Taking time
I often decide on a topic for a post that I think I’ll be able to toss off quickly, and find that it grows and grows and grows. Once I’ve written some of it, though, I figure that I put in all that effort already and may as well stick it out to the end (sometimes the bitter end).
That happened today with the post right below this one. You’d think after all these years (about seventeen!!) I’d be better at estimating these things. But no.
Recently I did manage to winnow my 1,000+ drafts down to about 650. I got rid of the more ancient topical ones and saved what are known as evergreens. Most of the the drafts are unfinished. Some were abandoned because they became too complex and lengthy and I couldn’t do justice to them (see a theme emerging here?). In some, I lost the thread somehow and they were unsatisfying. And some I save for a rainy day.
Of course, today it’s raining…
I can’t say “it’s the springtime of my life” – but hey, why not have a musical interlude?:
Maybe an unpopular opinion or just a generational thing but I think the Bangles version is better.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TxrwImCJCqk
Griffin:
I think perhaps a generational thing. I much prefer the original.
No matter what you produce, it’s of the highest quality. Keep it up Neo.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kg0-a4zlwNM
Here’s an idea for a guest post by Maclin Horton: compare and contrast The Sandpipers and Simon & Garfunkel, and the public reception of each.
Speaking of “Shifty” songs,
I counted 25 changes from a major to minor
key in “Haze Shade of Winter”
Neo – Thanks for re-awaking my interest
in music theory !
Monte Meals:
You’re welcome!
Key shifts done well are some of the most effective and satisfying elements in pop music, whether we notice them explicitly or not.
I love Simon and Garfunkel.
I finally looked at Griffin’s Bangles video. It’s intercut with clips from the film “Less Than Zero.” Nice. The song was in the film, which I didn’t recall. For some reason I couldn’t explain, I like that film much more than it probably deserves.
Two taglines from the film:
In Beverly Hills, you can have anything your heart desires. You just can’t have it the way it used to be.
It only looks like the good life.
Ha! The song definitely fits in with that. And with Neo’s post.
_____
I generally don’t try to dig out every single word of a lyric when listening to pop songs, so naturally I never noticed the following bit.
Funny how my memory skips
While looking over manuscripts of unpublished rhyme
Drinking my vodka and lime
Griffin,
I agree 200% regarding the Bangles version.
neo,
I am grateful for the writings that you choose to share and hope that you get what you want out of taking the time to write and publish your essays.
I don’t have to choose between S&G and the Bangles. They’re both excellent and fill different purposes.
Simon’s version is part of his “New Yorker” lyric arc of the “Bookends” album. The Bangles’ is jumpin’ great 80s rock. I didn’t get how good 80s rock was at the time, but I do now.
Simon’s lyrics remind me of that weird mid-twenties time, when I felt cynical and bitter, that time was running out and life was passing me by.
But I was 26!
Bangles for me
The song seems more apt sung with female voices. The intense introspection and uncertainty seem odd coming from two males. Not that I haven’t done that level of introspection and felt uncertain; but singing about it loudly with another man?
Bangles for me.