SLS: Good Old Country Comfort

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For this week’s Song Lyric Sunday Jim is inviting us to play a song about enjoying the outdoors, as he tells us in his post Spend More Time Outdoors, which marks one of those days so beloved by the Americans – the Great American Campout, which is today, and is a great theme for a special day.

I went through quite a few possibilities for this, and in the end have settled on three which I’m playing. Two are long time favourites and the other is a rare cover version of a song made popular in the US by Three Dog Night, though as they achieved the square root of diddly squat over here I didn’t know of it until one of my favourite bands played it. Jim is going to be writing about their version, and no doubt will do his usual superb job with it, but I hope he doesn’t mind me playing this cover version, as my comments will only be about that so I’m not stealing his thunder!

I played this first song two months ago when I featured the album it was on in my occasional A Classic Album series. But you can never have too much of a good thing, and this is a different video, just for a change:

Though that was a lyric video I’m sharing my usual link to genius.com in case you need another look. Elton John released Country Comfort on his third album, Tumbleweed Connection, which is still my favourite of all of his records. As with most of Reg’s songs this was co-written with Bernie Taupin, and I have always loved its feel of reminiscence about growing up in the country, which I did so I can relate to this. Not so much the American feel, but you know what I mean, I hope! This was a concept album, around themes that would today be known as ‘Americana,’ and it is full of great tracks. Ironically, perhaps, my favourite is one which the Taupin/John connection didn’t write, but that one is no good for today’s theme.

My second choice for today is the cover version rarity. This is R.E.M:

You can find the lyrics here, on genius.com of course.

Out In The Country was written by Paul Williams and Roger Nichols and was, as I said, a US hit for Three Dog Night, also making the Canadian chart. R.E.M. released their version as one of the B-sides to their Bad Day single in September 2003, and it subsequently appeared on a compilation, Complete Rarities: Warner Bros. 1988–2011, which was released in May 2014 in a digital-only format, taking account of the fact that it was arranged as a 45-disc set, which might have been a bit too much for the typical record shop to stock in physical form! The full set comes in at more than eight hours long, and whilst I have it in my Apple Music library I have to admit that I have never taken it in as part of a single session! I rather like the song, but it has never tempted me to revisit the music of Three Dog Night: Jeremiah the bullfrog was more than enough for me. But maybe Jim can persuade me to try again?

I’m closing today with another from a classic album, also a long-time favourite of mine – both the band and the album. You may well know this one:

The Beatles, of course, with a slightly different arrangement of Mother Nature’s Son, the lyrics for which can be found – where else – at genius.com. 

Credited, as with all of their songs, to the Lennon/McCartney partnership, though as we all know this one was written by Paul McCartney. It was a track on the double album The Beatles, aka The White Album, which came out in November 1968. Paul has said about the song;

There’s a song I always used to love when I was growing up. It was called Nature Boy, and it was about a nature lover. When I wanted to write a song along the same kind of lines, I chose the title, Mother Nature’s Son. And, I wrote this — I think — up in Liverpool, when I was visiting my dad one time, and it was just about my love of nature, my love of the countryside. And one of the things that Linda and I found we had in common […] was our love of nature.

He might also have added that he was prompted to write this after a lecture given by the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi during the band’s retreat with him. Indeed, Wikipedia says that the song was written in India, so maybe Paul’s memory is duff? After all, Wikipedia never makes mistakes, does it? I think we should be told!

That’s all for today, and I hope you have enjoyed them. I give my usual thanks to Jim for hosting the show, and will see you again for some more Tuesday Tunes. I’m having a restful day, having stayed up to watch England destroy the mighty Panama in the World Cup. Honestly, we were crap! Have a lovely day 👍

46 thoughts on “SLS: Good Old Country Comfort”

      • They recorded some songs that I think are excellent, but I only ever owned one of their albums, ‘Please Please Me’. I was 11, and got it for Christmas or a birthday, I can’t remember which. I saw ‘Hard Day’s Night’ at the cinema and thought it was funny. I was only 12 then but at that time I was already collecting Soul and Motown records, as well as retro Blues. Two years later, I heard ‘Eleanor Rigby’, and thought it was wonderful. Many years after that, listening to Oasis and Tears For Fears, it was obvious to me where their inspiration came from.

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      • I’m pleased you like some of their songs, and you are absolutely right about Oasis and Tears For Fears. Others have also tried – unsuccessfully – to emulate them.

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      • You may never speak to me again after this, but I think Tears For Fears did it better. Much, much better. In my book, Roland Orzabal is nothing short of a musical genius and Sowing The Seeds Of Love is like a pop opera. And on the plus side, he doesn’t think he is God.

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  5. Clive you are right I never heard that REM cover, and it is a cover of Jim’s choice for today? Tsk tsk, you are rationalizing why you aren’t stepping on his toes with it, yes?

    The first song is one I do like and have heard before. It’s a perfect song for a Sunday afternoon. Very grounding in word and music.

    Paul’s song is a hymn to the greatest deity of all, Nature. Very pleasant trifecta of music. I need to see if Spotify has that REM compilation!

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  6. Clive, “Mother nature’s son” is just a lovely song. It is well-underplayed and is far better than some of McCartney’s cheesy songs he wrote in the 1970s (“Silly love songs” comes to mind). Keith

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  9. Great choice going with Elton today, Clive as this song captures a deep, comforting longing for simple, rural country life, celebrating family, tradition, and the feeling of finally heading home.  You have to love that line, “good, old country comfort in my bones, it’s the sweetest sound I’ve ever known.”  R.E.M. did a great cover of ‘Out in the Country’ and I didn’t know that you dislike Three Dog Night, as I think they were very good.  I always overlooked ‘Mother’s Natures Son’ as a filler track, because there were so many other songs on this album, but listening to it now, I realize that it is much better than I ever gave it credit for.  Thanks for joining in again and sharing your music.

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    • I’m pleased you liked that one, Jim. It says it all really.

      I wasn’t a fan of TDN, but they were nowhere near as successful here so maybe I didn’t hear them enough.

      And it’s good to see your reappraisal of the Beatles one, always a favourite of mine.

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  10. Mother Nature’s Son was a great song for Paul to express his (and L’s) love of nature – also, i was never an REM fan and I did have a quick listen to their song and i can see why so many folks liked that band!

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  15. Wonderful choices, Clive. Elton’s song is still one of the best from a fantastic album. I do prefer the Three Dog Night version of “Out In the Country” but it was good to hear something different. “Mother Nature’s Son” was never a fave of mine but it’s The Beatles and they sounded fab this morning. A superb lineup for today’s theme! ✨

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  17. Elton John has always held a special place in my heart as he was a big part of my awakening as a young person. This is not a song I am familiar with but It felt good to hear his voice first thing this morning.

    Likewise, I had never heard the REM song you chose but it was agreeable. And then of course Mother Nature’s Son rounded it all out with the familiar. All great choices this week, Clive.

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    • I’m glad you liked these, Jodi. I played the whole of that Elton John album a couple of months ago – still my favourite of his.

      The R.E.M. one is rare, and I almost didn’t play it, as Jim is writing about the better known (over there) Three Dog Night version, but this is a little different.

      And there is always room for The Beatles!

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  18. I saw your original blog about the Tumbleweed album but wasn’t able to read at the time so will try and get back to it, but I still listen to it often. I think they were really starting to find their identity at the time and this album was a big step, in my opinion.

    The REM cover I wasn’t aware of; it’s quite interesting so thanks for sharing.

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