Members mbfrancis Posted May 7, 2014 Members Share Posted May 7, 2014 Some years ago I read a magazine article interviewing songwriters about their favorite songs (i.e., songs, not recordings). A few songs came up again and again, and none of them were songs I was really super familiar with, or which were major 'hits.' I thought I'd ask the group 1) if they agreed that these were "great" songs, and 2) if so, why? One of them was Randy Newman's "I Think It's Going To Rain Today." Clearly a beautiful, haunting song - it has a great understated heaviness. The bridge is a little weird for me, but it brings us back nicely to the last verse. But the greatest song ever - what do you think? [video=youtube;k9Fn8VhkK5g] EDIT: Here are lyrics "I Think It's Going To Rain Today" Broken windows and empty hallwaysA pale dead moon in the sky streaked with grayHuman kindness is overflowingAnd I think it's going to rain today Scarecrows dressed in the latest stylesWith frozen smiles to chase love awayHuman kindness is overflowingAnd I think it's going to rain today Lonely, lonelyTin can at my feetThink I'll kick it down the streetThat's the way to treat a friend Bright before me the signs implore meTo help the needy and show them the wayHuman kindness is overflowingAnd I think it's going to rain today Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members stickboymusic Posted May 7, 2014 Members Share Posted May 7, 2014 Can't say I knew it but ow what a song. So understated.... its like a lot of my favourite artists rolled into one. The strings took me by surprise and did make the song feel like two separate songs Maybe that is the genius of it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members nat whilk II Posted May 7, 2014 Members Share Posted May 7, 2014 Randy Newman has written some of the angriest songs, some of the most pain-filled songs of all time. Kids who grew up only knowing him for "You've Got A Friend In Me" and other good-feeling material, have no idea. His "unreliable narrator" method of writing creates misunderstanding among listeners who are used to either unambiguous simplicity or intentional, "make your own meaning" ambiguity. The big example being Short People which criticizes bigotry by making us hear just how idiotic the words of the bigots are. But lots of people thought the song was just making fun of short people...oy. This tune is a tad more subtle, but still in the same vein. If you have never listened closely, the voice of the singer is the voice of the man who is gathering people in Africa to become slaves in America, by lying to them with hideous condescension. Making it sound like they are heading for this Golden Land. There is anger here that you don't even find in Dylan - I swear I see people cover this like it's some inspiring, patriotic song....leaves me speechless. Randy Newman is in my list of the immortals. [video=youtube_share;uwwhHI_IMog]http://youtu.be/uwwhHI_IMog (from Wikipedia: One of the first major establishments of African slavery in the American colonies occurred with the founding of Charles Town and South Carolina in 1670.) In America, you get food to eatWon't have to run through the jungle and scuff up your feetYou just sing about Jesus, drink wine all dayIt's great to be an AmericanAin't no lions or tigers, ain't no mamba snakeJust the sweet watermelon and the buckwheat cakeEverybody is as happy as a man can beClimb aboard little wog, sail away with meSail away, sail awayWe will cross the mighty ocean into Charleston BaySail away, sail awayWe will cross the mighty ocean into Charleston BayIn America, every man is freeTo take care of his home and his familyYou'll be as happy as a monkey in a monkey treeYou all gonna be an AmericanSail away, sail awayWe will cross the mighty ocean into Charleston BaySail away, sail awayWe will cross the mighty ocean into Charleston Bay nat whilk ii Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members LCK Posted May 8, 2014 Members Share Posted May 8, 2014 It's the pretty tune wrapped around an almost discordant harmonic structure (backed here by actually discordant strings) meeting up with the opening two lines of each verse, which are about people who seem to be disconnected from other people and their own emotions, and the added irony/sarcasm of these two lines... Human kindness is overflowingand I think it's going to rain today. ...driving that message home. And of course, that fabulous, short and bittersweet/acerbic bridge helps things along immensely. I think it's a great song because of the beauty of the melody and how it contrasts with the feelings of the singer. Apparently, I'm not alone in thinking it's a great song. From Wikipedia: [h=2]Covers (1966-1975)[/h] Julius La Rosa, on a September 1966 single; reportedly the first released version of the songJudy Collins, on the November 1966 album In My LifeEric Burdon and The Animals, on the 1967 album Eric Is HereBobby Darin, on the 1967 album Inside OutChris Barber & His Band, on the 1968 album Battersea Rain DanceThe Ian Campbell Folk Group, on the 1968 album The Circle GameBud Dashiell, on the 1968 album I Think It's Going to Rain TodayClaudine Longet, on the 1968 album ColoursRicky Nelson, on the 1968 album PerspectiveDusty Springfield, on the 1968 album Dusty... DefinitelyJack Jones, on the 1969 album L.A. Break DownPeggy Lee, on the 1969 album A Natural WomanLeonard Nimoy, on the 1969 album The Touch of Leonard NimoyNina Simone, on the 1969 album Nina Simone and Piano (and on various compilations such as The Very Best of Nina Simone (2006))Herman van Veen, on the 1969 album Morgen (as Ik denk dat niemand mij morgen mist - Dutch Translation by Herman van Veen)Tom Northcott, on the album Upside Downside. Released as a single in 1970, it hit #46 on the Canadian pop charts.Helen Reddy, on the 1970 album Helen ReddyNeil Diamond, on the 1971 album StonesThe Sandpipers, on the 1971 album Gift of SongDave Van Ronk, on the 1971 album Van RonkMaxine Weldon, on the 1971 album Chilly WindKenny Burrell, on the 1972 album 'Round MidnightCass Elliot, on the 1972 album Cass ElliotFrançoise Hardy, on the 1972 album If You ListenHouston Person, on the 1972 album Broken Windows, Empty HallwaysMelanie, on the 1974 album MadrugadaJoe Cocker, on the 1975 album Jamaica Say You WillCleo Laine, on the 1975 album Born on a Friday [h=2]Covers (1980-)[/h] UB40, on their 1980 album Signing Off. Also on a "double A-side" charting single (UK #6) released before the album.Tony Rice, on the 1983 album Cold on the ShoulderBarbara Dickson, on the 1987 album After DarkBette Midler, on the 1988 Beaches soundtrackDavid Lasley, on the 1989 (Japan)/1990 album Soldiers on the MoonCarol Kidd, on the 1990 album The Night We Called It a DayManfred Mann, on the 1997 album The Ascent of Mann (unreleased track recorded in the period 1966-8)Sidsel Endresen, on the 1999 album NightsongMaggie Reilly, on the 2000 album Starcrossed (as "I Think It's Gonna Rain")Chris Farlowe, on the 2001 Glory Bound album; also on his 2006 Hungary for the Blues live albumJools Holland and David Gray, on the 2003 Jools Holland Jack O The Green: Small World Big Band Friends 3 albumKatie Melua, on her 2003 debut album Call Off the SearchJoel Grey, on the 2004 album The Magic of Joel GreyBlackmore's Night, on the 2005 album Castles and Dreams and on the 2013 album Dancer and the MoonNorah Jones, on the 2005 Higher Ground Hurricane Relief Benefit Concert live albumCurtis Stigers, on the 2005 album I Think It's Going to Rain TodayLori Cullen, on the 2006 album Calling for RainAudra McDonald, on the 2006 album Build a BridgeRoseanna Vitro, on the 2006 album Live At The Kennedy CenterDavid Gray, on the 2007 album A Thousand Miles BehindMadeleine Peyroux, on the 2007 album Give Us Your Poor: 17 New Recordings To Help End HomelessnessJulie Christensen, on the 2008 album Where the Fireworks AreJack L, on the 2008 album Burn OnIrma Thomas, on the 2008 album Simply GrandMark Karan, on the 2009 album Walk Through the Fire (as "Think It's Gonna Rain")Val Kilmer, on the 2009 second edition of his Sessions with Mick albumRob Paparozzi, on the 2009 album Etruscan SoulAnne Soldaat, on the 2010 EP Going SouthPaul Carrack with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, on the 2010 album A Different HatFrida Boccara, on the 2010 compilation album Les Grandes Années – 1972–1988Hanne Boel with Carsten Dahl, on her 2010 album I Think It's Going to RainPeter Gabriel, on his 2010 album Scratch My BackVictoria Vox, as part of a project to play 52 covers in 2011, on CastTVMarit Larsen, during the 2012 memorial concert for the 2011 Norway attacks, live at Rådhusplassen in Oslo.Barbra Streisand, on the 2012 album Release Me, recorded in 1970, accompanied by Randy Newman at the piano.Laura Osnes, on her first solo album Dream A Little Dream: Live At The Café Carlyle, recorded during her June 2012 engagement at the Café Carlyle in New York City.Tom Odell, on his 2013 album "Long Way Down".The Idea of North, on their 2013 album "Smile". 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Members mbfrancis Posted May 8, 2014 Author Members Share Posted May 8, 2014 Awesome stuff. @LCK: Well, I know it's been *covered* a lot - I wasn't debating if it was good. (I love the Barbra Streisand version, actually - it's a demo and Newman himself plays piano.) My favorite Newman song is probably Political Science, also an unreliable narrator - sometimes I'm with him on the irony and sometimes I take it literally and just want to blow everyone else up. [video=youtube;Du3WhHrrNgs]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Du3WhHrrNgs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members LCK Posted May 8, 2014 Members Share Posted May 8, 2014 Awesome stuff. @LCK: Well, I know it's been *covered* a lot - I wasn't debating if it was good. (I love the Barbra Streisand version, actually - it's a demo and Newman himself plays piano.) My favorite Newman song is probably Political Science - sometimes I'm with him on the irony and sometimes I take it literally and just want to blow everyone else up. I like his Good Old Boys LP the best. "Guilty" and "Marie" are just fabulous songs as far as I'm concerned. I think they're the best two songs he's ever written. I also have an affinity for "Louisiana, 1927," "Naked Man," and "Rollin'." Sail Away is a gem too. Brian Wilson said it profoundly affected him and kept him from sliding deeper into depression. "Take that, Randy! Even your crotchety, old, satiric songs make people smile and feel good!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mbfrancis Posted May 13, 2014 Author Members Share Posted May 13, 2014 I'm going to be obnoxious and bump my thread to try to restart the conversation. Do you guys think this lyric is good? Why? What is strong about it? What is it about, other than man's inhumanity to man? Why do you think songwriters love it so much? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members oldgitplayer Posted May 14, 2014 Members Share Posted May 14, 2014 I like this lyric (and others with a similar approach) because it hints and nudges rather than clearly specifies.I find that this method (but not always) connects well emotionally rather than intellectually.Songs are essentially an emotional transport system, so whatever gets the feelings through to us is usually a good start. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members nat whilk II Posted May 14, 2014 Members Share Posted May 14, 2014 There's a bunch of things to admire, musically. The verses are very hymn-like, fairly simple. So the contrast with the dismal image that kicks things off is already quite unique, and gets you listening. The second verse lyric is I think truly amazing. Scarecrows dressed in the latest stylesWith frozen smiles to chase love away Who are these scarecrows? Well, mannicans - plastic people, with frozen smiles. So this is an easy metaphor for the happy, successful, beautiful people with whom he has nothing in common. What's it mean that the frozen smiles "chase love away"? Maybe he was in love with someone he now characterizes as a mannican, and he was rejected as he didn't qualify as sufficiently shallow and stylish and so on. So he's "lonely, lonely", the lone walker. Everything reminds him of his pain. The grey sky, the pale moon, the mannicans, the empty buildings, even the empty can in the street. There's some call to help the "needy" - he encounters some positive voice of human kindness but it's just on a sign - and it does him no good in his need, alone, and nothing coming but a rainy day which of course is the ancient metaphor for sadness and lonely isolation. I think the lyric is great because of the economy with which it reaches such intensity. At least it really gets to me! nat whilk ii Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Lee Knight Posted May 14, 2014 Moderators Share Posted May 14, 2014 Greatest story ever told? I thought that was Transformers 3... I never connected to the song. It never made any sense... till I thought of the protagonist as a homeless person. Out in the elements, ready to be rained on. Figuratively and literally. "Human kindness is overflowing" is Newman sarcasm tying in nicely with the imminent rain. Every image seems to describe what a person living on the street sees. Broken windows and empty hallways of the run down, skid row shops. Scarecrows = mannequins in the shops still holding on in the neighborhood. He sees them as the locals almost, investing story in them with the "chasing love away". Maybe something he did at one time too. The bright lights of the Salvation Army signs asking for charity. Something he is ironically in need of himself. And the can? His "friend"? That is what he holds out everyday. He kicks it, empty, down the street. His old friend. He won't even bother to hold it out today because... Human kindness is overflowingAnd I think it's going to rain today "I Think It's Going To Rain Today" Broken windows and empty hallwaysA pale dead moon in the sky streaked with grayHuman kindness is overflowingAnd I think it's going to rain today Scarecrows dressed in the latest stylesWith frozen smiles to chase love awayHuman kindness is overflowingAnd I think it's going to rain today Lonely, lonelyTin can at my feetThink I'll kick it down the streetThat's the way to treat a friend Bright before me the signs implore meTo help the needy and show them the wayHuman kindness is overflowingAnd I think it's going to rain today Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members nat whilk II Posted May 14, 2014 Members Share Posted May 14, 2014 Yeah, that's along the same lines. The key seems to be simply understanding that this is someone totally down and out, walking alone, seeing these dismal images, feeling his pain and rejection and ironical observations, and reflecting on how it ain't gonna get better anytime soon. Newman does stretch the listener a bit - as I mentioned above, his lyric technique is not typical. He's not trying to set puzzles for us, 'tho - but you do have to understand the point of view. nat whilk ii Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Lee Knight Posted May 14, 2014 Moderators Share Posted May 14, 2014 Yeah^^^. And to be honest, it's not my favorite lyric of his. I love what he does with his songs, this included, but this one in particular feels a bit cryptic. I don't mean in story, though it is, but I mean emotionally. It's not readily apparent what I should be feeling. Having said all that, I still love it. It's great, just not as great as Transformers 3. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mbfrancis Posted May 15, 2014 Author Members Share Posted May 15, 2014 OK, this was exactly the smart conversation I was trying to start. This song makes a ton more sense to me know if he's a homeless guy. Then to me scarecrows (this is my favorite line, too) are the unresponsive people in the street. Or maybe security guards who shoo him away? Great stuff. And man I love the understatement. One lesson I remember vividly from Sheila Davis's The Craft of Lyric Writing is (something like) "when you want to minimize something, overstate it ridiculously - when you want to hammer it home, understate it." Her example of the latter was from "Send in the Clowns": ' Don't you love a farce? My fault, I fearI thought that you'd want what I want, sorry my dear Like, "whoops, oh well," she sings offhandedly, while actually devastated. Bam. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members LCK Posted May 15, 2014 Members Share Posted May 15, 2014 Yes, for someone who has a reputation for writing "unnecessarily" complex lyrics, Sondheim could also nail things with just a few lines. "Losing My Mind" The sun comes up,I think about you.The coffee cup,I think about you.I want you so,it's like I'm losing my mind. The morning ends,I think about you.I talk to friends,and think about you.And do they knowit's like I'm losing my mind? All afternoon,doing every little chore,the thought of you stays bright.Sometimes I standin the middle of the floor,not going left,not going right. I dim the lightsand think about you,spend sleepless nightsto think about you.You said you loved me,or were you just being kind?Or am I losing my mind? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mbfrancis Posted May 15, 2014 Author Members Share Posted May 15, 2014 Yes, for someone who has a reputation for writing "unnecessarily" complex lyrics, Sondheim could also nail things with just a few lines. "Losing My Mind" ... Is it wrong my only exposure to that song was through the ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members LCK Posted May 15, 2014 Members Share Posted May 15, 2014 To paraphrase Hamlet, "There is nothing either right or wrong but thinking makes it so..." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Lee Knight Posted May 15, 2014 Moderators Share Posted May 15, 2014 Is it wrong my only exposure to that song was through the ? Liza = wrong PSB = right Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members LCK Posted May 15, 2014 Members Share Posted May 15, 2014 Liza = wrong PSB = right But they recorded the song together! [video=youtube;s4hOH4YMPoE] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Lee Knight Posted May 15, 2014 Moderators Share Posted May 15, 2014 Good lord. If Norma Desmond sang... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jklove Posted February 6, 2017 Members Share Posted February 6, 2017 When I was in high school in the late 1960's my French teacher lent me Judy Collins' RECORD which contained the song " I think it's going to rain Today". this was this was the best song on the album. at the time, I was not aware that it was a Randy Newman. I was mistakenly misinformed that it was a Leonard Cohen song and and mistakenly held that impression until only a few months ago. However that mistake good introduced me to Leonard Cohen so perhaps it wasn't a bad thing. of course, now I have much greater respect for Randy Newman and I think it's his best song. Why? It's the bridge. When I first heard it I was transported to that street I was kicking that tin can its the bridge. When I first heard it I was transported to that street I was kicking that tin can. It became my friend which I playfully abused. musically that point in the song sores and just a departure that is instrumentally sophisticated and stylistically employees and stylistically employs a lot of modern atonal structure which is a departure from the standard Randy Newman Americana Folk type style almost Stephen Foster like with touches of southern gospel structures that you find in hymns with a lot of basic major chords 4th and dominant sevenths. So in this song that basic Simplicity lays the ground work for the soaring Bridge. If you listen to Randy Newman's vocal is heavily laiden with emotion. in the bridge it's a little bit more introspective and wistful a bit more poignant and ironic. What is great for me about the song is that the Observer for the most part is the observed. There's very little ego or me in the lyrics, with the exception of lonely, and the my feat as well as be I think. I've heard some versions where a few singers have changed the lyrics to th at's no way to treat a friend. that's no that's no way to treat a lyric. The song is Pretty Hurts and minimalistic which I think is it strongest virtue. The more understated it is the more the listener seems to perceive from this song. In my opinion, it's truly a great song. It's very human and sensitive. The songwriter is not dogmatic in his point of view and it seems to pull of the listener right into its Central core Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members lukeyboy Posted February 13, 2017 Members Share Posted February 13, 2017 An absolute charm to listen to, thanks for sharing. I love the dark atmosphere and haunting lyrics - very poetic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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