"King Midas in Reverse" is one of the most braindead songs I've ever heard

Stress not. There are far more important things to worry about in life

 

It's like King Canute, he didn't actually think he could command the waves to roll back, he only did it to prove to his credulous dumb*ss courtiers that kings weren't all powerful and God was. Ever since then though most people use him as an example of misguided arrogance and over-confidence in the face of some insuperable obstacle - poor old Canute! Having said that, I think the meaning of King Midas In Reverse is pretty obvious, so much so there's been other songs with a similar theme:

 

The version of 1852 relates how King Midas came to hate his gift and the God Dionysus relented by telling him to wash in and thus touch the river Pactolus by which his power would be REVERSED and the river became rich in gold

even in the original tale of King Midas he at first loved his gift....and only when he realised it would turn everything he touched to gold did he see it was a curse not a blessing as at first appeared - so initially King Midas having the Midas Touch would seem to be something of a gain re creating wealth...only then becoming more of a curse

Graham Nash by 1967 was feeling as if his own early pop success with The Hollies which had lifted him from out of any ordinary mundane working class job in Manchester like working at The Toggery shop etc ...up into a dream world of playing music and getting paid for it, enjoying a richer lifestyle, travelling the world, discovering the USA which would become his new homeland soon, meeting many famous people even his own idols The Everly Brothers and working with them on an Everlys album largely of his songs - 'Two Yanks in England' in 1966 - and going on to write songs for his band on three all original albums....was indeed a 'Midas Touch' situation...

...then for him it all gradually went into REVERSE - first Nash was out voted re The Hollies covering 'If I Needed Someone' in 1965 which he was totally opposed to them doing, later Nash was flying home from a Hollies tour to be with his Dad when his father passed away, his first marriage to Rosemary was in trouble (hence the song; 'Stop Right There') while on a professional level he found himself wanting to create more personalised music rather than just more commercial pop music aimed at the singles charts, his ideas were meeting with stern resistance from Hollies producer Ron Richards and lukewarm support from his bandmates - his idea re venturing into psychedelia was only partially successful, then the 'Butterfly' album failed to chart effectively costing him his position of band guiding hand etc

so Nash obviously felt by 1967 that like King Midas discovered the 'Midas Touch' could prove to be a double edged sword and instead of everything he touches turned to gold...it turned to dust !

so the song is only relating to King Midas AT FIRST when he wanted and got the 'Midas Touch'....which duly went into reverse proving to be a curse rather than a blessing for Nash in 1967 as the old King earlier had found

Nash felt he was was 'imprisoned' within the pop segment of Mickie Most's pop dartboard - where Most advised him The Hollies had strayed outside their segment with 'King Midas' by being 'too complex', 'too adventurous' (as Ron Richards had warned them it would) and getting back into the commercial pop segment was their best career move - 'Jennifer Eccles' thus was that, so too 'Listen To Me' and next 'Sorry Suzanne' - but by then Nash had seen the red light and was off....to CSN and Woodstock etc

so if we take the initial desires of King Midas wish to turn everything he touched to gold....the song is accurate re for Nash him feeling by 1967 like King Midas...but in Reverse !

and the similarity is there in that Nash's initial desire to be a pop music star in a band which from 1963 to 1965 was 'gold'....it too then became a curse for Nash as whatever he did to progress his band forward the critics and general public seemed to NOT want that but more of the same from The Hollies which for Nash was a turn to dust situation (most notably for him singing 'Blo-blo-blowin in the wind !)

hence later his rueful observation;
'I used to be a King...and everything around me turned to rust...
I built my life on sand, and watched it crumble in the dust...'

so while maybe not a literal reference to the wiser sadder King Midas by the end of his story, Nash's 'King Midas in Reverse' song scenario DOES have some significance re both Nash's situation by 1967 and re the initial situation and desires of the old King, and how things can turn sour in life despite apparently being what we may feel we really want

hence the old saying; 'Be careful what you wish for...'

 

Reminds me of an Andy Rooney segment years ago on 60 mins....

"don't know why this sticks out in my head, but when I hear this song I think of Andy Rooney.

For some reason he was going on about the "young bands of today" or something during a "60 Minutes" segment, and he started talking about this fairly obscure (and certainly not widely popular) Bruce Springsteen song.

Rooney was annoyed by the lyric "I've got more good lucky honey than old King Farouk."

Andy was miffed because, in fact, King Farouk wasn't lucky at all. He was penultimate King of Egypt and Sudan, who was overthrown and died in exile.

And you call that lucky, Bruce? "


Perceptive of Rooney to pick up on that reference but a Springsteen fan of the Tunnel of Love album would have gotten more from that knowledge because he would have listened to the album and enjoyed it as well as scrutinizing lyrics!

 

To be fair to Springsteen, no matter how he ended up, King Farouk was famously an international playboy with more money than sense and more beautiful women than he knew what to do with - not to mention being one of the world's most famous and profligate gamblers.

 

OP, I don't get it. I completely understood the lyrics right away. King Midas had a curse but his curse is the reverse. Which is worse?
All the rest is poetic licence.

 

I was hoping to see a comment from Cameron.39 on this thread. His knowledge of The Hollies is encyclopedic

 

I don't like the song, the overblown arrangement nor the way the lyrics flow, especially in the chorus.

However, I think that the explanation provided by Billo (post #28) is pretty clear on why the analogy used by Nash makes sense.

 

an interesting aspect of KMIR is how the song is sung from differing viewpoints

there is Graham Nash; 'If you could only see ME I know exactly who I am...'

plus Clarke-Nash; 'I'm not the guy to run with...'

however Clarke-Hicks-Nash sing; 'HE'S King Midas with a curse HE'S King Midas in Reverse'

and; 'HE'S not the man to hold your trust everything around him turns to dust in HIS hand...'

while later Allan Clarke sings; 'All HE touches Turns to dust...'

tho' Clarke-Nash later sing; 'I wish someone would find ME and help me gain control before I lose MY reason...and MY soul'

then Clarke-Hicks-Nash again refer to 'HE'S King Midas with a curse, HE'S King Midas in revserse (over which Clarke is repeating; 'All HE touches turns to dust...') to fade

so the song is changing standpoint from a singular reflection....to observation from others....and back again !

probably why Ron Richards found it too complex to work as a single

musically it opens with just Nash's voice and a guitar...then bass and drums come in along with Clarke, then Clarke-Hicks-Nash as it builds through group accompaniment via a woodwinds bridge section to crashing full orchestrated accompaniment arranged and conducted by Johnny Scott, which eases back to group sound then a full on orchestrated 'march to outro' fade...

in concerts later they often did it 'unplugged' - probably as per Nash's original demo - with a piccalo flute doing the woodwinds part

 

Right up there with glam-rock classic "Rebels Rule" by Iron Virgin. A 'self-nullifying' lyric.

 

That's one that drives me nuts because people constantly say it yet their intention is the opposite. It's like the double negative of phrases.

 

Nash has that insufferable tendency to confuse his lack of self-aware naivety with profound boldness.

 

It's a little late in the day to be getting worked up about a 51 year old song lyric.

 

The OP, not Nash, is the one with the flawed premise here.

Everything King Midas touched turned to gold. The fact that "all he touched might as well have turned to dust" is irrelevant in this context.

Here's a challenge for the OP. Do a simple word association test: say the words "King Midas" and then find me a single person whose immediate association with those words is "dust" rather than "gold."

The point of the song is that this King Midas turns everything to dust immediately upon his touch, a 180° opposite result from King Midas.

An earlier poster's citation of the phrase "the Midas touch" is right on point.

The OP needs a new hobby.

 

I'd never thought of this...but of course, there's precedent for it in the Hollies' canon, as one of their earliest songs, "So Lonely," does exactly the same thing:

"Every time I see you walking down the street with my girl" to "I get so lonely without you."

 

But damned if he didnt do it.
So somebody pin a participation ribbon on him, and lets all move on with life.....

 

I never bothered to dissect the lyrics that much.......all I know is that it’s my favorite Hollies song.

 

What about "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds." She can't really be in the Sky With Diamonds, am I right?

 

But can't you reduce, oversimplify, and force a literal interpretation onto the song so I can make fun of it?

 

Song makes complete sense given the common usage of Midas Touch.

Also it was used perfectly in the movie The Limey.

 

I am simply satisfied that the unusual rhyme of "a curse" and "reverse" is used to good effect.

 

With drugs, anything is possible.

 

Sounds pretty '21st Century' to me...

 

When you created this post was there any alcohol involved?