It may be a week late, but at least it's on a Friday Saturday....
Not So Great Moments in Dorkville: Back in the day, every now and again our parents would go out for the evening, and when they did we'd have the whole house to ourselves. So me, my brother, and a friend of my brother's would listen to 45's and pretend we were a band and play our air instruments as we listened (I told you it was Dorkville...). Needless to say, this week's tune was one of the better numbers in our repertoire....
A brief history of Aerosmith: Band forms, has local success, becomes national success, gets fucked up on drugs and loses a couple of members, gets straight and all members come back, against all odds has massive comeback, gets old together and keeps playing rock and roll. And while they've had their differences during the years, since they started in 1970 all five of the original members are still in the band--doesn't happen often in rock and roll. Through the years the band has accumulated five
Grammys and sold over 150 million records. They were inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001, and in 2013 lead singer Steven Tyler and lead guitarist Joe Perry were elected to the Songwriters Hall of Fame. For their career, Aerosmith has released fifteen studio albums, with two hitting #1, and five others peaking in the top ten. They've also released seventy-two singles, with seven of those reaching the top ten. The band has been plagued with numerous health issues in their later years, but they did on embark on a farewell tour last September.
Grammys and sold over 150 million records. They were inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001, and in 2013 lead singer Steven Tyler and lead guitarist Joe Perry were elected to the Songwriters Hall of Fame. For their career, Aerosmith has released fifteen studio albums, with two hitting #1, and five others peaking in the top ten. They've also released seventy-two singles, with seven of those reaching the top ten. The band has been plagued with numerous health issues in their later years, but they did on embark on a farewell tour last September.
"Dream On" was the first single Aerosmith ever released, from their ever so cleverly named debut album, Aerosmith. The single would reach #59 (with a bullet!), though the album would not chart. After the success of their more playfully named 1975 album, Toys in the Attic, "Dream On" was re-released and would hit #6 (again with a bullet!), and the album would hit #21.
For a band that--at least in its early days--built a reputation as badass hard rockers, "Dream On" is a surprisingly optimistic exhortation to keep on dreaming until your dreams come true. Written by Tyler, the song opens with some eastern influenced guitar from Joe Perry before segueing into Tyler's musing vocals, and his call to sing with him (which, for whatever odd reason, I love its spirit of brotherhood). The song is very anthemic--I could imagine back in the day it was probably quite the showstopper for their live shows. Although I'd never call myself a big Aerosmith follower, I've heard enough of their catalog to say that while they've had a number of good songs, I don't think they've ever had one that was better than this one. And it closes with a gong! The aspirations of youth come true....
Lyric Sheet: "I know nobody knows/Where it comes and where it goes/I know it's everybody's sin/You got to lose to know how to win..."
Enjoy:
Republicans = Nazis
Peace,
emaycee
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