28 Oct 02 ·FlyingDutchman1971: Great song!! I have this version and a quite excellent cover version by the Pennsylvania band 'the ocean blue'... 02 Feb 04 ·jeanette: Another interesting version by Schneider TM vs Kpt. Michi.Gan (retitled The Light 3000). Can be found on Rough Trade Shops: Electronic 01 CD.
This song is an interesting case study into the question of 'why do I like this version of the song more than any other'. I have a half-baked theory that for me, I mostly just like the first version of any great song I hear, regardless of whether or not it is the original or 'best' version. But this track is so different to the Rolling Stones's version that I think it would probably divide people pretty clearly. Produced by Lee Hazlewood/Billy Strange, 'as tears go by' is here recast as a crisp pop bossa nova. They even change the chords slightly (adding a new chord as she sings 'by'). To me, this makes the song vastly superior to the original (or any other I've heard). But I'm not sure anyone has ever agreed with me yet on that one...
30 Apr 01 ·tinks: i had to go back and listen to this album after you mentioned it...and it is an incredible version, i really love that soft bossa sound that it's got going on. the rest of the lp is great, too! 30 Oct 02 ·FlyingDutchman1971: i was lucky enough to find a vg++ copy of this LP at Goodwill several years back and this is definitely the best track on the album!! A great interpretation of the song!! 20 Oct 03 ·n-jeff: I love this version, theres a cello or something under the introduction that adds a lovely melancholy feel. Quite a sophisticated sounding track. well removed from the bludgeoning innuendo I associate (and love) with Nancy and Lee.
I had one of the few run-ins over musical policy with my old promoter over this track, he thought it far too downbeat. 19 Jul 05 ·RCA76: I love this version of this song, infact I didn't know for a long time that this is a Rolling Stone's tune, but again because it's a version that is so original it really is incredible. Quite popular in Latin America (not so much w/ the Stone's version).
Clocking in at around 2 minutes, this B-side is very simple, but beautiful. It was something of a 'holy grail' to me as a young Smiths fan, hidden as it was on the rare 'Suedehead' single (cassette and CD singles only!). I managed to procure a tape of it via my brother, and was instantly entranced. Morrissey has recorded many songs which are catchier and more intense than this, yet it has a unique power. The lyrics are entertaining - 'I found the fountain of youth and I fell in', and the accompaniment is delicate and sparse, with some great guitar playing from Vini Reilly. It ends with something rather lovely - it's nothing really, but it's one of those little details which when I was young, I used to pick on in songs - as Morrissey repeats 'I'll never learn', a spooky, echoey sound comes in and envelopes the entire song. Such little things used to please me...
from Suedehead (single) (HMV) available on CD - My Early Burglary Years
30 Oct 02 ·FlyingDutchman1971: I couldn't agree more! Having purchased the US 12 inch of 'suedehead' which didn't include this track, it was such a nice surprise in 1994 when I purchased the 13-cd british singles box set and found this track. Moz sings this song with such a great since of joyous naughtiness that you just want to tweak his delinquent little nose.
The most beautiful, sensual song I have ever heard in my life. It feels like a warm, tucked-in, comfortable sigh from a lover nestling in on your shoulder, holding you ever tighter while whispering words of love in your ear. Try to top that.
The Divine One pours herself into this number completely. Her serene confidence breathes a kind of hyper-life into the lyrics. But the way she caresses the melody and strokes it so adeptly with her brilliant vocals sends me right over the top every time.
If I ever fall in love again, the woman of my affections will, in my wildest, most fantastic dreams, melt with me on this.
Please excuse the sap...
from Viva Vaughn (Mercury SR 60941) available on CD - The Girl From Ipanema: The Antonio Carlos Jobim Songbook (Verve)
03 Feb 03 ·FlyingDutchman1971: Blossom Dearie also performs a nice version of this great song on her 1964 LP 'May I Come In'
