The Telling Compulsion

I love this song, and have since I was a kid (and had no idea what deuces or douches were.) I think it was the strobing keyboard sound that hooked me; The Who’s Won’t Get Fooled Again cast a similar spell. Both were somehow more fun and exciting because they were rare, mysterious treats that I had to rely on the local radio disk jocks to kick down down my way now & again.

Also, I love this blog, Some Songs Considered; well worth a follow. I have a feeling Go-kart Mozart is somehow involved…

somesongsconsidered:

“Blinded by the Light” – Manfred Mann’s Earth Band
(Words/music: Bruce Springsteen, available on The Roaring Silence, Warner Brothers 1976)

During his VH-1 Storytellers’ performance, Bruce Springsteen introduced “Blinded by the Light” as his only number one song and nothing the irony that it was someone else performing it that made it a hit.  While I (certainly of a pro-Springsteen bias, so take that for what you will) prefer the original from Springsteen’s debut record Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J., Manfred Mann’s version remains the more popular one.  Springsteen semi-jokingly attributes the cover’s success to Mann’s skewering of the “deuce” coup to sound more like “douche.”  It’s interesting, because I think one area where the cover improves on the original comes in Mann’s clearer vocal delivery.  The young Boss was still trying hard to be Bob Dylan, and perhaps dipped a little too much into his rhyming dictionary.  Mann’s version makes these lyrics, which are generally nonsensical to begin with, somewhat clearer, which is the only reason that makes me believe that his pronunciation of “deuce” was intentional.

…more…

Posted at 9:55pm.