Song Lyric Sunday: Mandolin Wind

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For this week’s Song Lyric Sunday Jim has, in his post Going Deep, invited us to share a song which is an underrated deep album cut. Jim defines this as a song that was never a single, or which has been forgotten over time and is only known to fans. My choice is one of the tracks on the album in the image above. I’m not sure if it counts as ‘underrated,’ as it has long been a favourite both of fans and of Rod himself, but it’s an album track and was only ever a B-side to a single, so even if it is borderline I think it makes the cut. This is the tune:

And here are its lyrics:

When the rain came, I thought you’d leave
‘Cause I knew how much you loved the sun
But you chose to stay, stay and keep me warm
Through the darkest nights, I’ve ever known
If the mandolin wind, couldn’t change a thing
Then I know I love ya
Oh the snow fell, without a break
Buffalo died, in the frozen fields you know
Through the coldest winter, in almost fourteen years
I couldn’t believe you kept your smile
Now I can rest assured, knowing that we’ve seen the worst
And I know I love ya
Oh I never was good, with romantic words
So the next few lines, come really hard
Don’t have much, but what I’ve got is yours
Except of course, my steel guitar
Ha, ’cause I know you don’t play
But I’ll teach you one day
Because I love ya

I recall the night, we knelt and prayed
Noticing, your face was thin and pale
I found it hard, to hide my tears
I felt ashamed, I felt I’d let you down
No mandolin wind, couldn’t change a thing
Couldn’t change a thing, no no
Ooh-hoo-hoo

Lada-dada, la-da, lada-dada
Lada-dada, da-n-dada

The coldest winter, in almost fourteen years
Could never, never change your mind, yeah
Ooh-hoo-ooh
And I love ya
Yes indeed, and I love ya
And I love ya
Lordy I love ya
Ooh-hoo
And I love ya
Lord, I love ya

Source: Musixmatch

Songwriters: Rod Stewart

Mandolin Wind lyrics © Unichappell Music Inc., Stewart Rod

As the image shows, this was a track on Rod Stewart’s third album, Every Picture Tells A Story, which was the one that gave him his big breakthrough and turned him into a major star as a solo artist: he was already well known from being a member of The Faces. The album was released in May 1971 and was a massive hit: it topped the charts in the UK, US, Canada and Australia and did well in several other countries, and has often featured in those ‘best album of all time’ features that magazines like doing. Like the track that precedes it – Maggie May – the song is characterised by the lovely sound of a mandolin. Well, with a title like that, it just had to be, didn’t it! The only mandolin player credited on the album is Ray Jackson, who played the instrument in the English folk-rock band Lindisfarne, who were at their peak in the early Seventies. However, some have cast doubts on that, saying it might have been played by Martin Quittenton, who was well-known as Rod’s acoustic guitarist. Whichever it was, it really makes the record and gives it that great feel.

This was the B-side of the single release of another track from the album, I Know I’m Losing You, which made the US top thirty but wasn’t a hit here. To be honest, I’m not even sure if it was a single here, so I feel justified in counting it as an album track – go on, sue me! As I said earlier, this may be stretching the definition a little, but as I’ve never seen Rod play live I can’t even be sure if this featured in his shows: I’m guessing it might not have been suitable for them, though.

I was at university from 1972 to 1975 and at that time the BBC Radio 1 weekday lunchtime show was hosted by Johnnie Walker. He had a regular spot in which he invited listeners to send requests for album tracks they would like him to play. This was one of the most chosen songs, and Walker once remarked that they received so many requests for it he could play it every day! I’ve always loved this song: I bought the album when it first came out, and played it often.

I said earlier that this was a favourite of Rod. He has been quoted as saying that he “always thought the mandolin was such a romantic-sounding instrument,” and that his “goal in life is to play Mandolin Wind and make it sound like the record.” To prove his point for him, it was one of his back catalogue that he chose to play in his appearance on the MTV Unplugged series, which was recorded in February 1993 and released as an album in May of that year as Unplugged…and Seated. The band he had with him that day included his longtime friend Ronnie Wood, who by then was a member of The Rolling Stones but had previously been a member of The Faces with Rod, and had played on some of his early solo albums. The album reached #2 in both the UK and the US, and the video of the song is such a joyous example of two friends taking delight in playing music together that I thought I’d play it to close this piece:

Two mandolin players are credited for this performance, Don Teschler and Phil Parlapiano – I’m sorry, but I’m not sure which of them is the one featured in the video. From looking at images of them on Google I think it is Phil, but then again it could be Don. Speaking of which, another pairing of those names recorded a cover version of this: The Everly Brothers, on their 1972 album Stories We Could Tell. Much though I like them, I’m afraid their version does nothing for me: it takes out all the heart and soul of one of the most beautiful, life-affirming songs I know.

That’s it for now. See you again soon – on Tuesday, in fact 😊🎶

52 thoughts on “Song Lyric Sunday: Mandolin Wind”

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  6. Brilliant choice Clive. I’ve always loved this song. It’s Rod’s best period. It was an album loved by blokes and girlfriends alike. Also I love how he used the mandolin in that era. When I played drums in a band in 74 to 76, we had a musician who played a mean mandolin when we did some Rod Stewart covers.

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  7. This is about Rods best era- pre going through the ego/peroxide blond and spandex years. (Erm, that comment might sound a tad non-pc these days. Sorry if I offended Britt, Rachel, Alana or a nameless multitude of who knows more). Maggie May is about the best he’s ever done, to my mind at least.

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    • I agree. His first three albums were superb, and I liked everything up to A Night On The Town, after which it was a case of albums with good tracks mixed with dross. I lost faith in him when he decided to be a crooner but some of his more recent albums have been better. I love Maggie May too, but on balance I think I love this one more.

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