Triple-time rarely occurs in rock unless it’s 6/8 slow dance time. Who would have had the courage to write a waltz in 1967? Almer’s lyrics are mind-bending, haunting and unforgettable. Some 47 years later, I can still recite the words to this song.
Tandyn Almer took a job at Herb Alpert’s and Jerry Moss’ A&M Records as a songwriter and arranger. Herb and Jerry teamed him with Larry Marks, one of the more creative producers in-house. Marks, who would later write “L.A. Break Down and Take Me In”, was a producer who liked multiple layers in a recording just like Almer.
The lead singer was Ruthanne Friedman, who wrote “Windy” for the Association the same year. Under Friedman’s vocal line, it sounds like there are twenty musical lines going on at the same time. There is an air of both menace and an implacable sadness; it sounds like something that would have fit the soundtrack of an independent cult film like “Carnival of Souls”. Catch the out-of-tune piano and calliope in the arrangement. If I had to name a masterpiece to sit alongside “Along Comes Mary”, this would be it. It’s unique and a personal favorite.
Kind of a demented waltz.
I like demented waltzes. They are Spooky...like Valse Triste and the waltz from Masquerade, two of my all-time favorites..