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Tuesday 19 August 2014

Songs That I love #81 Genesis - Follow You Follow Me


When I bought this single I was unaware of the history of Genesis (that Peter Gabriel had just left) and that it was uncool to like Genesis. I heard a song a liked and that was all that was important to me (and still is).

I subsequently bought the album (…and then there were three..) and still know every word of every song.


Stay with me,
My love I hope you'll always be
Right here by my side if ever I need you
Oh my love

In your arms,
I feel so safe and so secure
Everyday is such a perfect day to spend
Alone with you

I will follow you will you follow me
All the days and nights that we know will be
I will stay with you will you stay with me
Just one single tear in each passing year

With the dark,
Oh I see so very clearly now
All my fears are drifting by me so slowly now
Fading away

I can say
The night is long but you are here
Close at hand, oh I'm better for the smile you give
And while I live

I will follow you will you follow me
All the days and nights that we know will be
I will stay with you will you stay with me
Just one single tear in each passing year there will be

I will follow you will you follow me
All the days and nights that we know will be
I will stay with you will you stay with me
Just one single tear in each passing year...



Songs That I Love #80 - 10CC - Feel The Benefit


This track is taken from the first live albums I ever bought, released in 1977 I'm guessing I bought it around 1978 or 1979.

10cc were famous for sharp pop songs with multi-layered harmonies which gave them hits with God Morning Judge, I'm Not In Love and I'm Mandy Fly Me which are are all on this album, but I was drawn then and now to this 14 minute which in some ways is more prog rock then pop music. I have never looked up the original version of this song I have ever wanted to I'm happy with this one bass solo and all.

You went out on the street without your shoes on
You didn't listen what your momma said
She said you won't feel the benefit, won't feel the benefit
And if we all went out without our shoes on
Tell me where would we be, where would we be 

If all the people in the world lost their reason
What would we see, where would we be
If all the entertainers in the world lost their music
What would they play, what could they say
To pacify the crowd, to justify themselves
Won't feel the benefit 

You're like a cloud behind the sun
Like the face behind the clown
You're moving like the wrinkles in a frown
And you can never look back
A leaf that's borne upon the wind
A cardboard suitcase in your hand
The wanderer soon returns
And finds the colour of the grass is just the same
On the other side of the tracks, oh no 


Ooh when you smile it's like a holiday
Ooh pack your bags and we can get away
We'll float on a Queen down to Rio
There's no need to shave
We'll be stinking like rum in a punch 

You can walk on the water
You can dabble in the mumbo jumbo
You can smoke a little ganja
Float like a cloud over Rio, Rio
You can ride with the Gauchos
Swinging your bolas in a red bandana
You can run with the devil
Takin' your chances with Senorita 

You can drink a lot of coffee in Brazil
But the bill is gonna make you ill 

FEEL THE BENEFIT 

So, you can go out on the street and take your chances
But if you do, you better do it right
Or you won't feel the benefit, won't feel the benefit
Spin the wheel and take your chances
And your number might come up
Though the odds may be in favor of the house 

If all the people in the world would say together
We're all black and white, we're all day and night
If all the people in the world could sing together
How would it sound, what would we feel 

We'd all feel the benefit

Monday 18 August 2014

Songs That I Love #79 Tommy Bolin - Wild Dogs



Tommy Bolin joined Deep purple after Ritchie Blackmore left to start the band Rainbow. Unless you are a huge fan of the band ( I don't class myself as one) its was hard to keep up with the changes but Tommy Bolin (and this track) had a profound effect on me.

I didn't find out until later that this track was a Tommy Bolin solo track that he played whilst playing with Tommy Bolin. He was a mess with drugs apparently and misses his intro but at the time (30+ years ago) this tack blew me away.

I now have the original version which is below but thought I'd had to post the one that introduced me to  Tommy Bolin.

This baggage handcuffed to my wrists
I drag it everywhere I go
Sometimes I fight you with my fists
But if I knew which way was home
That's where I'd go, if I knew which way was home


Before the karma cut me free
I'm sick of my own company
Sometimes I miss the boat
Most times I miss my home
Thats where I'd go, if I knew which way was home


Run down ghost trail, no chance for love
No sign of life, just wild dogs howlin' in the night

Oh, that's what I like

Before the karma cut me loose
Would bring my whiskey and my water
Sometimes I get them blues
Though I know I shouldn't oughta
Thats where I'd go, if I knew which way was home


Run down ghost trail, no chance for love
No sign of life, just wild dogs howlin' in the night


Run down ghost trail, no chance for love
No sign of life, just wild dogs howlin' in the night


Run down ghost trail, no chance for love
No sign of life, just wild dogs howlin' in the night


Hear 'em howl.




Wednesday 16 July 2014

Songs That I Song #78 Barbara Streisand - Evergreen



So last night as I sat with my Mum as she relayed the tales of the day and which nurses and doctors had been and what were the next steps she mentioned that she had fallen whilst getting out of bed in the morning.

When I asked what had happened she said my Dad was trying to help her and he lifted her, and as they both unsteady on their feet when my Dad had lifted my Mum to her feet they had stood grasped together for a moment try to steady themselves like some kind silent dance before my Mum fell backwards onto the bed and my Dad then fell down beside her. No one was really hurt but my Mum then said something that left me struggling with my emotions (again) the 5 words she said were "we have never danced together" 51 years married and I guess a few years before that courting and they have never had a dance. That might not seem like a big thing but it broke my heart.

So this blog post is for my Mum and Dad, they have never been huge music fans (but in some ways are responsible for my love of music) but as I grew up I remember this record being played a lot (soundtrack to A Star Is Born)  along with the Neil Diamonds Jazz Singer soundtrack.

I don't own either of these albums and would have said I know little about them but as I scanned youtube for an appropriate track it seems I know all of the tracks and an awful lot of words to most of the songs!

So call me sentimental (I am) but this song is for my Mum and Dad, I know you will now never have that dance but if I whenever I hear this song then at least you will be dancing in my imagination.



Love soft as an easy chair
Love fresh as the morning air
One love that is shared by two
I have found with you
Like a rose under the April snow
I was always certain love would grow
Love ageless and evergreen
Seldom seen by two
You and I will
make each night the first
Everyday a beginning
Spirits rise and their dance is unrehearsed
They warm and excite us
'Cause we have the brightest love
Two lights that shine as one Morning glory and midnight sun
Time... we've learned to sail above
Time... won't change the meaning of one love
Ageless and ever evergreen...

Monday 14 July 2014

Songs That I Love #76 & #77 Tom McRae - Alphabet Of Hurricanes & Ship Of Green And Blue








I wanted to find a studio version of this song as it lasts 8 minutes and 18 seconds, I know this as that is how long it takes me to drive home from visiting my Mum in hospital. Don't ask me how I discovered this but I did and then it became the song I played every night as I headed home after visiting.

The journey home is always a blur piecing together the events of the days conversations with doctors and consultants and wondering what to do for the best it felt that it was An Alphabet Of Hurricanes that was blowing me home on a nightly basis.


Caught in a whirlwind of
Broken sticks and bones
An alphabet of hurricanes
Can't blow this drifter home

And the train kicks up snow across
This cold New Mexico
And as I cross the Rio Grande
I finally let you go

To fall into the icy stream
Of different lives and different dreams

And we go lightly on our way
Yes you go lightly on the same

Woke up in Kansas from a
Dream of burning ships
And I still taste the ocean, girl
And you on my lips

But I can't seem to change the way
This story wants to play
Life is in the living
Not the telling anyway

Press myself into the glass
Silver moon lights up my path

As I go lightly on my way
And you will go lightly on the same
Yes we go lightly on our way

Shaken by a broken rail in
Princeton, Illinois
With time to kill I drank my fill
And gave the jukebox all my coins

This one's for the friends I've lost
The one I've left behind
No, this one's not for you, I take it back
I've changed my mind

The music drifts into the night
Calls to me and says it's time

To go lightly on my way
And I will lightly on the same
Yes you go lightly on your way

Sunset on the Hudson turns this city into gold
This stolen El Dorado it ain't mine, it sure ain't yours
I've been here for every season
Somehow you forget
You claim this city for yourself
Well take it, it's my gift
There's nothing left to divide
You take the days, I'll take the nights

And I'll go lightly on my way
And you will go lightly on the same
Yes we go lightly on our way

Caught in a whirlwind of
Broken sticks and bones
An alphabet of hurricanes

Can't blow this drifter home
Can't blow this drifter home
Can't blow this drifter home
Can't blow this drifter home



As my Mum was transferred to a different hospital then Alphabet of Hurricanes didn't fill my journey home but Alphabet along with Ship of Green and Blue filled the journey perfectly.

The lyrics to this song break my heart every time I play it,  the line 'the colours in my memory are brighter than those I see' sums up how I feel about life at the moment. 



Slow comes the waking from black and fever dreams
We were drifting on the high seas on a ship of blue and green.
Sounds from the street rip me from my sleep,
I’m slow walking out, empty city streets,
Shake myself awake, and thinking still of you,
In a ship of green and blue.

Oh, through a slow day my mind falls with me
And colours in my memory are brighter than those I see.
But our heart still beats here, it’s just a splendid souvenir,
I’m slow walking out, famous city streets,
Streets you’ll never know, I’ll describe them all for you,
On a ship of green and blue.

Cold was the morning, the sky of bloody blues
We were talking about the old times and singing songs for you
You were dressed up for the ride, silver dollars on your eyes
I’m slow walking out, darkened city streets,
Feeling nothing now, just following my fear
‘till land gives way to sea.
I’ll tell you everything, brother, when we meet.
When we’re drifting on a sea on a ship of blue and green.

Thursday 19 June 2014

Songs That I Love #75 Sun Kil Moon - I Can't Live Without My Mother's Love


I bought this album (Benji) a couple of months ago and never got round to listening to it, I would always eject it halfway through the first song, not because I didn't like it, it just didn't seem the right time.

2 weeks ago whilst driving I decided to play it again, when this came on I had to pull over such was the impact of the lyrics. 


I can live with the sky falling out from above
I can live with your scorn, your sourness, your smug
I can live growing old alone if push comes to shove
But I can't live without my mother's love

I can live flying round at an impossible pace
I can live with the bad etiquette that's falling on this place
I can live with anything you've got to throw in my face
But I can't live without my mother's embrace

My mother is seventy five
She's the closest friend I have in my life
Take her from me, I'll break down and bawl
And wither away like old leaves in the fall

You can be cruel all you want, talk bad on my brothers
Shoot me full of holes and I won't by bothered
Judge me for my ways and my slew of ex-lovers
But don't ever dare say a bad word about my mother

When she's gone I'll miss our slow easy walks
Playing scrabble with the chimes of the grandfather clock
I'll even miss the times that we fought
But mostly I'll miss being able to call her and talk.

I can live without watching the classic old fights
I can live without a lover beside me at night
I can live without what you might call a charmed life
But I can't live without my mother providing her light

My mother is seventy five
One day she won't be here to hear me cry
When the day comes for her to let go
I'll die off like a lemon tree in the snow
When the day comes for her to leave
I won't have the courage to sort through her things
With my sisters and all our memories
I cannot bear all the pain it will bring






Wednesday 11 June 2014

Songs That I Love #74 Glen Hansard - The Gift


I had written a blog about my Mum's battle with cancer over the last 14 months, but to be honest  reading it back it's maybe a bit personal so the next few songs are songs that have accompanied me through the last few months for one reason or another. 

This song kept me sane in the middle of the night when I couldn't sleep. It has lifted my spirits in my darkest moments.



This gift will last forever
This gift will never let you down
Some things are made from better stuff
This gift is waiting to be found

Your heart's in wide receiving
Been too long buried in the sand
Some things require leaving
This gift will fall right in your hand
Just try to understand...

If you long enough
And you don't give up
If you're strong enough
And you don't give up
And you...

You'll be no harbor to the sorrow
Just let it go.

Don't hang your head in sorrow
Don't give up just before you win
Don't wait around for tomorrow
Open up your arms and let it in

This gift will last forever
This gift will never let you down
Some things are made from better stuff
This gift is ready to be found
Just you believe it now 

This gift will last forever
This gift will never let you down
Some things are made from better stuff
This gift is ready to be found
Your heart's in wide receiving
Been too long buried in the sand
Some things require believing
These things just fall right in your hand
Just try to understand

If you long enough
And you don't give up
If you're strong enough
And you don't give up [x2]

Friday 23 May 2014

Songs I Love #73 U2 - With A Shout (Jerusalem)


I was going to say from a time when there was an element of danger to the music of U2 but who am I kidding, not sure if U2 were ever dangerous but at least they had a bit of edge (if you pardon the pun) about them.

In truth at the time of this track the band were pretty close to being a Christian Rock band and this making of the album from which this track is taken (October) nearly split the band up, as I think Adam didn't want to be a God Botherer! 

Anyway Christian Rock or not I still love this track.

Oh, and where do we go?
Where do we go from here?
Where to go
To the side of a hill
Blood was spilt
We were still looking at each other
Oh, we're goin' back there
Jerusalem
Jerusalem

Shout
Shout
With a shout, shout it out
Shout
Shout it out

I wanna go
To the foot of Mount Zion
To the foot of he who made me see
To the side of a hill
Where we were still
We were filled
With our love

We're gonna be there again
Jerusalem
Jerusalem
Jerusalem
Jerusalem
Jerusalem
Jerusalem

Woah...oh...
Shout
Shout
With a shout
Shout

Songs That I Love #72 Thomas Feiner & Anywhen - Yonderland



I know nothing about this artist, this track was played at a Fyfe Dangerfield gig, a friend tracked down the artist and I got the album. It is from start to finish memorising. 


My spine and leverage
Were not mine
Some items borrowed
And now gone

Pick me up, animate me, render me
Take me back, to the ghosts
Of the day

Lend me a life
Put me on a loop again
Define, define me 'yonderhead'

My plots and purposes
Were not mine
Just items borrowed
And now gone

Hook me up and ignite me, play the coarse
Bring me back, to the ghosts
Of the day

Lend me a life
Put me on a loop again
Define, define me 'yonderhead'

Lend me a life
Put me on a loop again
Just spine me up for liberty and hopes
Liberties and hopes, and liberties and hopes
Define me
And bind me
And I'll crawl the pretty path
I'll crawl the pretty path...

Thursday 22 May 2014

Songs That I Love #71 Elton John - Tiny Dancer


I have included the scene from the film Almost Famous (at the bottom of this blog) when this song is played as this is how I discovered the song. I am sure I will have heard this song before but the bus scene where everyone starts singing just brought the song to life.

The film is loosely based on the early career of Cameron Crowe (who directed the film) when he was a teenage journalist for Rolling stone Magazine. He is assigned to interview the fictional band Stillwater (rumoured to be based on a number of 70's rock bands) and ends up being part of their entourage. In the scene he manages persuade the drugged out singer of the band to leave a party and join the waiting tour bus and as the bus pulls away this song starts playing... 


Blue jean baby, L.A. lady, seamstress for the band
Pretty eyed, pirate smile, you'll marry a music man
Ballerina, you must have seen her dancing in the sand
And now she's in me, always with me, tiny dancer in my hand

Jesus freaks out in the street
Handing tickets out for God
Turning back she just laughs
The boulevard is not that bad

Piano man he makes his stand
In the auditorium
Looking on she sings the songs
The words she knows the tune she hums

But oh how it feels so real
Lying here with no one near
Only you and you can hear me
When I say softly slowly

Hold me closer tiny dancer
Count the headlights on the highway
Lay me down in sheets of linen
You had a busy day today

Hold me closer tiny dancer
Count the headlights on the highway
Lay me down in sheets of linen
You had a busy day today

Blue jean baby, L.A. lady, seamstress for the band
Pretty eyed, pirate smile, you'll marry a music man
Ballerina, you must have seen her dancing in the sand
And now she's in me, always with me, tiny dancer in my hand

But oh how it feels so real
Lying here with no one near
Only you and you can hear me
When I say softly slowly

Hold me closer tiny dancer
Count the headlights on the highway
Lay me down in sheets of linen
You had a busy day today

Hold me closer tiny dancer
Count the headlights on the highway
Lay me down in sheets of linen
You had a busy day today





Songs That I Love #70 Sufjan Stevens - Size Too Small


A very simple tune by a very complicated artist. 



I was the best man in a size too small
You were my best friend, going at it all
And what if I put off my inheritance?
Where is the best man? All arise us all in peace

I still know you
And I still like you, the best man
And I still owe you

Everything rises, going at it all
All the surprises in a size too small
And what if I told you I was still in love with this?
Would you surprise us in a size for all of me?

I still know you
And I still like you, the best man
I still know you, the best man
I still owe you






 

Wednesday 21 May 2014

Songs That I Love #69 Pearl Jam - Just Breathe


I have nothing to say about this that isn't said in the lyrics.




Yes, I understand that every life must end, uh-huh
As we sit alone, I know someday we must go, uh-huh
Oh I'm a lucky man, to count on both hands the ones I love
Some folks just have one, yeah, others, they've got none

Stay with me...
Let's just breathe...

Practiced all my sins, never gonna let me win, uh-huh
Under everything, just another human being, uh-huh
I don't wanna hurt, there's so much in this world to make me bleed

Stay with me
You're all I see...

Did I say that I need you?
Did I say that I want you?
Oh, if I didn't I'm a fool you see
No one knows this more than me

As I come clean...
I wonder everyday, as I look upon your face, uh-huh
Everything you gave
And nothing you would save, oh no

Nothing you would take
Everything you gave...

Did I say that I need you?
Oh, did I say that I want you?
Oh, if I didn't I'm a fool you see
No one knows this more than me
And I come clean, ah...

Nothing you would take
Everything you gave
Hold me til I die
Meet you on the other side...

Songs That I Love #68 Editors - Nothing


Without fail every Editors album has one track that can stop me in my tracks whatever I am doing. This is that track from their latest album. I think this song is just beautiful.


The sun said nothing
About my demise
My fall to the floor

Sparks from your stare
Cascade into mine
Started a war
Started a war

Monday morning
Hungover, red eyes
Hide it all the way

We walk through a crowd of strangers
Two minutes from your door
You lived there all your life

Every conversation within you
Starts a celebration in me
Till I got nothing left
I got nothing left
[ Lyrics from: http://www.lyricsty.com/editors-nothing-lyrics.html ]
Out of it you handle it for everyone
Take a poison dart to my heart and then I'm gone

Every conversation within you
Starts a celebration in me
Till I got nothing left
I got nothing left

These floorboards creaking
My body's old
The sun casts a shadow
At dusk that cuts through your bones
Your body and soul

Every conversation within you
Starts a celebration in me
Till I got nothing left
I got nothing left
I got nothing left
I got nothing left