Ever suddenly discovered a song you thought you knew wasn't what you thought it was? This happens a lot to me, but thanks to the internet, I can now track down the hidden meanings, obscure references and original versions of songs I've been seduced by.
Today I discovered for instance that 'Dazed and Confused' is not a Led Zeppelin song at all. Jimmy Page brought it with him from the Yardbirds (which I never knew he'd been in either) but even then, it was never his song to begin with though aparently he took credit for it. In fact the song was originally written by an American folk singer called Jake Holmes. I haven't come across a version of the original, but here is the Yardbirds:
'Mad World' s another song I assumed I understood. Whats worse about this one is I actually knew the original only to have forgotten it once I encountered the brilliantly depressing version created for the film 'Donnie Darko'. Reading about the film today I rediscovered the original by Tears for Fears on You Tube (another brillinat resource for this sort of thing):
3 comments:
I had one of these 'I had no idea' music moments happen to me just yesterday.
I was at work listening to some online classic rock station. They played 'When the Levee Breaks' but instead of it being the well known Led Zeppelin version, it was done by Bob Dylan. I looked it up and it turns out that 'When the Levee Breaks' is actually an old folk song from the 1920's (at least according to Wiki)
This really shouldn't surprise me because Zeppelin was well known to rip off lots of old American Blues, but it was still enlightening.
Cheers, moif.
Led Zeppelin seem to have been a right bunch of magpie's!
A lot of 60s R&B music had its roots, if not whole songs, elsewhere.
I knew that Page was with the Yardbirds, a group that seemed to spawn a lot of talent while remaining under the radar. (At least for me.) Word is that Clapton left the Yardbirds b/c he hated their hit "For Your Love". I love that song.
Tears For Fear's Mad World is a great song. I haven't heard the Donnie Darko version yet.
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