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Post by troublkepnyerhedup on Sept 6, 2004 23:29:01 GMT -5
FOLK STAR You don't sing for children or their parents in the night time in a bar You sing for yourself, you stand up for nothin' as far as I can tell You used to be a folker, 'til you went and tried to choke her You're a folk star Yeah, yeah, yeah Folk star You don't wear no leather, don't care weather or not you arrive on the red carpet On the charts with a string of broken hearts Used to be a folker, 'til you tried to choke her You're a folk star Yeah you are Folk star Yeah you are Come on! A hundred mandolins Hide the man within Folk star with your plastic red guitar I'm a folk star, yeah! I'm a folk star now! Across the morning sky For the girls in the evening ...the know It's time for them to go |
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Post by troublkepnyerhedup on Sept 7, 2004 0:59:39 GMT -5
The last lines of "Folk Star" are the opening lines of British folk star Sandy Denny's signature song, "Who Knows Where the Time Goes." She gets a credit in the Folker CD booklet (actually it says Denny Sandy). Check this site for more about her: www.informatik.uni-hamburg.de/~zierke/sandy.denny/Who Knows Where the Time Goes? Across the evening sky, all the birds are leaving But how can they know it's time for them to go? Before the winter fire, I will still be dreaming I have no thought of time For who knows where the time goes? Who knows where the time goes? Sad, deserted shore, your fickle friends are leaving Ah, but then you know it's time for them to go But I will still be here, I have no thought of leaving I do not count the time For who knows where the time goes? Who knows where the time goes? And I am not alone while my love is near me I know it will be so until it's time to go So come the storms of winter and then the birds in spring again I have no fear of time For who knows how my love grows? And who knows where the time goes? Granted, a couple of lines do not a cover make, but even so you could safely chalk this one up under "obvious" as opposed to "obscure" PW cover choices. As with "These Days" Paul could have picked up those lines from some other artist who's covered this song. Take your pick: Judy Collins, Lonnie Donnegan, Nina Simone, Foggy Dew-O, Nana Mouskouri, Barry Dransfield, Fairport Convention, Kate Wolf, Sally Barker & The Rhythm, On Wings of Song & Robert Gass, Vikki Clayton, Eva Cassidy, Barbara Dickson, Ashley Hutchings, Mary Black, Deanna Kirk, Charlie Louvin, Eddi Reader, Prussian Blue, Jill Jack, Nanci Griffith, the South Australian group Lyrical Folkus, 10,000 Maniacs, Sperris & Wicca, Jimmy Young with Denny Stanway, Deanna Kirk, Carnival of Souls, Jane Lukíc, Iain Matthews with No Grey Faith, Hoapili, Kale Bas (Dutch version), Éilís Kennedy, Thomasa and The Bird Tribe Orchestra, Kari Bremnes with her Norwegian translation Tia det må ta on, Srideag, Natalie Withers, Kari Bremnes, Leslie van Berkum, Mayumi Itsuwa with a Japanese version, or most recently Linde Nijland on her album Linde Nijland sings Sandy Denny (2003). |
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Post by deebee76 on Sept 7, 2004 10:13:19 GMT -5
Thanks very much for this info troublkepnyerhedup...it's appreciated.
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Post by Placemat on Sept 8, 2004 13:30:18 GMT -5
"You used to be a Folker, 'till you went & tried to choke her"... Come on Paul, worst line since that "I'll hop a broom" bit.  However, the screaming is a nice touch. |
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Post by troublkepnyerhedup on Sept 8, 2004 13:45:00 GMT -5
Now on exhibit at the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame:
a scrap of paper from a basement in Edina, Minn.:
folker
poke her
stoke her
coke her
toke her
croak her
broke her
cloak her
[glow=red,2,300]choke her !!!![/glow]
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Post by jodi, queen of the underground on Sept 8, 2004 13:49:54 GMT -5
"You used to be a Folker, 'till you went & tried to choke her"... Come on Paul, worst line since that "I'll hop a broom" bit. However, the screaming is a nice touch. nah, i think "even if i have to vooommmmit" is the worst line. sorry. but i do have to nominate "Folk Star" as the song most likely to make me get out of my chair and so subtly shake my booty while at work. |
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Post by scoOter on Sept 8, 2004 13:57:05 GMT -5
nah, i think "even if i have to vooommmmit" is the worst line. sorry. but i do have to nominate "Folk Star" as the song most likely to make me get out of my chair and so subtly shake my booty while at work. i know this really belongs in the $100 groom lyrical discussion area, but the vomit line, while a little crude, is great. if you have been married before, you get it. |
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Post by Placemat on Sept 8, 2004 13:58:34 GMT -5
Ooops, I forgot all about that vomit bit.
Jodi's right, I stand corrected.
Please booty shake on!
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Post by A Regular on Sept 8, 2004 15:08:24 GMT -5
"You used to be a Folker, 'till you went & tried to choke her"... Anyone else think of Jackson Browne on that one? |
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Post by scoOter on Sept 8, 2004 15:18:34 GMT -5
Anyone else think of Jackson Browne on that one? oh wow, man! now i'm going to have to reevaluate that song. |
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Post by jodi, queen of the underground on Sept 8, 2004 15:27:07 GMT -5
Anyone else think of Jackson Browne on that one? wow. you're like a total evil genius. i would have never thought of that. |
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Post by A Regular on Sept 8, 2004 17:48:43 GMT -5
Yikes, that was the first thing I thougt of, especially after the recent cover tune.
Give 'em a prop, then take it away with a swipe.
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Post by landshark on Sept 9, 2004 20:09:41 GMT -5
Areg, Jackson Browne is the second punch (see How Can you LIke Him) that you beat me to ...
you're quicksilver
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Post by troublkepnyerhedup on Sept 10, 2004 19:36:17 GMT -5
Anyone else think of Jackson Browne on that one? In case anyone else is as clueless as me, here's what I gleaned from a quick Google: Jackson Browne broke up with longtime girlfriend/actress/onetime backup singer Daryl Hannah in 1992 amid charges/rumors? of physical abuse. She left him for John John Kennedy. Seems like a fair guess of who Paul might be thinking of. |
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Post by TomT on Sept 11, 2004 15:36:36 GMT -5
You've heard of the show Deep Sea Detectives? I think we have The Paul Westerberg Detectives".
But seriously, it would be nice to do a little Q & A with the man himself.
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Post by fungo on Sept 18, 2004 3:17:55 GMT -5
When I listen to this song I hear the voice of a 'Mats fan complaining to Paul: "You used to be a folker, but now you're just a folk star that sings for himself."
Then when Paul switches to the first person at the end he's screaming his reply over very un-folky dueling electric guitars: I'm a folk star, now!
Kind of a sarcastic: "You think I'm a folk star? Well, FOLK YOU! I can still rock, but here's your folk. (Cue Sandy Denny cover.) Happy now?"
I love this song, and I think it's evidence that Paul isn't just fiddling around in his basement taping whatever he happens to play. This song is carefully crafted, starting out as a pop tune that falls into a Stooges-like rocker, crashing to the ground and shattering. Then at the end the shards are swept off the floor as an acoustic folk song.
(This broom analogy was brought to you by the fine people at SwifferR)
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Post by troublkepnyerhedup on Oct 3, 2004 14:45:54 GMT -5
Paul has now taken his rightful place among the legions of recording artists to have taken a crack at British folk star Sandy Denny's signature song, "Who Knows Where the Time Goes." See the roll call at: www.informatik.uni-hamburg.de/~zierke/sandy.denny/ |
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Post by troublkepnyerhedup on Dec 26, 2004 12:41:35 GMT -5
Could this obscure British TV theme song from the 70s have been an inspiration for "Folk Star"?
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"You're a Star" (Theme to "New Faces" TV show)
Yesterday I was happy to play for a penny or two a song
Till a feller in a black sedan took a shine to my one-man band
He said we got plans for you, you'd never dream
You're a star, you're a star, a limey (?) suit and a new guitar
And I know that you'll go far cause you're a star
You're a star, superstar, on you go it's your finest hour
And I know that you'll go far cause you're a star
I signed my name and the Friday came and the song I used to sing
Came out on a 45 ... I sing it on the TV live
As the music played I heard the people say
You're as star etc.
The record did fine and there came a time when I bought my own black sedan
And a piece of land for a home in St. George's Hill (that's where they all live)
When I'm low I'm happy to go the street where I used to play
Even though it makes my laugh to have to sign my autograph
For the fellas who used to drop me just a dime
(Now they all say ... )
You're a star etc.
(Yes I'm a star)
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The song sounds kind of like the Raspberries, or a jaunty easy-listening version of Mott the Hoople. It's sung by Carl Wayne, who was in the band The Move (with Jeff Lynne, later of ELO) and who just died in September of cancer. The show "New Faces" was an early British version of "American Idol," with songwriter Tony Hatch as the "Hatchetman," the brutally frank judge who dashed the dreams of the young talent looking for a big break on the show.
Tony Hatch is how I got on to this song ... for some reason it appears on the 3 CD set "The Essential Tony Hatch" that I just got for Christmas. The third CD is all TV themes, most of which he wrote, none of which are familiar to me since they're all British. "You're a Star" is on there, even though I think the only connection to Hatch is he was a judge on the show.
Anyway, you be the judge if this song has a remote chance of a remote relationship to Folker. Westerberg name-checked Tony Hatch in an interview that came out around the time of this "Essential" CD set, so he could have heard "You're a Star" around then if he somehow laid his hands on this record. And he was already dipping into British folk-pop with the coda to this song and (possibly) the title "Folker" (which was the name of an early 70s novelty song over there).
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Post by TomT on Dec 27, 2004 6:03:41 GMT -5
Could this obscure British TV theme song from the 70s have been an inspiration for "Folk Star"? --------- "You're a Star" (Theme to "New Faces" TV show) I think you're on to something there Detective Trouble. Wouldn't it be cool to peruse Paul's record collection? |
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Post by maybellene on Jan 11, 2005 14:43:49 GMT -5
I don't know much about Tony Hatch and I'd have to hear that song to speculate. I discovered this weekend when I picked up a Petula Clark greatest hits cd, that he wrote all of her hits. 'Downtown' is the best singing in the car at top of your lungs song ever. I really enjoyed 'Don't Sleep in the Subway' as well, but the arrangements and production left me cold. I can barely get past them to the meat of the songs. It was the sound of the time though. He must've been the Phil Spector of the UK. One thing for sure is that, I can see a relationship between Tony Hatch's songs and say The Kinks, that jingle jangle Anthony Newly stuff. So I can see the possible relation to Paul, in a 6 degrees of separation sort of way. Sounds like you are on to something... I'd much rather hear a more Raspberries sounding Tony Hatch? Should I purchase?  |
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