Tag Archives: my ipod

My iPod #293: They Might Be Giants – Don’t Let’s Start

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Wonderful news, I am now back in university after a three week break with the family. Will my style of writing change because of it? Probably not. And why would it?

That seems a strange way to begin this post. To be honest, I am just writing down whatever comes to my head because I didn’t plan what to write about “Don’t Let’s Start”, one of They Might Be Giants’ most popular songs which can be found on their debut album from 1986. I have never taken the time out to really think about what I would type for all the songs that have preceded this, but for some reason I have no clue where I could ‘start’ with this track.

It is definitely one of the group’s best. And one of Linnell’s, seeing as he wrote it. The thing is I couldn’t tell you what its subject matter is. Linnell vaguely stated that it is about ‘not let’s starting’ and also admitted that he wrote the music first, and the syllables in the lyrics were able to fit in with the melody. Maybe it’s not about anything important. Maybe it’s about nothing at all. But that doesn’t matter. What matters is how it’s all delivered to the listener, right?

Well, it’s pretty quick. But a lot happens in just under three minutes. This track contains one of Linnell’s most eccentric vocal takes, singing softly one second before passionately yelling the next and then throwing out a random tongue twister. It also contains the band’s most dramatic yet most memorable lyrics: “Everybody dies frustrated and sad, and that is beautiful” and “I don’t want to live in this world anymore”. A bit morbid, true. But the happy, stop-starting music makes them all sound hilarious and nonsensical.

The track got They Might Be Giants ‘noticed’ for obvious reasons, and they went on to dominate the world with their drum machine, and eventually their actual backing band. Still going strong today, too.

* Here is the interesting demo for “Don’t Let’s Start”. I don’t know why, but I get an image of a boombox and kids playing hopscotch in the street in time to the music when I hear it. It sounds real old school.

** Plus, the version in the video at the beginning of the post is the single version. The album version is only slightly different, but they’re both the same track. I do prefer the album version though.

My iPod #292: The Beatles – Don’t Let Me Down

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Let me make it clear that this is the “Naked” version of “Don’t Let Me Down” that I’ll be talking about. Why is this? Because I much prefer it to the original released back in 1969.

Both recordings were made during a period when the four members barely wanted to be in a room together. The thing is you can really tell this when listening to the original. The performance is slow, lethargic and so loose that it sounds like it could collapse at any moment. Paul’s a bit full on with his harmony, and it’s not John’s greatest vocal either. Maybe that’s why Phil Spector dropped it from “Let It Be”, although it would have been a better option than “Dig It” and “Maggie Mae” for sure. I can’t get into it – it lacks that tight-knit delivery and closeness that we all associate The Beatles with.

But the “Naked” version…….. Ah. It’s beautiful. If only the technology of 2003 existed back in the 70s. “Let It Be…. Naked” was Paul McCartney’s vision of what the album should have been had Phil Spector not put on his choirs and various orchestras into some of the tracks. “Maggie Mae” and “Dig It” were taken off and replaced with this wonderful version of “Don’t Let Me Down”, made up of two performances of the song the band did during the infamous rooftop concert.

The track is given a lift by a subtle change in tempo and a higher key, but what makes it so much better than its 1969 counterpart is how brighter it sounds. You can sense that the atmosphere whilst performing this version was a lot less tense. George’s lower harmony vocal in the chorus is a nice little addition, the instrumentation is tighter, the singing is terrific…… Everything sounds better.

Oh, and that bass playing by Paul after the final iteration of the title until the end of the song. Absolutely glorious. I’m very sure John looks at him as if to say “Damn…..” in appreciation, but he can’t because he’s still singing. Oh well.

Watch them perform it, by clicking on thiiiiiiiiiis.

My iPod #291: Razorlight – Don’t Go Back to Dalston

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Anyone hear any fuss being made about “Up All Night“? Nah, me neither. I ask because it’s ten years old this year. “Up All Night” being Razorlight’s first album released in 2004. I like “Up All Night”, it’s a pleasant listen. Most tracks play into one another, I like it when an album does that. Too bad Johnny Borrell became quite unbearable in the following years. It is the best Razorlight album, no doubt about that.

The album includes “Don’t Go Back to Dalston”, a minor key track apparently addressed to Pete Doherty, then a member of The Libertines, to go a bit easy on the drugs. There are two halves to this song. The first half being distinctive verses and choruses, and the other being a long coda with the refrain “Come back, come back, come back” repeated numerous times. That half is longer than the first.

Borrell said the song was barely written, he just envisaged it in his mind after waking up from a hangover. It kinda shows. Still good though.

My iPod #290: The Who – Dogs

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Behold. A song that sounds like nothing The Who would ever do, made by The Who.

This is “Dogs”. A single released in 1968, and recorded during a period when the group went ‘slightly mad’ according to Pete Townshend.

There’s nothing much I can say to you that would be any different from its entry on Wikipedia. It’s a very English-sounding song. That “beer” chorus reminds me of a sing-along down at a pub or something, and overall it sounds like a very dramatic theme track for two characters in a soap opera.

In comparison to everything else The Who did, “Dogs” is definitely an odd one…..

My iPod #289: They Might Be Giants – Dog Walker

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On This Might Be a Wiki – ‘the premier TMBG knowledge base’ – “Dog Walker” is the lowest rated track from “Join Us“. Out of the known 764 They Might Be Giants songs, “Dog Walker” is positioned right near the bottom at 731. I can kind of understand why. With its strange vocal manipulation and laid-back instrumentation, it is one that is hard to get your head around when listening to it for the first time. “Dog Walker” is weird.

Buuuuut there’s something oddly infectious about it. John Flansburgh sounds like he breathed in helium before doing the take but the vocals don’t sound as annoying or grating as they probably should. I think that is helped by the aforementioned instrumentation. Everything’s played at a cool rate. The keyboard, guitar and the rhythm section with extra percussion are all there, but are not overplayed to the extent of ruining the track’s groove.

“Dog Walker” is smooth, man. It took me a few listens to get into in. More so than any other track from “Join Us”. It has now been a favourite for a while, and is a very underrated song in a vast catalogue of material.