Thursday, October 01, 2009

The Ironies Abound

From 1973, and his quite wonderful first solo album, please enjoy "Going for a Song," Procol Harum organist Matthew Fisher's melodically charming and hilarious kiss-off to his ex-bandmates (and to a certain hit record he would later sue to gain authorship of).





It's not that I dislike the words
Though I must admit there are better words around
But every time I hear that tune
It really brings me down....

And then the organ lick from "A Whiter Shade of Pale" comes in. Never fails to crack me up...
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9 comments:

  1. steve simels10/01/2009 9:36 AM

    Note to self: Adenoidally sung self-referential odes by second tier Brit rockers not as exciting to readers as assumed.
    :-)

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  2. Unknown10/01/2009 9:41 AM

    Wow, winner for whiniest song ever

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  3. Kid Charlemagne10/01/2009 10:57 AM

    Bitter, much?

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  4. David10/01/2009 11:08 AM

    Doesn't Lennon's "How Do You Sleep" qualify as a (superior) kiss-off song? And I could never fully fathom how "Solsbury Hill" was a kiss-off. I guess "Back on the Chain Gang" belongs in the category of wistful goodbyes to former bandmates...

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  5. steve simels10/01/2009 11:13 AM

    Solsbury Hill was a resignation speech, not a kiss-off. I was just being snarky.

    And see, I think this isn't at all bitter -- I think it's bemused and very very funny in a not-so-drily ironic way.

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  6. dSmith10/01/2009 8:04 PM

    Do you have any idea who did the cover? Was it Hipgnosis?

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  7. steve simels10/01/2009 10:03 PM

    dSmith:

    I don't. But I have a friend who's an expert on all things Procol, who may actually own the thing, and I'll check....

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  8. Anonymous10/01/2009 10:14 PM

    Album Cover Design: Acy Lehman

    Photography: David Bailey

    ROTP(lumber)

    ReplyDelete
  9. dSmith10/01/2009 11:27 PM

    Thank you.

    ReplyDelete