c 1979
ON SATURDAY AFTERNOONS IN 1963
Is back where you used to know
If grown-ups could laugh this slow
Where as you watch the hour snow
Years may go by
Here, you'll need something to keep her in
Though any day your secrets end
Then again
Years may go by
'Cuz here you need something to hide her in
And you stay inside of that foolish grin
When everyday now secrets end
And then again
Years may go by
Some singers have the ability to transport the listener to a unique time and place the moment they open their mouths. On paper, a song like On Saturday Afternoons in 1963 looks like a brief wisp of a thing, a few throwaway lines that, while poetic, hardly qualify as earth-shattering. But the magic happens when Rickie Lee Jones sings those words in her own haunting and inimitable way, against a musical background that is at once wistful and resigned, defining and celebrating childhood even as it appears to be lamenting the inevitable passing of it.
I defy anyone with an open heart to listen to this song and not feel profoundly moved by it. It proves why the greats are great and why certain albums become classics while others languish, ignored and forgotten, in perpetual obscurity. There's no trickery here, no trendiness, no hiding behind hype or effects or overly slick arrangements. Just honest raw emotion, delivered by one human being to other human beings in a way that's both truly affecting and instantly comprehensible.
And all in a pithy, self-contained work of art that lasts less than three minutes.
Sit back and marvel, as I often have and still do, at the sheer unadorned beauty of it.
Special thanks to everyone who takes the time to upload music to YouTube. Your efforts are appreciated by music lovers everywhere.
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Last updated 5 April 2021
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