Everybody's Talkin by Harry Nilsson - What's it about?

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Digital-G, Apr 26, 2018.

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  1. Digital-G

    Digital-G Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Dayton, OH
    A few years ago I put together some music for a memorial service for a close nephew who passed away unexpectedly. I included Everybody's Talkin because some of the lyrics seem to just fit. The more I listen to it though, the more I think it's actually about dying. Maybe it is and it's obvious to everyone else.

    And I know it's used in the movie Midnight Cowboy, but it's been many years since I've seen that and I can't say I remember the context in which the song is played.

    Here are the lyrics. What do you all think?

    Everybody's talking at me
    I don't hear a word they're saying
    Only the echoes of my mind

    People stopping, staring
    I can't see their faces
    Only the shadows of their eyes

    I'm going where the sun keeps shining
    Through the pouring rain
    Going where the weather suits my clothes

    Banking off of the northeast winds
    Sailing on a summer breeze
    And skipping over the ocean like a stone

    I'm going where the sun keeps shining
    Through the pouring rain
    Going where the weather suits my clothes


    Banking off of the northeast winds
    Sailing on a summer breeze
    And skipping over the ocean like a stone

    Everybody's talking at me
    Can't hear a word they're saying
    Only the echoes of my mind

    I won't let you leave my love behind
    No, I won't let you leave
    I won't let you leave my love behind
     
    OptimisticGoat likes this.
  2. Glass Candy

    Glass Candy Forum Resident

    Location:
    Greensboro
    Fred Neil wrote that one.
     
  3. bRETT

    bRETT Senior Member

    Location:
    Boston MA
    Two minutes and 50 seconds?
     
  4. The original.

     
    keyXVII, GoodKitty, apesfan and 8 others like this.
  5. Tom Daniels

    Tom Daniels Forum Resident

    Location:
    Arizona
    Always sounded to me like a guy struggling with depression (in, say, New York) convincing himself that a trip or move or just a fantasy of a sunnier climate (where maybe his girl has gone without him) will bring him around.
     
  6. Beaneydave

    Beaneydave Forum Resident

    You beat me to it!!!
    peace and love✌Dave
     
    bRETT likes this.
  7. Metralla

    Metralla Joined Jan 13, 2002

    Location:
    San Jose, CA
    yes, alienation in some form. Alienation and depression can go hand in hand. He feels that he no longer fits in and fantasizes about moving and starting again. I also get the thoughts by the OP that it's about "dying". In the movie I think the song appeared a couple of times but I am pretty sure it played at the end when they are on the bus heading south and Hoffman's character dies.
     
  8. raphph

    raphph Taking a trip on an ocean liner…

    Location:
    London
    I know it's Fred Neil, but it absolutely works at the beginning of Midnight Cowboy.

    Mind you, so does the original song chosen I Guess The Lord Must Be In New York City
     
  9. jjhunsecker

    jjhunsecker Senior Member

    Location:
    New York city
    Any truth to the rumoe that Bob Dylan wrote "Lay,Lady, Lay" in response to the producers request for a song for the film ?
     
  10. jjhunsecker

    jjhunsecker Senior Member

    Location:
    New York city
    "I Guess the Lord" would probably have been even closer to the actual themes of the film , if it was chosen
     
    audiomixer likes this.
  11. cungar

    cungar Forum Resident

    Location:
    Torrance, CA
    I remember we had to write an essay in 5th grade about what the Sounds of Silence meant. I remember writing some malarkey like "It's a sound, but it's silent, so it's the sound of silence"
     
    Frankh, VeeFan64, kronning and 3 others like this.
  12. asdf35

    asdf35 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Austin TX
    The song fits Fred Neil's personality. Fred was guy who'd prefer to listen to the tapping of his feet as he'd walk. No time for listening to blah-blah-blah talking from people.

    Check out the lyrics to Fred Neil's "That's The Bag I'm In" for the bigger picture.
     
  13. Vangro

    Vangro Forum Resident

    Location:
    London
    I'm going where the sun keeps shining
    Through the pouring rain
    Going where the weather suits my clothes

    It's a song about living in the city and hoping to escape, a dream of something better - so perfect for the film, and for Fred Neil who also left New York for Florida but [REDACTED].
     
  14. The Panda

    The Panda Forum Mutant

    Location:
    Marple, PA, USA
    I always heard Lay Lady Lay was a song Bob wrote as something that would fit with the Everly Bros sound (it was inconceivable at the time)
     
  15. Chris C

    Chris C Music was my first love and it will be my last!

    Location:
    Ohio
    I have always loved this song since the first time that I heard it, but for years I wondered why I always felt that something was wrong with it, when I heard it on any of Nilsson's albums or "Greatest Hits". It's because the version that I first heard was the original version that Harry recorded for the movie soundtrack. While they are VERY similar, the longer guitar opening of the "movie" version is what makes the song perfect for me.

     
    keyXVII, GoodKitty, Hall Cat and 3 others like this.
  16. PJayBe

    PJayBe Forum Resident

    Which, to partly derail the thread, is why The Everly Brothers covered Lay lady Lay on their comeback album in 1984.
     
  17. bem

    bem Forum Resident

    Location:
    Indianapolis
    I've heard this too. But Dylan got it to the producers or directors too late, so they didn't use the song.
     
  18. The Panda

    The Panda Forum Mutant

    Location:
    Marple, PA, USA
    yea, when I saw the track listing I was saying "of course!" A friend at the time couldn't understand why they 'wasted their time.":sigh:
     
    PJayBe likes this.
  19. Lightworker

    Lightworker Forum Resident

    Location:
    Deep Texas
    Freddy Neil tires of pretentious NYC folk scene and dreams of
    returning to Florida and the laid-back sailing/parrot-head milieu.
     
    Metralla and Marc Perman like this.
  20. Chris C

    Chris C Music was my first love and it will be my last!

    Location:
    Ohio
  21. Jimmy B.

    Jimmy B. isolation can harm you terribly

    It was Fred Neil wanting to leave the music business and go to Florida.
    He was more interested in dolphins then, and hated the music biz and playing live and the people in record companies he had to deal with, and he had a heroin habit, and hated the cold weather in New York as well.
    It's Fred's story.
    His manager got an offer for Fred to do a sped-up, more upbeat, version of the song for Midnight Cowboy and the manager knew Fred would be insulted and turned it down, and Harry got the deal.
     
  22. Marc Perman

    Marc Perman Forum Resident

    Location:
    Los Angeles
    I like the version on Aerial Ballet more, but thanks for sharing this.
    Nilsson's earlier work, everything through the Schmilsson albums, is great. He was one of pop's greatest vocalists.
     
  23. AnalogJ

    AnalogJ Hearing In Stereo Since 1959

    Location:
    Salem, MA
    I was gonna say that it's all about Alfie.
     
    Beaneydave likes this.
  24. AnalogJ

    AnalogJ Hearing In Stereo Since 1959

    Location:
    Salem, MA
    Y'all know that originally Nilsson was asked to write a song for the film (Midnight Cowboy) and came up with "I Guess The Lord Must Be In New York City". But in the end, the producers asked him to sing this one for the film.
     
  25. bem

    bem Forum Resident

    Location:
    Indianapolis
    According to the Nilson documentary, the producers and directors kept using Everybody's talking as a placeholder. They got so used to it they kept it. However iirc the lord must be in NYC was used in the film, just not as the theme.

    I do recommend the Nilson documentary. It discusses Everybody's talking and midnight cowboy.
     
    keyXVII and Yorick like this.
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