BRIGHT EYES

ART GARFUNKEL
SONGWRITERS: M.K. JEROME; MIKE BATT & OTTO MOTZAN
COUNTRY: U. S. A.
ALBUM: FATE FOR BREAKFAST
LABEL: COLUMBIA RECORDS
GENRE: POP BALLAD
YEAR: 1979
 
              Arthur Ira Garfunkel (born November 5, 1941) is an American singer, poet, and actor. He is best known for his partnership with Paul Simon in the folk rock duo Simon & Garfunkel.
            Highlights of Garfunkel's solo music career include a top 10 hit, three top 20 hits, six top 40 hits, 14 Adult Contemporary top 30 singles, five Adult Contemporary number ones, two UK number ones and a People's Choice Award. Through his solo and collaborative work, Garfunkel has earned eight Grammys, including a Lifetime Achievement Award. In 1990, he and Simon were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In 2008, Garfunkel was ranked 86th in Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 100 Greatest Singers of All Time.
          "Bright Eyes" is a song written by British songwriter Mike Batt and performed by Art Garfunkel. It was written for the soundtrack of the 1978 British animated adventure drama film Watership Down. Rearranged as a pop song from its original form in the film, the track appears on British and European versions of Garfunkel's 1979 Fate for Breakfast and on the US versions of his 1981 album Scissors Cut. "Bright Eyes" topped the UK Singles Chart for six weeks and became Britain's biggest-selling single of 1979, selling over a million copies. Richard Adams, author of the original novel is reported to have hated the song. A cover of the song was later used in the television series of the same name explicitly as its theme song.

Is it a kind of dream,
Floating out on the tide,
Following the river of death downstream?
Oh, is it a dream?
 
There's a fog along the horizon,
A strange glow in the sky,
And nobody seems to know where you go,
And what does it mean?
Oh, is it a dream?
 
Bright eyes,
Burning like fire.
Bright eyes,
How can you close and fail?
How can the light that burned so brightly
Suddenly burn so pale?
Bright eyes.
 
Is it a kind of shadow,
Reaching into the night,
Wandering over the hills unseen,
Or is it a dream?
 
There's a high wind in the trees,
A cold sound in the air,
And nobody ever knows when you go,
And where do you start,
Oh, into the dark.
 
Bright eyes,
burning like fire.
Bright eyes,
how can you close and fail?
How can the light that burned so brightly
Suddenly burn so pale?
bright eyes.
 
Bright eyes,
burning like fire.
Bright eyes,
how can you close and fail?
How can the light that burned so brightly
Suddenly burn so pale?
Bright eyes.

ROCKY MOUNTAIN HIGH

JOHN DENVER
SONGWRITERS: JOHN DENVER & MIKE TAYLOR
COUNTRY: U. S. A.
ALBUM: ROCKY MOUNTAIN HIGH
LABEL: RCA RECORDS
GENRE: COUNTRY FOLK
YEAR: 1972
 
             Henry John Deutschendorf Jr. (December 31, 1943 – October 12, 1997), known professionally as John Denver, was an American singer-songwriter, record producer, actor, activist, and humanitarian, whose greatest commercial success was as a solo singer. After traveling and living in numerous locations while growing up in his military family, Denver began his music career with folk music groups during the late 1960s. Starting in the 1970s, he was one of the most popular acoustic artists of the decade and one of its best-selling artists. By 1974, he was one of America's best-selling performers, and AllMusic has described Denver as "among the most beloved entertainers of his era".
       Denver recorded and released approximately 300 songs, about 200 of which he composed. He had 33 albums and singles that were certified Gold and Platinum in the U.S by RIAA certification with estimated sales of more than 33 million units. He recorded and performed primarily with an acoustic guitar and sang about his joy in nature, his disdain for city life, his enthusiasm for music, and his relationship trials. Denver's music appeared on a variety of charts, including country music, the Billboard Hot 100, and adult contemporary, in all earning 12 gold and four platinum albums with his signature songs "Take Me Home, Country Roads", "Annie's Song", "Rocky Mountain High", "Calypso", "Thank God I'm a Country Boy", and "Sunshine on My Shoulders".
         Denver appeared in several films and television specials during the 1970s and 1980s. He continued to record in the 1990s, also focusing on environmental issues as well as lending vocal support to space exploration and testifying in front of Congress in protest against censorship in music. He lived in Aspen for much of his life where he was known for his love of Colorado. In 1974, Denver was named poet laureate of the state. The Colorado state legislature also adopted "Rocky Mountain High" as one of its two state songs in 2007.
       An avid pilot, Denver died at the age of 53 in a single-fatality crash while piloting his recently purchased light plane.
        "Rocky Mountain High" is a folk rock song written by John Denver and Mike Taylor about Colorado and is one of the two official state songs of Colorado. Recorded by Denver in 1972, it went to No. 9 on the US Hot 100 in 1973. Denver told concert audiences in the mid-1970s that the song took him an unusually long nine months to write. On April 10, 2017, the song was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America for sales of 500.000 digital downloads.
       Members of the Western Writers of America chose it as one of the Top 100 Western songs of all time.

He was born in the summer of his 27th year
Coming home to a place he'd never been before
He left yesterday behind him
You might say he was born again
Might say he found a key for every door
When he first came to the mountains
His life was far away
On the road and hanging by a song
But the strings already broken
And he doesn't really care
It keeps changin' fast, and it don't last for long
It's a Colorado Rocky Mountain high
I've seen it raining fire in the sky
The shadows from the starlight are softer than a lullaby
Rocky Mountain high, in Colorado
Rocky Mountain high
 
He climbed cathedral mountains, he saw silver clouds below
Saw everything as far as you can see
And they say that he got crazy once and that he
Tried to touch the Sun
And he lost a friend, but kept the memory
Now he walks in quiet solitude, the forest and the stream
Seeking grace in every step he takes
His sight is turned inside himself, to try and
Understand, the serenity of a clear blue mountain lake
 
And the Colorado Rocky Mountain high
I've seen it raining fire in the sky
You can talk to God and listen to the casual reply
Rocky Mountain high, in Colorado
Rocky Mountain high
 
Now his life is full of wonder
But his heart still knows some fear
Of the simple things he can not comprehend
Why they try to tear the mountains down
To bring in a couple more
More people, more scars upon the land
 
It's the Colorado Rocky Mountain high
I've seen it raining fire in the sky
I know he'd be a poorer man if he never saw an eagle fly
Rocky mountain high
It's the Colorado Rocky Mountain high
I've seen it raining fire in the sky
Friend around the camp fire and everybody's high
Rocky Mountain high, Rocky Mountain high
Rocky Mountain high
Rocky Mountain high.

WHERE DO THE CHILDREN PLAY

CAT STEVENS
SONGWRITER: CAT STEVENS
COUNTRY: U. K.
ALBUM: MONA BONE JAKON
LABEL: ISLAND RECORDS
GENRE: FOLK ROCK
YEAR: 1970
 
              Yusuf Islam (born Steven Demetre Georgiou; 21 July 1948), commonly known by his stage name Cat Stevens and later Yusuf Islam, Yusuf, and Yusuf/Cat Stevens, is a British singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. His musical style consists of folk, pop, rock, and, in his later career, Islamic music, before returning to secular music in 2006. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2014.
          His 1967 debut album and its title song "Matthew and Son" both reached top ten in the UK charts. Stevens' albums Tea for the Tillerman (1970) and Teaser and the Firecat (1971) were certified triple platinum in the US. His 1972 album Catch Bull at Four spent weeks at the top of several major charts. He earned ASCAP songwriting awards in 2005 and 2006 for "The First Cut Is the Deepest", and the song has been a hit for four artists. His other hit songs include "Father and Son", "Wild World", "Moonshadow", "Peace Train", and "Morning Has Broken".
           In December 1977, Stevens converted to Islam and adopted the name Yusuf Islam the following year. In 1979, he auctioned all of his guitars for charity. He has since bought back at least one of these guitars as a result of the efforts of his son Yoriyos, and left his musical career to devote himself to educational and philanthropic causes in the Muslim community. He was embroiled in a long-running controversy regarding comments he made in 1989 about the death fatwa on author Salman Rushdie. His current stance is that he never supported the fatwa: “I was cleverly framed by certain questions. I never supported the fatwa." He has received two honorary doctorates and awards for promoting peace as well as other humanitarian awards.
            In 2006, he returned to pop music – releasing his first new studio album of new pop songs in 28 years, entitled An Other Cup. With that release and subsequent ones, he dropped the surname "Islam" from the album cover art – using the stage name Yusuf as a mononym. In 2009, he released the album Roadsinger and, in 2014, he released the album Tell 'Em I'm Gone and began his first US tour since 1978. His second North American tour since his resurgence, featuring 12 shows in intimate venues, ran from 12 September to 7 October 2016. In 2017, he released the album The Laughing Apple, now using the stage name Yusuf/Cat Stevens, using the Cat Stevens name for the first time in 39 years. In September 2020, he released Tea for the Tillerman 2, a reimagining of his classic album Tea for the Tillerman to celebrate its 50th anniversary.
          "Where Do the Children Play?" is a song by British folk rock musician Cat Stevens, released as the opening track on his November 1970 album Tea for the Tillerman.
           In 2017, Garbage recorded a cover of the song for United Nations charity album, Music To Inspire: Artists UNited Against Human Trafficking.

Well, I think it's fine
Buildin' jumbo planes
Or takin' a ride
On a cosmic train.
Switch on Summer
From a slot machine.
Yes, get what you want to, if you want,
'Cause you can get anything.
 
I know we've come a long way.
We're changin' day to day,
But tell me, where do the children play?
 
Well, you roll on roads
Over fresh green grass
For your lorry loads
Pumpin' petrol gas
And you make them long
And you make them tough,
But they just go on and on, and it seems
That you can't get off.
 
Oh, I know we've come a long way.
We're changin' day to day,
But tell me, where do the children play?
 
Well, you've cracked the sky.
'Scrapers fill the air,
But will you keep on buildin' higher
'Til there's no more room up there?
Will you make us laugh?
Will you make us cry?
Will you tell us when to live?
Will you tell us when to die?
 
I know we've come a long way.
We're changin' day to day,
But tell me, where do the children play?
Do, do, do, do, do.
Do, do, do, do, do.
Do, do, do, do, do.
Do, do, do, do, do.

DON’T THINK TWICE IT’S ALRIGHT

BOB DYLAN
SONGWRITER: BOB DYLAN
COUNTRY: U. S. A.
ALBUM: DON’T THINK TWICE IT’S ALL RIGHT
LABEL: COLUMBIA RECORDS
GENRE: COUNTRY FOLK
YEAR: 1963
 
               Bob Dylan (born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter, author and visual artist. Widely regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture for more than 50 years. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s, when songs such as "Blowin' in the Wind" (1963) and "The Times They Are a-Changin'" (1964) became anthems for the civil rights and anti-war movements. His lyrics during this period incorporated a range of political, social, philosophical, and literary influences, defied pop music conventions and appealed to the burgeoning counterculture.
              Following his self-titled debut album in 1962, which mainly comprised traditional folk songs, Dylan made his breakthrough as a songwriter with the release of The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan the following year. The album features "Blowin' in the Wind" and the thematically complex "A Hard Rain's a-Gonna Fall". For many of these songs, he adapted the tunes and phraseology of older folk songs. He went on to release the politically charged The Times They Are a-Changin' and the more lyrically abstract and introspective Another Side of Bob Dylan in 1964. In 1965 and 1966, Dylan drew controversy when he adopted electrically amplified rock instrumentation, and in the space of 15 months recorded three of the most important and influential rock albums of the 1960s: Bringing It All Back Home (1965), Highway 61 Revisited (1965) and Blonde on Blonde (1966). Commenting on the six-minute single "Like a Rolling Stone" (1965), Rolling Stone wrote: "No other pop song has so thoroughly challenged and transformed the commercial laws and artistic conventions of its time, for all time."
            In July 1966, Dylan withdrew from touring after a motorcycle accident. During this period, he recorded a large body of songs with members of the Band, who had previously backed him on tour. These recordings were released as the collaborative álbum The Basement Tapes in 1975. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Dylan explored country music and rural themes in John Wesley Harding (1967), Nashville Skyline (1969), and New Morning (1970). In 1975, he released Blood on the Tracks, which many saw as a return to form. In the late 1970s, he became a born-again Christian and released a series of albums of contemporary gospel music before returning to his more familiar rock-based idiom in the early 1980s. Dylan's 1997 album Time Out of Mind marked the beginning of a renaissance for his career. He has released five critically acclaimed albums of original material since then, the most recent being Rough and Rowdy Ways (2020). He also recorded a series of three albums in the 2010s comprising versions of traditional American standards, especially songs recorded by Frank Sinatra. Backed by a changing lineup of musicians, he has toured steadily since the late 1980s on what has been dubbed the Never Ending Tour.
           Since 1994, Dylan has published eight books of drawings and paintings, and his work has been exhibited in major art galleries. He has sold more than 100 million records, making him one of the best-selling music artists of all time. He has received numerous awards, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom, ten Grammy Awards, a Golden Globe Award and an Academy Award. Dylan has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame. The Pulitzer Prize Board in 2008 awarded him a special citation for "his profound impact on popular music and American culture, marked by lyrical compositions of extraordinary poetic power". In 2016, Dylan was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature "for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition".
        "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right" is a song written by Bob Dylan in 1962, recorded on November 14 that year, and released on the 1963 album The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan and as a single.

It ain't no use to sit and wonder why, babe
If you don't know by now
An' it ain't no use to sit and wonder why, babe
It'll never do somehow
When your rooster crows at the break of dawn
Look out your window and I'll be gone
You're the reason I'm trav'lin' on
But don't think twice, it's all right
 
It ain't no use in turnin' on your light, babe
That light I never knowed
An' it ain't no use in turnin' on your light, babe
I'm on the dark side of the road
But I wish there was somethin' you would
Do or say
To try and make me change my mind and stay
But we never did too much talkin' anyway
But don't think twice, it's all right
 
So it ain't no use in callin' out my name, gal
Like you never done before
It ain't no use in callin' out my name, gal
I can't hear you anymore
I'm a-thinkin' and a-wond'rin' walking down the road
I once loved a woman, a child I'm told
I give her my heart but she wanted my soul
But don't think twice, it's all right
 
So long, honey bee
Where I'm bound, I can't tell
But goodbye's too good a word, babe
So I'll just say fare thee well
I ain't sayin' you treated me unkind
You could have done better but I don't mind
You just kinda wasted my precious time
But don't think twice, it's all right.