Ben Folds Five - The Luckiest

Artist: Ben Fold Five

Song: The Luckiest

Album: Rockin the Suburbs (2001)

Ben Folds is the US born singer-songwriter and pianist, formerly the leader of the US indie-rock trio Ben Folds Five. He is known for his smart and humourous lyrics.

Wikipedia

On the evidence of Rockin' the Suburbs, Ben Folds's decision to jettison the two-piece Five that had backed him on four largely excellent albums has not resulted in any significant shift in trajectory. The Ben Folds Five were only getting better, gradually discovering the confidence not to hide their musical uniqueness (there have been too few piano-led power trios) and lyrical intelligence behind undergrad Barenaked Ladies-style gags. Songs like "Mess" and "Brick" signaled an extraordinary new songwriting talent worthy of comparison to Folds's obvious idols, Elvis Costello and Paul Simon. Only this album's title track harkens back to Folds's fondness for comedy, and it is by far the weakest track here. The rest is mournful, reflective, and, at best, quite magnificent. Folds's hymns to his family, "Still Fighting It" and "The Luckiest" are shot through with an honesty that's rare in alternative rock. The acerbic essence of character sketches such as "Carrying Cathy," "Losing Lisa," and "Zak & Sara" are leavened with a generous compassion. Folds's second solo effort is his best album yet. The remainder of his career must be anticipated with equal parts expectation and impatience. --Andrew Mueller

(…)The beautiful balladry of "The Luckiest" which, like Big Star's "Blue Moon", borrows the cascading lines and chord progressions of Pachabel's Cannon to express the comfort and fortune we feel to be in the company of loved ones- and the urgency we should feel in letting them know how much they're appreciated before these short lifetimes are over. (…)

Allmusic

I don't get many things right the first time
In fact, I am told that a lot
Now I know all the wrong turns, the stumbles and falls
Brought me here

And where was I before the day
That I first saw your lovely face?
Now I see it everyday
And I know

That I am
I am
I am
The luckiest

What if I'd been born fifty years before you
In a house on a street where you lived?
Maybe I'd be outside as you passed on your bike
Would I know?

And in a white sea of eyes
I see one pair that I recognize
And I know

That I am
I am
I am
The luckiest

I love you more than I have ever found a way to say to you

Next door there's an old man who lived to his nineties
And one day passed away in his sleep
And his wife; she stayed for a couple of days
And passed away

I'm sorry, I know that's a strange way to tell you that I know we belong
That I know

That I am
I am
I am
The luckiest

A cappella version

Ian and Jennifer Partridge - Cycling Song

Artist: Ian and Jennifer Partridge

Song: Cycling Song

Album: Play The Game: Victorian and Edwardian Sporting Songs (2001)

Ian and Jennifer Partridge extra retro, “Cycling Song”, from Play the Game: Victorian and Edwardian Sporting Songs, Just Accord Music, 2001.

The serious approach in these performances of utter trivia--titles such as "I won her heart at billiards" and "Won't you come over and play croquet"--lend them an absurdity that their creators wouldn't have envisaged. When Sir Spencer Ponsonby-Fane penned his carol to "the joys of the gay cricket ground, with some jolly good fellows to share it," he presumably had no sense of how changing times would amplify his meaning. Likewise with the composer of the "Eton Boating Song", who wrote "Swing, swing together with your backs between your knees". All of which makes this disc a complete joy, done as it is with po-faced eloquence, restraint and delicacy. Tenor Ian Partridge and his various collaborators (The Song and Supper Club turns out to be a bunch of former choral scholars who do after-dinner entertainments) know that for the formula to work it needs a certain sympathy and earnestness, but they're not blind to the high-camp that gives the songs a life--and an appeal--beyond their period inconsequentiality. It's an hour of good, clean (OK, clean-ish) fun. --Michael White

A fun CD which will appeal to the sports lover, music lover and history lover in equal measure. The idea is simple. "Play The Game" contains 17 British and American songs,
each one about a different sport. The songs were written between 1862 and 1913.

Listeners are likely to be drawn to the songs which illustrate their favourite sports. Many golfers will recognise the plight of the player in "Caddie", written in 1900, who pleads with his caddie, ever more desperately, to 'get me right out of this mess'. Enthusiasts of British heritage will enjoy "The Eton Boating Song", the song of Eton College, where Princes William and Harry were educated. The CD contains a real historical curiosity: "A Hunting Morning" is a setting of a rare poem by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the creator of Sherlock Holmes.

The liner notes contain an article on the history of sport, a background note on each song plus short biographies of the composers and lyricists. The CD would make an unusual Christmas or birthday gift for a sports loving friend.
Strongly recommended!

Ian partridge biography

Darren Hanlon - The Kickstand Song

Artist: Darren Hanlon

Song: The Kickstand Song

Album: Hello Stranger (2002)

Darren Hanlon's debut full-length consists of 10 pop songs that bring to mind the whimsical, light-hearted music of the 60s with a modern bent. This Australian singer/songwriter evokes images of Billy Bragg, Jonathan Richman, and Evan Dando.

On the consummately enjoyable Hello Stranger, his first full-length release following on the heels of his Australian breakthrough EP, Early Days, Darren Hanlon delivers the logical follow-up, further refining his impressively accomplished pop hooks and lyrical wit. This is a perfectly vibrant mix, with the arrangements crackling with a live intensity and musical looseness, and Hanlon proves himself a songwriter and tunesmith clearly in the line of greats like Elvis Costello and Billy Bragg in his ability to pair memorable melodies with clever songwriting. Even with rather odd lyrical subjects, such as the man who invented the kickstand in the strangely earnest "The Kickstand Song," his songs rarely suffer from an overreaching sense of wistfulness.

From start to finish, Hello Stranger rings out with a true buoyancy and ultimately rates as one of the rare jewels in a rather ho-hum season of singer/songwriter releases. Matt Fink - www.allmusic.com

Up until now my ideas have been latent

The cycling world will never be the same

But come first light I'll be taking out a patent

And from that day

If a bike be found lying on the ground again

I'm not to blame

What joy it'll bring, piece of metal and a spring

Bolted down by the back wheel, activated by the heel

What joy it'll bring, piece of metal and a spring

What chicken laid the egg from whence inside an idea hatches?

From prototype to production lines to the first one hundred batches

I will do for parking bikes what anchors did for sailing

What joy it'll bring, piece of metal and a spring

There's handle bars for steering and there's tyre tread for traction

A tiny bell for friends you pass and greet

But when they add my ingenious contraption

Mouths will fall

And eyebrows will rise and staring eyes will meet

The bike complete

What joy it'll bring, piece of metal and a spring

Bolted down by the back wheel, activated by the heel

What joy it'll bring, piece of metal and a spring

There'll be articles in newspapers and dinners at the town hall

My first cheque's for a thousand bucks, now that's one spicy meatball

But all the fame and fortune in the world will not compare

To the joy it'll bring, piece of metal and a spring

Spring

Now bikes around the world can stand alone without their owners

And I can get some cash on the side but that's just a bonus

When underneath their helmets I will see their smiling faces

What joy it'll bring, piece of metal and a spring

Piece of metal and a spring

Family - Music in a Doll's House

Artist: Family

Album: Music in a Doll’s House (1968)

Music in a Doll's House is the debut album by progressive rock group Family, released in July 1968. The album, co-produced by Dave Mason of Traffic, features a number of complex musical arrangements contributing to its ambitious psychedelic sound.

Band

Album

Review

Faith No More - This Is It: The Best Of Faith No More

Artist: Faith No More

Album: This Is It: The Best of Faith No More (2003)

The Band

19 signature tracks from albums and singles released between 1985-1997. Includes 4 rarities only available here in the U.S. & the out-of-print soundtrack cut 'The Perfect Crime' from Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey. Slash/Rhino. 2003.

Review

Herman Dune - 1 2 3 Apple Tree

Artist: Herman Dune

Song: 1 2 3 Apple Tree

Album: Giant (2006)

Product Description

2006 release from the Swedish outfit whose off-kilter Pop has attracted attention across the globe, even becoming one of John Peel's favorites in the last years of his life. Their influences range from Velvet Underground and Jonathan Richman to Neil Young and Sonic Youth with a little Paul Simon and The Stooges thrown in for good measure. Needless to say, they are hard to pigeon-hole, but easy to love! 16 tracks including 'I Wish That I Could See You Soon', 'Pure Hearts' and 'Baby Bigger'. Source Etc.

review

do, do, do do do, do
do, do, do do do, do
do, do do do do do

Oh, when you call me weird names and make all kinds of weird faces
when you drive me along to all the stupidest places
you know it's not fair, but you know what you do
because you know how bad I like to be with you

...And then you're like, "David, it's like one, two, three"
as you're climbing barefoot on the apple tree
it is as sweet as me, and as good as new
and you know how bad I like to be with you

You should try to go to some place, honey,
where the weather is hot, and the music is funny
you should try down south, by the magic Bayou
and you will know how bad I like to be with you

It's like the better path, and it's a better way
if we never part, and if we never stray
if we know we have each other to hang on to
and if you know how bad I like to be with you

When I'm home alone, and when I'm traveling far,
when I'm riding my bike and when I'm driving in my car,
it could be England or it could be Peru
and you would know how bad I like to be with you

Well you know better than me on all kinds of topics
like what fruit is native, what fruit is exotic,
you know the right names for flowers and for animals, too
I hope you know how bad I like to be with you

do do do, do, do, do do do, do
do, do, do do do, do
do, do do do do do

Well, you play the trumpet and I play drums
you smoke cigarettes and I chew gum,
you say we're different and I believe it's true
because you know how bad I like to be with you

It's not even an option,
it's not a matter of choice
I could say it with words
and I could say it with my voice
I could sing it in a song or play it on a kazoo
and you would know how bad I like to be with you

You say you dye your hair black since you were seventeen
and you say it goes well with your eyes so green
well, I'm losing my hair and my eyes are blue,
you know how bad I like to be with you

...And now you think you're puzzled,
and you don't understand me
well you can play me as easy as a DVD,
it's like solving a case with a single clue
to know how bad i like to be with you

You know I'll always like you no matter what
and if you get a little chubby,
and if you're a little too fat
if you worship Jesus when I am a Jew
then you will know how bad I like to be with you

...And you know how people shorten other people's names
to show their affection
like if you called me Ray, if my name was Raymond
well your name ain't Susan but I would call you Sue
to show you how bad I like to be with you

do do do, do, do, do do do, do
do, do, do do do, do
do, do, do do do, do
do, do do do

Michael Kamen - Bicycle Blues

Artist: Michael Kamen

Song: Bicycle Blues

Album: Let Him Have It

A spare, difficult score for a spare, difficult film about the murder of a British policeman by teenagers in the 1950s, and the resulting catastrophic trial that resulted. Kamen has deliberately kept the musical elements as minimal as possible, which works in the context of the film, if not in the context of a soundtrack album. ~ Steven McDonald, All Music Guide

but the original song is Bicycle Boogie, by Bob Gaddy and Friends (1952)...

Biography

About movie

Kamen at IMDB