Coincidentally, both Rol and Swiss Adam have posted songs today about being alone. Reading those excellent posts back to back put me in mind of Alone Again, Naturally by Gilbert O'Sullivan. And from there it was only a short mental hop to a song that is almost exactly the same age as me, Nothing Rhymed.
Personally, I could live without the strings on this, but notwithstanding that it's hard to hear these lyrics and not think how well suited they are to our black-mirror-obsessed, social-media-saturated, polarised, desensitised times:
And if while in the course of my duty I perform an unfortunate take Would you punish me so Unbelievably so Never again will I make that mistake This feeling inside me could never deny me The right to be wrong if I choose And this pleasure I get From say winning a bet Is to lose When I'm drinking my Bonaparte shandy1 Eating more than enough apple pies Will I glance at my screen And see real human beings Starve to death right in front of my eyes
And to think, I might never have heard this song if not for acquiring SPM's cover on a bootleg.
1. Bonaparte shandy = brandy.
One of the best songs ever written.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.johnmedd.com/2018/07/nothing-rhymed.html?m=1
A clickable link to John's fine post: http://www.johnmedd.com/2018/07/nothing-rhymed.html
DeleteGreat way to complete a trio of Alone posts
ReplyDeleteCheers - a bloggers' hat-trick.
DeleteTime to go definitive on that mystery drink.
ReplyDeleteJM
Well, there we are.
DeleteAlways been a big Gilbert fan and been lucky enough to see him live a couple of times. These two are obviously the peak but for some reason I'm most likely to be made moist eyed by the verse about Uncle Frank and Auntie May:
ReplyDeletehttps://youtu.be/smDttraAQQc?si=0DXctWZ4JKToWU0W
I can see why.
DeleteI think these two (AAN and NR) are two of the most lyrically devastating songs ever written. If you listen to them when you're feeling a bit down, you might be easily persuaded to visit a nearby tower...
ReplyDeleteVery much so.
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