|
|
Post by revin2go on Feb 19, 2014 3:48:57 GMT -5
Will somebody please tell me what is so great about this song? I find it rather wimpy and Linda's voice is not that spectacular on it. I just don't get it. Kind of like EASY FOR YOU TO SAY. Linda is capable of much better, I always thought. She does look great in that blouse, though!  |
|
|
|
Post by eddiejinnj on Feb 19, 2014 5:55:22 GMT -5
life is perception. I love the song and that you can faintly hear don henley on the album version. look at her do easy for you to say on the tonight show probably still on youtube and it might change your mind about it!!!! she and her vocals are smokin' hot. eddiejinnj
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Feb 19, 2014 10:16:35 GMT -5
I think Linda's vocals help any song. I do have to admit that it is not one of my favorites, due to the song itself and not Linda.
|
|
|
|
Post by sliderocker on Feb 19, 2014 11:37:33 GMT -5
"Hasten Down the Wind" is a good ballad, far better than most of the ballads that are recorded and released by the artists and/or their record companies. It's not a message song, but it does tell a story and Linda's vocal conveys a touch of sadness in the song's chorus. I've never cared much for "Easy for You to Say" but on that song it's kind of cold and the problem is more in the musical arrangement than with Linda's vocal. It wasn't Linda's finest moment on record but it wasn't her worst moment on record either.
|
|
|
|
Post by erik on Feb 19, 2014 11:50:51 GMT -5
My take on "Hasten Down The Wind" (and I could be completely wrong about this) is that she is drawn towards what we might think are fairly morose ballads, which are...well, they're kind of depressing to hear. This isn't to say she put a lot of heart and thought into the song as is her way with any song she does, but, rightly or wrongly, this is the kind of material she likes to do.
|
|
|
|
Post by fabtastique on Feb 19, 2014 12:06:39 GMT -5
Love them both, HDTW and EFYTS .... Great songs
|
|
|
|
Post by eddiejinnj on Feb 19, 2014 13:49:47 GMT -5
I think hasten just showed the fickleness of love and kind of the forbidden fruit thing. once you have somebody you don't want them anymore. a relevant subject for many people imo. eddiejinnj
|
|
|
|
Post by charlotte on Feb 19, 2014 16:06:30 GMT -5
Was a 16 year old girl when I first heard Hasten live. I found it devastating - though I wasn't sure why. Today not as much but the sentiment is so sad. I still find Linda's voice, live,in the mid to late 70s, contained some of her saddest sounds ever. For instance "I Keep It Hid" years later is killer and powerful but Linda has less personal saddness in her tone to my ears. Perhaps the real fascination with Linda's intense clarity is one could mature their relationship with the songs and voice as you would an old flame . . . Just my distaff point of view
|
|
|
|
Post by eddiejinnj on Feb 19, 2014 16:17:21 GMT -5
"I won't be hanging round" is an example of that charlotte. I been alone toooo long sitting by myself. i'm getting too old to help myyyselllf. killer emotion. also, again, love your name. it was my grandma's name and I loved her so. eddiejinnj
|
|
|
|
Post by revin2go on Feb 19, 2014 17:17:37 GMT -5
What exactly does "hasten down the wind" actually mean, anyway? I'm mean, who says that? Hasten (to hurry) down??? And the wind, no less! I'm apparently not seeing the symbolism as I am supposed to. "Slow down, you're moving in too fast?" That makes more vernacular sense than to say, "Come on honey, hasten down the wind!" Haha
|
|
|
|
Post by eddiejinnj on Feb 19, 2014 18:25:20 GMT -5
one meaning which helps in this context is to "speed something up". so in a way the woman is so fickle she even speeds up the wind. kind of like saying one is like the wind. doing things without thinking. I love the title. eddiejinnj
|
|
markv
A Number and a Name
Posts: 93
|
Post by markv on Feb 19, 2014 18:28:11 GMT -5
It is a great Warren Zevon song beautifully done by Linda.
|
|
|
|
Post by eddiejinnj on Feb 19, 2014 18:31:28 GMT -5
i agree with you mark and welcome to the forum!!!!!!! eddiejinnj
|
|
|
|
Post by PoP80 on Feb 20, 2014 12:05:34 GMT -5
Love "Hasten Down the Wind" also. As far as "Easy For You To Say," I like it much more than "It's So Easy," which is a throwaway song. I must say that I think Linda is a better ballad singer than R&R, but she can basically sing anything well. Her versatility is amazing!
|
|
|
|
Post by erik on Feb 20, 2014 19:04:17 GMT -5
Quote by minigal:
And she could handle more complex songs, such as this one, far better than her many detractors among the rock critics sect (and don't we know who they are?) ever gave her credit for (IMHO).
|
|
|
|
Post by sliderocker on Feb 21, 2014 0:00:23 GMT -5
Was a 16 year old girl when I first heard Hasten live. I found it devastating - though I wasn't sure why. Today not as much but the sentiment is so sad. I still find Linda's voice, live,in the mid to late 70s, contained some of her saddest sounds ever. For instance "I Keep It Hid" years later is killer and powerful but Linda has less personal saddness in her tone to my ears. Perhaps the real fascination with Linda's intense clarity is one could mature their relationship with the songs and voice as you would an old flame . . . Just my distaff point of view Linda's vocal for "Hasten Down the Wind" was one of the saddest I ever heard from her, and I've sometimes wondered if she related far more to the sad songs than she would ever admit to? With her sad songs, I always believed there was an element of truth in her vocals in the sadder songs. Also an innocence. The emotions seemed very genuine. Of course, I could be reading too much into her sad song performances, but I find it too hard to believe that someone who could create such a moving performance could do it without ever having experienced something that personal. As for Linda's later sad recordings being less sad, yeah, I think they are as well but I think the difference is in the perspective of the ages Linda was when she recorded those songs. I couldn't see Linda at 50 having the same perspective she had at 21 or 35. And her changing perspective would've colored her vocal performances - her vocals may have sounded more devastating and hurt when she was younger but older, her vocals perhaps sounded more reflective, wiser and maybe jaded. Then again, maybe I'm reading way too much into them? |
|
|
|
Post by revin2go on Feb 21, 2014 0:20:34 GMT -5
Not at all, sliderocker. You are right on the money. Take the lyrics from "Just One Look" (I'll build my world around you) and juxtapose them with "Do What You Gotta Do" (Come on back and see me when you can) and you will see how Linda has matured in her interpretation of love songs.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Feb 21, 2014 9:18:53 GMT -5
Not at all, sliderocker. You are right on the money. Take the lyrics from "Just One Look" (I'll build my world around you) and juxtapose them with "Do What You Gotta Do" (Come on back and see me when you can) and you will see how Linda has matured in her interpretation of love songs. Both the interpretation and choice of material have shown her considerable artistic growth.... |
|
|
|
Post by Leanne on Sept 16, 2017 15:12:11 GMT -5
What exactly does "hasten down the wind" actually mean, anyway? I'm mean, who says that? Hasten (to hurry) down??? And the wind, no less! I'm apparently not seeing the symbolism as I am supposed to. "Slow down, you're moving in too fast?" That makes more vernacular sense than to say, "Come on honey, hasten down the wind!" Haha I have always wondered too so I looked into it. It appears that "down the wind" is a ancient falconry term. When falcons were released for hunt, they were sent "up the wind" for their prey. When they were sent away on recreation, they were sent "down the wind". To send someone "down the wind" was to release them to their own fate. So him telling her to hasten down the wind, he means it as hasten (verb) down the wind (adverb). Shakespeare uses the term in Othello, saying he'd "whistle her off and let her down the wind". I think it was meant as a tender, heartbreakingly romantic way of saying " tear your a$$" LOL |
|
|
|
Post by the Scribe on Sept 16, 2017 15:34:16 GMT -5
sort of like this song too?
|
|
|
|
Post by elegantpie on Mar 10, 2019 8:33:59 GMT -5
Thank you Leanne. I agree with your comment: To send someone "down the wind" was to release them to their own fate. He can't break away from her so he is begging her for mercy, to let him go, to deliver the final blow.
|
|
|
|
Post by RobGNYC on Mar 10, 2019 18:31:13 GMT -5
I always thought it was a more poetic way of saying "time for you to move on." Like "go away from my window/leave at your own chosen speed/go lightly from the ledge/go lightly on the ground/go melt back into the night" in "It Ain't Me Babe." Robert Christgau liked her version:
Hasten Down the Wind [Asylum, 1976]
Linda's always wanted to be a Real Country Singer, but RCS put out two or three LPs like this every year. You know--find some good tunes, round up the gang, and apply formula. Like the great RCS she can be, she comes up with some inspired interpretations: the flair of "That'll Be the Day" and "Crazy" do justice to the originals, and her version of the title song almost makes you forget its unfortunate title. But you cover Tracy Nelson's "Down So Low" at your peril even if you believe not one in ten of your fans remembers it, and the three Karla Bonoff lyrics make her (I mean Karla, but Linda too) sound like such a born loser that I never want to hear anyone sing them again. B-
|
|
|
|
Post by moon on Mar 10, 2019 20:13:24 GMT -5
Love "Hasten Down the Wind" also. As far as "Easy For You To Say," I like it much more than "It's So Easy," which is a throwaway song. I must say that I think Linda is a better ballad singer than R&R, but she can basically sing anything well. Her versatility is amazing! I totally agree with the comment on Its so easy. It’s one of the few,if not the only, one of LR’s big hits that I didn’t like and never understood how it could be so popular. I think the only lyrics in the song we’re “it’s so easy” , over and over again. |
|
|
|
Post by RobGNYC on Mar 10, 2019 21:54:00 GMT -5
"It's So Easy" was during Linda's "imperial phase" (Pet Shop Boys' term)--when an artist can do no wrong commercially. For Linda, the peak of her imperial phase was "Blue Bayou" and "It's So Easy" in the Top 5 at the same time while "Simple Dreams" was #1. I think that there are at least a dozen other Linda singles that were more Top 5 worthy than "It So Easy." "Lose Again," "Someone to Lay Down Beside Me," "Tumbling Dice"...
|
|
|
|
Post by Peterlindafan on Oct 22, 2020 21:32:05 GMT -5
I think it’s a way of saying “go to Hell.” The sing is about someone who keeps someone hanging on a line, never saying “I don’t want you” or “I do.” One if the things she says, the singer says is “just a whim, designed to keep him hanging out there on that limb.”
Eventually, he has enough and tells her to hasten down the wind (go to shell,”
A very great version of a VERY. sad song.
|
|
|
|
Post by alyn on Oct 23, 2020 5:30:23 GMT -5
It is a fabulous song and I love the Don Henley harmonies, I've always found the whole thing spellbinding. I love to hear Warren Zevon singing it, and Jackson Browne, I have good versions by both. With Warren, like Karla Bonoff songs, you always feel the real emotion of the songwriter, if another singer picks it up and makes it amazing then that is the sign of a true star, and of course Linda always did that so well.
And actually, I love Hasten Down The Wind because it's not clear cut on the meaning, open to interpretation, and that to me is what makes a song far more interesting than easy to read. |
|
|
|
Post by eddiejinnj on Oct 23, 2020 6:03:54 GMT -5
Welcome to the forum, guest!!!!! I, too, love the song. For me though, even after some remastering for "Duets" (I believe they remastered it), I still don't hear Henley much in the song. I don't really consider it a duet (though Linda doesn't need to ask me, wink) but it was important to include a song with one of the boys/desperados. I was playing "Monster Mash" on here yesterday then got into listening to Warren. Such a shame he didn't go to the Dr.s for 20 years.
eddiejinnj
|
|
|
|
Post by alyn on Oct 23, 2020 9:11:40 GMT -5
I get a bit weary of Werewolves of London, Excitable Boy is a very wild song...Warren was unique :-)
There's a great live acoustic set out there of Jackson & Warren from 1976, best songs of each at that time.
|
|
|
|
Post by eddiejinnj on Oct 23, 2020 9:16:22 GMT -5
Linda and Jennifer Warnes are on the song "Excitable Boy". The whole album is great. eddiejinnj
|
|
|
|
Post by alyn on Oct 23, 2020 10:02:58 GMT -5
Just listening to Warren Zevon playing Hasten Down The Wind live, just piano accompaniment, it is just excellent, I'm wondering if the lyrics are more clear-cut when sung by a man... could be...
A more extreme example is Alison Krauss singing You're Just A Country Boy which is just a beautiful rendition, quite amazing, but the way she has to gender bend the lyrics from the original almost renders it too confusing, but strangely it still works, I tend to play the Don Williams version afterwards to balance things up :-)
|
|
