Tag Archives: music

One More Song

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I think this is well-written:

It’s comin’ on the end of August
Another summer’s promise almost gone
And though I heard some wise man say
That every dog will have his day
He never mentioned that these dog days get so long

I don’t know when I realized the dream was over
Well, there was no particular hour, no given day
You know, it didn’t go down in flame
There was no final scene, no frozen frame
I just watched it slowly fade away

And I’ve been waiting in the weeds
Waiting for my time to come around again
Hope is floating on the breeze
Carrying my soul high up above the ground
I’ve been keepin’ to myself
Knowin’ that the seasons are slowly changing you
And though you’re with somebody else
He’ll never love you like I do

I’ve been biding time with the crows and sparrows
While peacocks prance and strut upon the stage
If finding love is just a dance
Proximity and chance
You will excuse me if I skip the masquerade

And I’ve been waiting in the weeds
Waiting for the dust to settle down along the
Back roads running through the fields
Lying on the outskirts of this lonesome town

And I imagine sunlight in your hair
You’re at the county fair
You’re holding hands and laughing
And now the Ferris wheel has stopped
You’re swinging on the top
Suspended there with him

And he’s the darling of the chic
The flavor of the week is melting
Down your pretty summer dress
Baby, what a mess you’re making

I’ve been stumbling through some dark places
But I’m following the plow
I know I’ve fallen out of your good graces
It’s alright now

And I’ve been waiting in the weeds
Waiting for the summer rain to fall upon the
Wild birds scattering the seeds
Answering the calling of the tide’s eternal tune
The phases of the moon
The chambers of the heart
The egg and dart
A small gray spider spinning in the dark
In spite of all the times the web is torn apart

And I’ve been waiting in the weeds
Waiting for the time to come around again and
Hope is floating on the breeze
Carrying my soul high up above the ground and
I’ve been keepin’ to myself
Knowing that the seasons are slowly changing you
And though you’re with somebody else
He’ll never love you like I do

Nu-maaaaaan!!

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Great night at the Gary Numan “Replicas” concert in Oxford last night. In geographical terms, alone, the London show would have made much better sense but I’m afraid I’m spoiled these days. I’m so used to getting free tickets at the big shows given to me by artists’ agents who want me to write something for their employers fro an EPK or something similar that I’ve lost all interest in going to the larger venues unless I’m guaranteed great seats or VIP privileges. Enough of my snobbery! When I was much, much, younger Replicas was a very cool album and its science fiction themes enthralled me. It’s good to know that all these years later the lyrics haven’t aged and Numan’s more aggressive mature persona doesn’t dent that edge. It was enough to send me off on the train reading a Phillip K. Dick novel this morning.
Thoroughly enjoyed the show. Have felt for at least twenty years that the rockier version of ‘Are “Friends” Electric?’ loses the atmosphere of the original where the sheer other-worldliness of that recording was the thing which launched Numan’s commercial career. Aside from this hearing “The Machman”, “Me! I disconnect from you”, “We are so Fragile” and all the rest, one more time, was a great way to spend an evening.

Support band, Rubicks, full of frenetic energy (7th time I’ve seen them):

and Numan at 50 still as strong (makes me feel young)

The Long Run to Long Road

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The Eagles are MY band. Like I grew up on this kind of music. So it’s nice to have them back around on their new album “Long Road Out of Eden” and preparing to do something more than just play the old songs when they tour here next month. I was offered free tickets for all their shows at the o2 arena so I’ll be taking in a few of those with a VIP pass (which is nice).
I’ve been listening to the album a lot as I’m preparing to write up a review in the next issue of Natural Progressions (subscriptions available here – drop me a line). One thing that struck me is the depth of the good writing here and not only from Don Henley which you might come to believe was the case if you follow the line of some of the reviews that are already out there. Henley’s finest moment is to be found on Waiting in the Weeds which is probably as good as this album gets but there are other highlights on offer too.
Amongst my favourites you will find the Joe Walsh song “Last Good Time in Town”. This song benefits from Joe’s worn and battered (and humorous) outlook on life and has great vocals, harmonies and guitar. Eagles at their finest. Another gem worth digging for is Larry McNally’s “I love to watch a woman dance” (a feeling I can understand!) which has a sensitive vocal from Glenn Frey. “Cause to dream sometimes, that’s the only way to go places you can’t get to any other way”. First became aware of McNally when he wrote that song “For My Wedding” which featured on Henley’s solo album.
Henley would have wanted this to be a solo album (he says). If he’d won the argument I think we’d be missing out on some great music.

Lumbar puncture

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There are some things in life I never get tired of. Music is one of them. The “Spinal Tap” joke is another one of them. What is it about this film and all that has been done under that name since that I find endlessly enthralling and limitlessly funny. I was just watching the video that they made for their “Majesty of Rock” single which I think was taken from their album “Break Like the Wind” and I find it fascinating the way that they are so dead on in skewering the ridiculousness of so much rock music.

When I say that rock is ridiculous, I don’t count this as one of its bad elements. It just needs to be kept in check. Spinal Tap have managed to harpoon this tendency again and again. There was something so ironic about them performing at Live Earth which was about the only thing which made the day bearable.

Steely Determination

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Friends not only die – they get you through situations like this (you know who you are!).
As well as friends I’ve had a lot of music along for the ride. Some of these bands have been with me for thirty years now so I know that music is an important part of my life.
One important thing on my player at the moment is a box set by Donald Fagen (he who is lead singer of Steely Dan). The box brings together the three solo albums Don has recorded in his career – 1982’s The Nightfly, 1993’s Kamakiriad, and 2006’s Morph the Cat. If you know these albums you’ll know just how good they are. If you don’t know them and can’t imagine liking Steely Dan or anything associated with it, why not give one of them a spin? Look at how broad my musical tastes are on my profile, you might just find something here. These albums are jazz, they are rock, they are adult and articulate, they are spiritual and sexual. They are restrained energy personified.
Now if you know the three albums and agree with everything I’m trying to say, you might still not want the box set but you’d be making a mistake. The albums are presented here in a variety of musical formats – enough to make anyone’s amp and speakers come to life if you choose the right one – across 6 discs with videos and out-takes and the whole smorgasbord. Still not tempted? There’s a seventh disc. The unimaginatively titled “Trilogy – 10 extras” is a masterwork all on its own. It has a cover of Al Green’s Rhymes, it has a jazz piece that Fagen wrote for an accomplished player, it has three live tracks and singles that didn’t make the albums. You can’t buy it on its own and it’s not to be overlooked.

The Nightfly Trilogy has something for you and music can get you through the tough days.

Larry Norman – 1947-2008

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Only Visiting this Planet
So Long Ago the Garden
In Another Land
Something New Under the Son
Stop this Flight
Stranded in Babylon
Tourniquet

Larry Norman probably released way too many cds. I pretty much own them all. But if I was new to his music I’d probably want to buy one (or more) of the seven I’ve listed above. There were others….. Bootleg, Upon this Rock, Home at Last…. which I could use to round out a ten but seven seems a good number when you’re thinking about Larry. I first heard his music in 1982. I first met him in 1984. I brought him to London to play a concert in 2001. He was an inspiration every step of the way and I don’t think my life would have worked out the way that it has without the soundtrack of his songs – which is tough when you think he’s not going to be recording anymore. I found Larry difficult in many ways but this was out-weighed massively by his contribution to my life in many, many ways.

Listen to my album from 20 years ago

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There’s a real trend at the moment for doing a show that is based around a complete performance of an old album. I’m not sure how this differs from a band that has lost its way creatively and is just doing “nostalgia” shows for the money but it seems that it does in the mind of the audience. It seems to work. I caught John Foxx last year doing a complete performance of Metamatic (from 1980), b-sides, outakes and all. It was a great night. In retrospect though I didn’t enjoy it as much as when he toured “From Trash” earlier in the year or when he did his art-house stuff like “Tiny Colour Movies” so I remain a little ambivalent.
One of the best tours I ever saw was All About Eve when they were performing with Toni Haimi on guitars doing a set that was almost entirely new material and which had never been committed to disc. All lot of that material still hasn’t. It was boundless energy and unpredictable. A little different from here’s the song that was side 1 track 4 on the original vinyl release.
Anyway, life is for living and I’ll take both. Just booked to see Gary Numan performing the whole of “Replicas” in the Spring….. Seems a whole lot more credible than Sweet whose remaining members are doing a Seventies show with the Rubettes and Showaddywaddy. Why is this that? I wish I understood the difference.

A Fantasy world?

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An old song by T-Bone Burnett. Lyrics bear reading:

Somewhere between Never Neverland and Wonderland
In a land called Never Wonderland
There lived a beautiful wealthy young divorcee
With a chequered past and a bad memory
Who should probably remain nameless
And men travelled from far and wide and try to win her hand
And she took in stragglers from all over the known world

Her newest guests were (as her mother called them)
“The latest Russians to defect”
One’s name was Hefner
The other’s name was Disney
Disney smoked a pipe and was very philosophical
He was constantly surrounded by go-go girls
And he used to take pictures of them without any clothes on
And sell them to the neighbourhood children

Hefner on the other hand was not so introspective
He loved a good story just like anybody else
In fact he loved the myths of Never Wonderland so much
That he made elaborate moulded plastic sculptures
Of the characters in the myths
Then … he would put them out in the garden
Until …. he had built a whole nother land in Never Wonderland
Which he called Hefnerland

And the neighbourhood children loved them
They had lots of fun playing in Hefnerland
And looking at all Disney’s go-go pictures
Because they didn’t know any better
And they didn’t know any worse
But the beautiful young wealthy divorcee thought
That they were only after her money
Sometimes she even wished they would go back to Russia

(But between you and me they were really dupes of the Wicked King
Who wanted to rob the children of their dreams)