Rock Town Hall’s Department of Translation has uncovered the meaning of scrolling text at the foot of a 1970 video of Blood, Sweat & Tears performing “And When I Die.” For years translators have been unable to crack this lost Japanese dialect. Until now! The exact translation, which is believed to be a running commentary from an unidentified Japanese rock analyst, follows.
Christ, I hate this song. Maybe seeing them play it live, in its time will shed some new light on it…Man, there goes Clayton-Thomas hamming it up before he sings even one black-faced note…The big man certainly puts the “sweat” in Blood, Sweat & Tears…You know, it’s rare I can’t stand a guy with killer muttonchops like his…Look at the way his eyes light up in anticipation of hitting that double-time part. Shit, here they go; here comes the suck…
What rock song are you certain you can’t stand above all other rock songs?
Ride Captain Ride – Blues Image
Mr Mod – I know how much you hate “And When I Die”. I have a morbid fascination with that song. I hate it too but I feel compelled to listen to it all the way through.
That’s a tough one but for now I’ll go with Summer in the City. I can’t stand that one.
This Blood Sweat and Tears song hardly counts as “rock” by the way. It sounds like an outtake from Seven Brides for Seven Brothers or Okalahoma! or something.
I know what you mean, andyr: “And When I Die” may be rock’s most compelling bad song.
Laura Nyro is an acquired taste perhaps, but her original version of And When I Die is fine. It’s the hamming it up by BS&T that ruins it. Spinning Wheel is a purer example of this, because Clayton-Thomas is hamming up his own song.
I think it was C-T’s goofiness in Spinning Wheel that helped sell it to me as a wee lad. He sounds like a Mel Blanc voice. Zany pronunciation, and so on. It rocks as a song (see Jimmy McGriff’s awesome version for confirmation,) yet not a song I’d like to hear sung any more seriously.
This video? I’m with Andy. Fascinating. Though I’ll admit I turned it off so I could type this paragraph without getting lost contemplating my own mortality and what not.
I’ve often thought Hey Jude could be the most monstrous creation of western civilization. But then later I like it again.
Mostly, this video gave me sympathy for Mr. Mod, out there in the world, never knowing when this song will appear. “The horror…”
Mod, lay off the Clayt! Kenny Rogers couldn’t carry DCT’s jockstrap!