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Only These
by Jordan
Please note: MP3s are only kept online for a short time, and if this entry is from more than a couple of weeks ago, the music probably won't be available to download any more.
Smokey Robinson - "You Really Got A Hold On Me" I've seen the Platonic form of the pop song and it closely resembles "You Really Got A Hold On Me." It's as if Smokey is singing about how I feel about his song. Except my relationship with his song is not so tumultuous: it has all the loving, kissing, squeezing; but none of the fighting, crying, wanting to split. A few notes on restraint and simplicity: 1. The piano's insistent 1-4-5 is a strong argument for the merit of that progression. 2. The bass rises and falls with Smokey (nothing fancy), underscoring the contradictory nature of the subject relationship. 3. The guitar - one strum on every second downbeat and an occasional riff (minimal in space and time, maximal in effect) - remains physically unexerted, while emotionally exhausted. 4. Technically speaking, Smokey is no Marvin or Sam, but when he sings it, he means it. Will this song still be here tomorrow? Did I dream its existence in a fit of idealistic revery? I post mostly to confirm the suspect data given me by my senses. [Buy] *** Magnetic Fields - "All My Little Words" A long day of banjo playing leads me to post this banjo-flecked ballad about the frustrating limitations of our influence over others. No matter how much we love someone, we cannot make them ours. "Not for all the tea in China." Though I understand that to be a great deal of tea (some of it quite good-tasting, I'm sure). [Buy] Posted by Jordan at April 27, 2005 3:12 AMComments
That guys voice in the magnetic fields song is terrible... It would be an okay song otherwise. I think Ryan Adams could probably pull it off better. Posted by Brandon at April 27, 2005 12:29 PMi think Stephen Merritt's voice is great! Posted by Jorge at April 27, 2005 12:59 PMI'm with Jorge! Posted by jay at April 27, 2005 1:05 PMI'm with Jorge and Jay and Jordan. Posted by vaucanson at April 27, 2005 1:43 PMThat's actually LD Beghtol singing that song - there are a lot of guest vocals on "69 Love Songs". Posted by Michael at April 27, 2005 2:01 PMwhat i find funny is that michael's comment need not necessarily be a correction; jay might have been making a non sequitur. :) loooove the smokey robinson (obviously!) Posted by Sean at April 27, 2005 4:07 PMMan i love that Magnetic Fields song, as i do pretty much all of 69 love songs. Sooo good. Posted by Martin at April 27, 2005 9:09 PM"You've Really Got a Hold On Me" is-- sometimes for months at a stretch-- often atop my Greatest Songs of All Time list. Also, it recently struck me how minimal most of the guitar parts in pre-psychadelic Motown are. I wonder if the guitarists ever got bored with their parts, but I imagine it would be difficult to be anything less than entertained when playing amongst the Funk Brothers. Posted by Jeff Reguilon at April 27, 2005 9:43 PMAll my little words = amazing. How many bands try to write songs about relationships that don't work out? How many of them make it work this well? He's meaningful without being maudlin and he makes up the word "unboyfriendable"! Instead of playing the stereotypical "there's nothing left in the world" type this song's character is REAL. He knows that life will go on, even though he doesn't really want to give up on the relationship. The song is so powerful because the singer's character is so well written. The character escapes the stereotypes. I could go on and on, but I'm not sure I'm even making sense at the moment. One last point, though. He even plays with us, saying "now that you've made me want to die," but he isn't dying from sadness of being left. He is dying to date her; he is dying to be in love with her, not because she rejected him. Most people, I think would use the whole death thing in the other way. ps - I love this song. Posted by Dan at April 28, 2005 1:38 AMi still think his voice is great! Posted by Jorge at April 28, 2005 3:28 PMWell, I think they're both brilliant. Though the Beatles/Live at the BBC version of "You Really Got a Hold on Me" is tip-top too. Posted by Tuwa at April 28, 2005 3:47 PMPost a comment |
 about said the gramophone
this is a daily sampler of really good songs. all tracks are posted out of love. please go out and buy the records!
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all songs are removed within a week or two of posting. said the gramophone launched in march 2003, and added songs in november of that year. it was one of the world's very first mp3blogs. if you would like to say hello, find out our mailing addresses or invite us to shows, please get in touch: montreal, canada: sean toronto, canada: jordan montreal, canada: dan please don't send us emails with tons of huge attachments; if emailing a bunch of mp3s etc, use a service like MailBigFile. if you are the copyright holder of any song posted here, please contact us if you would like the song taken down early. please do not direct link to any of these tracks. please love and wonder. "and i shall watch the ferry-boats / and they'll get high on a bluer ocean / against tomorrow's sky / and i will never grow so old again." we are a member of MBV.
about the authors
Sean Michaels lives in Montreal, where he is writing a novel. His work also occasionally appears at McSweeney's. Follow him on Twitter or reach him here.
Dan Beirne is an actor and writer living in Montreal. He writes fiction fiction fiction on here. It may feel true, but it is never True. He is most proud of his most recent project The Bitter End. Email him here Jordan Himelfarb lives in Toronto, where he is editor in chief of The Mark. Jordan's posts appear at Said the Gramophone only on the last Wednesday of every month. Email him here. Site design and header typography by Neale McDavitt-Van Fleet. The header graphic is randomized: this one is by . 
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