Song Histories---

[OkRad]

I like the history of songs. I hope you post your own!

The Goldberg Variations by Bach were reputedly written for an insomniac price, though I never found it helpful in that regard. Out of the blue, there are many notes that break in randomly, so I am not surprised that THAT rumour has been challenged.

Glenn Gould really brought this work to public attention. Sometimes you can hear him humming and things. He was famous for that. It drove the recording labels nuts, but now people find it part of his style.

This is one of only a few pieces Gould recorded twice in his career. The last one is quite somber and different. He died not long after this recording, probably because of the amount of prescription medication given to him by his doctor.

The first few bars of this work are engraved on his grave marker.

Just for the record, I am sure Glenn Gould was an Aspie...... BUT you can never tell with geniuses. Sometimes they are simply geniuses.

 

[OkRad]

- and for those who like more mainstream songs....

Fade to Black was written by Metallica after their equipment had been stolen right before a show! Further, they had also just been given the boot out of their manager's home for looting his liquor cabinet and kicking stuff around.

People were afraid the song would cause kids to end their lives, but they have received hundreds of letters from depressed people who said this song helped them NOT to end their lives.

The biggest question is WHO has Metallica's Stolen Equipment, the equipment which inspired perhaps their most famous song? S/he'd be about 50 now, not knowing what to do with it all, stuffed in the attic. No one would even believe it if s/he tried to cough it up! But it's somewhere.....out there....Fading to Black.....

Another cool Metallica song fact----Trapped under Ice. This song is LITERALLY about being trapped under ice. They saw the movie, "Never Cry Wolf". There is a scene where the guy falls into the ice and is trapped under it. It's awful. The movie is quite awesome (literally) and that scene really struck them. Me, too!

 

[Fino]

I hope the Goldberg Variations story is true, because they taught it at my conservatory as a matter of fact.

 

[Pats]

George Harrison wrote Savoy Truffle for his best friend (Eric Clapton) and Clapton's love of chocolate.

 

[Progster]

Skyclad's "Single Phial" was apparently inspired by a short sci fi film by Stefan Lenzen in 1997. In this short film, an alien is charged with spreading an poison (held in a phial) amongst the human population on Earth in order to save it from destruction. However, he meets a young lady and falls in love with her, tells her his story and offers he the antidote so she might be saved, which she refuses. Hence the title of the song, "Single Phail"

 

[Monachopia]

Hmm... I'm not sure if this is completely off-topic as I'm not giving a song history per se, but I saw a video a while back which dissects a song and shows that it was written based on maths, the Fibonacci sequence - from the syllables in the lyrics down to durations of verses. This one is probably more for the prog. rock enthusiasts, but it's a great song nonetheless.

 

[OkRad]

Hmm... I'm not sure if this is completely off-topic as I'm not giving a song history per se, but I saw a video a while back which dissects a song and shows that it was written based on maths, the Fibonacci sequence - from the syllables in the lyrics down to durations of verses. This one is probably more for the prog. rock enthusiasts, but it's a great song nonetheless.

No, this is GREAT! I love to see that. Bach used a lot of math in his composition, too. Tool is so powerful that they can be downright scary.....but it can also take you somewhere other than where you are if you need to escape.
Do you like, A Perfect Circle as well? Same singer, if I recall correctly.

 

[Monachopia]

No, this is GREAT! I love to see that. Bach used a lot of math in his composition, too. Tool is so powerful that they can be downright scary.....but it can also take you somewhere other than where you are if you need to escape.
Do you like, A Perfect Circle as well? Same singer, if I recall correctly.

I do like some classical music, it's definitely calming. I know Bach is soothing, so perhaps the mathematical concepts he used may have contributed to the 'symmetry' of the music, so listening becomes a pleasing experience without really understanding why.

A Perfect Circle are fantastic in their own right, the singer is the same. I may have been into them initially as I saw them at concert supporting Deftones in the early 2000's. APC are more accessible musically. But, Tool are indeed, as you put it - so 'powerful that they are downright scary', but the scary component is not musical, it's about how it makes one feel, vulnerable and exposed to new ideas and to question what is in front of them. I believe it is their intention as a band to do this.

I'm glad you found the video interesting though! It certainly surprised me when I watched it