Tomorrow is a big day in my musical calendar. I am starting the entirely pleasurable job of choosing my albums of the year, which I shall announce to my loyal reader in the coming days. But also, there’s a big anniversary coming up: tomorrow will be the 25th anniversary of the greatest song of all time.
“Hey, hang on a minute,” I hear you cry. “That’s a pretty big statement, isn’t it? Of all the music that has ever been created, you think you have the right to say, definitively, what the best song ever is?” I don’t, really, do I? Music is totally subjective and what I consider to be great music could well be everything you consider to be the worst music ever. Whatever. The greatest song ever made is Since I Left You by The Avalanches.
“Oh come on,” you snort, angrily. “That’s not even a real song. It’s been cobbled together by splicing together samples of 22 different songs.” Which is all true. But something about it is gloriously real.
I have never known a song that washes over you quite like Since I Left You does. And it produces magic right from the off, as the voice says: ” Watch the steps. Get a drink, have a good time now. Welcome to paradise, paradise, paradise…” On a clear summer’s day, I am in that bar, by that beach, getting myself a cocktail, I am about to have a good time and, yes, I am in paradise, paradise, paradise.
I heard the song described as AI, which it most definitely isn’t. The music was created and later spliced and put together by (brilliant) human beings. It’s the music equivalent of CGI. And somehow it lives and breathes and, like all the best music, takes you to another place.
The lyrics are clearly about someone finding a new, exciting world after a break up. In fact, the only lyrics go like this: “Since I left you I found the world so new. Since I left you I found the world so new.” And that’s it. But Google’s ‘AI Overview’ manages to interpret the words as follows: “The song’s lyrics suggest a transformative journey of leaving the past behind to embrace new experiences and find a fresh perspective on life. The music video depicts a more literal interpretation of miners discovering a hidden, colourful world and one of them finding love, leading to his departure from his friend.” Actually, I kind of get that. I only wish I’d written it. Watch the video and see for yourself.
You must have a song where you, at least figuratively, sit up and listen, as the tingle of goose bumps heightens your senses. I call it magic, magic that’s in the here and now and demonstrably real, unlike the pretend world of magic created by illusionists and frauds.
Sometimes, my favourite song changes. Earlier this week, it was I Will by The Beatles. Not that long ago, it was All This Is That by The Beach Boys. Yet for the last 25 years, I keep coming back to The Avalanches who, because of the royalties they had to pay out to other artists, never made a cent from Since I Left You. And that’s a shame because to my ears, it’s a work of pure beauty, quite unlike anything I have ever heard and will hear again.
Happy anniversary!
