I get the news I need from the weather report

May 24, 2021 11:36 PM

The Only Living Boy in New York

Just a good vibe y'all, felt like sharing

posted by noiseanoise (36 comments total)

The Only Living Boy in New Cross
posted by pompomtom at 12:13 AM on May 25, 2021 [10 favorites]

OH MY GOD @POMPOMTOM I am in ecstasy!!!!! Thank uuuuuuuuuuuuu
posted by noiseanoise at 12:31 AM on May 25, 2021 [4 favorites]

The Only Living Boy in New York
posted by chavenet at 1:23 AM on May 25, 2021 [1 favorite]

I’m just an ordinary guy.
posted by romanb at 1:31 AM on May 25, 2021 [4 favorites]

The Only Living Boy In New York
posted by papercake at 3:31 AM on May 25, 2021 [14 favorites]

Wow, this thread is a joyful musical rabbit-hole! Thanks, all posters!
posted by Dhertiiboi at 5:09 AM on May 25, 2021 [1 favorite]

The whole album is excellent. I think I have to put it on this morning.
posted by vitout at 6:19 AM on May 25, 2021

The Tennors - Weather Report
posted by theodolite at 6:24 AM on May 25, 2021 [4 favorites]

SongFacts: The Only Living Boy in New York. - "Tom" was Art Garfunkel - and Paul Simon once spoke of the "aaahhhs" as being the best thing the duo ever did.
posted by rongorongo at 6:35 AM on May 25, 2021 [6 favorites]

Cub - New York City
posted by zamboni at 6:36 AM on May 25, 2021 [4 favorites]

Teen Town, Weather Report.
posted by Bee'sWing at 6:39 AM on May 25, 2021 [1 favorite]

Tom Waits – Emotional Weather Report
posted by oulipian at 6:44 AM on May 25, 2021 [2 favorites]

Come for Hal Hartley, stay for Everything But the Girl
posted by pxe2000 at 6:51 AM on May 25, 2021 [4 favorites]

I think the notion of "getting all the news I need from the weather report", is an underappreciated strategy to track what might be happening to somebody close in far off place. When the song was written, a terse newspaper summary saying something like "Mexico City, 80F, Stormy", would probably be as close to a daily update as could be hoped for.

This is what "Tom" was doing down in Mexico, by the way.
posted by rongorongo at 7:11 AM on May 25, 2021 [7 favorites]

The accordion really ties the song together
posted by art.bikes at 7:38 AM on May 25, 2021 [6 favorites]

Down and Out in New York City
posted by chavenet at 7:46 AM on May 25, 2021

I haven't seen a comb now for days / It's indie on the radio waves - American Analog Set, Weather Report
posted by whir at 8:08 AM on May 25, 2021 [1 favorite]

....Farrows and Southeast Oslo....
posted by winesong at 8:09 AM on May 25, 2021

"Don't play that Weather Report shit" - Madonna, to Victor Bailey and Omar Hakim, when they were in her band and played tricky stuff in rehearsals. I like to think she hired the Weather Report rhythm section just to do this.
posted by thelonius at 8:09 AM on May 25, 2021 [3 favorites]

MetaFilter is my weather report
posted by treepour at 8:18 AM on May 25, 2021

The Only Living Boy in New York
posted by jocelmeow at 9:08 AM on May 25, 2021

New York Morning
posted by papercake at 9:18 AM on May 25, 2021

pompomtom -- i had somehow never heard "The Only Living Boy in New Cross" and boy howdy, what a fun song. thanks!
posted by dismas at 9:20 AM on May 25, 2021 [1 favorite]

Weather report.
posted by JanetLand at 9:40 AM on May 25, 2021

The Only Living Boy in New York
posted by officer_fred at 11:31 AM on May 25, 2021

damn thing stuck firmly in my head.
antidote:

Suzanne, Nina Simone's exceptional take
posted by From Bklyn at 11:43 AM on May 25, 2021 [2 favorites]

This song's been an earworm for me the past few weeks, as well.
posted by Rash at 2:20 PM on May 25, 2021

zamboni, I love that Cub cover, especially their harmonies, and the video is so cheerful-- but you know I gotta link the TMBG original.

Also: New York State of Mind, the Electric Mayhem

Alienation in a big city is a specific feeling which lockdown has only amplified. The Simon song, with its soft echoey harmonies and distant drums, drifting at a great height over the glass canyons of the city, speaks to that.
posted by Pallas Athena at 2:24 PM on May 25, 2021 [4 favorites]

I thought cub was the original and TMBG covered? Great song either way, both versions.
posted by Shepherd at 3:23 PM on May 25, 2021 [2 favorites]

Shepherd, you're right! I am schooled. All honour to Cub!
posted by Pallas Athena at 3:38 PM on May 25, 2021

That Everything But The Girl version is really an astounding cover of the song. I'd never heard it before and have watched the video a bunch today, I love the choreography. Thanks to the folks who posted it!
posted by oulipian at 3:41 PM on May 25, 2021

I wasn't going to click it because I know the song. But I did, and it turned out I needed that moment of zen more than I thought. Thanks, noiseanoise.
posted by ctmf at 4:54 PM on May 25, 2021 [3 favorites]

For those liking The Only Living Boy In New Cross, might I suggest the rest of the album (1992: The Love Album). A bunch of similarly paced tracks on there, plus a cover of "The Impossible Dream." I never was able to get into the rest of their work, but this.... this spent a lot of time in my rotation.
posted by neilbert at 7:02 PM on May 25, 2021

The accordion really ties the song together
Or the banjo - if you are Passenger. (if ever there was a song to perform in Central Park, I guess this is it).
posted by rongorongo at 1:39 AM on May 26, 2021 [1 favorite]

Thanks for that.
posted by clockzero at 9:33 AM on May 26, 2021

Everything but the girl seems to have a much more complex and interesting chord in the aaah section. Slash chord triads? I can't quite tell what's going on there, but it's really nice. Maybe it's just a sus, my ear is terrible when it comes to voices.
posted by ctmf at 7:23 PM on May 26, 2021