I'm from your parents' generation, and was raising my family as, IMHO, civilization started to go into free fall in the 60s. (Not that the world was Eden previously, but at least there were discernable alternatives to "free" luv, etc.) I had neither the time, nor, increasingly, the inclination to get immersed in the music scene of the time. I remember hoping, and, increasingly, praying, that the world would turn around by the time my eldest (born in 1966) grew up. It didn't. Sorry, when I think of Mick Jagger, many of the big names of that time, Woodstock.... I think of the glamorization--and eventual ubiquity-- of "Sex, Drugs, & Rock n Roll", and my stomach starts to turn.
I did pick up a few enjoyable songs from time to time. I missed this one, though. It's charming. It's a bit minimalistic as to structure (just ABA), as compared to, say, "Once Upon a Time (AABA), written just a few years previously, but its very simplicity is part of its charm.
[You surprised me. I thought "Some Enchanted Evening" would be this week's song. :)]
Mary, I DID think of "Some Enchanted Evening," as you thought I would. I didn't want to disappoint, but I'd done a few times around the block with "South Pacific" already, and a lot of Rogers and Hammerstein, so .. I went "fishing." I was not much of a Rolling Stones fan -- just a hair too young for them -- and I associate them with the drug culture that ruined the life of one of my older cousins. But then I remembered this little song and started reading about Mick Jagger. So I found in this case the story that seemed worth telling, which was that the Rolling Stones began as a garage band, pulled together by two teenagers who shared a love of rhythm and blues. I left it there, with the suggestion that "promoters" were selling all the things that so shocked everyone back in the 60's and following. My own tastes went to the ballads always, so I side-stepped some of the heavy rock music. But I thought, "here's one song that we could do to feature a rock band -- other than The Beatles -- doing a song that hearkened back to the more human and humane times." I do take comfort in learning that some of the old rockers really did like the older music, as evidenced by their doing "standards" albums. I have to admit that I can't imagine Mick Jagger doing standards. But if he DID come out with some old-time blues tunes such as he started with, I'd be glad to hear that. Thanks for sticking with me!
Thank you for this post. It's amazing to me that twenty year olds could write these lyrics. It makes me think of Margaret in Hopkin's Spring and Fall. And I've always preferred the slow songs of both the Beatles and The Rolling Stones over their faster songs.
The thing about ballads is that they never lose their appeal. The harsher songs seem to me now to evoke a kind of nostalgia for "those days," but they're not what I want to listen to again and again. And this is also true of the songs of Elton John. Even my father, who didn't care for any rock n roll, told me one day that Elton John could write a good song. He liked the balladeer storyteller style.
Beautiful song, whether performed by Faithful or The Stones. Considering the images which The Rolling Stones and The Beatles, respectively, strove to project to the public, it's sometimes hard to remember that the former group has had a softer, more contemplative side during its six-decades run, while the latter, particularly in Lennon's emotionally painful case. had a edgy, cynical side.
When enough time passes, you get a better and fuller perspective on what the people in these groups were -- are -- like. In the history of the Beatles, Paul McCartney quickly emerged as the real talent in the group, and Lennon .. well, we don't know if he would have matured out of his cynicism. I doubt it, but who knows? But one thing that is clear is that the Lennon-McCartney songs were mostly the work of McCartney, who has never stopped doing his music, and yet has led a decent life of it all along. That's hard to do for a superstar. I didn't know the background of the Rolling Stones, but their beginning in blues and jazz was telling. In the case of both bands, managers and promotion both opened doors and controlled "the package" that was presented to audiences. The softer contemplative side was there, we see, in both Jagger and McCartney from the beginning.
Thanks for your kind, thoughtful insights into the two groups. Based on what I've read about Lennon and McCartney, McCartney was born into, and raised in, a stable, middle/working class family, whereas Lennon's life was sadly discombobulated from the very beginning. I think these differences were reflected in their art. It seems that Lennon had found some peace toward the end of his life, reflected in "Double Fantasy"; tragically, ironically, (at the age of 40, for Heaven's sake!) further steps in that path were cut short.
Regarding "As Tears Go By", I recall first listening to this song on Top-40 AM station in 1965, and was taken by it then--at the tender age of 10. I've very recently listened to it many times on a Greatest Hits recording, while working in my woodshop. Funny, but lovely, how works of beauty come full-circle. The song's instrumental bridge now reminds me of strains of a Bach or Petzold minuet, many of which one of my dear high school teachers, Father Paul Arbogast, a brilliant, eclectic classicist, would play on harpsichord, piano, or organ.
You and Tony are a gift in this crass, cynical world.
Thank you for sticking with us, John. We need readers like you to keep us going. I just read both of your comments to Tony. Sometimes "the world is too much with us" all. It does us good to follow the advice of St. Paul to "think on whatever is true, just," and so on -- Philippians 4:8.
By the way, on another note, probably wholly unrelated (as much as I can discern, except as a wistful reflection on the evening of life) to your word of the week, I read this morning a passage from Dickens's "Oliver Twist", page 247 of the Everyman's Library edition, which I find true, beautiful, and, unfortunately, personally convicting, about cherishing and lifting up our loved ones, while we still have them with us. For, when they slip from these mortal coils, it's too late. Maybe you all have featured this passage, in some way, in your previous posts. If so, sorry to have missed them. But I hoped to share this beautiful and true passage from Dickens, and didn't know how else, or with whom, to do it. God bless you all and cherish one another.
Ah, John. I've featured songs from the musical, "Oliver," but I don't think we have done the novel. I've lost both my parents, now, and I am an only child. But my mother was number nine in a family of thirteen children, so I have dozens of cousins. So does Tony. But the older set are passing from us. Of all my dozens of aunts and uncles, I lost the last uncle, one of my mother's younger brothers, just this past week. His wife survives, but as Tony noted, when my uncle Dick died, I lost my last living blood ancestor. That's very sad, indeed. And yes, they leave an empty place behind. Thank you for sharing that passage.
I'm very sorry your Uncle Dick passed away this week. My mom is the last of her and my Dad's generation; each was the youngest child. I'm the youngest of my generation, and I'm 70. I didn't know many from my parents' generation. I have some sense of the personal and family void, and attenuated, family connectedness from either not having the chance to know, or my not taking the time to get to know, my kinfolk. I try to find some consolation in the thought that they are among my "cloud of witnesses", to whom Hebrews testifies. Sometimes that helps. May you and Tony be at peace with your family, physically with you and spiritually in your midst. I reckon this is enough for now. The synaptic road goes ever onward.
Pam, that's nice to hear! I'm no expert on rock bands, but I've always liked this song, and when I dove into it, I learned a lot of things I was glad to find out.
Thank you. I love that song, too. It was one of the first songs I learned to play on guitar. Most folks I played it for did not recognize it as a Stones' tune.
Gary, it was in my own guitar repertoire, too, when I was first playing. And yes, Oldham had an idea of making the band edgy, and it worked, but clearly Jagger was very influenced by the same music that all the rocker's listened to in their childhood: standards, blues, jazz, and the folk revival. Every single song has a story behind it.
No, they don't! You might enjoy this bit of trivia that I ran across. Mick Jagger's father was a former gymnast and a phys. ed. teacher. Hahaa! I said to Tony that THAT explained a lot about Jagger's stage style. What do you think?
I remember reading several years ago that his father was a phys. ed. teacher, and I did think that had something to do with his stage presence and athleticism! Knowing that his father was also a gymnast explains even further. I was an untalented ballerina, and I ran track and did other sports. Though I was seldom on the podium at sports competitions, my children always saw me exercising as an adult. We hiked for hours together in the local mountains and did exercise videos together. To this day, they exercise a couple of hours per day. It's amazing how much influence we have on our children!
I'm from your parents' generation, and was raising my family as, IMHO, civilization started to go into free fall in the 60s. (Not that the world was Eden previously, but at least there were discernable alternatives to "free" luv, etc.) I had neither the time, nor, increasingly, the inclination to get immersed in the music scene of the time. I remember hoping, and, increasingly, praying, that the world would turn around by the time my eldest (born in 1966) grew up. It didn't. Sorry, when I think of Mick Jagger, many of the big names of that time, Woodstock.... I think of the glamorization--and eventual ubiquity-- of "Sex, Drugs, & Rock n Roll", and my stomach starts to turn.
I did pick up a few enjoyable songs from time to time. I missed this one, though. It's charming. It's a bit minimalistic as to structure (just ABA), as compared to, say, "Once Upon a Time (AABA), written just a few years previously, but its very simplicity is part of its charm.
[You surprised me. I thought "Some Enchanted Evening" would be this week's song. :)]
Mary, I DID think of "Some Enchanted Evening," as you thought I would. I didn't want to disappoint, but I'd done a few times around the block with "South Pacific" already, and a lot of Rogers and Hammerstein, so .. I went "fishing." I was not much of a Rolling Stones fan -- just a hair too young for them -- and I associate them with the drug culture that ruined the life of one of my older cousins. But then I remembered this little song and started reading about Mick Jagger. So I found in this case the story that seemed worth telling, which was that the Rolling Stones began as a garage band, pulled together by two teenagers who shared a love of rhythm and blues. I left it there, with the suggestion that "promoters" were selling all the things that so shocked everyone back in the 60's and following. My own tastes went to the ballads always, so I side-stepped some of the heavy rock music. But I thought, "here's one song that we could do to feature a rock band -- other than The Beatles -- doing a song that hearkened back to the more human and humane times." I do take comfort in learning that some of the old rockers really did like the older music, as evidenced by their doing "standards" albums. I have to admit that I can't imagine Mick Jagger doing standards. But if he DID come out with some old-time blues tunes such as he started with, I'd be glad to hear that. Thanks for sticking with me!
Thank you for this post. It's amazing to me that twenty year olds could write these lyrics. It makes me think of Margaret in Hopkin's Spring and Fall. And I've always preferred the slow songs of both the Beatles and The Rolling Stones over their faster songs.
The thing about ballads is that they never lose their appeal. The harsher songs seem to me now to evoke a kind of nostalgia for "those days," but they're not what I want to listen to again and again. And this is also true of the songs of Elton John. Even my father, who didn't care for any rock n roll, told me one day that Elton John could write a good song. He liked the balladeer storyteller style.
Thanks. That was a forgotten gem whose lyrics I never knew until now. I appreciate it now as I live my golden years as my grandchildren go by.
Beautiful song, whether performed by Faithful or The Stones. Considering the images which The Rolling Stones and The Beatles, respectively, strove to project to the public, it's sometimes hard to remember that the former group has had a softer, more contemplative side during its six-decades run, while the latter, particularly in Lennon's emotionally painful case. had a edgy, cynical side.
When enough time passes, you get a better and fuller perspective on what the people in these groups were -- are -- like. In the history of the Beatles, Paul McCartney quickly emerged as the real talent in the group, and Lennon .. well, we don't know if he would have matured out of his cynicism. I doubt it, but who knows? But one thing that is clear is that the Lennon-McCartney songs were mostly the work of McCartney, who has never stopped doing his music, and yet has led a decent life of it all along. That's hard to do for a superstar. I didn't know the background of the Rolling Stones, but their beginning in blues and jazz was telling. In the case of both bands, managers and promotion both opened doors and controlled "the package" that was presented to audiences. The softer contemplative side was there, we see, in both Jagger and McCartney from the beginning.
Thanks for your kind, thoughtful insights into the two groups. Based on what I've read about Lennon and McCartney, McCartney was born into, and raised in, a stable, middle/working class family, whereas Lennon's life was sadly discombobulated from the very beginning. I think these differences were reflected in their art. It seems that Lennon had found some peace toward the end of his life, reflected in "Double Fantasy"; tragically, ironically, (at the age of 40, for Heaven's sake!) further steps in that path were cut short.
Regarding "As Tears Go By", I recall first listening to this song on Top-40 AM station in 1965, and was taken by it then--at the tender age of 10. I've very recently listened to it many times on a Greatest Hits recording, while working in my woodshop. Funny, but lovely, how works of beauty come full-circle. The song's instrumental bridge now reminds me of strains of a Bach or Petzold minuet, many of which one of my dear high school teachers, Father Paul Arbogast, a brilliant, eclectic classicist, would play on harpsichord, piano, or organ.
You and Tony are a gift in this crass, cynical world.
Thank you for sticking with us, John. We need readers like you to keep us going. I just read both of your comments to Tony. Sometimes "the world is too much with us" all. It does us good to follow the advice of St. Paul to "think on whatever is true, just," and so on -- Philippians 4:8.
By the way, on another note, probably wholly unrelated (as much as I can discern, except as a wistful reflection on the evening of life) to your word of the week, I read this morning a passage from Dickens's "Oliver Twist", page 247 of the Everyman's Library edition, which I find true, beautiful, and, unfortunately, personally convicting, about cherishing and lifting up our loved ones, while we still have them with us. For, when they slip from these mortal coils, it's too late. Maybe you all have featured this passage, in some way, in your previous posts. If so, sorry to have missed them. But I hoped to share this beautiful and true passage from Dickens, and didn't know how else, or with whom, to do it. God bless you all and cherish one another.
Ah, John. I've featured songs from the musical, "Oliver," but I don't think we have done the novel. I've lost both my parents, now, and I am an only child. But my mother was number nine in a family of thirteen children, so I have dozens of cousins. So does Tony. But the older set are passing from us. Of all my dozens of aunts and uncles, I lost the last uncle, one of my mother's younger brothers, just this past week. His wife survives, but as Tony noted, when my uncle Dick died, I lost my last living blood ancestor. That's very sad, indeed. And yes, they leave an empty place behind. Thank you for sharing that passage.
I'm very sorry your Uncle Dick passed away this week. My mom is the last of her and my Dad's generation; each was the youngest child. I'm the youngest of my generation, and I'm 70. I didn't know many from my parents' generation. I have some sense of the personal and family void, and attenuated, family connectedness from either not having the chance to know, or my not taking the time to get to know, my kinfolk. I try to find some consolation in the thought that they are among my "cloud of witnesses", to whom Hebrews testifies. Sometimes that helps. May you and Tony be at peace with your family, physically with you and spiritually in your midst. I reckon this is enough for now. The synaptic road goes ever onward.
My husband and I enjoyed the history of this song! Thank you for the nice piece.
Pam, that's nice to hear! I'm no expert on rock bands, but I've always liked this song, and when I dove into it, I learned a lot of things I was glad to find out.
Thank you. I love that song, too. It was one of the first songs I learned to play on guitar. Most folks I played it for did not recognize it as a Stones' tune.
Gary, it was in my own guitar repertoire, too, when I was first playing. And yes, Oldham had an idea of making the band edgy, and it worked, but clearly Jagger was very influenced by the same music that all the rocker's listened to in their childhood: standards, blues, jazz, and the folk revival. Every single song has a story behind it.
Nice piece. They sure don't look or sound like "the bad boys of rock n roll" in this clip.
No, they don't! You might enjoy this bit of trivia that I ran across. Mick Jagger's father was a former gymnast and a phys. ed. teacher. Hahaa! I said to Tony that THAT explained a lot about Jagger's stage style. What do you think?
I remember reading several years ago that his father was a phys. ed. teacher, and I did think that had something to do with his stage presence and athleticism! Knowing that his father was also a gymnast explains even further. I was an untalented ballerina, and I ran track and did other sports. Though I was seldom on the podium at sports competitions, my children always saw me exercising as an adult. We hiked for hours together in the local mountains and did exercise videos together. To this day, they exercise a couple of hours per day. It's amazing how much influence we have on our children!
Time is on his side.
Haha, "yes, it is!"