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Video of the Week: If You Go Away

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Dee
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Re: Video of the Week: If You Go Away

Post by Dee »

Great descriptions, Elusive Butterfly. I like your use of the word "hypnotize" to describe Glen's interpretations of songs and his effect on us. He was still hypnotizing us on the Goodbye Tour, especially when he sang solo on Jimmy Webb's The Moon's A Harsh Mistress.
I appreciate your perfect description about Glen being in "full control" of his "golden" voice here, too. He is about 33 years old in this video performance. The stress he must have felt from his snowballing career doesn't show here, does it? Yet we know from interviews he gave at that time that his sudden popularity was overwhelming--even when he returned home to Billstown and found that the people there were treating him differently because he had become a "celebrity".
Dee


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Re: Video of the Week: If You Go Away

Post by Elusive Butterfly »

Your words about Glen and his singing tenics, could be mine, Dee. And it's just so true. That Glen can totally "hypnotize" your heart and mind, by the way he interprets almost any song he sings. He's in full control of that golden voice of his. And yes, this video is from the time, when Glen's career was completly "snowballing". Elusive Butterfly


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Dee
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Re: Video of the Week: If You Go Away

Post by Dee »

Great topic, great video of the week, Cowpoke! Your analyses are wonderful and show that you really studied this video and the song in-depth.
I learned a lot from reading Randy's post, too--lots of practice and experience...Glen made it look so easy, but, like any natural gift, he worked at it, too.

Comparing Frank's version with Glen's version is like comparing dark to light. A funeral march to a love song.
Very enlightening to do this comparison; both are very different interpretations.

For me, what makes this a brilliant performance of "If You Go Away" by Glen is his youthful earnestness, his sincerity, and how beautifully he interprets and expresses the essence and the heart of this song. I don't have the words to describe it other than he seems to be singing from his heart and perhaps experience. I appreciate how Glen takes his time with every word, he doesn't rush this song, he savors singing it, he relishes the poetry and meaning in this song. It's also the cry in Glen's voice when he sings and also how he changes his tone (perhaps the key, too?) when the song transitions to this verse:

"But if you stay I'll make you a day
Like no day has been or will be again
We'll sail on the sun, we'll glide on the rain
We'll talk to the trees and worship the wind"

Glen's voice flows like the images painted by the lyrics: "sail the sun", "glide on the rain", "talk to the trees" and "worship the wind".

With both his voice and facial expressions, Glen helps us to feel the highs (the sun) and the lows (empty space) of a relationship that might be ending.

Glen really pulls on my heart strings at 1:36 when he changes his tone to sing: "...for what good is love without loving you?"

Does Glen change another line to: "what good is gone from the word goodbye?"

Here is another version, this one sung/spoken by Rod McKuen in 2009. How do you all think this one compares to Glen's? I think this one is closer to Glen's than Frank Sinatra's--and yet it is still very different.

http://youtu.be/q7UqzINk-UQ" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


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Cowpoke
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Re: Video of the Week: If You Go Away

Post by Cowpoke »

Let's for instance take a listen to the version Frank Sinatra recorded around the same time (1969).



What strikes are a few things, that perhaps are typical for Glen's approach to a song...

1) Glen always decides on a certain tempo in which he thinks the song does best. Often, his tempo is slightly faster, even for ballads. In this case, the tempo is faster than Frank's tempo.
2) Related to this, and I am not sure how to phrase this, Glen keeps the song going. Where Frank's version comes to a halt several times, mainly because he repeats the song's title more than Glen does and the tempo then slows. Where Frank 'acts' the song, Glen 'sings' it.
3) Glen changes the lyrics to fit him. Where Frank sings the original 'I'd have been the shadow of your dog'... Glen sings 'I'd have been the shadow of your shadow' for instance. 'The shadow of your shadow' seems to be more in line with all the poetic language Rod McKuen uses throughout the song. He also changes "to fill up my hand" to "to fill my hand".
4) Where Frank's version ends in a depressed mood, in the same minor chords that have been used throughout the song, Glen's version ends on a different chord. It marks a clear end to the song and also gives room for the possibility that the narrator will eventually overcome his sadness. This optimism, that all sorrow will eventually end, is a hallmark of Glen's approach I think.
5) Overall, when comparing these two versions, Glen's ability to sing a song crying, or to cry a song, really strikes me. I have never heard anyone to do this more convincingly than Glen does.

Do I now know why Glen's version is so brilliant? Nah... I still haven't approached that I think, but I am looking forward to hearing your opinions about this video of the week!


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Re: Video of the Week: If You Go Away

Post by Cowpoke »

That's an interesting take on it Randy. So you're saying what we are hearing is years and years of practice! And that what makes it's so good.
I think that is really one of the key factors of why Glen is one of the best American singers ever to draw breath. Unlike many of his peers, Glen had a very long time of practice BEFORE he became famous. All those years, first with his family at home, singing musicals, singing at church, then on tour with his Uncle Boo, then the radio and tv shows and live performances with Uncle Dick Bills, and then, to top it off, six years in Wrecking Crew circles. Multiply these years with an enormous amount of natural talent, and yes, then you can get a performance like "If You Go Away".

Another way to look at it: maybe we can also compare Glen's version with other cover versions, to see what it is that makes Glen's performance stand out.


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Randy
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Re: Video of the Week: If You Go Away

Post by Randy »

I agree Cowpoke,,,, beautifully and perfectly done. I believe Glen was born with a natural gift and yet that's not enough. I remember him telling Keith Urban"s audience the story of what Glen told Keith as a child. "Practice and learn your trade" What we see seems almost effortlessly but I believe Glen also worked at his trade very hard. From all the hours he spent on guitar off stage and the other instruments to the learning and practicing all the zillions of songs he sang, that was a lot of work. No doubt, he took his "trade" seriously.


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Cowpoke
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Video of the Week: If You Go Away

Post by Cowpoke »

To me, this is Glen at the top of his game, vocally. But what exactly makes this a brilliant performance. Is it a superb singing technique, is it the way he interprets the song, or is there no rational explanation for the goosebumps I get every time I listen to this? Maybe we can discuss that this week, on... The Video of the Week!



I'm a carefree, range ridin', driftin' cowpoke...
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