Wonderful world
Don't know much about geography
Don't know much trigonometry
Don't know much about algebra
I don't know what a slide rule is for
(But I do know)
But I do know "one and one is two"
And if this one could be with you
(A wonderful world)
What a wonderful, wonderful world this would be
What a wonderful, wonderful, wonderful world
I don't know what a slide rule is for? That may be the weirdest phrase sung, ever. But, Paul Simon pulls it off. All of the lyrics to this song are really so odd, that the song should blow chunks. But, it doesn't.
I think it's almost impossible for a Paul Simon or a J.T. song to blow chunks, but it's not even that bad when Herman's Hermits does it.
Bonnie Raitt's song Nick of Time, has the opposite problem. It actually has pretty good lyrics, but the music itself is pretty lame.
I see my folks, they're getting old, I watch their bodies change
I know they see the same in me, And it makes us both feel strange
No matter how you tell yourself, It's what we all go through
Those eyes are pretty hard to take when they're staring' back at you
Scared you'll run out of time.
Then, there's Jump by Van Halen, which seems like just a medium song with meaningless lyrics, but when Aztec Camera sang it the lyrics had a different feeling.
You know I agree. I can't stand Jump by Van Halen. Well, can't stand Van Halen. Jump by Aztec Camera? Pure brilliance. But maybe it's just our great love of Roddy....
ReplyDeleteI don't think that "wonderful world" song is Paul Simon. I think it's that one guy who sang "leader of the band" or whatever that song is.
ReplyDelete... Googling stuff ...
It looks like it's a Sam Cooke song. I don't know who that is. I think it's actually a pretty lame song, honestly.
The Jump observation is amazing though - I hated that song until AC sang it. I guess that proves that we're not entirely objective about what we like and what we don't like. But I swear that melody sounds better coming out of Roddy's mouth.
There's a version with Paul Simon, JT, and Art Garfunkel. Lookey here. You can listen to a bit of it (it's Track 4). Sam Cooke wrote the lyrics.
ReplyDeleteI don't think it's just Roddy that makes Jump go from pine to prime(although I do love Roddy). But slowing the song down took it from "jump into my bed" (or "jump and make a move" or something) to "should I jump off the bridge?" (or "jump and make a move" or something in a way I can relate to). But, more subtle than that. The song goes from meaningless to thoughtful.
Susan wrote about when a cover is better than the original here.
Gabby,
ReplyDeleteI forgot to say I'm glad to see you around. It felt like you fell off the face of the planet and you're back!
Yeah, I'll drag my bedrest butt off the couch occasionally to check in! I can only stay down so long!! Heh....
ReplyDeleteWhat are you guys even talking about? Jump is a totally great song. It's "meaningless" only if you think livin' life to its fullest and lovin' every minute of it is meaningless. And I don't think you do. As a regular reader, I don't want to see any more VH bashing on this website.
ReplyDeleteThat link worked yesterday, but it isn't working now. Here it is (I hope).
ReplyDeleteRiggity,
Yeah, there's nothing about VH worth bashing, even this.
Crap! That VH link didn't work. Just forget it.
ReplyDelete