Friday, May 06, 2011

colin hay

Colin Hay

this guy was full of surprises.  i had in my head the bug-eyed goofy lead singer of men at work.  remember those silly videos of theirs in the 80s?  first off - he's not australian.  he's scottish and moved to melbourne when he was 14. he has lived in california since 1989.

secondly, he was quite the storyteller.  i guess i shouldn't be surprised - he is a songwriter afterall.  but he was immensely entertaining sharing stories of his brushes with ringo starr and paul mccartney and folks who get the lyrics of his songs wrong - "goats appear and fade away."  it was part comedy show, part concert.

most surprising was that his songs were so much more soulful in person than their 80s versions and sound even prettier than his subsequent recordings.  i guess i'll admit here that a tear came to my eye when he sang "i just don't think i'll ever get over you."  listen to it again.  how can those lyrics NOT get to you?

No comments: