YOU ARE HERE: zharth.net / Zharth's Music Log / Week 101 (The Five Senses)
(Originally finalized on October 7, 2024)
Preface: This week's theme is simple, but I think it will be a lot of fun. We're going to explore songs that deal with the five senses - sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch (not in any particular order). There may be seven days in a week, but we can double a couple of them up. After all, some of these senses are a lot more popular subjects for songs than others.
Monday: Lynyrd Skynyrd - That Smell [Street Survivors, 1977]
Comments: When it comes to songs about the sense of smell, I can't think of a better choice than this one. Actually, I can't think of very many choices at all, but that doesn't change what a solid track this is. Serving as an eerily prescient warning of the dangers of a life of excess, the band would suffer a devastating plane crash soon after its release, ending their initial - and highly successful - run as one of Southern rock's pre-eminent bands.
Tuesday: The Doors - Touch Me [The Soft Parade, 1969]
Comments: If we're talking about touching and feeling, there are a few more song options to choose from. This is one of the best, and the highlight (notwithstanding the quirky title track) of what could arguably be considered the low point of The Doors' short, six album output. Alternatively, if you're a little sensitive about being touched (I get it), here's AC/DC - from the album Highway To Hell - with Touch Too Much.
Wednesday: The Who - See Me, Feel Me (Live) [performed at Woodstock, 1969]
Comments: Bridging the gap between touch and sight, this is the movement that constitutes the climactic conclusion to The Who's legendary rock opera Tommy (a.k.a. the deaf, dumb, and blind boy who happens to be a pinball wizard). On original track listings, this song was subsumed under the title We're Not Gonna Take It, which immediately precedes it, but was later released independently as a single.
Thursday: Uriah Heep - Look At Yourself [Look At Yourself, 1971]
Comments: Among the songs I canvassed for this theme, sight was the most represented of the five senses - by far. Before I break down and dedicate a whole week to it alone, let's keep it moving. Both an album opener and a title track (the album cover featured a mirror-like reflective surface), this is one of my favorite songs by Uriah Heep. I'm making up for all the years I spent not realizing how great this band was - and making sure you don't make the same mistake. -_^
Friday: CCR - I Heard It Through The Grapevine [Cosmo's Factory, 1970]
Comments: As a subject for songs, sound is not as popular as sight, but it is on a level with touch - especially if you open it up to hearing and listening. Popularized by Marvin Gaye, I Heard It Through The Grapevine was a huge hit for Motown Records. For their acclaimed 1970 album Cosmo's Factory, Creedence Clearwater Revival recorded a rock version of the song, which began to receive airplay despite its normally radio-unfriendly runtime of over 11 minutes. It's one of the best jam tracks ever committed to record.
Saturday: Ten Years After - The Sounds [Alvin Lee And Company, 1972]
Comments: For the record, I did consider Simon & Garfunkel's The Sound of Silence, but though I do like that song, I ultimately decided that a song about silence (whatever sound it might have) didn't convey the theme as well as this one by Ten Years After, which is about the daily cacophony of modern life. Originally released as a non-album single in 1968, and later included on a compilation of outtakes after the band switched record labels, its dynamic use of sonic crescendi (rising and dropping - at one point quite dramatically - in volume) drives its point home very effectively.
Sunday: The Rolling Stones - Brown Sugar [Sticky Fingers, 1971]
Comments: Like smell, I had a hard time coming up with songs that mention "taste" (and I already used one for my Thanksgiving theme). There is, of course, a band named Taste, featuring Irish blues rocker Rory Gallagher, but I thought it would be more appropriate to choose a song about the sense of taste (even if it is used as sexual innuendo). And, similar to the way we let people get away with things if they're attractive, I'm willing to overlook the song's controversial lyrics (with references to slave rape) since it's got such a rock solid groove.
Honorable Mention: Pink Floyd - Comfortably Numb [The Wall, 1979]
Comments: By the law of opposites, every idea invites its antithesis. So, if you're frazzled by sensory overload after a week of indulging the five senses, I offer you the opportunity to become comfortably numb (but please, use it responsibly :-p). From their own legendary rock opera The Wall, this is one of Pink Floyd's all-time biggest hits, featuring one of the greatest guitar solos ever composed, which showcases David Gilmour's lyrical phrasing to heartbreaking effect.