Almanac Music: ‘Hold your breath and count to ten’ – Songs Involving Falling
[Wikimedia Commons.]
Almanac Music: ‘Hold your breath and count to ten’ – Songs Involving Falling
Hi, Almanackers! This piece in my long-running series about key popular song themes concerns songs involving falling. By this, I mean songs containing words like falling, fall, fell and closely related words which mean basically the same thing.
So, dear readers, please put your relevant ‘falling’ songs in the ‘Comments’ section. Below, as usual, are some examples from me to get the ball rolling.
‘Falling in Love Again (Can’t Help It)’, written by Friedrich Hollaender and Sammy Lerner (English lyrics), performed by Marlene Dietrich (1930)
‘Can’t Help Falling in Love’, written by Hugo Peretti, Luigi Creatore and George David Weiss, performed by Elvis Presley (1961)
‘If I Fell’, written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney (mainly John), performed by the Beatles (1964)
‘Falling In and Out’, written by Murray Burns and Kevin Stanton, performed by Mi-Sex (1981)
‘Catch Me I’m Falling’, written by performed by David Sterry and Richard Satorski, performed by Real Life (1983)
‘Free Fallin’’, written by Tom Petty and Jeff Lynne, performed by by Tom Petty (1989)
‘Fall at Your Feet’ written by Neil Finn, performed by Crowded House (1991)
‘Skyfall’ written by Adele Adkins and Paul Epworth, performed by Adele (2012)
……………………………………………………………………
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 falling, 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
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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.
A very happy Friday KD & thanks for the new theme…..
The 2 songs that instantly ‘hit’ my brain are:
Joni Mitchell – Help Me (1974)
Help me, I think I’m falling
In love again
When I get that crazy feeling, I know
I’m in trouble again
Julee Cruise – Falling (1989) {the music by Angelo Badalamenti introduced Twin Peaks}
The sky is still blue
The clouds come and go
Yet something is different
Are we falling in love?
White Limbo: Australian Crawl
I’d do it: Australian Crawl
I saw her standing there: Beatles
Flying on the ground is wrong: Buffalo Springfield
Expecting to fly: Buffalo Springfield
Broken arrow: Buffalo Springfield
The day walk (never before): The Byrds
Bound to fall: The Byrds
5D: The Byrds
Natural harmony: The Byrds
You movin’: The Byrds
La Luna: Belinda Carlisle
World without you: Belinda Carlisle
Whatever it takes: Belinda Carlisle
Waiting for a star to fall: Belinda Carlisle
Too much water: Belinda Carlisle
Deeper into you: Belinda Carlisle
We can change: Belinda Carlisle
Sunshine of your love: Cream
Crossroads: Cream
Southern Cross: Crosby Stills and Nash
Waiting for a friend: Roger Daltrey
Lay down your weary tune: Bob Dylan (covered by the Byrds)
The fall: Electric Light Orchestra
Sorrow about to fall: Electric Light Orchestra
Rain is falling: Electric Light Orchestra
Down came the rain: Jeff Lynne’s ELO
All fall down: Electric Light Orchestra Part II
Break the circle: Fleming and John
I fall for you: Fleming and John
Losing Lisa: Ben Folds
Maybe: Justin Hayward and John Lodge
Nights winters years: Justin Hayward and John Lodge
Sea of dreams: Idle Race
The lady who said she could fly: Idle Race
Big Chief Woolly Bosher: Idle Race
The birthday: Idle Race
Days of the broken arrows: Idle Race
A better life (the weatherman knows): Idle Race
Tapestry: Carole King
I wasn’t gonna fall in love: Carole King
Rise and fall: Mondo Rock
Fallen: Sarah McLachlan
Out in the cold: Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
All or nothin’: Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
Fall of Rome: James Reyne
Winds of change: James Reyne
One more river: James Reyne
No such thing as love: James Reyne
The sound of silence: Simon and Garfunkel
Cecilia: Simon and Garfunkel
I am a rock: Simon and Garfunkel
Wednesday morning 3am: Simon and Garfunkel
Fool’s overture: Supertramp
Don’t leave me now: Supertramp
My kind of lady
I’m not in love: Talking Heads
Sax and Violins: Talking Heads
Just to clarify, My kind of lady is another Supertramp track.
Another fascinating idea, and a tempting invitation…
Pleased to see you’ve already included the NZ song ‘Fall at Your Feet.’ ;-)
Here’s another two, and others from elsewhere:
Falling – The Bongos [NZ]
“Falling to the ground is a strange sensation’
Empire Falling – Shihad [NZ]
“When the poor fight the battles of the richest men/And the weak have to start watching out again/That’s the sound of an empire falling”
I’ve Got a Feeling I’m Falling – Ella Fitzgerald
“I’m flyin’ high, but I’ve got a feelin’, I’m fallin’/Fallin’ for nobody else, but you”
Autumn Leaves – Stan Kenton
“The falling leaves drift by the window/The autumn leaves of red and gold”
I Fall – Damned
“Yes I’m blind/And I fall”
Falling Over You – Triffids
“I was falling over you when I didn’t know your number.”
All Being Well – Graham Parker
“I’ll see you when the leaves are falling/All being well”
Let’s Fall Again – Paul Kelly
Fell in Love With a Girl – White Stripes
“I fell in love with a girl/I fell in love once and almost completely”
The Falling – PJ Harvey
“So we fall and we fall again/And I have come to tell you today/That I loved you, there’s still time to save/The falling hearts of our children”
Native Bride – Triffids
“I fell in to a hole that was left where your heart was”
Going Down – Lou Reed
“Yeah, you’re falling all around/And you know you’re going down/For the last time”
Close your Eyes – Kristin Hersh
“Stop you ruined all my memories/You ruined all my memories/I want to catch the falling babies/I’m falling into you”
Thanks, Karl, for your opening foray -, as interesting as ever.
A very happy Friday to you, too!
Some top notch songs by The Replacements:
The Ledge (All eyes look up to me/High above the filthy streets/Heed no bullhorn when it calls/Watch me fly and die, watch me fall)
Never Mind (I’m not ready as I’ll ever be/I climb the walls, I fall into the sea/I’m not ready as I’ll ever be/And I suppose your guess is more or less as bad as mine)
Favourite Thing (Yeah, kid, it’s a-really hip/With plenty of flash and you know it/Yeah, dad, you’re rocking real bad/Don’t break your neck when you fall down laughing)
Little Mascara (You and I fall together/You and I sleep alone/After all, things might be better/After one, and there’s one that’s long gone)
Thanks, Peter C, for your fine collection of highly apt songs. Interestingly, another NZ connection so far is the Mi-Sex song I put in my introduction to this theme – Falling In and Out. (Mi-Sex were an NZ origin band who made their career in Australia.)
Glad you find the theme idea both fascinating and tempting! Such feedback is most welcome.
Ever Fallen In Love – Buzzcocks
I Can’t Stand Up For Falling Down – Sam & Dave / Elvis Costello and the Attractions
Don’t Fall In Love – The Ferrets
Fall On Me – REM
A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall – Dylan
If I Should Fall From Grace With God – Pogues
Night Must Fall – Hoodoo Gurus
That Falling Feeling – 801
Waterfall – Stone Roses
Your House Is Falling – Stephen Cummings
Never Gonna Fall In Love Again – Mark Holden
Thanks for the songs by The Replacements, Rick – the band appears to have a penchant for songs involving falling. Cheers.
Thank you, Swish, for your fine collection of falling songs.
And I believe, incidentally, that Don’t Fall in Love one of the finest Australasian rock songs ever, and as far as I recall it was The Ferrets only hit
Bow ties! One of my fave lines/expressions from Don’t Fall in Love. Yes, it’s a corker.
I love the song, All Fall Down, the Emmylou and George Jones version.
Many thanks for the supportive comment, Rick, as well as All Fall Down.
This one fills all the bills. https://youtu.be/kwOxTpdbDPw?si=WsC3X_H__ZVK6FwX
Autumn Almanac by the Kinks
Fall Around Me by the Killjoys.
You’ve Got A Friend – Carol King (1971)
Winter, spring, summer or fall
All you have to do is call
And I’ll be there
You’ve got a friend
Thanks, Matt, for your two choices. I like Autumn Almanac, incidentally, and will need to check out the Killjoys song.
Thank you, Karl, for You’ve Got A Friend – a classic song from a classic album.
Finnegan’s Wake – The Dubliners, The Clancy Brothers, Dropkick Murphys etc.
“Tim Finnegan lived in Walkin Street
A gentle Irishman, mighty odd
He’d a beautiful brogue both rich and sweet
And to rise in the world he carried a hod
You see he’d a sort of the tipp’ lin’ way
With the love of the liquor, poor Tim was born
And to help him on with his work each day
He’d a drop of the craythur every morn
Whack fol the da, now, dance to your partner
Welt the floor your trotters shake
Wasn’t it the truth I told you
Lots of fun at Finnegan’s wake
One mornin’ Tim was rather full
His head felt heavy, which made him shake
He fell from the ladder and he broke his skull
And they carried him home his corpse to wake
They rolled him up in a nice clean sheet
And laid him out upon the bed
With a gallon of whiskey at his feet
And a barrel of porter at his head”
According to Wikipedia authorship is contested and was first published in New York in the Nineteenth Century. It is probably more music hall than folk but has been performed by folk groups for years. It also inspired the title of James Joyce’s most difficult book. I have tried to read it on numerous occasions and never got beyond page 5.
More songs later (possibly not until tomorrow).
Great first entry in terms of this theme, Dave. Thank you.
If you got to page 5 of Joyce’s Finnegan’s Wake, you’re doing pretty well!
Slippery people: another Talking Heads track to be added to my earlier list.
Here’s one about falling out of love…maybe. ‘Drop the monkey, smell my perfume’ Joan Armatrading’s Drop the Pilot
Here are 5 fine songs, and an impressive circle of songwriters who admire each other (some are related):
I’m Always on a Mountain when I Fall, Merle
When I Fall, Steve Earle, with back-up vocals by his sister, Stacey
One More Night in Brooklyn, Justin Townes Earle
Snow Don’t Fall, Townes Van Zandt
Angel Flying Too Close to the Ground, Willie
Has anybody mentioned Faron Young’s, They Made Me Fall In Love With You?
I’m sure I’ll fall into some other falling songs out there.
Glen!
Regarding Finnegans Wake (no apostrophe of possession for some reason) KD: I agree. I gave up after encountering this on page one-
The fall (bababadalgharaghtakamminarronnkonnbronntonner- ronntuonnthunntrovarrhounawnskawntoohoohoordenenthur- nuk!) of a once wallstrait oldparr is retaled early in bed and later on life down through all christian minstrelsy.
It made Ulysses seem like Enid Blyton.
Another nice topic. Loved Swish’s mention of The Ferrets!
A brief extract from Rick Wakeman’s 1974 ‘Journey To The Centre of The Earth’ – a tale that involves lots of falling & lots of subsequent rising:
As unworthy as Axel felt, he knelt in fervent prayer and then, in panic,
he ran blindly through a tunnel only to reach a dead end,
where he fell, panting for breath.
In the darkness he cried… voices…voices… voices… He heard voices.
I’ll Tumble 4 Ya, Culture Club
Tumbling Dice, the Rolling Stones
Walls Come Tumbling Down, the Style Council
Tumbling Tumbleweeds, Marty Robbins
Day Tripper, the Beatles (?)
Something always comes before a fall.
Stumblin’ In, Chris Norman and Suzi Quatro (twee but great; how is that possible?)
Thanks so much, Liam H, for your wonderful, extensive collection of ‘falling’ songs. There’s a good deal of effort involved in compiling a list like yours. The only reason why I didn’t respond to you earlier was that your big list came through at my end considerably later than when you originally sent it – this sometimes happens.
Thanks, Matt, for your inventive recent song choices. I enjoyed the way you avoided the use of the word ‘fall’ and variants of it, yet remained highly interesting and relevant to the theme at hand.
Thanks, Rick, for your country ‘circle of five’ – a lovely piece of construction is this fine little list!
Original Sin, INXS
Thank you, Glen, for Faron Young’s ‘They Made Me Fall In Love With You’. No, it wasn’t mentioned until you did.
Thanks for your comments, Mickey – and for the quoted material from Finnegans Wake. Of course, you’re correct about the lack of an apostrophe in the title of Joyce’s novel. I blame my phone’s autocorrect and screen size, as some of my Almanac responses are via a phone I recently bought (which I’m yet to fully master in terms of composing stuff on it) – I much prefer responding at home using a big monitor to view everything ‘properly’ and typing on a conventional keyboard.
Thank you, Karl, for the bit from Wakeman’s Journey To The Centre Of The Earth. For a time in the 70s (and and beyond that for some, I suppose), this musically-hard-to-categorize figure was certainly a highly significant presence in the contemporary music realm.
Thanks for ‘Original Sin’, Matt – I can certainly see where you’re coming from there! ( A major fall was involved, for certain!)
Two from that most magnificent of years – 1969
BJ Thomas – Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head
Dionne Warwick – I’ll Never Fall In Love Again
Excellent pickups there, Karl! Thanks for these two choices.
I guess everyone is watching the footy but, jezz, the footy was on last night and we are a happy team!
Anyways, not sure if these songs have been suggested so here goes:
Under the Falling Sky, Jackson Browne and Bonnie Raitt covered it as well
Say You Love Me, Fleetwood Mac (and would Landslide fit this theme as well?)
I Couldn’t Help Falling for You, Marvin Gaye and Kim Weston (“I felt just like Jack and Jill, falling down the hill
I couldn’t help falling for you”)
When the Night Comes Falling from the Sky, Bob (sorry Karl, I do love this song, and I am talking about the Little Steven version of course)
finally, KD, I reckon this next song exemplifies the current theme, even if the term fall, or a synonym of fall is not mentioned in the song. Have a listen, I think you’ll agree, as the whole song is premised on the main protagonist’s fall, both literally and figuratively. The song in question is:
King of Oklahoma, Jason Isbell
Cheers and back to the footy
Another Belinda Carlisle song to include is “You’re nothing without me”
Thanks for your latest material, Rick; as far as I can see, these songs have not been listed before.
I just had a listen to the Jason Isbell song and agree it fits the theme in the way you suggest – ‘King of Oklahoma’ is certainly a harrowing song, too.
Happy Saturday!!!
Hey Rick – you just beat me to ‘Under The Falling Sky’. I can cross Dylan’s WTNCFFTS off my ‘to do’ list but I am not familiar with Little Steven.
Neil Young – Don’t Let It Bring You Down (1970)
It is more an ‘anti-falling’ song but the line ‘blue moon sinking from the weight of the load’ suggests falling (albeit slowly).
Talking of falling slowly, here is one of my all time favourite songs – from one of my all time favourite movies ‘Once’ (2006), sung by Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova:
Falling Slowly
Take this sinking boat and point it home, We’ve still got time
Raise your hopeful voice, you had a choice, You’ve made it now
Falling slowly, sing your melody, I’ll sing it loud, Oh
Only love survive the fall
Happy Saturday, Karl!
Thanks for the very fine Young, and Hansard & Irglova songs.
A mixture of Folk and Country
Tam Lin – Fairport Convention (Vey old traditional Scots Border ballad beautifully arranged by Fairport Convention)
“Janet tied her kirtle green a bit above her knee
And she’s gone to Carterhaugh as fast as go can she
“Oh, tell to me, Tam Lin, ” she said, “why came you here to dwell?”
“The Queen of Faeries caught me when from my horse I fell
And at the end of seven years she pays a tithe to hell
I so fair and full of flesh and feared it be myself
But tonight is Hallowe’en and the faerie folk ride
Those that would their true love win at Miles Cross they must bide.”
(I should have posted this during the Halloween thread)
The Highwayman -performed by the Highwaymen, written by Jimmy Webb
“I was a dam builder
Across the river deep and wide
Where steel and water did collide
A place called Boulder on the wild Colorado
I slipped and fell into the wet concrete below
They buried me in that great tomb that knows no sound
But I am still around”
Dundee Lassie – Ray Fisher (60s Scottish folksinger) written by Mary Brooksbank
“Oh, I’m a Dundee lassie, that’s easy for tae see
Ye’ll aye find me cheerful nae matter where I be
There’s times I feel doonhairted when things gae sad and ill
And I am a spinner intae Baxter’s Mill.
My mither died when I was young, ma faither fell in France
I’d ha’ liked tae have bee a teacher but I never got the chance
I’ll soon be getting married tae a lad they call Tom Hill
And he is an iler intae Halley’s Mill.”
Another Fall of Rain – Dave de Hugard, the song is attributed to John Neilson who was the father of the poet John Shaw Neilson.
“The weather has been sultry for a fortnight now or more
And the shearers have been driving might and main,
For some have got the century who ne’er got it before
But now we all are waiting for the rain.
Chorus (after each verse):
For the boss is getting rusty and the ringer’s caving in,
His bandaged wrist is aching with the pain,
And the second man I fear will make it hot for him
Unless we have another fall of rain.”
Which brings to mind
When the Rain Tumbles Down in July – Slim Dusty, written by Joy McKean
“Let me wander north to the homestead
Way out further on there to roam
By a gully in flood, let me linger
When the summery sunshine has flown
Where the logs tangle up on the creek beds
And clouds fill the old northern sky
And the cattle move back from the lowlands
When the rain tumbles down in July”
I’d imagine the Lucinda Williams song, WORDS FELL, passes the pub test for inclusion.
Glen!
Wonderful post, Dave N – I particularly loved the Scottish emphasis, as I have a significant Scottish branch in my family tree (a paternal great-great grandfather, James Scrimgeour, born in Stirling, Scotland, came to Australia as a young boy around 1860) and the Neilson family (originally from Scotland) have a close connection to Penola, South Australia, where many of my relations on my mother’s side come from.
I’m also very glad that you included Slim’s ‘When the Rain Tumbles Down in July’, one of his earliest recorded songs and one of his best, in my opinion. My understanding is that Slim himself wrote this song, not his wife Joy.
Thanks, Glen. Lucinda Williams’ fine ‘Words Fell’ is certainly a highly fitting inclusion in terms of this theme.
Evenin’ KD
I thought I might propose several Dylan lyrics that suggest ‘a lowering of altitude’. For example – is ‘sinking’ simply ‘falling in water’?
Bob Dylan’s Dream
‘Ten thousand dollars at the drop of a hat’
My Back Pages
‘Flung down by corpse evangelists/Unthought of, though, somehow’
Simple Twist Of Fate
‘She dropped a coin into the cup/Another blind man at the gate’
Idiot Wind
‘It was gravity which pulled us down/And destiny which broke us apart’
Meet Me In The Morning
‘Look at the sun/Sinkin’ like a ship’
Isis
‘I picked up his body and I dragged him inside
Threw him down in the hole and I put back the cover’
Now that I have that out of my system, I will resume normal transmission when next I return……
Hi Karl, re the Little Steven version, I was talking about the version with him on guitar and Roy Bittan on keys, didn’t make it on to EB but appeared on Bootleg Series 1-3.
Ohio Air Show Plane Crash, Joe Henry
Falling Free, Madonna, but cowritten with Joe Henry, who is her brother-in-law
Interesting and, I believe, highly successful approach to our falling theme in your most recent bunch of Dylan songs, Karl – I really like your inventive response in which every song lyric selected contains some sense of falling.
Thanks for the Joe Henry and Madonna material, Rick.
Thank you for your latest Talking Heads and Belinda Carlisle (jeez, you know her songs in such detail!) choices, Liam. (As I indicated earlier, for some unknown reason, your selections typically become visible in our songlists hours after you send them – that’s why my responses to them are delayed.)
Thanks for backing me up KD!
Now for some very early Dylan with real ‘falling’ happening…..
Quit Your Low Down Ways
So you can read out your hymn book
You can fall down on your knees
And pray to the Lord, pretty mama
But it ain’t gonna do no good
Who Killed Davy Moore
It’s too bad for his wife an’ kids he’s dead
But if he was sick he should’ve said
It wasn’t me that made him fall
No, you can’t blame me at all”
With God On Our Side
Oh, the history books tell it, they tell it so well
The cavalries charged, the Indians fell
The cavalries charged, the Indians died
Oh, the country was young with God on its side
Thanks for the ‘real falling’ Dylan songs, Karl – fine input, as always.
Tunnel of My Love – Sunnyboys just popped into my head
Well I’m waking up now
Waking up to all the bad in you
I get hurt, I fall down
I need someone to hold me back from the tunnel
From the tunnel of my love
as did
Over The Wall – Echo and the Bunnymen
Over the wall
Hand in hand
Over the wall
Watch us fall
And if I may introduce another close-ish synonym
Dive For Your Memory – Go Betweens
When I hear you saying
That we stood no chance
I’ll dive for your memory
We stood that chance
Streets of Forbes references falling twice. Firstly in the opening stanza:
Come all you Lachlan men, and a sorrowful tale I’ll tell
Concerning of a hero bold, who through misfortune fell.
Later on we hear.
Ben went to Goobang Creek, and that was his downfall,
for riddled like a sieve was valiant Ben Hall.
Glen!
Thanks, Swish, for your latest input – an interesting trio: Sunnyboys, Echo and the Bunnymen and Go-Betweens.
‘Streets of Forbes’ is a great choice, Glen! Excellent to get a bushranger song into the mix – most of them ‘fell’ in some major way, with a range of contributing factors involved.
Tweeter & The Monkeyman – Traveling Wilburys (1988)
And the walls came down, all the way to hell
Never saw them when they’re standing, never saw them when they fell
Plus a couple from 1/5 of the Traveling Wilburys…..1964 style……
One Too Many Mornings
Down the street the dogs are barkin’
And the day is a-gettin’ dark
As the night comes in a-fallin’
The dogs ‘ll lose their bark
It Ain’t Me Babe
You say you’re lookin’ for someone
To pick you up each time you fall
To gather flowers constantly
And to come each time you call
Thanks for you latest three, Karl. Believe it or not, ‘It Ain’t Me Babe’ probably makes it into my top ten favourite Dylan songs (if not necessarily his version of it).
Hi KD, well done Dave N getting Slim’s great song in before me. Please tell me that this song hasn’t been put forward:
When the Next Teardrop Falls, Freddie Fender. Classic, and did you know it had been recorded more than 20 times before Freddie nailed it.
And how about these brilliant tunes:
Stand, Sly & the Family Stone
Stand By Me, Ben E King
El Paso, Marty Robbins
Hi Rick. Yes, ‘When the Next Next Teardrop Falls’ is new to our list. Thanks for this one and the three other excellent songs you’ve included in your latest batch.
Hey KD – re your comment 3 comments above: Believe it or not, I believe everything you tell me as I have no reason not to believe you.
As I was driving hoe from the local shop this a.m., I heard:
Rain – Dragon
Oh is it any wonder, the streets are dark
Is it any wonder, we fall apart
Day after day strange rain falls down
All over town, rain come
(Extra points for a double ‘fall’ lyric?)
I also came across the song ‘All Fall Down’ by the US 60’s band The Standells. I note that Liam H has a different ‘All Fall Down’ by ELO in an early comment. Lo & behold, I discover 2 further different versions of ‘All Fall Down’ by UK pop group Five Star and by Ultravox.
I like the Ultravox lyrics – as good a song for present times as for any time in human history (& another double ‘fall’ lyric):
‘No sun for a world that once stood so tall
No wind’s going to blow and no rain’s going to fall
No flowers for graves, in fact no graves at all
When we all fall down’
Thanks, Karl, for your most recent songs and comments. Re ‘It Ain’t Me Babe’, I simply used ‘believe it or not’ as I thought you may be surprised that I rated the song so highly in Dylan’s body of work – that’s all.
Also, ‘Rain’ is among my favourite Dragon songs, and I like the band quite a bit.
The ‘double fall’ lyrics were excellent pickups, too!
The Cape – Guy Clark
“Eight years old with a floursack cape
Tied all around his neck
He climbed up on the garage
Figurin’ what the heck
He screwed his courage up so tight
The whole thing came unwound
He got a runnin’ start and bless his heart
He headed for the ground
He’s one of those who knows that life
Is just a leap of faith
Spread your arms and hold your breath
Always trust your cape
(the word “falling” is not mentioned in the song, but that’s what happens when you jump off the garage. It is not really a song about falling, it is a song about fearlessness and defying gravity but it still fits this theme. Guy Clark was such a good songwriter!)
If It All Falls Down – Jimmy Buffett
“If it all falls down, falls down, falls down
If they solve my life they find me out
Never thought to keep all I have found
I have had my fun if it all falls down
If it all falls down, falls down, falls down
I have had my fun I have bought a few rounds
And been out on the town way out on the town
Way-way-way out if it all falls down”
(not Jimmy’s greatest song but certainly on theme)
Free Fall through Featherless Flight – Jeannie Lewis
That is the title of the album not any individual song but falling and rising (and flying) is the theme that links 12 very different tracks. When Free Fall was released in 1973 it might have been the most adventurous creative record released in Australia. Lewis had been a folk singer but this album included folk, jazz, rock and semiclassical influences and couldn’t really be defined as as any of these genres. Fifty years later I still can’t think of any Australian record that was like Free Fall through featherless Flight. The closest might be some of the work of Kate Miller-Heidke.
Great material, Dave; as usual, I loved the song astute song choices, use of quoted lyrics, and in general the erudition.
It must be time for the annual autumnal equinox award (the AAEA) for best individual song choice.
Individual song gong goes to Swish for ‘The Ferrets – Dont Fall In Love’
The newly minted ‘best alliterative effort’ medal does to Dave N for ‘Free Fall Through Featherless Flight’
Now, here a triplet of mid 60’s classic Dylan:
Like A Rolling Stone
‘People call say ‘beware doll, you’re bound to fall’
You thought they were all kidding you’
She Belongs To Me
‘She never stumbles/She’s got no place to fall.
She’s nobody’s child/The Law can’t touch her at all’
Just Like A Woman
‘Everybody knows that baby’s got new clothes
But lately I see her ribbons and her bows
Have fallen from her curls’
Hey KD
Had to include lyrics from that well known classic and theme favourite Dylan song, Tangled Up In Blue:
And I was standing on the side of the road
Rain falling on my shoes
Heading out for the East Coast
Lord knows I’ve paid some dues
Getting through
Tangled up in blue
Brilliant! Thanks, Karl, for giving Tangled yet another guernsey.
And this one’s been at the back of my mind for days – Runaway by The Corrs, which contains numerous references to falling in love.
Oh and – slightly out of sequence – thanks for your recent Dubravs Awards (!) and triplet of mid-sixties Dylan.
Hey Karl, can I add Dylan’s Black Crow Blues (I haven’t seen it mentioned as yet):
Sometimes I’m thinkin’ I’m
Too high to fall
Sometimes I’m thinkin’ I’m
Too high to fall
Other times I’m thinkin’ I’m
So low I don’t know
If I can come up at all
Thanks, Rick, for Black Crow Blues.
Many thanks, Bob D, for your input to our themed songlsts more generally.
A couple of Mike Nesmith songs , one pre Monkees and one post Monkees.
Some of Shelly’s Blues – Linda Ronstadt and the Stone Poneys, written by Michael Nesmith
“Tell me,
Just one more time the reasons why you must leave,
Tell me once more why you’re sure you don’t need me,
Tell me again but, don’t think that you’ll convince me.
Now you’ve said,
Before falling in love again you’d rather be dead,
‘Cause when someone breaks your heart, you cry your eyes red,
But there’s nothing so hard about the life that you’ve led.”
The Keys to the Car – Michael Nesmith and the First National Band
“Tonight when he hands you the keys to the car
And he says you can drive, some, but don’t drive too far
Tonight when she tells you you’re her only one
Remember the morning brings on the sun
And they’re watching you stumble and fall
Until you’re lost down below like them all
Today when they give you their words of advice
And tell you you’re free, friend, as long as it’s nice
Today when their words of sweet wisdom come down
Remember their smiles are hiding their frowns
And they’re watching you stumble and fall
Until you’re lost down below like them all
If you say you’re their friend, I’m afraid you will learn
They want only friends they can have on their terms
But the love that you show them will give you an edge
For authority is more than wearing a badge
And you’ll be watching them stumble and fall
Until they’re lost down below like them all
Until they’re lost down below like them all”
Thanks for these Mike Nesmith songs, Dave. I think he was a fine musician and songwriter – a good deal of his work possessed a touch of class.
Invisible, Indivisible is a song written and recorded by Kavisha Mazzella. It contains the lines ‘I fall from the sky / looking at your beauty’. The song appears on Mazzella’s 1995 album, Mermaids in the Well. For those who haven’t heard of her, check her out – she sings like an angel.
She so sings like an angel! Great call.
Some big hitters here:
Knoxville Girl, The Louvin Brothers – the song is based on an English ballad dating back to the 17th century. (I met a liitle girl in Knoxville, a town we all know well,/And every Sunday evening, out in her home I’d dwell,/We went to take an evening walk about a mile from town,/I picked a stick up off the ground and knocked that fair girl down/She fell down on her bended knees for mercy she did cry,/Oh Willy dear don’t kill me here, I’m unprepared to die)
Downbound Train, Chuck Berry – this song derives from an anonymous poem from the American West called, The Hell Bound Train, that Alan Lomax came across in his travels (The stranger awoke with an anguished cry/His clothes wet with sweat and his hair standing high/He fell on his knees on the bar room floor/And prayed a prayer like never before/And the prayers and vows were not in vain/For he never rode that downbound train)
Springsteen also has a song called Downbound Train, from his best album, Born in the USA. It differs substantially from the Chuck song, but I’m sure Bruce is leveraging it. While it doesn’t include the word fall or fell, the lyric is close enough. KD, I’ll let you decide: (There in the clearing, beyond the highway/In the moonlight, our wedding house shone/I rushed through the yard, I burst through the front door/My head pounding hard, up the stairs I climbed/The room was dark, our bed was empty/Then I heard that long whistle whine/And I dropped to my knees, hung my head and cried)
The Harder they Come, Jimmy Cliff – what a magnificent song and film and soundtrack!
(So as sure as the sun will shine/I’m gonna get my share now, what’s mine/And then the harder they come/The harder they fall, one and all/Ooh, the harder they come/The harder they fall, one and all)
Clampdown, The Clash – from London Calling and what a frickin album! Because of songs like this! (The judge said “Five to ten” but I say “Double that again”/I’m not workin’ for the clampdown/No man born with a livin’ soul/Can be workin’ for the clampdown/Kick over the wall, cause governments to fall/How can you refuse it? Let fury have the hour, anger can be power/D’you know that you can use it?)
A wonderful most recent set of song choices, Rick!
Yes, I’d certainly pay Springsteen’s ‘Downbound Train’ in relation to our theme. Regarding songs on the Born in the USA album, ‘I’m Goin’ Down’ also squeaks under the theme’s umbrella, as the protagonist/singer here is constantly dealing with a sense of going from a former ‘high’ to a current low.
Bob is back in the building……
If Not For You
If not for you
My sky would fall
Rain would gather too
(or is it ONJ?)
Day Of The Locusts
The man standin’ next to me, his head was explodin’
Whoa, I was prayin’ the pieces wouldn’t fall on me
I Shall Be Released
They say ev’ry man needs protection,
They say ev’ry man must fall.
Cheers & have a happy Thursday~~~~~~
Happy Thursday, Karl. Thanks for the latest Bob choices.
Interestingly (perhaps), I associate ‘If Not For You’ most strongly with the great George Harrison because of his version on All Things Must Pass. (And, as you would know, Dylan and Harrison together recorded another version of this song, too.)
‘Space Cowboy’ by the Steve Miller Band, from their third album, Brave New World (1969):
‘I keep my eyes on the prize, on the long-fallen skies…’
Just letting you know KD, I have plenty more coming. For now, here are some John Prine tunes:
Your Flag Decal Won’t Get You into Heaven Anymore (While digesting Reader’s Digest/In the back of a dirty book store/A plastic flag with gum on the back/Fell out on the floor Well, I picked it up and I ran outside/And slapped it on my window shield/And if I could see ol’ Betsy Ross I’d tell her how good I feel)
Sweet Revenge (I got kicked off of Noah’s Ark/I turn my cheek to unkind remarks/There was two of everything/But one of me/And when the rains came tumbling down/I held my breath, and I stood my ground/And I watched that ship go sailing/Out to sea)
Killing the Blues – this is not a John Prine song but a cover and an even better cover of this song is by Robert Plant and Alison Krauss (Leaves were falling/Just like embers/In colors red and gold they set us on fire/Burning just like a moonbeam/In our eyes/Somebody said they saw me/Swinging the world by the tail/Bouncing over a white cloud/Killing the Blues)
Somewhere Someone’s Falling in Love (Well, I got time on my hands/And I got you on my mind/And the moon and the stars up above/There’s a warm summer breeze/Blowing down through the trees/And somewhere someone’s falling in love)
The Bottomless Lake – from Aimless Love, the same album Somewhere is on. This song is all about falling so the following lyrics are just the beginning and this song may well be the song in this theme that has the most fall sentiments and use of the phrase. (Here’s the story of a man and his family/And a big trip that they took/Well, I heard all about in a restaurant/And I read it in a history book/They rented a car at the Erie Canal/But the car didn’t have no brake/Said ma to pa “My God this car/Is gonna fall into the bottomless lake”)
Yes KD – ONJ actually used the Harrison cover for her career launching cover of INFY – and it was all done at Abbey Road Studios after ONJ relocated back to England. She, like many others before/after her owe BD a great big ‘thank you’.
A couple of non-Bob contributions to add to the theme:
Billy Bragg – Great Leap Forward
‘In the Soviet Union a scientist is blinded
By the resumption of nuclear testing and he is reminded
That Dr Robert Oppenheimer’s optimism fell
At the first hurdle’
Robbie Robertson – Fallen Angels
Fallin’, fallin’, fallin’ down
Fallin’, fallin’ down
Fallen angel
Casts a shadow up against the sun
If my eyes could see
The spirit of the chosen one
Brilliant suite of Prine tunes, Rick – somehow, the word ‘suite’ feels highly apt – and suitably poetic – in relation to your five selected songs and astutely quoted lyrics.
So pleased that you have considerably more song choices to come, too.
Thanks so much, Karl, for your latest material. When the ‘non-Bob contributions’ are songs by Bragg and Robertson, one knows one is in excellent hands.
Oh, and I do really like the ONJ version of INFY, too – very much the Harrison arrangement.
Great calls Karl (noting your Dylan submissions are A1 on the jukebox) with Billy Bragg and Robbie. I love WftGLF.
Okay, some little elvis:
Fallen, from the album North, 2002 I think. I love EC but has there been a rock artists fall (pun intended) so far from their heyday as him. A startling run of great to decent records from 77 to 89 and then scraps. Great songs here and there but hardly a double albums worth of the excellence his heyday produced. Anyways, with a title like that we don’t need the lyrics. Fallen is one of the okay songs on an otherwise crap album. Or, put another way, he forsakes rocknroll to go jazzy.
I’ll Never Fall in Love Again, where EC covers the great Burt Bacharach song for the Austin Powers movie.
After the Fall, from Mighty like a Rose, ironically, the album that signals his descent, a bunch of songs that don’t quite gel and even some of the songs have been taken from the oven before they’re cooked.
Then there’s Deep Dark Truthful Mirror, from the album before Mighty. And while it isn’t his best by any measure it does have songs like this. Here’s the first verse: One day you’re going to have to face/A deep dark truthful mirror/And it’s going to tell you things that I still/Love you too much to say/The sky was just a purple bruise/The ground was iron/And you fell all around the town/Until you looked the same.
I had you in mind: Mondo Rock
Stories We Could Tell – John Sebastian (It has been covered by loads of people including Jimmy Buffett and Tom Petty)
“But oh, the stories we could tell
And if it all blows up and goes to hell
I can still see us sittin’ on a bed in some hotel
Singin’ all the stories we could tell
Remember that guitar in a museum in Tennessee
The nameplate on the glass brought back twenty melodies
And the scratches on the face told of all the times he fell
Singin’ all the stories he could tell
And oh, the stories it could tell
And I’ll bet you it still rings like a bell
And I wish that we could sit back on a bed in some hotel
And listen to the stories it could tell”
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress – Jimmy Webb (also referenced in the “Moon” thread)
“See her how she flies
Golden sails across the sky
Close enough to touch
But careful if you try
Though she looks as warm as gold
The moon’s a harsh mistress
The moon can be so cold
Once the sun did shine
Lord, it felt so fine
The moon a phantom rose
Through the mountains and the pines
And then the darkness fell
And the moon’s a harsh mistress
It’s so hard to love her well
I fell out of her eyes
I fell out of her heart
I fell down on my face
Yes, I did, and I — I tripped and I missed my star
God, I fell and I fell alone, I fell alone
And the moon’s a harsh mistress
And the sky is made of stone
The moon’s a harsh mistress
She’s hard to call your own.”
I Fall to Pieces – Patsy Cline
Assuming that “slip” in the context of these lyrics is another word for “fall” I submit
Girls on the Avenue – Richard Clapton
“Girls on the avenue
They’re tryin’ to get you in
Strollin’ by with their rosebud smiles
They’re all dressed up to kill
Lean on the window sill
Lookin’ your way with eyes of fire
But don’t you slip
Don’t you slip
In love with the girls on the avenue”
Thanks for your Elvis Costello material, Rick. Just a note in relation to ‘Fallen’ – it’s almost always problematic when a performer ‘forsakes rocknroll to go jazzy’, isn’t it? Hardly ever works well.
If someone is a jazz performer to begin with, that’s another matter entirely.
Thank you, Liam, for the Mondo Rock number.
Thanks, Dave, for your latest fine input. I thought Richard Clapton’s famous ‘Don’t you slee-up (slip)’ was a particularly good pickup.
Good Friday morning KD (not to be confused with 3 Fridays hence when it will be Good Good Friday morning)….
Great big clap & pat on the back for Dave’s ‘Girls On The Avenue’!!!!.
Here’s a few more from our favourite Nobel Laureate
Ballad in Plain D (1964) – the big break up!
‘And so it did happen like it could have been foreseen
The timeless explosion of fantasy’s dream
At the peak of the night, the king and the queen
Tumbled all down into pieces’
You Go Your Way & I’ll Go Mine (1966)
‘And then time will tell just who has fell
And who’s been left behind
When you go your way and I go mine’
Lily, Rosemary & the Jack of Hearts (1975)
‘The festival was over, the boys were all plannin’ for a fall
The cabaret was quiet except for the drillin’ in the wall’
Hey KD
A few more random lyrics….from a long long long (too long) time ago
Rolling Stones – Jumpin’ Jack Flash (’68)
‘I was drowned, I was washed up and left for dead
I fell down to my feet and I saw they bled’
Mandolin Wind – Rod Stewart (’71)
‘Oh, the snow fell without a break
Buffalo died in the frozen fields, you know
Through the coldest winter in almost 14 years
I couldn’t believe you kept a smile’
It Started Out So Nice – Rodriguez (’71)
‘Volume left Bohemia, a triangle for his thumb
Questions fell but no one stopped to listen
That eternity was just a dawn away
And the rest was sure to come
Leaves caught in winter’s ice’
Thanks for these three oldies (but very ‘goodies’), Karl. And it’s a fine thing to be reminded of the work of Sixto Rodriguez, too.
Rollin’ and Tumblin’, Muddy Waters, a delta blues standard that Muddy took to another level and then white blues players followed his version oh and Bob lifted the title and gist for his song/version
9 to 5, Dolly, tumble outa bed, oh, we’ve all been there
All Too Well, Taylor Swift, the 10 minute Taylor version if you don’t mind, highlighting the lyric and melody prowess of this great artist
Hurtin’ on the Bottle, Margo Price, the song that set her career up and it’s a damn fine song by a damn fine artist
Tequila Makes Her Clothes Fall Off, Joe Nichols, proving that there are crap country songs
Another century beckons…will the nervous nineties bring us down…will we fall at the last hurdle?????
Here another triple single from the Bob
Is Your Love In Vain (78)
All right, I’ll take a chance, I will fall in love with you
Every Grain Of Sand (81)
I am hanging in the balance of the reality of man
Like every sparrow falling, like every grain of sand
Blind Willie McTell (91)
Well, I travel through east Texas
Where many martyrs fell
And I know no one can sing the blues
Like Blind Wille McTell
Interesting mix of songs in your latest input. Thanks, Rick.
While I’m here, I’ll throw in another one: ‘We Belong’, written by David Eric Lowen and Dan Navarro, recorded by Pat Benatar (1984):
‘We belong to the sound of the words
We’ve both fallen under…’
This is one of Benatar’s top few releases, in my opinion. She an artist I’ve always liked, too.
Thank you, Karl, for your latest material from the Bobster.
Yes, our century beckons…
Happy Monday KD
A final couple from Bob…..both from 1989
Where Teardrops Fall – released on Oh Mercy
And, from previous comments, one of your favourites:
Series Of Dreams – Oh Mercy outtake, released on the 1991 Bootleg Series V1-3
‘Wasn’t making any great connection
Wasn’t falling for any intricate scheme
Nothing that would pass inspection
Just thinking of a series of dreams’
Happy Monday, Karl! Thanks for the Bob double including ‘Series of Dreams’.
And congratulations to all concerned in terms of reaching our century – a fine achievement!
While I’m here, I’ll list another song, ‘Want you Back’, by the American all-sister trio, Haim (2017). This song contains the line: ‘I’ll take the fall and the fault in us’.
Three great female Aussie artists.
Monsoon Rock, Amyl and the Sniffers, from their first album and already you hear their rock cred greatness! (It’s a Thursday morning, I am sleeping in my home town/I can’t see, I can’t see the sky from the clouds/The rain was falling down and we’re all begging it to stop/Instead we’re gonna do the monsoon rock)
Aqua Profunda, Courtney Barnett, from their first album and if you’re looking for great Australian rock, look no further. (I tried my very best to impress you/Held my breath longer than I normally do/I was getting dizzy/My hair was wet and frizzy/Felt my muscles burn, I took a tumble turn/For the worse, it’s a curse /My lack of athleticism, sunk like a stone/Like a first owner’s home loan/When I came to, you and your towel were gone)
Out of the Woodwork, Courtney Barnett, they had a couple of Eps before the first album and this song comes from that, the Eps while not brilliant, suggest a great artist emerging. (But you’re really good at saying everything on your mind/It must be tiring, trying so hard/To look like you’re not really trying at all/I guess if you’re afraid of aiming too high/Then you’re not really gonna have too far to fall)
Bluebird, Kasey Chambers, I love Kasey, her songs always have something in them that hits me and hard, whether it’s a humorous observation, a plaintive cry or a heartfelt sentiment, she gets into my bloodstream (If I fall like rain/Will you still feel the same/Will you hold me and call out my name/If I’m lost in the crowd/Will you shout out loud/Will you take me to the other side of town)
Nothing at All, Kasey Chambers (One was the light in a candle/Two was the colour of the rain/Three was a fall in deeper/Four was a cry and shame/Five was a shiver in the winter/Six was a losing card/Seven was the hope I would never fall too hard … and the chorus, You win/I lose/You leave with nothin’ to prove/You rise, /I fall/I leave with nothing Nothing at all … and an even sadder bridge, I was your waste time/You were my angel wing/I was your falling star/You were my everything)
Falling into You, Kasey Chambers (But falling into you/It carries me far enough away/ And everything you do/It lightens up my darker side of day/I just hope that the wind/ Doesn’t blow you away)
Wonderful stuff, Rick, reading these evocative mini-essays on three fine Australian talents.
Hey KD
I have another Rodriguez lyric to add – it doesn’t mention ‘falling’ as such, but:
It’s a great song and is suggestive of downward momentum and (from previous comments) I am sure will pass the KD song theme lyric pub test:
Climb Up On My Music (1971)
‘Well, just climb up on my music
And my songs will set ya free
Well, just climb up on my music
And from there jump off with me’
PS – did you see ‘Searching For Sugarman’ biopic circa 2012? I recall watching it the first time & having tears in my eyes from the joy of Sixto being rediscovered and recognised for the talent he is.
Some heavy guns:
How Deep is Your Love, The Bee Gees (I believe in you/You know the door to my very soul/You’re the light in my deepest, darkest hour/You’re my saviour when I fall)
Heroes, David Bowie (I, I can remember (I remember)/Standing by the wall (By the wall)/And the guns shot above our heads (Over our heads)/And we kissed as though nothing could fall (Nothing could fall)
Born Under Punches, Talking Heads, one of their more overt political songs and a song that could be referenced today what with the way Trump is trying to smash democracy in the US (Never seen anything like that before/Falling bodies tumble ‘cross the floor (But I’m a tumbler!)/When you get to where you wanna be (Ahh, thank you, thank you!)/When you get to where you wanna be (Yeah, don’t even mention it!)
Thriller, Michael Jackson, with a little help from Vincent Price (Darkness falls across the land/The midnight hour is close at hand/Creatures crawl in search of blood/To terrorize y’all’s neighborhood (I’m gonna thrill you tonight)/And whosoever shall be found/Without the soul for getting down/Must stand and face the hounds of hell/And rot inside a corpse’s shell)
Hallelujah, Lenny Cohen (Now I’ve heard there was a secret chord/That David played, and it pleased the Lord/But you don’t really care for music, do you?/It goes like this/The fourth, the fifth/The minor fall, the major lift/The baffled king composing Hallelujah/Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah)
Alexandra Leaving – Leonard Cohen
“Suddenly the night has grown colder
The god of love preparing to depart
Alexandra hoisted on his shoulder
They slip between the sentries of the heart
Upheld by the simplicities of pleasure
They gain the light, they formlessly entwine
And radiant beyond your widest measure
They fall among the voices and the wine
It’s not a trick, your senses all deceiving
A fitful dream, the morning will exhaust
Say goodbye to Alexandra leaving
Then say goodbye to Alexandra lost”
Country Comfort – Elton John
“Soon the pines will be falling everywhere
Village children fight each other for a share
And the 6:09 goes roaring past the creek
Deacon Lee prepares his sermon for next week
I saw grandma yesterday down at the store
Well, she’s really going fine for eighty-four
Well, she asked me if sometime I’d fix her barn
Poor old girl, she needs a hand to run the farm
And it’s good old country comfort in my bones
Just the sweetest sound my ears have ever known
Just an old-fashioned feeling fully-grown
Country comfort’s in a truck that’s going home”
This is probably the wrong use of “fall” but it’s a song I’ve loved for sixty years
Four Strong Winds – Ian and Sylvia (yes, I know that Neil Young did a great version of it but Ian Tyson wrote it and I heard his version two decades before i heard Neil’s.)
“Think I’ll go out to Alberta
Weather’s good there in the fall
I got some friends that I could go to working for
Still I wish you’d change your mind
If I ask you one more time
But we’ve been through this a hundred times or more
Four strong winds that blow lonely
Seven seas that run high
All those things that don’t change come what may
If the good times are all gone
Then I’m bound for moving on
I’ll look for you if I’m ever back this way”
Rick, your ‘heavy guns’ were certainly on target in terms of our falling theme. Talking Heads are the just about the best live band I’ve ever seen, incidentally – they were on a double bill with the Pretenders, who were excellent too. (Melbourne, c 1983/4) And Tina Weymouth is one of my all-time favourite rock bass players, along with McCartney, ‘Thunderfingers’ Entwistle and maybe a couple of others.
Thank you, Karl, for your latest Rodriguez lyric, which does convey a clear sense of falling/downward momentum. I’ve heard of ‘Searching for Sugar Man’, but am yet to see it. I remember Rodriguez being a cult figure in Australia in the 1970s, a time when he didn’t have much success outside a few countries. (He didn’t have much success in the USA until decades later, as you’d know.)
Thanks, Dave, for your latest three. To select just one for comment: for me, ‘Country Comfort’ is certainly rich in terms of connection to time, place and earlyish music listening. Elton John (and Bernie Taupin’s) golden period was definitely the seventies, I feel.
And, yes, while it’s on my mind, I’ll put another song into the mix: ‘Token Angels’, written by Roger Mason, recorded by Canadian-born Australian artist, Wendy Matthews (1990).
‘And my eyes are coloured in white
And your hands are colder than ice
And the walls come tumbling down
And our worlds came crashing around
And the angels fall from the sky
Token angels in disguise…’
There’s quite a bit of ‘downward momentum’ (to use Karl D’s expression) in this song – which appeared as the lead single from Matthews’ Émigré album – as well as actual falling; for example, ‘walls… tumbling down’ and ‘worlds…crashing around’ in the above passage.
But possibly the best thing of all about ‘Token Angels’ is the beautiful, bell-like clarity of Wendy Matthews’ voice, which can also be likened to listening to sublime chimes..
Mornin’ KD
I seem to have come to the end of my list apart from a couple of my own – both of which I feel quite good about.
Science Of Love – from the 2019 ‘Life & Love’ album
You may not understand the force of gravity
But I think you understand how you fell for me
I fell for you
I’m falling still
Sometimes against my will
That’s the science of love
Distant Sand – unreleased
‘Their names are etched across the land
To honour the fallen on distant sand
The last post is played, the flag at half mast
As the shadows of 8000 souls march past
And they fell, fell, fell on distant sand ~ on distant sand’
Mornin’, Karl. Thanks for the Dubravs double.
We’re have reached the point in this theme’s thread where it is getting harder to remember all the songs already put forward. So soz if these two songs have already been suggested. Karl, did you say a few posts back that you had contributed all the Bob songs you had for this theme? (I may have misread). Anyways I had two Bob songs tucked away, just in case:
Cat’s in the Well, I don’t know about you but I continue to listen to and enjoy Under the Red Sky, as clunky as certain songs are more than I do Oh Mercy with its one too many faux foreboding tunes and faux old testament lyrics. (The cat’s in the well, the leaves are starting to fall/The cat’s in the well, leaves are starting to fall/Goodnight, my love, may the Lord have mercy on us all)
Tempest, some good to great songs on the album, this aint one of them (The engines then exploded/Propellers failed to start/The boilers overloaded/The ship’s bow split apart/Passengers were flying/Backward, forward, far and fast/They mumbled, fumbled, tumbled/Each one more weary than the last)
Thanks, Rick, for these two Bob numbers which I don’t recall having been listed before.
The Tempest, incidentally, is my favourite Shakespeare play, and according to most scholars the last one written entirely by him alone. Bob’s Tempest album, from memory, was released almost exactly four hundred years after Shakespeare’s play was first performed.
Some grunge with a lowercase g, because that’s what grunge is all about:
Breakerfall, Pearl Jam
Winter Song, Screaming Trees
Fell on Black Days, Soundgarden
Halloween, Mudhoney
Never, Babes in Toyland
Thank you, Rick, for the grunge additions – you’ve certainly done some commendable ‘heavy lifting’ in relation to this falling theme!
How could I forget one of my favourite songs of the last couple of decades in the context of this theme? ‘Heartbreak Warfare’ by John Mayer, from his album Battle Studies (2009):
‘Clouds of sulfur in the air
Bombs are falling everywhere
It’s heartbreak warfare…’
NEW MUSIC THEME BEGINS TOMORROW, FRIDAY 4 APRIL
While reading a piece on famed Texas singer/songwriter, Billy Joe Shaver the other night and I learned about the death of his son, Eddy. The two of them had formed a band in the late 80s, that had been delivering on Billy Joe’s songwriting and Eddy’s guitar playing until Eddy’s accidental herion O/D in the late 90s. The piece I was reading mentioned a song by Todd Snider called Waco Moon bidding farewell to his friend, Eddy, which I played immediately. It is a heartbreaking tune and includes a line about falling. Here it is:
I threw the phone against the wall/Falling apart when I got the call/I went out walkin’ with the weight of it all/That’s when it hit me like a waterfall/Yellow Rose, Waco Moon/Quit too late, you died too soon/To the bitter end tried and true/Goodbye old friend, we’ll be missing you.
And here are a couple of Billy Joe tunes related to the falling theme:
You Wouldn’t Know Love if You Fell in It (Now your mood has changed, back to the same old thing/ Your poutin’, doubtin’, runnin’ round on me again /I don’t know too much baby but, this much I know about you /You wouldn’t know love if you fell in it /You didn’t break my heart this time, but you dang sure bent it /You wouldn’t know love, whoa you wouldn’t know love… if you fell in it)
Live Forever (When this old world has blown us under/And all the stars fall from the sky/Remember someone really loves you/We’ll live forever you and I/I’m gonna live forever/I’m gonna cross that river/I’m gonna catch tomorrow now)
If you are unfamiliar with Billy Joe Shaver, he is worth checking out. Waylon Jennings released an album of Billy Joe’s songs in the early 70s. This album was critical to establishing the country music outlaw movement. Dylan went one better. He cites Billy Joe in a song (alongside James Joyce no less) and includes a Billy Joe song in his fabulous, rascally, thought-provoking and fun as book, Philosophy of Modern Song.
Thank you, Rick, for the excellent Billy Joe Shaver related material – he’s certainly someone I’ll need to check out in some detail.