‘Bloodbuzz Ohio’ started as a sweet little folk song, which we transformed. But we knew that was a good one right away.”
– Matt Berninger (frontman and lyricist of indie rock band The National).
Bloodbuzz Ohio is one of the standout tracks from The National’s 2010 album High Violet, which reached No. 3 on the US charts and appeared on many “album of the year” lists. The song captures what people admire about the band: a slow, looping build that gradually comes together. The music grows in layers and only fully reveals itself near the end, a point drummer Bryan Devendorf has noted about their process.
The band often turns ambiguity into an art form. The writing is minimal, and the meaning comes more from the music than the words. Matt Berninger’s deep, weary voice feels almost like another instrument. He has said he wrote much of the album in a half-awake state after the birth of his daughter, which adds to the song’s drifting, uneasy mood. He said he was ‘happy but a little delirious’.
Despite its abstract feel, the sound is dense and immersive. It surrounds the listener, which has always been part of the band’s appeal to me. Their music may be vague, but the band themselves have been open about this period. Around 2009, they were burned out from touring and close to breaking up. Recording High Violet helped bring them back together, with Bryce Dessner describing it as entering “another universe.”
Lyrically, Bloodbuzz Ohio is about distance, identity, and change. Berninger has described it as a song about where you’re from, family, and a sense of dislocation. Lines like “I still owe money to the money to the money I owe” reflect the stress of the financial crisis. There is also a feeling of homesickness. The band formed in New York but came from Ohio, and the song captures that tension between past and present.
The band have always been very open with the media about their music, especially the making of their songs, their creative process, and their meaning. I highly recommend their interview below with Uncut magazine for a detailed breakdown of how Bloodbuzz Ohio came into being.
[Verse 1] Stand up straight at the foot of your love, I Lift my shirt up Stand up straight at the foot of your love, I Lift my shirt up
[Pre-Chorus] I was carried to Ohio in a swarm of bees I never married, but Ohio don’t remember me
[Verse 2] Lay my head on the hood of your car, I Take it too far Lay my head on the hood of your car, I Take it too far
[Chorus] I still owe money to the money to the money I owe I never thought about love when I thought about home I still owe money to the money to the money I owe The floors are fallin’ down from everybody I know
[Post-Chorus] I’m on a blood buzz, yes I am I’m on a blood buzz I’m on a blood buzz, God I am I’m on a blood buzz
I wrote this song after going through a difficult period. Like people have, nothing sort of madly serious or anything but just one of those days when it’s like, ‘Oh my god, what am I doing wrong here?’ you know? And sometimes that’s a good way to write a song. Because it’s coming from your soul. – Paul McCartney
I Don’t Know is a melancholic ballad from Paul McCartney. I liked its soft and restrained melody from the first time I heard it. You can really feel the sadness in his voice, and it shows he still has his natural gift for melody. Coming from a 76-year-old man who still has things to learn about life and himself, it shows humility and honesty.
I Don’t Know is a very beautiful and tender song from the former member of The Beatles, revealing a side of him that, apart from his very early solo work, is rarely heard in his music. In fact, Paul said in an interview that John Lennon would have liked this song. It’s hard to see why not. It’s a real keeper.
The following was abridged from Wikipedia:
I Don’t Know comes from Paul McCartney’s 17th studio album – Egypt Station. It was released as a double A side single alongside Come On To Me. The hand-numbered vinyl was limited to 5,000 copies and was available at independent record stores around the world on 23 November 2018. The track was recorded at Henson Studios in Los Angeles, with additional sessions recorded at Hog Hill Mill (Sussex) and Abbey Road Studios.
[Verse 1] I got crows at my window, dogs at my door I don’t think I can take anymore What am I doing wrong? I don’t know
[Verse 2] My brother told me, “life’s not a pain” But that was right when it started to rain Where am I going wrong? I don’t know
[Chorus] But it’s alright, sleep tight I will take the strain You’re fine, love of mine You will feel no pain
[Verse 3] Well, I see trouble at every turn I’ve got so many lessons to learn What am I doing wrong? I don’t know
[Bridge 1] Now what’s the matter with me? Am I right? Am I wrong? Now I started to see I must try to be strong
[Verse 4] I try to love you best as I can But you know that I’m only a man Why am I going wrong? I don’t know
[Chorus] But it’s alright, sleep tight I will take the strain Yeah, you’re fine, little love of mine You will feel no pain
[Verse 1] I got crows at my window and dogs at my door But I don’t think I can take anymore What am I doing wrong? I don’t know
[Outro] Now what’s the matter with me? I don’t know, I don’t know What’s the matter with me? I don’t know, I don’t know What’s the matter with me? I don’t know, I don’t know
I was walking to the shops yesterday and Raspberry Beret came on in my collection. Such was my enjoyment, I wondered why I hadn’t already featured it here. I realised I had been putting it off because I thought it sounded too much, rhythmically and melodically, like another Warren Zevon rocker – Poor Poor Pitiful Me. Oh well, I decided to let Raspberry Beret have its own day in the sun because it’s just so god-dang fun, the drums are so crisp, and Zevon sings his socks off. Also, the lyrics are very much in keeping with the humour and zest of Zevon’s other songs. But guess what?
This is not a Zevon-penned song. Drum roll… Prince wrote it. So here is Zevon doing Prince in what was basically a knock-off rehearsal. I’m not complaining. It has such a crazy tight bar-band rock sound. It seems like they are having the time of their lives recording it.
This version appears on the record Hindu Love Gods by an American band called Hindu Love Gods. That was the only album they released, and it came out in 1990. The band was made up of R.E.M. players Bill Berry, Peter Buck and Mike Mills, along with Zevon, who were also recording his album Sentimental Hygiene at the time. During late-night sessions they recorded a bunch of old blues covers and decided to release them as a separate album under a different band name – Hindu Love Gods.
Wikipedia notes that, according to Zevon and Mills, Zevon’s manager decided to release the album without consulting the musicians, which created a public rift between Zevon and the band.
It’s sad to realise that both Zevon and Prince are no longer with us. Oh, and before I forget, here is Prince’s original version, which is unsurprisingly worlds apart from Zevon’s.
Rock on and enjoy every sandwich.
[Verse 1] Yeah I was working part time in a five-and-dime My boss was Mr. McGee He told me several times that he didn’t like my kind ‘Cause I was a bit too leisurely Seems that I was busy doing something close to nothing But different than the day before That’s when I saw her, ooh, I saw her She walked in through the out door, out door
[Chorus] She wore a raspberry beret The kind you find in a second-hand store Raspberry beret And if it was warm, she wouldn’t wear much more Raspberry beret, I think I love her
[Verse 2] Built like she was, she had the nerve to ask me If I planned to do her any harm So, look here, I put her on the back of my bike and, uh, we went riding Down by old man Johnson’s farm I said, now, overcast days never turned me on But something ’bout the clouds and her mixed She wasn’t too bright, but I could tell when she kissed me She knew how to get her kicks
[Chorus] She wore a raspberry beret The kind you find in a second-hand store Raspberry beret And if it was warm, she wouldn’t wear much more Raspberry beret, I think I love her
[Verse 3] The rain sounds so cool when it hits the barn roof And the horses wonder who you are Thunder drowns out what the lightning sees You feel like a movie star Listen, they say the first time ain’t the greatest But I tell you, if I had the chance to do it all again, ooh I wouldn’t change a stroke ’cause, baby, I’m the most With a girl as fine as she was then
[Chorus] (Raspberry beret) Oh! The kind you find (The kind you find) The kind you find (In a second-hand store) Oh, no, no (Raspberry beret) (And if it was warm) Where have all the raspberry women gone? (She wouldn’t wear much more) Yeah (Raspberry beret) Aah! I think I, I think I, I think I love her! (Raspberry beret) No, no, no No, no, no (The kind you find) (In a second-hand store) (Raspberry beret) Tell me Where have all the raspberry women gone? (And if it was warm she wouldn’t wear much more) (Raspberry beret) Ooh, uh, I think I love
Too Late is another magnificent outtake from Bob Dylan, recorded during the sessions for his 1983 album Infidels. Imagine writing and recording a song like this and then leaving it unreleased for nearly forty years. Its absence from the Infidels album is puzzling. But if you started worrying about all the great Dylan songs left off his official albums, you would have gone crazy long ago. On the Infidels sessions alone, he left behind other songs like Blind Willie McTell, Someone’s Got a Hold of My Heart & Foot of Pride. He rejects songs that other artists would kill for.
In Too Late, Bob Dylan moves in a feverish stream-of-consciousness style. The lyrics are packed with rapid-fire imagery – mythical, surreal, and constantly shifting. The song touches on death, but also on how people spend their time while they are alive: how they treat others and how they eventually face the consequences of their actions.
The song describes a world full of hypocrisy, selfishness, and betrayal. There’s a feeling of being emotionally shut down and unwilling to forgive or start again. The repeated idea is that the damage has already been done – whatever apology or change might come now simply arrives too late. He let slip this thing he had. It fell apart. It cannot come back together again.
Too Late was finally issued on The Bootleg Series Vol. 16: Springtime in New York 1980–1985 in September 2021. As stated in the Press Music Reviews reference below: ‘it takes in the tail end of Dylan’s Christian phase (1981’s Shot of Love), through his excellent work with Mark Knopfler (1983’s Infidels), up to one of his more criticised studio albums (1985’s Empire Burlesque)‘. That collection captures Dylan during a fascinating period indeed.
Some listeners may have been confused by the label “Band Version” thinking it meant the song was recorded with The Band. It does not. The phrase simply refers to the band demo studio recording, as opposed to the acoustic version Dylan also recorded. According to Bootleg Series co-producer Steve Berkowitz, the song developed quickly during the sessions: there was first the acoustic version, then the full band version, and within a few days the material had evolved into Foot of Pride.
The connection between the two songs is striking. Lyrically they share many of the same lines – too many to mention here – most notably in the final stanza, where Too Late and Foot of Pride contain almost identical wording. However, the focus of the songs is different. Too Late feels more reflective and dream-like, while Foot of Pride sharpens the same material into a fierce attack on hypocrisy and pride. Musically they are quite distinct as well. In that sense, Too Late offers a fascinating glimpse into Dylan’s creative workshop, where songs are not always finished pieces but living material that can transform, merge, or reappear in new forms.
On the subject of Foot of Pride, a big shout-out to one of the very few cover versions of a Bob Dylan song that I think surpasses the original – Lou Reed’s Foot of Pride at the Bob Dylan 30th Anniversary Concert Celebration.
The structure of Too Late brings to my mind two earlier Dylan compositions, Up to Me and Tangled up in Blue from the album Blood on the Tracks. Like those songs, Too Late moves along with a steady refrain, repetitive melody and a flowing storytelling style. Musically, its acoustic strumming and the gentle folk sound reminds me of Maybe by Thom Pace, known from the television series The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams.
[Verse 1] Well, whether there was a murder I don’t know I wasn’t there I was busy visiting a friend in jail There were just two women on the scene at the time Neither one of ’em saw a thing Both of ’em were wearing veils They said it was a natural situation He reached too high and tumbled back to the ground You know what they say about being nice to people on your way up You might meet ’em again on your way back down
[Refrain] But it’s too late to bring him back Too late, too late, too late, too late, too late, to bring him back
[Verse 2] He had a brother named Paul Hang out at the cafe royal Where Miss Dolly plays and the reviews have been mixed Well, he’s pretty to look at Looking for someone to throw the book at But you know that he drinks and drinks can be fixed Sing me one more song about your summer romance I know you don’t know motherless children Sing me the one about you and Errol Flynn In these times of compassion Where conformity’s a fashion Say one more stupid thing to me Before the final nail is driven in
[Refrain] But it’s too late to bring him back Too late, too late, too late, too late, too late, to bring him back
[Verse 3] Dr. Silver Spoon from the empress ballroom He’s a retired businessman Who feeds off everyone he’s touched He gives money to the church and foundations for research He’s not someone you can play around with to much But then there’s Rosetta Blake Who’s been to both sides of the lake She’s rough to look at But she’s righteously fit She’ll feed you coconut bread and spiced buns in bed You won’t have to worry about sleeping face down with your head in the plate
[Refrain] But it’s too late to bring him back Too late, too late, too late, too late, too late, to bring him back
[Verse 4] You’ll arrange to see your man tonight Who tells you some secret things you think might open some doors How to enter the gates of paradise No not really More like how to go crazy from carrying a burden that’s never meant to be yours From the stage they’ll be doing the bumps and the grinds A whore will pass the hat, collect a hundred grand and say thanks They like to take all this money from sin, and build big universities to study in And sing amazing grace all the way to the Swiss bank
[Refrain] But it’s too late to bring him back Too late, too late, too late, too late, too late, to bring him back
[Verse 5] They got some serious people out there man They can ring your bell and show you how to hold your tongue They don’t come to party man They kill babies in the crib and say only the good die young They don’t believe in mercy and judgment on them is something you’ll never see They can put your face on a postage stamp Turn your home into a armed camp Anyway they want you That’s the way you’ll be
[Refrain] But it’s too late to bring him back Too late, too late, too late, too late, too late, to bring him back
[Verse 6] Yes I loved him too I still see him in my mind climbing up that hill Or was it a wall I don’t recall It don’t matter at all honey And it never will Ain’t nothin’ left here partner Just the dust of fools that have left their mark in spades From now on this will be where you’re from Let the dead bury the dead Your time will come Feel that hot iron glowing now as your raise the shades
[Refrain] But it’s too late to bring him back Too late, too late, too late, too late, too late, to bring him back
Eric says here, he chose the name Derek and the Dominos to test if the music could survive on its own.
I really wanted to put it to a very severe test. I made an album called ‘Layla and Assorted Love Songs’ and I thought if it sells well without any name attached to it, then it’s good music.
To me, Eric Clapton is one of those few artists who looks almost unrecognisable in their younger days. Just like in the photo above, I have to look twice to pick him out. Oh yeah – that’s him, I think on the far right. Eric’s voice sounds wonderfully soulful on today’s featured track, I Looked Away. The band makes everything sound seamless and easy on this bluesy number, and it feels like a rather underrated song in Eric’s vast catalogue.
I really like that gritty, curling guitar sound right at the start, then the other guitar comes in and overlaps it. The voices also weave together in a similar way. Then there’s that short, sharp wailing guitar solo, which is sublime. There’s real pain in Clapton’s playing – so good. It’s a tight and clever piece that seems simple on the surface and flows effortlessly, but actually there’s quite a lot going on musically.
I Looked Away seems a deceptively simple song about a woman who walked away on her man, but there may be more going on here. On the surface, the singer laments the moment he “looked away,” after which his girl leaves him and he is left miserable. In the second verse, however, it becomes clear that she was actually another man’s woman. If loving her is a sin, he says, then he will keep on sinning.
But in SongMeanings below, someone makes a very strong argument that the song might actually be about two different men who love the same woman but are on opposite sides of the situation. One voice – often assumed to be Clapton – sings the chorus and the first verse about a woman leaving him because he “looked away.” The second verse, sung by Bobby Whitlock, may represent the other man, who admits he is loving “another man’s woman.”
At the time, Clapton was deeply in love with Patty Boyd, who was still married to his close friend George Harrison. His feelings for her became one of the emotional forces behind the music he was writing around this period. Harrison and Boyd eventually divorced in 1977, and Boyd later married Clapton on 27 March 1979. Their marriage, however, was troubled and ended in divorce in 1989.
Derek and the Dominos released only one studio album, Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs (1970), and I Looked Away appears early in that record. The album also features notable slide-guitar contributions from Duane Allman, whose playing became a defining part of the album’s sound and legacy.
[Pre-Chorus] She took my hand And tried to make me understand That she would always be there
[Chorus] But I looked away And she ran away from me today I’m such a lonely man
[Verse 1] It came as no surprise to me That she’d leave me in misery It seemed like only yesterday She made a vow that she would never walk away
[Pre-Chorus] She took my hand And tried to make me understand That she would always be there
[Chorus] But I looked away And she ran away from me today I’m such a lonely man
[Verse 2] And if it seemed a sin To love another man’s woman, baby I guess I’ll keep on sinning Loving her, Lord, till my very last day
[Chorus] But I looked away And she ran away from me today I’m such a lonely man
What I’ve found surprising since undertaking this project is just how much music from Enya I have featured here and continue to do so. When I first started in 2019, I had about three songs ready to go, but her contributions have more than doubled since then as I’ve heard more of her music.
I know Enya is not everyone’s cup of tea because of how much her “sound” saturates the commercial landscape, but it’s typically those songs which aren’t so well known – mostly instrumental and musically simple – that draw me in. This leads us nicely to today’s featured piece, the piano-driven instrumental From Where I Am, which is about as elementary as Enya’s music gets. Sometimes less really is more.
When I hear From Where I Am it feels homely, nurturing, yet spiritual and renewing, akin to the feminine side. It is the fifth track and the second of three piano instrumentals from Enya’s fourth studio album The Memory of Trees (1995). The album is Enya’s first to be recorded entirely in Ireland. It became a worldwide commercial success, reaching No. 1 in Australia, No. 5 in the UK and No. 9 in the US.
In terms of mood and cadence, From Where I Am reminds me of another piano instrumental – the title track from her next record A Day Without Rain. In fact, I was so taken by A Day Without Rain that I used it to conclude a family DVD I created for my son’s third birthday, thirteen years ago.
Both of these pieces I hold dear, and I feel a sense of acceptance and gratitude whenever I hear them.
Enya Patricia Brennan known professionally as Enya, is an Irish singer, songwriter, record producer and musician. She began her music career with her family band Clannad, but left in 1982 with their manager and producer Nicky Ryan to pursue a solo career. She has sung in 10 languages; eight more than me. The commercial and critical success of Watermark (1988) propelled her to worldwide fame. You could describe her music as new-age Celtic.
I tell you what’s a real “tragedy”! That they didn’t repeat the gorgeous string sequence just after Christina sings in the first refrain, “Don’t call this love,” at 1:39. Honestly, that moment alone is worth the price of admission. Astoundingly, they never lean into it again – not after the second refrain, nor anywhere else in the song. I find it frustrating that they didn’t hammer home that beautiful lamenting sequence throughout.
I know I’m being highly critical, but when you’ve listened to enough Christina Perri like I have, you start to notice the weak spots, especially in her earlier work. At the time she was clearly overworked, and sometimes you get the sense that things felt rushed. Reflecting on the making of her debut album Lovestrong – which Tragedy appears on – she described the process as “the best 33 days of my life and the worst 33 days of my life… I was running from studio one to studio three and back again doing the vocals, the piano, the guitar, the harmonies, and the doubles.”
Also, prior to 2012, Perri was struggling with alcohol and drug addiction and eventually hit rock bottom. She later turned things around and marked 11 years of sobriety in March 2023.
Tragedy is yet another song by Perri about a relationship gone sour. More than that, she calls it a tragedy because her partner never made the most of what they had. Perri found herself constantly forgiving and forgetting, only to realise that what they had was never really love at all. She also refuses to be made a fool of by calling it love. As a listener, you can really feel the depth of the heartache and pain in her voice here – at times she wallows in it.
During the recording period, Perri said that sometimes they would record two songs in a single day, forcing her to prepare mentally to sing about one relationship from 2007 and then switch emotions to sing about another relationship from 2008.
As readers of my blog know, Christina is my favourite female balladeer and troubadour and has featured here more times than I’ve had hot dinners. Normally I’m bursting at the seams to sing her praises, so I do feel a bit glum about not doing that here as much – but sometimes it doesn’t hurt to be honest and change things up a bit.
To me, Tragedy just scrapes in as mid-tier Perri. That’s still saying it’s pretty darn good, because…well…it’s Perri! But it had the potential to be an absolute masterpiece. It’s definitely the number one Perri song where I wish they could go back and produce it again. It had all the ingredients – the melody, the voice, and the instrumentation – just not the right sequencing or emphasis on certain parts which I’ll explore more below.
Strangely, this is one of the few Perri songs where I wish there were less of her voice and more of the spectacular instrumentation. Sometimes I even catch myself thinking, “No, don’t sing Christina,” because the magnificent looping piano and accompanying strings sound so exquisite on their own. I also think Perri tries to do a little too much here with her voice – stretching notes or wavering them when it isn’t really necessary. Another issue is the sheer amount of singing. She hardly takes a break. Christina, we know you have the pipes, but sometimes you wish the producer – Joe Chiccarelli in this case – had simply made her step back a little.
To her credit, Christina seems to have learned that lesson over the years: sometimes less really is more. You can hear that clearly on her later work, especially A Lighter Shade of Blue, which leans much more toward an art-music style with a minimalist and modest approach. With such a wonderful accompaniment in Tragedy, that same “less is more” approach vocally might have served the song best.
It’s also interesting to note how Christina – both in terms of her music and even her appearance – seems only to have improved with age. A Lighter Shade of Blue really is the bee’s knees, and she looks as beautiful as ever in motherhood. Just watch her video Pixie Dust to see how much – and to catch her at the apex of her music game.
[Verse 1] If you could envision The meaning of a tragedy Ooh, you might be Surprised to hear it’s you and me But when it comes down to it You never made the most of it Ooh, so I cried, cried, cried And now, I say goodbye
[Refrain] And I won’t be made a fool of Don’t call this love
[Verse 2] When did you decide That I didn’t have enough to buy Forgive and forget you a thousand times For the fire and the sleepless nights
[Refrain] And I won’t be made a fool of Don’t call this love
[Pre-Chorus] Don’t call this love
[Chorus] La-la-la-la, la-la-la-la La, love, la-la, love La, love, la-la, love La, love, la-la-la, la, love
[Verse 3] Why did you feel the need To prove that everybody else was right? No, I won’t fight
[Bridge] Oh, you’re my tragedy Tragedy, oh, you’re my tragedy Oh, this is Oh, no, no, no
[Chorus] La-la-la-la, la-la-la-la La, love, la-la, la, love La, love, la-la, love La, love, la-la, love La-la-la-la, la-la-la-la La, love, la-la, love La, love, la-la, love Love
In today’s Wednesday literature segment, I feature a seven-page excerpt from The Long Firm by Jake Arnott, a British novel which I’m just about to finish reading. As usual, if you enjoy dabbling in books, feel free to join me on Goodreads [here].
My literature extracts on this blog usually come from classic English literature that is suitable for a general readership. But today’s featured book comes from the crime genre and includes LGBT themes, which I hardly ever read. I was looking forward to the change. It is definitely a bit “left-field” compared with the usual material I feature here.
The Long Firm is about a gangster seen through the eyes of his associates. His name is Harry Starks and he controls much of the London underworld. The story also features a number of fictional encounters with real-life entertainers from the 1960s, including poor Judy Garland, no less.
The book is made up of five sections, each told by a different character who has dealings with Harry Starks. Each person gives their own account of what it was like to be involved with him. The characters range from a Member of Parliament whom Harry is blackmailing to a young male prostitute. It goes without saying that the subject matter can be quite scandalous, and at times it becomes very violent and rather gruesome in parts. So intending readers should be aware of what they are getting into.
That said, I am not usually one for watching or reading violent material. But the realism, the world-building, and the authentic slang and language of the period drew me in completely. The build-up to the pay-off or climax in each section is very well done. The violent episodes never feel as if they are there just for shock value. Instead, they come across as a realistic consequence of dealing with the underworld and the sorts of characters who inhabit it.
I found The Long Firm a cracking read – a real page-turner up until the last section, which I’m currently reading. It has unfortunately descended into a social-political ideology snooze fest, lacking any of the heightened tension and realism that came before it. But overall, the novel has been a refreshing change from the more proper and sensible books I had been reading, not that I mean any disrespect to those.
After something this entertaining, darkly humorous, and full of edge-of-your-seat moments, it may be a little difficult to return straight away to my beloved classical and historical fiction. From a Tv & film perspective, I would compare the feel and tone of the book (four sections of five) to a mix between Pulp Fiction, True Detective (season 1!) and Goodfellas. If you like those in particular, you will probably get a real kick out of The Long Firm.
Before I get to the extract, it is worth explaining what the title The Long Firm actually refers to. In plain terms, “the long firm” is slang for a long-running con in which a group of criminals sets up what appears to be a legitimate business – often a trading company. They build trust slowly over a long period, taking goods on credit, until one day the business collapses overnight and the gang disappears with the merchandise or the money. So the “firm” was fake all along, and the “long” part refers to how patiently the scam is carried out.
The seven-page excerpt from the book that I have included below contains one of my favourite parts. I found myself laughing out loud at some of the wordplay and confrontations. It does not spoil any of the major plot twists, nor does it go into anything too violent, although there is a brief recollection of a violent incident. There is plenty of foul language, sexist rhetoric, and general mouthing off – so you are warned.
This excerpt comes from the section told in the first person by another associate of Harry’s – freelancer Jack “the Hat”, who works as a hired “heavy” for Harry. As the description suggests, his job is to help out in certain situations by being an intimidating physical presence. And if the situation calls for it, he is there to physically engage and “rough up” someone Harry is trying to get information from.
To set the scene: both Harry and Jack have arranged to meet at a club owned by one of Harry’s associates. Harry wants to see a stage performance by Dorothy Squires (a real life Welsh music entertainer), whose music he was rather fond of in her heyday. He wants to see if she still has the chops, and if so, perhaps invite her to perform at his own club.
So when the excerpt begins below, we find Jack “the Hat” in his apartment in the afternoon – pretty dishevelled, to put it mildly – before heading out to the club (from which he had been barred) with Harry to see Dorothy Squires perform.
So without further ado, if you have ten minutes to spare, grab yourself a cuppa and strap yourself in. It is quite a show. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. Please excuse the poor image formatting in the second half, when I realised there was simply too much to transcribe – but you should find yourself well-settled in by then to carry on.
Pages 119 – 125
Drive home. Vodka mouthwash. Collapse into bed. Wake up and it’s already starting to get dark again. Four o’clock. Feel like death. Take a couple of bombers and pick up a bit. Yeah. Have a bath. Shave. Watch a bit of telly. Find a half-clean shirt and give it an iron. No clean underwear so I put on a pair swimming trunks instead. Dab the suit down a bit. Get ready. Chicka, chicka, chicka. Get suited and booted. Phone Harry. Arrange to meet him in the Midmay Tavern on ball’s Pond Road. Have a few before going on to the Tempo. Barred? What a joke. Ready to go. Down a couple more bombers just to be on the safe side…. Get to the The Tempo mob-handed and a bit tanked up. Bother on the door. Some fucking Geordies in monkey suits don’t want to let me in. Freddie comes out. ‘Look,’ he says all reasonable and shit. ‘We don’t want any trouble from Jack.’ Harry intervenes. One club owner to another like. ‘It’s all right, Freddie. He’s with me. I’ll look after him.’ Freddy lets me in grinning nervously. You know he’s thinking about his fixtures and fittings. I put up with this shit and stroll in, unimpressed. Feel a bit wound up, to tell you the truth. Down a couple more bombers, chase them with a bacardi and Coke. That’s better. Stay out of trouble, Jack. Chicka, chicka, chicka. Fuck them. The Tempo is all red walls and chairs sprayed gold. Trying to be classy, I suppose. All fur coat and no knickers if you ask me. At the least the teenagers I push pills to know how to enjoy themselves. All this pouncing about in dinner jackets. Don’t impress me. Me and Harry grab another drink and a table. Dorothy Squires has started her act. Short blond hair. Looks a bit washed out to tell the truth. Hoarse voice singing some sad song. She’s past her best but she can still belt it out good and proper. Harry loves it. But then queers always seem to go for this sort of thing. Some washed-out old bint wailing on about what a mess they’ve got themselves into. Like old Judy Garland. Harry’s a sucker for her and all. Dorothy’s taking swigs from a bottle between numbers. Pretending it’s water, I suppose. It’s obviously booze. Looks like she’s had a few already. Harry looks a bit concerned. Unprofessional, he’d call it. ‘She’s pissed Jack.’ he says a bit affronted. ‘Maybe The Saint ain’t giving it to her enough,’ I reply. You see Dot’s married to Roger Moore who plays The Saint on the telly. Harry doesn’t see the joke and goes to take a piss. Dorothy’s beginning to slur her words. I feel the speed and the booze surge up inside me. Feel great. Poor old Dot looks fucked, and the crowd’s getting a bit restless. ‘Where’s The Saint?’ I shout. Laughter. Then lots of shushing. Dorothy looks out blearily across the crowd, rotten drunk. Chicka, chicka, chicka– I can’t stop myself. ‘What’s he like in bed then?’ I shout over. ‘The old Saint?’ Get a few laughs. A bit more shushing. Dorothy loses her rag. ‘You mind your own business!’ she yells, her voice thick with Welsh. ‘He’s a lot better than you!’ Laughter. No more shushing. I’m part of the floorshow now. ‘Come down here, darling!’ I call back . ‘We’ll soon see!’ ‘I’ll come down and have a fight with you!’ she screams, her accent getting Welsher all the time. More laughter. Everyone turns around to look at me. I stand up. The whole club does a bit of a spin around me. Faces everywhere. Looking at Jack. Jack the Hat. ‘Come on then, darling!’ I shout out. I move forward. Knock over a chair and kick it out of the way. A couple of doormen are coming over. ”All right, Geordie boy!’ I call out to the biggest one. ‘Me and Dorothy are just working on our double act.’ This thick northener’s grunting something in a stupid accent but no one can hear a thing because Dorothy’s giving the whole place a mouthful. ‘Fuck the lot of you!’ she’s screeching as she leaves the stage. Game girl. I give her a clap and a cheer. The doormen are moving in but people are getting up and walking out. Lots of pushing and shoving. A ruck starts and the thick Geordie boys go off to deal with it. Booing and whistling from the bac of the hall. Some prat of a compere in a crap shiny tuxedo announces the next act over the row. An exotic dancer. I move towards the stage. The row’s been settled. The doormen are dragging someone out. The dancer’s music starts. Some mad Turkish racket. Drums going like crazy. Boom ba di boom ba di boom ba di boom.
We find Leonard Cohen at his most musically rudimentary and starkly poetic in today’s featured track, Tower of Song. It feels like a walk in the wilderness: Cohen crying out in solitude and pleading for inspiration and passion from the music gods in the Tower of Song. All he seems to have left to hold onto – even to pay his rent – is the Tower of Song.
Despite its title, Tower of Song contains very little “song” in the usual sense. Its approach is spare and minimalist. In fact after finishing the lyrics, Cohen called an engineer in Montreal and recorded it in one take using a small Casio synthesizer.
Here Cohen deals openly with being an aging songwriter. He lays it all bare in this piece of art-house music, speaking as the consummate poet. Despite being as musically straightforward as it comes, the song – poem, if you will – still evokes rich imagery, shifting emotions, and that cheeky, ironic, dark humour we are accustomed to hearing from Leonard. Aware of his reputation among critics as a “flat singer,” he wrote:
I was born like this, I had no choice I was born with the gift of a golden voice And twenty-seven angels from the Great Beyond
Audiences often reacted most favourably when Cohen sang these lines, such as in his 2008 live performance in London. I’m especially fond of this performance, with so much humour and interaction between Leonard and the audience, so I’ve included it at the end of this post.
In Tower of Song, Cohen also pays respect to earlier pioneers of music such as Hank Williams – who he places “a hundred floors above” him in the tower. At the same time, he does not sugarcoat how it must have been for artists like Hank, struggling in lonely pursuit while paving the way for others to follow.
There are similarities between the transparent, introspective Cohen in Tower of Song and another gem from the same album, Everybody Knows. Both songs challenge us to drop the small cloaks that hide our past mistakes and our worry about how others see us. Keeping up a façade is tiring. There is something freeing in assuming that people already know more about us than we think – including our secrets – and accepting that.
So, Leonard is saying goodbye to what’s past:
Now I bid you farewell, I don’t know when I’ll be back
But echoes of his music, which reflect his devotion and strength to this art form, will live on – long after he is gone.
But you’ll be hearing from me baby, long after I’m gone I’ll be speaking to you sweetly from a window In the Tower of Song
Tower of Song is aptly the final track on Cohen’s 1988 album I’m Your Man.
[Verse 1] Well my friends are gone and my hair is grey I ache in the places where I used to play And I’m crazy for love but I’m not coming on I’m just paying my rent every day In the Tower of Song
[Verse 2] I said to Hank Williams, ”How lonely does it get?” Hank Williams hasn’t answered yet But I hear him coughing all night long Oh, a hundred floors above me In the Tower of Song
[Verse 3] I was born like this, I had no choice I was born with the gift of a golden voice And twenty-seven angels from the Great Beyond They tied me to this table right here In the Tower of Song
[Verse 4] So you can stick your little pins in that voodoo doll I’m very sorry, baby, doesn’t look like me at all I’m standing by the window where the light is strong Ah they don’t let a woman kill you Not in the Tower of Song
[Verse 5] Now you can say that I’ve grown bitter but of this you may be sure The rich have got their channels in the bedrooms of the poor And there’s a mighty judgement coming, but I may be wrong You see, you hear these funny voices In the Tower of Song
[Bridge] I see you standing on the other side I don’t know how the river got so wide I loved you baby, way back when And all the bridges are burning that we might have crossed But I feel so close to everything that we lost We’ll never, we’ll never have to lose it again
[Verse 6] Now I bid you farewell, I don’t know when I’ll be back They’re moving us tomorrow to that tower down the track But you’ll be hearing from me baby, long after I’m gone I’ll be speaking to you sweetly from a window In the Tower of Song
[Verse 1] Yeah my friends are gone and my hair is grey I ache in the places where I used to play And I’m crazy for love but I’m not coming on I’m just paying my rent every day In the Tower of Song
Dido’s music is just so chill, and she has this familiar girl-next-door aura. You might not even pick her out if you saw her in a crowd. Her persona is not like that of the typical commercial pop star – and that can only be a good thing. Today’s featured track, Life for Rent, is another breezy song with a melody that seems unassuming but stays with you.
It’s a very open and transparent song and contains evocative imagery, as shown in the music video below. The video is striking and beautifully reflects the feelings expressed in the song. It shows her in the bath and in the darkness, confronting her demons and opening up about her own personal shortfalls.
It’s a sad but very introspective song about not taking chances or committing to anyone. Her heart is a shield and she won’t let it down. She doesn’t know why she hasn’t pursued her dreams. Because of that, she feels she deserves nothing more than she gets. It’s as though her life is for rent – because nothing she has is truly hers. It’s an inspirational song because it leads the listener to reflect on their own lives and ask whether they are truly owning their lives or just paying rent on them. Moreover, it also hints at the impermanent nature of things in life.
The English singer wrote the song when she was living in the US after what she described as “running away from England” because of excessive attention from journalists and British tabloid newspapers, and had just ended a relationship. Her song Life for Rent, despite being released in the US, extraordinarily did not chart there.
Life For Rent is the title track from her second studio album. It was released as the second single from the album peaking at No. 8 on the UK charts and in the top 40 in a whole host of other countries including No. 28 in Australia. The first single from the album – White Flag, which will feature here when we arrive at the W’s in the alphabetical order listing.
The album Life For Rent sold over 12 million copies worldwide, making it the fourth best-selling album worldwide of 2003 and the 34th best selling album in UK chart history.
[Verse 1] I haven’t ever really found a place that I call home I never stick around quite long enough to make it I apologise that once again I’m not in love But it’s not as if I mind that your heart ain’t exactly breaking
[Pre-Chorus] It’s just a thought, only a thought
[Chorus] But if my life is for rent And I don’t learn to buy Well, I deserve nothing more than I get ‘Cause nothing I have is truly mine
[Verse 2] I’ve always thought that I would love to live by the sea To travel the world alone and live more simply I have no idea what’s happened to that dream ‘Cause there’s really nothing left here to stop me
[Pre-Chorus] It’s just a thought, only a thought
[Chorus] If my life is for rent And I don’t learn to buy Well, I deserve nothing more than I get ‘Cause nothing I have is truly mine If my life is for rent And I don’t learn to buy Well, I deserve nothing more than I get ‘Cause nothing I have is truly mine
[Bridge] While my heart is a shield and I won’t let it down While I am so afraid to fail, so I won’t even try Well, how can I say I’m alive?
[Chorus] If my life is for rent And I don’t learn to buy Well, I deserve nothing more than I get ‘Cause nothing I have is truly mine If my life is for rent And I don’t learn to buy Well, I deserve nothing more than I get ‘Cause nothing I have is truly mine
[Outro] ‘Cause nothing I have is truly mine ‘Cause nothing I have is truly mine ‘Cause nothing I have is truly mine
Observation Blogger 