Posted on 02/11/2013 7:45:56 PM PST by San Rafael Blue
Here are two old songs to ponder and enjoy for what they were, and for what they meant at that time. I don't compare them to each other, the songs have been flying to and fro in my head, so perhaps they 'want to be written about'.
In this corner you have Sir Donovan Leitch of Scotland, made his fame in England with Mellow Yellow, Wear Your Love Like Heaven and others.
People forget that 1967 didn't just bring us Sergeant Pepper, we also heard a most intriquing stanza of First there is mountain, then thereis no mountain, then there is;, I know it sounds like loopy thinking, but Donovan was enjoying the sophistry of the visual image, asking us to, just for two and a half minutes, be aware of the temporal nature of things (Maya).
One need not be a buddhist or devotee of Sarte to think, Hmmm, that reminds me of molecluesand atoms, which make up everything we perceive in the physical world. I like the lilting flutes, the light, infectious jazzy beat. Youtube or google it up yourself, I defy you to hear it without saying 'Damn!, That's nice melody and a good toe-tapper too!". It's a pleasant audio confection, quite deceptive in its' simplicity. It becomes a flowing mantra that should not be stopped...for a while. Yes, I use terms like mantra, I consider the temporal nature of the physical world and I'm a Catholic (ex-altar boy at St Cecilia). I'm not afraid to examine other patterns of thought. I don't lose who I am or wish to become. This helps me to understand other cultures in other lands, new songs from familiar hands.
In the other corner, we have a group called The Byrds. They had Mr. Tamborine, written by Bob Dylan, The 23rd Psalm; or To Everything there is a Season.
Today, we examine another song; Chestnut Mare from 1970. There is much symbolism in this song, his pursuit of the wild and beautiful horse. He learns her habits, where she swims, where she goes to eat. The speaker throws his lasso high in the air, catches her, mounts her for a brief dazzling ride up this hillsides.
She's spooked by a snake, not sure what to do. In short order, they both jump down off a raised cliff, landing with a messy splash in a shallow pond below. Listen to him tell his story.
Here I am, thinking about these old songs. I wonder, did previous generations hold on to their melody memories so tightly, in the way I and others of a certain age still do?
And the out of date pills obamacare will give you don’t do anything at all.
Go ask moochelle and hillary & huma, and pelosi when they’re ten feet tall.
Cause of course.... THEY were the rabbits, and boy does it ever show.
“If you can remember the sixties, you weren’t there.”
Wow man, like that’s so heavy!
And throughout his “sanctified” life, always followed the orders of the Comintern and Stalin. He was against the US being in WWII until the nazis invaded the Soviets, Stalin woke up and realized he’d need us-—then the word went out.
An absolute communist bastard, brat child of academics, and like all of them (obama too) extremely self important— for the “working man” never having done a day’s work in their lives.
There’s that word again. “Heavy.” Why are things so heavy in the future? Is there a problem with the Earth’s gravitational pull?
Maybe he was drunk.
You are correct. The song was based on ecclesiastes. It reads like logic set to poetry.
The only version of “Mountain” that Southerners (at least this one) would/will listen to.
33mins, 42 seconds Live- The Allman Brothers- from Eat a Peach. Sweet duo guitar, sweet slide and.... melody.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNuNz2idDtY
Deo Vindice.
The future?
Man we’re talking about almost 50 years ago!
Well, over 40 years ago. Or something like that, anyway ‘things’ had more ‘weight’ back then- you know?
Back before global warming I guess.
Wait, here comes my nurse. Her grandmother was at Woodstock too...
The Crash Test Dummies of the 90s struck me as heirs to that creative vein about 15 years ago.
The song from that era going through my head the last couple of years is “Time” by the Chambers Brothers.
With everything going on today, I'm having "We gotta get outa this place" flashbacks to '68.
Some of my favorites from that year:
Some glittering jewels in your list. I thought I had total recall of all the really good ones. Thx
“See Emily Play.” I bought The Pink Floyd - The Piper at the Gates of Dawn album, and that was the first song on it. On the cd Astronomy Domine is the first song. Won a few bets on that one.
There’s that word again. “Heavy.” Why are things so heavy in the future? Is there a problem with the Earth’s gravitational pull?
Far out, man! I thought “Heavy” was just an album by Iron Butterfly.
This lovely scottish lass MUST take after her Mum. I love Donovan’s music and mystique, but his face was always an owlish, tan-free blank slate, even back then.
I had to look up the term. I ran across some aerial photos. Very interesting. I would imagine geologists, paleontologists, archaeologists, gold prospectors, etc. might explore these features for clues about what the mountain might hold.
Incidentally, I was in Vietnam when Donovan's song hit the air. We were living in a valley surrounded by some spectacular mountains. Sometimes a mountain would be covered in mist or clouds and then it would reappear then disappear. That's what I thought the song was describing.
But I too, like you, was fascinated by the Chambers Brothers, "Time." That change in tempo, with lots of reverb, etc.
There were a couple of different versions of “Time”. One was a much more laden with reverb and other little tricks.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.