Category: My Sunday Song

My Sunday Song – “I Started a Joke” by the Bee Gees

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For My Sunday Song #67, I am going with a song that randomly pops in my head more often than not, “I Started a Joke”.  The song is by the Bee Gees and I don’t honestly know why I find myself singing it at the most odd times.  I guess it means I really like this song and I actually do.  I was not a Bee Gees fan at all because when I grew up and got in to music, Disco was the Devil.  I actually love the Bee Gees now, but their real early stuff from the late 60’s and early 70’s is the best.

“I Started a Joke” was released back in 1968 and was on their album ‘Idea’.  The song was written by all three brothers and was sung by Robin Gibb.  The song has such a relaxing, somewhat hypnotic sound that is beautiful and psychedelic.  It has a sadness to it and the lyrics do as well (“I started a joke, which started the whole world crying”).  The song has stuck with me and is constantly playing in my head.  For years, I will just start singing this song and looking back it might be at times I was sad but I truly don’t know why it stays with me.

Robin has never explained what the song is about as he felt the song interpretation is up to the listener as any real explanation would detract from what the listener feels it is about.  Robin’s vocals on this song are stunning.  His squeaky, high pitched voice and the melody just makes me feel the song is about loneliness.  I think with the loss of my parents over the last couple years, there is a little part of me that feels a little lonely since they aren’t with me anymore.

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My Sunday Song – “Feel It Still” by Portugal. The Man

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My Sunday Song #66 is the first current release I have done in some time.  It is the song “Feel the Still” by the band Portugal. The Man.  The song is the second single off the band’s 2017 album “Woodstock” and their first #1 on any chart.  What surprised me about the band when I looked them up was that this is their 8th studio album.  8th??  I had never heard of these guys…how did that happen??

I first heard this song on an Apple commercial and then later I started hearing it on the radio.  It was so damn catchy and had a 60’s kind of vibe to it with the fun beat and John Gourley’s very high pitched vocals.  As it turns out, the song has borrowed heavily from the song “Please, Mr. Postman” by The Marvelettes which was released way back before my time in 1961 (not really that far before my time but definitely before).

Lyrically the song seems all over the place.  It jumps from references to the civil rights movement in 1966 up to their introduction to the Beastie Boys, Licensed to Ill in 1986 and all the way to today and what is happening with the current administration.  I saw where the song was inspired by his daughter growing up while they were making this album.  To me he seems to be worried about the world she is going to inherit and that we need to fight for our rights like people have done in the past.  Now is the time.  Maybe I am reading too much into this short song at only 2:43.

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My Sunday Song – “Lunatic Fringe” by Red Rider

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For My Sunday Song #65, I chose “Lunatic Fringe” by Canadian rock band Red Rider.  The song is off their 1981 album ‘As Far as Siam” and is probably the band’s most famous song.  The song charted as high as #11 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart, but never cracked the Top 40 of the Bill board Hot 100.  Actually, they never had a song chart in the Top 40 so I guess you could categorize them as a No-Hit Wonder, at least here in the States.

But for me the song was a hit.  MTV surely played it a lot as that was the only place I ever heard it at the time.  The creepiness of the song was what drove me to liking it.  I like dark and creepy songs for some reason.  The song really starts out with a creepy keyboard sound, almost evil feel to it.  From the keyboard sounds, you then get a quick couple guitar notes that add a punch to it. And from there, the song kicks into full band mode and Tom Cochrane’s vocals.  The song ends with city street sounds including sirens and then ends with the guitar riff from the beginning.  The song worked form beginning to end.

According to Mike Bell of the Canadian Online Explorer, “Lunatic Fringe” was inspired by “what Cochrane saw as an alarming rise of anti-Semitism in the ’70s, and was also partially inspired by a book he read on Raoul Wallenberg, who helped thousands of Jews escape Nazi Germany”.  And per Wikipedia, “lunatic fringe” is a “term used to characterize members of a political or social movement as extremists with eccentric or fanatical views. The term was popularized by Theodore Roosevelt, who wrote in 1913 that, “Every reform movement has a lunatic fringe.”” which is why he named the song as he did.

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My Sunday Song – “Shatter Me” by Lindsey Stirling (feat. Lzzy Hale)

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For My Sunday Song #64, I chose a classical pop track called “Shatter Me” by Lindsey Stirling.  If you don’t know Lindsey, shame on you, she is an American violinist who performs what is called classical crossover.  It is classical music with a Pop twist to it is how would describe it.  The song “Shatter Me” was off her second album of the same name. It was actually Lindsey’s first attempt at writing lyrics and normally the songs are instrumentals only.  I have loved this song since I first heard it and was reminded of it when I saw Lindsey on Dancing With the Stars…and she is pretty good.

The song features the powerhouse vocals of Halestorm’s lead singer Lzzy Hale.  The combination of Lindsey’s musical stylings and Lzzy’s rock vocals delivers one of the best songs of 2014.  The song would go on to reach #39 on the Billboard Adult Pop songs and was her first charting song.

The song has a positive message about breaking free or shattering the image of what you think people want you to be to being what you want to be.  It is about being strong and having the courage to push the limits of who you can be and what you can do.  The rock edge to the song and that violin together prove to be a powerful force in delivering this strong message.

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My Sunday Song – “Seven Nation Army” by The White Stripes

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My Sunday Song #63 is from The White Stripes.  The song is “Seven Nation Army” and is one of their most popular songs.  It is off their fourth album, ‘Elephant’, and went on to hit #1 on the Modern Rock Tracks back in 2003.

What I love about The White Stripes is the quirkiness of the songs and the band itself.  The band only consists of two people, Jack and Meg White.  They were husband and wife at one time, but have since divorced.  The band is no more, but thankfully, their music lives one.

The song that resonated most with me from them was “Seven Nation Army”.  The song was a standout because of that bass line riff that starts off the song and plays throughout.  Imagine my surprise to learn that was not a bass.  The band doesn’t ever use a bass in their music.  They only use a drum and guitar.  According to Wikipedia, to get that effect, Jack White’s semi-acoustic, 1950s-style Kay Hollow body guitar was run through a DigiTech Whammy pedal which was set down an octave.  It is a really cool sound.

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My Sunday Song – “In the Air Tonight” by Phil Collins

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My Sunday Song #62 is the song “In The Air Tonight” by Phil Collins.  The song is off the album, Face Value, and was released as a single on January 8th, 1981.  The song is one of Phil’s most recognizable and most popular songs and it reached #2 in the UK and #19 in the US on Billboards Hot 100.

What makes it so recognizable is the drum work throughout.  The slow build up to that drum beat that comes screaming in and there throughout the rest of the song.  Who hasn’t been in their car and when that part comes up, you air drum and everyone around you looks at you like you are a nut…and also wondering why you aren’t holding on to your steering wheel.

The song’s popularity even increased when it was used in the pilot episode of Miami Vice in 1984.  That helped it remain a part of pop culture forever.  The creepiness of the song and the dark overtones worked nicely in the episode and showed how well music and TV could work together.

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My Sunday Song – “Enter Sandman” by Metallica

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My Sunday Song #61 is Metallica’s “Enter Sandman”.  I needed to crank things up a bit and this is great song to turn up to 10 and blast out some windows and shake some walls.  A good song to test out my new speakers on.  The song is off the 1991 album, Metallica (or The Black Album) and was the song that made Metallica mainstream and helped turn them into megastars.  The song was released two weeks before the album and helped the album debut at #1 and go on to sell well over 22 million copies.

If you are not familiar with this song, it just might be one of the most recognizable metal songs of all time and one of the scariest. The song is about children’s nightmares and what might be lying under your bed.  I think what helps give it that eerie feeling is the child’s prayer that is in the song:

Now I lay me down to sleep
I pray the Lord, my soul to keep
If I die before I wake
I pray the Lord my soul to take

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My Sunday Song – “Southern Cross” by Crosby, Stills & Nash

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For My Sunday Song #60, I am highlighting my favorite Crosby, Stills & Nash song “Southern Cross”.  The song was released in September 1982 and was featured on the album ‘Daylight Again”.  I remember seeing the video on MTV as it was in heavy rotation for awhile.  I just loved the laid back feel of the song and of course watching the boat sail across the water.  It seemed so relaxing. I really enjoy the phrasing of the lyrics and the song flow.  It is the song that actually made me a little fan of the group.

The song is about a man who decided to take a journey by sailing across the Pacific due to a failed relationship.  He determines all he needs is a boat and his music.  He hopes he will find that woman on his trek that will make him forget his past relationship and find a love that will endure (and you know it will).

In researching the song, I now know what the Southern Cross is.  I thought it was the boat as that is what the video would have you believe.  No.  The Southern Cross is a star constellation that is only seen in the Southern Hemisphere and some of the tropics.  Sailors in the Southern Hemisphere use it to navigate by.  The constellation is called Crux which means cross (thanks wikipedia).

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My Sunday Song – “Life’s Been Good” by Joe Walsh

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For My Sunday Song #59, I have to go with Joe Walsh’s classic song “Life’s Been Good”.  The song is off his 1978 album ‘But Seriously, Folks…” and was released as a single in May of that year.  The song has two versions, the album cut which is an epic 8:56 and the radio edit which is only 4:35.  The radio edit is great, but the full version is where all the magic happens.

“Life’s Been Good” is song that speaks to the excess of the rock gods of the 70’s.  Lyrically, it paints a beautiful picture of how everyone thinks the huge Rock Stars live and probably resonated because everyone wants to be that Rock Star.  The song hits all the high points, the mansion, the exotic sports car, the hit records, the fans and the money.  What’s not to like.

The song is a mid-tempo beat with almost a reggae feel to it.  It has a great guitar riff throughout and includes a bizarre little inside joke about 10 seconds after the song ends.  Walsh very humorously goes “uh-oh, here comes a flock of wah wahs” followed by a chorus of duck or geese noises.  I have no idea what the inside joke was, but it is quite funny regardless.  I wonder what they were smoking?????

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My Sunday Song – “Here Comes the Sun” by The Beatles

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For My Sunday Song #58 I am going to tackle my favorite Beatles song, “Here Comes the Sun”.  Notice I said my favorite and I did not say the best.  I don’t want anyone getting a hair up there tail because I said the best.  My intention is to not start an argument as I know there are many people passionate about their Beatles.

The song was recorded in 1969 and released on their album ‘Abbey Road’ the same year. The song only features three of the Beatles, George, Ringo & Paul as John was recovering from a car crash.

Lyrically, it is a very simple song but musically there is a lot going on.  Paul did the bass, of course and Ringo on drums while George did everything else, and I mean everything else.  He is credited with both the acoustic and electric guitars, the harmonium, and introducing the band to a Moog synthesizer (which might have looked like something below).
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