All These Strangers; thoughts on this ?
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when i was cruel
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All These Strangers; thoughts on this ?
I think this is one if the most beautiful songs ever written. The last few stanzas are simply breath-taking. What do you guys think ?
It's not the days when you leave me, but all I fear are the nights.
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Poor Deportee
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Re: All These Strangers; thoughts on this ?
Hey, a new 'A CASE FOR SONG' thread! 
It's a tremendous song, its key residing in a creative move often deployed by EC at his best - situating a specific personal situation within a specific and vividly-rendered wider context (in this case, some sort of war-torn crossroads between Europe and the Muslim world, apparently). I also think the simplicity of the chorus - who are all these strangers? - is one of those primal questions that speaks for us all, whether or not we share in the circumstances described in the song; it captures a fundamental condition of modern life and brings the song into the truly universal.
Nice melody too, and some really spectacular rhymes ('a Corsair filled with horse-hair to the core' floors me every time - did someone really write that??) and dabs of surrealist imagery worthy of Bob Dylan. This is Elvis on his 'A' game for sure.
I've long felt that this song has been overlooked in discussions of National Ransom (perhaps because it's followed by the more obviously bedazzling 'Voice in the Dark'). It's definitely a key track, one of the album's real anchors; and if it's not quite at the level of 'Jimmie,' 'Voice' and 'Dr Watson,' it's surely one of his better recorded moments. Nice post.
It's a tremendous song, its key residing in a creative move often deployed by EC at his best - situating a specific personal situation within a specific and vividly-rendered wider context (in this case, some sort of war-torn crossroads between Europe and the Muslim world, apparently). I also think the simplicity of the chorus - who are all these strangers? - is one of those primal questions that speaks for us all, whether or not we share in the circumstances described in the song; it captures a fundamental condition of modern life and brings the song into the truly universal.
Nice melody too, and some really spectacular rhymes ('a Corsair filled with horse-hair to the core' floors me every time - did someone really write that??) and dabs of surrealist imagery worthy of Bob Dylan. This is Elvis on his 'A' game for sure.
I've long felt that this song has been overlooked in discussions of National Ransom (perhaps because it's followed by the more obviously bedazzling 'Voice in the Dark'). It's definitely a key track, one of the album's real anchors; and if it's not quite at the level of 'Jimmie,' 'Voice' and 'Dr Watson,' it's surely one of his better recorded moments. Nice post.
When man has destroyed what he thinks he owns
I hope no living thing cries over his bones
I hope no living thing cries over his bones
Re: All These Strangers; thoughts on this ?
wonderful song among so many on this cd.
what with the North Africa/European events ever since, its intrigue just increases.
and I love that long, cascading melody. this is one of the times where it is VERY long and twining, but it stays together and pulls me along emotionally.
. . .all round, one of his best. "Mistreat me darling and I might just disappear"--even that opening line casts a shadow...not "leave" but "disappear."
what with the North Africa/European events ever since, its intrigue just increases.
and I love that long, cascading melody. this is one of the times where it is VERY long and twining, but it stays together and pulls me along emotionally.
. . .all round, one of his best. "Mistreat me darling and I might just disappear"--even that opening line casts a shadow...not "leave" but "disappear."
Re: All These Strangers; thoughts on this ?
Agree, it's fantastic. As I mentioned a while back, he's got that "relaxed" voice on this song which really hits the spot for me these days. Melody and lyrics are amazing too.