Maybe I'm jumping on the bandwagon?
Bear with me...
Thoughs on Van Dyke Parks's "Number Nine"
I'm a Van Dyke Parks fan generally, but this early single remains one of my favorite songs he's ever done. Taking the famous main theme to Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, Parks creates a glorious pop song. And while he based a lot of his career on reconceiving outdated tropes and musical modes, here Parks does his work without ironizing the source material at all. This is a song that revels in the happiness of its melody, bouncing along for nearly a minute with Parks only "da da da"ing before he quickly transitions into the German of Schiller's Ode and then into his own lyrics for the melody. It's a marvelous nod to the history of the piece to fit Schiller's words in between the sunshine pop imagery of the rest of the song, and this ability to combine the old and the new seamlessly remains one of Parks's marks of brilliance. This single was released as he worked with Brian Wilson on SMiLE, and while the completion of that album revealed a level of depth, consideration, and genius that may never be replicated, it (even in its modern, happier incarnation) could never hope to equal the sheer exultation of "Number Nine."
And those trumpets!
Bear with me...
I'm a Van Dyke Parks fan generally, but this early single remains one of my favorite songs he's ever done. Taking the famous main theme to Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, Parks creates a glorious pop song. And while he based a lot of his career on reconceiving outdated tropes and musical modes, here Parks does his work without ironizing the source material at all. This is a song that revels in the happiness of its melody, bouncing along for nearly a minute with Parks only "da da da"ing before he quickly transitions into the German of Schiller's Ode and then into his own lyrics for the melody. It's a marvelous nod to the history of the piece to fit Schiller's words in between the sunshine pop imagery of the rest of the song, and this ability to combine the old and the new seamlessly remains one of Parks's marks of brilliance. This single was released as he worked with Brian Wilson on SMiLE, and while the completion of that album revealed a level of depth, consideration, and genius that may never be replicated, it (even in its modern, happier incarnation) could never hope to equal the sheer exultation of "Number Nine."
And those trumpets!
posted by Odorless Boatman at 2:09 AM
2 Comments:
When I listened to this track, I was momentarily blinded by the sunshine (in a good way) but it was an enjoyable song; one that I can see growing on me even more in upcoming listens.
okay this is a good song, you got this one right.
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