Thanks Debra and Anthony for all the music you share with us. And thanks for the history behind this song. I love Judith Durham's voice. A great loss when she passed.
I have loved this song and the Seekers since I was a child. I sang this particular song to my children as they grew. Thank you for the background on this song and group!
John, I enjoy watching live performances. Thanks for sharing. I usually (and I make exceptions from time to time) put only studio recordings on Sometimes a Song, for a number of reasons .. not least of which is that for some of our readers these songs are brand new. And I think you can appreciate live performances better if you have the original in mind. But "live" really lets you see the artists "at work."
Thank you for posting this! This song was one of my favorites as a teenager and I added it to my iPhone library a few years ago. I don't remember that many Seekers songs being played on my radio station when I was growing up--I think they were more popular in England and Australia. The other song I still listen to is "A World of Our Own."
Marilyn, they got a lot of play time in the US, but only for a few songs. In the UK and Australia they were huge, and for good reason. Some of this is likely due to the business end of record promotion. Still their success in the US was not small, though. It makes you scratch your head!
Yet another informative post! I didn't realize Dusty Springfield had an earlier hit recording with her brother prior to the "British Invasion" in 1964 - when she charted "I Only Want to Be with You" right on the heels of the Beatles' breakthough.
Yes, funny about the reference to a "gospel" song, and yet I actually do recall it being sung during Mass at my parish - c. late 60s/early 70s. (In the lyrics, the word "Lord" was simply substituted for "dear" as an attempt, one suspects, of consecrating the piece.) Referring back to those times, a noted New York priest aptly called it "the silly season." A great folk song, however, to be sure.
Steve, evidently Dusty Springfield was working the C&W angle in the 1950's, and she did it again later with a very famous C&W hit, "Son of a Preacher Man." There is always a background with these singers and musicians!
As for the "gospel" angle, oh dear oh dear! AI very likely took the line about the Promised Land and ran with it. That is EVERYWHERE NOW, "sign" of a gospel song. But no, this is a folk style love song. The importation of pop songs into church services was generally a bad idea. In the case of this song, it takes you near to heresy -- I mean, can we ever lose the love of the Lord? That's pushing the envelope. We can leave him (we are free), but does He stop loving us, ever? No, this was a love song, not to be sung as "Jesus is My Boyfriend." Ay, ay, ay, ay. "The Silly Season" indeed! Sadly, that kind of thing infiltrated church music, to everyone's detriment. And it isn't fair to a good folk song, either.
Haha, Alfonso! Tony and I have seen "higher" education going lower and lower in our many decades on the inside. He got a real education at Princeton in the day. But long since he began calling those schools The Poison Ivy League. This particular "study" couldn't rise to the level of poison! Sheesh. Glad you enjoyed the song!
Exactly, Kevin. But even without such an analysis most ordinary folks know what is beautiful without needing a formal "footnote" in a study to tell them that! And Marilyn's link below cites a REAL analysis for those who enjoy learning why great singers are great. I just listened to the song an hour ago with my daughter -- who's heard a LOT of music, and I mean a LOT living with us. She also studied voice for many years, has sung in I believe six or seven choirs (starting at age nine), and she studied in particular the art of the German Lieder. SHE loved the stone instantly. And this time around, I particularly enjoyed Judith Durham's phrasing, vocal control, and her beautiful variations toward the end of the song.
There are a few YouTube videos by Wings of Pegasus which analyze The Seekers and Judith Durham's voice. See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOs5vR7xgJI for example. The commentator is very appreciative of her voice.
Marilyn, thank you for that link. I'll look forward to listening to it. I told Keven (above) that just today when I played the song for my daughter, we observed Judith Durham's masterful vocal performance, with wonderful and melodic variations toward the end. She really had it!
Thanks for posting this song from an incredibly talented group, whose harmony and acoustic instrumentation appealed to me, even as a young boy in the mid-'60s, and still touches my soul. As for being classified a gospel song, the more I listen to the words, I can see how, on one level, and without stretching the meaning of the words, the song speaks of the love between Christ (the "You" and "Your love") and the singer, in her journey through life storms of life, on her way to a "New World somewhere, they call the Promised Land." She can "search the whole world over" but will "never find another You." The rhythm, instrumentation, and harmony of the song reminds me, in a general way, of the acoustic, folk-style worship music, which was introduced into the Catholic Church in the mid-60s ("The People's Mass Book" with the liturgical songs of Father Lucien Deiss comes to mind).
John, I'm glad you enjoyed this song by the Seekers. The "New World" and "Promised Land" references demonstrate to ME, at least, that basic Bible knowledge was taken as a given among folk singers. Even Pete Seeger knew and used these common references. And yes, the song implies a connection between the love of the Lord for us and really what love means between a man and a woman. But see my reply to Steve (above) for the problems that come out of our importing pop songs into worship settings. And all kinds of references to the faith are to be found in most popular music at least through the 1980's. After that, the references were no longer generally recognized. And that, I believe, is how this song came to be considered -- all across social media -- a "gospel song." Algorithms have no "experience" to draw upon. Sadly, however, they can spread all sorts of errors on a grand scale among people who, likewise, have no deep cultural experience to make them stop and say, "that's not true." We live in strange times!
Debra, thanks for your reflections on my comment and on the ones above, especially about whether certain secular songs have a Christian spiritual layer. I think that brainless (as God created our brains) AI is detestable, taking users down blind alleys, more often than not. I agree there is a world of difference between writers, performers, and audiences of music in the past few decades and those who wrote, performed, and listened to music before the culture became extremely secular and vulgar. I must say that the lyrics of this song give me a lot to ponder, and Judith Dunham's way of expressing the words carries them into my heart.
Thanks Debra and Anthony for all the music you share with us. And thanks for the history behind this song. I love Judith Durham's voice. A great loss when she passed.
What great voices! And still a glimmer of innocence…..what a time it was.
I have loved this song and the Seekers since I was a child. I sang this particular song to my children as they grew. Thank you for the background on this song and group!
Thanks, Kathleen. I remember this song from childhood, myself. The Seekers were just excellent!
One of my all time favorite tunes!! THANK YOU! Takes me back to high school. Keep up the good work!
Thanks, Bob. It's really my pleasure to share these great old songs!
Fun to watch them in studio:
https://youtu.be/kKySE1Ukupg?si=9y7i_gw5d6ghu2KW
Austin, thanks! We are really fortunate to have clips like this, aren't we?
Truly a great video! And in recorded concerts. https://youtu.be/2HQixmNnzMA https://youtu.be/wsIbfYEizLk https://youtu.be/WLL9zpBcH5s
John, I enjoy watching live performances. Thanks for sharing. I usually (and I make exceptions from time to time) put only studio recordings on Sometimes a Song, for a number of reasons .. not least of which is that for some of our readers these songs are brand new. And I think you can appreciate live performances better if you have the original in mind. But "live" really lets you see the artists "at work."
Thank you for posting this! This song was one of my favorites as a teenager and I added it to my iPhone library a few years ago. I don't remember that many Seekers songs being played on my radio station when I was growing up--I think they were more popular in England and Australia. The other song I still listen to is "A World of Our Own."
Marilyn, they got a lot of play time in the US, but only for a few songs. In the UK and Australia they were huge, and for good reason. Some of this is likely due to the business end of record promotion. Still their success in the US was not small, though. It makes you scratch your head!
And I also love "A World of Our Own."
Yet another informative post! I didn't realize Dusty Springfield had an earlier hit recording with her brother prior to the "British Invasion" in 1964 - when she charted "I Only Want to Be with You" right on the heels of the Beatles' breakthough.
Yes, funny about the reference to a "gospel" song, and yet I actually do recall it being sung during Mass at my parish - c. late 60s/early 70s. (In the lyrics, the word "Lord" was simply substituted for "dear" as an attempt, one suspects, of consecrating the piece.) Referring back to those times, a noted New York priest aptly called it "the silly season." A great folk song, however, to be sure.
Steve, evidently Dusty Springfield was working the C&W angle in the 1950's, and she did it again later with a very famous C&W hit, "Son of a Preacher Man." There is always a background with these singers and musicians!
As for the "gospel" angle, oh dear oh dear! AI very likely took the line about the Promised Land and ran with it. That is EVERYWHERE NOW, "sign" of a gospel song. But no, this is a folk style love song. The importation of pop songs into church services was generally a bad idea. In the case of this song, it takes you near to heresy -- I mean, can we ever lose the love of the Lord? That's pushing the envelope. We can leave him (we are free), but does He stop loving us, ever? No, this was a love song, not to be sung as "Jesus is My Boyfriend." Ay, ay, ay, ay. "The Silly Season" indeed! Sadly, that kind of thing infiltrated church music, to everyone's detriment. And it isn't fair to a good folk song, either.
Thanks for your helpful reflections on whether this is more than a folk song.
The heck with Harvard. A shot of distilled universal joy in a most particular 1966 song from Mrs. Esolen is the just the ticket. Thank you!
Haha, Alfonso! Tony and I have seen "higher" education going lower and lower in our many decades on the inside. He got a real education at Princeton in the day. But long since he began calling those schools The Poison Ivy League. This particular "study" couldn't rise to the level of poison! Sheesh. Glad you enjoyed the song!
If a Harvard grad student wanted to do something useful, he could try to identify what makes Judith Durham's voice so distinctive and attractive!
Exactly, Kevin. But even without such an analysis most ordinary folks know what is beautiful without needing a formal "footnote" in a study to tell them that! And Marilyn's link below cites a REAL analysis for those who enjoy learning why great singers are great. I just listened to the song an hour ago with my daughter -- who's heard a LOT of music, and I mean a LOT living with us. She also studied voice for many years, has sung in I believe six or seven choirs (starting at age nine), and she studied in particular the art of the German Lieder. SHE loved the stone instantly. And this time around, I particularly enjoyed Judith Durham's phrasing, vocal control, and her beautiful variations toward the end of the song.
There are a few YouTube videos by Wings of Pegasus which analyze The Seekers and Judith Durham's voice. See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOs5vR7xgJI for example. The commentator is very appreciative of her voice.
Marilyn, thank you for that link. I'll look forward to listening to it. I told Keven (above) that just today when I played the song for my daughter, we observed Judith Durham's masterful vocal performance, with wonderful and melodic variations toward the end. She really had it!
Yes, she did.
Thanks for posting this song from an incredibly talented group, whose harmony and acoustic instrumentation appealed to me, even as a young boy in the mid-'60s, and still touches my soul. As for being classified a gospel song, the more I listen to the words, I can see how, on one level, and without stretching the meaning of the words, the song speaks of the love between Christ (the "You" and "Your love") and the singer, in her journey through life storms of life, on her way to a "New World somewhere, they call the Promised Land." She can "search the whole world over" but will "never find another You." The rhythm, instrumentation, and harmony of the song reminds me, in a general way, of the acoustic, folk-style worship music, which was introduced into the Catholic Church in the mid-60s ("The People's Mass Book" with the liturgical songs of Father Lucien Deiss comes to mind).
John, I'm glad you enjoyed this song by the Seekers. The "New World" and "Promised Land" references demonstrate to ME, at least, that basic Bible knowledge was taken as a given among folk singers. Even Pete Seeger knew and used these common references. And yes, the song implies a connection between the love of the Lord for us and really what love means between a man and a woman. But see my reply to Steve (above) for the problems that come out of our importing pop songs into worship settings. And all kinds of references to the faith are to be found in most popular music at least through the 1980's. After that, the references were no longer generally recognized. And that, I believe, is how this song came to be considered -- all across social media -- a "gospel song." Algorithms have no "experience" to draw upon. Sadly, however, they can spread all sorts of errors on a grand scale among people who, likewise, have no deep cultural experience to make them stop and say, "that's not true." We live in strange times!
Debra, thanks for your reflections on my comment and on the ones above, especially about whether certain secular songs have a Christian spiritual layer. I think that brainless (as God created our brains) AI is detestable, taking users down blind alleys, more often than not. I agree there is a world of difference between writers, performers, and audiences of music in the past few decades and those who wrote, performed, and listened to music before the culture became extremely secular and vulgar. I must say that the lyrics of this song give me a lot to ponder, and Judith Dunham's way of expressing the words carries them into my heart.