I haven’t been a fan for a long time. I used to be a Beatles fan when I was a kid. I was a Rolling Stones fan in college. Then it was Sonic Youth which I think was the last band about which I could fairly call myself to have been a fan. Let me explain about being a fan of a band. There is plenty of music I love, plenty of music I will listen to over and over and over again and continue to be moved and excited about. But the way I was a fan of the Beatles or the Stones or Sonic Youth, well, that doesn’t happen anymore. There is no band for whom I will stand up all night in line to get concert tickets (does that even happen anymore?). There is no band for which I want to buy all the records, even the crappy ones. There is no band for which I will await with baited breath for the release of their next album, or learn all their songs on the guitar, or all the lyrics. Maybe it’s a little sad to realize this, but not really.
These days I’m a fan of songs. This or that song. I will find a song I like and listen to it over and over like I would’ve done years ago with a new Beatles song or a new Stones song, except now, I don’t really care all that much about the artist beyond learning a few basic facts and usually I don’t go out and buy other albums by that artist.
I think this may have been in part due to the realization that most artists can’t really crank out songs I like one after the other. I even to the point where I question the apparent unfailing ability of bands that I was a fan of and how they convinced me at some point that every single thing they did was so good. Seems there is a hypnotic effect that comes into play once you cross over into fandom and suddenly the band can do no wrong. Obviously this is not true, what is true is that most bands, with a lot of work and some good luck, can put out maybe one album that I can continue to listen to over the years. More likely they only have a handful of songs that stand the test of time.
So what are the odds? Where am I more likely to find one more great song? Should I listen to a new song by an artist who has already written a handful of amazing songs? Or should I spend my time with new artists who have yet to reach their peak? Well, it’s not as black and white as that, and I do some of both. But I can be fairly certain that I won’t be listening, by my choice, to any new Rolling Stones records, for example. And maybe that is unfair, maybe they still have one more great song to write and I’m not giving them a chance. But think about it. How much room do I have left for great songs? Is there a cap? I hope not, but certainly my taste is more discriminating now, that have, say 50 (i really have no idea) great songs in my catalog, than 20 years ago, when I had say 3 great songs in my catalog. Either way, small to no chance for the Stones. The same with so many other artists who I feel I already have the couple of songs that were written for me (not literally, of course).
But sometimes, I don’t need to give them a chance. I get music from all over the place. And the other day someone played me a song and I immediately loved it. I asked what it was and they told me it was an old French song that someone translated and then David Bowie recorded it. I never would say that I was a David Bowie fan, but I did feel like I had heard every David Bowie song up to the point when I decided that Ziggy Stardust was enough Bowie for me and stopped listening to him. I even stopped listening to Station to Station which at one point I thought I never would. And then here’s a new David Bowie song that I’d never heard. So I looked it up and found it. The Port of Amsterdam. Not really a David Bowie song, it’s by Belgian songwriter Jacques Brel. Turns out Mort Shuman translated a number of Brel songs for the musical “Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris” which debuted off-Broadway in 1968. Brel himself never recorded the Port of Amsterdam song, but Scott Walker put it to record and Bowie must have heard this version. Bowie then recorded the song during the Ziggy Stardust sessions and released it as the b-side to Sorrow, a song from the Pin Ups covers album.
It sounds like a song that I would’ve heard and should’ve heard, but never had. Maybe some of you have. Either way it’s a great song.
Here’s the Brel version:
The Walker version:
And the Bowie version:
So maybe I’ll check out some more of Brel’s music. Though, I’m not hopeful that I’ll find a song of his that I like as much as this one.
Intersting how in French the word for boat and whore seems to be the same. That is something the english versions can’t capture.
I know I’ve heard or read somewhere that the general thing is that most people are “fans” of music that they heard in their late teens/early twenties, and that’s pretty much it. After that, they only hear music they like, judging it song by song or whatever, but they’re done with the phenomenon of being a fan of someone, or at least of new musicians that they hear. For instance, I’d say I’m still a “fan” of Neil Young, but that’s nothing new; I was introduced to him in high school, and he’s still making decent enough music that I haven’t been turned off to him. But I think that holds true; I can’t think of a single band that I’ve only first heard in the last fifteen years that I’m really a “fan” of, but I can think of several bands I heard during the time frame named above, and I’m still fans of them.
Definitely one of the greatest songs indeed, regardless of the language one sings it in.
Bowie’s “live at the beeb” version is also quite good
Another ones of Brel’s most powerful songs: “Ces Gens La”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwkvetuJTso
Covered by Noir Desir, one of the most influential French Rock Band of the 80s/90s. I saw them singing it live, unfortunately there’s no footage I can find…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QMpRuLD6xSY
thanks for the link marmotte. another great song.
I watched part of Scorcese’s Bob Dylan documentary last night. It was pointed out how the focus in the industry at the time was on songwriting partly because the producer/publisher stands to make a lot more money off the longevity of a song as opposed to a band. You’ll find songs from the sixties recorded by pretty much every artist. The Stones didn’t just nab from Howling Wolf, they also sang Beatles’ songs.
You used to be in the biz, what’s your take on the state of the song? Musicians use one another’s songs less and less. Is this simple greed for fame and fortune?
You know, i’d really love to sit with you over several beers and have this conversation, i’m not sure however, that i’m up to writing ‘state of the song’ report. Overall, i’d say the song, like Jaques Brel used to be, is alive and well. remember, that tin pan alley model that dominated popular music from the, oh 20s to the 60s, was more the exception than the rule, and it really is just a business model, songs continue to be written in all kinds of communities for all kinds of purposes. I think there are just more availble ways for people to experience songs now than there were then, from mashups and re-mixes to muzak and all the library music used in a large amount of tv and film to songs for commercials, bars, sport events, etc etc. so yeah, lets have some beers, mang. We may just need to go hit chicago soon (well, not too soon as you are heading into tundra weather now, right?)
This is the preferred method of pickling your brain that I pre-ferred. I kiss you. Love you and dying for that beer.
[hic]
My folks used to be really into Brel, so I heard a fair amount. Always loved the song “Marathon”. Um, a couple versions:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4V_Hxy6wQ8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05Z56Fqe1Bk
I’m still a fan of bands, though perhaps less obsessive than previously.
I wish I knew french… i also wish those ladies in the first link were singing a little clearer (or that maybe hte recording was clearer). thanks though, i guess i’m gonna have to go check out more of this Brel music.