Pop music was never supposed to be serious. Initially, it was meant to dance to or sing along with or maybe advance the plot of a Broadway musical.
One of the many changes that Bob Dylan brought along with him was the idea that a lyric could suggest deeper meanings and separate interpretations. Leonard Cohen saw some daylight there as did our subject for this next episode: Randy Newman.
It’s not so much that either artist was stealing riffs from Bob but rather benefiting directly from the freshly-plowed ground, the new cut road. As much as any singer-songwriter you can name, Randy Newman’s 60 year career has rested on leaving listeners both shocked and tantalized in realizing that “Wow, someone actually wrote a song about that.”
As challenging and complex as it often is, Randy Newman’s original work can be plotted along the intersection of a vertical and horizontal axis. Consider the vertical line to be the feeling nature with one end being laughter, the other tears. The horizontal represents the passage of time; in one’s personal life or in a nation’s history. In the next hour, we will try to draw closer to where they cross one another.
These compositions by Randy Newman are delivered, as with Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen, in a voice that is at once world-weary and life-affirming. You could call it the voice of everyman, except for two things. As you will hear, Randy Newman’s first-person characters can sometimes be women or even mechanical toys.
And then, there’s the fact that although we may empathize or even see ourselves in these complex human beings, we seldom aspire to fill their shoes. Randy Newman does not ask us to emulate or judge these everyday lives but as he paints their portraits in song, but you may find that you cannot easily turn your eyes and ears away. That might just mean he’s already taken hold of your heart.
Song , Artist, Album
Sail Away, Randy Newman, Sail Away
Political Science, Randy Newman, Sail Away
Waterloo Sunset, The Kinks, Something Else
Dayton Ohio - 1903, Randy Newman, Sail Away
Birmingham, Randy Newman, Good Ol’ Boys
Losing You, Randy Newman, Harps and Angels
Guilty, Bonnie Raitt, Takin’ My Time
Marie, Randy Newman, Good Ol’ Boys
Ragtime, Randy Newman, Songbook Vol. 1
I Love L.A., Randy Newman, Trouble In Paradise
The Natural, Randy Newman, The Natural Soundtrack
Simon Smith, Randy Newman, Songbook Vol. 3
I Think It’s Going To Rain Today, Randy Newman, Randy Newman
Wandering Boy, Randy Newman, Dark Matter
