Running Out Of Time

[sodascouts]

Doesn't Glenn also say that Long Hot Summer was partly inspired by a happy little book called The End of Nature that Don gave him to read?

It also fits with other songs Glenn has written that are inspired by books. He says he wrote "Brave New World" after reading The Stand. I admire how he can digest things like that and then write great songs as a result. Thanks for the interesting info, L&M!


~

[Freypower]

Yes, Long Hot Summer is very ominous. It's got a tense melody and thought-provoking words which very effectively convey a sense of despair and frustration. Still, I'm surprised he opened concerts with such a downer.

These are great responses to this topic.

It's interesting that you should say LHS is a downer, Nancy - I think it's a perfect opening for that show. I can't explain why though. Perhaps it's him moving away from the 'lightweight' image he had.

If LHS was inspired by a book Don gave him - that was a while ago. It was written in 1988 during the Soul Searchin' sessions. He says in the Strange Weather EPK (I think) that it didn't fit the theme of that album. By the time he got around to the SW album he decided it would be appropriate.

I think the 'melancholy' aspect of POMPOY is what lifts the song from being a good song, to a great song (never mind the very personal meaning the song has for me). The transient nature of existence has rarely been so perfectly expressed.

And Kate, you said that A Walk In The Dark is 'exquisite'. I could not agree more. Yet even in this song there is a sense of only temporary happiness - when he switches to third person at the end you think - hang on, was this perfect night just a dream?

He Took Advantage is another song where he may be examining how perceptions change as time moves on.

[sodascouts]

It's interesting that you should say LHS is a downer, Nancy - I think it's a perfect opening for that show. I can't explain why though. Perhaps it's him moving away from the 'lightweight' image he had.

Well, it does have a good guitar part, so perhaps that's why he chose it. Glenn has always chosen odd openers for his solo shows, IMHO. "I Found Somebody" opened his NFA and Allnighter shows, and I always thought that song was a bit of a slow start, too.


~

[eaglesfans]

Maybe Glenn subscribes to the same idea as Don...start with an obscure, but catchy album track while people are still taking their seats and settling in. That way the late-comers aren't really missing anything.


</p>

[PinkCoatGirl]

Glenn has always chosen odd openers for his solo shows, IMHO.

I tend to agree. I was actually really surprised at the choice of "Peaceful Easy Feeling" as an opener for Dublin... I mean, I adore that song to no end, but I hadn't really thought of a ballad as an opener, I guess.

I liked "I Found Somebody" as an opener at Casino Rama...hehe, now I'm trying to think of songs of his that would make great openers. I think "Love In The 21st Century" would make a good one...then again, it could just be my bias of having always wanted to see that song live showing.

Freypower, excellent point about "A Walk In The Dark"...there really is just an underlying theme of fleeting happiness through just about every song on the album...even though the songs themselves vary quite a bit between dark and light. Really I think the only song that doesn't have this theme is probably "Delicious"...even "Love In The 21st Century", although completely upbeat and all... 'Something is wrong with this picture'! And 'ominous' is a *great* word to describe LHS. I *love* that song, but that really is a perfect word to describe the overall feeling of it.

I definitely do think not just LHS as an opener, but really this whole album in a way is Glenn shedding his 'lightweight image'. There are many layers to the songs here, which I love. It just makes it a really *interesting* listen, in addition to just Glenn's sexy voice...

I haven't heard the Soul Searchin' album, by the way, it's the one I can't find yet...you say he said LHS didn't fit the theme of that one? What is it predominantly like? Lighthearted or..?


-----

~*She'll always be...the girl from yesterday...*~

My friend and I: "Nice coat Glenn!"

Joe Walsh, at next pause between songs: "Hey, nice coat, Glenn."

Glenn: "Thanks, thanks...yah, I picked this up at the..Liberace garage sale, glad you like it..."

[Freypower]

You've got it. Soul Searchin' is his most frustratingly lightweight album. All R&B and ballads which for the most part are very fluffy and really not up to his standards. It has three standout tracks - the title track, True Love & Livin' Right. It has a couple of very good tracks - I Did It For Your Love and Let's Pretend We're Still In Love. The rest is pretty ordinary.

I take it when you referred to PEF as an 'opener' in Dublin you mean it's the first Eagles song. The show like all the others on that tour opened with LHS.

I like I Found Somebody as an opener too, considering for a while he seemed to reject it, as the song he wrote before he wrote The One You Love.

[PinkCoatGirl]

I take it when you referred to PEF as an 'opener' in Dublin you mean it's the first Eagles song. The show like all the others on that tour opened with LHS.

Oops...hehe, I didn't know that! Should've probably looked at the Filmography first...I don't have the actual video of Dublin, I only have the Live CD, which begins with PEF. In that case, well, ignore that comment.

Hmm..very ironic that an album called "Soul Searchin'" should be almost completely lightweight and fluffy! This makes me think even more so that he was going for a departure with this album...if he had LHS hanging around from the Soul Searchin' sessions, then he probably almost built the album around that...a dark, 'ominous' song, plus the surgery and all the ways in which his life changed in that time from which to draw inspiration as well.

It's funny...at the time of Casino Rama, I hadn't yet heard the SW album, only NFA and The Allnighter. So when Glenn referred to himself as "dark" (during the intro for No More Cloudy Days), I really had to think about that...and was going "Well, I guess sort of...on some things..." But had a hard time combining the word 'dark' with Glenn's outward persona, you know? And the fact that he had a big grin on his face when he said it really didn't help. But he is a Scorpio, and Scorpios are masters at being charming and all smiles on the outside while hiding their depth and 'dark' side...which I'd say sums Glenn up awfully well, the more I think about it.

He does, though, almost always manage to temper the darker, more sad tones of his songs with a hopeful idea or 2 as well...which is hard to do and get it right, yet he definitely does!


-----

~*She'll always be...the girl from yesterday...*~


My friend and I: "Nice coat Glenn!"

Joe Walsh, at next pause between songs: "Hey, nice coat, Glenn."

Glenn: "Thanks, thanks...yah, I picked this up at the..Liberace garage sale, glad you like it..."

[sodascouts]

Maybe Glenn subscribes to the same idea as Don...start with an obscure, but catchy album track while people are still taking their seats and settling in. That way the late-comers aren't really missing anything.

Could be, although since "I Found Somebody" was a single I wouldn't call it obscure. It certainly isn't as well-known as other things he plays, though.


~

[PinkCoatGirl]

Maybe Glenn subscribes to the same idea as Don...start with an obscure, but catchy album track while people are still taking their seats and settling in. That way the late-comers aren't really missing anything.

Hehe..aww. Sorry, I felt so bad for Don, especially at the Detroit show, during The Genie...Detroit started half an hour earlier than the tickets showed, so there was *no-one* around for it and those that were were all completely pre-occupied. Except me trying to ignore them all and pay attention to this song that I *adore*. Just out of curiosity, has he done that with many past solo shows? (Sorry, this is rather off-topic...I'm just a bit curious.)

People did seem to know "I Found Somebody" at Casino Rama...in fact, I looked around me and I seemed to be the only one who didn't know every single word (yet)!

I think another reason LHS might've been chosen as the opener, actually, is just that it *does* have a powerful theme/tone to it. Even if the underlying tone is not a pleasant one, it definitely commands attention, IMHO.


-----

~*She'll always be...the girl from yesterday...*~


My friend and I: "Nice coat Glenn!"

Joe Walsh, at next pause between songs: "Hey, nice coat, Glenn."

Glenn: "Thanks, thanks...yah, I picked this up at the..Liberace garage sale, glad you like it..."

[eaglesfans]

I think it makes a lot of sense. Why do a hit song when a lot of people are still coming in and finding their seats?



And "obscure" was the word Don used last summer at a couple of shows to describe "The Genie". He made a joke about starting with an obscure album track....so maybe it's something he and Glenn have talked about.





<blockquote>Quote:<hr>Could be, although since "I Found Somebody" was a single I wouldn't call it obscure. It certainly isn't as well-known as other things he plays, though. <hr></blockquote>


</p>