w.atching the w.orld unw.ind

Today's lyric:

"Rolled in from another town,
Hit some gold, too hot to settle down,
But a fool and his money soon go separate ways,
And you found a fool lyin' in a daze,
Ha ha woman what you gonna do?
You destroyed all the virtues that the Lord gave you,
It's so good that you're feeling pain,
But you better get yourself on board the very next train."

Electric Light Orchestra: "Evil Woman"
From the album: "Face The Music"

Driving down to Cornwallland last week, I was forced - by a majority of two to one - to listen to 'mainstream' music on Radio 1.

On the basis that:
a) I was doing the driving - and therefore concentrating - (and the weather was at its crappest); and
b) I don't (generally) like rap

I wasn't really listening but subliminally recognised that a track (performed by, I'm reliably informed, The Black-Eyed Peas?) was being repeated during the various shows that came and went throughout the trip.

I guess what 'registered' was because of the incredible amount of 'bleeping' (mainly at the end of most lines) as in:

de dah de dah you're playing with your *bleep*
de dah de dah while you're looking at my *bleep*

Get the picture?

"Are the bleeps actually part of the song?" I enquired innocently.

"No" explained Number One Son, with barely-feigned patience, "it's the only way they could air the track during day-time broadcasting.

But it wasn't the deleted expletives that invaded my semi-consciousness, it was the repeated decrescendo of solo violin that half-registered with me, but which was promptly parked somewhere in the cranial recesses when the radio was turned off.

But then, listening to the best of ELO this morning on the commute in, I realised I'd recognised my first "sample" - the violin piece had been cut from ELO's "Evil woman" track, first released ooh twenty five+ years ago at least?

What goes around...