Mick 'n' Keef wrote Wild Horses in 1969, recording a rough demo which they decided wasn't really worth taking any further. Mick denies popular speculation that the lyrics are about the end of his relationship with Marianne Faithful, while Keef reckons the song is about being sick of touring.
The Stones gave a copy of the demo to their mate Gram Parsons who liked the song more than they did, recording it for the second Flying Burrito Brothers album, Burrito Deluxe, in 1970.
Hearing the Burrito version encouraged Mick 'n' Keef to give the song another chance, recording it properly for the album Sticky Fingers and releasing it as the follow-up single to Brown Sugar in the US.
Neither version made the UK charts, but in 2009 the song made our Top Ten thanks to a version recorded by Susan Boyle following her performance on America's Got Talent. Boyle chose the song because for her it reflected "a personal story about how achieving such massive success extremely quickly has affected her life". Before you pour scorn on Susan's version, you might be interested to read that Mick considered it a "ghostly version... much better than anything I had ever done".
None of these are sequels though - they're just covers.
The sequel didn't arrive until 2022, thanks to this gorgeous story song by First Aid Kit from their album Palomino, in which two young lovers drive across America with Wild Horses on the car stereo... highlighting irreconcilable differences in their relationship.
We passed a canyon
We passed a fire brigade headed up the mountains
They said "The wood's ablazin'" and then we got hungry
Stopped at a diner
You flirted with the waitress and I didn't even care
Where do you go to when you look past me?
Do you see yourself miserable and free?
Such a strange notion, to see you clearly
When love's shadow stood up and left the room
We played Wild Horses on the car stereo
You prefer the Rolling Stones' and I like Gram's
No mention of Susan Boyle in this story. That really would have tested their relationship!
This is the kind of question that fills me with joy, because if Sam cares what a song is about, he's clearly engaging with it. In the case of Moon Shadow though... I really don't have an answer. I have an idea... but it's not one that Cat Stevens, Yusuf Islam or Steven Demetre Georgiou appears to agree with. Neither is it an interpretation I see echoed by online "experts". Does this mean I'm wrong?
Any number of poets, writers and lyricists will tell you that when they let their words out into the wild, it's not up to them to enforce an interpretation on the audience. Some writers actively refuse to discuss the "message" behind their stories, preferring to allow the individual reader or listener to infer their own meanings. Sylvia Plath wrote...
"Once a poem is made available to the public, the right of interpretation belongs to the reader..."
Nick Cave agrees, saying that when he writes songs, he wants his listeners to come to their own conclusions. He refuses to "take away their power by attaching my own meaning to them".
This is the power of art - we add our own connotations, beliefs, prejudices, life experiences and emotions when we consume it. As I often tell my students: in English, there are no right answers. You just need to be able to explain your own interpretation so that it makes sense to someone else. They might not agree with you, they just need to be able to see how you've arrived at your conclusions.
Moon Shadow, then, is not - for me, at least - "softly tailored folderol from Cat Stevens [which] shows his whimsical side". Nor does it persuade me to "See life as it is, right now, and [not] compare it to others' lives, or other times in your life." Neither am I convinced of any religious message behind the lyrics, despite Stevens' later conversion from Christianity to Islam. Although interestingly, when that conversion took place, Yusuf Islam stopped singing any of his old Cat Stevens songs... except this one, which he later claimed was his favourite.
In 2009, Cat Stevens tried to explain Moon Shadow to Chris Isaak...
"I was on a holiday in Spain. I was a kid from the West End – bright lights, et cetera. I never got to see the moon on its own in the dark, there were always streetlamps. So there I was on the edge of the water on a beautiful night with the moon glowing, and suddenly I looked down and saw my shadow. I thought that was so cool, I'd never seen it before."
Which all sounds very positive, doesn't it? Over on the tube of you, people agree. Some call it "the ultimate optimist song". "There's something about the imagery of total freedom and dancing under the moon," says an old 'hippie kid', "which appeals to my wild self." Another youtuber, who says the song got them through a very dark period, explains, "this song is like, 'No matter how dark it gets, it can always be worse... but there's always light".
If you want to consider alternative interpretations to songs, youtube is definitely the place to look. In the past week, quite a few American commenters have suggested Moon Shadow as "the official song of the 2024 solar eclipse". While someone else can be found reminiscing over the time it was used in an episode of Airwolf with Jan Michael Vincent. This was my favourite though...
"Now I know why Moonlight Shadow sounded better in my childhood. It was actually Moon Shadow!"
And let's not forget this quirky little reimagining: an animated fairy tale devised by Cat Stevens and narrated by Spike Milligan in which a boy and his cat attempt to rescue the moon when it falls out of the sky...
Faced with this overwhelming barrage of evidence that Moon Shadow is a sweet, life-affirming tune... am I the only one who finds it creepy? And by that, I mean creepy in a good way. Creepy in an excellent way!
Yes, I'm bein' followed by a moon shadow
Moon shadow, moon shadow
Leapin' and hoppin' on a moon shadow
Moon shadow, moon shadow
Have you ever seen the movie It Follows? To me, the Moon Shadow is like the monster from that film. Some kind of weird supernatural entity that's following Cat around, menacing him, threatening to rob him of his hands, his eyes, his legs and his mouth...
And if I ever lose my hands
Lose my plow, lose my land
Oh, if I ever lose my hands
Oh if, I won't have to work no more
And if I ever lose my eyes
If my colors all run dry
Yes, if I ever lose my eyes
Oh if, I won't have to cry no more
The interweb suggests all this graphic body horror is linked to the time Cat Stevens almost died from tuberculosis back in 1969. His recuperation led him to reconsider his spiritual side, and may well have spurred the fears voiced in this song.
And if I ever lose my legs
I won't moan, and I won't beg
Oh, if I ever lose my legs
Oh if, I won't have to walk no more
(Meanwhile, back on youtube, there's always some Debbie Downer ready to spoil the party...
"All I can think of is the videos I have watched from Palestinians. The boy with no arms, a missing leg (and a missing foot and ankle on the other side). Listening to this, the day after the opening of the trial in The Hague. That tragic genocide has ruined this song for me.")
And if I ever lose my mouth
All my teeth, north and south
Yes, if I ever lose my mouth
Oh if, I won't have to talk
It's great that Cat can remain so upbeat - defiant, even - while being pursued by this vicious phantom... but maybe that's because his motive isn't escape. Let's not forget, this Cat is armed and dangerous...
Oh yes. And here comes the Edgar Allen Poe twist... the Cat wants to get caught!
Did it take long to find me?
I asked the faithful light
Oh, did it take long to find me?
And are you gonna stay the night?
Hooohahahahahahahaaa. Imagine those lines delivered in Vincent Price tones and maybe you'll get where I'm coming from. It's worth noting that Cat amps up his own delivery here, adopting a much more in-your-face singing style than the alluringly amiable tone he uses for the rest of the song. For me, that's the bit that confirms all my theories. Suddenly the tables are turned and the hunter becomes the prey.
"This song is really weird, dad? What's it about?"
It's about monsters, son. Monsters that want to eat - your hands, your eyes, your legs, your mouth. And it's about how to catch them... and make them pay.
Feeling brow-beaten Day after day, I think it's over, but I just can't get away
You said, forget it, Well, don't jump the gun, You're laughing this time, Next time, you might be the one To tell... The Story of the Blues!
First they take your pride, Turn it all inside, And then you realise you've got nothing left to lose So you try to stop, Try to get back up And then you realise, you're telling The Story of the Blues.
At a California university in the 1950s, a rather bizarre experiment took place.
A man is sitting in a chair with lots of electrical wires coming out of it. Some of these wires are taped to his arms, his legs and his face with electrodes. One by one, a group of student volunteers are led into an adjacent room where they can see the wired-up man through a window. A scientist in a white coat tells them that they are taking part in an experiment, that it’s quite safe, and that it’s for the good of humanity. All they have to do is follow instructions.
On the desk in front of them is a box with a big red button on. The scientist checks his watch, consults his clipboard, and then says, “Push the button.”
The student pushes the button.
The man in the next room suddenly begins to scream and convulse, his body twisting and writhing, his face stretched in agony. This goes on for a few seconds before it stops and the man slumps back into his chair.
“Did I…?” says the volunteer, looking concerned. “Was that because I…?”
“Press the button again,” says the scientist.
“Wait, no, did I…?”
“Press the button again.”
“I don’t want to hurt him. You said it was safe. I don’t think—”
As recommended by Ben, I’ve started reading Dr. Faith G. Harper’s Unfuck Your Brain. At first, I found her tone a little uncomfortable for a science / self-help book, because she swears. A lot. Not just in the title of the book, but pretty much every other sentence. She also uses a lot of slang and hipster / yoof speak that seems out of place for a medical professional of her age (not that I know exactly how old she is, but she doesn’t look like a fresh-faced Millennial).
However, after a chapter or two, I found myself warming to her style, even appreciating it. She clearly knows her shit (to use her vernacular), and throws a lot of heavy brain-science at you, but does so in a way that’s very down to earth and actually quite endearing after a while. Your own mileage may vary, but I’m starting to learn that we can choose how we react to things, whether we like them or not. We don’t have to follow our initial instincts… which is a good thing, since my initial instinct appears to be hardwired to dislike most things automatically… and then just go along with that, without question. This may well have something to do with a concept Dr. Faith has just introduced me too: my storytelling brain…
It's not just English teachers, frustrated wannabe novelists and people who spend far too much time writing about obscure musical trivia on the internet who have storytelling brains… we all do. Here’s Paul J. Zak, director of the Centre for Neuroeconomics Studies at Claremont Graduate University in California.
…as social creatures who regularly affiliate with strangers, stories are an effective way to transmit important information and values from one individual or community to the next. Stories that are personal and emotionally compelling engage more of the brain, and thus are better remembered, than simply stating a set of facts.
Weirdly, this is something I’ve been teaching my students for a while now in my own clumsy way, without really understanding the science behind it. The writing question in GCSE English Language Paper 2 gives students an opinion such as “Homework is a waste of time” or “Prisons are too lenient” and then asks them to write an article, speech or letter in which they argue their opinion on this subject, for or against. I regularly advise students that the worst thing they can do is to start out by telling the reader their opinion and bombarding them with facts – much better to open with a story that illustrates their opinion in a persuasive manner.
We all love stories – and good stories make us care about characters and want to know what happens to them. Even unpleasant characters. Stories help us process our own experiences, emotions and relationships. Through stories we gain empathy which helps us connect and stay connected with other people (remember how the amygdala is interested in protecting our place in society as much as saving us from danger?). You meet your mate in the pub? What’s the first thing you say after the initial greetings and small talk are out of the way? “You’ll never guess what happened to me this week…”
Storytelling is also what our brains do when they’ve not got anything more important to deal with. That’s why our brains keep telling stories when we’re asleep – dreaming. That’s why our minds wander when we’re driving home and we start to construct stories about what we’ll have for tea, where we’re going this weekend, the conversation we might have with our significant other. We make plans, which are just stories, and try to head off conflict (which is an essential part of any story, but something we go out of our way to avoid in real life). And Dr. Zak even believes it’s why we slow down to look at car accidents – it’s not out of a ghoulish desire to see mangled bodies and twisted metal, it’s self-preservation. If we can construct a story about why it happened, we can then stop the same thing happening to ourselves. So don’t feel guilty the next time you drive by a multi-car pile-up: the scientists have given you a free pass to gawk.
Stories help us learn. This is something good teachers understand. Even barely average to occasionally piss poor teachers like myself pick it up eventually. Say I’ve got to explain the imperative voice to a class. I can give them the grammatical explanation like so…
“The imperative mood is a verb form used to make a demand, issue a warning, or give advice or instructions. The subject of sentences in the imperative mood is implied to be the second-person pronoun “you,” but the word usually isn't actually included (e.g., “close the door”).”
Or I can tell them the story at the top of this post, to illustrate the power of a command sentence that uses the imperative voice.
Is it a true story? Well, I’m sure I’ve read about similar experiments that were used to explain why so many Nazi soldiers followed the orders of the Third Reich in WWII… but whether it’s true or not really doesn’t matter. The fact is, that story is far more likely to help your brain remember the definition, purpose and power of the imperative voice than reading a dozen grammar textbooks back to back ever will.
Stories help us learn because they create recognisable patterns which relate to our own experiences. Or, to use science talk, they create and strengthen neural pathways. Here’s an explanation from The Great Minds Clinic…
A neural pathway is a series of connected neurons that send signals from one part of the brain to another.
We already have a series of neural pathways, and we are creating new ones all the time. An example of an early neural pathway is that if a baby smiles, he or she is rewarded by a smile in return and possibly a cuddle. The same baby may work out that if he or she touches something sharp, it may hurt. Both are valuable learning experiences.
Neural pathways tell our brain how to react to whatever is thrown at us on a daily basis. That includes things we’ve dealt with before and things we’ve only ever seen or heard about second hand (which is why we’re so interested in car crashes). It’s like the basic programming language you might have learned in school, starting with IF…
IF b > 10 THEN GOTO 20.
Or, to put it into language Dr. Faith G. Harper would be more likely to approve of…
IF hungry sabretooth tiger approaching THEN getthefuckoutofDodge!
All very useful in terms of keeping us alive, which you’ll recall is our brain’s number one function.
Except…
Except sometimes we create neural pathways that are significantly less useful, using stories that reinforce negative or self-destructive responses and ultimately lead us into a world of pain and misery.
Which is where I’ll pick up next time.
(A reminder, if you're new here... I'm writing these posts for myself, to help me understand my own mental health and hopefully manage it a little better than I have been doing over the past few years. They may be of interest to you too, but I'm not preaching. Or, as Todd Snider puts it, "I did not do this to change your mind about anything, I did this to ease my own mind about everything".)
This is Father Francis Browne, Irish priest and photographer, famous for his photos of the Titanic on its maiden voyage... though lucky for him, he only sailed from Southampton to Queenstown in Ireland, before getting off to go develop his film.
Father Browne is going to lead us in the Lord's Prayer this Sunday morning. Please bow your heads...
Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the excellent Fallover 24, with their superb tune, Pessimistic Man. What finer tune could there be to issue in another bumper edition of our countdown?
Bumper being the operative word, let's crack on with your suggestions and see if anyone guessed my "obvious" 24...
First out of the gates this week was Charity Chic, certain that he'd backed the odds on favourite...
I'll save everyone the bother this week as there can only be one winner.
It may please you all to know that they were the first three on my list. Which isn't in any order other the order I think of them or find them on my hard drive.
Jim in Dubai also reminded us of the Yachts' cover of 24 Hours From Tulsa, which featured on this blog just a few weeks back.
Martin then returned to point out that there are "shed load of different songs called "24 Hours", so take your pick from (amongst others)..."
Jim also suggested the band at the top of the page, and Twenty 4 Seven - I Can't Stand It which brings back the true horror of the charts in my teenage years. Thanks for that, Jim. I haven't slept for a week.
Now, last week, those of you who were paying attention will have notice a new rule which was imposed upon this quiz as we get nearer #1. A new rule which will henceforth be known as "The Lime Green Rule"...
Oh, one final thing. Unless they're amazing suggestions, I'm going to stop allowing lyrical 24s (and so on) as we get nearer number one. Let's face it, there are way too many. So you'll have to be really persuasive if you want to sell me on a lyrical reference from now on. Sorry.
First to fall foul of this rule was Lynchie (who did later realise his mistake) when he suggested...
'Cause for twenty-four years I've been living next door to Alice
The thing is, I really like this song. However, it has been forever tarnished in my mind by the band re-recording it with Roy Chubby Brown as (Who The Fuck Is) Alice? Which is right up there in my mind with Lindisfarne's Fog On The Tyne featuring Gazza. I'm not linking to either of those debacles though, no matter how much it upsets George, who appears to be a fan.
George did redeem himself with his next idea though...
Someone else who ignored the Lime Green rule was Rigid Digit, but fortunately both his real suggestions have featured previously back in week #36, so go find them there. In desperation he adds...
...or, how anything by Status Quo - lifted from 12 Gold Bars Vol I and Vol II
(2 lots of 12 are 24 - is that the sound of a barrel being scraped?)
Definitely. However, just to keep you and Jez happy...
Next up was Douglas, limiting his own suggestions this week...
Firstly, Lana Del Rey's song "24" is actually quite lovely in her fragile sad kind of way. I know there is a lot of feeling that she went off the rails after the stellar Born to Die album, with her quest for fame and newfound penchant for explicit lyrics, but this one is back to form, I think. Sounds a bit like she's auditioning for a Bond film end-credits theme.
That one wasn't. But at least it's from the Syd era.
And I know it breaks your No lyrics" rule but sure the "Twenty-twenty-twenty four hours to go...I wanna be sedated" lyric is so iconic and so close to being in the title that an exception could be made...?
That was also on the list. But not the winner, as Douglas himself guessed.
I feel these are getting less and less "obvious", though some are decent enough songs. But what is left? I think we are all going on strike if it turns out to be the awful Bruno Mars song I came across in my digging that I won't even mention by name...
I had no idea of the track Douglas was referring to, so I had to go investigate.
All of which leads us back to Nigel Blackwell, who's having a bit of trouble down at the 24 Hour Garage. (Presumably this was soon after visiting Argos to record this: Half Man Half Biscuit - £24.99 from Argos.)
Take it away, Nige... start doing what you can to wind up that guy behind the counter!
I’ll have ten Kit Kats and a motoring atlas
Ten Kit Kats and a motoring atlas
And a blues CD on the Hallmark label
– that’s sure to be good
Far fewer 23s to choose from, but the Lime Green Rule still applies. Let's see what you can come up with...
War, war is stupid and people are stupid... but not you guys, because you solve Saturday Snapshots every week! (Well, as I type this there are two still oustanding... but I'm hoping someone will solve them overnight). I may be a man without conviction, but I appreciate you playing along every weekend... and I think we can all agree that C is this week's undisputed Karma Chameleon. Well done, C!
10. Tomorrows' last page.
The placement of the possessive apostrophe is important as it indicates more than one Sunday.
Mrs. Reagan's son would be Nancy's Boy... which always reminds me of an old Spitting Image sketch about Larry Speakes, of which the title of this song is the punchline. But I can't find it on youtube, sadly.
There was an excellent response to my requests for songs called Goodbye as a tribute to the late WYCRA blog. To remind you, the rules were simple... all you had to do was come up with songs called Goodbye.
Oh, by the way, I've abritrarily changed the scoring system...
1 point for every one of my songs you identify.
2 points for being the first to identify a song.
3 points if you can guess a song's position in my Top Ten.
1 bonus point if you suggest a song that's better than one in my Top Ten.
Clear? (As mud.)
Let's start with the elephant in the room, shall we? Goodbye-ee by Peter Cook & Dudley Moore. Being a little bit younger than many of you (sorry), I wasn't familiar with this at all. In fact, when it was suggested - by The Swede, Martin and C - I actually thought the Goodbye-ee in question must be this one. Anyway, I apologise for not having been born when Pete & Dud were on TV. You can all have a point for your advancing years.
Quite a few of you also thought Mary Hopkin might make the grade. I didn't have that in my collection but vaguely remembered it when I gave it a listen. A jaunty enough 60's tune... with the aloft thumbprint of Macca all over it. Can't say I preferred it to any of my Ten though. A bit too jaunty. I will give The Swede a point for suggesting Macca's demo version because - somewhat surprisingly - I found that quite nice.
Next... The Spice Girls? How many of you suggested the bleeding Spice Girls? Really? What is this, Smash Hits? I'm sorry, I know my record collection has some very bizarre corners, but there is no Spice Girls. Even I draw the line somewhere.
The Swede also wondered if Shed Seven would be there. They came close, but it wasn't one of their most memorable efforts in my humble opinion. (Still better than anything Oasis ever did.) I'll give The Swede an extra point for The Universe though, which I was rather taken with. Couldn't find a properly recorded version of Jon Rae & The River, so I'm on the fence about that. As for Kevin Shields' instrumental Goodbye from Lost In Translation... nice and atmospheric, but instrumentals have to work very hard to get on one of my charts.
C trawled the interweb to come up with Miley Cyrus (now if it was Billy Ray, you might have been in with a chance, C: Billy Ray was a guest voice on Blaze & The Monster Machines the other day... so good to see him still getting work), Avril Lavigne (who's obviously working for Anne Summers now if the video is anything to go by), Alicia Keys and MØ. Obviously you think I'm a 16 year old girl, C, rather than a 45 year old boy. Still, you can have a point for each of those purely because they were all better than The Spice Girls. Alyson can have a point for Avril Lavigne too because I don't want anyone to go away pointless.
Other decent-ish suggestions came thick and fast... but no points for The Pretenders (from the soundtrack of G.I. Jane!) or Northern Uproar (a Northern Uproar b-side: you don't hear those every day). Sadly, I couldn't find Walter's Tracy Chapman offering anywhere on youtube, but I'm sure it's lovely. You can have a point for suggesting something I couldn't find, Walter.
Thanks all for taking part... though you only managed to guess half my Top Ten in the end...
Nobody suggested this. You must all just be Pretty In Pinkers. Even if you're only familiar with that track and nothing else by the Furs though, this is unmistakably them.
I'm going to give Martin a point for Frank Sinatra, even though he went for this Goodbye, a completely different song, and one that's definitely better recorded. I prefer the lyrics of this one though, with Frank enjoying a coffee and a slice of cheesecake while gets the elbow.
Well done to Martin again, who wins 2 points for Elton (I'm sure he'll be so proud). Madman Across The Water is my favourite album by Reg.
A late entry from George gets him a point for this too.
I will also give Martin a point for having the gall to suggest Def Leppard. I wasn't familiar with that one. It's hardly in the same league as Let's Get Rocked.
And I'll give him two points for Air Supply, because he'll never live that down.
Well done to Charity Chic for guessing this one. 2 points. An extra point for suggesting Mary Gauthier - I didn't know that one from Mary, but it's rather lovely.
2 points to Chris for being the first to suggest this. Three points each to The Swede and Martin who both predicted it would be Number 2. Bloody good going, even though you were wrong about my Number One.
You may recall that the WYCRA guys would, on occasion, allow the inclusion of a song which repeated their requested word. In their honour - and because it's Billy Bragg - I had to follow their guidance.
Following the same rules, I may have found room for The Swede's suggestion of Gudbuy Gudbuy, but Noddy Holder's spelling always keeps him behind after my class.
Brian can have a point for suggesting Oingo Boingo's Goodbye Goodbye though... because it's Oingo Boingo. Brian had some other great suggestions too, but soon realised he wasn't following the rules so said Goodbye.
Points? Maths never was my strong point, but I think...
Brian - 1 point
Walter - 1 point
Alyson - 1 point George - 1 point
Chris - 2 points
Charity Chic - 3 points
C - 5 points
The Swede - 8 points
Martin - 11 points
Congratulations to Martin then, who wins my undying admiration. I really enjoyed doing this, and thank you all for taking part. It did bring home to me just how much time such a feature takes to put together though: more credit then to WYCRA and Jez who have both done such things on a regular basis. If I ever did anything like it again... and I am rather tempted, because everyone seems to enjoy playing along at home... I'd have to make it a monthly feature. Weekly would kill me.
As Martin pointed out, my Top Ten Hot Summer Songs was quite an all-encompassing topic for me, hence why I was barely able to scrape the surface of all the great summer songs in my collection. Here then, in an effort to narrow the field, are ten great songs with "Summertime" in the title...
I've told you before, if you're going to name your band "Girls", don't expect anybody to find you on google... even if you do get Jim Jarmusch to direct your video. (In Iceland. Hardly the most summery of locations, Jim.)
As I already gave Eddie Cochran pride of place in my Top Ten Hot Summer Songs, here's a somewhat rowdier version from the other side of the pond: Live at Leeds, to be precise.
And it's you I need in the summertime
As I turn my white skin red
Two peas from the same pod, yes, we are
Or have I read too much fiction?
Is this how it happens?
1. Fun Boy Three - Summertime
According
to Iffypedia, there are over 25,000 recorded versions of this song,
originally written by Gershwin for the musical Porgy & Bess. I can't
claim to have listened to them all, but I do own fine versions by Sarah
Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, Sam Cooke, Janis Joplin, Paul Robeson and Nick Drake (among others).
Fish are jumpin' And the cotton is high Your daddy's rich And your momma's good-looking...
Why choose this early 80s reggae-lite version from Terry Hall and chums out of all those? I think it was Terry's hairdo... and the hay bales, hammock and hi-jinks of the video.
Those were my favourite summertime songs. I know there is one glaring omission, but I'm saving it for another list. (And I'm waiting for the Sabrina fans to come out of the woodwork...)
Before Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley became Kiss, they were Wicked Lester. They recorded one album in 1971 that wasn't ever officially released. This track was later re-recorded by Kiss themselves with more guitars and less flute, but I quite like the folkier original.
Remember your old school discos? Harriet Wheeler does...
Just to be one of a crowd
Feet scuttling across the floor
Spinning lights round and round
And it’s adolescent war
Shoes grind kick like crazy
And arms tangling up with hair
Shaking them up and down again
And hearts pounding everywhere
Ah, Harriet. Isn't it about time for a Sundays reunion?
Normally if there's more than one version of a song, I can choose the best. But Mickey Dolenz vs. Terry Hall? That's too tough to call. Although the Phil Spector kettle drum and the ironic video almost tip it in Terry's favour.
1. Elvis Costello - She
On the other hand, with all due respect to Charles Aznovoice (and even though it comes from a sucky Richard Curtis film), nobody sings this one quite like Elvis.
The Scottish singer-songwriter whose first name I stole for one of my characters in Department of the Peculiar. (Not bought your copy yet? Get it here.)
And when a genocidal maniac talks about grief
And you kinda get the feeling that there’s nothing underneath
But you can’t believe a man would lie through such nice teeth
There's only one way
14 minutes long... and not a second wasted.A masterclass in songwriting... all about writing songs.
Strum your guitar -- sing it kid Just write about your feelings -- not the things you never did Inexperience -- it once had cursed me But your youth is no handicap -- it's what makes you thirsty
OK, that rule I have about not including band names in my Top Tens? Breakable if the song's as good as this one. Space travel's in my blood...
2.Huey Lewis & The News - The Only One
A belter from Huey's second album, Picture This. The story of a high school hero whose later life leads to tragedy. You know, the sort of kid you think: he's got it made... and then, years later, you find out how much he blew it. I'd forgotten how much I loved this song when I was a teenager. Perhaps I was maliciously wishing a similar fate on some of the "popular" kids I knew in high school...
1. The Charlatans - The Only One I Know
The Charlies' biggest hit has a fantastic funky intro, and a Hammond organ that could only have come from the early 90s.
I chose ten... but you can have only one. Obviously.
