In the Lowlands?

Mr. Sadly, I think parula just called you old.

quote:

Originally posted by parula:
Just wanted to chime in that I'm another who really likes All I Ask. It does have that classic ballad arrangement, but with Tim chord changes and an almost buddhistic subject matter. Not many pop songs I can croon along to in the car are about non-attachment.

So true! That's why I have that line in my signature.

It's funny reading all these recent comments re All I Ask. The very first time I ever heard it...I was convinced that it must be some cover of a song from a 50s Broadway musical that I just couldn't place...

Tim has definitely got the crooner vibe down pat in this performance.

quote:

Originally posted by Martine:
Tim has definitely got the crooner vibe down pat in this performance.

A lot of people will hate this idea, but I almost wish he'd do a whole album of swing/croon material. ALL ORIGINALS! Ok, maybe 2 covers.

"A lot of people will hate this idea, but I almost wish he'd do a whole album of swing/croon material." Though I'm usually loathe to place myself in with "a lot of people", I'm more than happy to do so in this instance.

I'm even dubious about the whole "All I ask is to live each moment free from the last" philosophy. Does anyone really want that? To live as if the past, all of it, had never transpired? I'm sure there are events that all of us wish we could eradicate from our memories, but would any of us really want to live without some tie to what's gone before? Where we have been informs where we are going. All I ask is to live each moment having learned from, or having been enriched by, the last - that makes more sense to me. (It is, however, a trifle cumbersome as a lyric for a pop song.)

I hear a can opener in the background, churning as it exposes a tin full of worms...

quote:

Originally posted by adidasman:
I'm even dubious about the whole "All I ask is to live each moment free from the last" philosophy. Does anyone really want that? To live as if the past, all of it, had never transpired? I'm sure there are events that all of us wish we could eradicate from our memories, but would any of us really want to live without some tie to what's gone before? Where we have been informs where we are going.

When you put it that way, this song should've been on the Memento soundtrack.

I always thought it was a terribly weird thing to Ask. But the way he asked it made me feel as though there was some important reason he wanted that.

quote:

Originally posted by adidasman:

I'm even dubious about the whole "All I ask is to live each moment free from the last" philosophy. Does anyone really want that? To live as if the past, all of it, had never transpired?

I don't interpret it so much as treating the past as though it had never transpired; but as not being overly attached to (i.e. living in the past), or limited by one's past. Which reminds of another favorite phrase - your history is not your destiny.

quote:

All I ask is to live each moment having learned from, or having been enriched by, the last - that makes more sense to me.

That makes sense to me, too. I learn from each moment and then move forward (to the next moment...free from the last). Again...just my personal interpretation...carry on!

Another vote for All I Ask, one of my favourite songs. I can understand why people don't like this. It's very different to other Crowded House songs, it's sung 90% by Tim and features a gorgeous string arrangement and possibly the most obvious Finn song off the record too (meaning it's the most obvious one that came from the Finn Bros project that morphed into Woodface).

I'd put in a vote for Chocolate Cake and Kill Eye too.

Like Hyacinth, to me All I Ask is about being fully in the present, rather than being tangled up in one's past. We humans tend to carry emotional/psychological baggage with us, and it distorts and even destroys our ability to clearly experience now. But to be free of that burden doesn't require some kind of historical amnesia.

And I wasn't calling Mr Sadly old! I'd be the last to point the oldster finger. I'm a big fan of Fats Waller and Billie Holiday, so that makes me old, too. Hey, Ruth Etting and Scott Joplin are favorites, too, so I'm pretty ancient. And I suspect I've got more miles on me than most posters here to begin with.

quote:

Originally posted by adidasman:
Mr. Sadly, I think parula just called you old.

OH YEAH?!
Oh wait.

quote:

Originally posted by parula:
And I wasn't calling Mr Sadly old!

Good thing I wasn't paying attention at first! There was about to be a rumble in the underrated song thread!!!!!!!

Sometimes I make a statement like that and I wonder, "does that even need a smiley? Hm. Probably not."

Then I just take that daring leap, and leave it off.

Time Immemorial, yes -- an excellent pick -- but I have to go with Now We're Getting Somewhere.

Ooh tell me please
Why it takes so long
To realize when there's something wrong

I have to throw my hat in with "Instinct" and She Goes On....I could never understand why more people didn't like Instinct....it's so very catchy with that thumping beat and Neil's voice is in rare form going low and then really high.....puts a shiver down my spine......But then I also liked "Say That Again" from the new album and not many people liked that one...but it reminded me a LOT of Instinct....

I love "Instinct"! It's right up there with "Where Is My Soul" in terms of songs that give me that certain mysterious feeling...

"Say That Again" I also love, only it didn't catch me 'til I caught it live.

Oh yes, Where is My Soul !!

"When I go on, with my conscience cleee-eeen,
down below they're looking for me"

I can play just this over and over...chills galore!

Although, of course, to be technical, not a CH tune.

Is it too late to weigh in on the interpretation of All I Ask?

I read it as wanting to live without the weight of the consequences of your previous actions crowding you in your future behaviour, because the fear of unintentionally causing distress or anger in someone can leave you paralyzed. This fear is usually the result of really putting your foot in it by saying something with the best of intention, or the greatest of innocence, and having someone loose it, either with anger or hurt. So I don't think that the speaker wants to completely loose their past experiences, but they are carrying around a lot of guilt and anxiety, from which they want to be free. See also, "Consequence Free", by Great Big Sea. It seems to be a common theme among former Catholics.

Hmmm, most underrated song. I don't know if it's the most underrated song, but I offer up "Tombstone", since it's one that I don't usually look for because I always forget how much comfort it gives me. Heh, guess I didn't stray too far from "All I Ask", since "Tombstone" seems to offer an answer to the unspoken plea in "All I Ask".

The ones I think are most of my favourites lol.
I Feel Possessed, Not The Girl You Think You Are, Chocolate Cake, Love This Life, Can't Carry On and Now We're Getting Somewhere.

<3

Lately, for me, Together Alone has taken the cake. Holy crap.

quote:

Posted 23 July 2008 05:47 PM Hide Post
I'd also lobby for "Kill Eye", one that seems loathed by a good chunk of Finndom - I think it's a great, beefy track, with another great Neil vocal (very cathartic, I suspect) and some cool keyboard stuff. Nice drumming by Paulo as well.

I don't understand why Kill Eye is disliked by so many. I love that song!