I love this much-derided song. People quote it as proof that the Smiths made morose music for morose people, but if you actually listen, it’s an amazingly uplifting song. Johnny Marr’s guitar is heavenly sounding; it all reminds me that no one else really made pop like the Smiths. What I've just said really completely fails to do the song justice. Ah well...
from Hatful of Hollow (Rough Trade), available on CD (WEA)
19 Apr 01 ·schlemmsy: I quite agree. And this is not due to my love of uplifting house. 01 Sep 02 ·john_l: Yup, this is the one that made me sit up and take notice ... 09 Aug 04 ·raumfahrer1rolf: I love this song too. How is a person "miserable"
when singing or hearing this song? It shows quite a bit of Morrissey here - he's "miserable" but it all sounds sublime, with a wistful tongue-in-cheekness to it. It's really pretty actually. If this is "misery" then please give me more of it, I'll get along quite nicely!
11 Jan 11 ·daniela_por: This song will never be forgotten. It's simply great :)
A beautiful and really unique track which merges Brazil with electronica (Arto is Brazilian, and a guy called DJ spooky added some beats). It opens with a bare, spacey beat. Fragmented guitar, vocals and organ drift in and out until the song builds into a climax with a simply beautiful synth-string sound. The song manages to be uplifting while retaining a slightly spooky twin-peaks type of feel to it.
from Mundo Civilizado (Bar None AHAON-082), available on CD
19 Apr 01 ·secularus: Arto sings in such a sensual and soothing way. His most recent albums are well worth checking out. 28 Feb 02 ·G400 Custom: Hmmm. I know he's Brazilian and everything, but I think Arto Lindsay's best stuff was done before he went all Latin on us. Listen to his guitar on the first Lounge Lizards album, when he manages to go 40 minutes without playing anything actually recognisable as a note.
To me, this one of the most perfect songs released in recent years. It's hard to pin down what makes this track so affecting - the instrumentation is mostly synth; there is also an understated, slightly Bowie-style vocal. Overall I think it is the music itself - the fragile chord sequence and instrumentation evoke a strange sense of lost summer memories.
from Virgin Suicides, available on CD
19 Apr 01 ·secularus: This track is sublime. Atmosphere to the nth degree. Sophia Coppola is very lucky to have a gem like this as the pervasive track to her film, The Virgin Suicides. Mesmerizing. 22 May 01 ·tinks: that ain't the only reason sofia coppola is very lucky, but that's another story. i agree, i love the entire score to the film.
A dramatic pop number from the 60s in which Mina passionately belts out the tune. The opening is gentle, with a delicate trumpet melody; it then builds up to a huge climax with full orchestra. The song is infuriatingly catchy and familiar; I'm sure I had heard it many times before I finally identified it about five years ago. Very highly recommended.
available on CD - Canto Morricone, Vol 1 (Bear Family)
19 Apr 01 ·andyjl: This song was covered in a great version by Francoise Hardy (as "Je changerais d'avis"). It's on several compilations of her 60s recordings. 19 Apr 01 ·delicado: Francoise also recorded it in English (the recording is exactly the same apart from the vocals) as 'I will change my life'. Great stuff!
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...
from Boots, available on CD
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).
