Walk, Eat, Sleep, Wake, Little to do To myself I talk Thus the story of twenty-twenty Gone the years of more and plenty Cover my face as in disgrace Cross my heart and keep apart Cuddles banned Hugs verboten Kiss me quick all that forgotten When will it end and will it ever A Life to live A love to sever Lock me up they might as well For where I am there I dwell Nothing but time to fill each day And time never ends so here I stay Locked in this cell not feeling well Till hope returns and once again within me burns
Self-indulgence leads me today to enthuse about a song which, for me at least, epitomises our present situation amidst the restrictions of the Covid19 pandemic.
Since his ‘Black Adder’ and ’Fry and Laurie’ days, I have been a great fan of British actor and musician, Hugh Laurie. In this blog I wish to draw attention to his version, along with his traditional jazz musicians, …… , as both pianist and singer. of ‘CHANGES’.
The song uses the tune of the traditional gospel hymn ‘What a Friend we Have in Jesus’, one of the best known and liked hymns from the 19th century religious revival in America. The words of the original were written in 1855 as a poem by preacher Joseph M. Scriven and with the melody composed by Charles Crozat Converse in 1868. The same tune was re-worked by Alan Price, re-worded as ‘CHANGES’, and released by him in 1973. Hugh Laurie released it on the album ‘Didn’t It Rain’ in 2013.
I give the words below – a true mirror of the year 2020
Changes”
Everyone is facing changes No one knows what’s going on And everyone is changing places Still the world keeps moving on
Love must always change to sorrow? And everyone must play the game Because it’s here today and gone tomorrow Still the world goes on the same
Love must always turn to sorrow And everyone must play the game Because its here today and gone tomorrow Still the world goes on the same
It’s here today and gone tomorrow Still the world goes on the same
There are many versions of both songs on YouTube. I give a link to my favourite Hugh Laurie version below . . .
Roland's Ragbag 