Talk about one of your favourite songs.

[MCFCTrick]

This track by Love has been a firm favourite since 1967 (Yes I'm a FOC) !
It's from an album ... Forever Changes. My 2nd favorite autumn album of all time Forever Changes flows through its mysticism and realism.
Love was an American west coast band dominated by it's leader Arthur Lee. Lee was a masterful songwriter and had the ability to be mysterious in his lyrics. (He added the Or to the songs title).
But there was another songwriter in Love, Bryan MacLean, a gentler soul that Arthur, this song was written by Bryan and was released as a single from the album, a single that bombed.
Bryan died in 1998 and Arthur died in 2006.

The opening acoustic guitar passage (played by MacLean) is forlorn and sets the general feel of the song. It is repeated at the end. During this passage the deeper guitar notes sound somehow piano-like.
All through this song there is really nice harmonies, performed by Lee and MacLean together. The harmonies are deeper in the mix but are perfect. Also from the beginning of the vocals there is a strange Bass line, it doesn't sound like a Bass guitar to me though.
One of the highlights is the Mariachi style trumpet solo at 1:15. played over orchestral instruments, it is quite simply stunning and what a great idea instead of the usual guitar solo. Apparently, Bryan used to play with his mother's castanets as a child and this is probably where the Spanish influence comes from.

Overall, a hauntingly beautiful and poignant song which has mystique and beauty. One of the first songs I learned to play on guitar.

Love in 1967;

Another top cover of this from their 1977 album.

 

[mancity2012_eamo]

The one I picked for the Christmas playlist always gets me.

It’s a traumatic story that oh so many WW2 Russian soldiers faced , after the war in which they had fought so valiantly for their country, had ended.

It’s history. And it’s poetry. Some of the imagery in it is just beautiful in a tragic setting.

Roads To Moscow
They crossed over the border, the hour before dawn
Moving in lines through the day
Most of our planes were destroyed on the ground where they lay
Waiting for orders we held in the wood
Word from the front never came
By evening the sound of the gunfire was miles away
Ah, softly we move through the shadows, slip away through the trees
Crossing their lines in the mists in the fields on our hands and on our knees
And all that I ever was able to see
The fire in the air glowing red, silhouetting the smoke on the breeze
All summer they drove us back through the Ukraine
Smolensk and Viasma soon fell
By autumn we stood with our backs to the town of Orel
Closer and closer to Moscow they come
Riding the wind like a bell
General Guderian stands at the crest of the hill
Winter brought with her the rains, oceans of mud filled the roads
Gluing the tracks of their tanks to the ground while the sky filled with snow
And all that I ever was able to see
The fire in the air glowing red silhouetting the snow on the breeze
In the footsteps of Napoleon the shadow figures stagger through the winter
Falling back before the gates of Moscow, standing in the wings like an avenger
And far away behind their lines the partisans are stirring in the forest
Coming unexpectedly upon their outposts, growing like a promise
You'll never know, you'll never know which way to turn, which way to look you'll never see us
As we're stealing through the blackness of the night
You'll never know, you'll never hear us
And the evening sings in a voice of amber, the dawn is surely coming
The morning roads leads to Stalingrad, and the sky is softly humming
Two broken Tigers on fire in the night
Flicker their souls to the wind
We wait in the lines for the final approach to begin
It's been almost four years that I've carried a gun
At home it will almost be spring
The flames of the Tigers are lighting the road to Berlin
Ah, quickly we move through the ruins that bow to the ground
The old men and children they send out to face us, they can't slow us down
And all that I ever was able to see the eyes of the city are opening
Now it's the end of the dream
I'm coming home, I'm coming home, now you can taste it in the wind, the war is over
And I listen to the clicking of the train-wheels as we roll across the border
And now they ask me of the time that I was caught behind their lines and taken prisoner
"They only held me for a day, a lucky break, " I say they turn and listen closer
I'll never know, I'll never know why I was taken from the line and all the others
To board a special train and journey deep into the heart of holy Russia
And it's cold and damp in the transit camp, and the air is still and sullen
And the pale sun of October whispers the snow will soon be coming
And I wonder when I'll be home again and the morning answers "Never"
And the evening sighs, and the steely Russian skies go on forever

Al Stewart.

 

[denislawsbackheel]

Another top cover of this from their 1977 album.

Calexico aren’t bad either.

 

[denislawsbackheel]

The one I picked for the Christmas playlist always gets me.

It’s a traumatic story that oh so many WW2 Russian soldiers faced , after the war in which they had fought so valiantly for their country, had ended.

It’s history. And it’s poetry. Some of the imagery in it is just beautiful in a tragic setting.

Roads To Moscow
They crossed over the border, the hour before dawn
Moving in lines through the day
Most of our planes were destroyed on the ground where they lay
Waiting for orders we held in the wood
Word from the front never came
By evening the sound of the gunfire was miles away
Ah, softly we move through the shadows, slip away through the trees
Crossing their lines in the mists in the fields on our hands and on our knees
And all that I ever was able to see
The fire in the air glowing red, silhouetting the smoke on the breeze
All summer they drove us back through the Ukraine
Smolensk and Viasma soon fell
By autumn we stood with our backs to the town of Orel
Closer and closer to Moscow they come
Riding the wind like a bell
General Guderian stands at the crest of the hill
Winter brought with her the rains, oceans of mud filled the roads
Gluing the tracks of their tanks to the ground while the sky filled with snow
And all that I ever was able to see
The fire in the air glowing red silhouetting the snow on the breeze
In the footsteps of Napoleon the shadow figures stagger through the winter
Falling back before the gates of Moscow, standing in the wings like an avenger
And far away behind their lines the partisans are stirring in the forest
Coming unexpectedly upon their outposts, growing like a promise
You'll never know, you'll never know which way to turn, which way to look you'll never see us
As we're stealing through the blackness of the night
You'll never know, you'll never hear us
And the evening sings in a voice of amber, the dawn is surely coming
The morning roads leads to Stalingrad, and the sky is softly humming
Two broken Tigers on fire in the night
Flicker their souls to the wind
We wait in the lines for the final approach to begin
It's been almost four years that I've carried a gun
At home it will almost be spring
The flames of the Tigers are lighting the road to Berlin
Ah, quickly we move through the ruins that bow to the ground
The old men and children they send out to face us, they can't slow us down
And all that I ever was able to see the eyes of the city are opening
Now it's the end of the dream
I'm coming home, I'm coming home, now you can taste it in the wind, the war is over
And I listen to the clicking of the train-wheels as we roll across the border
And now they ask me of the time that I was caught behind their lines and taken prisoner
"They only held me for a day, a lucky break, " I say they turn and listen closer
I'll never know, I'll never know why I was taken from the line and all the others
To board a special train and journey deep into the heart of holy Russia
And it's cold and damp in the transit camp, and the air is still and sullen
And the pale sun of October whispers the snow will soon be coming
And I wonder when I'll be home again and the morning answers "Never"
And the evening sighs, and the steely Russian skies go on forever

Al Stewart.

Love Al Stewart.
Particularly this era.

 

[threespires]

This track by Love has been a firm favourite since 1967 (Yes I'm a FOC) !
It's from an album ... Forever Changes. My 2nd favorite autumn album of all time Forever Changes flows through its mysticism and realism.
Love was an American west coast band dominated by it's leader Arthur Lee. Lee was a masterful songwriter and had the ability to be mysterious in his lyrics. (He added the Or to the songs title).
But there was another songwriter in Love, Bryan MacLean, a gentler soul that Arthur, this song was written by Bryan and was released as a single from the album, a single that bombed.
Bryan died in 1998 and Arthur died in 2006.

The opening acoustic guitar passage (played by MacLean) is forlorn and sets the general feel of the song. It is repeated at the end. During this passage the deeper guitar notes sound somehow piano-like.
All through this song there is really nice harmonies, performed by Lee and MacLean together. The harmonies are deeper in the mix but are perfect. Also from the beginning of the vocals there is a strange Bass line, it doesn't sound like a Bass guitar to me though.
One of the highlights is the Mariachi style trumpet solo at 1:15. played over orchestral instruments, it is quite simply stunning and what a great idea instead of the usual guitar solo. Apparently, Bryan used to play with his mother's castanets as a child and this is probably where the Spanish influence comes from.

Overall, a hauntingly beautiful and poignant song which has mystique and beauty. One of the first songs I learned to play on guitar.

Love in 1967;

One of my favourite albums, epic song. I was too young for Love the first time round but I was lucky enough that a Deadhead that I worked with got me into them. Saw Arthur multiple times when he toured with the Baby Lemonade lads both with and without the strings including the Festival Hall concert. He was a bit wayward but such a charismatic guy, even on the nights he wasn't on top form he was never less than highly watchable. We had a brief chat with Mike and Rusty after one of the gigs and they just smiled at our conjecture on what life on the road with Arthur must be like. They seemed like nice lads. I know they fell out with Arthur but I think they reconciled before the end. Seen Johnny Echols a couple of times too.

Would loved to have seen Arthur, Bryan MacLean and Johnny together in their heyday.

As for the use of the Mariachi brass, when it's my turn on the playlist thread I'm thinking of doing a 'best use of mariachi' theme and if I do this will be on the list.

 

[blumoonrisen]

I for whatever reason have always found this song incredibly moving too. It’s my favo(u)rite on the record (though I like “Wish You Were Here” — the song and the record — more) but even though maybe it’s a trope, it is a remarkable tune.

Tired of lying in the sunshine
Staying home to watch the rain
You are young and life is long
And there is time to kill today
And then one day you find
Ten years have got behind you
No one told you when to run
You missed the starting gun

I've always wanted a tattoo of the lyrics, ironically I've never got around to it..

 

[blumoonrisen]

Loved his early lyrics.

The lyrics to ‘Bigger Boys and Stolen Sweethearts’ and ‘A Certain Romance’, critiquing what’s wrong with working class dickheads, are spot on.

They'll never top the first 2 albums, plus I have no idea what he's playing at these days with his ridiculous fake accent.

 

[dickie davies]

One Saturday evening I was parked up in the lay by of a country road shagging a bird in the back of the car whilst Roxy Music was playing on the tape deck
The music had stopped (I hadn't) and we heard footsteps approaching the car
Like a couple of meerkats, we quickly gathered ourselves and looked out of the windows, then the music started again
What we'd heard was the introduction to "love is the drug"

 

[PinkFinal]

I could have chosen any of a dozen songs by this band but this is probably the most immediate. The power of the guitars in this is just beyond belief to me. And that's before you get on to the lyrics, which explore the human condition in a way that it isn't really explored in music today.

 

[PinkFinal]

The one I picked for the Christmas playlist always gets me.

It’s a traumatic story that oh so many WW2 Russian soldiers faced , after the war in which they had fought so valiantly for their country, had ended.

It’s history. And it’s poetry. Some of the imagery in it is just beautiful in a tragic setting.

Roads To Moscow
They crossed over the border, the hour before dawn
Moving in lines through the day
Most of our planes were destroyed on the ground where they lay
Waiting for orders we held in the wood
Word from the front never came
By evening the sound of the gunfire was miles away
Ah, softly we move through the shadows, slip away through the trees
Crossing their lines in the mists in the fields on our hands and on our knees
And all that I ever was able to see
The fire in the air glowing red, silhouetting the smoke on the breeze
All summer they drove us back through the Ukraine
Smolensk and Viasma soon fell
By autumn we stood with our backs to the town of Orel
Closer and closer to Moscow they come
Riding the wind like a bell
General Guderian stands at the crest of the hill
Winter brought with her the rains, oceans of mud filled the roads
Gluing the tracks of their tanks to the ground while the sky filled with snow
And all that I ever was able to see
The fire in the air glowing red silhouetting the snow on the breeze
In the footsteps of Napoleon the shadow figures stagger through the winter
Falling back before the gates of Moscow, standing in the wings like an avenger
And far away behind their lines the partisans are stirring in the forest
Coming unexpectedly upon their outposts, growing like a promise
You'll never know, you'll never know which way to turn, which way to look you'll never see us
As we're stealing through the blackness of the night
You'll never know, you'll never hear us
And the evening sings in a voice of amber, the dawn is surely coming
The morning roads leads to Stalingrad, and the sky is softly humming
Two broken Tigers on fire in the night
Flicker their souls to the wind
We wait in the lines for the final approach to begin
It's been almost four years that I've carried a gun
At home it will almost be spring
The flames of the Tigers are lighting the road to Berlin
Ah, quickly we move through the ruins that bow to the ground
The old men and children they send out to face us, they can't slow us down
And all that I ever was able to see the eyes of the city are opening
Now it's the end of the dream
I'm coming home, I'm coming home, now you can taste it in the wind, the war is over
And I listen to the clicking of the train-wheels as we roll across the border
And now they ask me of the time that I was caught behind their lines and taken prisoner
"They only held me for a day, a lucky break, " I say they turn and listen closer
I'll never know, I'll never know why I was taken from the line and all the others
To board a special train and journey deep into the heart of holy Russia
And it's cold and damp in the transit camp, and the air is still and sullen
And the pale sun of October whispers the snow will soon be coming
And I wonder when I'll be home again and the morning answers "Never"
And the evening sighs, and the steely Russian skies go on forever

Al Stewart.

Interesting. I'd not heard of this song before.