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DandelionPowderman

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His Majesty

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NICOS

I think this shows that it's a well written song though.
I think the stones arrangement needed more work and maybe some re-writing of some of the lyrics.

It's better as an instrumental

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DandelionPowderman

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with sssoul
[The Professor in the Coursera "Music of the Rolling Stones 1962-74" course]
talks too much about which track was on which album released on what date in which country.
Maybe the stuff about the song structures (AABA blah blah) will get more interesting if he develops it more,
and it would be nice if he'd explain *why* the harmonics on Sad Day are so interesting
instead of just saying they're interesting with no elucidation. Oh well.

Witness wrote a beautiful post on this earlier (in the thread where we discussed whether the Stones had gothic influences).
I'll look around for it.

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Naturalust
The Sad Day harmonics are interesting to me because they sound so clean and pretty
and they are played during a breakdown of the other instruments. Also they define an interval
which is programmed into all our heads from a very early age through nursery rhymes and possibly even earlier.
Like when an infant wails Mom-my or Dad-dy.

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with sssoul
[The professor has replied to a request for more detail about Sad Day] this way (although I'm paraphrasing a lot):
The intro uses open strings to create some near-dissonance in the two-guitar interplay;
the verses begin with a lot of layering, with the vocal, piano and guitar having distinct lines;
then comes a very conventional section (the shift from E to D in the "I felt I had a dream" bit)
before going back to the interestingly layered stuff.
The chorus introduces something different, with the vocal and piano counterpoint seeming "rooted in classical music".
The whole thing mixes major and minor "in ways that might be derived from blues, but are no longer really blues".

And then there's that trippiness that creeps into the outro.

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71Tele
After the purity of of the blues, but before open G, "weaving", smack, the Glimmer Twins, Taylor, and Woody, there was this band called the Rolling Stones who wrote and performed great pop music. I simply adore this song, possibly because it was written by Mick and Keith before world-weariness and cynicism had crept in, It is a young man's song, innocent in spirit, executed joyfully. OK, maybe "then I looked at the morning mail/I was not even expecting a bill" doesn't rate among the greatest lyrics ever, there is much pleasure in listening to two young songwriters and a young bad in the throes of joyful discovery.

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24FPS

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71Tele
After the purity of of the blues, but before open G, "weaving", smack, the Glimmer Twins, Taylor, and Woody, there was this band called the Rolling Stones who wrote and performed great pop music. I simply adore this song, possibly because it was written by Mick and Keith before world-weariness and cynicism had crept in, It is a young man's song, innocent in spirit, executed joyfully. OK, maybe "then I looked at the morning mail/I was not even expecting a bill" doesn't rate among the greatest lyrics ever, there is much pleasure in listening to two young songwriters and a young bad in the throes of joyful discovery.

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71Tele
After the purity of of the blues, but before open G, "weaving", smack, the Glimmer Twins, Taylor, and Woody, there was this band called the Rolling Stones who wrote and performed great pop music. I simply adore this song, possibly because it was written by Mick and Keith before world-weariness and cynicism had crept in, It is a young man's song, innocent in spirit, executed joyfully. OK, maybe "then I looked at the morning mail/I was not even expecting a bill" doesn't rate among the greatest lyrics ever, but there is still much pleasure in listening to two young songwriters and a young band in the throes of joyful discovery.

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Palace Revolution 2000

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71Tele
After the purity of of the blues, but before open G, "weaving", smack, the Glimmer Twins, Taylor, and Woody, there was this band called the Rolling Stones who wrote and performed great pop music. I simply adore this song, possibly because it was written by Mick and Keith before world-weariness and cynicism had crept in, It is a young man's song, innocent in spirit, executed joyfully. OK, maybe "then I looked at the morning mail/I was not even expecting a bill" doesn't rate among the greatest lyrics ever, but there is still much pleasure in listening to two young songwriters and a young band in the throes of joyful discovery.

Yes, great post. And this is why it is ;practically im;possible for me to dis-like any of their earlier songs; or covers. I may like the out of tune wonkers and hackney-d lyrical twists even more thsn the "successes".
"Im' Movin On", "Surprise Surprise", "Grown Up Wrong", "Singer not the Song", "Andrew's Blues", "Now Ive Got AWitness", "Take it or Leave It", "Id Much rather Be With the Bloys",all the Chess stuff. There is so much joy and energy.

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DandelionPowderman
The verses are weak, very weak, imo. Especially the "when I stopped yawnin'"-parts.

The choruses, with the stops and the different instrumentation, are interesting, though.

The verses are too "cheerful-sounding" musically to convince me about the sad day

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71Tele

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Palace Revolution 2000

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71Tele
After the purity of of the blues, but before open G, "weaving", smack, the Glimmer Twins, Taylor, and Woody, there was this band called the Rolling Stones who wrote and performed great pop music. I simply adore this song, possibly because it was written by Mick and Keith before world-weariness and cynicism had crept in, It is a young man's song, innocent in spirit, executed joyfully. OK, maybe "then I looked at the morning mail/I was not even expecting a bill" doesn't rate among the greatest lyrics ever, but there is still much pleasure in listening to two young songwriters and a young band in the throes of joyful discovery.

Yes, great post. And this is why it is ;practically im;possible for me to dis-like any of their earlier songs; or covers. I may like the out of tune wonkers and hackney-d lyrical twists even more thsn the "successes".
"Im' Movin On", "Surprise Surprise", "Grown Up Wrong", "Singer not the Song", "Andrew's Blues", "Now Ive Got AWitness", "Take it or Leave It", "Id Much rather Be With the Bloys",all the Chess stuff. There is so much joy and energy.

Thanks, and couldn't agree more. Even though it was a Decca "revenge" release, I love the LP No Stone Unturned, which collects several of these gems.

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Doxa
By the way, where is Rene? We haven't seen a new track talk thread for over two weeks now...

- Doxa

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Come On

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Doxa
By the way, where is Rene? We haven't seen a new track talk thread for over two weeks now...

- Doxa

Longin' for Tell Me as I am?

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Doxa
Some great, inspiring and surprisingly positive reviews here lately, so I gave a new listening to see if I have missed something I haven't noticed earlier (like I argued earlier, it is one of those Stones tracks it is hard for me to remember they even exist.) Like Tele71 I liked very much NO STONE UNTURNED album at the time (and surely not only for completist collector's sake), but there were other rare gems that stood out, but "Sad Day" not for me.

I wholeheartdly agree with that the joy and energy, and that brave experimentalism of the day, together with the drive for progression, is charming per se, and I rate it any day over the safe professionalism of the latter days. It is always fascinating to listen Mick and Keith taking steps forward as writers. But still, in the end, sometimes the product just does not outlive its context, and I think "Sad Day" almost painfully is nothing much else than a failed experiment, which only has a certain value as a historical curiosity. It sounds like their natural roots in Chicago has cut off too hastily, and they don't quite handle the new reference material yet. I mean, a simple r&b number like "Off The Hook" does much better to my ears now than much more melodically richer and productionwise more ambitious "Sad Day". If anything, "Sad Day" reminds me very much of The Stones trying to catch the Beatles in their own game - the game, they with Martin, had just mastered. (There is, I think, a lot in "Sad Day", typical Beatlelogists would love to anaylize to death, and see as a work of a revolutionary genious).

So sorry, I wish I could like the song more than I do, and join the choir here, but sorry I can't...

- Doxa

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with sssoul
Can people who think highly of the vocals please say more about what you like about them?
For me they're the main weak point - the vocal melody, the delivery and the lyrics,
more or less in that order. So I'd love to learn what people admire about the singing - please and thank you kindly!