Don Malcolm
Well-Known Member
Each to his own, of course--but in the context of these very subjective assessments I'm always drawn to the "wisdom of the commons" (sidestepping, I hope, the matter of political discussions!). The poll shows that these songs are highly regarded amongst the participants here; in the case of "Road Ode," we haven't specifically polled to determine which version is favored, though a number of folks have weighed in on this subject, sometimes in perplexing terms.
The comment about the song's musical structure ("We've Only Just Begun" sideways) is interesting but off the mark, I think. While both songs have extended choruses that take the song from ballad tempo to something more akin to rock, "Begun" stays in the Bacharach arrangement mode while "Road Ode" has an actual instrumental break, with both versions of it clearly going for a "jam" moment that is common in uptempo songs but rare in C's material. (That may well have come from Sims and Woodhams, who were variously part of the C's band, and brought more of that kind of approach to songwriting than Richard.) I'm more baffled by the idea that the lyrics don't work--they have their points of obliqueness and elision, but the last verse has always hit home for me, even before the revelations of Karen's emotional difficulties made it difficult not to read autobiographical elements into it.
Regardless of all that, I'd stick with the idea that these are two of the strongest songs that never got a chance to connect with the public at the time when they were conceived and performed. They both come from a period when the C's were on such a creative roll that they literally created more 45-worthy tracks than they could exploit given the nature of the music business. As a result, they languish far behind the "greatest hits" in terms of familiarity with the general public, and they strike me as having the best chance to connect with audiences today.
But all this is moot--and we will always be left to speculate about this unless Richard decides to roll the dice and put those songs out into the public in such a context. He's really got nothing to lose, and I still think presenting these two songs to today's public would be his best bet for getting past some of the stereotypes that continue to persist about them.
The comment about the song's musical structure ("We've Only Just Begun" sideways) is interesting but off the mark, I think. While both songs have extended choruses that take the song from ballad tempo to something more akin to rock, "Begun" stays in the Bacharach arrangement mode while "Road Ode" has an actual instrumental break, with both versions of it clearly going for a "jam" moment that is common in uptempo songs but rare in C's material. (That may well have come from Sims and Woodhams, who were variously part of the C's band, and brought more of that kind of approach to songwriting than Richard.) I'm more baffled by the idea that the lyrics don't work--they have their points of obliqueness and elision, but the last verse has always hit home for me, even before the revelations of Karen's emotional difficulties made it difficult not to read autobiographical elements into it.
Regardless of all that, I'd stick with the idea that these are two of the strongest songs that never got a chance to connect with the public at the time when they were conceived and performed. They both come from a period when the C's were on such a creative roll that they literally created more 45-worthy tracks than they could exploit given the nature of the music business. As a result, they languish far behind the "greatest hits" in terms of familiarity with the general public, and they strike me as having the best chance to connect with audiences today.
But all this is moot--and we will always be left to speculate about this unless Richard decides to roll the dice and put those songs out into the public in such a context. He's really got nothing to lose, and I still think presenting these two songs to today's public would be his best bet for getting past some of the stereotypes that continue to persist about them.