Soon After Midnight (2012) – Bob Dylan

Posted on November 7, 2024 by observationblogger — 1 Comment

Soon After Midnight is track 2 on Bob Dylan’s 2012 album Tempest and the third track to appear here from the album after his previous entry Pay in Blood. Like much of Dylan’s 21st-century output, he produced the album himself using the pseudonym Jack Frost. I have always loved the murder – ballad Soon After Midnight as I do the whole first half of his 35th studio album. The album was recorded at Jackson Browne’s Groove Masters Studios in Santa Monica, California and peaked at number 3 on the Billboard 200.

Soon After Midnight drifts between love and violence, set against the backdrop of a gritty, shadowy underworld. Dylan creates an atmosphere of subtle menace, especially when he sings lines like, “Two-timing Slim, who’s ever heard of him? / I’ll drag his corpse through the mud.” This vivid image injects a sly hint of violence into the song’s otherwise tender tone, blurring the line between sweetness and threat—a hallmark of noir. In the noir style, innocence often hides danger, much like an anti-hero who embodies both romantic allure and peril. For a more detailed and nuanced exploration, check out David Weir’s insightful analysis. Weir, a philosophy tutor and former English teacher, offers a compelling breakdown of the song’s themes and layers.

Like the Rolling Stone article I would also place Soon After Midnight in my “The 25 Best Bob Dylan Songs of the 21st Century“. Between 2012 and 2021, Dylan played the song live over 470 times.

[Verse 1]
I’m searching for phrases to sing your praises
I need to tell someone
It’s soon after midnight
And my day has just begun

[Verse 2]
A gal named Honey took my money
She was passing by
It’s soon after midnight
And the moon is in my eye

[Verse 3]
My heart is cheerful, it’s never fearful
I’ve been down on the killing floors
I’m in no great hurry, I’m not afraid of your fury
I’ve faced stronger walls than yours

[Verse 4]
Charlotte’s a harlot, dresses in scarlet
Mary dresses in green
It’s soon after midnight
And I’ve got a date with the fairy queen

[Verse 5]
They chirp and they chatter, what does it matter?
They’re lying there dying in their blood
Two-timing Slim, who’s ever heard of him?
I’ll drag his corpse through the mud

[Verse 6]
It’s now or never, more than ever
When I met you I didn’t think you would do
It’s soon after midnight
And I don’t want nobody but you

The following was extracted from the first Wikipedia reference below:

The title is a reference to “fairy time” in William Shakespeare’s play A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Also the line “I’ve got a date with the fairy queen” is referred to in the same play where the character Bottom has an encounter with Titania, the fairy queen, shortly after midnight.

In their book Bob Dylan All the Songs: The Story Behind Every Track, authors Philippe Margotin and Jean-Michel Guesdon note that the song’s intro owes a debt to A New Shade of Blue by The Bobby Fuller Four and discuss how Dylan’s vocal is “sweet and gentle”, taking on a “new patina that makes it less aggressive” than on other recent songs. They also praise the “excellent” playing of the band, “especially Donnie Herron’s steel guitar solo, doubled by a six-string guitar”.

References:
1. Soon After Midnight – Wikipedia
2. Tempest (Bob Dylan album) – Wikpedia
3. Soon After Midnight – Bob Dylan Song Analysis

Tagged with: , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Music

Songbird (Fleetwood Mac song) 1997- Eva Cassidy

Posted on November 5, 2024 by observationblogger — 9 Comments

Songbird is the third Eva Cassidy song to appear here after her previous entry Over the Rainbow. Her version of the Christine McVie-penned track from Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours was added to her posthumous albums. It was released on her first solo studio album Eva By Heart in 1997 one year after her death and then released again as the title track of a compilation album (see image above) in 1998. The compilation album was certified Platinum in 2008 for shipments in excess of one million copies.

I always considered Eva Cassidy’s voice one of the most angelic and purest I have heard in contemporary modern music yet she tragically passed away without finding commercial success in her lifetime. She died of melanoma in 1996 at the age of 33 and was virtually unknown outside of her native Washington D.C. Fortunately we are blessed to have many live and studio recordings of her songs.

[Verse 1]
For you, there’ll be no crying
For you, the sun will be shining
‘Cause I feel that when I’m with you
It’s alright
I know it’s right

[Chorus]
And the songbirds keep singing like they know the score
And I love you, I love you, I love you
Like never before

[Verse 2]
To you, I would give the world
To you, I’d never be cold
‘Cause I feel that when I’m with you
It’s alright
I know it’s right

[Chorus]
And the songbirds keep singing like they know the score
And I love you, I love you, I love you
Like never before
Like never before
Like never before

The following information was extracted from the second reference below:

The original song appeared on Fleetwood Mac‘s 1977 album Rumours and was released as the B-side of the single Dreams. It is one of four songs written solely by the English musician and singer-songwriter Christine McVie on the album. She was the keyboardist and one of the vocalists and songwriters of the band.

McVie wrote Songbird in half an hour around midnight, but didn’t have anyone around to record it. To ensure she did not forget the chord structure and melody, McVie remained awake the entire night. The next day, McVie played the song and producer Ken Caillat loved the track and suggested she record it alone in a concert style approach. 

McVie frequently sang the song at the end of Fleetwood Mac concerts. Her former husband, John McVie, recalled that “When Christine played “Songbird”, grown men would weep.”

References:
1. Songbird (Eva Cassidy album) – Wikipedia
2. Songbird (Fleetwood Mac song) – Wikipedia

Tagged with: , , ,
Posted in Music

Song to the Siren (1970) – Tim Buckley

Posted on November 4, 2024 by observationblogger — 7 Comments

In 2019, around the early days of my Music Library Project I wrote an article about a scarcely known Australian movie called Candy starring Heath ledger and Abbie Cornish. Tim Buckley’s Song to the Siren features prominently in it; once at the beginning of the movie with Paula Arundell’s stunning version (seen at the end of this post with scenes from the movie) and Tim Buckley’s original at the end. In that article I mentioned Tim Buckley’s version briefly, but it didn’t do him justice. It felt like a duty to devote an entire piece to his rendition – so here we are today.

Saying this movie and song linger deep within my psyche would be an understatement. Song to the Siren ranks among the greatest ballads I’ve ever heard. I don’t know how to listen to this song without tears welling-up. Before diving into more details about the song and its creators, I invite you to first read these beautifully crafted words by Tim Buckley and Larry Beckett:

Long afloat on shipless oceans
I did all my best to smile
’til your singing eyes and fingers
Drew me loving to your isle

And you sang:
“Sail to me
Sail to me
Let me enfold you
Here I am
Here I am
Waiting to hold you”

Did I dream you dreamed about me?
Were you hare when I was fox?
Now my foolish boat is leaning
Broken lovelorn on your rocks

For you sing:
“Touch me not
Touch me not
Come back tomorrow
O my heart
O my heart
Shies from the sorrow”

I am puzzled as the oyster
I am troubled as the tide:
Should I stand amid your breakers?
Should I lie with death, my bride?

Hear me sing:
“Swim to me
Swim to me
Let me enfold you
Here I am
Here I am
Waiting to hold you”

Song to the Siren was released in 1970, on Tim’s album ‘Starsailor’. In tune with the “sailor” theme of the album, revolving around voyages, the song is heavily based on the mythical figure of Sirens, as seen in Homer´s “The Odyssey“. It beggars belief that Tim Buckley known for pioneering new sounds like he did in Lorca, tragically passed away without finding commercial success in his lifetime.

The following was extracted from the Wikipedia reference below:
Pat Boone was the first to release a recording of the song when it was featured on his 1969 album Departure, predating Buckley’s album. The song has become perhaps Buckley’s most famous due to a number of artists covering the song after his death in 1975.

Song to the Siren was written in 1967, but Buckley was dissatisfied with early attempts at recording it. It would finally appear on his album Starsailor three years later. In 1968, Buckley first performed the song solo in its original folk song style as a guest star on the series finale of The Monkees as seen below.

Lyricist Larry Beckett recalled to Uncut of Tim Buckley:
“I only saw him actually compose to my lyrics once, and it was ‘Song To The Siren.’ He looked at that page, which had only taken me a few minutes to write, days before, and started playing and singing the song as if it was already written. He made some minor adjustments and it was complete. We were astonished.“

Buckley and Beckett regarded this song as their greatest collaboration, with Beckett later stating “It’s a perfect match of melody and lyrics. There was some kind of uncanny connection between us.”

References:
1. A Little Known Australian Movie called ‘Candy’ and Tim Buckley’s ‘Song to the Siren’ – Observation Blogger
2. Song to the Siren – Wikipedia
3. Tim Buckley – Wikipedia

Tagged with: , , , ,
Posted in Music

The Abduction of 5 Female Israelis on Oct 7, 2023

Posted on November 3, 2024 by observationblogger — 56 Comments

Warning: Graphic Footage.

So lest we forget the events which took place on Oct 7, 2023 in conjunction with my article Prof Conf on Sexual Violence Aspects of October 7th, 2023 in Israel, I point you to this video below of 5 female Israelis, namely Liri Albag, Karina Ariev, Agam Berger, Daniela Gilboa and Naama Levy held hostage at the Nahal Oz base on 9.00am of that barbaric day. The video states they have been held hostage for more than 8 months.

Further it is stated: ‘the translated footage taken from Hamas body cameras, and obtained from the IDF, was edited and censored to remove the most disturbing moments but it still contains graphic footage‘.

This video as alarming as it is, should be seen by responsible adults to inculcate the true horror of what was besieged on the Israeli people. I would recommend its widest dissemination possible so that people are informed of what occurred.

Tagged with: , , , ,
Posted in News

Song For Guy (1978) – Elton John

Posted on November 3, 2024 by observationblogger — 2 Comments

As I was writing this song one Sunday, I imagined myself floating into space and looking down at my own body. I was imagining myself dying. Morbidly obsessed with these thoughts, I wrote this song about death. The next day I was told that Guy [Burchett], our 17-year-old messenger boy, had been tragically killed on his motorcycle the day before. Guy died on the day I wrote this song.

— Elton John, from the sleeve notes of the 7-inch single

I think the photo of Elton above is about my favourite of him. That could quite easily adorn my living room alongside my son’s Rocky IV poster. Song For Guy is the ending track to Elton’s A Single Man album. It is an instrumental piece and as stated above was written on the day Guy Burchett, the messenger boy for Elton, was killed in an accident. It’s one of the only Elton John songs solely credited to Elton as most of his songs were written with lyricist Bernie Taupin. In a 2013 interview with Rolling Stone, Elton John said:

I made it (A Single Man) without Taupin. Bernie and I never split up. But we were doing a lot of drugs and drinking heavily, and he was beginning to write with other people, which made me a little jealous, but I decided I’d write with some other people. We never discussed it, we just let it go, and it hurt. It hurt him and it hurt me, but we both had the resilience and the intelligence to know that if we didn’t let each other write with other people, it would be the end of our relationship.

My favorite track from A Single Man is “Song for Guy” – it was different, it was an instrumental, it was just me doing everything. It meant so much to me, that track. It was a huge record in England and everywhere else in the world, but it was my first single that didn’t make the Top 100 in the U.S. That was the reason I got bloody-minded and left MCA Records. I wanted­ to have an instrumental on the charts. They said, “You can’t.” So I said, “F/&k you, I’m joining Geffen.” In retrospect, that was a big mistake.

According to Wikipedia:
The song opens with a solo piano, which is then accompanied by a looped Roland CR-78 drum machine,with occasional shaker and wind chimes alternating; other keyboards are often layered in shortly after, with a bass guitar mainly accompanying this. It is instrumental until the end, in which the words “Life isn’t everything” are repeated….

The song was one of his most successful singles in the UK, peaking at No. 4 in January 1979, and remaining on the chart for ten weeks. It marked his return to the Top Ten for the first time since 1976’s Don’t Go Breaking My Heart, which reached No. 1 on the same chart. The single was not released in the US until March 1979 where it barely made the charts, peaking at No. 110.

[Chorus]
Life isn’t everything
Isn’t everything
Isn’t everything

Life, life, life, life
Life, life, life, life, life, life

References:
1. Song For Guy – Elton John

Tagged with: , ,
Posted in Music

One Too Many Mornings (Live at Free Trade Hall, Manchester, UK – May 17, 1966) – Bob Dylan and The Band

Posted on November 2, 2024 by observationblogger — 6 Comments

On October 21, I wrote about Dylan’s Experimental Documentary ‘Eat the Document’ which features clips of his monumental ‘Play it Loud!’ second set songs as heard in the Bob Dylan Live 1966 Bootleg. I always considered it the beacon of rock defining moments in my music collection. Today’s featured track, One Too Many Mornings, is a song Dylan performs with such raw energy that it leaves the English audience (conmensúrate with the rest of his set) almost bewildered as can be seen by the emotional reactions of the exiting audience in his documentary. Their ears, accustomed to the gentler sounds of folk, are jolted by these unexpected renditions and audacious presentation. They perhaps came expecting to see Joan Baez’s anointed “prince of folk” deliver his usual sound—only to encounter something wholly different, challenging their perception of live music in a way rarely, if ever, experienced before or since.

One Too Many Mornings was originally recorded on Dylan’s 1964 record The Times They Are A-Changin’. Dylan skillfully captures the nostalgic ache of a post-breakup landscape filled with loneliness—a separation where the reasons aren’t exactly clear, but where love has quietly faded away. Across three verses, he returns to the refrain, “just one too many mornings, and a thousand miles behind,” creating an image of a solitary man, recently parted, drifting through life as he tries to piece together the aftermath. The relationship hasn’t ended in a dramatic fallout, but rather in a soft, muted departure.

[Verse 1]
Down the street, the dogs are barkin’ and the day is a-gettin’ dark
As the night comes in a-falling, the dogs will lose their bark
And the silent night will shatter from the sounds inside my mind

[Refrain]
Yes, I’m one too many mornings and a thousand miles behind

[Verse 2]
From the crossroads of my doorstep, my eyes start to fade
And I turn my head back to the room where my love and I have laid
And I gaze back to the street, the sidewalk, and the sign

[Refrain]
And I’m one too many mornings and a thousand miles behind

[Verse 3]
It’s a restless hungry feeling that don’t mean no one no good
When everything I’m a-sayin’, you can say it just as good
You’re right from your side, I am right from mine

[Refrain]
We’re both just one too many mornings and a thousand miles behind

Johnny Cash covered the song numerous times, including on the album Johnny & June in 1978. He also recorded two versions of the song with Dylan while Dylan was recording Nashville Skyline. One can be seen here.  Cash would cover it again as a duet with Waylon Jennings for the album Heroes in 1986. I find it fascinating that Johnny Cash couldn’t shake this song from his mind for years, feeling compelled to record it repeatedly — despite all the incredible works in Dylan’s repertoire. If this song resonated so deeply with Cash, then it’s definitely something worth appreciating in my book.

References:
1. One Too Many Mornings – Wikipedia
2. Masterpieces #1 — Bob Dylan — One Too Many Mornings – Medium

Tagged with: , , , ,
Posted in Music

I Don’t Believe You’ve Met My Baby (1992) – Jerry Douglas (Ft. Alison Krauss)

Posted on November 1, 2024 by observationblogger — 5 Comments

After an intense ’70s rock classic, it’s time to ease off the gas pedal with some beautiful progressive bluegrass. This takes us to 1992 and Slide Rule, the sixth solo album by Jerry Douglas who is widely recognized as a Dobro maestro. I first came across his name in connection with John Hiatt’s May 2021 album Leftover Feelings he recorded with the Jerry Douglas Band, which I reviewed here at the time. The gorgeous I Don’t Believe You’ve Met My Baby, written by Autry Inman, features Alison Krauss on vocals.

– The Sunday Six – Christian’s Music Musings

A fan wrote about Alison Krauss’ vocals in Alison Krauss & Jerry Douglas collaboration of James Taylor’s Carolina In My Mind that ‘When God gets tired of listening to the angels and their harps, I am convinced he puts on Alison Krauss. Because she is that good‘. This is how I felt when I first heard today’s featured track I Don’t Believe You’ve Met My Baby. I thought I’d woken up and gone to heaven. And don’t get me started when she sings the title of the song at 1:36. Such musical bliss. Angelic voice.

It carries the mystique of Celtic music, layered with bluegrass instrumentation reminiscent of the Fureys’ Belfast Mill. Yet here, there’s a heartfelt, homespun quality, brought to life by Krauss’ warm, honeyed vocals. The romance is dripping from these spectacular penned verses that it makes you feel like falling in love all over again. As Christian wrote in his page I Don’t Believe You’ve Met My Baby is a song written by Autry Inman and first recorded by The Louvin Brothers in 1955. It has been covered by many artists including the legendary Dolly Parton with her country-pop version here.

Last night, my dear, the rain was falling
I went to bed so sad and blue
Then, I had a dream of you

I dreamed I was strolling in the evening
Underneath the harvest moon
I was thinking about you

Then we met out in the moonlight
The stars were shining in your eyes
But another was there too

“I don’t believe you’ve met my baby”
You looked at her, you looked at me
I wondered who you were talking to

I shook the hand of your stranger
But I was shaking more inside
I was still wondering who

Your arm was resting on her shoulder
You smiled at her, she smiled at you
Her eyes were filled with victory

She said, “My brother wants to marry”
And then my heart was filled with ease
I knew that you would marry me

It’s clear I Don’t Believe You’ve Met My Baby has become a classic of country and bluegrass music. The song’s enduring popularity is a testament to Autry Inman’s skill as a songwriter. Following every tangent this song inspires feels too cumbersome for me. So I’ll leave it as a taster as Christian did for me in his blog.

Tagged with: , ,
Posted in Music

Sólo Le Pido a Dios – León Gieco (ft. Mercedes Sosa)

Posted on October 31, 2024 by observationblogger — 1 Comment

Haydée Mercedes “La Negra” Sosa was an Argentine singer who was popular throughout Latin America and many countries outside the region. With her roots in Argentine folk music, Sosa became one of the preeminent exponents of El nuevo cancionero (The new songbook). She gave voice to songs written by many Latin American songwriters. Her music made people hail her as the “voice of the voiceless ones”. She was often called “the conscience of Latin America”…..

After the military junta of Jorge Videla came to power in 1976, the atmosphere in Argentina grew increasingly oppressive. Sosa faced death threats against both her and her family, but refused for many years to leave the country. At a concert in La Plata in 1979, Sosa was searched and arrested on stage, along with all those attending the concert. Their release came about through international intervention. Banned in her own country, she moved to Paris and then to Madrid.

Sosa returned to Argentina from her exile in Europe in 1982, several months before the military regime collapsed as a result of the Falklands War.

– Mercedes Sosa – Wikipedia

Sólo Le Pido a Dios (Eng. I only ask God) was originally written and performed by Argentine singer-songwriter León Gieco in 1978. It was later performed by Argentine singer Mercedes Sosa (1935-2009) and it is her version (see below) which is the most recognised internationally. Sólo Le Pido a Dios is an anthem that was widely used throughout the social and political hardships and civil wars across Latin America, particularly in Argentina and Chile. It was written around the time that a military conflict between these two countries seemed all but inevitable. It belongs to the ‘Nueva Canción’ musical movement. It has also been performed by other groups and singer songwriters such as Bruce Springsteen (see his version below), Pete Seeger, U2, and Shakira.

A crude English translation of the lyrics follows:

I only ask of God
that the pain is not indifferent to me,
That the dried death does not encounter me
Empty and alone without having done enough.

I only ask of God
that injustice is not indifferent to me,
That they do not strike my other cheek
after a claw has scratched my fortune.

I only ask of God
that war is not indifferent to me,
It’s a large monster and it treads heavily
on all the poor innocence of the people.

It’s a large monster and it treads heavily
on all the poor innocence of the people.

I only ask of God
that treason is not indifferent to me,
If a traitor can do more than a few,
that this number of people will not forget easily.

I only ask of God
that the future is not indifferent to me,
Hopeless are those who must march on
to live a different culture.

The following was extracted from the Wikipedia reference below:
Gieco wrote it in 1978, at his parents’ house in his childhood village of Cañada Rosquín, a small town in the north of Santa Fe Province, Argentina. He wrote it in the presence of his father, who told him that the song would be “world-renowned”, which it eventually was. Gieco composed this song by first trying out melodies with his harmonica and guitar, then writing personal feelings which gradually turned into phrases inspired by the harsh social events of the time, such as the military dictatorship of his country, Mercedes Sosa’s exile, and the threat of war between Chile and Argentina at the time.

Gieco doubted whether or not to include the song on his 1978 album IV LP, believing it was “boring and monotonous“, but finally did, following the advice of Charly García. Thereafter, Gieco sang it as his closing song and has played it in all his national and international tours.

References:
1. Sólo le pido a Dios – Wikipedia

Tagged with: , , ,
Posted in Music

Oh, Pretty Woman (1964) – Roy Orbison

Posted on October 30, 2024 by observationblogger — 4 Comments

From Marie Claire

As I was waiting in line at my local supermarket I opened up a women’s fashion magazine called Marie Claire. They say they are ‘a magazine for modern women that is interested in fashion, beauty, lifestyle and is committed to gender issues, women’s realities and the environment‘. I hadn’t flipped through a women’s fashion magazine in years, but as I skimmed the pages, the models in the photos stopped me in my tracks. I know beauty is in the eye of the beholder and all, but I couldn’t help feeling baffled and a bit disheartened. Where were the gorgeous, vibrant models I remembered from past beauty magazines or comparable to how Julia Roberts is presented in this scene from Pretty Woman? Women who looked like women—who even smiled. Instead, the pages I saw were filled with ultra-serious faces, dressed in metrosexual or androgynous styles. Is this really the ideal that young women aspire to now? Or is it what they’re being encouraged to become?

Not including his music in the super group The Traveling Wilburys, Oh, Pretty Woman is the 4th song to be presented here so far from Roy Orbison after his previous entry She’s a Mystery to Me. Today’s featured track might possibly be one of the world’s most recognisable and iconic pop tunes thanks in large part to the aforementioned movie by almost the same title – Pretty Woman. The movie gave the song immediate traction and launched it to a wider audience than otherwise; extending Roy’s appeal and legacy. Although I realise it was huge already being the 1964 mega hit, reaching No. 1 both in the US and the UK and spending three weeks there on the Billboard chart.
Orbison posthumously won the 1991 Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance for the recording of Oh, Pretty Woman from his 1988 HBO television special Roy Orbison and Friends: A Black and White Night. In 1999, the song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame and was named one of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll.

The title was inspired by Orbison’s wife, Claudette, interrupting a conversation to announce that she was going out. When Orbison asked if she had enough cash, his co-writer Bill Dees interjected, “A pretty woman never needs any money.”

[Verse 1]
Pretty woman, walking down the street
Pretty woman, the kind I’d like to meet
Pretty woman, I don’t believe you
You’re not the truth
No one could look as good as you
Mercy!

[Verse 2]
Pretty woman, won’t you pardon me?
Pretty woman, I couldn’t help but see
Pretty woman, that you look lovely as can be
Are you lonely just like me?
Rwar-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r

[Middle-Eight]
Pretty woman, stop a while
Pretty woman, talk a while
Pretty woman, give your smile to me
Pretty woman, yeah, yeah, yeah
Pretty woman, look my way
Pretty woman, say you’ll stay with me
‘Cause I need you, I’ll treat you right
Come with me, baby, be mine tonight

[Verse 3]
Pretty woman, don’t walk on by
Pretty woman, don’t make me cry
Pretty woman, don’t walk away, hey

[Outro]
Okay
If that’s the way it must be, okay
I guess I’ll go on home, it’s late
There’ll be tomorrow night, but wait
What do I see?
Is she walking back to me?
Yeah, she’s walking back to me
Oh, oh, pretty woman

For more background on this song and Roy Orbison’s tragic family history I point you to fellow blogger Max’s 2023 article of Oh, Pretty Woman. Below is an extract:

It started on June 6, 1966, when Claudette and Roy were riding motorcycles. Claudette hit the door of a pickup truck and was killed instantly. Orbison poured himself into his work after that. He wrote and toured but was out of step with the mid to late-sixties music.  It was in Birmingham, England in September 1968 when catastrophe struck once more. News reached Orbison that a fire had broken out at his home in Tennessee and that his two eldest sons had tragically passed away. His younger child went to live with his grandparents.

References:
1. Oh, Pretty Woman – Wikipedia

Tagged with: , ,
Posted in Music

Sometimes Love Just Ain’t Enough (1992) – Patty Smyth (Ft. Don Henley)

Posted on October 29, 2024 by observationblogger — 20 Comments

And do you feel me beside you in your bed
There beside you where I used to lay

I’ve long looked forward to writing about today’s featured track, Sometimes Love Just Ain’t Enough. I’ve always admired the songwriting in this rock ballad, especially the lyrics, and I was eager to find out the story behind it. I first listened to this song a lot in 1993 on a road trip from Canberra to Brisbane where my friend Michael and I stopped at various camping sites along the way. My Mum always got so emotional when she played the Anne Murray song – You Needed Me and I too with Sometimes Love Just Ain’t Enough which made me so melancholy, glassy-eyed and weak at the knees, but in a good way – like it was healing for the soul.

I was always curious to know why that love wasn’t enough to sustain their relationship. There are some cues when Henley starts singing, ‘Yes, I may have hurt you‘. One things for certain, it’s much easier to fall in love than to stay in love. This song nails that perfectly.
I really like Henley’s voice in this. I always preferred his music post Eagles in the 80’s which culminated in two of the finest rock ballads I have had the privilege to hear – The End of the Innocence and The Heart of the Matter.

Most of the following has been extracted from the Wikipedia reference below:
Smyth is the lead singer for the band Scandal and she had previously provided backing vocals on Henley’s solo albums Building the Perfect Beast (1984) and The End of the Innocence (1989). Sometimes Love Just Ain’t Enough was written by Smyth and Glen Burtnik and was released as a single in August 1992. It reached No. 1 in Canada, where it was the most successful single of 1992, and peaked at No. 2 on the US Billboard. It remained in the top 40 for 20 weeks. The song was nominated for a Grammy Award in the category Best Pop Vocal.

‘She played him a demo version of the song that she recorded with Burtnik, and Henley loved it. Glen explained: “There was the harmony part I was singing with Patty which he learned and sang beautifully when he agreed to appear on her record. I feel forever indebted to Don Henley for his appearing on her recording. He was at the peak of his solo years and I believe it drew attention to the song which might not have happened otherwise.”

– Glen Burtnik – Songfacts

Now, I don’t wanna lose you
But I don’t wanna use you
Just to have somebody by my side
And I don’t wanna hate you
I don’t wanna take you
But I don’t wanna be the one to cry

And that don’t really matter
To anyone anymore
But like a fool I keep losing my place
And I keep seeing you walk through that door

But there’s a danger in loving somebody too much
And it’s sad when you know it’s your heart you can’t trust
There’s a reason why people don’t stay where they are
Baby, sometimes love just ain’t enough

Now, I could never change you
I don’t want to blame you
Baby, you don’t have to take the fall
Yes, I may have hurt you
But I did not desert you
Maybe I just want to have it all

It makes a sound like thunder
It makes me feel like rain
And like a fool who will never see the truth
I keep thinking something’s gonna change

[Chorus]

[Bridge]
And there’s no way home
When it’s late at night and you’re all alone
Are there things that you wanted to say
And do you feel me beside you in your bed
There beside you where I used to lay

References:
1. Sometimes Love Just Ain’t Enough – Wikipedia
2. Sometimes Love Just Ain’t Enough – Songfacts

Tagged with: , ,
Posted in Music

Follow Blog via Email

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 782 other subscribers

← Back

Thank you for your response. ✨