Take It Easy

Today’s challenge for SLS, set for us by Jim in his post School Is Back, is to play a song that is about ‘educate, learn, school, teach.’ I’d guess that some of you might have seen my chosen song title for today and thought “that may have given this guy the name for his blog, but what do The Eagles’ and Jackson Browne’s song have to do with this theme?” In a word: nothing. But the song I’m playing you does, although it represents a rather interesting form of education:

[NB Please note that this is the second video I’ve uploaded for this, as the official one doesn’t seem to work for some American readers. I have no idea what the cat is doing there!]

The song’s lyrics are all quite clearly sung, but in case you missed them, they are:

I took a little day trip, found myself in France
Heard that stuff about the Paris gals and thought I’d take a chance
Wound up in a sidewalk bar, turning a lady’s head
When she agreed to go with me, why to myself I said:

“Don’t you know, didn’t you go, if you give me half a chance
I’ll be back on a steamboat, mama, gonna make it back to France
Well, you gotta take it easy, but you take it if you’re gonna find romance”

All you need is a couple of drinks, that’s what the lady said
All you gotta have is a “verre” or two of wine, and you’re much more fun in bed
I was young, inexperienced, though I gave her my all
I woke up with an aching head and read this note on the wall:

“Don’t you know, I had to go, I swear I give you half a chance
Well, you take it easy, but you take it that’s the way we do it in France
Well, you gotta take it easy, but you take it if you gonna find romance”

I learned a lesson or two that night, several the next day
Like how a man should carry himself when he goes far away
In spite of it all I’m happy you can call me a crazy fool
But I got a lesson or two that night I could never have had at school

Don’t you know, don’t you know you gotta take the chance
I’m going back on the steamboat, mama, gonna make it back to France
Well, you gotta take it easy, but you take it If you’re gonna find romance
If you’re gonna find ro-
If you’re gonna find ro-
If you’re gonna find romance

Lyrics: azlyrics.com

Songwriter: Ralph McTell

“I got a lesson or two that night I could never have had at school”: I think we’d all have enjoyed an education like that! At a rough guess, I’d bet that many of you have never heard of Ralph McTell, and if you have it will probably be from his song Streets Of London, which he introduces in his shows, in his usual self-effacing manner, as “my greatest hit.” Ralph released his first album, Eight Frames A Second, in 1968, and I was instantly a fan: English folk singer-songwriters are right up my street (London or otherwise). He followed that the next year with Spiral Staircase, with its amazing title track. This was the opening song on his seventh album, Easy, released in March 1974. That was during my uni days, and I saw him play there a couple of times: the second of those was part of the promotional tour for this album. I recall it to this day, as the phrase has recently been in the news again, but when introducing this song he mentioned that he had been asked if it was autobiographical. He told us his reply was “I stand on the Fifth Amendment,” borrowed from across the pond but a phrase we are all familiar with!

Folk music has always been a steady seller in the UK, with only the occasional break out hit, but this album bucked the trend a little, and got to #31 in our albums chart. Two years later it was awarded a silver disc, representing 60k sales, which may not sound much to American readers but is quite an achievement in our smaller market. I bought the album from the merch desk after the show and still rank it as one of my favourites: by Ralph or by anyone else. Ralph is now 77 but is still going strong, and about to be out on tour again. He has upwards of fifty albums to his name, including live and compilation records, and there isn’t a duff one among them. He has written plenty of whimsical songs like this one, and some absolute beauties too. If you want to hear more, try Spiral Staircase, as I mentioned just now, or for some of his beauties try First Song, From Clare To Here, The Girl From The Hiring Fair, or Easter Lillies – all highly recommended but there so many others I could have suggested.

I’m looking forward to seeing what others suggest for today’s theme. For me, an obvious one would have been Pink Floyd’s Another Brick In The Wall – “we don’t need no ed-you-cayshun” – but I thought that might be too popular a choice and went for something more offbeat and less well-known. It offers an interesting take on this week’s theme and is such a fun song, too: we need that in our music, don’t we? And it showed that there is always likely to be another song with the same title! Until next time 😊🎶