On the Record
By Susan Pugh on Feb. 14, 2008
Q: I’ve heard that one of Coldplay’s songs is based on an old George Harrison song. Which one?
A: The song is “The Scientist” from Coldplay’s 2002 album, “A Rush of Blood to the Head.” While recording the album, Chris Martin tried to play Harrison’s “Isn’t It a Pity” on an old piano. During the process, “The Scientist” was born. In a 2003 interview with Crud Magazine, Martin says, “I was sitting at the piano, this really old battered piano that was really out of tune. And I’d just heard “All Things Must Pass” by George Harrison. There’s a song called “Isn’t It a Pity,” and there’s a circular chord sequence. I was thinking I’d really like to have a chord sequence that goes round and round and you don’t know where it ends, and then this chord sequence just arrived, and I thought this is really lovely. And then the whole song just came out and I don’t know where from, and we recorded it then and there.”
Q: At family music gatherings, my brother-in-law would play and sing a cowboy folk song he called “The Zebra Dun.” I have never heard a recording of the song. Can you tell me if the song was ever recorded?
A: The song, “Zebra Dun,” is a typical tall tale about a talkative know-it-all who comes upon a cowboy camp seeking “to borrow a fat saddle horse.” The cowboys, thinking him a “greenhorn,” decide to play a joke on him by letting him ride a horse named Zebra Dun. Unbeknownst to the stranger, Zebra Dun was a wild and untamable horse. Surprisingly, the stranger is able to ride Zebra Dun despite the horse’s best efforts to shake him, thereby leaving the cowboys to ponder the moral of never judging a book by its cover. We have found a few versions of the song on the Internet. One of the more interesting versions can be found in the Max Hunter Folk Song Collection housed at the Springfield-Greene County Library in Springfield, Mo. The collection includes a version of “Zebra Dun” that was sung by Glenn Orhlin of Mountain View, Ark., in 1969. It was recorded by Max Hunter, a traveling salesman who, between 1956-1976, recorded almost 1,600 Ozark Mountain folksongs during his travels. In the process, he preserved many of the old folksongs that would have been lost otherwise. The song is also among a collection of songs sung by Cisco Houston, who was a friend and occasional collaborator of Woody Guthrie’s back in the ’40s. The collection is entitled, “Cisco Houston: The Folkways Years 1944-1961” (catalog #FW02480), and is available from the Smithsonian Folkways record label (http://www.folkways.si.edu).
Q: Immediately following the Super Bowl, there was an ad promoting the shows on the FX channel. What was the song that plays in the background? The only lyric I can hear is “you give me.”
A: The song is “You Give Me Something” by James Morrison. The 23-year-old British singer became a sensation in the UK when his debut album, “Undiscovered,” reached the top of the charts in the summer of 2006. Born in Rugby, England, Morrison moved frequently with his family but found the time to learn to play the guitar at age 13. After moving to Derby and then getting fired from his job washing vans, Morrison recorded a demo that got the attention of many record companies. He quickly signed a deal with Polydor Records and began writing and recording the songs that make up “Undiscovered.” From the album, “You Give Me Something” reached No. 5 and “Wonderful World” reached No. 8 on the singles chart. Morrison has said that “You Give Me Something” was inspired by his girlfriend at the time. It is his attempt to write a “horribly honest song about how I felt.” Currently, he is preparing for some summer concerts in the U.K.
—What’s the name of that song? Where are they now? Send your questions about songs, albums and musicians to
or visit http://www.musicontherecord.com. Brady and Maron are freelance music writers based in Raleigh, N.C.
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