"It doesn't matter who you love, or how you love, but that you love"
February 1, 2015 8:12 PM Subscribe
Rod McKuen, a ubiquitous poet, lyricist and songwriter whose work met with immense commercial success if little critical esteem, died on Thursday in Beverly Hills, Calif. He was 81.
A Cat Named Sloopy
Rod and Johnny Cash
Soldiers Who Want to Be Heros (1971)
Seasons In The Sun (written by Jacques Brel)
I suspect that an appreciation of Rod McKuen requires, in most cases, having been a contemporary of his. It may be difficult to grasp the appeal, and easy to view his work as many did, even in the 60's and 70's, as lacking anything other than easy pop music and sappy lyrics... But, for many of us during that time, it was poetry and music that we could relate to. It was, at times, romantic, erotic, or rebellious, and often reached into places that we held private and personal.
So, despite consistent critical reviews, he was our poet... For those of you that might want to explore more of his work, there's a fairly comprehensive youtube playlist.
posted by HuronBob at 9:04 PM on February 1, 2015 [3 favorites]
So, despite consistent critical reviews, he was our poet... For those of you that might want to explore more of his work, there's a fairly comprehensive youtube playlist.
posted by HuronBob at 9:04 PM on February 1, 2015 [3 favorites]
I'd never heard of him before this FPP, but listening to the links makes me realize that I've heard his music many times.
posted by Dip Flash at 9:43 PM on February 1, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by Dip Flash at 9:43 PM on February 1, 2015 [1 favorite]
I still have two of his books, Listen to the Warm and Stanyan Street and Other Sorrows from the 60s and 70s when his words spoke deeply to me. This little bit, for instance, I've quoted more than once - and used it to soothe my own sadness here and there:
It's nice sometimes
to open up the heart a little
and let some hurt come in.
It proves you're still alive.
It happens just because we need
to want and to be wanted too,
when love is here or gone
to lie down in the darkness
and listen to the warm.
This is from one called I'll Say Goodbye:
So as the winter says hello I'll say good-bye,
I never ever did like snow I'll say good-bye.
I'm just a man and nothing more
in the face of love I'll close the door.
Because another road is calling I'll say good-bye.
Good-bye, and thank you for the words that helped us get through our tough times, gentle man.
posted by aryma at 10:18 PM on February 1, 2015 [2 favorites]
It's nice sometimes
to open up the heart a little
and let some hurt come in.
It proves you're still alive.
It happens just because we need
to want and to be wanted too,
when love is here or gone
to lie down in the darkness
and listen to the warm.
This is from one called I'll Say Goodbye:
So as the winter says hello I'll say good-bye,
I never ever did like snow I'll say good-bye.
I'm just a man and nothing more
in the face of love I'll close the door.
Because another road is calling I'll say good-bye.
Good-bye, and thank you for the words that helped us get through our tough times, gentle man.
posted by aryma at 10:18 PM on February 1, 2015 [2 favorites]
It may be difficult to grasp the appeal, and easy to view his work as many did, even in the 60's and 70's, as lacking anything other than easy pop music and sappy lyrics...
And then there was that whole thing of taking sublime Jacques Brel songs and turning them into banal pieces of shit...
posted by PeterMcDermott at 10:36 PM on February 1, 2015 [2 favorites]
And then there was that whole thing of taking sublime Jacques Brel songs and turning them into banal pieces of shit...
posted by PeterMcDermott at 10:36 PM on February 1, 2015 [2 favorites]
.
I only knew his name from the 'little critical esteem' mentioned in this post, but looking around a bit, I do appreciate melancholy 60s film music: The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (Suite).
posted by Monsieur Caution at 11:36 PM on February 1, 2015
I only knew his name from the 'little critical esteem' mentioned in this post, but looking around a bit, I do appreciate melancholy 60s film music: The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (Suite).
posted by Monsieur Caution at 11:36 PM on February 1, 2015
Back in the day it was often said that McKuen was for kids and Gary Snyder was for adults.
posted by JackFlash at 12:22 AM on February 2, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by JackFlash at 12:22 AM on February 2, 2015 [1 favorite]
Razors thinly covered by soft images. I'm sure he didn't mean it that way.
Those days were better numbed--even so, I was often conflicted.
Anyhow, sometimes it worked.
Rest in peace.
posted by mule98J at 1:05 AM on February 2, 2015 [1 favorite]
Those days were better numbed--even so, I was often conflicted.
Anyhow, sometimes it worked.
Rest in peace.
posted by mule98J at 1:05 AM on February 2, 2015 [1 favorite]
I wasn't aware of Rod McKuen till recently, when I found this little gem on youtube - from a European TV station circa 1971 - "Without a Worry in the World". It's lovely.
posted by Mellon Udrigle at 1:16 AM on February 2, 2015
posted by Mellon Udrigle at 1:16 AM on February 2, 2015
I checked Amazon and he has no books currently in print which seems odd that he could fall that far that fast. I don't know how true it is but supposedly Johann Sebastian Bach and William Blake were both forgotten for many many years and then suddenly discovered long after they died as having been stupendous geniuses. I would never compare McKuen to Blake or Bach but that isn't a judgment for any of us to make. If you like McKuen you can get his complete works used in good condition for a penny a copy plus postage.
posted by bukvich at 5:21 AM on February 2, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by bukvich at 5:21 AM on February 2, 2015 [1 favorite]
"And then there was that whole thing of taking sublime Jacques Brel songs and turning them into banal pieces of shit..." I was not a fan of Rob McKuen not Jacques Brel but time and place make different memories. I certainly have my own store of banal shit that might not cut the muster of objective criticism. I read "Love Story" the same year as Day of the Jackal and The French Lieutenants Woman ( I preferred Day of the jJackal but I remember the opening lines of Love Story". I appreciate those who have their own memories.
posted by rmhsinc at 5:46 AM on February 2, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by rmhsinc at 5:46 AM on February 2, 2015 [1 favorite]
I occasionally haunt the used record bins, particularly the Spoken Word and Other sections, and there always seem to be a few of his records. Just from that, and knowing nothing else about him, it's clear that he was a big deal to a lot of people. Maybe I'll read a bit more about him and pick up an album or two. Congrats and Happy Trails, Rod.
posted by LastOfHisKind at 6:00 AM on February 2, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by LastOfHisKind at 6:00 AM on February 2, 2015 [1 favorite]
I would never compare McKuen to Blake or Bach but that isn't a judgment for any of us to make.
Rather, it's a judgement for everyone to make. To say that no one can judge is to foreclose the possibility of speaking about him at all.
Anyway, while I don't think McKuen deserves a place among the great poets of his day, he certainly deserves a place among the popular and there's nothing wrong with that. I like the bite of Le Moribond, but Seasons In The Sun is a fine, insanely popular, piece of bubblegum*. There's a place for doggerel as well as epic. McKuen captured the spirit of a moment and he retains a period charm. And the sleeves and dust-wrappers of his records and books are great. Dig it!
(*There's even a Vietnamese version.)
posted by octobersurprise at 6:42 AM on February 2, 2015 [2 favorites]
Rather, it's a judgement for everyone to make. To say that no one can judge is to foreclose the possibility of speaking about him at all.
Anyway, while I don't think McKuen deserves a place among the great poets of his day, he certainly deserves a place among the popular and there's nothing wrong with that. I like the bite of Le Moribond, but Seasons In The Sun is a fine, insanely popular, piece of bubblegum*. There's a place for doggerel as well as epic. McKuen captured the spirit of a moment and he retains a period charm. And the sleeves and dust-wrappers of his records and books are great. Dig it!
(*There's even a Vietnamese version.)
posted by octobersurprise at 6:42 AM on February 2, 2015 [2 favorites]
What Peter McDemott said -- the tree was cut down but the sap still runs.
posted by y2karl at 7:55 AM on February 2, 2015
posted by y2karl at 7:55 AM on February 2, 2015
.
posted by GrapeApiary at 8:29 AM on February 2, 2015
posted by GrapeApiary at 8:29 AM on February 2, 2015
My mother had a few Rod McKuen books, including one large coffee table collection. I recall many of her friends did as well. It was as ubiquitous back then as a copy of Kihal Gibran's The Prophet and (shudder) Jonathon Livingston Seagull. RIP to a man who survived a truly wretched childhood and saw great success and peace of mind.
posted by Ber at 9:00 AM on February 2, 2015
posted by Ber at 9:00 AM on February 2, 2015
He was the most famous living poet in the world when I was young. Kinda makes you think.
posted by ovvl at 9:02 AM on February 2, 2015
posted by ovvl at 9:02 AM on February 2, 2015
That Times obituary is great.
It was his robust commercial success that had soured the critics, he said.
“I only know this,” Mr. McKuen told The Chronicle in 2002. “Before the books were successful, whether it was Newsweek or Time or The Saturday Evening Post, the reviews were always raves.”
This might be the prototype of the Haters! defense. I gave the Sloopy cat track a listen. It helped to turn the volume very low.
posted by bukvich at 10:24 AM on February 2, 2015
It was his robust commercial success that had soured the critics, he said.
“I only know this,” Mr. McKuen told The Chronicle in 2002. “Before the books were successful, whether it was Newsweek or Time or The Saturday Evening Post, the reviews were always raves.”
This might be the prototype of the Haters! defense. I gave the Sloopy cat track a listen. It helped to turn the volume very low.
posted by bukvich at 10:24 AM on February 2, 2015
.
His songs were a trip back to a mellow time in my life.
posted by smudgedlens at 11:17 AM on February 2, 2015 [1 favorite]
His songs were a trip back to a mellow time in my life.
posted by smudgedlens at 11:17 AM on February 2, 2015 [1 favorite]
I have almost no experience with the McKuen of the 60s and 70s, but somehow ended up with the CD reissue of his 1959 album "Beatsville". (It also had the "Daddy-O Beatsville" font, so that was fun.)
It's a parody/pastiche of beatniks and their poetry, full of fun little bits like "RSVP" and "What Is a Fabian?"
posted by Guy Smiley at 11:47 AM on February 2, 2015
It's a parody/pastiche of beatniks and their poetry, full of fun little bits like "RSVP" and "What Is a Fabian?"
posted by Guy Smiley at 11:47 AM on February 2, 2015
Aaron "Gene Ween" Freeman's first solo album, Marvelous Clouds, is all Rod McKuen covers.
posted by Robin Kestrel at 12:44 PM on February 2, 2015
posted by Robin Kestrel at 12:44 PM on February 2, 2015
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