Song to the Siren

"Song to the Siren" is a song written by Tim Buckley and his writing partner Larry Beckett and was released by Buckley on his 1970 album Starsailor. It was also later released on Morning Glory: The Tim Buckley Anthology, the album featuring a performance of the song taken from the final episode of The Monkees TV show which aired on March 25, 1968.

"Song to the Siren"
Song by Tim Buckley
from the album Starsailor
ReleasedFebruary 1970 (1970-02)
Recorded1969
GenreFolk
Length3:28
LabelStraight
Composer(s)Tim Buckley
Lyricist(s)Larry Beckett, Tim Buckley
Producer(s)Herb Cohen
Audio samples
from Starsailor
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from Morning Glory: The Tim Buckley Anthology
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Pat Boone was the first to release a version of the song when it was featured on his 1969 album Departure, predating Buckley's Starsailor release. However, the song has become perhaps Buckley's most famous due to a number of artists covering the song after his death in 1975, notably This Mortal Coil in 1983.

Background

The song was written in 1967, but Buckley was dissatisfied with the early attempts at recording it. It would finally appear on Starsailor three years later.[1] In 1968, Buckley first performed the song in its original folk song style, with Buckley playing solo with a 12 string guitar, as the a guest star on the series finale of The Monkees. This stands in contrast to the lusher, reverb-filled version present on the Starsailor album. The Monkees television spot features the song in the key of E while the later album version is played in Bb. The album version also features heavy reverb on the electric guitar and high pitched background vocals. In comparison, the live version is more lo-fi, with no effects, and Buckley's voice is accompanied only by his guitar. The 1968 performance also features different lyrics with the phrase "I am puzzled as the oyster" later being changed to "I'm as puzzled as the newborn child" in the album version. This was reportedly because when Buckley played the song to Judy Henske, wife of then producer Jerry Yester, she responded to the line with laughter.[2][3]

Despite this, Buckley and Beckett regarded this song as their greatest collaboration effort, with Beckett later stating "It's a perfect match of melody and lyrics. There was some kind of uncanny connection between us."[1]

The song's reference to the sirens tempting sailors at sea stems from Greek mythology. This lyrical style is an example of Larry Beckett's literary inspirations, and stands in direct contrast to Buckley's own more personal writing style.[4]

Larry Beckett

Larry Beckett wrote the lyrics to Song to the Siren as part of his ongoing collaboration and friendship with Tim Buckley throughout their high school years. Beckett has been working alongside the English musician, vocalist, and song writer Stuart Anthony in a number of guises. The collaboration with Stuart Anthony began with the Lancaster based band 'The Long Lost Band' in 2014 when Beckett began contributing lyrics to their work.[5] Song to the Siren formed part of their collaboration when Beckett visited the UK for two tour dates in 2015 - Liverpool and Lancaster.[5] The live version of the song featured a spoken word part by Beckett explaining the origin of the lyrics, which was previously included in documentary footage with the author. Subsequently a studio version of the song was recorded in 2016 to reflect the live rendition, making this recording somewhat special as (amongst the raft of cover versions) this is the first time the lyricist has appeared on the track. The Larry Beckett and The Long Lost Band version was released online on 21 October 2016.[6][7] The song was also performed live by Stuart Anthony on the boat The Odysseia, a replica Ancient Greek Ship, setting sail from Lefkada. This rendition denotes a spiritual ‘home coming’ for the song; the surroundings being thought to be Homer’s Ithaca.

Version by This Mortal Coil
"Song to the Siren"
Single by This Mortal Coil
from the album It'll End in Tears
ReleasedSeptember 1983 (1983-09)
Label4AD
Songwriter(s)

This Mortal Coil recorded a version of "Song to the Siren" that was released as a single in September 1983. It spent three weeks on the UK Charts where it peaked at no. 66 on October 23, 1983.[8] Eventually, the single appeared for 101 weeks on the UK Indie Charts, a run that ranked fourth in the 1980s after three classic long-selling records: "Bela Lugosi's Dead" by Bauhaus (131 weeks), "Blue Monday" by New Order (186 weeks) and "Love Will Tear Us Apart" by Joy Division (195 weeks). "Song to the Siren" was included on the group's 1984 album It'll End in Tears which was released a year after the single.

This Mortal Coil was a collective name for a number of artists on the 4AD label, with Elizabeth Fraser and Robin Guthrie of the Cocteau Twins performing the song. Fraser also recorded a duet with Tim's son, Jeff Buckley, developing an intense personal relationship with him.[9][10]

Following the release of the single by This Mortal Coil, Buckley's work experienced a reappraisal in the mid-1980s.[11] This revival of interest in the artist would be one of the greatest factors in the increase of his posthumous sales, falling second only to the publicity generated by the success of his son, Jeff.[11]

In 2012 Dawn French selected this song on Desert Island Discs as, in her words, "The song that made me fall in love again".[12]

Film soundtrack use

The version by This Mortal Coil featured on David Lynch's 1997 film Lost Highway, but did not appear on the film's soundtrack album. Lynch has stated that This Mortal Coil's version of the song inspired the first two albums by Julee Cruise. Also, he had previously intended to use the original version of the song on Blue Velvet but was prevented from doing so due to legal issues or budget limitations.[13] It was also used in the trailer for the 2003 remake of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and in Peter Jackson's 2009 film The Lovely Bones. The cover by Israeli singer Ivri Lider was featured in Eytan Fox's film HaBuah.[14] The original Tim Buckley version also appeared in the 2006 Australian movie Candy, as well as a cover by Paul Charlier and Paula Arundell. The song has also featured in popular TV shows such as Waterloo Road. In October 2018 the This Mortal Coil version of the song appeared in the BBC drama Wanderlust (S1: E6). The song is also featured on the soundtrack of the film Beautiful Boy.

Other cover versions

"Song To The Siren" has been covered many times since This Mortal Coil's version.[15]

References
  1. ""'Song to the Siren' Tim Buckley (1967)" by Robert Webb, The Independent (London), Apr 13, 2007". Archived from the original on October 22, 2008. Retrieved May 23, 2008.
  2. Dream Brother: The Lives and Music of Jeff and Tim Buckley, David Browne
  3. "Tim Buckley interview "The High Flyer"". Archived from the original on October 22, 2008. Retrieved 2008-05-03.
  4. "Larry Beckett Interview". aln3.albumlinernotes. Retrieved 2019-10-10.
  5. "WALKING ON THE CLOUDS - Record Collector Magazine". recordcollectormag.com. Retrieved 2016-11-05.
  6. "The Long Lost Band and Larry Beckett: Song To The Siren – Single Review - Louder Than War". Louder Than War. 2016-11-01. Retrieved 2016-11-05.
  7. "Unique recording sees classic song retold for new generation". www.lancasterguardian.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-11-05.
  8. "This Mortal Coil single: Chart performance". Retrieved 2008-05-10.
  9. "Jeff Buckley: Everybody Here Wants You". Archived from the original on 11 August 2003. Retrieved 2015-04-07.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) – BBC 4 feature
  10. "Here are the 10 best covers of all time from here to eternity". Retrieved 2019-10-10.
  11. "The Rough Guide to Rock". Archived from the original on 2008-02-26. Retrieved 2008-05-03.
  12. "The song that made me fall in love again". Express Newspapers. 23 December 2012.
  13. The City of Absurdity: David Lynch's Blue Velvet
  14. http://tenser.typepad.com/tenser_said_the_tensor/2005/08/song_to_the_sir.html
  15. Aston, Martin (2011-11-17). "Song to the Siren's irresistible tang". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 18 March 2012.
  16. "Cordrazine - Clearlight (CD) at Discogs". Retrieved 2015-04-14.
  17. "Chart search engine". Retrieved 2008-05-03.
  18. Reynolds, Simon (1993-01-24). "Recordings View: Hanging With The Nintendo Generation". The New York Times. Retrieved 2009-02-02.
  19. "Half Man Half Biscuit Unreleased Session Songs". Retrieved 2020-09-23.
  20. "Snuff (3) – Greasy Hair Makes Money". Retrieved 2015-11-28.
  21. Spotify Singles, 2017-11-15, retrieved 2018-02-20
  22. "Third Eye Blind cover Bon Iver and Queens of the Stone Age on new EP, Thanks For Everything". Consequence of Sound. 2018-06-22. Retrieved 2018-08-24.
  23. "Kitty MacFarlane - Tide and Time (EP) | Folk Radio". Folk Radio UK - Folk Music Magazine. 2016-06-15. Retrieved 2018-11-29.
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