Vybik Jon
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Edited Oct 21, 2020, 12:30
Eight Miles High
Oct 21, 2020, 12:28
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You know how sometimes a lyric you've heard hundreds of times will suddenly jump out at you? I was enjoying Eight Miles High for the unmpteenth time and this:
Round the squares huddled in storms
Some laughing some just shapeless forms
Sidewalk scenes and black limousines
Some living some standing alone
It seems very apt at the moment.
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keith a
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Re: Eight Miles High
Oct 21, 2020, 18:05
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I wish this was still available
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00fvg6h
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thispoison
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Re: Eight Miles High
Oct 23, 2020, 06:15
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Isn't that a reference to Clark's view out of a Liverpool hotel window?
"Rain gray town known for its sound"
A masterpiece, original recording and remake. McGuinn's efforts over the years to claim chief writer credit are uncool, though. Its Gene's song which McGuinn and Crosby contributed to (wonderfully).
Here's a great version from 1978 by Clark & McGuinn:
https://youtu.be/U1QQtO2IBKg
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Vybik Jon
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Re: Eight Miles High
Oct 23, 2020, 10:36
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thispoison wrote: Isn't that a reference to Clark's view out of a Liverpool hotel window?
I'm sure it is, but it just seemed like a description that could fit many urban centres in 2020. Or maybe that's just where I live - Coventry.
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Andfurthermoreagain
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Edited Oct 23, 2020, 13:51
Re: Eight Miles High
Oct 23, 2020, 13:51
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They are indeed.
I love the lyrics on Eight Miles High, perfectly evocative druggy observations of a bunch of Californian heads visiting England for the first time. Kinda reversing the concept of all those songs by British bands in awe of the States.
The line that always gets me 'in places, small faces unbound '. The Small Faces weren't really known in the US in 65 when this was written (not to mention the mod colloquialism of the name) so I always wondered, did they see a poster for the band when they came to London and went "Small faces? Whoa, that's fucking far out man. Small, faces? What do they look like?" I suspect Crosby's input on that line.
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Popel Vooje
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Re: Eight Miles High
Nov 03, 2020, 18:31
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I also read that the line "Nowhere is there warmth to be found by all those afraid of losing their ground" was a reference to the fact that they were presented with a lawsuit by English band the Birds (feat. Ron Wood and Kim Gardner, later of Creation) as soon as their plane landed at Heathrow, although I have no idea if this is true or an urban myth.
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Andfurthermoreagain
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Re: Eight Miles High
Nov 05, 2020, 16:43
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I'm fairly sure that's true.
Also, they didn't fare particularly well in the press at the time, written off as ersatz Beatles wannabees. Totally unaware of the cross pollinated interplay between both bands' music, not to mention their close personal relationships (though that was on a much more counter cultural level).
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