As I sit sadly by the side of my Stereo
Written: Apr 17 '01
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Nick Cave is a very talented musician and lyricist.
Cons: Non-essential B-sides
The Bottom Line: A great song and two nice but forgettable B-sides. Most people would be better of getting the full album No More Shall We Part
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| boffo's Full Review: As I Sat Sadly by Her Side [Single] by Nick Cave &... |
As I Sat Sadly By Her Side is the first single From Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds long awaited new album No More Shall We Part.
The song is in the same vein as Cave's 1997 album The Boatmans Call. A slow love song with a sad piano melody, some beautiful violin playing by bad seed Warren Ellis and a softly strummed guitar. The music is nice but what makes this song memorable to me is the lyric. The song is about Cave And his newly married wife looking at the street outside through a window and the relating to each other how they percive the world outside. His wife gives a hopeful message:
She said, "Father, mother, sister, brother,
Uncle, aunt, nephew, niece,
Soldier, sailor, physician, labourer,
Actor, scientist, mechanic, priest
Earth and moon and sun and stars
Planets and comets with tails blazing
All are there forever falling
Falling lovely and amazing"
Then she smiled and turned to me
And waited for me to reply
Her hair was falling down her shoulders
As I sat sadly by her side
Cave's reply follows:
That may be very well", I said
"But watch the one falling in the street
See him gesture to his neighbours
See him trampled beneath their feet
All outward motion connects to nothing
For each is concerned with their immediate need
Witness the man reaching up from the gutter
See the other one stumbling on who can not see"
This lyric is according to himself supposed to show how his wife is happy and hopeful individual and he himself is a "miserable old fart". I think this song is great but you might as well get the full album wich has a few other gems as well.
While Cave is often seen as a sad or depressing artist his music have often had touches of humor and light-heartedness as well. His single B-sides have often been a chance for him to record some more cheerful or sometimes even downright silly songs as well, these kind of songs have often been impossible to fit onto the more serious full album. His B-sides have contained quite a few really nice songs. However the two b-sides on As I Sat Sadly By Her Side, while nice, don't feel all that essential.
The first one, Little Janey's Gone, has a lyric describing a dear and trusted friend who for some reason moves away from her friends. The lyric isn't really that great but the track has nice little chorus that could almost be called a sing-along and the music is calm but strangeley uplifting.
The third song on the single is called Good Good Day and is perhaps as close as Nick Cave will ever come to recording a full blown pop song. A pretty little melody backs cave as he sings a very cheerful lyric describing a happy and careless love affair.
While I like all the songs the B-sides are perhaps not Cave's best and I am fully aware that as a fan I would like pretty much anything he recorded.
You won't see this single topping any sales charts, so the hit singles buyers aren't likley to pick this up and I think the casual listener would be better of getting the full album, That leaves people like me, people who wan't too get all available material by the artist. If you are such a person then by all means get ahold of this single before it's taken of the shelves you wont be dissapointed but you probably won't get exactly exstatic either.
oh boy that's two Nick Cave records that I haven't recommended Maybe I'm not as huge a fan as I claim to be...
But all the full albums are warmly recommended!
Recommended:
No
Great Music to Play While: Hanging With Friends
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Epinions.com ID: boffo
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Member: Peter Hjalmarsson
Location: Sweden
Reviews written: 40
Trusted by: 7 members
About Me: How come I only get MH-ratings in categories where I am the only reviewer?
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