#365AOTD 321 “Songs to Learn & Sing” Echo & the Bunnymen 1985

November 17, 2014 by annettegertrude 2 Comments

I’m jumbled up
Maybe I’m losing my touch
But you know I didn’t have it anyway…

I recently have re-connected with a couple of my high school friends, Dia, Katie and Nicole. I call us the 88s. You can figure out why. And since Ive already dated us, 28 years ago Nicole and I took Driver’s Ed together. We wanted to be able to get our licenses right when we turned 16 and not have to wait. We also both wanted to learn how to drive a stick. Also around this time, Nicole told me about this band she liked called Echo & the Bunnymen. Already I’m intrigued by the group’s name. If memory serves me correctly, Nicole and I plus a couple other friends spent a day downtown loafing around (okay, I’m not sure why I just used the word loafing. We never really ever used that word then nor now. Hmmmm). We were hanging at “The Shops” near The National Theatre where I purchased my first Echo cassette, “Songs to Learn & Sing.” The cover shows the four band members in silhouette against a yellowish backdrop. After hearing a few songs I had decided that I was, in fact, cool for listening to a group who had such an awesome name, a great album cover and a sound that was perfect for a sixteen year old. Echo & the Bunnymen? Oh Hell Yes!

Ever since purchasing that tape, I have been an Echo fan. Oddly, I haven’t followed them much past their 1987 self-titled release. I suppose I have been stuck in an Echo & the Bunnymen time warp. But I have never lost my love for them. They released their 12th studio album, “Meteorites” earlier this year. I have paid attention to some live records they have put out over the years, watched a few Echo DVDs  and I am aware when they do tour.  And for the people who know me well, I have also read a book about the band called ” “Turquoise Days” by Chris Adams (I’m not much of a reader. And when I say I’m not much of a reader I mean, I do not read, period). Even still, I think I will make a better effort to listen to many of their other releases from these past two decades.
“Songs to Learn & Sing” is actually a compilation album of singles, in chronological order, from the band’s first four records: “Crocodiles,” 1980, “Heaven Up Here,” 1981, “Porcupine,” 1983 and “Ocean Rain,” 1984. “STL&S” also includes two non-album singles and one brand new song. When deciding on which Echo LP I would do, at first I was going to go with the stellar “Ocean Rain.” The band’s strongest record, this would have been a fantastic choice. I also thought about “Porcupine.” First, the cover of that album is one of my favorites of any record in all of music. I don’t know why, it’s just hip like their name and music. Oh right, I’ve already mentioned that I was the cool kid with Echo playing in my Walkman. Second, “Porcupine” is another really good disc. Of course, I also own “Crocodiles” and “Heaven Up Here,” but I cut my teeth on “STL&S,” and it offers a little bit of all of them.

The first song that grabbed me and wouldn’t let go was located on side two, song 3 of my cassette; Silver. Having just the right mixture of a pop, alternative, new wave, post punk sound, plus a certain soft edge to it that I hadn’t really ever heard before, the music was bliss. Then when you add in Ian’s alluring voice and his super-rad lyrics, Silver is a winner. Listen for Will’s fantastic guitar work, including a Middle Easternesque sounding solo plus a cello that sounds as big as a string quartet. And Speaking of Will, that would be guitar player extraordinaire, Will Sergeant. Bassist Les Pattinson and drummer Pete de Freitas were the backbone of the Bunnymen. So often it is easy to overlook the rhythm section of bands because they often reside in the shadows. Sadly, de Freitas would die in a motorcycle accident just a few years after “STL&S” and Pattison would leave the band in the ‘90s to pursue other interests. And then there is Ian McCulloch. Now how would I describe Echo’s definitive leader? McCulloch is an arrogant, assured, determined, dreamy, former high hair wearing, tall drink of something, distinct sounding voice, stand-offish punk of a gent. He also writes wonderful lyrics. His words don’t necessarily tell a story but instead conjure up vivid imagery. Check out Silver’s text:

“Swung from a chandelier
My planet sweet on a silver salver
Bailed out my worst fears
‘Cause man has to be his own saviour
Blind sailors
Imprisoned jailers
God tame us
No one to blame us

The sky is blue
My hands untied
A world that’s true
Through our clean eyes
Just look at you
With burning lips
You’re living proof
At my fingertips

Walked on a tidal wave
Laughed in the face of a brand new day
Food for survival thought
Mapped out the place where I planned to stay

All the way
Well behaved
Just in case
It slips away

The sky is blue
My hands untied
A world that’s true
Through our clean eyes
Just look at you
With burning lips
You’re living proof
At my fingertips…”^

I love the way Ian takes snippets of what seems like mini poems and puts them together to form these songs. Here’s a snapshot from The Cutter:

“Who’s on the seventh floor
Brewing alternatives
What’s in the bottom drawer
Waiting for things to give

Spare us the cutter
Spare us the cutter
Couldn’t cut the mustard

Conquering myself
Until I see another hurdle approaching
Say we can, say we will
Not just another drop in the ocean…”^

Here’s a taste of Back of Love:

“I’m on the chopping block
Chopping off my stopping thought
Self doubt and selfism
Were the cheapest things I ever bought” ^

As you can see, I dig his lyrics. Add them to the Echo’s rather simple music and you have got yourself some pretty decent songs. And yes, I said simple. We have often kidded that Echo & the Bunnymen is the best two chord band ever. ‘Tis True. Take one of my favorite, not just Echo tunes, but of anybody songs, A Promise; it’s just D and D7. That’s really it people. Silver is just A and G with a dollop of D at the end. Rescue is the same as Silver, A and G plus a little more of D and C. I know, you think I am exaggerating a touch, clearly, they do use more than two or three chords in some of their songs, but Echo & the Bunnymen are masters of vamping and making their music sound greater than it is. Ian’s vocal melodies over the few chord changes underneath him showcase how well he and the band take something seemingly small and make it wide and big. Do not underestimate Echo’s depth even if it’s just in a repeated D chord.

Arguably the best Echo song uses more than three times the chords in a song like A Promise. The Killing Moon has a dreamlike, mystical quality to it and features some of McCulloch’s best lyrics:

“Under blue moon I saw you
So soon you’ll take me
Up in your arms
Too late to beg you or cancel it
Though I know it must be the killing time
Unwillingly mine

Fate
Up against your will
Through the thick and thin
He will wait until
You give yourself to him

In starlit nights I saw you
So cruelly you kissed me
Your lips a magic world
Your sky all hung with jewels
The killing moon
Will come too soon

Fate
Up against your will
Through the thick and thin
He will wait until
You give yourself to him”^

Now that’s the real deal, right there. I love those words. Along with the music, the imagery it evokes is almost palpable.

Let’s revisit McCulloch for a minute, have I mentioned that Ian might be a little cocky? Here’s what he says about Moon: “When I sing The Killing Moon, I know there isn’t a band in the world who’s got a song anywhere near that.”^^ Here’s more from McCulloch about The Killing Moon and the album, “Ocean Rain” that it hails from: “I go by my original story – greatest album ever made. It pisses over “What’s Going On” by Marvin Gaye, and it’s better than “Sgt. Pepper’s.”^^^ It’s incredible, beautiful. Killing Moon is genius – the best song ever written.”^^^^ You can read more of Ian’s thoughts about “Ocean Rain” in the links below. He mentions that the “lyrics were from God, a Divine inspiration. “^^^ Hold the bus. Best song and album ever? Are you flucking kidding me? Laugh out loud. While I don’t prescribe to his grandiose thoughts about this song and LP, I can absolutely say that The Killing Moon is an outstanding song from a terrific record. And reading that Ian believes the lyrics came from a higher power just adds to the mysticism of it. Plus, you gotta love Ian for speaking his truth. Whether I agree with him or not, I can’t deny that he’s got balls.

Back to the album at hand, I like every track on this collection: Rescue, The Puppet (non-album single), Do it Clean, A Promise, The Back of Love, The Cutter, Never Stop (non-album single)+, The Killing Moon, Silver, Seven Seas and Bring on the Dancing Horses (new tune for this record). I encourage exploring all of the Echo material in the ‘80s. Really, this band had something happening. All these years on, I still really treasure my Echo & the Bunnymen section in my iTunes library. Today, however, I listened to “STL&S” on cassette. For all of those kids out there, I had to physically flip the tape from side one to side two. This generation is so lazy.

 

p.s. My first concert at my favorite venue, Merriweather Post Pavilion, was a triple bill of Gene Loves Jezebel, New Order and Echo & the Bunnymen. I attended with, naturally, Nicole and a few of her friends of the family peeps. It was here that I stole a phrase from one of the college guys we were with, the infamous, “Tag-Me!” That saying followed me for a then next five years. Oh boy.
In the winter of 1988, another high school friend named Levent and I saw Echo by themselves at Constitution Hall. What a show! Ian slithered around the stage like a seductive snake and the band played for a good three hours. Levent and I waited afterwards by the tour bus to get some autographs from the band. I was only wearing a t-shirt and a blue jean jacket. Levent had on something similar. It was freezing out there. And I when I say, freezing, I mean COLD! We were close to putting ourselves into a dangerous situation; yes we could have probably gotten frost bite. We also got a little lost on our way home. Let’s just say you really don’t want to be in Anacostia at night. We did make it home and warmed up. Plus we had a couple of autographs, Ha!

Fast forward to August of 2014 when I met the friends I mentioned in the first sentence of this blog for dinner. I should say that I hadn’t seen Dia and Nicole for about six years and Katie for at least 15. With this group, we picked right back up where we left off. After our meal, who would text Nicole but none other than Levent. And get this people; he was at the Echo & the Bunnymen concert at the Fillmore in Silver Spring, MD. Now if that isn’t a full circle moment, then I don’t know what is.

#365AOTD 321 “Songs to Learn & Sing” Echo & the Bunnymen 1985 Is this the blues I'm singing? http://t.co/tUnQyPCP2G @echoandthebunnymen

— Annette Gertrude (@djwurley) November 17, 2014

^ words by Ian McCulloch, music by Echo & the Bunnymen

^^http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Killing_Moon

^^^http://thequietus.com/articles/11721-ian-mcculloch-echo-and-the-bunnymen-favourite-albums?page=8

^^^^http://thequietus.com/articles/11721-ian-mcculloch-echo-and-the-bunnymen-favourite-albums

+On the original releases of “STL&S,” Never Stop (Discotheque) was the version featured and the one I had always known. I recently heard a different version of Never Stop on a 2004 “Songs to Learn & Sing.” I recommend the Discotheque rendition.