On a musical tour of the Western United States, Gordon Lightfoot discovered a highway sign that read, “Carefree Highway.” The words on the sign led Gordon to write a song about a carefree lifestyle and a lost love.
Lightfoot put the lyrics away in the glove compartment of his car. Eight months later, Gordon wrote the music for “Carefree Highway” after almost forgetting about the song. Wouldn’t you know that the song became one of Lightfoot’s biggest hits?
Here’s my cover.
John Fogerty wrote “Have You Ever Seen The Rain” about his brother, Tom Fogerty, who left Creedence Clearwater Revival in 1971 at the apex of the band’s popularity. The departure of his brother was a sad time for John.
Eventually, the hurt healed, and the meaning of the song changed. In Fogerty’s own words, “This song was originally written about a very sad thing that was going on in my life. But I refuse to be sad now. These days, this song reminds me of my little girl, Kelsy, and every time I sing it, I think about Kelsy and rainbows.
“Have You Ever Seen the Rain” is another song that emerged unexpectedly from my subconscious. The song bounced around in my head until I played it. Here’s my cover.
Relationships, and especially love relationships are difficult. Here’s my cover of “I Thought I Was A Child,” a song about the universal search for love and Browne’s admiration of the wisdom of an older woman.
In her brief lifetime, which was cut short by Leukemia, Kate Wolf became a major influence on the folk scene with songs like “Give Yourself to Love,” “Across the Great Divide,” “Green Eyes,” “September Song,” and many more. Kate’s audience has continued to grow since her unfortunate passing. As an example, I found her late in my life. Here’s my cover of “Green Eyes.”
Born to Jewish Hungarian parents in Brooklyn in 1941, Paul Simon grew up to be one of the foremost musicians of our time. He is best known for his albums with childhood friend Art Garfunkle, but I believe Simon’s solo work is where he really shines.
“American Tune” is a fine example. With its melody, guitar picking, lyrics, and overall artistry, the song comes together as a masterpiece. “American Tune” expresses the recording artist’s political disappointment in the early nineteen-seventies. The nineteen-sixties bloom of racial equality, love, and peace had already blossomed and faded.
While my favorite recording artists continued to produce heartfelt, meaningful, and exquisitely beautiful folk and folk rock music, America’s social and political evolution stalled. With the election of President Richard Nixon in 1972, the glowing hope and ideals of the prior decade receded into the background.
Paul Simon artfully captures the undercurrents of this period in this remarkable song. Despite its melancholy tone, I am deeply moved by the beauty of the words and music.
“American Tune” popped into my head unexpectedly and without warning. It literally came “from out of nowhere.” I think it did because we are about to take another evolutionary backward step under the Trump administration.
Please enjoy my cover of Paul Simon’s moving song.
The Incredible String Band burst onto the folk music scene in 1966 with the release of their first album, aptly named “The Incredible String Band.” As an avid lover and consumer of folk, I had never heard anything like their songs. The band started out as a trio composed of Clive Palmer, Robin Williamson, and Mike Heron. Williamson and Heron composed most of ISB’s music. Palmer eventually dropped out, replaced by other musicians and the girlfriends of Williamson and Heron.
Signed by Electra Records, the group produced seven albums for the label, most notably their first four, which included “The Five Hundred Spirits or the Layers of the Onion” and “The Hangman’s Beautiful Daughter.”
Through intermittent tours and appearances at prestigious venues like the Albert Hall, The Incredible String Band gained worldwide fans and international recognition from their humble beginnings in Edinburgh, Scotland.
Listen to Mike Heron’s lilting, whimsical “Painting Box” to get a sense of The Incredible String Band’s multifaceted musical range. Here’s my cover.
Cat Stevens ( Yusuf Islam) has never publicly said what this song is about, so we are left to offer our own interpretations.
When I read the lyrics, I get a picture of a farmer of indiscriminate age waking up at the crack of dawn and looking out through a window at his fields. At the very instant when the sun rises, there is barely sound. Our farmer reflects back on his youth and how it felt every day to awaken with a song in his heart and the dreams he envisioned to pursue.
The last refrain floated into my head from out of nowhere:
“There’ll be the evening,
In the end,
But ’till that time arrives,
You can rest your eyes,
And begin again.”
The lyrics are beautiful and express the child-like innocence found in many of Cat Stevens’ songs. I interpret this last refrain to mean: Take advantage of and be grateful for every moment you are alive.
Here’s my cover.
Most of the lyrics in “Danny’s Song” were inspired by a letter Kenny Loggins’ brother, Dan, wrote to him in 1968 after Dan’s son, Colin, was born. In the letter, Dan said he planned to marry the boy’s mom, Sheila, and they planned to move to Berkley, California, even though they had no money.
Kenny Loggins wrote the song in 1970 and released it as a single. It went nowhere. Later that year, Kenny teamed up with Jim Messina and released the song on their first album, “Sittin’ In.” Again the song went nowhere. If nothing else, “Danny’s Song” showcased Loggins’ talent for capturing a feeling for a moment in time.
It was not until Anne Murray covered the song and released it as a single in 1973 that it became a hit, reaching #1 in Canada and #7 on the charts in America. The song’s success put Loggins and Messina on the map.
Here’s my cover.
Cat Stevens’ song “The Boy With A Moon And Star On His Head” is a poetic and mystical tale that expresses themes of love, destiny, and the unknown and unexpected.
The song’s lyrics are replete with metaphors and symbolism, for example, the “holy magnolia” and “naked earth,” which elicit a sense of purity and connection to the universe. Cat Stevens, known for his introspective and spiritual songwriting, uses this narrative to convey a deeper message about the power of love and the unpredictable ways in which destiny unfolds. It is a beautiful story in song, rendered in Stevens’ unique style. Here’s my cover.
Bob Dylan wrote and recorded the original version of “Mr. Tambourine Man,” but The Byrds’ electrified folk-rock version shot it to #1 on both the US and UK charts. The song hadn’t been released when The Byrds learned it from a demo Dylan gave to their manager, Jim Dickson.
Dylan released Tambourine Man in March 1965 on his Bringing It All Back Home album.
What is “Mr. Tambourine Man” about? On the surface, this tambourine man is a wandering musician whose music has captured Dylan under its spell. The song is considered by many to be about drug experiences, with lines like “Take me for a trip upon your magic swirling ship” and “Take me disappearin’ through the smoke rings of my mind.” Phrases like these suggest a marijuana or LSD trip. Dylan is famously close-lipped about explaining his songs, but in his 1985 Biograph compilation album, he revealed that “Mr. Tambourine Man” is not about drugs. Instead, he said the song was inspired by a backup folk musician named Bruce Langhorne, who played a large tambourine in one of Dylan’s recording sessions.
To me, the song’s poetic images are like impressionist paintings. The melody is haunting and mesmerizing. The song stands alone as a true work of art. Here’s my version.
Three Days to Darkness 