Wednesday, February 03, 2010

Earworm

Radley Balko posted a tune from YouTube Friday. It was haunting and vaguely familiar. As the first verse played on, Tam said, "Why don't you listen to the original?"

It's "Tomorrow Wendy," and the notion of "original" proves elusive; Mr. Balko posted the songwriter's recording but the track most people have heard is Concrete Blonde's atmospheric take. I kinda like 'em both, which may not speak well for my mood; but as a piece of art that captures a moment and a feeling, both versions are outstanding work.

3 comments:

  1. Wait a while and all the tunes you catch snatches of and cannot remember the words for will be so forgotten that even whatever takes YouTube's place will not have them.

    For me, "Curtains of Night" keeps coming up in elevators - but a good version, like a good man, is hard to find. As are many of the popular songs of the 1930's and '40's.

    Of course, many of those verses would shock moderns - who seem to think they invented the horizontal shimmy and most of the other pleasures of life.

    "Bell bottom trousers, coat of navy blue, let him climb the rigging, like his daddy used to do." Heh!

    Stranger

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  2. Brod Smith does a nice cover as well


    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ezb4hh_St-o&NR=1


    73's Noel

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  3. "Jenny I Read" is another haunting Concrete Blonde tune that cycles through my MP3 player often...

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