Monday, July 20, 2015

Music Monday ~ Wheels

Kay Starr has a birthday tomorrow - born on July 21, 1922 in Dougherty, Oklahoma. She's still with us, as far as I know, and she'll be 93 - Happy birthday Ms Starr! One of her most memorable recordings was this one:


The wheel of fortune
Goes spinning around
Will the arrow point my way
Will this be my day

Oh, wheel of fortune
Please don't pass me by
Let me know the magic of
A kiss and a sign


Song written by Bennie Benjamin and George David Weiss, published in 1951.

That song got me wondering whether there are any other songs with a similar theme, a theme not a million miles from astrology.


There's this, by a band I didn't know - Massive Attack,
Hymn of the Big Wheel:

The big wheel keeps on turning
On a simple line day by day
The earth spins on its axis
One man struggle while another relaxes


Lyrics in full HERE,
written by: Horace Andy, Neneh Cherry, Robert Del Naja, Grantly Marshall, Andrew Vowles.




And Journey's Wheel in the Sky :

Wheel in the sky keeps on turnin'
I don't know where I'll be tomorrow
Wheel in the sky keeps on turnin'


Lyrics in full HERE

According to the liner notes of Journey's Time3 compilation, this started out as a poem called "Wheels In My Mind" by Diane Valory, the wife of Journey bassist Ross Valory. Robert Fleischman, the band's first vocalist, wrote new lyrics, and guitarist Neal Schon wrote the melody on acoustic guitar in the back seat of a station wagon while the band was driving between shows. (HERE)



3 comments:

mike said...

Here's a surrealistic performance, "Lost Wheels of Time":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8HDu_R7Uxg

John Lennon's "Watching the Wheels"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KAU6VBxJL6M

"People say I'm crazy
Doing what I'm doing
Well, they give me all kinds of warnings
To save me from ruin

When I say that I'm okay
Well, they look at me kinda strange
Surely you're not happy now
You no longer play the game

People say I'm lazy
Dreaming my life away
Well, they give me all kinds of advice
Designed to enlighten me

When I tell them that I'm doing fine
Watching shadows on the wall
Don't you miss the big time, boy?
You're no longer on the ball

I'm just sitting here
Watching the wheels go round and round
I really love to watch them roll
No longer riding on the merry-go-round
I just had to let it go

Ah, people asking questions
Lost in confusion
Well, I tell them there's no problem
Only solutions

Well, they shake their heads
And they look at me as if I've lost my mind
I told them there's no hurry
I-I'm just sitting here doing time

I'm just sitting here
Watching the wheels go round and round
I really love to watch them roll
No longer riding on the merry-go-round
I just had to let it go
I just had to let it go
I just had to let it go"

Twilight said...

mike ~ Two good ones - thanks! The first could almost be sub-titled "Alice Through the Video-Tube" :-)

Second one has good sentiments - I found a different, simpler, version by Lennon himself:
https://youtu.be/Da69-pu_pqc

James Higham said...

I always learn something surprising here, Twilight.