Tuesday 10 February 2015

You better believe it

"The best things, it is often said, come in small packages".

In reality this is plainly ridiculous and can often lead to disappointment, disenchantment or attempts at reimbursement if purchased on a credit card or gifted with the receipt secreted in the said small package.

"Less is more" is a similarly misleading statement usually championed by those who like to promote their own interests of frugality, spartan lifestyle or are just a wee bit tight.

There is however one specific item to which both of these sayings apply and rightly so.

I am talking about the rock track by Thin Lizzy of "Don't believe a word".

It is a perfect song in sound and content being as meaningful as a ballad and yet as raunchy as you could get in all of its two minutes and twenty seconds.

There are not many tracks in the modern rock era that fall below three minutes duration, at least not serious ones although there are plenty featuring laughing elves, singing frogs and blue coloured individuals with dodgy Dutch accents.

The song, written by Thin Lizzy frontman Phil Lynott featured on the groups' Johnny the Fox Album in 1976 and I recall, as a teenager its fleeting entry into the British Pop Charts with frequent airplays but only reaching the high point of number 12.

It was a refreshing sound amongst the all pervasive disco domination and perhaps ahead of it's time being a bridge across to the momentous 1977 which saw punk and metal compete head to head. The track starts off with a driving bass and lead guitar and the lyrics step in just as the melody takes on a beautiful melancholia.

Lynott had a unique tone in his voice and who knows what his full potential may have been had he not died at the very young age of 36 in 1986. The weeping guitar line continues in the background complimenting the lyric and with the mid section taking on an instrumental of screeching vibrato guitar before the final stanza and, to keep the theme of brevity, an abrupt ending rather than a repeat to a fade out.

The song was originally intended by Lynott to be a slow ballad but his co-band members Robertson and Downey persuaded him to rock it up. The outcome, in my opinion, is one of the best compact tracks ever. I have included a link to the song for those interested and also, for those who like a sing-a-long, the lyrics. Enjoy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v54n4-gzHck

Don't believe me if I tell you
Not a word of this is true
Don't believe me if I tell you
Especially if I tell you that I'm in love with you

Don't believe me if I tell you
That I wrote this song for you
There might be some other silly pretty girl
I'm singing it to

Don't believe a word
For words are only spoken
Your heart is like a promise
Made to be broken

Don't believe a word
Words can tell lies
And lies are no comfort
When there's tear in your eyes

Don't believe me if I tell you
Not a word of this is true
Don't believe me if I tell you
Especially if I tell you that I'm in love with you

Don't believe a word

There is an extended version available of a dazzling two minutes and forty three seconds by Thin Lizzy and for the ultimate experience there is the luxurious and indulgent version by ex Lizzy member and solo start Gary Moore at over seven minutes.

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