My brother in law Bill was the first person I ever heard refer to the “Gotta Ramble” song as a type. “You know: ‘Everything’s great here, I love you, but…gotta ramble!'”
Anybody want to contribute to a list? I’ll offer Tom Waits’ “Shiver Me Timbers” to start things off.
Is “Babe I’m Gonna Leave You” (Led Zepplin) to obvious….?
Mel,
I would think “Ramble On” was even more obvious. There’s a sort of ultimatum invovled in “Babe..” Do x or I do y.
Golum gave the fella no choice, though – and come to think of it, this song is a rotation and a search, perhaps.
Also, to switch things up a bit (the reverse of a ramble but still a rotation) I’ll throw in “Belle Dame Sans Merci” by Keats – which is he considered a ballad and which someone no doubt has or will put to music:
O what can ail thee, knight-at-arms,
Alone and palely loitering?
The sedge has withered from the lake,
And no birds sing.
O what can ail thee, knight-at-arms,
So haggard and so woe-begone?
The squirrel’s granary is full,
And the harvest’s done.
I see a lily on thy brow,
With anguish moist and fever-dew,
And on thy cheeks a fading rose
Fast withereth too.
I met a lady in the meads,
Full beautiful—a faery’s child,
Her hair was long, her foot was light,
And her eyes were wild.
I made a garland for her head,
And bracelets too, and fragrant zone;
She looked at me as she did love,
And made sweet moan
I set her on my pacing steed,
And nothing else saw all day long,
For sidelong would she bend, and sing
A faery’s song.
She found me roots of relish sweet,
And honey wild, and manna-dew,
And sure in language strange she said—
‘I love thee true’.
She took me to her Elfin grot,
And there she wept and sighed full sore,
And there I shut her wild wild eyes
With kisses four.
And there she lullèd me asleep,
And there I dreamed—Ah! woe betide!—
The latest dream I ever dreamt
On the cold hill side.
I saw pale kings and princes too,
Pale warriors, death-pale were they all;
They cried—‘La Belle Dame sans Merci
Thee hath in thrall!’
I saw their starved lips in the gloam,
With horrid warning gapèd wide,
And I awoke and found me here,
On the cold hill’s side.
And this is why I sojourn here,
Alone and palely loitering,
Though the sedge is withered from the lake,
And no birds sing.
“Sweet moan” indeed!
JOB
Mel,
Which isn’t to say your pick’s not a ‘Ramblin’ On’ sort of song – only that LZ’s “Ramble On” actually has the words in the title – so I’m just showing my own shallowness, I guess. Yours is the better less obvious pick.
I’m fighting for the basement position is all.
JOB
Funny thing JOB is I was actually meshing the lyrics for both those songs in my head…which apparently says so much about how well my mind was working.
To say nothing of your marriage.
LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL
Just one was not enough.
Souls say too obvious- stop laughing Angelico! It’s only two so far….
Mother loving auto correct holy shmoly……….
LOL
I’m leaving on a jet plane, don’t know when I’ll be back again …
‘Butchie’s Tune’, by the Lovin’ Spoonful.
And, because someone has to say it: ‘FREEBIRD’!
These songs are all, of course, about ‘rotation’, in the Kierkegaardian sense.
They are. Also, an unearned aura of accomplishment.
Urge for Going–Joni Mitchell
Also works as a laxative.
I knew at the time she’d never stick around.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KE_hDWMftgc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1x28jaeyX2s
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htTLWC1unMc
To be obvious. Thanks Matthew, what a funny motif it is.
Step it up, people, or I’ll bring up Whitesnake.
At least people think about inviting you to parties, then reject the idea. To be rejected you have to first be in the realm of acceptance. People who invite me to parties cordon off that time and brace themselves for the experience. Maybe they will have some kind of reward waiting at the end of the travail, like a tab of oxy.
People weren’t always too excited to party with Jesus, either.
I think I’d like to party with you, cowboy.
Yee. Haw.
I meant that in a completely non-gay way, by the way.
…said the original Meaty Boy. You were quoting Bill Murray in Stripes, right?
Neil Young, Four Strong Winds.
Today (while the blossoms still cling to the vine) John Denver.
AMDG,
Janet
http://bettyduffy.blogspot.com/2012/09/hark.html
We’ve been drafting off your genius for years now.
Your avatar looks grumpier today than usual.
Just adding some songs to the mix.
My avatar wishes I would
a) finish Gaga Confidential
b) do a good job with Gaga Confidential
c) either both or neither of the above
d) Heed Philip Roth’s advice
Hence the grumpiness.
Well, my avatar is a complete void at the moment, and it’s not any sunnier from my perspective.
Roth doesn’t know what he’s talking about. Heh.
Got a wife and kids in Baltimore, Jack…
And then there’s the serial rotation:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmyPHfu9c0c
JOB
Of course, if you count the chicken soup action, it’s a rotation within a serial rotation…
JOB
Hot chicken soup action, I meant to say.
JOB
I’m not sure I fully understand the concept, but I’ll submit the following for your consideration:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dixxse4dpQ4
The good old days of Godsbody were partially responsible for my introduction to Mr. Waits.
Steel-cage, gravel-voice deathmatch: Waits or Dylan? FIGHT!
My money’s on Waits. Both lyrically and physically.
Shhhhh. The founders get grouchy when people talk like this.
I’m only joking (sort of). But I do like the idea of Waits and Dylan going at it bareknuckled and shirtless.
Good grief. I think I need to get off the internet.
“Do you like movies about Gladiators, Joey?”
Oh my goodness just LOL!!! This is WHY we invite Matt to our parties!!!!
I think I like this version better, although both are good.
Good call.
Uh-oh, Waits till Potter hears this! He’ll be on this challenge like Dylan on T(h)om(as)…
JOB
http://youtu.be/rXKOC5tGZXw
This is a cover, but – “Can’t Help But Wonder Where I’m Bound.”
Love love love that album.
I do, too, and I saw her a couple of times live. She started getting more political, esp. with regard to abortion, and I sort of drifted away as a result, but I was a huge fan for many years.
Doesn’t quite fit, but…50 Ways.
Figures. I knew the original song could only end in tears.
P.S.: This is my new favorite tag. Restraining self from retroactively applying it to every single thing I have ever posted.
Anyone else born in ’54, ’66, ’78, or ’90?
“The number one characteristic of the Horse is the fact that they like to roam. The Chinese 2013 horoscope for Horse shows us that this is a person who wants to check out what’s going on in every pasture. The key to happiness, especially in 2013 year of the black Snake, is for the Horse to know when it’s time to settle and when it’s time to keep moving.”
Happy Chinese New Year! (I wish Catholics had an equivalent of a horoscope.)
This is a great idea, Ellen. I may start a Catholic horoscope column here.
I’m a snake, btw. In and out of the grass.
And today’s my birthday, fyi. Webb’s was the 7th. We’re brother Aquarians, the goofball sign.
Congratulations on completing the nth year to heaven of your dark journey!!!
Happy Birthday! SO looking forward to your column!
恭喜發財!
The ultimate: http://youtu.be/_32JXJ8HO0k