My first real job was working in a dry cleaning store in my NJ hometown.
It was a wintry day. I was driving the delivery van.
The top of the hill was coated with black ice. This song was on the radio — the theme music as the van spun lazily out of my control and careened slowly but fast enough, on the decline, to really fuck up the cars it was inevitably going to smash into.
I can see clearly, still, as I howled as the van smacked into that parked Dodge Charger.
Larry didn't fire me. He saw my post-accident distress. He laughed. Said his f'in insurance broker could have the heartburn.
Larry was terrific.
I hear this song and am transported back to February 1974.
Great story!
I had a similar experience when I was in my late teens. My friends call me in the middle of the night because their car broke down in a neighboring city. They had been out drinking. I know; dumb teens drinking and driving. Anyway, I go to pick them up and take each friend to his home, three in total. They surprise me with a case of Miller or some other such crappy beer. It was the eighties. We put it in the trunk.
On the way to the first home, we pass through the thickest fog of the year - zero visibility. I slow the car down to a crawl, but it's impossible to see more than a few feet in front of us and we end up encountering a hairpin curve. It's too late to correct and we dip one tire into the ditch. Then, as if in slow motion, the car flips over completely into the ditch. There we are, the four of us, strapped into the seatbelts, hanging upside down in shock. And what's rolling on the cassette player? Genesis - "There must be some misunderstanding. There must be some kind of mistake."
Amazing cacophony writhing in the background. I probably need to listen through headphones to get the totality. It's like some sort of aural slightly screechy riot is emerging from somewhere.
Yes, I hear it. Great tune. Love the seagulls on background vocals. Hope they got credit for their contribution.
Gets my vote for one of the best guitar solos. He chose the right notes, rhythm, tone/effect and style for the composition. This guy is the super-mega master, and not just on this song.
Wow, I never realised that the They Might Be Giants song Constantinople was a cover 'til hearing this.
The TMBG song is a cover, but it's a cover of Istanbul (Not Constantinople), not this song... alanthecowboy wrote:
The TMBG song is a cover, but it's a cover of Istanbul (Not Constantinople), not this song...
While not a cover, this is clearly where TMBG got both the melody and the rhythm for their song. Upon hearing it, I immediately thought the same thing. The original poster has a good ear.
TMBG simply "borrowed" a lot to create their own song.
Love the structure of this song. There's no hurry to get back to the vocals. They build the song on the instruments. And, near the end, there's that very creative bass line that gives the impression of speeding up the song for a short time only to bring it back into the plodding, mechanical beat. Splendid songwriting.
Why does a Brazilian song have to have 'samba' or a beach name in the title to be accepted on RP? There's plenty of good Brazilian music that never reaches the world's ears because it doesn't meet the stereotypical bossa nova or samba sound.
Check out Zeca Baleiro, Cássia Eller or Los Hermanos.
By the way, loved the comment from 'dewinter'. I am a lucky bastard, I know.
We often complain that rap sucks because of its silly and immature themes of sex, cars, parties and the self-praising, "I'm the man" lyrics. At least this tells an interesting story, has creative metaphors and rhymes well.
I'll give it a 5 because the musical accompaniment is unoriginal, and because I simply prefer singing to rapping.
Some people will take issue with anything.
Who are you to say that a person can't hear feeling? Is that what you learned in your music appreciation class?
I'm not a great musician, but I've been playing guitar for over 20 years, have played with several people, and IMHO, once a musician achieves a certain degree of technical ability, what makes the difference in the sound is the 'feeling' or 'soul' that he or she puts into it. This feeling that I speak of isn't about making freaky-looking faces or crazy body gestures, it's about being completely in the moment while playing and pulling the music from within you, not from your instrument. For this reason, even a musician who is capable of playing with feeling will occasionally have bad days, and it's noticeable to those listening.
Furthermore, there's often a correlation between a musician's life experience, personality and sensitivity, and the amount of feeling that is transmitted through his or her playing.
This is not something that is measurable, nor proved scientifically... it's something one senses. I, for one, can HEAR feeling, as I believe most people can. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that feeling is the first thing people perceive when listening to a piece of music.
I would, however, agree that feeling is not always a good thing... I believe that John Lee Hooker sings with a lot of feeling, but I find him irritating.
ploafmaster wrote:
You. Can't. Hear. Feeling.
PERIOD.
Maybe this particular track evokes some feeling in you, and that's great - but to say some music has feeling or doesn't is one of the weirdest things people ever say about music.
And again...feeling alone, if it's really there, does not equal something good. Need I repeat my grotesque turd analogy?
My first real job was working in a dry cleaning store in my NJ hometown.
It was a wintry day. I was driving the delivery van.
The top of the hill was coated with black ice. This song was on the radio — the theme music as the van spun lazily out of my control and careened slowly but fast enough, on the decline, to really fuck up the cars it was inevitably going to smash into.
I can see clearly, still, as I howled as the van smacked into that parked Dodge Charger.
Larry didn't fire me. He saw my post-accident distress. He laughed. Said his f'in insurance broker could have the heartburn.
Larry was terrific.
I hear this song and am transported back to February 1974.
Great story!
I had a similar experience when I was in my late teens. My friends call me in the middle of the night because their car broke down in a neighboring city. They had been out drinking. I know; dumb teens drinking and driving. Anyway, I go to pick them up and take each friend to his home, three in total. They surprise me with a case of Miller or some other such crappy beer. It was the eighties. We put it in the trunk.
On the way to the first home, we pass through the thickest fog of the year - zero visibility. I slow the car down to a crawl, but it's impossible to see more than a few feet in front of us and we end up encountering a hairpin curve. It's too late to correct and we dip one tire into the ditch. Then, as if in slow motion, the car flips over completely into the ditch. There we are, the four of us, strapped into the seatbelts, hanging upside down in shock. And what's rolling on the cassette player? Genesis - "There must be some misunderstanding. There must be some kind of mistake."
Amazing cacophony writhing in the background. I probably need to listen through headphones to get the totality. It's like some sort of aural slightly screechy riot is emerging from somewhere.
Yes, I hear it. Great tune. Love the seagulls on background vocals. Hope they got credit for their contribution.
The TMBG song is a cover, but it's a cover of Istanbul (Not Constantinople), not this song... alanthecowboy wrote:
The TMBG song is a cover, but it's a cover of Istanbul (Not Constantinople), not this song...
While not a cover, this is clearly where TMBG got both the melody and the rhythm for their song. Upon hearing it, I immediately thought the same thing. The original poster has a good ear.
TMBG simply "borrowed" a lot to create their own song.
Hilarious