Wow... well, I get a whole different level of feeling from this song. For those who remember back this far (ack... I do.) Howard Cosell made his career as a sportscaster (and the biggest sportscaster of the new TV generation) through boxing. In particular, the Ali fights. There was a time (when this song's conversation is set) when Ali continued to press on and fight, even though he clearly didn't have it any more.
To many, it was sad, pathetic, and embarrassing. Many wondered why he would do it. Some still stuck by him and thought he was still competitive, that he would prove the naysayers wrong.
So to me, this song evokes this late-career Ali, talking candidly to Cosell about the doubts, fears, being driven to continue.. and all the while this sad, sarcastic undertone of boxing being good to him (which it was, in that it made him wealthy and internationally known - and it wasn't... obviously the physical punishment and his rapid physical decline) - the sarcasm being that Howard Cosell knew
and here I have to take issue with the lyric sheet above - I don't know what Ben actually wrote, but I know what I hear - "The whole time YOU knew, a couple of years I'd be through" -
Howard knew all along that boxers don't last long (as with most athletes) and yet he launched his own career on the backs of the brutal punishment that Ali and his opponents dished out to each other. Howard, has boxing been good to you? It makes me shiver and raises the hairs on my neck every time.
And yes, the funny, halting waltz tempo really adds to the feeling. It's a musical representation of Ali's dancing style of boxing, yet, slower, plodding, and not so steady anymore. A great piece of writing, as is the whole album.
Very well said. A brilliant song, I really thought they should have included it in the soundtrack for the movie "Ali". Amazing that Ben could write this at the age of 21 (that's how old he said he was when he wrote at a concert I was at recently), it's so sad that it's difficult to listen to at times for me. There are parts of the song that people can relate to outside the boxing context as well: "Another day, I'm not cut out for this. I just know what to say" - difficultly of having to struggle through...
Very well said. A brilliant song, I really thought they should have included it in the soundtrack for the movie "Ali". Amazing that Ben could write this at the age of 21 (that's how old he said he was when he wrote at a concert I was at recently), it's so sad that it's difficult to listen to at times for me. There are parts of the song that people can relate to outside the boxing context as well: "Another day, I'm not cut out for this. I just know what to say" - difficultly of having to struggle through someone day in & day out, not feeling up for it anymore, with a possible meaning for the 'I just now what to say' line as they only know what to say, possiblly to hide that they are unhappy and can't do it anymore, but they don't know what to do. "Sometimes I punch myself hard as I can yelling nobody cares hoping someone will tell me how wrong I am" - pretty self-explanatory, but a really powerful line for me, that I love to sing when I'm angry to vent. Obviously not literally punching ourselves, but doing self-destructive things out of anger wanting someone to notice and tell us they care.
Wow... well, I get a whole different level of feeling from this song. For those who remember back this far (ack... I do.) Howard Cosell made his career as a sportscaster (and the biggest sportscaster of the new TV generation) through boxing. In particular, the Ali fights. There was a time (when this song's conversation is set) when Ali continued to press on and fight, even though he clearly didn't have it any more.
To many, it was sad, pathetic, and embarrassing. Many wondered why he would do it. Some still stuck by him and thought he was still competitive, that he would prove the naysayers wrong.
So to me, this song evokes this late-career Ali, talking candidly to Cosell about the doubts, fears, being driven to continue.. and all the while this sad, sarcastic undertone of boxing being good to him (which it was, in that it made him wealthy and internationally known - and it wasn't... obviously the physical punishment and his rapid physical decline) - the sarcasm being that Howard Cosell knew
And yes, the funny, halting waltz tempo really adds to the feeling. It's a musical representation of Ali's dancing style of boxing, yet, slower, plodding, and not so steady anymore. A great piece of writing, as is the whole album.
Very well said. A brilliant song, I really thought they should have included it in the soundtrack for the movie "Ali". Amazing that Ben could write this at the age of 21 (that's how old he said he was when he wrote at a concert I was at recently), it's so sad that it's difficult to listen to at times for me. There are parts of the song that people can relate to outside the boxing context as well: "Another day, I'm not cut out for this. I just know what to say" - difficultly of having to struggle through...
Very well said. A brilliant song, I really thought they should have included it in the soundtrack for the movie "Ali". Amazing that Ben could write this at the age of 21 (that's how old he said he was when he wrote at a concert I was at recently), it's so sad that it's difficult to listen to at times for me. There are parts of the song that people can relate to outside the boxing context as well: "Another day, I'm not cut out for this. I just know what to say" - difficultly of having to struggle through someone day in & day out, not feeling up for it anymore, with a possible meaning for the 'I just now what to say' line as they only know what to say, possiblly to hide that they are unhappy and can't do it anymore, but they don't know what to do. "Sometimes I punch myself hard as I can yelling nobody cares hoping someone will tell me how wrong I am" - pretty self-explanatory, but a really powerful line for me, that I love to sing when I'm angry to vent. Obviously not literally punching ourselves, but doing self-destructive things out of anger wanting someone to notice and tell us they care.
I also like the stool creaks :)