The title of this week’s post comes from one of the more amusing Facebook comments I’ve seen in awhile. I’m not really sure what it means. It didn’t inspire me to try punching any supreme beings but it did inspire me to assemble songs relating to mountains.
Jim Of Seattle “Climb Ev’ry Mountain” (comp. Rodgers and Hammerstein)
This guy sounds like he’s practicing very hard in his bedroom to be a lounge singer when he grows up.
The Beat Farmers “Big Rock Candy Mountain” (Burl Ives)
I’ve always loved Country Dick Montana’s big bass voice. It speaks to some primal part of my soul. He sounds like somebody who would die with his boots on, which is exactly what Country Dick did. He played a show, walked off the stage, and promptly dropped dead from a heart attack. While wearing his cowboy boots. Here he sings the original hobo lyrics that Burl Ives sanitized for our children’s protection.
The Mountain Goats “The Sign” (Ace Of Base)
This stupid pop song is a guilty pleasure for many people. The Mountain Goats deliver a chipper acoustic version that just makes you want to smile. I also have a live version of them singing this song, complete with a story about driving through the Midwest listening to it over and over. It’s a nice story but I decided to go with the version that stands on its own.
Fifth Flight “Sugar Mountain” (Neil Young)
The tempo is pretty similar to the original but it’s got big rolling waves of Hammond organ.
Mountain “Theme For An Imaginary Western” (Jack Bruce)
Lots of people think that the guys in Mountain wrote this song, but it’s actually from Jack Bruce’s first solo album. It’s a song that I dearly love and in this version Lesley West does a great job of playing the organ parts from the original version on his guitar.
Crazy I just saw Mountain last night in Belleville Ont Canada… And here they are in your post…. Small Worlds.
Very good week. But why mountains and not punching? Still not a fan of the Hammond organ, however, no matter how many times you post songs that use it. More ukulele!
There are more songs about mountains than punching.
Excellent lineup as usual! But why not just go ahead and credit “Big Rock Candy Mountain” to Harry McClintock (famously featured on the “O Brother” soundtrack), who did NOT censor it (though he probably also didn’t compose it but picked it up). Great blog!
Thanks for the kind words Greg. Since “Big Rock Candy Mountain” was probably written by some anonymous hobo I gave the credit to Burl Ives since his version is arguably the most well-known. And it gave me a chance to make a snarky remark, which is always a plus.
“Punch the face of God” is a Simpsons quote, Homer’s paraphrase of High Flight: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Gillespie_Magee,_Jr.#High_Flight
I gotta say, though, I love that Brave New Waves version of The Sign, with Darnielle’s story, a lot more than the album version. Which lacks things like “Ah, that’s poetry.” And the part about Joker and Buddha. And, come on, “Where was it in Ohio? It was uh… It was uh… Columbusss. Columbusss, Ohio.