Sunday, November 27, 2005

Can anyone help?

Hi folks...

I find myself bugged by a vaguely remembered song from the 1980s. The overall effect is not dissimilar to Billy Joel's 'We Didn't Start the Fire' and the lyrics mainly consisted of the names and dates of birth of various historical figures. Does that ring a bell for anyone?

Answers in the comments box. Thanks!

Thank you Fuinseoig...
who correctly identified it as being the suitably obscure 'A House' with their song 'Endless Art.'. For anyone interested, I found a listenable version on line here. Just click the link next to the name of the song and it will play 30 seconds into the file.
I also found the lyrics:
All art is quite useless according to Oscar Wilde
Turner 1775 to 1851
Toulouse-Lautrec 1864 to 1901
Andy Warhol 1928 to 1987 RIP
Ernest Hemingway 1899 to 1961
George Orwell, Jimi Hendrix, William Butler Yates, Jack B. Yeats
Richard Redgrave 1804 to 1888
Henry Moore 1896 to 1986
Henry Miller, Sid Vicious only 21
Brian Jones
Otis Redding 1941 to 1967 RIP

All dead, yet still alive
In endless time, endless art

Masters of their arts
Claude Monet 1840 to 1926
Beethoven, Bach, Brahms
Elvis Presley 1935 to '77
Man Ray, Johnny Ray
John Donne 1573 to 1631
Alfred Lord Tennyson 1809 to '92
Degeneration art, Joan Miro, RIP
Jackson Pollack 1912 to 1956
John Lennon '40 to '80
Henry Lamb, Cezanne, Paul Gauguin, William Shakespeare
Brendan Behan 1923 to 1964
Tennessee Williams 1912 to 1983
Gerard Manley Hopkins 1844 to 1889
Pissaro, Picasso, Degas RIP

All dead, yet still alive
In endless time, endless art

Joseph Conrad 1857 to 1924
Jack Kerouac 1922 to 1969
Keith Moon 1946 to 1978
D. H. Lawrence, James Joyce, Mozart
Van Gogh 1853 to 1890
Ian Curtis, Salvador Dali, Johann Strauss, Richard Strauss, Walt Disney's
Mickey Mouse RIP

All dead, yet still alive
In endless time, endless art
I like songs with long lists of names.

No comments: