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Post by BiteUrLip on Apr 18, 2020 7:41:18 GMT
Music: Elton John
Lyrics: Bernie Taupin
The weather man he looks confused
Shakes his fist at the sky like you used to do
But you don't remember things like that do you
The balance was uneven but I'm breaking through
Slow rivers run cold
Shallow waters never sank so low
I thought I'd drown and you'd never know
You're a slow river and you run so cold
The winter here don't believe in God
The bitter wind just bites through me like a wild dog
I still see your eyes tonight like headlights through the fog
But one foot in your door oh that's all I ever got
Chances are you'll reappear
Swim my way in a flood of tears
No place to hide your conscience so
You're a sinking ship with no place to go
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Post by BiteUrLip on Apr 18, 2020 7:42:17 GMT
One of Elton's weirdest songs. It reminds me of "January" from The Big Picture. Best from LJ? Nah, I like a few songs more.
4 stars.
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Post by nix on Apr 18, 2020 14:49:13 GMT
4
Very good song.
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Post by dougs on Apr 19, 2020 0:52:12 GMT
"Slow Rivers" from LEATHER JACKETS:
Elton has admitted that he wasn't in a very good place in his life in 1986. "Slow Rivers" was a 1986 duet with Cliff Richards which came out on the highly unsuccessful LEATHER JACKETS album. The song, however, was initially an outtake from ICE ON FIRE the year before. Duetting with Cliff Richards was potentially a smart move; Cliff was monstrously popular in the UK and quite possibly having both EJ and Cliff on the same record might generate interest and sales. It didn't. The song "peaked" in Belgium at #24, hit a disappointing #44 in the UK, and only #82 in Australia. It is a nice enough ballad, certainly one of the better (best?) songs on the album, but it faded quickly as a single. EJ did play it for a brief period at the end of his 1986 world tour - in Australia but never since. Too bad this good song got lost on this forgettable album.
Rating: 4 stars
Doug
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Post by newloneranger on Apr 19, 2020 6:57:45 GMT
One of the best songs on Leather Jackets.
5 stars
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Post by Commodore Orpington on Apr 21, 2020 6:45:42 GMT
Underappreciated. Darker ballads don't go over as well with fans as the happy comforting ones, but I like them much more.
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Post by rocketman on Apr 21, 2020 16:39:05 GMT
3.75 stars...His live performances of it, during the 1986-87 World Tour, are actually better, in my opinion, than the studio take with Richards. Nothing is wrong with Cliff Richards' addition but the live performance really works well, and I'd give that a 4.25-4.5 if I were to rate that. But here, a 3.75 will do, which is pretty much in line with most of the songs on Leather Jackets.
In his recent autobiography, Elton discussed Leather Jackets, revealing that it was the only time he ever indulged in drug use while in recording sessions. It was an embarrassing low point for him, since the songs, which he actually thought were very good at the time, carried virtually no weight or popularity. He says now that he can't believe that he one time thought that it was a good album.
While this isn't an album review, we often discuss the entire record as we review individual songs. Oddly, I listen to Leather Jackets fairly often. It's as if I'm looking for something good, for some way to vindicate its release. I probably listen to it more than GBYBR, mostly because one is a proven success and the other is the exact opposite. It can be entertaining, and it does show that even at his worst, Elton could still slip through a few highlights.
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Post by Commodore Orpington on Apr 30, 2020 0:48:37 GMT
EJ can be too easily persuaded about his own work sometimes. Fans talked him out of production I think, and now Captain and the Kid is faulted on its lack of production. Fans were crazy about this aspect when it came out. LJ is singled out unfairly I think, and he will have heard the bad fan reaction a lot by now. Furnish prodded him to do SFTWC, great, but he laid into TBP when doing it, and a great piece of work became a failure to him.
The ones I appreciate the most on LJ are probably the most disliked by other fans. The good half has an exciting, fresh feel to it, more than Ice on Fire, the other 80s synth album. Great to hear in the car. Stands up to most other 80s albums. I'm fine with the lack of a radio friendly, optimistic AC love ballad hit. I don't like those much. I prefer the downcast ones like Slow Rivers and most of Big Picture.
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