Brooklyn's Jones Street Station (formerly Jones Street Boys) show off their five-part harmony on their cover of John Hartford's ode to city life, 'Tall Buildings'. I never get tired of listening to this. And Hartford's lyrics are fantastic.
Someday my baby, when I am a man,
and other's have taught me, the best that they can
they'll sell me a suit, and cut off my hair
and send me to work in tall buildings
and it's goodbye to the sunshine, goodbye to the dew
goodbye to the flowers, and goodbye to you
I'm off to the subway, I mustn't be late
going to work in tall buildings
when I retire and my life is my own
I made all the payments, it's time to go home
and wonder what happened, betwixt and between
when I used to work in tall buildings
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I hadn't planned on posting the John Hartford version of this song, hell I didn't even know this was a cover until after I'd started this post, but I was able to find a live performance of this song by its original author. Now I'm looking forward to digging into the Hartford catalog.
1 comment:
eye opening. i never heard of this song, jones street, or john hartford.
i wonder how many of these characters slip through the cracks of consciousness over the course of a couple of decades.
for instance: Jesse Winchester. I am still kicking myself for not knowing who that guy was until his episode Elvis Costello's Spectacle. A Robbie Robbertson prodigy that I, and most people, overlooked entirely.
thanks for the post.
ak
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