Has this song always been so dark?

Movies, books, music, and all the arts go here.
Give us your recommendations and reviews.
Post Reply
User avatar
Crackpot
Posts: 11264
Joined: Sat Apr 10, 2010 2:59 am
Location: Michigan

Has this song always been so dark?

Post by Crackpot »

Okay... There's all kinds of things wrong with what you just said.

User avatar
Long Run
Posts: 6717
Joined: Sat Apr 17, 2010 2:47 pm

Re: Has this song always been so dark?

Post by Long Run »

Yes, popular version is a happy sounding song. Like Springsteen Born in the USA blues version fits the lyrics much better.

User avatar
BoSoxGal
Posts: 18296
Joined: Tue Apr 06, 2010 10:36 pm
Location: The Heart of Red Sox Nation

Re: Has this song always been so dark?

Post by BoSoxGal »

Don’t know the YouTube code doesn’t lead to a YouTube link. How about posting the whole link for those of us accessing via iPhone?
For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.
~ Carl Sagan

User avatar
Crackpot
Posts: 11264
Joined: Sat Apr 10, 2010 2:59 am
Location: Michigan

Re: Has this song always been so dark?

Post by Crackpot »

Okay... There's all kinds of things wrong with what you just said.

User avatar
BoSoxGal
Posts: 18296
Joined: Tue Apr 06, 2010 10:36 pm
Location: The Heart of Red Sox Nation

Re: Has this song always been so dark?

Post by BoSoxGal »

Yes the song has always been that dark, people just focus on the nice bits like they do by calling Romeo & Juliet a romantic (!) tale.

https://www.salon.com/2013/05/26/you_ar ... s_classic/

My mother used to sing the refrain of the song to her babies when very little. Probably a lot of mothers of her generation did - the song was written in the late 30s and recorded first in 1940, I believe. I’m sure there are many other people who grew up with mentally ill mothers like I did who consider the song pretty dark, because of the weird kind of love associated with it.

Ironically in my travels - a prosecutor training on sexual assault crimes prosecution in Savannah, GA - I found a wonderful street artist and bought this piece from her, which hangs on my bedroom wall. It reminds me daily of the many facets of ‘love.’ When I attended that training the active case I workshopped in clinicals was of an 8 year old victim whose stepfather had been raping her for two years. (Yeah, I come by my misanthropy honestly.)
35C96B23-F4F4-45DA-BD9B-0B5EDFD13EDB.jpeg
Don’t know why some attachments post sideways, but you get the picture.
For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.
~ Carl Sagan

User avatar
Crackpot
Posts: 11264
Joined: Sat Apr 10, 2010 2:59 am
Location: Michigan

Re: Has this song always been so dark?

Post by Crackpot »

What I have seen online had a different last line to the second verse and don’t have the 3rd verse all together. I don’t know if that is selective edit vs traditional lyrics or an “innovation” on the part of this band who do tend to have their lyrics slant toward the darker side of things.
Okay... There's all kinds of things wrong with what you just said.

ex-khobar Andy
Posts: 5418
Joined: Sat Dec 19, 2015 4:16 am
Location: Louisville KY as of July 2018

Re: Has this song always been so dark?

Post by ex-khobar Andy »

Image

Don't say I don't never give you nothing.

Big RR
Posts: 14048
Joined: Thu Apr 15, 2010 9:47 pm

Re: Has this song always been so dark?

Post by Big RR »

I always thought the lyrics were much darker than the way it was ordinarily sung, about an unrequited (or maybe something more sinister)-dreams of holding her in his arms, and warnings of her shattering his dreams if she left. Not certain of its background, but I think it must be based in those sort of blues songs with happy tempos, kind of like the Beatles Run for Your Life ("Well, I'd rather see you dead, little girl, Than to be with another man, You better keep your head, little girl, Or I won't know where I am"--years ago, when I used to sing at weddings, I recall doing this and always thought it was strange for such an occassion). It's not uncommon in folk and blues music

User avatar
BoSoxGal
Posts: 18296
Joined: Tue Apr 06, 2010 10:36 pm
Location: The Heart of Red Sox Nation

Re: Has this song always been so dark?

Post by BoSoxGal »

Awww, you’re a ray of sunshine Andy!

BigRR check out the link I posted for background on the song and links within to several versions, including the original.
For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.
~ Carl Sagan

Burning Petard
Posts: 4048
Joined: Fri Feb 12, 2016 5:35 pm
Location: Near Bear, Delaware

Re: Has this song always been so dark?

Post by Burning Petard »

I first knew it as a performance by Gene Autry. It was bleak, or sunny, depending on the perspective of the listener.

snailgate.

User avatar
Sue U
Posts: 8542
Joined: Thu Apr 15, 2010 4:59 pm
Location: Eastern Megalopolis, North America (Midtown)

Re: Has this song always been so dark?

Post by Sue U »

I honestly never listened to the lyrics of this song (or most songs, for that matter). But man, nothing like playing it in a minor key to make it sound grim!
GAH!

User avatar
Bicycle Bill
Posts: 9014
Joined: Thu Dec 03, 2015 1:10 pm
Location: Surrounded by Trumptards in Rockland, WI – a small rural village in La Crosse County

Re: Has this song always been so dark?

Post by Bicycle Bill »

My cousin sent me this from her Facebook feed, and I felt it needed to be shared in this thread ....

Image
Image
-"BB"-
Yes, I suppose I could agree with you ... but then we'd both be wrong, wouldn't we?

User avatar
Crackpot
Posts: 11264
Joined: Sat Apr 10, 2010 2:59 am
Location: Michigan

Re: Has this song always been so dark?

Post by Crackpot »

Okay... There's all kinds of things wrong with what you just said.

User avatar
TPFKA@W
Posts: 4833
Joined: Wed Oct 10, 2012 4:50 am

Re: Has this song always been so dark?

Post by TPFKA@W »

ex-khobar Andy wrote:
Tue Feb 08, 2022 2:15 pm
Image

Don't say I don't never give you nothing.
Given the described circumstances associated with the picture it is likely appropriate to hang it sideways.

User avatar
TPFKA@W
Posts: 4833
Joined: Wed Oct 10, 2012 4:50 am

Re: Has this song always been so dark?

Post by TPFKA@W »

So here's a banjo performance favorite of mine:

For those who suffer chronic apple annoyance syndrome: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZyHipL45pwM

The rest of you:


User avatar
Guinevere
Posts: 8989
Joined: Mon Apr 19, 2010 3:01 pm

Re: Has this song always been so dark?

Post by Guinevere »

Crackpot wrote:
Tue Feb 08, 2022 12:28 am
I am mildly obsessed with these guys now - love this performance!
“I ask no favor for my sex. All I ask of our brethren is that they take their feet off our necks.” ~ Ruth Bader Ginsburg, paraphrasing Sarah Moore Grimké

User avatar
Crackpot
Posts: 11264
Joined: Sat Apr 10, 2010 2:59 am
Location: Michigan

Re: Has this song always been so dark?

Post by Crackpot »

They have an interesting thing going on. They fuse a bluegrass sound with a punk sensibility and it work really well
Okay... There's all kinds of things wrong with what you just said.

Post Reply