The Weekday Ramble is a daily dose of sports, music, culture, and more from Rambling On founder Erik Ritland. For more information check us out on Reddit, Twitter, Facebook, or at our website.
Wednesday March 25, 2015
For today's #DiggingDeep, where we highlight album cuts from a particular artist, we feature The Man himself: David Bowie.
Please Mr. Gravedigger from the 1967 LP David Bowie
If you're lucky you've heard Bowie's super creepy (pun intended) "Please Mr. Gravedigger" around Halloween sometime, as its haunting-ness fits the holiday. Like most songs on Bowie's debut album it's pretty weird. Over the sound of rain, thunder, and digging a narrator tells of a gravedigger who steals lockets of hair from the corpses the buries. The person telling the story has secrets of his own, though, leading to a pretty creative ending. If you think this is weird you should check out the rest of Bowie's equally strange debut album.
Sweet Thing/Candidate/Sweet Thing (reprise) from the 1974 LP Diamond Dogs
Sweet Thing/Candidate/Sweet Thing (reprise) from the 1974 LP Diamond Dogs
This track, the heart of side one of Bowie's classic Diamond Dogs, isn't much less creepier than "Please Mr. Gravedigger." The loose concept album is set in a post-apocalyptic world which the swirling guitars and synths of the "Sweet Thing" suite transports you into. Those guitars are played by Bowie himself, which is a rarity and a treat, especially at its climax. That's also The Man on the killer sax break.
Try Some, Buy Some from the 2003 LP Reality
Try Some, Buy Some from the 2003 LP Reality
Bowie likes revisiting the past. His 1973 album PinUps featured all covers and in the 2000s he re-recorded a lot of the aforementioned weird songs he did in the late '60s. Called Toy, it got shelved for not being commercial enough, although some tracks have surfaced. I even somehow saw it on LP at a local record store recently.
He evidently planned on a follow-up to PinUps in the mid-70s that never happened. He revived one song slated for it, George Harrison's lost classic "Try Some Buy Some," for 2003's Reality. Not coincidentally Harrison had died of cancer the year before and this homage is fitting. Its anti-materialism message is in line with his Beatle track "I Me Mine" but it also has a bit Harrison spiritualism mixed in there too. The best part is the melody, which Bowie brings to the forefront with his majestic voice.
Erik Ritland is a writer and musician from St. Paul, Minnesota. His blog and podcast Rambling On features commentary on music, sports, culture, and more. He is also a contributor for Minnesota culture blog Curious North. Support Erik's music via his Patreon account, reach him via email, or find him on Facebook and Twitter.
He evidently planned on a follow-up to PinUps in the mid-70s that never happened. He revived one song slated for it, George Harrison's lost classic "Try Some Buy Some," for 2003's Reality. Not coincidentally Harrison had died of cancer the year before and this homage is fitting. Its anti-materialism message is in line with his Beatle track "I Me Mine" but it also has a bit Harrison spiritualism mixed in there too. The best part is the melody, which Bowie brings to the forefront with his majestic voice.
Erik Ritland is a writer and musician from St. Paul, Minnesota. His blog and podcast Rambling On features commentary on music, sports, culture, and more. He is also a contributor for Minnesota culture blog Curious North. Support Erik's music via his Patreon account, reach him via email, or find him on Facebook and Twitter.
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