By amylee
The Clash - London Calling – Called it, I’d say. When i first heard this back in the day, I thought the phrase was “a nuclear terror”. It’s (I believe) correctly “a nuclear error”, referring to the Three Mile Island accident. Some online lyrics now have it as “a nuclear era”. Then there’s this bit – ”The ice age is coming, the sun's zooming in, Engines stop running, the wheat is growing thin.” Yikes. (DiscoMonster)
The Fall - Free Range – The Persian prophet Zarathustra spoke, filtered and distorted through a couple of Germans to The Fall. Did Mark E. Smith actually have visions of the wars that broke up Yugoslavia? (Shoegazer)
Teenage Fanclub - Born Under a Good Sign – First in a long line. Seems kind of desperately determined to fulfil the good omen’s prophecy. Seriously groovy. (happyclapper)
Howlin’ Wolf - I Ain’t Superstitious – No sirree, but things still seem to happen – or he expects that they will – when black cats cross his path, dogs howl, his right hand itches and left eye jumps. (ParaMhor)
Phish - Julius – Not sure what this is about exactly, but the singer has received a prophecy and warnings of danger, (and continues to throughout the song). He’s just not quite sure what to do about it. (Joelle)
The Grateful Dead - Estimated Prophet – "According to [Bob] Weir, he and Barlow wrote the song from the perspective of a crazy, messianic zealot, a type which one invariably encounters in Deadhead crowds now and again. As Weir explains: 'The basis of it is this guy I see at nearly every backstage door. There's always some guy who's taken a lot of dope and he's really bug- eyed, and he's having some kind of vision. He's got a rave he's got to deliver.'” (Blair Jackson, in Grateful Dead: the Music Never Stopped ) (Chris7572)
Black Francis - Bad News – More goings on in Eastern Europe. Frank channels the Rabbi of the 1920 horror film “The Golum - How He Came Into The World”, who reads the omens in the stars and sees anti-semitic violence and expulsions. (vanwolf2)
Crash Test Dummies - The Psychic – The gift of prophesy and vision can be a burden. The singer meets a woman who can see all of the past and future in front of her, and it keeps her up at night. What does she think when she foretells a disease? Would she keep it secret if death stood before him? Can he escape what she sees? (Marconius7)
Maher Shalal Hash Baz - What's Your Business Here Elijah? – The life of a prophet is a difficult one. Compassionate, alternative reimagining of part of the story of the prophet Elijah. (Shoegazer)
Sparklehorse - Weird Sisters – Three prophetic witches and a bad moon on the rise. What could possibly go wrong. (magicman)
The Flaming Lips - All We Have is Now – Wayne Coyne: “The story of a man who glimpses himself through some rip in the fabric of time and space – at first his future self is thought to be some eccentric old man – at last he realises it was himself reporting from some distant tomorrow.” (Noodsy)
Joni Mitchell / Herbie Hancock - The Tea Leaf Prophecy (Lay Down Your Arms) – True story of how Joni’s parents met when her father was on leave during WWII, and their subsequent life. Magicman posted 2 versions here. The first was Joni’s own, with the phrases “lay down your arms” and “study war no more” repeated like mantras throughout (that’s Wendy and Lisa on backing vocals). This one is with Herbie Hancock, and the repeating phrases are left out. (magicman)
Wardruna - Voluspá – I somehow remember reading the tales of Odin and Freya and Loki and Balder the Beautiful as a kid. Prophecy from the Völva, female shamans in Norse religion, foretelling the end of the world and its rebirth. (Traktor Albatrost)
The Augury-Filled A-List Playlist:
The Bodes Well B-List Playlist:
Aquarius - (Let the Sunshine In) (IsabelleForshaw)
Spirit - Nature’s Way (ShivSidecar)
The Cowsills - The Prophecy Of Daniel And John The Divine (Six - Six - Six) (SweetHomeAlabama)
William Penn V - Swami (TarquinSpodd)
Captain Beefheart - On Tomorrow (TarquinSpodd)
Jethro Tull - The Witches Promise (ParaMhor)
Muddy Waters - [I’m Your] Hoochie Coochie Man (Nicko)
Bob Dylan - False Prophet (megadom)
Burning Spear - Old Boy Garvey (Nicko)
Wayne Jarett - Brimstone and Fire (Nicko)
Cibo Matto - Sugar Water (ajostu)
Pet Shop Boys - Love Comes Quickly (megadom)
The Stranglers - If Something’s Gonna Kill Me (It Might As Well Be Love) (Maki)
The Go-Betweens - The Devil’s Eye (Nilpferd)
Mount Eerie - Ravens (Shoegazer)
Ides of March and More Instrumental Playlist:
Jerry Goldsmith - Ava Satani (The Omen theme) (Loud Atlas)
Philip Glass - Prophecies (BanazirGalbasi)
Laurie Anderson and Kronos Quartet - CNN Predicts a Monster Storm (magicman)
Nitin Sawhney - Prophesy (severin)
Don Shinn - Temples With Prophets Introducing Monophonic Interlude for Pianoforte No. 1 (megadom)
Kenny Barron / Dave Holland - The Oracle (Fred Erickson)
Vindsvept - The Oracle’s Prophecy (Alaricmc)
The Comet is Coming - The Prophecy (megadom)
David Toop : The Divination of the Bowhead Whale (Fred Erickson)
Guru’s Wildcard Picks:
Bjork - All is Full of Love
Pet Shop Boys - Silver Age
Nick Drake - Pink Moon
The Fixx - Red Skies
Killing Joke - Millennium
These playlists were inspired by readers' song nominations from last week's topic: Beware the Ides of March? Songs about prophecies and omens. The next topic will launch on Thursday at 1pm UK time.
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