My favourite video in terms of visuals this week was Shiny Happy People (song 5 in this play list video) by REM. This band always produces very interesting videos, you might also like to check out the one for Losing my Religion.

So today I watched a very interesting video analysis of a song by the Beatles called A Northern Song. Post Covid Island Discs now usually records the death of famous musicians and of course poor old George Harrison passed away many years before the Covid-19 pandemic. So I guess this post is in memorandum to George Harrison even if he did pass away so many years before this website was even born. Yet there appears to be so much more to this song of Harrison's than meets the eye as explained by James Hargreaves in his video which is also included under the Beatles Anthrology recording of Harrison's clever song which I think, as Hargreaves argues, is a passive-aggressive dig at the way McCartney and Lennon treated him as an inferior member of the Beatles.

After watching Hargreaves excellent analysis of the Harrison's song, along with his detailing of the complicated tensions that existed between the Beatles in the late 60s, it became obvious that the band was always in trouble and it was only a matter of time before the fab four would go their separate ways. Hargreaves analysis challenges the commonly held idea that the breakup of the band was solely down to Yoko entering the scene as clearly relational tensions in the Beatles were not just confined to John and Paul.

A less known version but better version (in my opinion) of the song before Lennon and McCartney fell into a possible trap set by Harrison (see Hargreaves analysis below).

Analysis of the song and its meaning by James Hargreaves

The mainstream version of the song as first published on the Yellow Submarine Album

OK this is not normally within my musical taste but alas it is a clip that my autistic daughter often listens to. In a strange way I find this song interesting although I probably wouldn't invest in buying an album. I do like the unusual quality of this woman's voice and the tune is also interesting. It fits nicely into the current theme of unusual songs and replaces a song by Split Enz which has been repurposed for day 183 and which was probably unfairly placed into this theme. The video? Hmm, pretty bizarre although nice to be reminded of my home Australia.

I guess this song captures the dying phases of a romantic relationship. A common condition of our fallen humanity. Very arty video

Yesterday I shared the song Heaven by Bryan Adams which I first heard at the tender age of 19. As I mused over the memories of that song, the fact I was 19 reminded me of another great song by the Aussie band Redgum. This song strongly reminds me of the other Anzac song Waltzing Matilda (see Covid Island Discs Day 36) which recalls the origin of Anzac day when Australian forces failed to take Anzac Cove in the Gallipolli campaign of 1915-1916.

In contrast this song tells of a much more recent conflict for the Australian armed forces and that was the terrible Vietnam conflict which left so many young me both physically and psychologically broken; the latter so aptly captured in the song's lines:

And can you tell me doctor why I still can't get to sleep.
And why the channel 7 chopper chills me to my feet.
And what's this rash that comes and goes can you tell me what it means.
God help me! I was only 19

Countdown to the year anniversary of Covid Island Discs T -5

Like the song Daniel (Covid Island Discs Day 134), Crocodile Rock was a song that also was in that Hydro Majestic hotel's Jukebox and one that my brother and I played over again and again as we played the pinball machines which were also in the same little room that was designed to keep the children of the hotel guests amused.

Yet this song also holds another memory for me and that is I took this tune and wrote my own words to the song about what it was like to be a pupil of St Andrews Cathedral School which at the time was an all boys school in Sydney. This song was of course designed to get laughs and a group of us performed it at my year 12 formal with Grae McWhirter on piano.

The chorus of my silly song, which I guess today might be considered inappropriate, although in its context, it was having a go at the narrow Australian male stereotype rather than being in any way homophobic went: "St Andrews you taught how to tell the difference between good and bad, difference between boys and girls and between mums and dads, PD* classes with Mr May, taught how sport prevented gays, wonder what year 7 learn today?"

*PD stood for Personal Development

This is a great little song by REM. I remember when it came out I was working as a PhD student at the University of Manchester. I have a very distinct memory of doing tissue culture work with another scientist Juliet while this song was blaring out of the radio. The lyrics to this song are also quite fascinating:

Now, Andy, did you hear about this one?
Tell me, are you locked in the punch?
Andy, are you goofing on Elvis? Hey, baby
Are we losing touch?

Say what? Also the line "hey baby are we losing touch" sounds like it is sung by the late great Roy Orbison

A final song from Evanesence and another incredibly intense song from Amy Lee. This song is particularly poignant because it is about an ex-boyfriend of hers Shaun Morgan who suffered from drug addiction. As with every Evanescence song, this video is a feast for one's ears and eyes.