Showing posts with label Don McLean. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Don McLean. Show all posts

Thursday 7 October 2010

Vincent - Don McLean

'Vincent' was written and recorded by Don McLean as a tribute to the Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh. The song includes references to his landscape works, in lines such as 'sketch the trees and the daffodils' and 'morning fields of amber grain' - which describe the amber wheat that features in several paintings. Several lines may allude to Van Gogh's self-portraits: perhaps in 'weathered faces lined in pain / are soothed beneath the artist's loving hand', McLean is suggesting that van Gogh may have found some sort of consolation in creating portraits of himself. There is, too, a single line describing van Gogh's most famous set of works, Sunflowers. 'Flaming flowers that brightly blaze' not only draws on the luminous orange and yellow colours of the painting, but also creates powerful images of the sun itself, flaming and blazing, being contained within the flowers and the painting.

McLean wrote the lyrics in 1971 after reading a book about the life of the artist. The following year, the song became the number one hit in the U.K. and No. 12 in the U.S.

My collection: 7"single no. 4926
Found: Kringloop, Den Haag, October 6, 2010
Cost: 0,1 euro
Tracks: 'Vincent' / 'Castles in the air'

Tuesday 15 December 2009

Crying - Don McLean

'Crying' was written by Roy Orbison and Joe Melson and recorded by Roy Orbison in 1961. It was released as a single that summer, becoming a worldwide hit.

Don McLean recorded his version of the song in 1978 on his album 'Prime time'. It also became a worldwide hit, reaching number 1 in the UK singles chart and the Dutch Top 40, peaking at number 5 in the US Billboard Hot 100 chart.

My collection: 7" single no. 620
Found: Parkpop, Den Haag, June 26, 1988
Cost: 2 guilders
Tracks: 'Crying' / 'Genesis'

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