Barry Manilow has never been my favorite singer, and I have heard him when he was in better voice, but there’s something about this particular clip that reaches way down inside me and turns me inside out.
When October Goes (4:50)
I get the almost-a-cliché metaphor about a person’s lifespan (“Oh, it’s a long, long time from May to December, and the days grow short when you reach September” and so forth), and the leaves have turned red and gold and many of them have already fallen, and flocks of geese are in the air making their way south, and my mother died in the month of October in 1957, so this time of year always makes me a bit melancholy, but still...Barry Manilow?
There’s a little quiver in his voice -- and, yes, it may even be fabricated for effect -- and he’s a little “pitchy” (translation: out of tune) in places, but when he sings this song he somehow seems on the verge of losing his composure altogether. Maybe that’s what I’m responding to viscerally, I don’t know, the fact that we’re all in this thing together and we’re all putting on some sort of act and we’re all always dangerously close to losing control and letting everybody see how we really feel, and we certainly wouldn’t want to let that happen. Would we?
But still...
Barry Manilow?
oh oh ooo oooh<><<>,.of course i have said the same for harry belefonte, bocelli, willie nelson, john denver barbra{spelled right} celine dion, mormon tabernacle choir, jackie evanco, buddy hollie, jerry lee lewis, bach, beetoven, mozart{boy wasn't he just the cat's meow}the big bopper, and now even some austrailian rock stars thanks to singer extrodonaaire carol from cainrs <><>what can i say manlow is my fav today<<>loved the song
ReplyDeleteNot my sort of music but he is a very accomplished musician. The song is a bit predictable. Hey, cheer up!
ReplyDeletewww.barrynethomepage.com
ReplyDeleteThat's the web address of the Barry Manilow fan club.
I dithered as whether to listen to this, as I feared it might lower my already flagging mood, but I did anyway. It has a strong melancholy to it for sure, but I enjoyed it. I like Copacabana, Mandy and Could it be Magic quite alot actually, but generally he isn't in the same league for me as Say Barbra Streisand. " we’re all always dangerously close to losing control and letting everybody see how we really feel," - aye, true words. If I have a failing (I know it's hard to imagine, but hear me out), then it's that I sometimes say how I truly feel too often. Freaks folks out a bit methinks. Still, bottling up isn't healthy either.
ReplyDeleteFeelings. A great song. He must have sung it.
ReplyDeleteMust be something in the air. Bit of melancholy going 'round about here as well. A good friend (older man) just passed away very suddenly. I wasn't ready for him to be gone. He always had a hug for me at church on Sunday mornings, we bantered about my sewing machine addiction...ahem..collection, and we cut hay in his field every summer. He's gone, just like that. And we didn't know he was going and didn't get to say goodbye. Good grief, I'm not really cheering you up any, am I? Like I said, it must be something in the air or the seasons. This life is short but there's a better one ahead if you trust in the Lord! (am I doing better now?)
ReplyDeleteEveryone, I've been a little preoccupied lately getting ready to return to making music at church (which I did yesterday after a five-week absence) and I haven't responded to your comments in a timely manner.
ReplyDeleteI often don't know how to respond to Putz (this is one of those times), and now I don't know how to respond to Adrian either. Predictable? How so? Feelings a great song? Really? You see my predicament. Yorkshire Pudding, thanks for the info, but I shall probably not be availing myself of it. All Consuming, I haven't cared for Barbra Streisand ever since she sang that incredibly slow version of "Happy Days Are Here Again" but I do enjoy her early-career rendition of “I'm Five!” very much. And Hilltopetc., I am sorry that you lost your friend without having a chance to say goodbye.
Glad to read you are back in church ~ I am sure your friends there have missed you in the last 5 weeks. We would always notice when my Aunty Dora (who wasn't really my Aunty) wasn't in church. She lived on her own after Uncle Jack died and I find myself feeling very happy now to remember her and have had her love in my life. Thank you for prompting that memory.
ReplyDeleteMr. rhymeswithplague,
ReplyDeleteYou have a melancholy reflection of the passing of your beloved mother in October.
As for even listening to that Barry Manilow video, I'd rather be beaten to death with a wet noodle. Anybody who tells me he writes the songs that make the whole world sing, can stick it up his nose.
I haven't got a problem with letting me people know how I really feel on my site. Transparency can be therapeutic for folks on both sides of the computer screen. Well, that's my theory.
A peaceful, hopeful day to you.
Gary
oh oh oh ooooooo how couod i forget the incrediable neil diamond in my absolute fav list and all those in this presentation of comments who railed against barry manlow shame shame shame on you
ReplyDeleteMy sister, who passed away in 1997, had an October birthday. When I think about her, who I still miss, I try to think of the funny things. She went shopping with my husband and me when we were looking for a live aboard boat. She thought we were looking for a liverport boat! She finally asked us what a liverport boat was!
ReplyDeleteGreat to hear you're back in the church again as I know it means so much to you, it must have been nice for everyone there to have you back too I'll bet.
ReplyDelete