862. Randy Newman--Sail Away (0) (1972)

862. Randy Newman--Sail Away (0) (1972)

1. Sail Away (2+)
2. Lonely At the Top (2)
3. He Gives Us All His Love (?) (4)
4. Last Night I Had a Dream (?) (2)
5. Simon Smith and the Amazing Dancing Bear (1)
6. Old Man (?) (3+)
7. Political Science (8)
8. Burn On (?) (2)
9. Memo to My Son (?) (4)
10. Dayton, Ohio--1903 (?) (4)
11. You Can Leave Your Hat On (7)
12. God's Song (That's Why I Love Mankind) (?) (2)

REVIEW: Two good/great songs here, including my personal favorite from him, Political Science. Nothing else catches my ear, and a few songs I dislike offset the good ones, so it gets a 0.

ED'S TAKE:
862. Randy Newman--Sail Away (1972)

1. Sail Away (10)...part of my reason for not liking Bobby Darin too much is seeing him do this song on Ed Sullivan as a song of unbridled patriotism. Newman should have sued. "In America, every man is free, to take care of his home and his family, you'll be as happy as a monkey in a monkey tree, come along little wog sail away with me....sail away sail away, we'll cross the mighty ocean to the Charleston Bay...."
2. Lonely At the Top (10) great arrangement
3. He Gives Us All His Love (10) "he knows how hard we're trying, he hears the babys crying, he sees the old folks dying and he gives us all his love"
4. Last Night I Had a Dream (10) "Last night I had a dream, You were in it, I was in it with you, Everyone that I knew and everyone that you know was in my dream, I saw a vampire, I saw a ghost, Everybody scared me but you scared me the most, in the dream I had last night, in the dream I had last night, in my dream"
5. Simon Smith and the Amazing Dancing Bear (8)
6. Old Man (10) "Won't be no God to comfort you, You taught me not to believe that lie, you don't need anybody, nobody needs you, don't cry, old man, don't cry, everybody dies".
7. Political Science (10) "let's drop the big one now"

"No one likes us-I don't know why
We may not be perfect, but heaven knows we try
But all around, even our old friends put us down
Let's drop the big one and see what happens
We give them money-but are they grateful?
No, they're spiteful and they're hateful
They don't respect us-so let's surprise them
We'll drop the big one and pulverize them
Asia's crowded and Europe's too old
Africa is far too hot
And Canada's too cold
And South America stole our name
Let's drop the big one
There'll be no one left to blame us
We'll save Australia
Don't wanna hurt no kangaroo
We'll build an All American amusement park there
They got surfin', too
Boom goes London and boom Paree
More room for you and more room for me
And every city the whole world round
Will just be another American town
Oh, how peaceful it will be
We'll set everybody free
You'll wear a Japanese kimono
And there'll be Italian shoes for me
They all hate us anyhow
So let's drop the big one now
Let's drop the big one now'

8. Burn On (10)...he's talking about Cleveland's Cuyahoga River which caught on fire due to the polution back in the 60's. "Cleveland, city of light, city of magic
Cleveland, city of light, you're calling me, Cleveland, even now I can remember, Cause the Cuyahoga River goes smokin through my dreams"
9. Memo to My Son (10)
10. Dayton, Ohio--1903 (10)...can be taken literally or ironically about our fantasies about the good old days when "everybody" was friendly with each other and there was no crime....
11. You Can Leave Your Hat On (10)...."baby take off your dress....yes....you can leave your hat on...."
12. God's Song (That's Why I Love Mankind) (10) "I burn down your cities-how blind you must be, I take from you your children and you say how blessed are we
You all must be crazy to put your faith in me, That's why I love mankind, You really need me, That's why I love mankind."

OVERALL ALBUM RATING: 10

Comments: This is a particular favorite of mine and surely my favorite Newman album. Is he THAT anti-religious that he dares describe God as mocking us for needing him? I'm not so sure. I do know that his songs, full of irony and pessimism and sarcasm have more feeling to them than most......I look at it as I do XTC's Dear God......the singer is telling God he doesn't believe in him. There's surely irony in that, isn't there?

ed.