Real name of song...
CatWoman
On Summer Side of Life, the last cut is titled
"Cabaret".
However, it sounds to me as if the "Cabaret" part
is only the first few lines ("Yesterday's a cabaret").
The longer song in that cut is a whole different
sound - and sounds like it should be titled "North
Ontario".
Has anyone ever heard it done in concert? Does he do
the two together always? Or is it one of those "extra
perks" that some artists stick in as filler?
Anyone know the story of it?
Diana
Robert Warner
>
> Before I forget again...
>
> On Summer Side of Life, the last cut is titled
> "Cabaret".
>
> Anyone know the story of it?
>
Yeah, and what's that *sound* in the middle???
<mischievous grin, derek>
Bob in Kalamazoo
Telekidd
writes:
>Yeah, and what's that *sound* in the middle???
>
><mischievous grin, derek>
I know nothing...I know nothing...I know nothing...
Shoot, Bob--now ya got me all stressed...guess I'd better go have a cigarette
and a beer... ;) ;) ;)
Derek
Matt Carl
Matt Carl
Ed Mullen
>
> Before I forget again...
>
> On Summer Side of Life, the last cut is titled
> "Cabaret".
>
> is only the first few lines ("Yesterday's a cabaret").
>
> The longer song in that cut is a whole different
> sound - and sounds like it should be titled "North
> Ontario".
>
> Has anyone ever heard it done in concert? Does he do
> the two together always? Or is it one of those "extra
> perks" that some artists stick in as filler?
>
>
Now that's an interesting take, Diana. I never heard anyone refer to
it as two distinct songs. Yes, I know the two parts are distinctly
different, but so are the parts of The Canadian Railroad Trilogy. I
guess I always heard them as two parts of a single song, or maybe a
"suite." I actually used to sing the song live years ago and it takes a
little work to get the transition right. Having a friend around to rip
a pop top off of a beer can helps.
Ed
RikS...
<ejmu...@compuserve.com> wrote:
>CatWoman wrote:
>>
>> Before I forget again...
>>
> ttle work to get the transition right. Having a friend around to rip
>a pop top off of a beer can helps.
>
>Ed
hey! its a match or lighter!
just thought i would help (tease) derek out a bit...
:)
ran...@europa.com
GL web page http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Acres/2929/
.... Seven Islands To The High Side Of The Bay If You're Looking West...
an...@pa.ausom.net.au
Look I think it is a can of Club Soda being opened after being heated up with
a lighter
Warm Regards Peter T. :-)
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Telekidd
>hey! its a match or lighter!
>just thought i would help (tease) derek out a bit.
You are TOO kind! Always thinking of others, aren't ya? ;)
Derek
CatWoman
] >hey! its a match or lighter!
] >just thought i would help (tease) derek out a bit.
]
] You are TOO kind! Always thinking of others, aren't ya? ;)
] Derek
Okay, okay - I apparently stepped into a particularly
aromatic inside joke-pie.
1) It was a serious question - has anyone heard it performed
in concert, and is it always performed as one song?
2) What in the name of Bast are you folks talking about? I
have to admit that the noise never particularly bothered me...
Give it up guys - let me in on the joke!
Diana
(the "second half" was obviously written with the SF Bay Area
as the reference point; and I've always been very fond of that
song)
Telekidd
writes:
>1) It was a serious question - has anyone heard it performed
>in concert, and is it always performed as one song?
Hey Diane: My apologies for not answering the serious part of the question--I
didn't because, well, I haven't heard the tune played in concert. But I would
venture to say that, had it been, it was probably done as the whole entity.
I'm sure there are others here who will be able to be of much more help than I.
>2) What in the name of Bast are you folks talking about? I
>have to admit that the noise never particularly bothered me...
>Give it up guys - let me in on the joke!
Another apology--I certainly don't want it to sound like an "inside" joke--it's
just that it started a couple of years ago, and occasionally rears its head!
Here's what happened:
I often noticed that many posts, particularly from people who have just
discovered the NG, will begin with "I thought I was the only GL fan left." I'm
sure many of us felt that way before there ever was an NG! I was one of those,
and thus never had much of a chance to discuss GL's songs with others and was
often forced to draw my own conclusions. Upon first hearing "Cabaret" back in
'72 (when I bought the album) I, of course, heard the "mystery sound." Because
of the lovely feeling the song evokes about being on the road--the independent,
almost triumphant feeling along with the somewhat sad, wistful feeling that, to
me, the song brilliantly captures--I started thinking about the mystery sound
along those lines.
What I came up with was a cigarette lighter. Not the little plastic disposable
kind you find everywhere these days, but those old Zippo things--big, usually
silver--that made an unmistakable sound when they were flipped open, and
another easy-to-identify sound when the little wheel is spun and strikes the
flint (or whatever the heck it does). I'm not sure why that sound came to
mind--I suspect it was a childhood thing, when a lot of adults around me
smoked. So my memory of the sound itself was already clouded, even back in
'72. Had I actually gone out and bought one and listened to it, I might have
dismissed the "lighter" idea immediately. Alas, youthful arrogance guided me
to think "I don't need no stinkin' experiment!"
Anyway, in my mind's eye, it evoked the lonely guy, sitting alone in a
"roadside diner," lighting up a cigarette and perhaps gazing out of the window
at "the big trucks rolling by." (The "sigh" after the sound, I identified as
the exhalation of smoke after the first drag.) Or, sometimes, I envisioned the
cigarette being lighted whilst standing on the side of the road in one of those
gravel turnouts--a last moment of reflection before attempting to thumb a ride.
With no one to tell me otherwise, I never even questioned it after that--to me,
that's what the sound was, and those were the images it always brought to mind.
Not too long after I found the NG and started posting, someone asked the
question "what is that sound in "Cabaret" that occurs during the transition
between the two parts of the song?" Well, since Wayne is the bottom line for
factual information regarding GL, I had never posted much when a "fact"
question was asked--my posts were (and still are, for that matter) more along
interpretive lines, for the most part. An advantage of that is that, because
I'm just stating an opinion, I have an immediate self-defense mechanism: "Hey!
It's just my opinion!"
Well, not this time! I must have been in a feisty mood or something, but I
thought to myself "Aha! I can answer THIS one!" So, brimming with confidence,
self-righteousness, and downright arrogance, I posted "It's obviously one of
those big old cigarette lighters, blah, blah, blah..."
I submitted my post, then waited for the accolades for my brilliant insight to
come rolling in. To my astonishment, what I got instead was several posts
saying "No, it's the top of a beer can being pulled back, and the sigh is the
satisfaction after that first swallow!" (Keep in mind, the tone of these
posts, while always good-natured, ran the gamut from "I respectfully
suggest..." to "are you INSANE?!") :)
Like an idiot (which, let's face it, I do pretty darn well), I actually tried
to, well, if not argue my point, then at least try and kinda sorta defend it.
But the more I read these posts, the more I realized my cherished belief held
for around twenty years (well, it was more than a belief--I was CONVINCED I was
right!), was, in fact, inescapably WROOOONG!!!
In fact, someone (I believe it may have been Matthew Fifer, but I'm basing this
on my rapidly failing memory) had actually posed the question to GL, and the
honest-to-gosh, no kidding answer was...sigh...a beer can top. (I think I also
recall reading that the producer (Joe Wissert) didn't particularly care for it;
however, GL insisted on its inclusion--but, again, this is based on my rapidly
failing memory and should not be taken as fact, unless someone else can
corroborate this.)
Well, after lots of good-natured ribbing, the matter rested...until about a
month later when someone else asked "What is that sound in 'Cabaret'?" There
were quite a few posts along the lines of "for heaven's sake, don't ask Derek!"
Thus, when the question comes up, my reflex action causes me to jump in before
anyone else can bring it up again and kid around about it! :) It's actually a
lot of fun, and I must admit I enjoy it--after all, even attention like that is
better than none at all! :)
Once again, my apologies to you, and to everyone else who may have been
wondering what the heck all the jokes are about, for not explaining--it's just
that it's been around awhile, so I almost take it as a given that everyone
knows about it. I certainly would NEVER want to give the impression that
there's some sort of little "insider" clique in the NG that has a bunch of
private jokes and so on. If there IS a little clique like that, I've certainly
never been asked to join--perhaps because correct identification of the mystery
sound is the entrance exam!
I love the north coast too, and often enjoy disappearing to the Mendocino area
for a few days just to wander along the cliffs, gaze at the ocean, and soak up
the area's unparalleled beauty. Whenever I make that drive up Highway 1 (the
coast highway, for those of you who haven't been out here) Summer Side of Life
is always playing in the car! :)
Cheers!--Derek
Kevin Andreoli
<snip>
|Okay, okay - I apparently stepped into a particularly
|aromatic inside joke-pie.
|
|in concert, and is it always performed as one song?
|
|have to admit that the noise never particularly bothered me...
|Give it up guys - let me in on the joke!
|
|(the "second half" was obviously written with the SF Bay Area
|as the reference point; and I've always been very fond of that
|song)
Despite never having been within 3000 miles of the places sung about, I too
like that song and would like to have a sensible answer.
Kev
CatWoman
(explanation of jokes and noise deleted)
Ah HAH!
*Now* I understand! Y'see - I only found this newsgroup
a couple of months ago after someone (sorry - I've lost
my brains this weekend and can't remember who it was)
found me in rec.music.folk. For some reason it never
got to my ISP (which is odd - he carries almost everything!)
Having grown up in the SF area in the '60's - I just figured
it was something one of the guitars had made - something
when the guitar was being put down.
If someone does know the story behind "North Ontario",
I'd love to hear it - I wondered if it had been written
the year that Gord played the Opera House - where he came
out the second night and, after the first song, the first
words he said were "She called me!".
Diana
Valerie L. Magee
spent perusing newsgroups and browsing the web is not well rewarded!
CatWoman wrote in message <6osrc0$8jl$1...@numbers.wetware.com>...
Roy Entin
> words he said were "She called me!".
>
Diana,
I remember that! I thought that he said "I've been forgiven."
That was a good concert!
Roy