Archives for February 2019

Certain Songs #1447: Paul McCartney & Wings – “Live and Let Die”

February 5, 2019 by Jim Connelly

Single, 1973

Of course, the James Bond films have always been ridiculous. That’s part of the fun, and while a half-century and gaps between production has lessened the impact, part of the ridiculousness has always been the foofaraw surrounding the theme song.

For reasons, I guess, it’s always been a thing, so when in 1973, the producers were able to convince an ex-Beatle to provide the theme song for the first film where Roger Moore played Bond, it was a huge huge thing indeed.

Certain Songs #1446: Paul & Linda McCartney – “Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey”

February 4, 2019 by Jim Connelly

Album: Ram
Year: 1971

I know, I know: a lot of you probably can’t stand this song, and now I’ve gone and stuck it in your head for the rest of the day.

But I fell in love with “Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey” because it seemed to be on the radio all the time when I was a kid, and while it’s silly as all fuck, nobody involved is pretending that its anything but Paul stitching a bunch of different things together with sound effects and studio wizardry.

Certain Songs #1445: Paul Kelly & The Messengers – “Desdemona”

February 3, 2019 by Jim Connelly

Album: Under The Sun
Year: 1987

If any record was going to break Paul Kelly in the U.S., it would have been Under The Sun. While there were some great songs on Gossip, it wasn’t quite as consistent as Under The Sun, which also boasted better production, to boot.

And better songs, too: I’ve already mentioned the insanely great “To Her Door,” but there was also the rollicking drum-fueled “Dumb Things,” the title track, which ended up with rave-up fueled by the “My Generation” chord changes, and the impossibly lovely “Desdemona.”

Certain Songs #1444: Paul Kelly and The Messengers – “To Her Door”

February 2, 2019 by Jim Connelly

Album: Under The Sun
Year: 1987

This, ladies and gentlemens, is how you write a song.

There isn’t anything about “To Her Door” that isn’t totally and utterly perfection. Not a single fucking thing. For one thing, it’s a story song that leaves the end of the story unresolved, so it’s all about set-up and leaves the aftermath to your imagination. You know, like “Train From Kansas City,” only . . . well, we’ll get there presently.

But I will put it this way: there aren’t too many songs that can make the room blurry for me — that’s just not how I’m wired — but “To Her Door” is one of them.

Certain Songs #1443: Paul Kelly and The Messengers – “Look So Fine, Feel So Low”

February 1, 2019 by Jim Connelly

Album: Gossip
Year: 1986

God, I love this song so much, I’m almost afraid of writing about it.

I bought both the U.S. versions Gossip and its follow-up, Under The Sun during the long, awful summer of 1988, which I spent reeling from multiple breakups — girls and bands — and out of all of the songs on both albums, “Look So Fine, Feel So Low” was the one that pierced me directly to my soul.