Liner Notes: Depressive - Side B

[penpusher]

"Depressive" Part II


In The Year 2525 (Exordium And Terminus) – Zager and Evans: A futuristic cautionary tale given a sense of urgency by the parallels to actual events (“you’ll pick your son/pick your daughter too/from the bottom/of a long glass tube…”). As usual, the Boomers don’t want to leave you on the Planet of the Apes, so, the ending has room for a happier result (“but through eternal night/the twinkling of starlight/so very far away/maybe it’s only yesterday”). However, the song begins again, apparently headed for the same conclusion.

Monday, Monday – The Mamas and The Papas: The Boomers taught us to despise working for a living, especially since they were the first generation to have so much down time. But here, it’s a dislike based upon a lover’s actions (“but Monday morning/you gave me no warning/of what was to be/oh, Monday, Monday/how could you leave/and not take me”). Papa John Phillips certainly had some issues about abandonment. Question: Did people hate the workweek with that much passion before this song?

As Tears Go By – The Rolling Stones: One of the most metaphorical offerings of the Bad Boys of Rock (“all I hear is the sound/of rain falling on the ground”). It’s really a sweet and touching poem. The Stones were really sensitive souls at heart, and with this tune they prove to us that they could balladeer with Lennon and McCartney at any time.

Honey – Bobby Goldsboro: The benchmark for depressive songs: it will spoil your mood if you don’t laugh at it first (see also “It Must Be Him”). The singer gives us a tour of his home and links objects to events with his one true love who has since gone to her greater reward (“one day while I/was not at home/while she was there/and all alone/the angels came”). The whole production is so overwrought with heroic emotionalism it’s almost ludicrous by today’s standards. However, back in 1968, it was number one for five solid weeks on the Billboard Pop Charts.

It Was A Very Good Year – Frank Sinatra: At once sad and life-affirming, Old Blue Eyes gives you a highly edited taste of a life, though clearly, it’s not his own, it’s simply not thrilling enough (no mention of Vegas? Oh, come now)! Though it seems plausible to envision him drinking “vintage wine from fine old kegs.” Here’s looking at you, Frank.

Hushabye Mountain – Dick Van Dyke: From the soundtrack of “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang,” inventor Charactacus Potts (get it? Crack Pot Inventor?) lullabies his too perfect two children to bed, promising their troubles will be left behind once they push their attitude to the right altitude (“so close your eyes/on Hushabye Mountain/wave goodbye to cares/of the day”). You can tell, even he doesn’t believe this fairy story, which is what gives it that overwhelming sense of sadness.

Over You – Gary Puckett and the Union Gap: “Within the prison walls/of my mind/there’s still a part of you/left behind.” One of the greatest throats of the Rock Era, Puckett can belt with the best of them. It takes a voice like that to convince us that the singer’s lover, (now gone) was great, and that he might yet win her back. If Bobby Goldsboro sang this one, we would either be crying or laughing at it.

It’s My Party – Lesley Gore: One of the happiest sad songs you will ever hear: it’s simple. Singer throws herself a birthday bash. Her guy leaves with her archrival (“you would cry too/if it happened to you”). The question: if this guy is worth crying over, why is he picking up another girl at your party? On the next Dr. Phil!

Theme From The Valley Of The Dolls – Dionne Warwick: The vocalist sounds disconnected from the rest of the world. But, that’s the effect sought here. The film, based on Jacqueline Susann’s trashy novel, is about movie starlets hooked on 'dolls': pills (“is this a dream/am I here/where are you/what’s in back of the sky/why do we cry”). There is a moment when you feel her fighting to get back to reality, but, just as quickly it passes and the singer drifts back into the ozone of a Hollywood night, alone.

Mr. Dieingly Sad – The Critters: A typical yearning song, there is the heartbroken implication of unrequited love in the lyric (“you can be/so mystifyingly glad/I’m Mr. Dieingly Sad”). Here the singer battles the elements of both the weather and whether or not his lover loves him. ‘Mr. Dieingly Sad’ eventually won his love by whispering sweet nothings as they stood on the shore. If only it were that easy.

Abraham, Martin And John – Dion: The anthem of 1968. After Robert F. Kennedy was gunned down in a Los Angeles hotel kitchen, this song came out, eulogizing the political and spiritual leaders taken from us far too soon (“he freed a lot of people/but they say the good die young/I just looked around/and he was gone”).

It Must Be Him – Vikki Carr: The codependent’s theme song, made workable by the convincing vocal. Story: woman has breakup. Woman is over it. But, when a call comes in, the comic mask falls to the ground and she reveals herself a blather-mouthed barnacle (“let it please be him/oh, dear God/it must be him/it must be him/or I shall die”). You’d have to laugh at this song, except there were people for whom this behavior was true.

That Sunday, That Summer – Nat King Cole: One of Nat’s last chart appearances, this is another memory song in the “vintage wine” category (“if I had to choose/just one day/to last my whole life through/it would surely be/that Sunday/the day that I met you”). There is a touch of wistfulness in knowing the moment remembered won’t come again. The listener isn’t even certain the singer is singing directly to his lover or to her memory. Bittersweet.

Master Jack – 4 Jacks And A Jill: This group hailed from South Africa and, in 1968, it’s apparent even in that oppressive society, this new generation was questioning what the elders were saying (“you taught me all those things/the way you’d like them to be/but I’d like to see/if other people agree/it’s all very interesting/the way you disguise/but I’d like to see the world/through my own eyes”). Concepts of the adults are in the crosshairs, and they began to fall as this generation came into power.

Eleanor Rigby – The Beatles: Could this be the theme of the generation? This pair of lonely people, the dowager and the priest, are isolated and performing meaningless tasks (“darning his socks in the night/when there’s nobody there/what does he care”). They interact with each other only after her death. How could you not feel for them both? The string quartet was a masterstroke, as both brilliant songwriting and a representation of the moods of these two shouldn’t-be-strangers: A solemn end to this collection.