{"id":128,"date":"2016-05-21T17:39:55","date_gmt":"2016-05-21T17:39:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.vincentburke.co.uk\/?p=128"},"modified":"2016-05-21T17:39:55","modified_gmt":"2016-05-21T17:39:55","slug":"100-of-my-favourite-songs-simon-smith-and-his-amazing-dancing-bear","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vincentburke.co.uk\/?p=128","title":{"rendered":"100 of my favourite songs: Simon Smith and his Amazing Dancing Bear"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"27a929898ff530cb8afdb8d4872aa487-2\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The problem with irony is nobody gets it; they get it in conversation, on TV,\u00a0 but not in songs.<\/p>\n

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I know this from personal experience – there’s something about singing which everyone\u00a0believes is personal, autobiographical and that can be great, but it’s\u00a0not always what is happening, it can be interesting to pretend to be someone else, or to give yourself\u00a0licence to say stuff you don’t believe to make\u00a0a point. \u00a0A while ago I posted a song called \u00a0‘Can I just Explain?’<\/a>\u00a0for example, where I imagine I’m a man explaining his affair and partially blaming his wife. ‘You were acting like a stranger, turning your back in the dark’ etc. then I wonder why people are asking me if my marriage is OK \ud83d\ude09 \u00a0Anyway believe it or not this blog isn’t about me…<\/p>\n

‘Simon Smith and His Amazing Dancing Bear’<\/p>\n

\nhttp:\/\/www.vincentburke.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/Randy-Newman-Simon-Smith-and-the-Amazing-Dancing-Bear.mp4<\/a><\/video><\/div>\n

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Despite being covered by the Muppets (whose version I love) \u00a0it’s actually a pretty bleak song. Simon Smith is poor \u00a0‘I may go out tomorrow if I can borrow a coat to wear’ \u00a0(wonder if Morrissy nicked that line for ‘This Charming Man’?) \u00a0What’s Simon\u00a0doing? \u00a0Well he’s off to entertain rich people ‘well fed faces’ \u00a0by poking a bear with a stick. \u00a0Yes, sorry Fonzie that’s how they used to make the bear ‘dance.’ \u00a0 So two layers of cruelty the laughing rich cruel to Simon, making\u00a0\u00a0Simon cruel to\u00a0the bear. ‘It’s just amazing how fair people can be.’<\/p>\n

There’s probably another meaning too as Randy Neman was struggling himself to make entertainment pay ‘Who needs money , when you’re funny?’ \u00a0Well the song is funny but I think better for the darkness underneath. I like it when an up-beat melody is undercut by a lyric, I suppose I’ve done it myself with a song like\u00a0‘he paid to have himself murdered’<\/a><\/p>\n

Anyway, Now by the Muppets!<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.vincentburke.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/The-Muppet-Show-Simon-Smith-and-His-Amazing-Dancing-Bear.mp4<\/a><\/video><\/div>\n

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Randy Newman went on to write so many great songs and was often misunderstood.<\/p>\n

In ‘Sail Away’<\/a>\u00a0he breathtakingly plays a slave trader luring Africans on to his ship with the promise of a wonderful new land.<\/p>\n

In\u00a0‘Political Science’<\/a>\u00a0he seems confused as to why everyone hates America and suggests they blow the rest of the world\u00a0up (except maybe Australia ‘don’t wanna hurt no kangaroo.’\u00a0)<\/p>\n

Then there’s the hit ‘Short People’<\/a>\u00a0which ridicules\u00a0discrimination but which got him\u00a0sued. I still have a relatively short friend who can’t stand him because of it.<\/p>\n

One more?\u00a0‘You can leave your hat on’<\/a>\u00a0seems to me it’s a song about a\u00a0darkly manipulative\u00a0man;\u00a0but then it had the meaning sucked out of it by vocal vacuum cleaner Tom Jones and is now mostly danced to by strippers. Ho hum – Randy did his best! All good tunes!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Catch up soon (and sorry if you like Tom Jones).\u00a0\u00a0Another song soon – stay in touch!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Vincent<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The problem with irony is nobody gets it; they get it in conversation, on TV,\u00a0 but not in songs.   I know this from personal experience – there’s something about singing which everyone\u00a0believes is personal, autobiographical and that can be great, but it’s\u00a0not always what is happening, it can be interesting to pretend to be … Continue reading 100 of my favourite songs: Simon Smith and his Amazing Dancing Bear<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[31,38,33,28,32,34,29,37,30,36,35],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":144,"url":"https:\/\/www.vincentburke.co.uk\/?p=144","url_meta":{"origin":128,"position":0},"title":"100 of my favourite songs: ‘cracking’ by suzanne vega","author":"admin","date":"June 7, 2016","format":"aside","excerpt":"suzanne vega -'cracking' That's the link up there - this one goes back to Summer 1985; we thought we were being cool cooking up banana skins on a trangia ( I was quietly relieved it didn't work) me, \u00a0James, \u00a0Alex, and Gutsy who had a tape-recorder and for some reason\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "100 of my favourite songs"","block_context":{"text":"100 of my favourite songs","link":"https:\/\/www.vincentburke.co.uk\/?cat=27"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.vincentburke.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/220px-SuzanneVegadebutalbum.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":109,"url":"https:\/\/www.vincentburke.co.uk\/?p=109","url_meta":{"origin":128,"position":1},"title":"100 of my favourite songs: the Waters of March","author":"admin","date":"April 30, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"As a songwriter of sorts I want to write a bit about some of my favourite songs - things I wish I'd written or made me want to write in the first place. Some are clever, some are stupid, some are old some are new. \u00a0Either way they're all brilliant\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "100 of my favourite songs"","block_context":{"text":"100 of my favourite songs","link":"https:\/\/www.vincentburke.co.uk\/?cat=27"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.vincentburke.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/garfunkel-art-5346959715eb5-300x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":318,"url":"https:\/\/www.vincentburke.co.uk\/?p=318","url_meta":{"origin":128,"position":2},"title":"track 5: yellow guitar","author":"admin","date":"April 8, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Is it Summer yet? well almost, and this song's ready for you\u00a0when it does arrive... ...doing the album was learning as I went, I kept adding things and then taking them off again because - in the end I hope this just sounds like someone singing to you late at\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"beach\"","block_context":{"text":"beach","link":"https:\/\/www.vincentburke.co.uk\/?tag=beach"},"img":{"alt_text":"Vince_CD_book_HIGH-6","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.vincentburke.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Vince_CD_book_HIGH-6.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.vincentburke.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Vince_CD_book_HIGH-6.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.vincentburke.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Vince_CD_book_HIGH-6.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.vincentburke.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Vince_CD_book_HIGH-6.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.vincentburke.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Vince_CD_book_HIGH-6.jpg?resize=1050%2C600 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.vincentburke.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Vince_CD_book_HIGH-6.jpg?resize=1400%2C800 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":309,"url":"https:\/\/www.vincentburke.co.uk\/?p=309","url_meta":{"origin":128,"position":3},"title":"track 3: on the event of…","author":"admin","date":"March 26, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"I wrote this one for our wedding, ...or more probably, the words slipped in\u00a0when\u00a0that was filling\u00a0my head; anyhow it was all finished for the day (which was by the way great). In a way the song felt part of a new beginning too. \u00a0Having said goodbye to the band and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "over here in the trees"","block_context":{"text":"over here in the trees","link":"https:\/\/www.vincentburke.co.uk\/?cat=119"},"img":{"alt_text":"Vince_CD_book_HIGH-4","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.vincentburke.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Vince_CD_book_HIGH-4.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.vincentburke.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Vince_CD_book_HIGH-4.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.vincentburke.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Vince_CD_book_HIGH-4.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.vincentburke.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Vince_CD_book_HIGH-4.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.vincentburke.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Vince_CD_book_HIGH-4.jpg?resize=1050%2C600 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.vincentburke.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Vince_CD_book_HIGH-4.jpg?resize=1400%2C800 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":312,"url":"https:\/\/www.vincentburke.co.uk\/?p=312","url_meta":{"origin":128,"position":4},"title":"track 4: can I just explain?","author":"admin","date":"April 2, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"nice photo hu? (thanks Jonathan) After the optimism of the previous 'wedding' song comes this, a marriage gone\u00a0sour. It's not my most popular, but it is one of my best - \u00a0both the lyric and the melody hit the spot for me and Late Junction on Radio 3 played it\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"6music\"","block_context":{"text":"6music","link":"https:\/\/www.vincentburke.co.uk\/?tag=6music"},"img":{"alt_text":"Vince_CD_book_HIGH-5","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.vincentburke.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Vince_CD_book_HIGH-5.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.vincentburke.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Vince_CD_book_HIGH-5.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.vincentburke.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Vince_CD_book_HIGH-5.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.vincentburke.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Vince_CD_book_HIGH-5.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.vincentburke.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Vince_CD_book_HIGH-5.jpg?resize=1050%2C600 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.vincentburke.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Vince_CD_book_HIGH-5.jpg?resize=1400%2C800 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":418,"url":"https:\/\/www.vincentburke.co.uk\/?p=418","url_meta":{"origin":128,"position":5},"title":"March Already?","author":"admin","date":"March 10, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 How are you ? It's been a while again but I've been busy honest. There are a few things been going on, January we were in a theatre\u00a0with the \u00a0Dance Company 'Moving Stories,' great to be asked and nice to be away from pubs for a while. \u00a0I know\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Update"","block_context":{"text":"Update","link":"https:\/\/www.vincentburke.co.uk\/?cat=143"},"img":{"alt_text":"83889160_10156562995642130_4073802344549056512_n 2","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.vincentburke.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/83889160_10156562995642130_4073802344549056512_n-2.jpeg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.vincentburke.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/83889160_10156562995642130_4073802344549056512_n-2.jpeg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.vincentburke.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/83889160_10156562995642130_4073802344549056512_n-2.jpeg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.vincentburke.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/83889160_10156562995642130_4073802344549056512_n-2.jpeg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vincentburke.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vincentburke.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vincentburke.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vincentburke.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vincentburke.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=128"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.vincentburke.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":141,"href":"https:\/\/www.vincentburke.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128\/revisions\/141"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vincentburke.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=128"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vincentburke.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=128"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vincentburke.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=128"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}