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Recently I’ve been listening to Amanda Palmer’s album - Who Killed Amanda Palmer? One of the more downbeat songs on the record - Blake Says - is transparently in debt to The Velvet Underground offcut - Stephanie Says, whose lyrical structure and use of Alaska as a metaphor also formed the basis of the solo Lou Reed’s Caroline Says I & II.
On Jane’s Addiction's live debut album a song called Jane Says (another third-person character study, cut from the same cloth as Lou Reed’s compositions) segues into a cover of The Velvet Underground’s - Rock ‘N’ Roll.
Since the '... says' format seems to have acquired a sluggish creative momentum I wondered if any other artists have used it as the basis for one of their songs.
Also, are there any other lyrical devices like this that have undergone cross-pollination and been used by different bands?
Blake Says
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"Terry Waite Sez" - The Fall
Not sure if that really counts. Lyrical structure? Pah!
Leila Khaled says
by the teardrop explodes?
Jackie Wilson says...
...it was 'Reet Petite' (Hmmm)
The Ramones'
'Danny says' has a VU vibe too, although this is as close as it gets to Alaska:
"Danny says we gotta go
Gotta go to Idaho
But we can't go surfin'
'Cause it's 20 below"
Another one from Lou of course, never being one to leave a good idea unmined, is the VU's 'Candy Says'.
I can recommend The Soft Boys cover of Caroline Says on their "1976-81" compilation, played to a slightly unappreciative audience.
Jesus Says- Ash
The KLF's "Kylie Said to
The KLF's "Kylie Said to Jason" is a past tense cousin I suppose (which btw, was the inspiration for the song "Martin Said to Robert", an imagined conversation involving Martin Scorcese trying and failing to persaude Robert De Niro to play Jesus in The Last Temptation of Christ. Written by, um, me it was heard once by a small and baffled looking audience in Portsmouth who I'm sure still treasure the moment).
Blake actually said...
i'm rather lucky, that i am loved, i have a great family, including 2 grand parents and a great wife and 2 lovely kids. I also have a close network of friends, and get on pretty well with my work collegues
I think nothing of the sort about growing chemically produces pharacuticals, although i do know you CAN grow weed.
I do, however have pretty eyes....
and i would like to go to Alaska!
TRUE, when on holday, i can be most often found in the sea or the pool.[i'll give you that one], but i've never been to a weekender at some holiday camp.
i've never gone out with anyone with a tattoo [it's like this writter doesn't know anything about me...]
....mind you although i'd like to see Alaska BEFORE i die, i kind of like that idea [and it's prectical, what with it being so cold up there, less putrifaction]
Actually i have done quite a bit of christmas shopping online, and i did order a album of Frank Zappa Guitar solos for myself, and it was Skill!
Wrong and getting wronger all the time, now!
no, seriously I AM FINE!!
i guess i am kind of talking to a machine....does he work for my bank?
Actually the BBC web site reports it will be cloudy, with a high of 11 and a low of 6, but no mension of rain, acid or otherwise
I'd like to think i'm kind, although i do have a near pathological fear of fish!
Who the Fu*k is Caroline, i though this song was about me!!!
make your flamming mind up
And lets hope it is still cold in Alaska, as you seem to have send a load of dead people up there.
In summary, you win some you loose some.