However, the track is actually by San Francisco folk-rock band We Five, and the lead vocal is sung by Beverly Bivens—a force of nature with a supernatural vocal range that, at the time, stretched from Tenor 2 to Soprano 1.
Although We Five popularized the song in 1965, it's a cover of a song by Canadian folk duo Ian & Sylvia. The original is very vanilla; it's just a jangly song about a bad breakup and getting drunk to numb the memory. But We Five's version drops all of the blatant lyrics about boozing, making the subject matter much more vague. While it's quite possible that the band adjusted the lyrics to make the song more friendly to a mass audience, I suspect they made it purposely hazy to reflect the unease of the era, giving it a sense of intrigue and edginess. Is it about a breakup? Is it about an addiction? Is it about fear of the future, bordering on obsession? Maybe all three?
Whatever it is, I could listen to We Five's rendition a million times (especially the last 10 seconds, where Bivens and her bandmates lock into that soaring, four-part harmony) and never tire of it.
No comments:
Post a Comment