21 December 2010

"Blinded By The Light"



The internet takes much of the fun out of trivial knowledge.
One of the things I have ALWAYS been VERY good at is remembering worthless crap.
At "Trivial Pursuit" I could (and did) individually take on groups of people and win.
Playing "trivia" is still fun in person, but is obviously impossible over the internet...
No information is secure from the search engine!

For some time, this tune was a favorite piece of trivial knowledge.
I've always liked it. Like most, I heard and enjoyed "Mannfred Mann's" version first, and because it pretty quickly becomes obvious the lyrics don't have much value to the song other than the fact that they fit into the rhythm and rhyme, it was easy to make up my own words if those coming out of the speakers weren't clear.
YEARS after the Mannfred Mann version was a hit I was listening to an "Oldies" station and heard a familiar voice singing a song I had never heard him sing. As the song progressed an alarm went off in my head...
This is a different arrangement of a song you've heard before, but WHAT IS IT?!!
I was shocked when I finally realized he was singing "Blinded By The Light".
I was doubly shocked when I found out he had written it.

Now, DON'T CHEAT!
Do you know who wrote it?
You don't even need to go searching. I've done it for ya.
The composer, singing the version of the song that had me momentarily confused, is
here.

Be honest... did you know?
(And did you notice "Deuce", as in "Deuce Coupe", is spelled wrong in the video?! So is "Adolescent".)

6 comments:

Rita said...

I noticed the spelling errors but was listening to hear a familiar voice.

Like you I never understood what the heck they were singing, not sure I could have ever said it was one of my favorites. I'd prefer America's songs like Horse With No Name, which they freely admitted they only wrote to rhyme.

Only liked a couple songs of the famous writer, most I just found boring.

Joe said...

I hate the song, but I did know he wrote it.

Timothy Frazier said...

I knew it. Used to be a huge fan, but he's soured me over his need to spout about his liberal views every time he takes the stage.

Radio Patriot said...

Definitely like the Mannfred Mann version better.

Boy, does it bring back memories!!! And I never did know the words to it either.. just sang along and made them up as I went...

LOL....

Those were the days.

Andrea

CJ said...

So, I had no freakin' clue.

None.

cjh

Bloviating Zeppelin said...

Yes, I did know, and I like the Manfred Mann cover MUCH, MUCH better! The tempo is better, the arrangement is better, it has more punch, it just WORKS and ROCKS.

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YA, dear Pitchpull!!

BZ