Jimi, ...the wind began to howl
: music, September 14 2020 ▶
Seriously, when you see a Huey helicopters, flying in the mountain jungle, there are just a couple of songs, you immediately start whistling, while getting the musical chills ("psychophysiological response to rewarding auditory and/or visual stimuli"). For me it is "All along the watchtower" first, "Fortunate son" second. And saying "All along the watchtower", I mean Jimi Hendrix's Tower. The original belongs to Bob Dylan from 1967. Hendrix made it better just one year later, also according to Dylan, who, on several occasions, complimented the cover-work of his colleague. Nobody really knows what the story is about, some analyst even say the lyrics are composed backwards, starting with the princess on top of the tower, watching the two riders closing in...
In my vision about the song, adjusted to our modern century, it might be the lonely man, hiding behind a cheerful smile (joker), scared and fed-up with everything. He is talking to his best friend (thief), who was successful in life, but is paying the prise of his ruthlessness.
Said the joker to the thief
There's too much confusion
Who feel that life is but a joke
But, uh, but you and I, we've been through that
And this is not our fate
Yes, Dylan wrote the song after a motorcycle crash, probably expressing his own feelings and some private drama is lurking behind. As for me, it is entirely the voice and the soul of Jimi Hendrix.
Pink Floyd - Have a Cigar - or how things never change
: music, September 03 2020 ▶
It has been exactly 45 years since Roger Waters wrote "Have a Cigar", released in Pink Floyd's "Wish you were here"-mega-super-ultra-undying album. And it hits blunt. Even today. No, you are not going to find the music here - you are smart people - google it! As I am writing this, and for the past few days, I cannot stop thinking how contemporary the text is. Clearly, Waters is satirising the big music industry businessmen. But the feeling is more for a WallStreet-predators.
To me, this song is still the most striking one, shoulder-to-shoulder with "Welcome to the Machine". The whole album has only 5 songs and the cover continues the narrative with "the greed" and people, obsessed with money due to the lack of any other talent.