Songs I Heard This Week (7-26-22)

I don’t even know where to begin! I have this great adoration for Andy Williams that wasn’t born out of any particular influence (like my parents or grandparents). He wasn’t really hip in his day and certainly wasn’t in mine. But when did that ever stop me? Something about his voice is just incredible: smooth perfection, like buttah! As for this track, we all have songs that bring tears to our eyes; this is one for me. Oh, sure, who doesn’t love The Carpenters rendition? But the first time I heard the Andy Williams version it struck me right to the heart. The arrangement feels nostalgic to me for a time I didn’t even live in. Also, I’d be willing to put money down on the fact that the backing vocals are the Mike Sammes Singers. The vocal style in general, but the bass singer gives it away most. That definitely brings me back to my childhood from the other recordings they appeared on. Unfortunately, there is not a lot of information regarding the many, many recordings they appeared on at this time, but they just had a quality. In fact, their Christmas album, White Christmas, is in my top 5 favorite Christmas albums of all time (and if you saw my collection you would understand why that is significant). Of course, Andy Williams is high on the list as well!

I really don’t care if you think I’m a sap at this point. Yup, I was always a cheesy kid and very little has changed about me in that regard. I just can’t help but feel happy when this song comes on the radio! Paul McCartney just didn’t give a darn either, so I’m in pretty good company. In fact, he wrote this song in response to a disparaging comment John Lennon made regarding his songwriting being nothing more than ‘silly love songs’. I love this quote from Paul… “The fact is, deep down, people are very sentimental. If they watch a sentimental movie at home, they cry, but in public they won’t. We don’t like to show our emotions; we tend to sneer at that. And in the same way, people may not admit to liking love songs, but that’s what they seem to crave.” And what’s wrong with that?

Love Spirals Downwards is one of my favorite dream pop bands of the ’90s and early ’00s. This song resonates deeply in my soul. The lyrics matter very little, more the feeling it conjures within, like looking out at the sea through the rain in a dream. Sometimes that’s how I feel. 💙

I do love The Strokes! There is something about Julian Casablancas voice and phrasing that just gets to me. It’s actually addicting. I wish I could better explain it, but what always fascinates me about The Strokes is how different their approach to songwriting is from my own. Listening to them stretches me musically. This album came out shortly after the lockdowns in 2020 and seemed aptly titled, “The New Abnormal.” Definitely contains a lot of great tracks, including this one I was feeling this week. Clearly inspired by Billy Idol’s “Dancing With Myself”, he does receive songwriting credit. Just a really cool song.

Curiouser and curiouser…it occurs to me how complimentary the theme of this song is to The Strokes track. If you ever watched Disney’s Alice in Wonderland as a child then the scene where Alice sobbed out the lyrics to this song likely broke your heart as it did mine. It’s the point in the movie where she admits her folly but is lost deep in the woods and doesn’t know the way out. Who hasn’t been there? This recording is not the one from the film with Kathryn Beaumont, but appeared on several records promoting the film at the time and featured a different vocalist. Both are sad but lovely!