"Baltimore"
"Burn On"
"Christmas In Cape Town"
"Dixie Flyer"
"Falling In Love"
"Ghosts"
"God's Song (That's Why I Love Mankind)"
"Guilty"
"Half a Man"
"Have You Seen My Baby"
"How Great Our Lord"
"I Love L.A."
"I Miss You"
"I Think It's Going To Rain Today"
"I Want You To Hurt Like I Do"
"In Germany Before the War"
"It's Money That I Love"
"Louisiana 1927"
"Love Story (You and Me)"
"Mama Told Me Not to Come"
"Marie"
"Miami"
"My Life Is Good"
"Old Kentucky Home"
"Political Science"
"Real Emotional Girl"
"Rednecks"
"Rider in the Rain"
"Rollin'"
"Sail Away"
"Same Girl"
"Short People"
"Song For The Dead"
"Spies"
"Suzanne"
"Texas Girl at the Funeral of Her Father"
"The Blues"
"The Girls In My Life (Part I)"
"They Just Got Married"
"William Brown"
"You Can Leave Your Hat On"
In 1948 my Daddy came to the city
Told the people that they'd won the war
Maybe they'd heard it, maybe not
Probably they'd heard it and just forgot
'Cause they built him a platform there in Jackson Square
And the people came to hear him from everywhere
They started to party and they partied some more
'Cause New Orleans had won the war
(We knew we'd do it, we done whipped the Yankees)
I saw him perform live and he was a terrific performer.
One of the more poignant moments of the concert was when he set up the song "I Miss You." He said something like "I wrote this song for my first wife, when I was with my current wife.
It is a devastating song. lyrically and otherwise.
Ghosts is one of those songs which, by that last refrain, bruises my heart every single damn time I hear it.
(That said, as a short person with parents who were Randy Newman fans and fond of singing to the kids, I have come to loathe Short People with particular ire.)
@kpants- Randy likes to tell stories and he likes to invent characters to tell them. so he is rarely singing in his own self. he tells people that the character who is is doing the words for "short people" is "a lunatic". hope that makes you feel better. if you listen again with this thought in mind it will all fall into place for you. i hope.
Her own mother came to meet us at the station,
Her dress as black as a crow in a coal mine
She cried when her little girl got off the train.
Her brothers and her sisters come down from Jackson, Mississippi
In a great green Hudson driven by a Gentile they knew.
Drinkin' rye whiskey from a flask in the back seat
Tryin' to do like the Gentiles do
Christ, they wanted to be Gentiles, too.
Who wouldn't down there, wouldn't you?
An American Christian, God damn!
"Louisiana 1927" is a work of genius, but that just makes it worse to see the talent frittered away that way. It's as if Thomas Kikeade could actually paint.
Last Night I had a Dream. The version from the single. Oh gee!
Also, I have a childhood memory of my dad doing a little comedy routine based on I Love L.A. I believe it centered on whether the bum who is "down on his knees" was praying, puking, or blowing someone.
I'm turning into such a softie/romantic in my old age. But I'm worried about where it will lead. Will I soon start rhapsodizing about what a completely flawless leader and amazing president Clinton was, just as some folks a decade or so older than I seem to do about Reagan? That's a discouraging thought.
Does loving Randy Newman mean I've lost my edge? Help me, hipster kitty!
his kiddie music can be a bit paint by numbers (though his scores are always enjoyable) but "When She Loved Me" from Toy Story 2 is among the best things he's ever written. (it lost to a Phil Collins song from "Tarzan.")
THANK YOU for writing this post. I am a lifelong Randy Newman fan; my parents played his albums on a stereo, even. I'm partial to When She Loved Me, and the entirety of Good Old Boys.
Saw him play Carnegie Hall a couple of years ago, and he commanded the shit out of that stage.
This is the most necessary thing I've read in a long time. It's crazy how much people reject him because of his soundtrack work. He's a great writer in any genre. He always refused to admit that Short People was a joke because it was so absurd that people didn't get it in the first place.
Oh, good lord god man, "Naked Man," "Lover's Prayer," "Pretty Boy," and I could go on and on, too, and it's all so god damned good that it is pretty fookin irritating the general public thinks he's a movie hack. Which he is. It's his best joke of all.
Everyone has gone away
Can you hear me? Can you hear me?
No one cared enough to stay
Can you hear me? Can you hear me?
You must remember the old man
I know that you can if you try
So just open up your eyes old man
Look who's come to say goodbye
The sun has left the sky old man
The birds have flown away
And no one came to cry old man
Goodbye old man goodbye
You want to stay I know you do
But it ain't no use to try
'Cause I'll be here-and I'm just like you
Goodbye, old man, goodbye
Won't be no God to comfort you
You taught me not to believe that lie
You don't need anybody
Nobody needs you
Don't cry, old man, don't cry
Everybody dies
"I Love LA" was commissioned during the 1984 Olympics to be the official song of the City of Los Angeles, before the powers that be actually LISTENED TO THE LYRICS and promptly replaced it with some late-stage Sinatra.
If anyone (Alex?) still sees this so long after the fact, I just want you to know that Randy was impeccable in Charlottesville tonight! He did a beautiful, studied sampling of his repertoire, including many songs I was hoping to hear. It was not spoiled by the fact that the local bumpkins got the most excited about the "Toy Story" numbers: he played them dutifully, and then went straight back to his core.
Biggest surprise: he was singing so well! Not the way he was on "Bad Love", at all.
I would say cough up if there are still seats left at Town Hall (think that's where?) He was funny, although detectably annoyed, that our town had left 250 empty seats in the venue. (I got a front row balcony spot, with perfect keyboard sightlines, 5 minutes beforehand?
But you guys are much more savvy — I think you should go!
Randy really is a great song writer, for sure. try The Great Nations of Europe sometime. also Dixie Flyer, Sail Away, yeah- i could go on like the other person said. Lots of great stuff.
I think someone has been hanging out with Choire too much!
'New Orleans Wins The War'
In 1948 my Daddy came to the city
Told the people that they'd won the war
Maybe they'd heard it, maybe not
Probably they'd heard it and just forgot
'Cause they built him a platform there in Jackson Square
And the people came to hear him from everywhere
They started to party and they partied some more
'Cause New Orleans had won the war
(We knew we'd do it, we done whipped the Yankees)
I saw him perform live and he was a terrific performer.
One of the more poignant moments of the concert was when he set up the song "I Miss You." He said something like "I wrote this song for my first wife, when I was with my current wife.
It is a devastating song. lyrically and otherwise.
But wasn't the current wife MASSIVELY PISSED OFF about this??
Ghosts is one of those songs which, by that last refrain, bruises my heart every single damn time I hear it.
(That said, as a short person with parents who were Randy Newman fans and fond of singing to the kids, I have come to loathe Short People with particular ire.)
@kpants- Randy likes to tell stories and he likes to invent characters to tell them. so he is rarely singing in his own self. he tells people that the character who is is doing the words for "short people" is "a lunatic". hope that makes you feel better. if you listen again with this thought in mind it will all fall into place for you. i hope.
Her own mother came to meet us at the station,
Her dress as black as a crow in a coal mine
She cried when her little girl got off the train.
Her brothers and her sisters come down from Jackson, Mississippi
In a great green Hudson driven by a Gentile they knew.
Drinkin' rye whiskey from a flask in the back seat
Tryin' to do like the Gentiles do
Christ, they wanted to be Gentiles, too.
Who wouldn't down there, wouldn't you?
An American Christian, God damn!
(I LOVE RANDY NEWMAN SO HARD)
Look, the man co-wrote The Three Amigos with Steve Martin and Lorne Michaels. Need I go on?
PLEASE GO ON ABOUT THIS MOVIE.
THE SINGING BUSH!
Not a fan of 'Simon Smith and His Amazing Dancing Bear'?
If I listed EVERY one of his songs I liked I would still be putting this post together.
OK but still: "He Gives Us All His Love."
Have to say, though, I enjoyed watching Bob Dylan beat one of Randy Newman's kiddie songs (and another by Sting) for Best Original Song in 2001.
"Louisiana 1927" is a work of genius, but that just makes it worse to see the talent frittered away that way. It's as if Thomas Kikeade could actually paint.
Last Night I had a Dream. The version from the single. Oh gee!
Also, I have a childhood memory of my dad doing a little comedy routine based on I Love L.A. I believe it centered on whether the bum who is "down on his knees" was praying, puking, or blowing someone.
I am glad you received my mind-memo regarding this post.
Miami, I think that's the number with the haunting refrain. But I honestly don't know.
I love "Feels Like Home".
I'm turning into such a softie/romantic in my old age. But I'm worried about where it will lead. Will I soon start rhapsodizing about what a completely flawless leader and amazing president Clinton was, just as some folks a decade or so older than I seem to do about Reagan? That's a discouraging thought.
Does loving Randy Newman mean I've lost my edge? Help me, hipster kitty!
his kiddie music can be a bit paint by numbers (though his scores are always enjoyable) but "When She Loved Me" from Toy Story 2 is among the best things he's ever written. (it lost to a Phil Collins song from "Tarzan.")
Oh God yes. I will cut Sarah McLachlan permaslack for her vocal on that.
THANK YOU for writing this post. I am a lifelong Randy Newman fan; my parents played his albums on a stereo, even. I'm partial to When She Loved Me, and the entirety of Good Old Boys.
Saw him play Carnegie Hall a couple of years ago, and he commanded the shit out of that stage.
Is anyone going to see him on Saturday at Town Hall?
This is the most necessary thing I've read in a long time. It's crazy how much people reject him because of his soundtrack work. He's a great writer in any genre. He always refused to admit that Short People was a joke because it was so absurd that people didn't get it in the first place.
Well Exactly –
He's in Charlottesville tomorrow night!
Oh, good lord god man, "Naked Man," "Lover's Prayer," "Pretty Boy," and I could go on and on, too, and it's all so god damned good that it is pretty fookin irritating the general public thinks he's a movie hack. Which he is. It's his best joke of all.
The only circumstances under which I would listen to Randy Newman's music involve giant tics being applied to my scrotum, and a gun to my head.
Let me brighten everyone's day.
"Old Man"
Everyone has gone away
Can you hear me? Can you hear me?
No one cared enough to stay
Can you hear me? Can you hear me?
You must remember the old man
I know that you can if you try
So just open up your eyes old man
Look who's come to say goodbye
The sun has left the sky old man
The birds have flown away
And no one came to cry old man
Goodbye old man goodbye
You want to stay I know you do
But it ain't no use to try
'Cause I'll be here-and I'm just like you
Goodbye, old man, goodbye
Won't be no God to comfort you
You taught me not to believe that lie
You don't need anybody
Nobody needs you
Don't cry, old man, don't cry
Everybody dies
The above dedicated to Cat.
"Baltimore" is pretty much all that needs to be said.
It's the best song about L.A. ever written.
Uncle Bob's Midnight Blues.
Come-A-Ti-Yi-Yippie, baby
Maybe you don't know how to walk baby
Maybe you can't talk none either
Maybe you never will, baby
But I'll always love you
"I Love LA" was commissioned during the 1984 Olympics to be the official song of the City of Los Angeles, before the powers that be actually LISTENED TO THE LYRICS and promptly replaced it with some late-stage Sinatra.
If you can't get past his voice, try the entirety of Harry Nilsson's "Nilsson Sings Newman." Amazing songwriting, incredible performances.
If anyone (Alex?) still sees this so long after the fact, I just want you to know that Randy was impeccable in Charlottesville tonight! He did a beautiful, studied sampling of his repertoire, including many songs I was hoping to hear. It was not spoiled by the fact that the local bumpkins got the most excited about the "Toy Story" numbers: he played them dutifully, and then went straight back to his core.
Biggest surprise: he was singing so well! Not the way he was on "Bad Love", at all.
I would say cough up if there are still seats left at Town Hall (think that's where?) He was funny, although detectably annoyed, that our town had left 250 empty seats in the venue. (I got a front row balcony spot, with perfect keyboard sightlines, 5 minutes beforehand?
But you guys are much more savvy — I think you should go!
Randy really is a great song writer, for sure. try The Great Nations of Europe sometime. also Dixie Flyer, Sail Away, yeah- i could go on like the other person said. Lots of great stuff.