Spanning two discs and 42 tracks, Favorites & Rarities really is directed toward diehards, not casual fans looking for a thorough overview. Although all his biggest hits are here, they're surrounded by material that will delight only the dedicated, including alternate versions and no less than 18 previously unreleased tracks. This material, while interesting to the converted (there is a question to just how interesting it actually is, though), makes this a rather tedious listen for anybody that's just looking for "American Pie" and "Vincent," plus a couple other tunes in the same vein. Not an unnecessary compilation, since it's filled with rarities, but not definitive, either.
I am teaching a poem by Jane Flanders called "Van Gogh's Bed," based on the painting "Vincent's Bed in Arles," and I couldn't resist looking up the wonderful song by Don McLean about Van Gogh and "Starry Night," which I have seen in person in New York City. It is amazing to see the famous painting in person; the colors are so incredibly bold, it is as if they are alive. Oh, and here is the po...
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I've listened to Don McLean's American Pie at least 1000 times in the past 35 years - but never knew the story behind the lyrics. Another mogger posted that Feb 3 , 1959 was "The Day the Music Died" See the video for an interesting history lesson into our musical /political past.
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so basically, this is one of those songs that just gets to me. it kind of explains how i feel about music, like in this line:"A long long time agoI can still rememberHow that music used to make me smileAnd I knew if I had my chanceThat I could make those people danceAnd maybe they'd be happy for a while"a few more of my favorite lines... i can't really explain the way this song makes me feel. ...
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I have a deep, ineffable love for Don McLean. It simply cannot be expressed in words. Perhaps my father went through a weird, desperate period during my childhood, because I swear he played this and other classics during multiple road trips in the old red Suburban (way before those things were tricked out and morphed into the Yukon). Consequently, every time I hear it I think of long, lonely...
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 "Favorites & Rarities")
