Almanac Music: ‘Don’t you think the joker laughs at you?’ – Songs involving Laughter
Fritz Wolff: Größte Heiterkeit im Wintergarten, c. 1913. [Wikimedia Commons.]
Almanac Music: ‘Don’t you think the joker laughs at you?’ – Songs involving Laughter
Hi, Almanackers! This piece in my long-running series about key popular song themes concerns songs involving laughter. It had to be the case, didn’t it, after the previous theme in this series concerned ‘crying songs’?
So, dear readers, please put your relevant ‘laughing’ songs in the ‘Comments’ section. Below, as usual, are some examples from me to get the ball rolling.
‘I’m a Loser’, by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, performed by the Beatles (1964)
‘Although I laugh and I act like a clown / Beneath this mask I am wearing a frown’
‘It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry’, written and performed by Bob Dylan (1965)
‘Go Ahead and Laugh’, written by Ivy Joe Hunter and William ‘Mickey’ Stevenson, performed by Martha and the Vandellas (1966)
‘I Am the Walrus’, written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, performed by the Beatles (1967)
‘Don’t you think the joker laughs at you?’
‘American Pie’, written and performed by Don McLean (1971)
‘Satan laughing with delight’
‘Feel It’, written and performed by Kate Bush (1978)
‘a little nervous laughter’
‘Me Myself I’, written and performed by Joan Armatrading (1980)
‘I wanna have a boyfriend / And a girl for laughs’
‘Laughing’, written by Bill Berry, Peter Buck, Mike Mills and Michael Stipe, performed by R.E.M. (1983)
‘Glory Days’, written and performed by Bruce Springsteen (1984)
‘She says when she feel like crying, she starts laughing’
‘Laugh I Nearly Died’, written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, performed by the Rolling Stones (2005)
……………………………………………………………………
Now, dear readers / listeners – it’s over to you. Your responses to this topic are warmly welcomed. In the ‘Comments’ section, please add your own choice of a song (or songs) involving laughter, along with any other relevant material you wish to include.
(Note: as usual, Wikipedia has been a good general reference for this piece, particularly in terms of checking dates and other details.)
Read more from Kevin Densley HERE
Kevin Densley’s latest poetry collection, Please Feed the Macaws…I’m Feeling Too Indolent, is available HERE
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About
Kevin Densley is a graduate of both Deakin University and The University of Melbourne. He has taught writing and literature in numerous Victorian universities and TAFES. He is a poet and writer-in-general. His fifth book-length poetry collection, Please Feed the Macaws ... I'm Feeling Too Indolent, was published in late 2023 by Ginninderra Press. He is also the co-author of ten play collections for young people, as well as a multi Green Room Award nominated play, Last Chance Gas, published by Currency Press. Other writing includes screenplays for educational films.
Campus Days – Dave Warner’s From The Suburbs
“That really was a great joke, the kind that makes a belly laugh”
Thanks for opening the batting with this Dave Warner ballad, Swish.
Dave was dripping with irony of course.
The Laughing Clowns – The Laughing Clowns
“When the laughing clowns fall down”
Dave was dripping with irony of course.
The Laughing Clowns – The Laughing Clowns
Yes, Swish – of course.
Thanks for the eponymous song by The Laughing Clowns.
Good Friday morning KD
Of course, this theme would be about laughter!
The first lyric that comes to my mind is:
Tombstone Blues – Dylan (1965)
The geometry of innocent flesh on the bone
Causes Galileo’s maths book to get thrown
At Delilah who’s sitting worthlessly alone
But the tears on her cheeks are from laughter
I think there will be a decent overlap with the crying theme – as in ‘it takes a lot to laugh, it takes a train to cry’
Behind blue eyes: The Who
I can’t reach you: The Who
I’m free: The Who
Waiting for a friend: Roger Daltrey
After the fire: Roger Daltrey
Say goodbye: The Orchestra
Philosophy: Ben Folds Five
Warakurna: Midnight Oil
Any day above ground: James Reyne
It’s only natural: James Reyne
The ballad of Lucy Jordan: Belinda Carlisle
He goes on: Belinda Carlisle
Summer rain: Belinda Carlisle
La Luna: Belinda Carlisle
After you came: Moody Blues
Electric: Luscious Jackson
Everyone’s born to die: Electric Light Orchestra
Dreaming of 4000: Electric Light Orchestra
Julie don’t live here: Electric Light Orchestra
Don’t wanna: Electric Light Orchestra Part II
Suppressed emotions: Fleming and John
I fall for you: Fleming and John
She’s always a woman: Billy Joel
Goodbye stranger: Supertramp
Cecilia: Simon and Garfunkel
Mrs Robinson: Simon and Garfunkel
Overs: Simon and Garfunkel
I am a rock: Simon and Garfunkel
Renaissance Fair: The Byrds
Old John Robertson: The Byrds
Turn! Turn! Turn!: (original by Pete Seeger, also by many others including The Byrds)
A day in the life: Beatles
I’m down: Beatles
Good day sunshine: Beatles
Bluebird: Buffalo Springfield
Expecting to fly: Buffalo Springfield
Laughing: Crosby Stills Nash and Young
Almost cut my hair: Crosby Stills Nash and Young
Wooden ships: Crosby Stills and Nash
Suite Judy Blue eyes: Crosby Stills and Nash
Beautiful people: Supergrass
My mistake: Split Enz
Walking down a road: Split Enz
Boys! (What did the detective say?): The Sports
Practical joker: The Swingers
The lady who said she could fly: Idle Race
Mr Crow and Sir Norman: Idle Race
Road to recovery: Midnight Juggernauts
Morning, Karl. Yes, this one’s about laughter. It’s a yin / yang thing (i.e. crying / laughter) Thanks for Tombstone Blues.
And, yep, there’s certain to be overlap with the crying theme – but of course that’s fine.
Wow, Liam! Some wonderful songs among your latest choices. Superb work!
A few more KD
That Joke Isn’t Funny Any More – The Smiths
Laughing – The Church
Laughter Around The Table – Laughing Clowns
She Doesn’t Laugh At My Jokes – Jonathan Richman
I Started A Joke – Bee Gees
All My Love’s Laughter – Jimmy Webb
Brilliant Mistake – The Costello Show
The Saturday Boy – Billy Bragg
The Short Answer – Billy Bragg
Ha Ha Said The Clown – Yardbirds
Glad To See You Go – Ramones
Poison Heart – Ramones
Thanks, Swish. Fine work! It’s only mid Friday morning and our list is already shaping up extremely well!
The Show Must Go On – Leo Sayer
Keep On Running – Spencer Davis Group
The Laughing Gnome – David Bowie
Delilah – Tom Jones (or better still, Norman Gunston)
Jackson – Johnny Cash & June Carter
By The Time I Get To Phoenix – Glen Campbell et al
Some excellent additions in your latest bunch, Swish. To select just one for comment: Leo Sayer’s ‘The Show Must Go On’ made an impression on me as a kid, when it came out in the early seventies; in part, it was the somewhat odd clown persona Sayer adopted in the number’s film clip. The song itself was a good one, at any rate.
Ginny In the Mirror (Ginny with the laughing eyes) – Del Shannon
These Boots are Made For Walking (You keep thinking you’ll never get burned. Hah) Nancy Sinatra
Nancy with the Smiling Face – Frank Sinatra.
Excellent, Fisho – especially good pickup with ‘These Boots Are Made For Walking’.
The Laughing Policeman – Charles Penrose
Perhaps an obvious one but very fitting to the theme
Neil Sedaka – Laughter In The Rain (1974)
Sorry again Kevin
The Sinatra song is Nancy with the LAUGHING face, not smiling – I’m still a goose.
Thank you for ‘The Laughing Policeman’, Fisho. All good re the Sinatra song!
Thanks, Karl, for the Sedaka song – right on theme, as you indicate.
Humble apologies from me Kevin. I’ve been waiting for news as to whether I need a biopsy on my neck and an ulcer on my left leg. I.ve been very apprehensive.
I hope you get good outcomes regarding your health matters, Fisho.
Five songs from one of RocknRoll’s best bands and at least four of these songs are in their best (psst, first 4):
Fuck School, from the album Stink, 1982
Sixteen Blue, from Let it Be, 1984
Androgynous, from Let it Be, 1984
Left of the Dial, from Tim, 1985
When it Began, from All Shook Down, 1990
The Cheater (And you’ll hear thereafter, above all the laughter) – Bob Kuban and the In- Men
Only When I Laugh – Brenda Lee
Laugh of the Year -Bobby Vee
Maybe Just Today (The love and laughter that you need) – Bobby Vee
Thanks for these songs by The Replacements, Rick. They are certainly, based on your recommendation, a band whose music I need to explore further.
Thank you for your latest quartet of songs, Fisho.
The Day I Met Marie (With the laughing eyes) – Cliff Richard
There’s Something I’d Like To Say To You (We lived, we laughed, we loved, we cried, my love) – Paul Anka
Laugh, Laugh, Laugh – Paul Anka
Thanks, Fisho, for your latest material. Paul Anka is an old favourite of mine – especially for his songwriting ability.
So Long Baby (I see you laughing at me, telling everyone you made a fool of me) – Del Shannon
Feet Up (pat him on the po po, let’s hear him laugh) – Guy Mitchell
Keep Smilin’, Keep Laughin’, Be Happy – Doris Day
Laughing on the Outside, Crying on the Inside – Doris day
We Laughed at Love – Peggy Lee
I’m Gonna Laugh You Right out of My Life – Peggy Lee
I can’t believe I forgot the great CHANTILLY LACE (A wiggling walk and a giggling talk, Oh Baby, you know what I like) – The Big Dopper
One of the albums I ‘loved’ way back then was America’s debut self titled 1972 album, which included the iconic ‘Horse With No Name’. So, as I am going about my business today, a lyric drops into my head – but for all my trying I can hum it, I can sing it, but can’t quite place it.
We used to laugh, we used to cry
We used to bow our heads then, wonder why
Turns out to be ‘I Need You’ – side 2, track 1 of the America album.
Tower of Strength (I’d laugh at yours tears and tell you goodbye). – Gene McDaniels
Many thanks for your latest song choices, Fisho. The Big Bopper’s ‘Chantilly Lace’ was an absolutely classic one.
Great pickup in relation to ‘I Need You’ by America, Karl. Interesting how some songs hover on the edge of consciousness, start to emerge, then, ultimately, fully come into the light, so to speak.
Hi Kevin, I have just received some very good news about my tests – all good and responding very well to treatment. A real load off my mind.
Tracks of My Tears, Smokey Robinson and the Miracles
Happy Go Lucky Me (I can laugh when things aren’t funny) – George Formby
They Laughed when I started to Play – George Formby
Laughter in the Hills – Slim Dusty
Answer to the Pub With No Beer (And the jackass won’t laugh) – Slim Dusty
Should I Laugh or Cry – ABBA
Knowing Me, Knowing You (No more carefree laughter) – ABBA
How about 2m10s – 2m12s into Joni Mitchell’s ‘Big Yellow Taxi’. No actual written lyrics, just a magical moment of unadulterated Joni laughter.
Great call Karl! Definitely fits the theme.
What about Elvis version of I Can’t Help Falling in Love with You, when he starts cracking up. I love that version.
Cheers
Oh yeah, Rick & KD – and there’s also the 15sec of contagious laughter from the 9sec to the 24sec mark of Dylan’s ‘Bob Dylan’s 115th Dream’ off 1965’s Bringing It All Back Home.
Sorry KD – i never meant to sidetrack the theme – that was all Rick’s fault (:)))))hahahahahaha……
Great news, Fisho, about your tests! Phew!
Nice one Karl, and great grab re the Dylan song too!
And Fisho, yes, what KD said, good news.
Cheers
Now, some Lucinda (with more on the way!):
First two songs are from her eponymous late 80s album that announced the next great Dylanesque artist had arrived. The album is a ripper with not one dud. Third song is from the album West around 2008 and is “as Bob mucking round” a set of lyric as you could find. This song, which has slipped through my grasp so far would fit in at least a half a dozen of yer themes KD. Fourth song is the last song on her latest album from 2023, which she produced after her stroke in 2020. An illness that knocked her around significantly. I love the album just as a set of songs but it is plainly her “get back in the ring” album, warts and all. As the song title suggests, she ain’t throwing in the towel. Statement song or what with a fairly obvious tip of the hat to Buddy Holly, The Stones and Springsteen (re song on The River). Last song is a cover, which was originally on Denver’s 1974 album that took him to the pinnacle of country music for 15 minutes of fame and way back then he got hit with the kinda sledging Beyonce recently endured following the Grammys.
The Night’s Too Long
Changed the Locks
What If
Never Gonna Fade Away
This Old Guitar (actually, a John Denver song that Luce covered on a tribute album)
Rainmaker – Harry Nilsson
“Called down the lightnin’
By a mystical name
And the rainmaker called on the thunder
And suddenly it began to rain
And the rainmaker passed his hat to the people
But the people all turned away
And the rainmaker’s eyes and the Kansas skies
Well, they both became a darker gray
First day of August
The last rain was in May
When the rainmaker came to Kansas
In the middle of a dusty day
The rainmaker smiled as he hitched up his wagon
And without a word he rode way
Then the people of the town heard the sound of his laughter
And they knew the rain had come to stay
Rain, rain, go away
Come again another day
Rain, rain, go away
Come again another day
Rain, rain, go away”
2nd and 3rd verses of the song , plot more or less pinched from the Pied Piper, but it’s a bloody good song.
Mary Ellen Carter – Stan Rogers
(I have referenced this excellent song before about a ship that sunk when the Captain and Mate were drunk and the other sailors restored and refloated the boat. The quoted lines are from the second and fifth verses.
“Well, the owners wrote her off; not a nickel would they spend.
She gave twenty years of service, boys, then met her sorry end.
But insurance paid the loss to them, they let her rest below.
Then they laughed at us and said we had to go.
For we couldn’t leave her there, you see, to crumble into scale.
She’d saved our lives so many times, living through the gale
And the laughing, drunken rats who left her to a sorry grave
They won’t be laughing in another day. . .”
Always Look on the Bright Side of Life – Monty Python (written by Eric Idle)
“Life’s a piece of shit
When you look at it
Life’s a laugh and death’s a joke, it’s true
You’ll see it’s all a show
Keep ’em laughin’ as you go
Just remember that the last laugh is on you”
(and now for something completely different)
The White Cliffs of Dover – Vera Lynn (written by Walter Kent and Nat Burton)
“There’ll be bluebirds over
The white cliffs of dover
Tomorrow
Just you wait and see
There’ll be love and laughter
And peace ever after
Tomorrow
When the world is free”
Both Sides Now:
Moons and Junes and Ferris wheels
The dizzy dancing way that you feel
As every fairy tale comes real
I’ve looked at love that way
But now it’s just another show
And you leave ’em laughing when you go
And if you care, don’t let them know
Don’t give yourself away
Thanks, Rick, for your song choices and comments from ‘Tracks of My Tears’ onwards, with the Lucinda songs and Joni’s classic ‘Both Sides Now’ being to the fore.
Thank you, Fisho, for your latest material (Formby, Dusty and ABBA). Sometimes the mention of laughter occurs in the most sombre of songs, like ‘Knowing Me, Knowing You’.
Thanks, Karl, for your introduction of the topic of actual laughter in songs (e,g ‘Big Yellow Taxi’) – highly relevant to our our theme, as Rick had already pointed out. Great stuff!
Correction, immediately above, regarding second line…should be ‘as Rick has already pointed out’…
Thanks, Dave N, for your contribution – fine material, with, in my opinion, ‘Always Look on the Bright Side of Life’ being an especially good – and amusing -pickup.
Cat Steven – If I Laugh (1971) off Teaser & The Firecat
If I laugh just a little bit
Maybe I can forget the chance
That I didn’t have to know you
And live in peace, in peace
oh, & congrats for bringing up another half century KD!
Thanks for ‘If I Laugh’, Karl. Those seventies Cat Stevens albums were a significant part of my music listening youth. And, as I usually say at theme milestone times (such as passing fifty, one hundred etc) – congrats to all concerned
Where Do You Go To My Lovely? – Peter Sarstedt
“Your name it is heard in high places
You know the Aga Khan
He sent you a race horse for Christmas
And you keep it just for fun, for a laugh, ha-ha-ha”
I Hope I Never – Split Enz
Hard To Laugh – The Pursuit Of Happiness
Maggie May – Rod Stewart
Husker Du – Too Far Down
“I’m too far down
I couldn’t begin to smile
Because I can’t even laugh or cry
Because I just can’t do it”
Some Bruce:
Rosalita (Hey KD, does this lyric count: someday we’ll look back on this and it will all seem funny)
Dancing in the Dark
Glory Days
I’ll Stand By You (non album song, written for a Harry Potter film but not used then included in the wonderful British movie, Blinded By the Light)
I’ll See You In My Dreams * can’t wait to see this song live when Bruce next tours
I’m Walking backwards for Christmas (People just laugh at me and say, “It’s a publicity stunt) – Spike Milligan (the Goons).
Thanks, Swish, for your most recent selections. Love that you picked up the laughter in ‘Where Do You Go To My Lovely?’ – it’s certainly a relevant song choice, and the number’s actual laughter is important in terms of conveying the meaning of the line concerned.
Thanks, Rick, for your five Bruce numbers. Basically, I feel that the selected ‘Rosalita’ lyric involves a reference to humour but not laughter or anything closely resembling it, like chuckling, tittering and the like – the song doesn’t employ actual laughter, either. Also, I included ‘Glory Days’ in my introductory songlist.
Of course, ‘Dancing in the Dark’, ‘I’ll Stand By You’ and ‘I’ll See You In My Dreams’ go straight onto our ‘songs involving laughter’ list.
Thanks for the Spike Milligan number, Fisho. A bit of relevant Spike material is always most welcome.
Fair call KD, has anyone cited A Town Called Maice, The Jam? If not, lock it in.
Cheers
Has anyone mentioned Love Letters in the Sand (How you laughed when I cried each time I saw the tide take our love letters in the sand) – Pat Boone.
Kookaburra Laugh – Patsy Biscoe
Laugh It Off Upsy Daisy – Danny Kaye
Laughing on the Outside – Danny Kaye
She don’t care about time: The Byrds
Thanks, Rick, for the Jam’s ‘A Town Called Malice’ (a song I particularly like). It wasn’t on our list until your selection of it.
Thanks, Fisho, for your latest four. Interestingly, ‘Love Letters in the Sand’ involves laughing AND crying: like quite a number of songs:
‘How you laughed when I cried each time I saw the tide
Take our love letters from the sand…’
Thanks, Liam, for ‘She Don’t Care About Time’. Like Fisho’s recent choice, it involves both laughing and crying:
‘I laugh with her, cry with her, hold her close she is mine…’
Would Billy Thorpe & the Aztecs ‘Funny Face’ fit into the category?
Glen!
Neil Young – The Old Laughing Lady (1969) from his self titled album.
There’s a fever on the freeway, blacks out the night
There’s a slipping on the stairway, just don’t feel right
And there’s a rumbling in the bedroom, and a flashing of light
There’s the old laughing lady, everything is alright
Wipeout – The Surfaris
Great Beautician In The Sky – Magazine
Protection – Graham Parker and the Rumour
Death Defying – Hoodoo Gurus
The People Who Grinned Themselves To Death – Housemartins
Stop Your Sobbing – Kinks
Paranoid – Black Sabbath
Jingle Bells
Three of rock’s best songwriters of the last 30 years and a few of their songs:
Elephant, Jason Isbell
If We were Vampires, Jason again
God Laughs, Joe Henry
Richard Pryor Addresses a Tearful Nation, Joe again
Jester and June, Craig Finn
Balcony, Craig again
I feel compelled to initiate the ‘I Wish I Had Added Those Songs/Lyrics’ Award.
For this ‘laughter’ theme, although we are only 2 1/2 days in – my award goes to Swish for these thoughtful & (in some cases) not so obvious contributions:
I Started A Joke
The Show Must Go On
Where Do You Go To My Lovely
Maggie May
Paranoid
Swish – after 10 such awards, you will receive an official, signed & certified certificate of recognition. Well done, so far!
Thanks Karl, but I don’t reckon I’m even in the medal race compared to many other contributors.
Hi Glen. Thanks for your Funny Face contribution – I think it doesn’t quite fit in terms of our present theme, as it’s not really referring to laughter in any direct – or significant – way.
Thanks, Karl, for The Old Laughing Lady. And it made me chuckle that, inspired by Swish, you’ve come up with an award!
Thank you for your latest input, Swish. You had me at Wipeout, by The Surfaris!
Thanks, Rick, for your latest bunch of choices, from an interesting bunch of artists, to be sure.
At the risk of breaking the Wayne’s World guitar shop rule…
Stairway to Heaven: Led Zeppelin “And the forests will echo with laughter…”
And for the actual sound of laughter, Brain Damage: Pink Floyd
A mixed bag of songs and styles.
All of My Friends Were There – The Kinks
“My big day, it was the biggest day of my life
It was the summit of my long career
But I felt so down, and I drank too much beer
The management said that I shouldn’t appear
I walked out onto the stage and started to speak
The first night I’ve missed for a couple of years
I explained to the crowd and they started to jeer
And just when I wanted no one to be there
All of my friends were there
Not just my friends, but their best friends too
All of my friends were there to stand and stare
Say what they may
All of their friends need not stay
Those who laughed were not friends anyway
All of my friends were there to stand and stare”
Ha! Ha! Said The Clown – Manfred Mann
So Long Marianne – Leonard Cohen
“Now so long, Marianne, it’s time that we began
To laugh and cry and cry and laugh about it all ”
Miller’s Cave – Bobby Bare and loads of other country singers including Johnny Cash and Hank Snow.
This bloodthirsty piece of Georgian melodrama includes the lines “They laughed at me and then I shot ’em, I took their cheatin’ skin and bones in Miller’s Cave ”
.
A Boy named Sue – Johnny Cash (written by Shel Silverstein)
“Well, he must o’ thought that is quite a joke
And it got a lot of laughs from a’ lots of folk,
It seems I had to fight my whole life through.
Some gal would giggle and I’d get red
And some guy’d laugh and I’d bust his head,
I tell ya, life ain’t easy for a boy named “Sue.”
Thanks, Mark, for your Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd material. Great stuff!
Fine assemblage of songs and styles – thanks Dave. So much of interest!
He was sitting up there with his .36 magnum.
Laughing wildly as he bagged them.
Who are we to say the boy’s insane?
The Ballad of Charles Whitman.
Kinky Friedman.
Glen!
Great! Thanks for the Kinky Friedman song, Glen.
Lou Reed’s 1992 ‘Magic & Loss’ album is a masterpiece (IMVHO). Although it deals with the process of living & dying through the last stages of cancer ~ it contains numerous moments of that celebrate the power of laughter. Here’s 3:
Dreamin’
‘You sat in your chair with a tube in your arm/You were so skinny
You were still making jokes/I don’t know what drugs they had you on
You said, “I guess this is not the time/For long term investments”
You were always laughing/But you never laughing at me’
Harry’s Circumcision
‘Harry woke up with a cough; the stitches made his wince
A doctor smiled at him from somewhere across the room
Son, we saved your life, but you’ll never look the same
And when he heard that, Harry had to laugh
Although it hurt, Harry had to laugh
The final disappointment’
Magic & Loss
‘When the past makes you laugh and you can savor the magic
that let you survive your own war
You find that that fire is passion
and there’s a door up ahead not a wall’
Has this been mentioned:
“The Laughing Gnome” by David Bowie (‘ha ha ha he he he’)
Thanks for the input, Smokie, but Swish mentioned this song quite a while back in this thread.
And – slightly out of sequence – thank you Karl for your Lou Reed treble.
Here’s a classic…..
Turn, Turn, Turn – Pete Seeger (1959)
A time to be born, a time to die
A time to plant, a time to reap
A time to kill, a time to heal
A time to laugh, a time to weep
Although, copyright credits & royalties should go to the author of Ecclesiastes.
Miller’s Cave, great call Dave N. And you beat me to So Long, Marianne, one of my wife, Vicki’s fave songs.
And now for a few more laugh theme songs:
Brown Eyed Girl, Van the Man (Laughing and a-running, hey, hey/Skipping and a-jumping/In the misty morning fog with/Our, our hearts a-thumping/And you, my brown-eyed girl)
Cherry Bomb, John Mellencamp (Laughin’, laughin’ with our friends/Holdin’ hands meant somethin’, baby/Outside the club “Cherry Bomb”/Our hearts were really thumpin’/Say yeah yeah yeah)
Drivin’ (1969) and Summer’s Gone (1984), both by The Kinks, both Ray Davies at his most wistful
Anti-Hero, Taylor Swift (I have this dream my daughter-in-law kills me for the money/She thinks I left them in the will/The family gathers around and reads it and someone screams out/”She’s laughing up at us from hell”), oh and Paul Kelly has covered this magnificent song
Time to release the Dylan canon to help break through the 100 barrier….
A Hard Rains A-Gonna Fall
‘Heard one person starve, I heard many people laughin’
Heard the song of a poet who died in the gutter’
Thanks for your latest input, Karl,, though Liam H mentioned Turn, Turn, Turn (including Seeger’s version) way back in the early part of this thread. That said, you released the Dylan canon with a beauty.
Another thing – many would know, as you doubtless would, that quite a few creative works own a debt to Ecclesiastes, which contains some wonderful language – with the King James version of the Bible deserving s special mention in this context
Thanks for your most recent choices, Rick. The fact that classics like Brown Eyed Girl contain references to laughing points to the universality of this theme (as if this universality needed pointing out, I suppose).
Some big guns, starting with the least and moving through to the most, but they all have their merit:
Pigs, Pink Floyd
It’s a Lie, Rolling Stones
Riff Raff, ACDC
Norwegian Wood, The Beatles
May This Be Love, Jimi
Bob Dylan’s Dream (1963) – off the Freewheelin’ album
With half-damp eyes, I stared to the room
Where my friends and I spent many an afternoon
Where we together weathered many a storm
Laughin’ and singin’ till the early hours of the morn
Thanks, Rick, for some big guns. I certainly would have put an iconic sixties song like Norwegian Wood in my introductory list for this theme if I’d thought of it at the time.
Thanks for some Freewheelin Bob, Karl. Freewheelin Bob is good Bob!
Heading down to Key West for some Jimmy Buffett:
Peanut Butter Conspiracy (from one of his earlier albums, and a bit of a hoot, not that we did anything like that in our Uni, read, poor days)
Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes (a top 10 Buffett song)
Landfall (good, the last lines of the song make it)
One Particular Harbour (one of my faves, I like it when Jimmy slows down and ruminates)
here’s one to fire up the imagination…..
When The Ship Comes In – Dylan (1964 – The Times They Are A-Changin’ album)
Oh, the fishes will laugh
As they swim out of the path
And the seagulls they’ll be smiling
And the rocks on the sand
Will proudly stand
The hour that the ship comes in
Joni Mitchell, apparently writing about her ex-husband (from the Blue album)
The Last Time I saw Richard
“The last time I saw Richard was Detroit in 68
And he told me, “All romantics meet the same fate
Some day, cynical and drunk and boring
Someone in some dark cafe”
“You laugh”, he said, “You think you’re immune
Go look at your eyes, they’re full of moon
You like roses and kisses and pretty men to tell you
All those pretty lies, pretty lies
When you gonna realise they’re only pretty lies?
Only pretty lies, just pretty lies”
Poor Little Alison – Gordon Lightfoot
“Poor little Allison standing in the night wind
Laughing out loud turning her face to the summer rain
Poor little Allison never had much going
Hard to forget, always in step with the world she’s in
Never knowing, never feeling, showing so much pride
Never saying what she’s thinking or feeling deep inside
Poor little Allison, dreaming of the right one
Laughing out loud, lost in a crowd of fair weather friends
Never knowing, never feeling, showing so much pride
Never saying what she’s thinking or feeling deep inside
Poor little Allison, standing in the night wind
Wishing out loud, turning her face to the summer rain
Hard to forget, always in step with the world she’s in
Mr Bojangles – Jerry Jeff Walker
[Refrain 2]
“He talked of life
He talked of life
He laugh-slapped his leg in step
[Verse 3]
He said the name
“Bojangles” and
He danced a lick
Across the cell
He grabbed his pants
A better stance
Whoa, he jumped so high
Clicked his heels
[Refrain 3]
He let go a laugh
Let go a laugh
Shook back his clothes all around”
1913 Massacre – Woody Guthrie
There’s talking and laughing and songs in the air,
And the spirit of Christmas is there everywhere,
Before you know it you’re friends with us all,
And you’re dancing around and around in the hall.
……………(then later on)…………
Such a terrible sight I never did see,
We carried our children back up to their tree,
The scabs outside still laughed at their spree,
And the children that died there were seventy-three.
Thanks, Karl, for the Bob and Woody songs – what a fitting pair of artists for me to put in the same sentence!
Thank you for the Mitchell, Lightfoot and Walker songs, Dave, as well as the accompanying lyrics.
‘I Don’t Want to Be Alone’ – written and recorded by Billy Joel, from his Glass Houses album (1980):
‘And when she sees me, she busts out laughing
You’re a sad sight honey but you look so cute…’
(Not one of Joel’s better songs, in my opinion, but spot-on thematically.)
We’ve passed the century again, I’ve just realised, so congrats to all who have been involved. While I’m here, here’s another highly fitting song – Make Em Laugh, sung by Donald O’Connor in one of the best movie musicals ever, Singing In The Rain.
Actually, to be pedantic, the movie title is Singin’ In The Rain.
And the title song of the movie above contains a line about ‘laughing at clouds’.
A bit more Dylan…….
Love Minus Zero/No Limit (1965) – off the ‘Bringing It All back Home’ album.
People carry roses,
Make promises by the hours,
My love she laughs like the flowers,
Valentines can’t buy her.
Thanks for ‘Love Minus Zero/No Limits’, Karl – as usual, thankfully, His Bobness is making his presence felt in one of our thematic lists.
A handful of Country songs:
Laugh the Years Away, Dolly (sending this out to Dolly on the passing of her husband, Carl Dean, after 60 years together)
You Ought to Hear Me Cry, Willie (written for Carl Smith, June’s first husband and father of Carlene Carter)
Best Friend, Johnny (from the early 70s and written by Roy Orbison)
Things Aren’t Funny Anymore, Merle (man, can Merle put a tear in yer eye)
Between a Laugh and a Tear, Mellencamp (from Scarecrow, early 80s, I think, and when he started to focus his writing)
Hey KD
Here’s a laughter lyric to brighten even the darkest night….
Mr. Tambourine Man
Though you might hear laughin’, spinnin’, swingin’ madly across the sun
It’s not aimed at anyone, it’s just escapin’ on the run
Thanks, Rick, for the Buffett songs a little earlier (I meant to acknowledge them at the time), and for the recent country choices. Re Mellencamp, I really liked at least some of his stuff almost from the very start of his career. In the era of my late-ish teens, I remember buying his single ‘Miami’ (c. 1979) – I still love that song!
Thank you, Karl, for ‘Mr Tambourine Man’ – what a great song!
Top shelf artists, not necessarily their top shelf songs, talking to you Elvis and Aretha, Stones song is a good throwaway and Joni is in her champagne period of songwriting:
Love Song of the Year, Elvis
Mister Spain, Aretha
Dandelion, Stones
All I Want, Joni
Thanks, Rick, for your latest four songs.
As usual, our overall themed songlist is shaping up very nicely, and you’re contributing wonderfully well.
Welcome to the weekend!!!! Here’s a Dylan verse sure to make you laugh…..
Gates Of Eden (1965)
With a time-rusted compass blade
Aladdin and his lamp
Sits with Utopian hermit monks
Side saddle on the Golden Calf
And on their promises of paradise
You will not hear a laugh
All except inside the Gates of Eden
And a fine weekend to you, Karl!
Thanks for ‘Gates of Eden’. What an outre lyric, even for Bob!
All My Friends Are Getting Married – Skyhooks has some “undocumented” laughing by Fred Strauks around the 2:55 mark. I’ve never been sure why.
Nice pick up Swish!
Jason Isbell has a new record out, Foxes in the Snow, it’s his post break-up/new love album. Sadly beautiful, with some lovely guitar and stop you in your tracks lyrics. And there’s a laugh lyric! This from Ride to Robert’s, second song on the album, the Robert reference is Robert’s Western World, a Nashville honky-tonk institution. Here the laugh lyric:
We all get lost out here
The deepest ditches line the righteous path
And God said, “hold my beer”
And he made a man so he could watch and laugh
But everything’s good these days
We’ll ride to Robert’s on a Friday night
And hear Don Kelley play
And I’ll catch you dreamin’ in the neon light
Hey KD ….have you seen the biopic ‘A Complete Unknown’?
Obviously that title comes from ‘Like A Rolling Stone’
…and obviously there is a classic ‘laugh’ lyric in that song
‘You used to laugh about
Everybody that was hanging out
Now you don’t talk so loud
Now you don’t seem so proud
About having to be scrounging your next meal’
Yes, Swish. Excellent pick up in relation to All My Friends Are Getting Married. Thanks!
Thank you for the Jason Isbell song, Rick – laughter lyrics can crop up in unexpected places.
Haven’t seen A Complete Unknown yet, Karl, but will certainly do so at some point. Thanks for the Like A Rolling Stone addition, too.
Hippy Monday KD….
A couple more Dylan lyrics before I call it a day on this theme>>>>>unless/until something unexpectedly jumps into my head……..
I Pity The Poor Immigrant (1967)
I pity the poor immigrant
Who tramples through the mud
Who fills his mouth with laughing
And who builds his town with blood
Sweetheart Like You (1983)
You know, I once knew a woman who looked like you
She wanted a whole man, not just a half
She used to call me sweet daddy when I was only a child
You kind of remind me of her when you laugh
Thank you, Karl, for the latest two Dylan lyrics. Happy and hippy Monday to you!.
And this applies to any of our themed songlists, of course – the thematic door is always open, and new contributions can be made at any time.
Hey KD
I know you have an affection for Sixto (as do I), so here’s an excellent double helping of ‘on theme’ lyrics:
Sandrevan Lullaby (1971)
Night rains tap at my window
Winds of my thoughts passing by
She laughed when I tried to tell her
Hello only ends in goodbye’
+
‘Moonshine pours through my window
The night puts it’s laughter away
Clouds that pierce the illusion
That tomorrow would be as yesterday’
Thanks, Karl, for the double Rodriguez helping – a welcome addition to this theme.