Over My Head While I said Is There Life After Breakfast was my favorite song on the album, Over My Head may be the best song on the album. Maybe after some more listens, and some time, it will dethrone my current favorite. There’s a lot going on in this song. Not being knowledgeable enough, I usually give up trying to name sections of a song after three, verse, chorus, bridge. I count at least four musical sections in this song. There are so many little touches and accents in the playing that make it a pleasure to listen to and keep it interesting. I particularly like the wah wah guitar, bass riff, and the piano flourishes. As others have pointed out, Ray’s vocals really sell the song, going from almost depressive to hopeful that the clouds will clear someday. He's made up his mind to let the emotional storm pass over his head, and withdraw to fight again another day. When I first listened to the song, I focused on the singer’s significant other leaving him. I didn’t think of a song about addiction, as thoughtfully presented by @mark winstanley, but I think I come down on the side of @Fortuleo with the singer struggling with depression, and we should probably add anger. I think the breakup alluded to in the song may be both, caused by, and contribute to, the singer’s depression and anger. It only makes the song more interesting that it is open to different interpretations depending on what the listener brings to it.
Over My Head is great of course, once I heard the great rhyming verses "to a new depth" and "take a deep breath", this song and I were friends for life. I noticed for the first time yesterday that in both the bridge and chorus Ray switches things up in a subtle way by playing 4/4 measures in groups of 3, as opposed to the traditional groups of 4, like in the funky, smooth intro section. Thus both the bridge and chorus both have a sense of increased energy, they are in fast-forward so to speak. They seem a bit anxious. One might say manic. I was wondering why Ray made this choice, but after reading Mark's interpretation I think I get it now.
"Over My Head" The chorus is lovely and recalls some of the best moments from the last few Kinks albums. Ray is still singing beautifully. This entire album would have been a perfect continuation from where they left off. I keep saying that, but this really sounds like a full fledged Kinks track. I can do without the polished wah wah funky guitar. The bass is really good during these sections, but it all sounds a little too smooth. I would have liked a nastier and funkier production or lose the wah wah effect all together. Overall, it's a success because that chorus will get lodged right into your brain and bring a smile to anyone who considers themselves a fan of Ray Davies.
“Over My Head”: Another great song from this album w/a harrowing portrayal of someone trying to deal w/the demons that are devouring his life like several other songs on this album. I never thought of this song as the closer; I’ve always felt that “Thanksgiving Day” was the closer, especially w/it’s message that you can always come home no matter what.
Over My Head Everyone's pretty much said everything so I'll just say it's an absolutely beautiful track, RD sings as well as he's ever sung, and it's so grounded in personal & authentic feeling that it becomes universal. Listen to it getting sober, mourning a lost love, or going through a deep depression, it's going to speak to you.
"Over My Head" This is a great track, which brings together threads, both musical and lyrical, from previous Kinks album closers, e.g. "Life Goes On", "No More Looking Back", "Scattered", but still manages to be its own song. Love the acoustic opening and the groove of the main part of the song, and it doesn't feel too long as Ray brings the song to a subdued ending. So given that it is this good, why has it gone "over my head" for much of the last 17 years? Don't know whether it's just the effect of being at the end of a long album, and I'd just tuned out by this point, but this song has just generally passed me by and been forgotten about up to now. Perhaps having "Thanksgiving Day" coming in immediately afterwards as a bonus track diminished its power as a closer? But listening now in isolation it's difficult to pick anything wrong with it. It has a momentum which runs throughout and builds into a very catchy chorus. The second verse - "everywhere, everyone questioning me" - could almost be Ray writing about his own situation. People asking when he's going to release a solo album, why he hasn't already, does he like the freedom of being out of The Kinks, etc.
i just wonder why 1 cd from each era has no bonus tracks at all. surely there was something they could find
I will just echo what others have already said. This is a great track all around. I like most of the record, but I love this one. My only comment about Thanksgiving Day is that to my ears, it is sonically superior to the rest of the record. Dunno if it’s different musicians or how/when it was mixed, but there it is.
For today’s weekend finally-get-out-of-the-house random drive, and for no reason whatsoever, I decided to head south on I-95 for about an hour before exiting and hitting some back roads. Other People’s Lives was again along for the ride. Cold (OK, it’s relative my Northern friends) but beautiful blue skies and a nice day to get out. I noticed contrails in the sky to my left (East) and saw several jets also traveling south. I kept my eye on these as I was driving and noted they kept going and going and going in straight lines that paralleled the interstate (and the coastline - if you look at a map you can see this). Not that unusual really. There is a US Air Force Base about 45 minutes west of me and I see these jets occasionally so I just assumed it was some aircraft from there doing some training or testing or practicing or whatever. Clear blue skies, beautiful day to fly. Cool. Got home and saw the news that that Chinese spy balloon was shot down off the coast of Myrtle Beach at around 2:30 pm. Huh. I didn’t see the balloon myself as I had no idea it was even in this area and was not looking for it. Apparently this thing passed right over me and explains the jets I saw Over My Head today. Glad I had the right album and particularly the right song for the ride today.
Ha Ha - that joke didn’t even cross my mind as I was thinking about this today, and it should have, so kudos. But I’ll bet @All Down The Line will be upset you beat him to this one. I inadvertently teed this one up.
Over My Head This song of kontrolled kwality + koncise kontrasting variety feels of a warm familiarity though i know not from where? I thought of some verse phrasing comparisons between this and the recently departed Renee Geyer's Difficult Woman. I may be mad as it's a slower tempo though also shows self doubt and mentions the unhelpful constructions of walls with few bridges unless musical. I have no clue what it's all about but bits of the lyric had my imagination running away with me thinking of 70's Ron Lemon aka Ron Nasty of Topmop fame. It has everything like one being over their head with Government, potential drug and or drink addiction affecting ones liver pool, feeling someone close let you down, changing their backdrop locale to perhaps be a million miles from it all in mind or geography. There's stress, their world is close to breaking and they just have to let it go over their head and watch the wheels go round and round from afar. This prompts inquiry about possibly being ill or unwell and if one is happy to be free of their norm all the while surprised to learn they were close to breaking and hearing they need a little more time to return in some fashion. Please excuse my isolated mind games of single fantasy, i'm simply over my head!
Other People's Lives (the album) and musical trends over the decades This might be the first album we've discussed on this thread since the sixties where we haven't had someone saying one or more of the songs sounded like it was from a previous era. So I'm going to float a theory to see if anyone else agrees. Most eras of pop-rock music have their distinctive sounds. Most of us who have been listening long enough can tell whether a song was released in the fifties, sixties, seventies, eighties or nineties. Those decades had multiple music styles running in parallel or overlapping. But in the past 20 years I don't detect any significant evolution on the rock side at least. Other People's Lives could have been released last year and we I doubt we would be complaining that it sounded like it was made in 2006. My sample size is admittedly narrow but I still buy and listen to younger artists, which is why I think there might be something to this. We could be on a plateau (or in the other thing) waiting for the next big sound to emerge?
Freeform Sunday update: Thanks to the Samurai Film Faction I am happy to report that I watched and thoroughly enjoyed Seven Samurai (and commentary). I appreciate it being put (back) on my radar. A very powerful film.
Sorry to disappoint but there was no sparring or exchanged blows however at the conclusion the trainer was aware my total inexperience had betrayed me. N.b. Funnily enough i just recalled that 3 weeks ago on holiday we were in a shopping mall watching mostly middle-aged ladies doing a similar drill in a centrecourt enclosure not at all there for the shoppers entertainment.
Over My Head: As everyone has already said, this is an excellent song. I guess I will simply echo a few points here: First, I agree with Mark’s analysis, the lyrics could certainly be read to refer to some type of personal addiction. Further, Brian X also makes an excellent point when he says that the lyrics could be read several ways, depending upon your own experiences. For me, still smarting from the very unexpected and unwanted break up with and abandonment by my fiancé, there’s no way for me to read lines like Everywhere, everyone Questioning me Are you ill? Are you well? Do you like being free? and Didn't know you were close to breaking So you thought it should end Left it all for a new location So you could start up again without hearing it (through my personal lens) as anything other than a very incisive and heartbreaking break up song. I suppose that’s the beauty of a great song, the ability to have it speak to you in a very different way than it speaks to somebody else, and yet be incredibly appealing to both listeners. Second, as with many here, this very lengthy album with many (arguably, too many) mid paced tracks, which resulted in this song, appearing towards the end of the album, to not register with me, despite the oh so many times I spun this album over the past couple of months in preparation for our analysis. This is where the song by song breakdown really allows songs to shine in their own right. Going into it, I thought this song was catchy, but a little long and ultimately ineffective. My analysis has now changed dramatically, and it is one of my favorites on the album.
Some really good points. I agree that Other Peoples Lives does not sound locked in to an era. Like you, I keep one toe in new music and try to stay open to something new.
Playing off a couple of themes regarding our Avid interest in music and how some of us tend to relate a song to another artist or vibe. From one of my favorite movies, Diner. I hope I’ve never been this obsessive about my music, but I did quickly lose interest in a girlfriend based mostly on her musical interests. Diner - Don’t Touch My Records
And now circling around to the term wide boy. From Foghat’s Girls To Chat & Boys To Bounce , a live version:
“Jazz! Jazz!” (All she had to do was pull the adjoining record out just a tad and then she’d have known where to return the record she played. But, I guess, there wouldn’t have been that hilarious scene. And quite a long scene, really.) I haven’t watched this movie but thoroughly enjoyed this!
Oh man, do watch it when you have the time. It’s a classic and plenty to identify with for us music fiends.
Or it could be that rock is dead. That’s the reason Andrew Hickey decided to end his podcast A History of Rock Music in 500 Songs when he gets to 1999. After hearing rock and roll will never die, and long live rock my whole life, it was a little shocking to hear Andrew say, “Rock and roll as a cultural force is, it is safe to say, dead.” He went on to add, “This is not necessarily a bad thing, and nor does it mean that good rock and roll music isn't being made any more. Rather, rock, like jazz, has become a niche musical interest.” It didn’t take much thought for me to realize I agree. I still discover new young rock bands, but for many years now, when a friend seems surprised that I discovered a new young band to listen to, I always add, “but they sound like the old music.”
I think you're right. My take on this is the industry's stopped curating the evolutions of rock music and developing a narrative around it, because rock has become a niche "genre", as opposed to a mainstream culture (edit: as @Paul Mazz posted as I was typing this). That's not to say good/great/innovative pop'n roll music isn't made right now, but it's not going to be part of a movement acknowledged and nurtured by the record labels, the press and the money that usually comes with success. So yeah, I guess we can call it a plateau but I don't see it changing anytime soon. No big mountains on the horizon, as far as my eyes can see. I watch the scene and wonder : should we be on her side because he's such an ******* or on his side, because we're exactly like him ?
