It was around this time last year that I came to revisit this album. It’s in 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die – a book I got for my 22nd birthday and am still going through to this day. I am on 1968.
I’ve had Blonde on Blonde in my iTunes library since at least 2014(?) Maybe have been earlier. And I didn’t rate ‘Just Like a Woman’ back then. Thought it was okay but I immediately forgot about it. It took the revisit last year to find that it’s one of the best songs on the album.
It’a very pretty. Set in a waltz time with a calm Hammond organ and acoustic guitars. Really what takes up much of the soundscape is Dylan’s striking harmonica and that iconic voice of his. His vocals are not pretty, as you may or may not know, but it’s all about the feeling he gives behind his delivery which he never fails in providing.
‘Just a Day’ was released as a standalone single by Feeder in the last few weeks of 2001. I would have only been six at the time but from what I’ve gathered it was the cherry on top to cap off a successful year the band had, having released their third album Echo Park earlier which was supported by popular hits such as ‘Seven Days in the Sun’ and ‘Buck Rogers’.
This song was featured on Gran Turismo 3, a game I remember getting for Christmas in 2002 and not being too impressed by it. I don’t think I understood how to play it at all and I ended up getting very frustrated with it. Something that sounds awful as an excuse because it’s just a racing game. It had great music in there though. I’ll say that’s how I got to know this track in the first place.
Years down the line I would see its video (above) here and there on TV, and it’s just a compilation of fans of Feeder performing/miming/dancing/acting to the track in their rooms on amateur camera footage. It’s a simple idea, but it’s clear that everyone involved is having the time of their lives. It is widely agreed that the two Asian guys who appear at various points throughout are the main highlight of the video.
It’s about being young, having great times with friends, waking up with a hangover in the morning and having the existential crisis that usually comes along with them. It’s also about feeling useless and not wanting to let people down via your excessive behaviour when it comes to drinking and all of that. It’s quite a downer. But with its high-energy and general catchiness – the ‘do-do-do-do’ hook is memorable – you probably wouldn’t realise.
Unfortunately, it was their last single to be released with original drummer Jon Lee who took his own life in the first few days of 2002. The band kept out of the public eye for a while to grieve and come to an understanding of what happened. They came back nearing the end of the year with Comfort in Sound, a fine effort that addressed Lee’s death among other sad subjects in its lyrics. Below is the band’s last live performance with Lee on Later with Jools Holland.
I’m not a massive follower of The Band. I do have to admit that their self-titled album from 1969 is great though. Has a lot of great songs on there that I haven’t talked about but will in the future. Until last year that was the only album of theirs that I listened to. Music from Big Pink, the album that today’s song is taken from, is all right in my eyes. The follow-up is much better. Though it must be said that Big Pink is probably one of the most important releases of the 60s. A lot of contemporaneous groups were influenced by its organic qualities and noted it as a way forward in music following the heavy psychedelia of 1967.
‘In a Station’ is the third number on here, written and sung by the band’s pianist Richard Manuel. The Band had three main singers: Manuel, drummer Levon Helm, and bassist Rick Danko. Out of the three, Manuel arguably had the best voice. He had a lot of soul in it. Very vulnerable and his delivery could be devastatingly heartbreaking on some songs. That’s not too different here. Manuel sings about walking through a station, noting what he sees and what he hears and wonders if the people he witnesses would ever care to have any sort of personal interaction with him. It’s quite an existential track topped with vivid imagery and quasi-philosophical lyricism.
The main focus musically is all in that centre channel where Manuel’s vocal is along with those rich keyboards by Garth Hudson and the rhythm section. Then Danko and Helm join in for some fantastic harmonies in the choruses. Robbie Robertson’s acoustic guitar is on the right and Manuel’s rhythm keyboard is on the left but they’re really hard to notice when you’re listening to the melodies in the vocal. It’s a very sincere song; it can really take you out of yourself for a few minutes.
‘In a Hand or a Face’ closes out The Who by Numbers, The Who’s seventh album released back in 1975. It goes that Pete Townshend, the band’s guitarist and main songwriter, was severely depressed and suicidal during the making of the record. He quit drinking after a long period of severe alcoholism. He was having an existential crisis due to the fear of turning 30 and wondering if he was getting to old for the whole ‘rock ‘n’ roll’ thing. The album as a result has some of Townshend’s most personal, soul-seeking material on there. After nine tracks, including one written by bassist John Entwistle, ‘In a Hand’ sees Townshend at breaking point despite the triumphant confidence with which the music is delivered.
An emphatic crash cymbal and chunky guitar riff begin the song before a thunderous drum roll gets the rhythm going alongside a salutary opening guitar solo. The song is relatively simple. It’s mostly three chords. But there’s an assertive behind every note, chord, and drum fill played that makes the song sound very nonchalant and unfazed. Lyrics-wise, Townshend writes about seeing people in various situations and trying to put himself in their shoes. He asks the listener whether they’ve ever hard the same experiences and self-assesses where he’s at in comparison. His conclusion? He was “going round and round”.
A pulsating rhythm section break marks the song’s key change, and Roger Daltrey, Townshend, and Entwistle repeat its main refrain before the instruments ring out on an unresolved chord. I guess Townshend was in so much of a spiral at the time he didn’t know where he was going. With The Who, with his life…. It wasn’t a great time to be him.
‘I’ve Just Seen a Face’ is the twelfth track on The Beatles’ fifth album Help!. When nearing the end of the album, the listener is provided with two mainly acoustic numbers sung by Paul McCartney. ‘Yesterday’ is the second of them. But while that song mourns the loss of a relationship, ‘I’ve Just Seen a Face’ captures the promising outlook of one that has a great chance of being successful.
It starts off with an intricate oscillating 6/8 timed intro of guitars that rise and fall before changing into the driving standard time verse where McCartney starts his vocal. His vocal take consists of very wordy lyrics, phrases that fall into the next with some internal rhyming and syncopation that help the track maintain its propelling momentum throughout. Chorus is good too. The “Falling, yes I am falling” line is one that is delivered with so much joy – it’s hard to not to feel just a bit happier from listening to it.
It’s quick and really easy listening to the ear. That seems to be a bit of motif throughout Help!. It’s an album that’s made of a lot of songs where the structure and instrumentation are very simple and straight to the point. ‘I’ve Just Seen a Face’ isn’t necessarily a major favourite of mine on there but when it starts playing it’s hard to skip.
The Music in My Ears 