The Lexus-Nexus of The Year of Magical Painting slash If I could sit that still my mother would never have yelled at me slash I'll have a Mars Bar

I was looking at my 4th of July, Sandy post and wondering what songs I mention the most on TYOMP.  I decided the first was Marianne Faithfull's version of As Tears Go By.



I love that little glimmer of a smile at the 1:45 mark.

How she went from dewey-eyed British aristocrat to writing Sister Morphine, which some people call the most poignant drug song ever scratched out on Keith Richard's Telecaster (you can find it on Sticky Fingers), can be found here--a fun 27 minutes, offered in three parts, about that very thing.  And the aftermath, I suppose:







Honestly, how much fun is this?

Brief Personal Aside: For you completists, Ms. Faithfull features prominently in my novel about 2008 Wall Street set in 1969 Vietnam titled "Saigon:  Too Big To Fall".

Second is likely this Floating Men song, the title of which escapes me.

I'm nodding off
I'm getting full and lazy
Floating down the river in a second-hand canoe
I've got grapes and apples
I've got cheese and lemonade
Floating down the river staring off into the blue

I bet she wonders what I think of her now
I don't care what she thinks about me
Floating down the river half asleep

I've got my hat pulled down
I've got my toes in the water
Floating down the river getting drowsy from the heat
And I can close my eyes and see the poacher's daughter
Barefoot on a sandbar with a straw in her teethI bet she wonders what I think of her now
I don't care what she thinks about me
Floating down the river half asleep

I've got my hat pulled down
I've got my toes in the water
Floating down the river with a straw in my teeth
And I can close my eyes and see the poacher's daughter
Barefoot on a sandbar like she's waiting for me

This song still gives me goosebumps.  Turns out it's called Poacher's Daughter.  Which, for the longest time, I thought was Coach's Daughter.  Which I think is better, even if it's incorrect.

Because I'm 58, it means that the first time I heard The Floating Men was in my late 40s.  And I'm here to tell you, friends, they hit me like a left hook from Joe Frazier.  Playing it now, which I am, makes me think of the night I was folding laundry in my house in Saddle River, listening to Vin Scelsa's radio show on Sunday nights.  He played their version of Darkness on the Edge of Town and it hit me like a left hook from Joe Frazier.

Joe Frazier!

Third, but maybe first because obviously no Lexus-Nexus search was ever employed (if Lexus-Nexus, in the face of google, even exists anymore), is Sandy, the lyrics of which I transcribe every July 4th.