30 day music meme #11

[beer_good_foamy]

11. A song you never get tired of
Yo La Tengo - Blue Line Swinger

Watch on YouTube

The sweetest little 2-minute Beach Boys-y pop song... except deconstructed into a 9-minute epic, building sloooowly, putting itself together piece by piece and adding more and more layers until the whole thing just washes over you and there's nothing more to add but "Ba-bap-ba-baa, ba-ba-bap-ba-baa..." I could live for years in that swirl of guitars.

Comments

[cjlasky7]

Never thought about it that way before: Georgia and Ira's version of "Surf's Up"?

I don't even have to think about my choice:

https://youtu.be/6tynWSAesAo

My favorite single of the late 70s, incredible as that sounds. With its mix of keyboard, strings,, percussion and that sweet, sweet alto sax, it sounds like nothing else at the time--and even now, it still doesn't sound like anything else. The sheer normality of the guitar solo almost breaks the mood.

(Rick and Morty instantly won my allegiance when Rick played the sax solo as a kiss-off to the aliens he just blew to smithereens...)

We lost Rafferty way too soon. Who knows what other miracles he could have created?

[beer_good_foamy]

Oh, I love that one too. That song is solely responsible for a LOT of completely out-of-place sax riffs in the 1980s, but it beats them all.

[cjlasky7]

The entire City to City LP is almost as good. Rafferty had been shuttling back and forth from London to Glasgow, dealing with the legal battles over Stealer's Wheel, and a lot of the songs here celebrate the end of his extended travels and his wife and daughter welcoming him home. (If you look at how the imagery in the closer, "Waiting for the Day" reflects the opener, "The Ark," you realize it's a song cycle.)

The song is responsible for a LOT of completely out of place sax riffs in the 1980s.

Too true. But the keyboards and the samba-like percussion build a foundation for the riff that the wannabes can never duplicate.

And if the original is too "yacht rock" smooth for your taste? Let Dave Grohl and the boys rough it up for you:

https://youtu.be/BO1qcWa6blQ

[thenewbuzwuzz]

Oooooh, nice!

[beer_good_foamy]

Glad you liked it! One of my all-time favourite bands; they just seem to have so much FUN with everything they do.

[petzipellepingo]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdvITn5cAVc

[beer_good_foamy]

Oh yes.