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Post by FreeRider on Mar 11, 2019 9:26:10 GMT -5
that's funny but a true observation on Bob's part. It reminds me of what Billy Joel once said about "Piano Man", that it was a nothing song and that it went nowhere. It just repeated the verses and he joked that he thought someone in the audience would catch on and give him a knowing smirk like, "I see what you're doing there!" And of course, "Unsatisfied" isn't a great tune melodically but it's great because of its catharsis, the emotional venting and summarizing a feeling many of us had had. Yet, for creative artists, there are no rules to songwriting. You don't have to follow the cookie cutter pattern of ABABCAB. But was ol' Westy being creative or a little lazy? Or did he just say all he had to in that song? It's hard to know. I won't necessarily go down the road that says "yeah, he's lazy." Anyone who spends that much time in his basement getting stuff down on his ADAT machine can't be lazy. But is it polished for an audience? That's another matter. Just how does the artist know when the song is done, finished? I remember reading a Neil Young interview where he says he likes to work fast and play live as possible with Crazy Horse and mentioned being in the studio down the hall from the Eagles, where they were just endlessly going on and on for one song. It prompted him to say, "Man, what the fuck are these guys doing?" Different ethos at play here, of course. But saw an article in the Wash Post by Sally Jenkins on her famous sportswriting father Dan. She recounted this that caught my eye: He couldn’t stand champions he thought weren’t good people. He thought competition was pointless without ethic — he never forgave Tiger Woods for how he treated underlings or his wife. We would talk about those he admired most and knew the best, the Ben Hogans and Jack Nicklauses and Tom Watsons. He told me that athletes felt obliged to fulfill their talent with hard work because to leave potential unspent was “a kind of sin.” He also told me: “Learn your craft. And don’t ever let a piece of writing out of your hands until it’s as good as you can make it.”www.washingtonpost.com/sports/sally-jenkins-on-dan-jenkins-i-was-so-lucky-to-be-his-daughter/2019/03/09/f38f8820-4297-11e9-922c-64d6b7840b82_story.html?utm_term=.6dccd4bd0b73
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Jer
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Post by Jer on Mar 12, 2019 15:22:03 GMT -5
But was ol' Westy being creative or a little lazy? Or did he just say all he had to in that song? It's hard to know. I won't necessarily go down the road that says "yeah, he's lazy." Anyone who spends that much time in his basement getting stuff down on his ADAT machine can't be lazy. But is it polished for an audience? That's another matter. I don't think it's laziness, especially back then. If I had to speculate, I would guess that he had the chords and basic idea but not a lot of lyrics or an arrangement. Didn't he ad-lib most or all of Hold My Life, then they just comped a bunch of random phrases together? Could have been something like that.
They were probably working it out but maybe found something special with that take and felt that the emotion and rawness was worth keeping over finishing the song. And/or maybe they ran out of time....or maybe they just thought it was done and were happy with it. Who knows. But in hindsight I think it was the right call because that song is somewhat revered, despite it's shortcomings. Only super-fans who over-analyze things like we do would pick that song apart. And didn't Paul say that he doesn't like it either? Just how does the artist know when the song is done, finished? I remember reading a Neil Young interview where he says he likes to work fast and play live as possible with Crazy Horse and mentioned being in the studio down the hall from the Eagles, where they were just endlessly going on and on for one song. It prompted him to say, "Man, what the fuck are these guys doing?"
That's a cool story. I am a huge Eagles fan, but they were certainly guilty of over-working their stuff in the studio. It's probably their biggest flaw - striving too hard for perfection. It's the polar-opposite of Paul's recent approach. The sweet spot (to me) is in the middle somewhere, and Neil probably leans towards Paul's side, but never quite going that far. Again I'll go to the Songs for Slim ep. Way far from being as polished as The Eagles, but more finished and refined than the basement stuff.
Every songwriter is probably different when it comes knowing when a song is done. My general rule is that it's done when your changes stop making it better. Sometimes that takes 20 minutes, sometimes it takes weeks. Sometimes you think it's getting better then a year later you realize it wasn't and it sounds over-worked and tired. Over time and after countless songs and hours writing you get better at recognizing that point. I don't think Paul thinks his songs are finished, he's too good a songwriter. I think he cares more about the moment, the spontaneity, and the rawness at this point than finishing the song.
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Post by teddinard on Mar 12, 2019 21:20:44 GMT -5
To my mind, "Unsatisfied" is a great and fully finished song. It's one of the best minimalist rock songs ever. It says all that needs to be said.
Any more lyrics would ruin it, muck it up, bog it down, blur the basic power of those two phrases.
Look me in the eye and tell me I'm satisfied. Are you satisfied?
There's a whole world in that.
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Post by dee on Mar 12, 2019 23:53:27 GMT -5
There was interview where PW said he's glad he wrote Unsatisfied when he did because he thought if he wrote it later he may have added too many words and ruined it.
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Jer
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Post by Jer on Mar 14, 2019 7:23:29 GMT -5
Clearly it resonates with some people as a song just as much or more than a performance, and that's the power of music. And that's an interesting quote from Paul. I read something long ago (maybe in Willpower) that he didn't like the song, but I'm not sure exactly what the context was. He's been known to switch gears over time.
Lyrically I just think it falls flat next to some of his other stuff. There's just nothing there - kinda like Hold My Life, and I'll bet it was the same approach - come in with a couple phrases, but just sing into the mic and make shit up and comp it together into a song. The result is a spontaneous collection of lyrics without much substance that's just another element, but not the key element, of the song. Both songs are great, in my opinion, but neither because of the lyrics.
Opposed to something like Answering Machine or Kiss Me On The Bus or 16 Blue where there are thought out, deep, insightful lyrics. But I also appreciate that improvised approach and I think it's great to have that balance of those songs with the other songs, and it gives the records depth and let's the performances really breathe - I think better lyrics to Unsatisfied would take away from what's there, and that would be a shame. If great lyrics were a requirement for a great song, we'd have a lot less great songs out there.
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Post by FreeRider on Mar 14, 2019 9:44:22 GMT -5
oh certainly! Some songs really hits the emotional "they're singing about my life" kind of benchmark. I think a lot of musicians would love to have a song or two that really speaks to and moves their audience. Hitting such a high benchmark can encapsulates some sort of universal feeling that we can all identify with---alienation, loneliness, frustration, anger or whatever. And really good artists can do that, tell a story in their song that could very well be about you or about how you feel.
Yeah, I remember as well that Paulie didn't really care much for the song and I think the context was something like, "I no longer feel the same way as I did when I first wrote it. To sing it now seems kind of forced." Or maybe he said something like singing it now wouldn't be genuine as he's matured and is no longer angry about some things as much as he once was.
From a song structure, there is no bridge. It's really ABABA-A2. And the A verses are really the chorus and the songs ends with a repetition or variant of the chorus. Bob's plaintive and sighing guitar fills towards the end gives it some more emotional impressionism too.
I can't remember where I read it---maybe a Paul Simon, Paul McCartney or a Ringo Starr interview?---but the writer was clearly aware of the structure to one of his songs, saying something like "Well, the audience has just heard the verse and chorus twice already, I've got to throw in something interesting here now (the bridge or solo or whatever) to bring them back to the chorus...."
Again, there are no rules to songwriting but there are some basic structures, a template to follow. Andy Warhol, when asked what art is, said, "Art is anything you can get away with." So yeah, musically "Unsatisfied" is not much...but wow, does it ever pack an emotional wallop in it's execution! Paul's vocals, for one, and then Bob's melancholy guitar fills at the end.
So true---perhaps to do anything more with it, add in a bridge, would've changed the song for the worse. Sometimes, there is too much complexity or unnecessary stuff on songs. Chisel down to the essentials. That's what Paulie said when working with Scott Litt on "All Shook Down", I think. As an experiment, they tried to strip the song down to it's bare bones and see at what point the song falls apart without all the extra stuff like the overdubbed vocals, additional guitar work, etc...
Maybe less is more in some cases? And I wish I could find that Neil Young quote about being in the same studio as the Eagles and almost finishing his stuff with Crazy Horse while the Eagles were still tinkering around on one song! (Maybe a Guitar Player or Guitar World magazine interview?) but it shows you that everyone is different in their approach. Neil likes to work fast and have very little overdubs and get that live band feel, and Paul like to work fast and have the immediacy. Meanwhile, Henley and Frey were very meticulous and wanted to get everything perfect as they saw it.
It's been a harsh winter for the folks in the midwest. Maybe it's given Paul lots of time to be working on some cool stuff for us--or not. Maybe just for his own enjoyment? And as something therapeutic? I guess we'll see if there is anything new for us this spring or summer.
And if you say nothing then that's something I'll understand when it began....
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Post by teddinard on Mar 14, 2019 14:30:28 GMT -5
It's funny, I think the lyrics of "Hold My Life" are great, some of the best he's written.
And I think "Sixteen Blue" lays it on way too thick. I have to work pretty hard even to find it OK.
And I also think that "Answering Machine" would be not that great if it weren't for a couple of lines that redeem the whole thing for me.
Interesting how ardent fans hear things very differently.
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Post by FreeRider on Mar 14, 2019 14:33:54 GMT -5
BM: I know that you’ve named “Unsatisfied” as one of those songs that most of us think is great and you don’t. PW: Yeah, you know I took a whack at it a month ago – Tommy and I got together and played with, uh, Michael Bland and of course Jim came with. You know, we were kicking around ideas and we played a couple songs, new and old and tried and it’s like, we went into “Unsatisfied” to see if I remembered it and it was one of those things where I got about thirty-five seconds into it, realized “Well, hell, there’s no words to this really.” All it is is sort of a seeming angst-ridden cry for help and that was the reason that I never really did it live because it was just a moment in the studio that you don’t sort of tote around with you. But it was funny how, the way Jim and Tommy both jumped on the changes and knew where we were going and I had no clue. This was the most I had ever heard of “Unsatisfied” in ten years playing with them. www.paulwesterberg.com/pleased-to-meet-him-an-interview-with-paul-westerberg-nov-13-2008/L.A. WEEKLY: Your Amoeba in-store in ’02 was one of the biggest in-stores they’ve ever had. That’s gotta make you feel pretty good. WESTERBERG: It does. I remember specifically Johnny Ramone was there. I was pleased to see that. That was quite a long set of ragtag tunes. LA Weekly: Are there any songs in your catalog that are a little too painful to play? WESTERBERG: Painful, yeah. I don’t like playing “Unsatisfied” — and that’s one of the ones I played at the Amoeba thing. It’s just one of those screaming, kind of painful Nirvana angst-ridden things that if I’m known for only that song . . . then in my opinion I’m nothing. www.laweekly.com/music/sexy-mother-folker-2139513"Unsatisfied" and "Answering Machine"--was there any acting going on in those songs? On "Unsatisfied," there was. I hate to break anyone's heart, but yeah, there was acting there. Probably the real acting came from the fact that the drugs were wearing off, while I was singing the vocal. I think it was something as base, and as common, as that. I don't hold "Unsatisfied" in as high regard as a lot of people do. "Answering Machine," on the other hand, I do. I think "Answering Machine" is one of my best songs. "Unsatisfied" . . . I don't know. It was like an open wound, something almost akin to Yoko. paulwesterberg.proboards.com/thread/7060/pw-mats-articles?page=3
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Post by anarkissed on Mar 14, 2019 15:17:45 GMT -5
Andy Warhol, when asked what art is, said, "Art is anything you can get away with." I think "Heroin" is just a G and a D...
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Post by anarkissed on Mar 14, 2019 15:19:27 GMT -5
To my mind, "Unsatisfied" is a great and fully finished song. It's one of the best minimalist rock songs ever. It says all that needs to be said. Any more lyrics would ruin it, muck it up, bog it down, blur the basic power of those two phrases. Look me in the eye and tell me I'm satisfied. Are you satisfied? There's a whole world in that. It doesn't seem like it needs more words...
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Jer
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Post by Jer on Mar 14, 2019 18:45:27 GMT -5
It's funny, I think the lyrics of "Hold My Life" are great, some of the best he's written. And I think "Sixteen Blue" lays it on way too thick. I have to work pretty hard even to find it OK. And I also think that "Answering Machine" would be not that great if it weren't for a couple of lines that redeem the whole thing for me. Interesting how ardent fans hear things very differently.
Yep, very interesting. There's a lot that goes into those opinions too - your personal history with a song, stuff like that.
Hold My Life is one of my favorite songs, for what it's worth, and I love the "Hold My Life because I just might use it" line but after that I just think there's nothing there. I bet that's all he had when walked into the vocal booth. I mean, the tagline of an old kids show and some random words - like super random with no meaning whatsoever. I just read them again and they don't even make sense. They fit well as far as cadence, it's a cool approach, and it works, but there's no image conjured, no story, barely a theme, no direction lyrically to my ears. They're there because the song needs words, but they serve almost no other purpose.
Sixteen Blue and Answering Machine are both about something. They both conjure up images, tell stories, evoke emotions. Both songs are built around the vocal, as opposed to Hold My life where the vocal is just another element of sound. Sixteen Blue is maybe not his finest moment, but it's a really good shot at what a sixteen year old feels like. When I was sixteen I pretty much thought he knew me with that song. And answering machine is a great study of ying and yang, opposites, and conflict - between a whore and romance, a man and a machine, emotion and distance. The production and strong vocal drive it home, but I don't think there's a wasted line in that one. To me it might just be his all around finest moment ever.
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Post by leftofthedial09 on Mar 14, 2019 20:23:59 GMT -5
I still remember the Paul quote where he says something like "It's not about what is said or played, it is about the feeling". I think many of the songs mentioned above Paul applied that thinking. A feeling comes across even if the words aren't all that meaningful. It is all in the composition of music and vocals.
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Post by teddinard on Mar 14, 2019 20:25:09 GMT -5
It's funny, I think the lyrics of "Hold My Life" are great, some of the best he's written. And I think "Sixteen Blue" lays it on way too thick. I have to work pretty hard even to find it OK. And I also think that "Answering Machine" would be not that great if it weren't for a couple of lines that redeem the whole thing for me. Interesting how ardent fans hear things very differently.
Yep, very interesting. There's a lot that goes into those opinions too - your personal history with a song, stuff like that.
Hold My Life is one of my favorite songs, for what it's worth, and I love the "Hold My Life because I just might use it" line but after that I just think there's nothing there. I bet that's all he had when walked into the vocal booth. I mean, the tagline of an old kids show and some random words - like super random with no meaning whatsoever. I just read them again and they don't even make sense. They fit well as far as cadence, it's a cool approach, and it works, but there's no image conjured, no story, barely a theme, no direction lyrically to my ears. They're there because the song needs words, but they serve almost no other purpose.
Sixteen Blue and Answering Machine are both about something. They both conjure up images, tell stories, evoke emotions. Both songs are built around the vocal, as opposed to Hold My life where the vocal is just another element of sound. Sixteen Blue is maybe not his finest moment, but it's a really good shot at what a sixteen year old feels like. When I was sixteen I pretty much thought he knew me with that song. And answering machine is a great study of ying and yang, opposites, and conflict - between a whore and romance, a man and a machine, emotion and distance. The production and strong vocal drive it home, but I don't think there's a wasted line in that one. To me it might just be his all around finest moment ever.
Well, to be exact, it's "Hold my life/ Until I'm ready to use it / Hold my life / Because I just might lose it." But you knew that. And I think the stuff from the old "Tudor Turtle" cartoon is perfect. The cartoon, as you recall, is about a turtle making a wish to live some exciting version of life, only to find he's not ready for it. He gets into trouble and begs Mr Wizard to bring him home. Westerberg changes the Mr Wizard spell a bit to bring in "come alive." (I recall a certain kind of hipster person in the 1980s, usually a young woman, humorously saying "help Mr. Wizard!!!" any time things got too much for her.) Also I love "Time for decision to be made /Crack up in the sun / Or lose it in the shade." At first blush, it seems like a distinction without a difference. To crack up and to lose it are both the same thing: failure. But then, upon reflection, it's a very important distinction. To fail in public ("in the sun") is humiliating. To fail inconspicuously ("in the shade") is safer, but has its own problems. Suffice to say the song is all about the same predicament the band was always in. Here we are on the edge of life. Do we try and possibly blow it, or give up and never know what might have happened? As for "Sixteen Blue" and "Answering Machine," they both for me come close to being sentimental, in a word--without being undercut with much wit or self-critique. Except for "Handful of friends / One needs a match, one needs some ice." Those lines make the whole song work. (Well I like "Big time's got its losers / Small town's got its vices" a lot too.)
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Jer
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Post by Jer on Mar 15, 2019 6:55:16 GMT -5
Well, to be exact, it's "Hold my life/ Until I'm ready to use it / Hold my life / Because I just might lose it." But you knew that. And I think the stuff from the old "Tudor Turtle" cartoon is perfect. The cartoon, as you recall, is about a turtle making a wish to live some exciting version of life, only to find he's not ready for it. He gets into trouble and begs Mr Wizard to bring him home. Westerberg changes the Mr Wizard spell a bit to bring in "come alive." (I recall a certain kind of hipster person in the 1980s, usually a young woman, humorously saying "help Mr. Wizard!!!" any time things got too much for her.) Also I love "Time for decision to be made /Crack up in the sun / Or lose it in the shade." At first blush, it seems like a distinction without a difference. To crack up and to lose it are both the same thing: failure. But then, upon reflection, it's a very important distinction. To fail in public ("in the sun") is humiliating. To fail inconspicuously ("in the shade") is safer, but has its own problems. Suffice to say the song is all about the same predicament the band was always in. Here we are on the edge of life. Do we try and possibly blow it, or give up and never know what might have happened? As for "Sixteen Blue" and "Answering Machine," they both for me come close to being sentimental, in a word--without being undercut with much wit or self-critique. Except for "Handful of friends / One needs a match, one needs some ice." Those lines make the whole song work. (Well I like "Big time's got its losers / Small town's got its vices" a lot too.) Yeah all good points. I love the Tudor Turtle lyrics - I think it's brilliant and works perfectly, and your tying that and the concept of the show into the theme of the song is a connection I'd never made (having seen that show maybe twice in my life), so that's a great point. My point, which was maybe not made very well and has kinda been trumped now, was that a key part of the song weren't even actually lyrics, and doing that doesn't make for great lyrics, but I have to concede. Stealing bits like that and using them to that effect is a great skill that a lot of songwriters probably wouldn't even try and even fewer would be able to do it as well. I'm sure there are other examples out there.
And as I read the lyrics yesterday in an attempt to see if I was missing anything I thought about the Sun/Shade bit and felt it was a bit cliche for Paul, but again, in the context of the theme, dreams and aspirations vs fear and humiliation, along with your analogy of public (sun) vs private (shade) it makes a lot more sense. Kinda how Paul said he identifies more with the quiet kid in the back who came to hear Skyway but he panders to the loudmouths (loosely paraphrased). So thanks for shedding some new light on that song for me. I love it.
Funny when you talk about Sixteen Blue & Answering Machine and cite those lines about friends/match and losers/vices - which to me are good lines, they paint a picture and set a scene - but the strength of the lyrics and the song is really the other parts where he's detailing the struggle - like I said before - man vs machine, life into a letter, whore vs romance, freedom vs ignorance. I get your point - you seem to be latching on the more literal lines that aren't seeking empathy from the listener - and maybe you see that quest for empathy as a bit....disingenuous or easy maybe? What's interesting is that I (now) see some similarities in those lyrics that I like and you don't as much to the Sun/Shade lyrics in Hold My Life - where it's metaphoric about the greater message of the song and maybe not as obvious and pandering as they seem on the surface.
Super interesting deep dive into these songs! Never too late to learn new things.
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Post by teddinard on Mar 15, 2019 7:59:23 GMT -5
Yeah all good points. I love the Tudor Turtle lyrics - I think it's brilliant and works perfectly, and your tying that and the concept of the show into the theme of the song is a connection I'd never made (having seen that show maybe twice in my life), so that's a great point. My point, which was maybe not made very well and has kinda been trumped now, was that a key part of the song weren't even actually lyrics, and doing that doesn't make for great lyrics, but I have to concede. Stealing bits like that and using them to that effect is a great skill that a lot of songwriters probably wouldn't even try and even fewer would be able to do it as well. I'm sure there are other examples out there.
And as I read the lyrics yesterday in an attempt to see if I was missing anything I thought about the Sun/Shade bit and felt it was a bit cliche for Paul, but again, in the context of the theme, dreams and aspirations vs fear and humiliation, along with your analogy of public (sun) vs private (shade) it makes a lot more sense. Kinda how Paul said he identifies more with the quiet kid in the back who came to hear Skyway but he panders to the loudmouths (loosely paraphrased). So thanks for shedding some new light on that song for me. I love it.
Funny when you talk about Sixteen Blue & Answering Machine and cite those lines about friends/match and losers/vices - which to me are good lines, they paint a picture and set a scene - but the strength of the lyrics and the song is really the other parts where he's detailing the struggle - like I said before - man vs machine, life into a letter, whore vs romance, freedom vs ignorance. I get your point - you seem to be latching on the more literal lines that aren't seeking empathy from the listener - and maybe you see that quest for empathy as a bit....disingenuous or easy maybe? What's interesting is that I (now) see some similarities in those lyrics that I like and you don't as much to the Sun/Shade lyrics in Hold My Life - where it's metaphoric about the greater message of the song and maybe not as obvious and pandering as they seem on the surface.
Super interesting deep dive into these songs! Never too late to learn new things.
Thanks, I'm glad that helped to bring out more in the song. I learn from everybody on this site all the time. In fact, a post I read here months ago helped me understand the lines about his "handful of friends" in "Answering Machine." I had never realized that his "friends" were the unlit cigarette and the warm drink he was holding in his hand. Helped me love the song more. I like what you say about "detailing the struggle." I love that too. But for me, what makes PW a brilliant writer is the back-and-forth, push-pull between full sentiment and witty anti-sentimentalism. So if a song goes too far in one direction, I like it less. I feel like "Sixteen Blue" indulges its forlorn feeling a bit. But I need both, the empathic feeling as well as the jokes on himself (and others). If he went all the way into soppy feeling, I couldn't stand it, but complete cynicism and self-deprecation have led lesser songwriters into even worse nonsense. In playing both off of each other, Westerberg makes something truly great. By the way, I wouldn't be surprised if the Tooter Turtle (I think I spelled it wrong the first time) stuff in "Hold My Life" just came to him in the studio without him thinking much about its relevance to the song. He's a very smart man, but it takes a lot of intuitive accidents to be a great writer. It probably just felt right.
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Post by FreeRider on Mar 15, 2019 9:17:30 GMT -5
Andy Warhol, when asked what art is, said, "Art is anything you can get away with." I think "Heroin" is just a G and a D... Heroin, it's my wife it's my life....some of the most harrowing lyrics by Lou!
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Post by FreeRider on Mar 15, 2019 9:31:43 GMT -5
My first thought this morning was imagining if Paul read this thread. Maybe he'd be pissed at our comments and then maybe he'd start laughing, shake his head and go back to ignoring us. But all good stuff here. and it shows the variety of experiences and interpretations we get from Paul's music. I can see why artists don't really want to tell us fans what the song is really about because it kind of destroys the meaning we all give to it in our own personal way. It reminds me of the story about how Linda Rondstadt, Dolly Parton, Emmylou Harris were doing an album together and were covering Neil Young's "After The Goldrush." From Songfacts: When Dolly Parton, Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt recorded it in 1999 for their collaboration Trio II, they got some unique insight into the song from the man who wrote it. Said Parton: "When we were doing the Trio album, I asked Linda and Emmy what it meant, and they didn't know. So we called Neil Young, and he didn't know. We asked him, flat out, what it meant, and he said, 'Hell, I don't know. I just wrote it. It just depends on what I was taking at the time. I guess every verse has something different I'd taken.'" www.songfacts.com/facts/neil-young/after-the-gold-rushBut he later said, in the context of the movie he was making with Dean Stockwell, the song was about the environment. “After The Gold Rush is an environmental song,” Young said, trying to finally nail its meaning for McDonough. “I recognise in it now this thread that goes through a lotta my songs that’s this time-travel thing… When I look out the window, the first thing that comes to my mind is the way this place looked a hundred years ago.” www.loudersound.com/features/the-stories-behind-the-songs-neil-young-after-the-gold-rush
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Jer
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Post by Jer on Mar 15, 2019 9:54:10 GMT -5
In fact, a post I read here months ago helped me understand the lines about his "handful of friends" in "Answering Machine." I had never realized that his "friends" were the unlit cigarette and the warm drink he was holding in his hand. Helped me love the song more. Wow I had no idea. I missed that one. Game changer. Yep, that's a great line. But all good stuff here. and it shows the variety of experiences and interpretations we get from Paul's music. I can see why artists don't really want to tell us fans what the song is really about because it kind of destroys the meaning we all give to it in our own personal way.
Yea for sure. This stuff is enlightening. I remember about 10 years back I put a Hüsker Dü record on the turntable after decades of listening to it pretty much exclusively on CD or MP3 (probably well into the hundreds of times) and I pulled out the lyric sheet and started following along and was amazed at the stuff I thought was something else. I hadn't read those lyric sheets since the records came out. I also like how REM never included lyrics with their records (they may have later on, but not those first few). Listener interpretation can apply not only to what the words mean, but sometimes even what the words are!
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Post by holeinthedrapes on Mar 16, 2019 10:38:42 GMT -5
Unsatisfied and Eyes Like Sparks are sort of sister songs. Sparse lyrics, but both make the point of the song clear. Raw desire or emotion. I love both.
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Post by anarkissed on Mar 16, 2019 15:58:17 GMT -5
It reminds me of what Billy Joel once said about "Piano Man", that it was a nothing song and that it went nowhere. It just repeated the verses and he joked that he thought someone in the audience would catch on and give him a knowing smirk like, "I see what you're doing there!" I saw him comment in an interview once that he had had the funny experience several times of walking into a restaurant or bar that happened to have a piano player providing background music. The guy would recognize him, get excited, and launch into an off-the-cuff instrumental version of "Piano Man". They'd play through it once, then, about halfway through the second time around, they'd look puzzled, sure that they must be forgetting a bridge or a change or something. They'd pause before the third time through, start slower, and hestitantly, and look to Billy for a clue. He'd just shrug, as if to say: "Yeah, I know. That's all there is. I don't know how it got to be such a big deal, either!"
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