't I Full O'Myself? ;o)
~ D-FensDogg
‘Loyal American Underground’
Really!
ReplyDelete"I Forgot That Love Existed' ~Nice...
Don't tell me no mo' bad things about Van. Haven't you noticed I have a hard time separating these guys and their 'good' music from their 'bad' personal lives. Don't ruin Van for me. I should know that to be that artistic, there has got to be something seriously wrong with you. Take me for instance, or you for that matter (Hah!)
'Let's enjoy it while we can
Help me sing my song
From the dark end of the street
To the bright side of the road'
'Fess up, you like it better when I misbehave. Let me read the screenplay. You know you want to. You know I'll like it.
SB6 & NWB ~
ReplyDeleteOoh, not a great day for the 'home team'. Truck went into a coma. Had to call a surgeon. Mr. Truck had to undergo a heart transplant (a.k.a. "a new starter installed"), which didn't leave much time for Mr. Computer.
Even had ideas of posting a couple new blog bits here today.
Oh well, "it's life, and life only".
In the immortal words of Ed Wood: "My next day will be better!" At the least I will respond to your comments. See ya here again, real soon. Eh?
Now... I think I could use a drink.
~ D-FensDogg
'Loyal American Underpants'
BABSKIDDO ~
ReplyDeleteAlright, no mo' bad words 'bout 'Van The Man'. He's a temperamental, old curmudgeon though.
I did, however, see him in concert probably 4 times and when he's in the mood to perform, he's quite good.
>>...'Let's enjoy it while we can
Help me sing my song
From the dark end of the street
To the bright side of the road'
Oh, I love that song! And it comes from what I think might very well be Van's all-time best album, 'Into The Music'.
Also on that is 'Full Force Gale' & 'And The Healing Has Begun' ..."I gotta play this Muddy Waters record here..."
And 'You Make Me Feel So Free'. What a great, great song! It took me a few plays before that melody really sunk into my mind, but once it did, I couldn't get enough of it. I think that's one of his most joyful tracks ever... with some really cool lyrics too!
>>...'Fess up, you like it better when I misbehave.
...But when she was worst, she was BEST!
>>...Let me read the screenplay. You know you want to. You know I'll like it.
No, I don't "want to". I just knew that I wouldn't be able to mention the screenplay without you saying "Let me read it". So I just figured I would beat you to the punch.
Also, no, I certainly DO NOT KNOW that you will like it. In fact, I no longer know if I like it!
~ D-FensDogg
'Loyal American Underground'
Part 1 Of 2:
ReplyDeleteSHEBOYGANBOY McSIX ~
First – gotcher Email (thanks!) and will reply when ahz can.
>>...Some of your sad songs were very unusual.
You were expecting something commonplace from ME?!
Of course, before I even reply to any of your observations, let me remind you that politically we are very similar and I acknowledge your good taste in Jazz, but when it comes to Pop Music, we’re like Laurel & Hardy, Ralph & Alice, Dick & Jane.
>>...The Disney thang? That only has 600 views or so on YouTube, so you and 600 other people are the only ones familiar with that one!
You were expecting something commonplace from ME?!
I left a comment on one of Arlee Bird’s blogs yesterday in which I wrote quite a bit about that song, ‘Magic Journeys’ – what it is, where it came from, and why I like it so. If you want mo’ info ‘bout that (and why 600 of us seem to think so highly of that song) you can click this LINK and scroll down to my lengthy comment.
>>...Like Seger, but that one didn't seem that sad to me.
It didn’t seem that sad? In order to feel it, maybe you would need to have a vagina, like I have. I guess that makes me the Alice and Jane of the Ralph & Alice and Dick & Jane couples, eh? Here be the lyrics:
Jody Girl, Jody Girl, Spend your time today
Watchin' clocks, spin the hours away
Jody girl, you know the world
Goin' round all day
Thinkin' back
To the things you used to say
Didn't he put you on a pedestal
When first you met?
Sure was some honeymoon…
Now whatever happened to that crazy boy
With the love light in his eye
Used to bring you flowers every day
Ain’t it hard to forget?
Now you sit here
On a cloudy afternoon
Watchin' the soap opera on the TV
Your old man's workin'
And your kids are out playin'
And you ain't feelin' too free
You keep thinkin' back
Thinkin' back to high school
Oh, those high school days
All the wild, wild, good times you had
All the boyfriends, boyfriends
Knockin' at your door
Jody Girl, Jody Girl, Spend your time today
Watchin' clocks, spin the hours away
Dude, you don’t think that’s “sad”?
You men don’t understand us women at all!
>>...The Beach Boys song that always stuck me as saddest was "Surfer Girl", not because the lyrics are sad, but because the tone of it just sounds like a bunch of dudes crying in harmony!
OK, now here we sorta agree. ‘Surfer Girl’ is sad, and so are so many other Beach Boys songs, and for the very reason you mention. It’s the “tone” of their songs that makes so many of them “feel” sad, even when they are ostensibly upbeat songs. YouTube ‘Friends’ and ‘All Summer Long’ and see if they aren’t sad songs in the same way that ‘Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas’ is sad. (Never mind that two-thirds of the morons who sing it never do catch onto the sad undercurrent of that song, and try to portray it as just another Christmas celebration song. Judy Garland sang it first, and she sang it right. So did Johnny Mathis and Karen Carpenter.)
...And speaking of Karen Carpenter . . .
Continued Below...
Part 2 Of 3:
ReplyDelete>>...The Carpenters and Paul Anka? Can't stand those people. Just listening to them under any circumstances makes me sad.
Paul Anka does nothing for me. But it’s just that ONE song of his (which I seem to remember hearing first as a commercial jingle, for Kodak, I believe) that really appeals to me.
The Carpenters – ooh, ooh . . . now you’re getting’ on the fighting side o’ me! (Just kiddin’ . . . kind of ;o)
Some years ago I was in a ratty little bar where a young Stevie Ray Vaughn wannabe was playing guitar, doing nothing but SRV covers – there wasn’t a single original note in this young dude’s soul.
And at one point he started making fun of The Carpenters from the stage. He sang into his mic, “We’ve only just begun . . . to puke!” And there was about a span of four seconds there in which, unbeknownst to him, I was trying to decide whether I should just immediately walk out of that ratty little bar, or walk up on stage and ram his young, stupid head right through his own amplifier.
I regret the decision I made, but Jesus would probably tell me I did the right thing (as I do about 98% of the time) by just immediately walking out of the bar.
All I’m going to say about The Carpenters is:
Richard was told by his college music teacher that he was a musical genius and an original talent when it came to arranging. Richard literally invented the Power Pop Ballad format (which cost The Carpenters some of their “mellower” fans).
Karen’s vocal range was a very impressive “D below middle C to G above high C [using falsetto]”. She’s also my very favorite vocalist of all time, male or female.
The Carpenters had 20 Top-40 hits; 3 that went to #1, and a total of 12 hits in the Top 10.
Using his unique formula to arrive at such a conclusion, Joel Whitburn, the man mostly responsible for The Billboard Music Charts, has listed The Carpenters as the 4th most successful Pop Music group or artist of the 1970s. They sold about a billion records, which seems to have been a miracle since no more than about 10 persons (myself being one of them) was ever willing to publicly admit that they were a fan of The Carpenters.
I know, I know, we have both agreed several times in the past that music is solely subjective and there’s no way to adequately explain why we like and dislike what we do. So, if you “can’t stand” The Carpenters, you have that right, and I can’t really criticize you for it. But I find it odd that a man who once really liked the music of Cat Stevens and Seals & Crofts could possibly dislike The Carpenters so much.
I think they were incredibly talented – Karen’s voice is utterly unique, a gift to mankind from God - and they are amongst my Top 5 favorite musicians in history, right up there with Glenn Miller, Pat Metheny, Waylon Jennings and The Beach Boys.
I’m certainly not accusing YOU of this (I take you at your word, ALWAYS!), but over the decades it’s become almost an “in-thing” - the proof of one’s “superior taste and coolness” - to state that they hate The Eagles and The Carpenters.
Well, I’m not a huge Eagles fan, but they certainly recorded some songs I like quite a bit and I fully “get” why they were commercially so popular at one time; and I think they (like The Carpenters) get a really bad, totally undeserved rap.
Continued Below...
Part 3 Of 3:
ReplyDelete[Man, it was freakin' hell trying to get this 3-part comment to post here!]
>>...One of the saddest songs I've ever heard was the theme of a little known western: From Noon Till Three. I'll bet you've seen it…
Actually, I think you got one on me. The title didn’t ring a bell, and I didn’t find it in the Western Movie Guide that Cat and I put together. Unless I saw it years later and have forgotten it, I haven’t seen it.
I will check NetFlix and if they have it, I’ll add it to my queue.
But wait a second! Aren’t you the same guy who walked out on one of the greatest Western movies ever made (also starring Charles Bronson), ‘Once Upon A Time In The West’? Hmmm… ;o)
Thanks for the URLs. I listened to the theme of ‘From Noon Until Three’ and also to Russell and Cocker’s version of ‘Girl From The North Country’. Didn’t need to listen to ‘The Circle Game’ because I’ve heard it many times.
All three strike me as . . . eh, OK, not bad.
HA! You know that you and I will NEVER again agree on anything that ain’t Jazz ‘n’ Blues.
“But we’ll always have . . . ‘Who’s Next’.”
Ha!-Ha!
Sorry for the long delay of this response, McBoygan, but I really have been inordinately busy these past few days.
Email comin’ to ya . . . soon. (I think.)
~ D-FensDogg
‘Loyal American Underground’
All your points are well-taken here. I want to be clear that I disliked the Carpenters at the time - as they were cranking out hits - and NOT later on to be fashionable. Like you, if it is fashionable I will probably do the opposite. KC's range was indeed broad, but especially her low tones are one reason I did not like the Carpenters.
ReplyDeleteI had many friends (well, a couple... I never had MANY friends) at the time who liked the Carpenters. I was just not one who did. Most of my friends liked mellow music (Elton John, etc.), while I gravitated either from opera & straight classical to The Who, Yes, Jethro Tull, Rod Stewart (the rockin Rod, not the disco Rod), Bruce, Hendrix, and Queen amongst many others. I understand how very many hits the Carpenters had. I just was not one buying their records. I was hitting the button on the radio when they came on. For the record, I have never made fun of them, so you can sit down and finish your drink.
One thing that is interesting to me, though, is that for a guy who counts Waits, Petty, and Dylan among his favorites to admire and praise Karen C. for her fine voice. It is not raspy and off-key, it is smooth and mellow.
The Seger song lyrics were sad, but the melody did not strike me as sad.
I'll check the link to Arlee's comment section, and I'll read his blog while I'm at it.
I still contend that you and I have SOME commonalities in rock. Especially the bluesier end, but we both like Petty, Dylan, Bruce, Who, though to slightly different levels. We are quite at variance with much 80's music, though, and while I love modern alternative, you hate it.
I'll keep trying to open your eyes to Verdi and Blink 182!
So, you're saying that if I behave myself I might get to read the screenplay, is just some sort of 'tease' hanging out there or what? Or am I supposed to beg.
ReplyDeleteI bet you'll consider a trade. But I have a reason for holding 'Concentric' back. I want to turn that 'whole' story into a screenplay, but I have no idea what I'm doing. Not surprised are you?
What I should have said was 'you know I'll be honest about it', instead of 'you know I will like it. At least, that's what I meant.
I was going to delete that and if I had a true conscience I would, because it's just me trying to distract you again (just not on purpose or in a mean way). So tuck that information away for when you're more caught up and I'll tell you about it.
Did want to say about Van's 'Hymns to the Silence'; Are you kidding me about it being a 'lightly regarded album? I only wish I owned it now or ever. Apparently someone in my past did. If it's so 'lightly regarded why is it that today it costs around $100 to purchase. I doubt even Santa will swing that one for me. I did listen to everything YouTube had from the album, some I had never heard before.
Oh carp! I actually came here looking for something and then forgot to ask about it. Somewhere you mentioned the 'Van tune' that plays out at the end of your screenplay. What was that again? I can't remember and can't find it anywhere. It might be right in front of my face, but this morning I'm a little crazed (even more than usual). Please just tell me.
ReplyDeleteSHEBOYGANBOY SIX ~
ReplyDelete>> . . . All your points are well-taken here. I want to be clear that I disliked the Carpenters at the time - as they were cranking out hits - and NOT later on to be fashionable.
I understood that, Bro. I was sure you weren’t a Carpenters hater simply because it had become de rigueur.
>> . . . Like you, if it is fashionable I will probably do the opposite.
Oh, don’t get me wrong – that’s NOT me, Bro! I have always said that the person who dislikes something solely because it’s popular is being just as inauthentic as the person who likes something solely to fit in.
There have been times when I very much liked something that was currently popular. Those times have been rare, however, because just like my personal theme song says: “I’ve always been one step ahead or behind.”
For example: I do like ‘Seinfeld’, but I don’t think I’d ever watched a single episode of it until probably it’s final season, and maybe not even until after it had ceased production.
It’s true that USUALLY I do not like what is currently popular, but that has more to do with the moral corruption of the times we’re living in (and my tendency to “catch-on late” regardless).
>> . . . KC's range was indeed broad, but especially her low tones are one reason I did not like the Carpenters.
That’s funny because someone once expressed surprise at how high she was able to sing, because she rarely did it, and Karen responded, “The money’s in the basement.” And I agree with her – I absolutely love the huskier timbre of her voice. That may have been “where the money was” and probably by no coincidence, that’s also where “the sadness” was.
>> . . . For the record, I have never made fun of them, so you can sit down and finish your drink.
Ha! Thanks! ‘Cause you know how I’d hate to waste a drink.
>> . . . for a guy who counts Waits, Petty, and Dylan among his favorites to admire and praise Karen C. for her fine voice. It is not raspy and off-key, it is smooth and mellow.
I like those singers DESPITE their voices, but I like Karen Carpenter BECAUSE of her voice. (Except, to me, Petty probably doesn’t belong in that group. I mean, he’s like a very toned-down Dylan, and he comes up with some really interesting phrasing that appeals to me a great deal.)
>> . . . I still contend that you and I have SOME commonalities in rock. Especially the bluesier end, but we both like Petty, Dylan, Bruce, Who, though to slightly different levels.
You make a very good point with Petty. I’d forgotten about him, and he’s the one Rock artist where we probably most strongly meet, because I like Dylan WAY MORE than you do, and you like Bruce and The Who WAY MORE than I do.
>> . . . I'll keep trying to open your eyes to Verdi and Blink 182!
Ha! Good luck to you! (“Verdi”?)
~ D-FensDogg
‘Loyal American Underground’
NITRO WILBURY BABSKIDDO ~
ReplyDelete>> . . . So, you're saying that if I behave myself I might get to read the screenplay, is just some sort of 'tease' hanging out there or what? Or am I supposed to beg.
A “tease”? Maybe. Hadn’t thought of it like that but . . . you know me!
“NO!” to the “begging”. I am not really opposed to sending the screenplay to you but…
>> . . . I bet you'll consider a trade. But I have a reason for holding 'Concentric' back. I want to turn that 'whole' story into a screenplay, but I have no idea what I'm doing.
. . . but… I have no intention of ever sending it until I first receive ‘Concentric’ AND two or three sentences pertaining to each chapter in your imaginary autobiography. If you want to consider that a “trade” that’s OK by me, but my part in the deal won’t arrive until your part has been received.
When you say you have “no idea what I’m doing” do you mean you have no idea how to construct a screenplay? Because, if that’s it, I can recommend some good books on that subject.
>> . . . If it's so 'lightly regarded why is it that today it costs around $100 to purchase.
I’ll bet it’s currently out-of-print. At one time, Walter Egan’s album ‘Not Shy’ was out-of-print and used copies were selling for $100. But a few years after some record label rereleased it, used copies could be found for $5. or $6. dollars. It’s all a matter of “supply and demand”.
And when I say it’s a “lightly regarded” album, that doesn’t reflect my own opinion, but just the consensus. There were no big hits on that album and it is never mentioned when the topic is “Van’s all-time greatest albums”.
It was a two-disc set that I feel contained a large amount of filler. I think Disc 2 was far stronger than Disc 1, and if Van had put ‘See Me Through, Part II (Just A Closer Walk With Thee)’ and ‘Take Me Back’ on Disc 2, in place of ‘Green Mansions’ and ‘I Need Your Kind Of Loving’, it would be vantastic, and probably be my very favorite Van album.
The songs ‘All Saints Day’ and ‘Pagan Streams’ have tremendous sentimental value to me.
>> . . . the 'Van tune' that plays out at the end of your screenplay. What was that again?
‘Brand New Day’ from his ‘Moondance’ album. Here’s a YOUTUBE LINK to it. Click it soon because it won’t be there long. Like Dylan, Van allows very few of his songs to remain posted for free at YouTube.
~ D-FensDogg
‘Loyal American Underground’
Criminy, I guess I missed this addendum in preparation for the A to Z. Three interesting choices. Never heard the Eddie Money song, but I heard other songs in the same vein and always enjoy that theme. Always liked the "Shannon" song, but never knew it was about a dog--probably wouldn't have liked it so much if I had. "Alone Again" is a nice ditty, but I always thought it was kind of light to make me very sad despite a sad theme in the lyrics.
ReplyDeleteThat was one heck of a comment thread.
I'm going to be posting my own Sad Songs addendum of sorts on Wednesday and Friday of this week. I get kind of obsessed with things sometimes.
Lee
An A to Z Co-Host
Tossing It Out
LEE ~
ReplyDelete>> . . . I get kind of obsessed with things sometimes.
You do?
Heck, I'd never noticed.
;o)
~ D-FensDogg
'Loyal American Underground'
P.S. - I do too. Maybe you've noticed?