{"id":1065,"date":"2008-01-07T09:22:27","date_gmt":"2008-01-07T17:22:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/archives\/2008\/01\/07\/it-wouldnt-have-made-any-difference\/"},"modified":"2008-01-07T09:22:27","modified_gmt":"2008-01-07T17:22:27","slug":"it-wouldnt-have-made-any-difference","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/2008\/01\/07\/it-wouldnt-have-made-any-difference\/","title":{"rendered":"It Wouldn’t Have Made Any Difference"},"content":{"rendered":"

You just did not love me enough to believe me
Enough not to leave me
Enough not to look for a reason to be unhappy with me
And make me regret ever wanting you
But those days are through<\/em><\/p>\n

Steve Leeds called me to speak at this class he’s teaching at William Paterson University.\u00c2\u00a0 And when we were through discussing the logistics and the ins and outs of satellite radio, he asked me what I was listening to.<\/p>\n

I hate this question.\u00c2\u00a0 It feels like a test.\u00c2\u00a0 Like I’ll be judged on what I come up with.\u00c2\u00a0 But then Steve talked about not knowing all the records he comes across in the store anymore.\u00c2\u00a0 I felt a certain kinship.\u00c2\u00a0 And that’s when Steve volunteered he loved listening to "Raising Sand", and that he’d gotten into Alison Krauss at this late date.\u00c2\u00a0 And I asked him…HAVE YOU HEARD HER COVER OF "BABY, NOW THAT I’VE FOUND YOU"?\u00c2\u00a0 You know, the old Foundations song?<\/p>\n

I loaded iTunes and played it over the speakers.\u00c2\u00a0 And as Steve was flattened, I looked at the other Alison Krauss tracks in my library.\u00c2\u00a0 Her cover of Little Feat’s "Oh Atlanta", the great original from the "Twister" soundtrack, "Moments Like This", and…"It Wouldn’t Have Made Any Difference".<\/p>\n

Was Steve a Todd Rundgren fan?<\/p>\n

I heard that sigh, that sound of recognition that a lansman feels when coming across a member of the tribe in the middle of the desert.\u00c2\u00a0 I fired up the track.<\/p>\n

Do you remember the last time I said
If I ever thought about lying
I’d rather think of dying instead<\/em><\/p>\n

How many versions of Todd’s debut on Ampex were there?\u00c2\u00a0 For a while, they were ubiquitous in cut-out bins.\u00c2\u00a0 Then they disappeared.\u00c2\u00a0 As for the follow-up, what I consider to be Todd’s magnum opus, "The Ballad Of Todd Rundgren", that was even harder to find for a while.\u00c2\u00a0 But then came "Something\/Anything?"<\/p>\n

At this late date, "I Saw The Light" is remembered as a hit.\u00c2\u00a0 But it wasn’t.\u00c2\u00a0 Eventually, "Hello It’s Me" was.\u00c2\u00a0 But it was bittersweet for those that remembered the silky original on the very first Nazz album.\u00c2\u00a0 But between and around those two famous tracks are gems.\u00c2\u00a0 Listening is like finding diamonds in the middle of Iowa.\u00c2\u00a0 How did all this great music find its way on to a two disc set on tiny Bearsville Records?<\/p>\n

Which disc do you play?\u00c2\u00a0 The first or the second?<\/p>\n

The second’s got the heavy metal ballad "Black Maria" that blows everything Bon Jovi has ever done off the map, even though it was recorded when Mr. New Jersey was barely out of diapers.\u00c2\u00a0 And the can only be done in America "Dust In The Wind"…\u00c2\u00a0 Inhabiting a no-man’s land between rock and schmaltz, one that sounds bad on paper but makes you want to stand up and sing along when you hear it.<\/p>\n

And the second record has even got the comedy classic "Piss Aaron", and the groupie lament, "You Really Left Me Sore".<\/p>\n

Still, at this late date, I love the first disc more.\u00c2\u00a0 For its sweetness, for its intimacy, for its charm.\u00c2\u00a0 Sure, it begins with the offhand hit that Todd used to be able to write at will, the aforementioned "I Saw The Light", but how about the love song to Marlene?\u00c2\u00a0 He was in love with her, even though she was only seventeen.\u00c2\u00a0 And "The Night The Carousel Burnt Down", which seemed to be the soundtrack to a date Todd had gone on with this girlfriend.\u00c2\u00a0 It was a story.\u00c2\u00a0 Not about melisma, not about playing to the last row of the house, but a private moment cut in his home studio, alone, now shared with his soon to be adoring public.\u00c2\u00a0 Then there’s "It Takes Two To Tango (This Is For the Girls)", which turns a cliche into an infectious lighter than air confection.<\/p>\n

But sandwiched between "I Saw The Light" and Todd’s paean to Wolfman Jack, before the deejay became ubiquitous, is "It Wouldn’t Have Made Any Difference".<\/p>\n

And maybe you remember the last time you called me
To say we were through
How it took a million tears
Just to prove they all were for you
But those days are through<\/em><\/p>\n

I’m not sure whether it was the movie "Wall Street", or the rap explosion, but suddenly our country went all macho.\u00c2\u00a0 A strange turn of events after the seventies, when men were encouraged to get in touch with their feminine side.<\/p>\n

Today’s stars seem to be proud about stepping out.\u00c2\u00a0 Brad Pitt has seemed to survive two-timing Jennifer Aniston and ultimately marrying Angelina Jolie.\u00c2\u00a0 Trading up seems to be legal.\u00c2\u00a0 Who’s left behind…that’s just the cost of working your way up the food chain, the ladder to the top.\u00c2\u00a0 Just ask all those men Madonna left in her wake.<\/p>\n

But how about the guy who’s devoted?\u00c2\u00a0 Who wouldn’t step out, who wouldn’t leave?\u00c2\u00a0 Who has moral character, who’s not a wimp, but is TRUSTWORTHY!<\/p>\n

Well, certain women can’t trust any guy.\u00c2\u00a0 Maybe their father abandoned the family.\u00c2\u00a0 Maybe they were abused by a high school boyfriend.\u00c2\u00a0 But this certain type of female is always questioning, always sniffing the ground, to see if you’ve been faithful.<\/p>\n

That’s what "It Wouldn’t Have Made Any Difference" is about.\u00c2\u00a0 The devoted guy.\u00c2\u00a0 Who just can’t prove his love to his skittish girlfriend.\u00c2\u00a0 He wants to hold on tight, but she’s always wiggling from his grasp, to avoid being hurt.\u00c2\u00a0 They say there are no good guys out there?\u00c2\u00a0 I’d suggest you check your criteria.\u00c2\u00a0 You’re looking for a bad boy with choir boy traits, an oxymoron.\u00c2\u00a0 Someone who’s not dashing and dangerous, who you can count on…is that enough?\u00c2\u00a0 Not for so many.<\/p>\n

What is enough?\u00c2\u00a0 What really counts?\u00c2\u00a0 Is it looks?\u00c2\u00a0 Or companionship?\u00c2\u00a0 Or\u00c2\u00a0 trust.<\/p>\n

Trust is number one.\u00c2\u00a0 You’ve got no relationship if the other person is not there.\u00c2\u00a0 Commitment reigns supreme.\u00c2\u00a0 And it’s dependent upon the underlying trust.\u00c2\u00a0 And if it’s not mutual, there’s disgust.<\/p>\n

Alison Krauss does not rearrange the song.\u00c2\u00a0 But she turns it into a dreamy lullaby, albeit with a black underbelly.\u00c2\u00a0 There’s mood, but the underlying emotion, the underlying anger, is gone.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s a performance, not her song.<\/p>\n

But it’s Todd’s song.\u00c2\u00a0 And his story.\u00c2\u00a0 And he’s PISSED!\u00c2\u00a0 And although he possesses an inferior voice to the Nashville angel, his take triumphs, because of its raw, naked emotion.<\/p>\n

But both versions kill.\u00c2\u00a0 And they’re both put over the top by this one change, deep in the song.\u00c2\u00a0 When the key drops and truth is revealed.\u00c2\u00a0 Alison underplays.\u00c2\u00a0 She goes intimate.\u00c2\u00a0 She makes you think.\u00c2\u00a0 Whereas Todd gets intense, he becomes INDIGNANT!<\/p>\n

Those days are through.\u00c2\u00a0 He’s finished.\u00c2\u00a0 He gave her everything, but it wasn’t enough.<\/p>\n

They say certain people just can’t be pleased.\u00c2\u00a0 That’s the woman in this song.\u00c2\u00a0 She believes in a fantasy world, with angels and fairies, with film star boyfriends who are so devoted and truthful that they never go to work, but stay constantly by her side.<\/p>\n

In order to survive, in order to be happy, you’ve got to let go.\u00c2\u00a0 You’ve got to have faith.\u00c2\u00a0 Sure, you must make judgments, informed ones.\u00c2\u00a0 But after you’ve made your decision, you’ve got to cease micro-managing.\u00c2\u00a0 That’s when your partner flowers.\u00c2\u00a0 As does your relationship.<\/p>\n

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You just did not love me enough to believe meEnough not to leave meEnough not to look for a reason to be unhappy with meAnd make me regret ever wanting youBut those days are through Steve Leeds called me to speak at this class he’s teaching at William Paterson University.\u00c2\u00a0 And when we were through […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1065","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-music"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p96vPs-hb","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1065","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1065"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1065\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1065"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1065"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1065"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}