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Our Favorite Song Lyrics - Fan Favorites Episode 25

In our 25th episode of this series, we're sharing some of our favorite song lyrics. I love parsing lyrics along with the harmonies and orchestrations...and this was a really lovely extended listen.

We've got 8 songs that have emerged from about 80 submissions. I hope you enjoy!

Traffic - John Barleycorn

Steely Dan - The Royal Scam

Rush - Roll the Bones

Kate Bush - The Man with the Child in His Eyes

Gordon Lightfoot - Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald

The Beatles - In My Life

The Police - Synchronicity II

Simon and Garfunkel - The Boxer

Our Favorite Song Lyrics - Fan Favorites Episode 25

Comments

That snare hit in 'the boxer' was recorded in an elevator shaft. The drum at the bottom and the mic at the top.

Jerry C

You know that trumpet theme they used to play (or maybe still do) on TV broadcasts of the Olympics? Listen to that pedal steel solo in "The Boxer" again: the first few notes quote that theme. Some killer irony there.

Jeff Norman

The piano in "In My Life" was played at half-speed not because Martin couldn't play it at speed but expressly to give it that unusual, harpsichord-like timbre.

Jeff Norman

It was from a tribute band called the Silver Beatles

Juho Pesonen

It sounded weird… Has to have been a remix. Did not like the sound of it, give me the original… the piano in the middle was recorded at half speed, so sounds sped up when played normal. Many vocal takes, especially John songs, on Revolver were manipulated slower or faster, creating new sounds…

Steve Hartke

Great selection. I wonder if anyone else thought that the Kate Bush reference to the child in the man's eyes is the reflection of herself in his eyes i.e. that she looks at him as a man, but sees herself as a child?

Adie

Great selection. I love these polled episodes, both Fan Favourites and the EPL. My only "issue" (and I say "issue" loosely as it is not intended as a criticism at all) is that when you talk, Doug, whilst the song is playing, I personally have difficulty hearing you (may be my age!πŸ˜ƒ). I don't if you can adjust your mic volume...

Ruth James

What fun! Fantastic songs across the board. Most importantly, please get better soon, Megan! Thinking of you!

Bill Brinkmoeller

Great song. With one of the all-time greatest endings of any song from any era, in my opinion. This needs to happen!

Bill Brinkmoeller

I'm pretty sure this was the new re-mixed and re-mastered version, utilizing the new technology that can isolate the individual parts. I've heard that they are pretty startling when you first hear them. In my ears (with a good pair of headphones), that was unmistakably the voice of John Lennon.

Bill Brinkmoeller

Yeah it had a very odd vocal quality that had my head tilted like a dog while listening . I always prefer originals for reactions so I can get that vicarious thrill of seeing Doug absorb and explore tracks that I know already.

Duff

Nice, now we need The Low Spark Of High Heeled Boys by Traffic for a masterpiece Friday

John B

I agree, definitely not the Beatles

Alex Libia

This one just nailed it.

Philip Briddon

Very good selections. We'll have to do a part two sometime down the road!

Bill Coonley

It sounds like either one of the new, remastered albums or an early, rough-cut demo (plenty of these around now on the internet).

Allen

I have a lengthy positive comment to make but it can wait since I have to work tonight. For now Bravo to all the participants and great thanks to you Doug for taking time to give us all this wonderful experience while tending to Megan, to whom I send positive healing thoughts . Love to you both. ❀

Duff

OMG, we LOVE the Trailer Park Boys!! The Rush episode was terrific - I think my favorite was the one where Ricky had to go to court and the judge scolded him for his profanity. He claimed that it was the same as getting a French interpreter for a Quebecois, so he should be able to speak his native language!! 🀣🀣🀣

Margaret Barnes

I had that thought but I wasn’t sure.

R. Douglas Helvering

Hey Margaret…check out The Trailer Park Boys on You Tube. Watch the one where they kidnap Alex Lifeson. I was HOWLING! lol

KellieE69

Congrats to the members and songs selected for this month’s Fan Favorites. Prayers going up for Meg and for you. Just remember the comeback is always stronger than the setback!

KellieE69

Now that's something I didn't know, but I can definitely believe it. He was an awesome performer on stage.

Ford H. Cotton III

I still think it’s amazing that Gordon Lightfoot recorded TWOTEF in just one take!! 😲

Margaret Barnes

Does anyone else think that that recording of In My Life was a tribute band and not the Beatles? It sounded different to me.

Tom

Wow, what another good FF. Thankx again Doug

Don K Mal 1

I always enjoy these videos, but I confess this was one of my very favourites. Not least because there was not a song there that I did not know and that I do not really like and love the lyrics to, so it was fun hearing Doug's thoughts. And too long since I listened to Steely Dan! I remember learning the folk song "John Barleycorn" at school in the 1960s, and how it was about the harvesting, and the products! The Traffic version (Steve Winwood so under-rated?) is great. Reminds me a lot of some Jethro Tull. Doug, have you heard much traditional British folk music? Seeing and hearing folk playing ad-hoc in an old, cosy village country pub, out in the wilds in winter with a roaring fire and a good few jars of real ale - it does not get much better than that. And I remember being totally blown away by The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald when it was released - it was on near-constant in the students' union common room. And I still am, 50 years later. As indeed I was when I bought Synchronicity on its release - I had just arrived in New Zealand, and it will forever remind me of that time. Great video, Doug - thanks again, especially given all you and Meg (to whom, very best wishes) are going through right now.

Adrian Goodrich

Great job! I know y’all have been through a lot lately - thank you for trusting us with a little vulnerability. I’m glad we could be a source of kindness and support - as always, We’ve Got You!! All the best to Megan while she’s healing & recovering. β€οΈπŸ™

Margaret Barnes

That is how I interpreted it to. And I too dread to think what the monster in his head did when he got home...

Adrian Goodrich

As usual, a lovely, enjoyable video, Doug. I'm fascinated/amused at your reaction to Synchronicity II, which has always been one of my favorites from The Police and is especially impactful with the lyrics. Don't forget to work in the title of the song into your interpretation - that helps make sense of the connection between the sad, pressing, and stressful life of the protagonist and the mysterious emergence of the presence at the Scottish loch - presumably Nessie from Loch Ness. Good lyrics, for me, always speak volumes when they allude effectively to things unsaid, and this is a good example. Perhaps, like the apocryphal butterfly's wings in the Saraha causing a raging hurricane somewhere down the line, these lyrics hint at the interconnectedness of it all, and how even our quotidian lives are linked to the monsters we cannot see, many miles away. Best to you and Megan; you both are in my prayers.

Charles A Herndon

And one more comment - Synchronicity II. I think the monster from the distant lake is a representation of the emotions he's feeling. And I'm glad the song ends there. I don't want to think of what daddy did next. Scary.

Ford H. Cotton III

Thanks!

R. Douglas Helvering

Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald always gets me. I remember it. πŸ˜”

Ford H. Cotton III

The Man With The Child In His Eyes by Kate Bush is definitely my favorite song by her. But it isn't in the list above - may want to look at that

Ford H. Cotton III

Truly a great eight set of lyrics and music.

Paul Ehney


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