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comment by briandmyers
briandmyers  ·  4575 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: ASK HUBSKI: Three emotive songs?




bgood79  ·  4575 days ago  ·  link  ·  
I love I Robot! Dude, Satch! Nice!
thenewgreen  ·  4575 days ago  ·  link  ·  
Thanks for introducing me to the song "Day After Day". It's very Floyd-ish.

The lyrics are definitely sad and full of regret:

  Gaze at the sky
  And picture a memory
  Of days in your life
  You knew what it meant to be happy and free
  With time on your side

  Remember your daddy
  When no one was wiser
  Your ma used to say
  That you would go further than he ever could
  With time on your side

  Think of a boy with the stars in his eye
  Longing to reach them but frightened to try
  Sadly, you'd say, someday, someday

  But day after day
  The show must go on
  And time slipped away
  Before you could build any castles in spain
  The chance had gone by

  With nothing to say
  And no one to say it to

  Nothing has changed
  You've still got it all to do
  Surely you know
  The chance has gone by

  Think of a boy with the stars in his eye
  Longing to reach them but frightened to try
  Sadly, you'd say, someday, someday

  But, day after day
  The show must go on
  And you gaze at the sky
  And picture a memory of days in your life
  With time on your side

  With time on your side
  (day after day the show must go on)
  With time on your side
  (day after day the show must go on)
briandmyers  ·  4575 days ago  ·  link  ·  
Seeing the lyrics here reminds me of something I've thought about a few times before - if you have heard this song a few times, you can no longer see these words as poetry only - there is no way to suppress the melody inside your head. Since at least some of the emotive power comes from the music, you can no longer really judge the emotive power of those words as a poem. No real point, just some random thoughts.

I'm going to paste in some lyrics that I'll bet few of you have ever heard - I would be interested to know if you think it stands on its own as a poem - I can no longer read it without hearing the song.

Circus Of Heaven (Jon Anderson)

The day the Circus of Heaven came in to town

Local folks lined the streets in a Midwestern town

Waiting anxiously for the parade to begin all around

On the very last day

A unicorn headed the mystical way

Surrounded by what seemed a thousand golden angels at play

Behind were Centaurs, elves, bright fairies all in colours of jade

On the very final day

For what seemed only just a moment in time

Seven solemn flying silvered regal horses rode by

Seven golden chariots in tow, a wonder to behold

The Seven Lords of the Mountains of Time

There then arose where nothing really stood there before

A giant tent rising one thousand feet high frofrom the floor

Towns people flocked inside with their eyes all amazed

To greet the Seventh Lord of the seventh age

A fanfare rang out in an incredible sound

Bringing out the strangest visions perfect harmony round

Any dreams he asked would they like to have seen

From historical or mythical scenes

Then there above their heads just as vivid as life

Each vision transported multitudes inventing light

Grecian galleons, the sack of Troy, to the Gardens of Babylon

A play of millions roared along

The gigantic dreams of Alexander the Great

Civil wars where fbrothers fought and killed their friendship with hate

All seen by Zeus performing scenes in the magical way

The day the circus came to town

Outside great animals as tame as the trees

Angels high in starlight dancing streets

Turning their colours with indigo and gold

Dropping violet, red and emerald snow

As the circus finally changed its invisible course

A new world to be found

On the dreamy ground we walked upon

I turned to my son and said

"Was that something beautiful, amazing, wonderful, extraordinary beautiful?"

"Oh! It was OK!! But there were no clowns, no tigers, lions or bears, no candi-floss, toffee apples, no clowns."

thenewgreen  ·  4575 days ago  ·  link  ·  
Sure, it stands on it's own as a poem. It's pretty fantastical and not necessarily the type of poem I would choose to read but it definitely stands. It reads very lyrically, which makes sense.

Now I want to hear the song!

I know what you mean though, I have had to type out my own lyrics for various reasons in the past and I'm never sure how they read because I can never separate them from melody. It's impossible.

briandmyers  ·  4575 days ago  ·  link  ·  
briandmyers  ·  4575 days ago  ·  link  ·  
The song affects me emotionally more than I would expect the lyrics alone to do. Poignant I think is the word I'm looking for.

The final line is delivered by Jon Anderson's son.

thenewgreen  ·  4575 days ago  ·  link  ·  
This song is fantastic, so much more so with the music.
briandmyers  ·  4575 days ago  ·  link  ·  
Cheers. Did you know that Alan Parsons was the sound engineer on "Dark Side of the Moon" ? You could also say that album is 'Parsonish'...
bgood79  ·  4575 days ago  ·  link  ·  
Had a hand in Abbey Road as well
thenewgreen  ·  4575 days ago  ·  link  ·  
Nice, no I didn't know that. You can definitely hear the influences... not sure what came first the chicken or the parson?
steve  ·  4575 days ago  ·  link  ·  
I had the incredible fortune to sit down and chat with Alan Parsons. That is one down to earth, wickedly brilliant audio engineer. So many cool stories about "the good old days" in the studio.
thenewgreen  ·  4575 days ago  ·  link  ·  
Very cool. How did you get that opportunity? Did it have to do with your video work?
steve  ·  4575 days ago  ·  link  ·  
I wish - no, he came and lectured at a local university where a friend is a professor. I got the heads up that following the big lecture, there would be a more intimate setting with just Alan, some faculty and a few students. He just chatted us all up. He told stories, even took the time to listen to some of the students recordings and give them critiques. We asked questions, he gave thoughtful answers... it was really, really cool. I'm not even a huge Alan Parsons Project fan, but I am a big fan of the dude, and a lot of his studio work.