for emily

Ok.

 

This is about one of the most beautiful love songs I have ever heard.

 

I had actually forgotten about this song … until Pandora <which has a nasty habit of playing the same songs based on your songlist designation over and over … and over> included it.

 

It is an older song but it was a cover version being played and I had to get up and see who was singing.

 

It was a guy <John Grant> in a band called The Czars doing a cover of “For Emily, Whenever I may find Her” which is a song written by Paul Simon <I had forgotten it is a song on Simon & Garfunkel’s album Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme> but actually sung by Art Garfunkel.

 

In my research on the song itself I found Paul Simon said that the song is not about an imaginary girl Emily, but about a belief.

Well. Listen to the song and if you don’t ‘believe’ afterwards … you have no heart.

 

The original song was actually the B-side <when we actually had single records to buy> of “A Hazy Shade of Winter” but since then the song has been covered by numerous artists including The Czars <which is the version I heard on Pandora>.

 

What makes this particular version so spectacular … and it is spectacular … is that the lead singer’s voice <this John Grant> is nothing like Art Garfunkel’s therefore it gives a completely different feeling despite the fact they remain <I believe> with the original arrangement.

 

Czars For Emily: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wSAUGkdTnjQ

 

Ok.

Having just stumbled across the Czars I’m kind of stunned at the lack of more mainstream awareness of The Czars and their singer John Grant.

The Czars was an alternative rock band, formed in 1994 in Denver by John Grant and Chris Pearson. They released six studio albums, one EP, and three singles in the duration of their career. After the release of Goodbye in 2004, five of the six members of The Czars left the band over the span of nine months which pretty much killed the band.

 

Here is another song of theirs:

 

Paint the Moon: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgx3cpk6E94

 

 

Ok.

 

Back to ‘For Emily.’

 

I have only known one Emily in my life. A wonderful young courageous woman who kept an amazingly positive attitude despite fighting cancer.

 

Have to tell you … if I had loved her I could have only dreamed of being able to write such a beautifully sparse simple ode to love for her.

 

 

 

And here is Art Garfunkel <live> singing the song so everyone can remember how amazing Art Garfunkel’s voice was <because we always only seem to remember Paul Simon>:

 

Garfunkel For Emily: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=om7aUNZQVpQ

 

It is such a simple song.

And it is simply beautiful.

It’s nice to be reminded in this sometimes overproduced overaffected music world that simplicity still has its place.

 

Here are the lyrics Paul Simon wrote to this fabulous song:

 

Lyrics to “For Emily, Wherever I May Find Her”:

 

What a dream last night

dressed in orgundy

clothed in crinaline

of smoky burgundy

softer than the rain

 

I wandered empty streets down

past the shop displays

I heard cathedral bells

drifting down the alleyways, as I walked on

 

and when you ran to me your,

cheeks flushed with the night

we walked through frozen fields

of juniper and lamplight

I held your hand

 

And when I awoke

and saw you warm and near

I kissed your honey hair

with my grateful tears

oh I love you girl, I love you

 

 

——

 

Lastly.

John Grant.

He is no Paul Simon as a writer but, whew, what a voice and delivery.

 

I couldn’t resist because I just found this guy.

 

Here is John Grant on Jools Holland with “I wanna go to Marz” which is <I believe> actually a song about dying and going to heaven. The song lyrics are quirkily odd … but … oh boy … the chorus. This chorus/refrain is awesome:

 

Wanna Go to Marz: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYqhGAumx9o

 

That’s it.

I am a music guy.

I love music.

And I love it when I find something new … that is old.

 

Hope you enjoyed.