Going Somewhere is folk guitar at it's simplest - one man and his guitar. Hay's voice is pretty unique and soothing and his songs all tell stories. For example, the opener, Beautiful World is all about taking joy from the simplest of things:
My my my, it's a beautiful world/I like swimming in the sea
even though the world isn't perfect:
She says she doesn't love me, but she enjoys my company/For now that's good enough for me
Title track, Going Somewhere features a very catchy guitar progression and vocal hook, whilst My Brilliant Feat combines a playful melody with some touching lyrics about someone whose 15 minutes are long gone. One of the stand-out tracks though is Waiting for my Real Life to Begin - known to anyone who saw the Scrubs episode My Philosophy. Presented here as a solo guitar piece, the song is an anthem for those whose lives haven't amounted to anything yet, but who live on in hope that one day they will:
Any minute now my ship is comming in/ I'll keep checking the horizon
When I awoke today nothing happened/But in my dreams I slew the dragon
And you say "be still my love/open up your heart and let the light shine in"/Well don't you understand I already have a plan?/I'm waiting for my real life to begin
On a clear day I can see/See a very long way
In this, my 7th year at university I know the feeling of waiting for something to come along and change my life all too well. The album "finishes" with Maggie a very happy sounding track which becomes sadder in tone until you realise what story is being told... The US special edition is rounded off with an acapella version of I don't know why from a live performance and then radio edits of Waiting for my real life... and the song I just don't think I'll ever get over you which you may know from the fantastic and oft-mentioned Garden State OST. A simple guitar quietly announces the track before Hay's voice - sounding even more resigned and world-weary than usually - comes in:
And when I'm done I feel like talking/Without you here I have less to say/I don't want you thinking I'm unhappy/What is closer to the truth/That if I lived till I was 102/I just don't think I'll ever get over you
Despite being a beautifully lehthargic song of resignation and acceptance, this radio edit clocks in at just 4:31. The full verison is available to the album Transendental Highway.
Man @ Work is something of an odd-ball: it combines classic Men At Work reworkings, with alternate versions of some of Hay's best solo songs and a few new compositions. An alternate version of Beautiful World (that is actually how it was originally recorded) containing a full band (including a wonderfully minimalist slide guitar part) but oddly misses out the verse about "Marie" which to me sums up the whole song. Next up is an acoustic version of the best known Men At Work song: Down Under: sounding suitably laid back compared to the 80s version yet still playful enough to be raise a smile. Continuing the 80s theme is an acoustic version of Overkill as featured in the Scrubs season 2 premiere performed by Hay in cameo. The song was perfect for the episode in which all the characters have fallen out and aren't talking to each other:
I can't get to sleep/I think about the implications/Of diving in too deep/And possibly the complications/Especially at night/I worry over situations/I know will be alright/It's just overkill
Storm in my Heart returns to a fuller band sound with a very springy beat. Waiting for my Real Life... makes another appearence - for the original full band version (without the final lines) you'd need to get a hold of the fantastic Topanga. Some new recordings with a destinctly regae sound follow before a completely new recording of Down Under finishes the album in style with another regae-ish sound and brass section boosting to give a completely different feel to the previous version.
I'm still listening to the rest of the back catalogue, but if you want some excellent folk/singer songwriter/easy listening yet involved songs I fully recommend you track down some of Hay's albums.
No comments:
Post a Comment