Songs For Saturday: The Weeknd, U2 and Manfred Mann's Earth Band

 

Today's Songs For Saturday kicks off with a track from Abel Makkonen Tesfaye known as the Weeknd.  The song is "Blinding Lights" which was released in November 2019. I did not become aware of this song until I heard it this past spring while my daughter Randie and I were at our favorite frozen yogurt shop. 

My first impression was this was some long forgotten track from the 1980s. Which is not a bad thing since the 1980s is the last time music was any good, am I right? Imagine my surprise when I learned it was a more modern song. 

For our first Song For Saturday, here is the Weekend with "Blinding Lights". 

In keeping with the theme of "blinding lights", our next entry for today's Songs For Saturday is "The City of Blinding Lights" by U2 from their 2004 album How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb. 

We can't do a theme on "blinding lights" without including one of the most iconic tracks from 1970s album oriented rock.  

"Blinded by the Light"  was written and recorded by Bruce Springsteen in 1973. But it's the version from 1977 by Manfred Mann's Earth Band  that made an indelible imprint when it shot to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100.    

Manfred Mann's Earth Band altereds some of the lyrics from Springsteen's original. For example Springsteen's "cut loose like a deuce" is replaced with "revved up like a deuce", a reference to a hot rod "deuce coupe". 

The line is frequently misheard as "wrapped up like a douche". 

The lyrics of "Blinded By the Light" have fueled many a late night weed fueled debate in many college dorms.

OK, that is that for this week's Songs For Saturday.  Remember to be good to one another and to always keep the music alive, even if you're wrapped up like a douche.