This one makes me laugh. A friend of mine put it on a mix for me, and the first couple of times through I was sure I had to be hearing it wrong. I looked it up on a lyric search, though, and sure enough they're all going to call rats fish once Friday rolls around. I find rats funny to begin with, but the fish thing pretty much cinches it.
I guess you could also view this as historical commentary, but I choose just to see it in a ligher way.
from Cabin Fever!
10 Jul 04 ·snafkin: I always look forward to checking this site and have found some great music through other peoples recommendations. So please write something about the songs - don't just stick them on the site, sell them to me, why should I download any of these songs, give me an idea what they're about please! I think that's what the site is supposed to be about.
PS Why recommend Wonderwall by Oasis? I can't believe anyone on this site won't have already heard it!
Fine. I like it because it's mournful and I find the lyrics intriguing. Every time I listen to it, I come up with a different theory on what it might mean. It interests me.
And why NOT recommend it if I like it? If you don't, then fine, but I'll thank you not to jump down my throat because I do.
11 Jul 04 ·djfreshmoney: How about filling in the rest of the info, including the reasons you're recommending the song! Tell me why you think this band and the song are good! Without that, your recommendation isn't really worth anything. 13 Jul 04 ·Undercover_Owl: I also love Wonderwall by Oasis!
(Does anybody really need explanation......unless they haven't heard this song before.....please!)
This isn't my ultimate favorite song, but it's a notably good one, IMO. It's tough to describe.
DJFRESHMONEY: can you describe this song for us? 13 Jul 04 ·whoops: ok, i'll try to describe it for you two, Oasis addicts : Totally bombastic song, that set me in the mood to reconsider the quality of the Robyn Hitchcock bad lp's i still have in my collection everytime i hear it (thanks god it's not so often nowadays), at least Robyn Hitchcock knows how to craft a delicate pop song using only three chords. To answer your question Undercover_Owl, yes sometimes an explanation is necessary since we can't read in your head, neither in your heart...and no, everyone who have heard this song doesn't necessarily love it. 14 Jul 04 ·snafkin: I'm not jumping down anyones throat! Wonderwall is a great song but everybody knows it already - how about an Oasis b side that people might have missed! Don't be so touchy! ;-) 30 Jun 05 ·karitopv5: ok... now... hello to everybody... god... i'm new in these... so... someone can explain me the real meaning of wonderwall or just... explain it... god, every time i hear it i love it more... but i find 2 sences to the song and i don't know wich is the one that is correct... SOMEBODY help me PLEASE!... ok... that's all thank you xoxox 30 Jun 05 ·n-jeff: Ialways thought it was a song about Cocaine. But I may be wrong.
BTW Paul Anka's version is great! Just what we need in these troubled times. 30 Jun 05 ·konsu: "Wonderwall" is an english film from 1968 that may have inspired this song. It has a soundtrack by 3rd Beatle George Harrison thats actually quite gorgeous. It also has Jane Birkin playing a pregnant model who attempts suicide... sound like a song?
Absolutely class, Terry singin his heart out in a kind of ba ba be da be da da kind of way how he's "seeen a sparrow get hiiigh and waste his time in the sky-yyy" and that "each little bird in the sky-yyy is just a little bit f-reee-er than I (He's a mys-ter-ry) - ba daa da daa dum be be dum be da ba ba ba de da de dum beda ba de daaa..." a really happy song about being really happy about who you are even if your just a lazy so and so.
14 Jul 04 ·snafkin: This song doesn't rock...it bounces!
There seems to be a cut off age where people either recognise this tune immediately, or have never heard it. I'm not sure what year Sesame Street stopped using this cartoon, but my guess is somewhere between 1980 and 1985. Having said that, for those of you who do recognise the track, it may bring back images of a cartoon pinball racing around a pinball machine with you following closely behind. I never realised that this track was by The Pointer Sisters (no surprise there), nor appreciated how funky it was as a toddler (no surprise there either). This track was never released on any Sesame Street records, but a label called "Legacy" has recently released a 3CD box set of tracks from Sesame Street, mostly including the celebrities that have visited over the years (check Stevie Wonder's funky toon), but with this track on it also. This re-edited track was also released as a 12" (with two versions of "C is for Cookie" on the flip) at the same time that the box set was released.
Sesame Street expanded into many countries, some of which created their own versions ("Vila Sesamo" in Brazil, "Sesamstraat" in the Netherlands, "Iftah Ya Simsim" in Kuwait and "Rechov Sumsum" in Israel to name a few), and I'd be interested to hear comments as to whether or not Pinball Number Count was shown in these countries also.
available on CD - Songs From The Street: 35 Years of Music (Legacy)
04 Dec 05 ·snafkin: Wow! What a great track! This song has always been lurking around the darkest depths of my mind, every now and again inexplicably popping out into the sunshine. Now I know what it's called and who did it. Thanx Festy! 04 Dec 05 ·Katya:
It's so true that this is either embedded in you as a kid, or you missed it altogether. There is a letter kicking around on the web from Walt Kramer to Matthew Jones of the Helium site in which he discusses this tune and the recording session. Fun stuff.
[Walt's letter]
This is from the NinjaTune.net SolidSteel subsite:
"It all started a couple of years ago when Strictly Kev, part of DJ Food, desperately wanted to include the infamous 'Pinball Number Count' on the first 'Solid Steel Presents' mix CD. You know the track, it was super funky and was accompanied by the cool animation of a pinball rolling around strange landscapes. Now this track is the stuff of legends within beat digging circles, DJs have scoured record bins for decades in the hope of finding it included on old Sesame compilations but alas, it was never on any of them.
"Fortunately Kev knew this and rang Sesame Workshop in New York asking for a copy of the tape. It never actually made it onto the mix CD but that's another story. What you have here is a composite of numbers 2-12 of the 'Pinball Number Count' animations (number 1 was never created). Kev has re-edited all the key elements and cleaned up the sound while he's at it. And cooing those syncopated numbers and do-dos in the background is only the Pointer Sisters on a session singing assignment."
You can also SEE the old cartoon segments that the song accompanied. The entire series seems to have been included with several other number classics on the DVD "Sesame Street - The Great Numbers Game." 04 Dec 05 ·Festy: My pleasure, Snafkin! Thanks Katya for the extra info and links. It was great to read up on the history of the track and also see the lengths some people were going to when trying to find the track before it became readily available. I noted DJ Food refer to another release on Ninja Tunes featuring Sesame Street toons in the near future. Yay! Also, there were quite a few references to an earlier, jazzier track titled "Jazz Numbers". I hope this pops up somewhere too. 06 Feb 06 ·Eclipse80: The pinball skits are one of my fondest classic Sesame Street memories. I was born in 1980 and remember seeing this skit from about 1983 to 1986. So sad they don't use it anymore. The song brought back great memories! Thanks!
