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Songs I Like – Ride Like The Wind

Posted on by IJ

Song: Ride Like The Wind Songwriter: Christopher Cross

Here’s a song I return to over and over again, just for my own pleasure…especially the live version, which you can see in the video below. It’s just wonderful to listen to and watch.

Unbelievable to me is the fact that the original song was recorded in 1979 on Cross’ debut album of the same name…I was barely an adult!

So what is it about this song that is so compelling? Of course, it begins with a piano/orchestral/percussive build that leads to the familiar piano hook and the sound of the howling wind. Then comes Christopher Cross’ vocal:

It is the night
My body’s weak
I’m on the run
No time to sleep
I’ve got to ride
Ride like the wind
To be free again

When the chorus hits, nothing beats the addition of Michael McDonald joining in with his distinctive vocal, both in the original recording and the video below. It’s only a short phrase, the one in brackets, but it brings the song to a whole new level:

CHORUS:
And I’ve got such a long way to go (Such a long way to go)
To make it to the border of Mexico
So I’ll ride like the wind
Ride like the wind

I was born the son of a lawless man
Always spoke my mind with a gun in my hand
Lived nine lives
Gunned down ten
Gonna ride like the wind

CHORUS:
And I’ve got such a long way to go (Such a long way to go)
To make it to the border of Mexico
So I’ll ride like the wind
Ride like the wind

Gonna ride like the wind

This is where the familiar “Da, da, da, da….da…da…da…da” vocals and brass come in…almost a chorus-y kind of feel in and of itself. Then, on to the next verse:

Accused and tried and told to hang
I was nowhere in sight when the church bells rang
Never was the kind to do as I was told
Gonna ride like the wind before I get old

It is the night
My body’s weak
I’m on the run
No time to sleep
I’ve got to ride
Ride like the wind
To be free again

LAST CHORUS:
And I’ve got such a long way to go (Such a long way to go)
To make it to the border of Mexico
So I’ll ride like the wind
Ride like the wind
And I’ve got a long way to go (Such a long way to go)
To make it to the border of Mexico
So I’ll ride like the wind
Ride like the wind

Gonna ride like the wind
Da, da, da, da….da…da…da…da, etc.
Ride…
Da, da, da, da….da…da…da…da, etc.

The topic of the song is pretty straightforward: the singer is a guilty man on the run from the law. And, really, the production, the mood and the tempo really bring forward that feel of constant motion. Gotta keep moving, gotta get away.

What’s interesting is that in the original recording, Cross’ lead is practically buried behind all of the da, da, da’s. But in the video below, you can hear his amazing shredding. I wonder why it wasn’t pushed more upfront originally? That was a mistake, I think.

Anyway, it’s a brilliant song that I never get tired of. Have a listen:

Songs I Like – Constant Craving

Posted on by IJ

Song: Constant Craving Songwriters: k.d. lang/Ben Mink

Was it really 1992 when Constant Craving by k.d. Lang was released? That’s more than 30 years ago! And that’s also a sign that you really love a song when it sticks with you (or, in this case, me) for so long.

For many years brain researchers have studied the phenomenon of music and its effects on the brain. For some people, it can induce more powerful memories than taste or smell, which is saying a lot!

In my opinion, the lyrics for Constant Craving must have been particularly personal:

Even through the darkest phase
Be it thick or thin
Always someone marches brave
Here beneath my skin

I see this as the singer recognizing her own strength in the toughest of times. k.d. lang likely had to struggle a lot with herself growing up, as so many of us do for different reasons.

She was born in Alberta, Canada and came bursting onto the music scene as a young country singer in the 80’s. Her first band was The Reclines and my initial memory is a vision of her in a cowgirl outfit, dancing wildly across the stage. The media referred to her as a Canadian Cowpunk. And…she had — has — a powerful voice.

But let’s get back to the song. It was co-written with Ben Mink, another Canadian songwriter and producer. What gets to me in this song is the music…the chord progression, especially in the verses, married to the vocal melody, is magic. There is so much musical yearning and desire between the notes. Definitely a constant craving.

It is in the key of Fm, but I play it on my guitar in Em with a capo on the 1st fret. The bass is what gives some of the chords an unusual feel…playing a C or a G bass note over a D chord, for instance.

The background harmonies in the production of the song are also powerful. I can recognize lang’s voice there in some of them, but I’m not sure if they are all her.

There must have been something magical about that song, because Mick Jagger and Keith Richards actually gave credit to k.d. lang and Ben Mink on the Rolling Stones song “Anybody Seen My Baby”. Why? Because the three words “seen my baby” in the Stones’ song are exactly the same notes as “constant craving”. When it was pointed out, the Stones decided to share the rights instead of making a fuss.

What a breath of fresh air compared to so many other musical/lyrical rip offs and lawsuits!

Constant Craving has always been. On my playlist, that is. Here is the song followed by the lyrics:

Constant Craving

Even through the darkest phase
Be it thick or thin
Always someone marches brave
Here beneath my skin

And constant craving
Has always been

Maybe a great magnet pulls
All souls towards truth
Or maybe it is life itself
Feeds wisdom
To its youth

Constant craving
Has always been

Craving
Ah-ha
Constant craving
Has always been
Has always been

Constant craving
Has always been
Constant craving
Has always been

Craving
Ah-ha
Constant craving
Has always been
Has always been
Has always been
Has always been
Has always been
Has always been

Songs I Like – King Of Anything

Posted on by IJ

Song: King Of Anything Artist: Sara Bareilles (Originally published Sept.3, 2013)

It was a Japanese guitar student who brought this song to my attention recently.  Although “King of Anything” was released in 2010, this was the first time I’d heard it, and I loved it.

Sara Bareilles first came to my attention with her song “Bottle It Up”, released on the album “Little Voice” in 2007.  Bottle It Up is a very clever pop song with some interesting chord progressions and rhyme schemes.  In fact, I should do another article on that song!

But today we’re looking at King of Anything, a wonderful “who asked you for your advice anyway?” song that another student of mine, a therapist, said she should play for one of her patients.  I suppose I can relate to it lyrically because many times I’ve experienced someone deciding to impart some unsolicited advice, especially guys on the golf course!

Musically, it’s just poppy-licious.  The arpeggio piano (obviously her instrument) and vocal stabs just give you the desire to bop around the room.  I recognized her style of singing and writing after knowing Bottle It Up fairly well (and teaching it to some of my guitar students!), so Sara has obviously created a sound for herself.

Lyrically, it’s simple, in-your-face, but with visual elements added.  I like the whole idea of “show me, don’t tell me” in lyrics.  Sometimes she reverts to the “tell me” part, but in this case it’s effective.

Keep drinking coffee, stare me down across the table
While I look outside
So many things I’d say if only I were able
But I just keep quiet and count the cars that pass by

You’ve got opinions man
We’re all entitled to ’em
But I never asked
So let me thank you for your time
And try not to waste any more of mine
Get out of here fast

PRE-CHORUS:
I hate to break it to you babe
But I’m not drowning
There’s no one here to save

CHORUS:
Who cares if you disagree
You are not me
Who made you king of anything
So you dare tell me who to be
Who died and made you king of anything

You sound so innocent
All full of good intent
Swear you know best
But you expect me to
Jump up on board with you
And ride off into your delusional sunset

I’m not the one who’s lost
With no direction, oh
But you’ll never see
You’re so busy making maps
With my name on them in all caps
You got the talking down
Just not the listening

[repeat CHORUS]

BRIDGE:
All my life I’ve tried
To make everybody happy while I
Just hurt and hide
Waiting for someone to tell me it’s my turn to decide

[repeat CHORUS twice]

Lemme hold your crown, babe
Oh, oh

I love the “who cares” and “you dare” lines in the chorus;  Sara uses high notes to emphasize them just as you would if you were saying them in conversation.  Who cares?

The great songwriting and distinctive performance of King Of Anything makes this a hit to my ears. You can view the video below.

IJ

Songs I Like – Set The Prairie On Fire

Posted on by IJ

Song: Set The Prairie On Fire Artist: Shawn Colvin (Originally published Nov.4, 2012)

I discovered Shawn Colvin in the early 90’s when I myself was out performing quite a bit.  I remember listening to her CD “Fat City” at first because a friend of mine thought we had similar voices, and I played it in my car as I was travelling around.  The fact that my friend thought our voices were alike was a compliment, of course, because Shawn is a far better vocalist than I’ll ever be.  But beyond that, I fell in love with her songs long before “Sunny Came Home” was a hit.

I was in my 40’s then, and you know what they say about ladies in the 40’s.  Okay, if you don’t, then look it up 🙂  And when I first really listened to “Set The Prairie On Fire”, it pretty much blew me away.  It was not the first or second listen, I’m sure, but as I heard it again and again, the lyrics found their way into my psyche and it became like a slow, seductive reveal.

Shawn is a great guitar player and I love her percussive flatpicking, and this song and its accompanying recording really demonstrates her playing ability.  The chords jump from what I think is an Am to G, back and forth in the verses, but the way she plays them keeps the repeated chord progression hard driving and never boring!  It’s a slow song, with a wailing organ snaking its way all throughout, giving it a lonely, longing feeling which compliments the lyrics perfectly.  It feels like a prairie, it feels wide open and wanting.

Full full moon and that same sad nature
I wanna cover every inch of you
Like ink on paper
Like the blind parade of souls
Consumed by religion
I can’t wait ’til I get you 
In that defenseless position

CHORUS:
When we set the prairie on fire
Oh we go down to the water
Naked and slow
You and me
And the heart of desire
We set the prairie on fire
How hard will the wind blow
How far will it go

When the feeling burns down
To one solitary colour
The velocity of longing
Melting into each other
It’s a song our fingers play
All at once and together
You can bet we never learned it
But we’ve known it forever

Oh I dreamed that we were flying
Carried up from the ashes
Black silhouettes of velvet
Against the crimson of passion
We can almost hear the echoes
From the smouldering meadow
It’s the rapture of the angels
And the rage of the devil

[REPEAT CHORUS]

BRIDGE:

In the cool dusk of horses
Through the rusted wires of sleep
With our arms around midnight
We’re headed for release
We go riding in the wind
We go riding in the dark
Go riding, riding

[REPEAT CHORUS]

Read along with the lyrics as you listen to one of my favourite songs by Shawn Colvin available in the video below.
Sigh…

~ IJ