1. No link here. 2. You detest "American Pie"? You know, I met a girl who sang the blues and I asked her for some happy news...but she just wept with the knowledge that Frank Wilson detested the song in which she was featured. So, you know, nice work there.
The poor girl. I actually knew a guy who used to play the damn song over and over and over. The actual "day" I remember quite well, coming home from school to see Dick Clark on Bandstand announcing the sad news out of Iowa.
P.S. The only top-ten list in which "Tears in Heaven" belongs is the "Top-ten List of Most Chillingly Opportunistic Songs." (And it's #1 on that list, btw. Just an awful, awful, shameless, vapid, putrid song. It's auditory toxic slime; I need a Silkwood shower after every listen. That song caused Slowhand's stock to plummet to 2-cents per with me, and has never since recovered.)
He starts by saying that death is not a topic one normally thinks of in popular music. That's so absurd it requires comment. For one thing, death is THE principal topic in bluegrass, in old-timey country, and holds a significant place in jazz and blues. That anyone could say that, now, means only that the culture has gone a long way to suppress the topic at present, in pop arts—to its loss and detriment.
Things that belong on that list:
Joni Mitchell: "Sex Kills" Bruce Cockburn" Closer to the Light"
Two things:
ReplyDelete1. No link here.
2. You detest "American Pie"? You know, I met a girl who sang the blues and I asked her for some happy news...but she just wept with the knowledge that Frank Wilson detested the song in which she was featured. So, you know, nice work there.
-G
The poor girl. I actually knew a guy who used to play the damn song over and over and over. The actual "day" I remember quite well, coming home from school to see Dick Clark on Bandstand announcing the sad news out of Iowa.
ReplyDeleteWhat?!? No "Teen Angel"? Heresy!!
ReplyDeleteP.S. The only top-ten list in which "Tears in Heaven" belongs is the "Top-ten List of Most Chillingly Opportunistic Songs." (And it's #1 on that list, btw. Just an awful, awful, shameless, vapid, putrid song. It's auditory toxic slime; I need a Silkwood shower after every listen. That song caused Slowhand's stock to plummet to 2-cents per with me, and has never since recovered.)
ReplyDelete-G
I'll second that, Greg.
ReplyDeleteHe starts by saying that death is not a topic one normally thinks of in popular music. That's so absurd it requires comment. For one thing, death is THE principal topic in bluegrass, in old-timey country, and holds a significant place in jazz and blues. That anyone could say that, now, means only that the culture has gone a long way to suppress the topic at present, in pop arts—to its loss and detriment.
ReplyDeleteThings that belong on that list:
Joni Mitchell: "Sex Kills"
Bruce Cockburn" Closer to the Light"
Rachmaninoff: Isle of the Dead
I could go on. It's actually a very long list.
Good point, Art. I hadn't thought of that. There's also Harry Nilsson's "I'd Rather Be Dead."
ReplyDelete