Five hundred? Who knew there were that many songs....
It's not often that my featured tunes have a similar link two weeks in a row, but as my fans (all three of you) may remember my introduction to last week's tune was a cover version of "Devoted to You" by James Taylor and his then wife Carly Simon. My introduction to this week's tune was that its artist is the younger brother of the aforementioned James Taylor. Read a couple of good reviews of this week's album back in the day and took a chance. Our song of the week was my favorite...and it thus earns a coveted (or not) spot on Friday Night Jukebox....
Once again, I am amazed how an artist, in this case Livingston Taylor, can turn a modicum of commercial success into a career in music (with the caveat that having a massively musically successful brother probably didn't hurt--still, one has to have some talent to last fifty-four years). Taylor has certainly branched out through the years--he's co-written two children's books and a textbook, hosted a television show, taught at the Berklee College of Music, and written theme songs for two Boston based television shows. He's also had a documentary made of his career, Livingston Taylor--Life Is Good. For the musical portion of his career, Taylor has released seventeen studio albums (with three charting, though none since 1973), and nine singles (with five hitting the charts, the highest peaking at #30).
Fun Fact: Taylor credits his older brother Alex for his becoming a performer. Seems when Livingston was thirteen his brother came home one night with $20 earned from playing a frat party. Livingston promptly took up the guitar and was playing paid gigs in less than a year.
"Going Around One More Time" was the lead song on Taylor's 1978 LP, the reflectingly named Three Way Mirror. The song was not released as a single, and the album never charted. His brother James covered the song for his 1985 album That's Why I'm Here, and also did not release it as a single.
Every now and again, when I play my song of the week in preparation for the weekly posts, after I listen to it I wonder "Why did I add this song to the list?" Every time, though, after a couple of listens it comes back to me, and happily by the end of the week I was singing "Going Round One More Time" again and again from the ear candy it had created in my brain. The song is a whimsical take on the nature of love--how every time it doesn't seem worth the time and trouble, someone steps into our lives to make us forget all about the heartaches. Much like his brother James, Livingston has a soft and sweet voice and uses it here to capture the vagaries (as well as the humor) of love. He turns a nice phrase lyrically and writes a catchy tune musically--especially enjoy the repeating and repeating and repeating of the chorus as the end. It's the kind of song critics hate...and the kind of song those of us who enjoy a nice slice of pop pie love.
Lyric Sheet: "Round and round in a circle/Ah, it's always the same/One moment you swear you've had enough/The next you've got to know her name..."
Enjoy:
Bonus (brother's cover version):
Republicans = Nazis
Peace,
emaycee
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