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#799: Tom Jones & Stereophonics – Mama Told Me Not to Come

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Um… well, I was five years old when Tom Jones & Stereophonics released their cover of Randy Newman’s ‘Mama Told Me Not to Come’ (popularised in the ’70s by Three Dog Night), and it’s just stayed in my head since then. I think it played at the end of an awards show one time. I may have seen the music video every once in a while. It was a long time ago. It’s just a solid jam.

Stereophonics were part of that ‘post-Britpop’ thing that was going on in the late ’90s in the UK and were getting their places in the charts. They are also a Welsh group. So what could be better than pairing up this current Welsh band with this fellow Welsh legend? The result works very well. Tom Jones owns it, no doubt. Stereophonics’ singer Kelly Jones doesn’t do too bad either. He’s got that gravelly tone in his voice that a lot of people like. Together, the Jones sound like they’re having a great time. The track stays very true to the Three Dog Night cover instrumentally. It’s all about the vocals here.

Looking back on it, I think this whole era was meant to be some sort of comeback to the mainstream for Tom Jones. The album that this song is on, Reload, mainly consisted of cover versions of a lot of songs alongside a star-studded list of featured artists. He covered Talking Heads’ ‘Burning Down the House’ with the Cardigans. That was reasonably successful. The one original track, ‘Sex Bomb’, was massive and I remember that being played everywhere. The album got to number one twice in the UK and became Jones’ highest selling record, so I think the aim of bringing him back to the masses worked.

#792: They Might Be Giants – Madam, I Challenge You to a Duel

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Back in 2015, They Might Be Giants revived their iconic Dial-A-Song system, but delivered it in a very different way. Starting from the first week of January, the group released one new song every week. When they were done, the majority of the 52 songs were released on three albums: 2015’s Glean, Why?, and the following year’s Phone Power.

‘Madam’ was the second song in that 52-week run. It was an exciting time for a They Might Be Giants fan. I vaguely remember listening to the track on the day of its initial release thinking it was okay. It wasn’t until I gave Glean a full listen some time later that I truly appreciated it. Here’s a song in which John Flansburgh, who takes on this viewpoint of a very formal person, challenges a lady to a duel which you’re not really meant to do as a person of a high status. The band have always been good at building narrators up one way and then suddenly switching the narrative to make them look like terrible people.

This is a majorly piano-led track by the group, which is a bit rare for them. I think that’s what got to me when I originally heard it in 2015. Flansburgh sings with a breathy, kind of deep tone to his voice, which he would employ a lot of times on older albums, but I guess aging would affect your vocal range. The song just sounds good, you know? It’s like a soundtrack to a quaint ball, or something. Out of 910 songs on This Might Be a Wiki, the track is rated #488 by TMBG fans. That more or less categorises it as one of the average They songs. A bit unfair, I would say. I enjoy it a lot.

#778: The Beatles – Love You To

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The Beatles’ Revolver is an album that I’ve admired for so long now, it’s hard to recall when I had that ‘eureka!’ moment where I suddenly enjoyed each of its fourteen songs or even how I felt when I listened to the album for the first time. I know that I did go through it initially in 2009/10 when I was on my Beatles discovery phase, but I don’t think it was an album that struck me as a special one on the first listen. Through subsequent listens each track slowly became a lot clearer in terms of rhythm and melody and all that good stuff, but I have the feeling that George Harrison’s second song on the album ‘Love You To’ was one that I had to get my head around.

When listening to Revolver for any new Beatles follower, ‘Love You To’ will stick out immediately. Well, ‘Eleanor Rigby’ too, but definitely ‘Love’ because the band aren’t playing as a group. It’s more George Harrison and a lot of Indian musicians with Paul McCartney on backing vocal and Ringo Starr on the tambourine. It’s a real trip, but it’s merely a sign of the musical headspace Harrison was in at the time. He had fallen in love with the sitar and the music of India in general, and wrote this song in order to showcase his new interests. Experimentation with LSD may also have played a part in his new influences. It’s a song in the key of C and I’m sure that’s the only chord the song stays on throughout. That is known as a drone, for anyone who may be getting into music theory or something.

The song is of the the existential/philosophical type judging by its lyrics. Harrison, who was only 22 going on 23 when he wrote it, goes on to sing about how time’s going too quickly, how life is short and how people can be quick to take advantage of you if they get the chance. But while this is all going on, he just wants to make love as much as he can with the time he has. I’ve sometimes wondered why the track is titled ‘Love You To’; the phrasing doesn’t make sense and even so, the phrase doesn’t appear in the lyrics. If it was called ‘Love to You’ it would be a different story. Though I’ve realised now that it may be a play on the words ‘Love Me Do’, the very first Beatles single out only four years earlier. So strange but commendable how much the group changed it that time.

#720: Foo Fighters – Learn to Fly

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I don’t have as much an emotional connection or a real personal link to this song that I could properly get into. Not saying that it couldn’t have one for any of you reading. Never read the lyrics, but have always been attracted to the sound and the melodies ‘n’ all. It’s very nice. ‘Nice’ is normally considered to be the worst adjective to describe anything. That’s what it is though, a really nice song. And apparently Dave Grohl didn’t think it had any potential as a single when they completed the track.

The video for ‘Learn to Fly’ would show up on TV every once in a while, and it was through those viewings that I got into the song. It’s one of those music videos that I feel enhance the listening experience. It’s hilarious too. The guys from Tenacious D sneak some sleeping powder onto an airplane which gets mixed up with the pilot’s coffee supply and the Foo Fighter members take over the flight and save the day. It’s much better when you actually see it though.

Foo Fighters aren’t one of my favourite bands; their debut album is my go-to whenever I want a full playthrough experience. I don’t know what that says about me. They undeniably have some great songs, this being one of them. ‘Learn to Fly’ is from their third There Is Nothing Left to Lose from 1999.

#648: Tame Impala – It Is Not Meant to Be

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‘It Is Not Meant to Be’ is the first track on Tame Impala’s debut album Innerspeaker, released almost ten years ago…. If I remember right, that particular was the second of the “group”‘s that I listened to following Lonerism when I was in my last year of sixth form. Compared to that album, it was apparent that there was a lot more focus on the guitars and some good riffs. A lot less synthesizer work. But it was all still some great music for this guy in 2012/13.

Probably down as one of the best introductions to an album in my music library, ‘It Is Not Meant to Be’ grabbed me right away with its thick bassline and phasing guitars that repeat on and on for a minute and 20 seconds before the vocals eventually come in. If that section were its own track I wouldn’t be too upset. It’s very hypnotizing. But then Kevin Parker arrives and tells the listener about a girl he’s had his eye on and who is way out of his league, much to his reluctant acknowledgment. And that’s something a lot of guys have been through, right? I know I have.

But it’s not just because of its relatability that I dig this track. It just sounds so good. When I listen to it, I see…. trees of green, the sun. I sense a summery feeling but its surrounded by a mystic haze. Like I’m lying in a field. And then when the chorus hits I’m lifted to a whole other level. It’s a warm, comfortable listen that carries a heavy weight but won’t do you any harm in the long run. It’s definitely a smooth way to start off a discography.