Category Archives: Music

The only thing you did was “Yesterday”

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Paul McCartney is reputed to have composed Yesterday in his sleep and for a considerable period afterward to have been sure that he was guilty of plagiarism.

My wife tells me that Yesterday is the song most selected as the one that songwriters wished they had written. I am not sure if that is true but it certainly has a list of accolades that supports the view and it surely ranks as one of the greatest songs ever written.

Wikipedia notes

  • there are over 2000 cover versions
  • it was voted the best song of the 20th century by listeners and music experts in the BBC 2 Radio Poll
  • both MTV and Rolling Stone voted it the best song of all time

    Beatles bible.com notes that according to the Guiness Biok of Records it is the most covered song of all time.

    So if John Lennon was correct in his sledge of Paul McCartney in How do You Sleep from the truly momentous album Imagine that

    The only thing you done was yesterday

    then that would for most people be enough.

    I was lucky enough to see Paul McCartney when he fronted Wings sing it as a solo in 1975. Just thinking about it now sends goosebumps down my spine. It was awesome! It was one of my most memorable concert moments.

    I find it incredible that apparently The Beatles were afraid it would tarnish their image if it was released as a single only being released I the UK many years later. It appeared on Help and was released as a single in the US.

    So often I hear that my favourite Beatle was John, Paul,only wrote silly love songs. Certainly the music primarily credited to John in the Lennonon McCartney partnership was sharper however MCCartney’s ability to write a pop,song is perhaps unparalleled.

    As you find yourself reflecting on The Beatles and perhaps considering who was the most talented (what a pointless task when you consider George’s list of credits and Ringo who according to Mark Lewisohn was sought after to join the greatest band of all time) is it possible to go past The Beatle who wrote Yesterday?

    • 2014 – That’s a wrap and now for 2015

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    Well that’s 2014 over and 2015 has begun.

    2014 has been about transition, getting over relevance deficit syndrome as I handed over my clients and relationships,embracing study, discovering country music(sorry to my wife, family and friends and my dear blogging friend, David Perry), comfortably meeting my cycling target of over 5000kms for the year and preparing for new experiences as I move from the comfort of working in professional services to something else.

    It feels quite surreal. Normally, I find the period after Christmas quite a let down as it signifies the last few days before it all starts again, but this time it is quite different. That shouldn’t be surprising as in 2015 my focus will be completely different. I’m not thinking about finishing off client compliance work, billing targets, collecting cash or winning new work. That’s all for my successor who is now well ensconced.

    2015 is about winding out of my firm and embarking on a new adventure. Completing Honours, focussing on building my academic credentials, and maybe some advisory boards. Also it is about planning an extended stay in Italy in 2015, something which has been on my wish list for the last few years.

    It seems quite surreal, but as I sit at my desk writing this post, for the first time since 1978 I don’t have my year planned at all. Sure there are a list of “to dos”, not the least of which is a 20,000 word thesis but I don’t have a back log of work and a diary full of appointments that usually fill me with dread in the first week of January each year. What I do have is lots of “white space” and a question about how it will be filled?

    So its on with 2015…

    Well that’s done but it couldn’t have been done without the music or The future is Streaming!

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    20,000 words, an exam and oral presentation and this academic year is done! Maybe just as significant is the amount of music listened too.

    Day after day, Spotify has continued to provide a seemingly endless stream of music, supported by Pandora and my substantial iTunes library.

    Through this year many of my posts have highlighted a new love of country, a revisiting of Dylan, and how music has been an integral part of my day.

    I have since my late primary school days had an insatiable desire to buy Singles, LPs, and CDs. That is until now.

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    My purchasing habit led to a brief foray into importing records. For a couple of years a close friend of mine and I started to import records for our friends, less for profit and more to bring down the price of our own purchases. It lasted until the local post office told us that we would be considered a business if we continued,

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    Country Music – a new passion

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    To anyone who has read browney237.com before, my love of listening to music will not be a surprise. Whether walking to or from work, at work or studying, I am always listening to something. As a result it’s always a constant challenge to look for something new and at the moment that’s Country.

    Over the years my music collection has had a smattering of Country, Olivia Newton-John and Glen Campbell to name two, but it hasn’t been a major part of either my vinyl or CD collection.

    It used to be a joke with my team at work that I liked both Country and Western Music. Always got a laugh, but the truth is that Country is an awesome genre. I have to say that my wife and daughter do not share that view! They are always insisting that I put my headphones on or just turn it off – whilst for me it is my new passion.

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    Bob Dylan – The Beginning the Middle and the End or The Barometer of our Times?

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    While I had friends whose older brothers introduced me to Bob Dylan in the late sixties it was a school teacher when I was about 15 who truly introduced me to Dylan.

    I remember his words “Dylan is the beginning the middle and the end” and I have no doubt he meant it. I am not sure whether they were his own words, an adaption of someone else’s or a direct quote. Another quote I liked was “Dylan is the barometer of our times”. Again I’m not sure to whom that quote should be attributed, however through the sixties and seventies it seemed apt.

    So,why the discussion about Dylan?

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