YOU ARE HERE: zharth.net / Zharth's Music Log / Week 104 (This Is The End)
(Originally finalized on October 21, 2024)
Preface: This is it. We've reached Week 104 - that's 52 weeks per year times two. Huzzah! I promised myself I wouldn't cry. I don't have the stomach for a long, drawn out goodbye, so let's just get to the music, shall we?
Monday: Buffalo Springfield - Down To The Wire [originally unreleased, recorded 1967]
Comments: Recorded for the unreleased Buffalo Springfield album Stampede (possibly the first, of many planned-but-unreleased albums in a long and prolific career), this track appeared on the compilation Decade from 1977, which was my crash course in Neil Young's music, after initiating myself via my dad's copy of Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere. I used to listen to this song in college at the start of every holiday weekend, after the dorm emptied out, while packing my bags and waiting for my dad to come pick me up and drive me home.
"And you let go, let go, let go - 'cause you know you're getting tired. Can you feel it getting down to the wire?"
Tuesday: The Rolling Stones - The Last Time [released as a single, 1965]
Comments: After starting out as a blues cover band, and before they became album-oriented rock royalty of the 1970s, The Rolling Stones spent the mid-60s discovering a lucrative songwriting pair in singer Mick Jagger and guitarist Keith Richards. The title of this song is kind of ironic, given that it was the band's first number one single that wasn't a cover (but certainly not their last). Their first number one single ever was a cover of a Bobby Womack song released the previous year, that would also have been appropriate for this theme - It's All Over Now.
"Well, this could be the last time. This could be the last time. Maybe the last time - I don't know."
Wednesday: Shooting Star - Last Chance [Shooting Star, 1980]
Comments: Shooting Star is a little-known band that formed in Kansas City, Missouri in the late 1970s. It sounds like they ran into some difficulties with industry execs, which seems to have hamstrung any possibility they might have had at garnering wider popularity (or, that could just be a convenient excuse). I don't even remember when or under what circumstances I first heard this song - probably on the radio some random time - but I like it. From their self-titled debut album, it's one of their earliest and biggest hits (such as it is).
"You could be dead tomorrow. Today may be your last chance to believe in yourself."
Thursday: Europe - The Final Countdown [The Final Countdown, 1986]
Comments: As far as cheesy, synth-driven, glam metal/power pop ballads go, I actually really like this one. From the Swedish band named after an entire continent, with lyrics in the spirit of David Bowie's Space Oddity, this song was intended to be only a concert opener, but was released as a single and soared to number one. If you can't get past the '80s production style, here's a modern cover that really shows off the song's power and musicality.
"We're leaving together, but still it's farewell. And maybe we'll come back to Earth - who can tell?"
Friday: Great White - Big Goodbye [Psycho City, 1992]
Comments: Can you believe I used to be the kind of person who thought, "if it was released after December 31st, 1979, it's not classic rock"? And now here I am sharing all this music from the '80s and '90s! Granted, it's still in the same vein. (At least I hope you'll agree). There aren't a lot of bands that can capture the spirit of '70s rock outside of that decade, but Great White - which started out as a Led Zeppelin cover band (and has the live album to prove it) - is one of them. From their 1992 album Psycho City, here they are playing us the big goodbye.
"A man of constant sorrow under an evil eye. Baby, when it's over, the truth is first to die."
Saturday: Bob Dylan - It's All Over Now, Baby Blue [Bringing It All Back Home, 1965]
Comments: Bob Dylan is one of those artists whose songs have been covered extensively by all kinds of musicians through the years. Were I inclined to spend a week doing that theme, I wouldn't even know where to begin... The last time I shared a Bob Dylan song, I picked a cover version (by Johnny Winter). This time I surveyed a few different covers of this song - The Byrds (they did a lot of Dylan covers), Marianne Faithful, and even Them (Van Morrison's early band) - but I didn't like any of them as much as Dylan's original, which appears on the acoustic half of his first album featuring an electric band.
"Strike another match, go start anew. And it's all over now, baby blue."
Sunday: The Doors - When The Music's Over [Strange Days, 1967]
Comments: At the end of the first year of my music log, I finished with the appropriately titled closing track from The Doors' debut album. For the second year's ending number, we'll go with the closing track to The Doors' second album, Strange Days. (The Doors have some great closing tracks, including another one I used for my Ridin' The Storm Out theme). It doesn't get as much airplay, but it's honestly just as good, and is one of the best demonstrations of all that The Doors were, and all that the band was capable of. Just listen to it, and enjoy. While you can. There's really no better sentiment for me to leave you with here, at the finish line. Thanks for keeping me company!
"When the music's over, turn out the lights. Turn out the lights. Turn out the lights."
Honorable Mention: Black Sabbath - End of the Beginning [13, 2013]
Comments: Alright, enough of this charade. I thought I was gonna be done 26 themes ago, but when I got there, I thought another half a year's worth of themes would be enough to satisfy me. Now here we are, and I have no intention of stopping - yet. I can't do this forever, at least not on the regular; there are other projects that need my attention. But I've still got themes I desperately want to share, and I'm not gonna cut them off just because I reached an arbitrary quota. At this point, I don't know if it even makes sense to continue to adhere to a 13 week per quarter structure. We'll see. But I think I'm just gonna continue to add themes piecemeal, like I did with the first Redux, after the original year's run. Whatever I decide, there's still more music to discover!
"Is this the end of the beginning, or the beginning of the end?"