William's Song a Day Blog - est. September 2007

1070 Jethro Tull - Grace Finishing my theme week of " songitesimals " on this Sunday. I had many and at the same time had no songs in mind for my closing pick on this theme week. This track came to mind when I sat down to make my pick, so here it is. It was a nice touch on the part of Ian Anderson to close out such an epic album with a :37 second acoustical track, especially following the monstrous Baker Street Muse , which clocked in at 16:48. The track itself is merely just Ian singing and playing his acoustic guitar with some string accompaniment. The lyrics are rather whimsical; from what I understand he apparently came up with them while singing and looking out his window one morning. Here is the studio version on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: John Denver - Season Suite: Summer My song pick two years ago today: The Steve Miller Band - The Window +

1069 Johann Sebastian Bach - BWV 703 - Fughetta: Gottes-Sohn ist Kommen This short Choral Prelude for the organ is actually one of many of his pieces of work that would fit my theme week; it is quite a beautiful piece of music despite its brevity; it clocks in at about :50 seconds in length. Of course there are many pieces of classical music that are quite short even though the standing notion is that classical music, especially from the Baroque Period , is that it is large and rather ponderous music. Here is a performance of the song by Bine Katrine Bryndorf on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: What Made Milwaukee Famous - Sultan My song pick two years ago today: Arlo - Runaround +

1068 Savatage - The Ocean There are quite a few of these " songitesimals," (songs less than 100 seconds in total length), that I have been wanting to fit into this theme week, but alas, there are only seven days available. Perhaps in the future I shall have to do another short song theme week. The Wake of Magellan is one of the rock operas from Savatage. This rather short opening track sets the mood for the rest of the album and segues into the rock opera's overture: Welcome . The Ocean starts with the sound of tides and waves then Jon Oliva starts playing a melody on the piano very similar to The Doors' Riders On The Storm ; shortly after that the entire band kicks in. Here is The Ocean and The Storm on YouTube. Here is a live performance of The Ocean and Welcome circa '98 on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: The Steve Miller Band - Serenade My song pick two years ago today: Ben E. King - Spanish Harlem +

1067 The Moody Blues - The Dream The Moody Blues have quite a few of these " songitesimals" in their catalogue; they are another band from their music I could compose this entire theme week from. Many of these shorter tracks from their catalogue are comprised of odd music behind the reciting of poetry; this one is no different. This track is actually part of a suite of music written by keyboardist Mike Pinder titled: Have You Heard . This track, The Dream , was used as an intro into the greater piece of music. It features a mellotron being played making odd sounds/music with poetry recited over it. While the lyrics were penned by drummer Graeme Edge they were performed on the album by Mike Pinder. Here is the studio version on YouTube. Here is a live performance on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: Azteca - What'cha Gonna Do? My song pick two years ago today: Slaughter - Fly to the Angels +

1066 Hawkwind - The Church I'm continuing my theme week of picking " songitesimals ," i.e. songs less that 100 seconds in total length. This is a song from that amazing genre that is somewhere between and incorporating aspects of Psychedelia and Progressive Rock: ah yes, a Space Rock song for my pick today. This one clocking in at just :92 seconds. Anyway, Hawkwind has quite a few of these little filler tracks within their catalogue; I could easily do this theme week only featuring their music. There are at least two other songs on this album, Church of Hawkwind , alone that are less than 100 seconds in length. These short tracks from Hawkwind are usually rather odd and contain a lot of synth with strange, otherworldly noises and weird speeches, poetry, or chanting. I love playing these tracks in mixed company just to get weird looks out of people. Here is a fan video with the song on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: Quincy Jones - Walking in Space...

1065 Primus - Pork Chop's Little Ditty I'm continuing my theme week of picking " songitesimals ," i.e. songs less that 100 seconds in total length. This short piece is split in to two pieces at the beginning and toward the end of the album; they clock in at :22 and :63 seconds. The song is, as the title suggest, a little ditty; it is comprised of just drums and mandolin. A nice contrasting tune to compliment the rest of the album. Here is the first part on YouTube. Here is the second part on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: Jethro Tull - For Michael Collins, Jeffrey and Me My song pick two years ago today: Blue Öyster Cult - Shooting Shark +

1064 Yes - Five Per Cent for Nothing   After my pick a couple of days ago where I was discussing the length of Mainstream Pop/Rock and Progressive Rock songs I decided I should do a theme week featuring "musical quickies;" all of the songs this week will be under 100 seconds in length. I decided I should start this theme week with another track from Yes. This song: Five Per Cent for Nothing clocks in at a whopping :35 seconds. It is an instrumental that features a funk bass line with drums and keyboards. What is very interesting here is that many of the shortest songs in the modern era come from the same Prog/Rock acts that also regaled us the songs from 10 minutes up to almost an hour in length. While these tracks are shorter they still contain all the musical technicality from their much larger brothers Here is the studio version on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: Megumi Hayashibara - Fly Me to the Moon My song pick two years ago today: Rahsaan R...