Saul’s Sunday Morning Melodies likes riffing on a theme. Last week we saw how beautiful and joyous a love song can be when John Denver filled up our senses with Annie’s Song. This morning we again dive into the great American songbook by looking at the subject from a different angle. In Annie’s song we heard the sound of love in bloom, when all is rosy in the garden. Denver married the girl who was the subject of the song but that marriage soon went as south as a Lynard Skynard after-party and they eventually parted ways. Songs about the end of love are many and varied but this week our song looks into a relationship that endures despite the passing of the initial attraction. Small town USA is the setting amidst a backdrop of economic struggle and small town mentality. A place where young men grow up with no greater aspiration than to emulate their pappy in the pursuit of mediocrity, and at that they generally succeed. The imagery in this song is as strong as if it were played out on a movie screen but American cinema rarely treads where this artist takes us. Incidentally, Saul’s Sunday Morning Melodies believes the term “Artist” is greatly overused when referring to musicians and singers. In most cases it’s akin to calling what McDonald’s serves up “food”. At best they are craftspeople. Most are average at that. A handful can be considered fine craftsmen/women. Even fewer can be considered artists. How many take a truly artful approach to their “craft”? Not many. But considering the highly evocative nature of this and many of his other pieces, Bruce Springsteen is one such artist. Play this song next to whatever pile of slop is number one right now and you’ll know what I mean. The River takes us on a young mans melancholic journey through adolescence. all the way to his autumn years as he reflects on a lifetime spent with a childhood sweetheart. The tales ending is ambiguous. Is he happy? Regretful? Disappointed?“ Is a dream a lie if it don’t come true? Or is it something worse? https://youtube/watch?v=utVR3EgQkHs
Posted on: Sat, 23 Aug 2014 23:48:50 +0000
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