I figured there wouldn't be a shortage of songs that mentioned the world-famous, Bradford-born artist... and I wasn't wrong. There's even a song that beat Sting to the punch...
The recent peloton of bike posts over at Charity Chic blog forced me to dig out one of my few favourite Pink Floyd songs, although I think it's fair to say that it's more of a Syd Barrett solo...
I have to confess I'm not the biggest expert on Syd - I'm sure some of you know far more about him than I do - but I often think it's a shame he was (to quote iffypedia) "ousted" from the Floyd, as to me they became a far less interesting combo without him.
And
it feels like 1974 Syd
Barrett's last session, he can't sing anymore He's
gonna have to be Roger now for the rest of his life
...but he's remembered fondly by many and proved to be a huge influence of many of the next generation of stars, including Bowie, Bolan, Weller, Cope... and Freezer.
He's also to be found in illustrious company here, as Scroobius Pip lays down his Ten Commandments...
Thou
shalt not worship pop idols or follow lost prophets Thou
shalt not take the names of Johnny Cash, Joe Strummer, Johnny Hartman, Desmond
Dekker, Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix or Syd Barrett in vain
Leslie Feist obviously has a little Syd obsession going on too, as she reveals here in this excerpt from her notebooks...
Why
did I write down everything that entered my mind? Check
out these lines, like - "I'm
Syd Barrett and I'll swim to England in his clothes, in 20 holes" How
could I say at what point I would gain perspective, let alone know I had it?
Texan indie dude Matthew Logan Vasquez is a new name to me. He's apparently in three bands: Delta Spirit, Middle Brother and Glorietta. And on his day off, he does stuff like this...
My
little sister got my record collection They
tried to tell her it's a bad direction But
somehow I'm alive today With
Syd Barrett fuckin' up my brain
Back in 2011, John Wesley Harding stopped releasing material under the name he'd stolen from Bob Dylan (who in turn stole it, with a misspelling, from Wild West outlaw John Wesley Hardin). Instead, he went back to using his real name, Wesley Stace. Here he is, in nostalgic mood...
In
Hastings, when I was younger Thе
sea could take you under I
never much swam in there But
I skimmed some stones and I breathed the air The
Who, The Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd Syd
Barrett's final show Didn't
take that long to get To
want to know the ghosts Of
Hastings Pier
As is so often the case with this feature, one tune immediately sprang to mind when it came to Syd Barrett: Roddy Woomble's biggest hit. I loved this song from the first moment I heard it, though I've never had a clue what it was all about. Apparently the title comes from some nonsense Roddy shouted at his girlfriend during an impassioned argument, and the whole thing was Idlewild's attempt to write a Pavement song. So the fact that it doesn't make any sense actually makes perfect sense.
You smoke too much when You talk too much, and When I argue, Syd Barrett makes me laugh I laugh at your conversational skills Or lack of
If you've Rushdie'd here this morning for the answers to yesterdays quiz, I hope it wasn't because you felt like a Salman swimming upstream, trying to work out the connection.
Here are ten songs named after famous novels, straight from your favourite English teacher. You might even call them "iconic", except you'd probably upset C.
Prepare yourself for some Satantic Verses... and Heavenly choruses, of course.
10. Shot in Sarajevo.
Archduke Franz Ferdinand was shot in Sarajevo, sparking World War I.
Film critic Pauline Kael said of Cary Grant that "men wanted to be him
and women dreamed of dating him". The actor’s typically self-deprecating response
to this was, "Everyone wants to be Cary Grant—even I want to be Cary
Grant". It seems Cary Grant was a screen persona that Archibald Leach
became increasingly comfortable playing in real life as the years went by... with
a sly wink and an arched eyebrow.
Lyrical references to Mr. Grant broadly fall into four
categories then.
My baby’s kind of fond of Cary Grant
I tried to act like him, but I just can’t
And I don’t need my name on some marquee
But that’s the kind of man I wanna be
All day, all night, Cary Grant
That’s all I hear from my wife, is Cary Grant
What can he do that I can’t?
Big deal, big star, Cary Grant
Allan Sherman seems to have come back from Camp Granada rather
obsessed with Cary Grant. He mentions him in three or four other songs too. Go
find them yourselves though, I’ve done enough for you this week.
Elle se serre tout contre moi
Je me crois au cinema
Je me prends pour Cary Grant
Et puis on eteint la lampe
Which roughly translates as…
She hugs me tight
I believe myself in the cinema
I take myself for Cary Grant
And then we turn off the lamp
Finally in this category, we have Ray Davies, so enamoured
of Cary that he’s going to use him to create an artificial man.
Tell it to the people all across the land
We’re going to build an artificial man
With the physique of a Tarzan
And the profile of Cary Grant
Superior beings being totally made by hand
Throw out imperfection
Mould you section by section
Gonna make you the ultimate creation
When we go walking along the river
Watch the old men fishing the sunny side of the pier
It’s like a movie and you’re my leading man
The way you woo me, just like Cary Grant
Your talk you learned from great actors
The classics, the best
Your fancy yourself Humphrey Bogart or Cary Grant
Can I hear you? Yes, I can
But you’re not making any sense
I fell in love with the girl on the screen
Just me and Kate
For two hours tonight
We’ll orbit the earth like a satellite
I’m Cary Grant
She’s Sophia Loren
A dozen roses on the table
Wither in a week or two at most
From Cary Grant to Clark Gable
Every rose gives up the ghost
And here’s another lockdown song, from a singer who should
not be confused with the Free and Bad Company bloke, because he had a ‘d’ in
his name. Anyway, this Paul learned a lot during the pandemic...
Did you know that Cary Grant never won an Oscar?
And Paul McCartney wrote “The Fool On The Hill” alone?
I seen people playing poker, making million dollar bets
I’ve seen rednecks raising tigers just for pets
It’s a fact that Cary Grant never won an Oscar for any one
film, only receiving an honorary award after he’d retired from acting in the
late 60s. Which, frankly, is a scandal. As to The Fool On The Hill, I'll let Alyson tell you more about that.
Today a new sun rises
Look in the mirror, there’s no surprises
Things ain’t what they used to be
Cary Grant’s on LSD
Doctors began treating Cary Grant with LSD in the late 50s
in an effort to “make him feel better about himself and rid of all of his inner
turmoil stemming from his childhood and his failed relationships”. And you
think you’ve got it bad. In later years, he world remark, “taking LSD was an
utterly foolish thing to do, but I was a self-opinionated boor, hiding all
kinds of layers and defences, hypocrisy and vanity.” In my head, I can hear him
saying that.
Punk from the other side of the pond now, though they sound like The Pogues...
“A penny for your thoughts,” he says
As he swiftly slips from bed to bed
And the thoughtful ones are charmed by him
And the sexy ones turned on by him
And he’s knighted by Casanova’s kin
And his ladies would never turn on him
‘Cause he’s the Cary Grant of the party kings
And the playboy of your wildest dreams
Followed that with a great band name – Highly Suspect. This
song has an opening line deserving of the Misanthropes’ Hall of Fame, but it
settles down after that…
There's a Cary Grant obituary looking just like me
An eight track tape that taught me we all got to be free
Birthdays cards and get well cards and playing cards, no joker
Books on Greek Philosophy and how to win at Poker
An urn that holds the ashes of my guinea pig, Alfredo
A classic meatball sandwich topped with sweet heirloom tomato
And a penultimate word from our favourite Star Wars fanboy “Geek Rock”
band Nerf Herder…
Celebrities, they come and go
One day you’re Cary Grant
And the next you’re Scott Baio
Note so self: got to do a Scott Baio entry here very soon.
However, I think my favourite tune today comes from a band
I’d rather forgotten about. Luna were the brainchild of former Galaxie 500
frontman Dean Wareham. Rolling Stone called them “the best band you’ve never
heard of”…
And at the weekly meeting of anonymous cads
You shuffle your feet and whistle out loud
Listen to what they’re saying – what a load of crap!
You ain’t no Cary Grant
But then again, who is?
All yesterday's songs were about famous artists. Let me paint you a picture of the answers...
Special mention must go to the amazing Jonathan Richman who has written more songs about famous artists than anyone else. But he's featured here recently, and I'm running out of clues that link back to him...
Thank you to C for suggesting this week's band... 14 Iced Bears. She says...
I couldn't tell you any of their songs any more unfortunately, although have vivid memories of ordering in their singles for some devoted indie fans at the time of their release and (in my head at least) being very disparaging about their chosen name. Now I think it's rather lovely!
I would like to back up C and proclaim that the 14 Iced Bears were awesome. Unfortunately, their sleeves were nothing to write home about. Perhaps the cover for The Importance Of Being Frank EP would suffice for art.
I'm not sure what that is above, Brian, but it was the one with the clearest 14 I could find.
Another relatively quiet week on the countdown, compared to the excesses of 16 and 17, although we're all just girding our loins in preparation for the Top Ten.
Here's what you had for me this wee, starting with Martin, who's still smarting from forgetting two Gene tracks last week...
Hats off to you Rol for putting this together as my brain is incapable of concentrating on anything at the moment. Yes, my choices above not really my thing, but fitted the brief. From the same source I have just found something called:
Interesting, as dance remakes of Welcome To The Pleasuredome go. The lyrics you quote don't appear to come from that track though, Alyson. They come from Love Song To The Earth by Sean Paul, featuring Natasha Bedingfield & Paul "anything to stay cred" McCartney. As C remarks, it's apt to the current world situation... but doesn't have any 14s in it, I'm afraid.
Time for Jim in Dubai, who also found it tough this week...
Those last two are definitely worth a click. I'll let you get back to your virtual queue now, RD... because I bet you're still stuck in it, 7 days after you left that xomment.
Lynchie appeared equally stuck for inspiration this week...
I couldn't think of any songs with 14 in the title but then I discovered...
...on which is voice sounds nothing like it did on "Tiptoe Through The Tulips". It's a pretty deep voice which led me to believe it might be an imposter. The lyrics kick off with:
Fourteen!
Fourteen girls in baggy pyjamas
What if I'd gone to the south Bahamas
...and just get weirder.
I'm only guessing here, but I don't think that's the same Tiny Tim. But thank you anyway.
Thankfully, the Swede is here to restore us to sanity...
...from The Impossible Bird. I think this is his best album, and that's saying something.
I seem to remember there was some discussion about this over at your place recently, Brian. I'd still always plump for Jesus of Cool, but those later albums are pretty special.
OK, time to scrape the dregs from my own hard-drive...
All of which brings us to this week's winner... and to be honest with you, I pretty much thought that Rigid Digit had walked away with it. I was all set to crown this the champion...
...until a final scour through the library shook out this little gem. Frankly, I'm ashamed to say I'd forgotten it... and a number of my regulars will probably share that same shame.
Take it away, Billy...
Unlucky for all of us, next week is 13. Not that we need any more bad luck at the moment. Suggestions, please...
Followed soon after by Lynchie, who went all weird on us...
Primer mi carucha (Chevy '39) Going to El Monte Legion Stadium Pick up on my weesa (she is so divine) Helps me stealing hub caps Wasted all the time
The
above are the opening lyrics to "Dog Breath, in the Year of the Plague"
by The Mothers Of Invention. The vocals are stupendous, especially
Nelcy Walker's soprano voice backed by Ray Collins & Roy Estrada.
This track led me to purchase "Cruising with Ruben & the Jets" - an
earlier Mothers' album which has some of the best doo-wop songs ever
recorded.
Lynchie's second suggestion was a bit more down-to-earth... and surely a shoe-in for this week's winner as it comes from one of my favourite albums...
A friend of mine became a father last night When we spoke in his voice I could hear the light Of the skies and the rivers the timberwolf in the pines And that great jukebox out on Route 39
Then again, much as I love The Boss, it's only two weeks since he last claimed the top spot in this countdown. Would I really give it to him again?
Our Canadian correspondent, Douglas McLaren, was pretty sure I would...
Darn. Got beaten to the Boss, which I am guessing is the "shoe-in". Oh
well. Though Valentine's Day is (in my opinion) the better song,
Springsteen's "Stand On It" is a rollickin' great-balls-of-fire b-side
belter that also refers to Route 39.
Nope. Not this week, Douglas. What else have you got for me?
A few other offerings as outside chances. For starters, there is last
week's poster boys, UB40, with "Hold Your Position, Mk3". Not the
biggest UB40 fan, but that one sits in the record collection. Lyrics
mention "39 Acker Tree, Frontline"...not sure if that is an address or
what?
Hardly a desirable residence, by the sounds of it.
I feel I should mention Canada's Own Gordon Lightfoot again
this week, as his offering for "40" went down fighting. The song "Drink
Yer Glasses Empty". A typically Lightfoot song, semi-autobiographical I
suppose given that he was in fact born in 1938, but timeless
considering the world today:
Better drink yer glasses empty now It's time to rise and shine There's one less cause in the world To be leaving for It was back in 39 When I was one year old Sitting by the backyard fence And the world had turned so cold...
Another
one that actually sits in the collection since I picked up a vinyl copy
at a charity shop, but I am not actually all that fond of myself
(outside chance perhaps?) is World Party, "The Ballad of The Little
Man". The Latin Teacher in me appreciates the Classical allusion in the
lyrics, though:
He's an animal but he thinks he's God Gets him mixed up with him And we're all at the mercy Of this little man within He was doing fine in 39 Thank God he did not win He kept playing on his fiddle As he watched old Rome cave in...
Well, we crossed the state line about 6: 39 And we saw the sign that said, "Twine Ball exit, fifty miles" Oh, the kids were so happy they started singing "99 Bottles Of Beer On The Wall" for the twenty-seventh time that day...
It
reminds me of my summer vacations as a kid. Every last one of them.
And at least by mentioning in now it pre-empts its obvious chances of
being a take-all winner in 12 weeks time when number 27 comes up.
Yeah, that's the winne... oh, no, sorry, it isn't. Nice try though.
Who else do we have? Ah, George...
Of course Spanish Bombs will not be featuring.........
Well, it will be featuring, George. It just won't be winning. Nothing against Mr. Strummer and co. I'm just not cool enough to worship them in quite the same way many other venerable bloggers do.
Spanish songs in Andalucia The shooting sites in the days of '39 Oh, please, leave the vendanna open Fredrico Lorca is dead and gone Bullet holes in the cemetery walls The black cars of the Guardia Civil Spanish bombs on the Costa Rica I'm flying in a DC 10 tonight
Next up was Rigid Digit, with three fine suggestions...
A beautiful ballad where Kelly shows that love songs don’t just have to be about the young ones…
That is pretty special. Thanks, Deano.
And you all for playing, as ever. Before we get onto this week's winner (as immidiately identified by Martin, and seconded by Deano), here's a few more offerings from my hard-drive...
Sippin' Shirley Thompson doesn't care She's 39 and feelin' fine and not much up to goin' anywhere Her husband is a bible salesman and at 39 his hair fell out She said there's not a hair between him and the heaven that he talks about
All good songs, but the songs from our teenage years often leave the biggest impression, don't they? And that's certainly the case with this tune from Queen's A Night At The Opera album, a favourite of mine was I was 15 (even though it was released 12 years earlier). I never had much of an idea what the song was about, I just thought it was a pretty tune and Brian does a good job on vocals. Iffypedia reveals the lyrics go back to Brian's days as an astrophysicist...
The song tells the tale of a group of space explorers who embark on what
is, from their perspective, a year-long voyage. Upon their return,
however, they realise that a hundred years have passed, because of the time dilation effect in Einstein's special theory of relativity, and the loved ones they left behind are now all dead or aged.
These Renaissance girls know what they're saying There are whispers at night in the halls of paintings You think you're the first one to come untethered But we've been watching you forever
A former student used to tell me (every lesson) that I looked like the lead singer of P!ATD, to the point that he started calling me Brendon. I don't see it myself, but I've been called far worse things.
How many lovers does it take To put a light bulb into a socket? Why did Mona Lisa smile? I have the answer written down in my pocket.
But it's not as creepy as that might sound...
I know why Mona Lisa smiled Da Vinci must have been a really funny guy And laughter is the only way into my heart
1. Elton John - Mona Lisas & Mad Hatters
For all his latter-day sins, early Elton takes some beating...
I could probably have stretched to another ten. The Manics would have got in here had they not thrown acid all over the painting. Which one leaves an enigmatic smile on your face?
