Song of the Day 7/19: Jonathan King, “Everyone’s Gone to the Moon”
The 50th anniversary of the first moon landing has triggered a wave of nostalgia for the space race of the ’60s. This song was written and recorded in 1965 by British hitmaker Jonathan King, who was still a student at Cambridge at the time. He said later that the lyrics were his attempt to satirize Bob Dylan’s “meaningful” lyrics. He failed at that, but the song reached No. 17 in the U.S. and made the top 10 in Britain.
The song quickly was covered by damn near everyone who had a recording contract that year, but the best version I could find is by Bobby Womack.
Hi, Alby,
A slightly better choice would have been “Armstrong,” by John Stewart. Maybe on Monday?
This may be sacrilege, but I thought I remembered William Shatner doing a version of this. Turns out it was–Nina Simone:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONmSGPC6L8c
William Shatner? His contribution to the moon ouevre was this classic:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hARDXYz2io
Calling it now. Shatner’s the best evah!
It’s the special effects that make it art.
Ya say you wanna explore some REALLY bad songs about the moon?
Well, here ya go:
http://www.wfmu.org/playlists/shows/87143
Does liking this make me a bad person?:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oRllh5H_cCw
Yes.
I was gonna go with ‘not in and of itself’, but you may be closer to the truth. I flat out LOVE this profound interpretation of David Bowie’s ‘A Space Oddity’.
Right now, I much prefer it to the original. Although…that might have SOMETHING to do with some dark chocolate candy I just ate that my daughter sent me from Oregon. Seemed to be something off about it. Checking the package. Uh, what does CBD stand for?
I’m bored. Think I’ll pop in ‘2001’…
I worry it’s funny only because I don’t understand Spanish.