SONG OF THE WEEK – NEEDLESS TO SAY

A few days ago, I was part of a group of friends discussing The Way of Mastery, as we do most Thursdays.  The focus of the discussion was on “needs.”  I won’t rehash that here.  I will just mention that as we talked I was reminded of the song “Needless To Say” by Loudon Wainwright III.

Today, Wainwright is probably best known as the father of singer-songwriter-musicians Rufus Wainwright, Martha Wainwright and Lucy Wainwright Roche, but there was a time in the late 1960s and early 1970s when he was heralded as the “Next Bob Dylan.”

His father, Loudon Wainwright, Jr., was a successful columnist and editor for  Life Magazine.  It would be nice to use this as an example of the way in which good writing can be fostered from generation to generation when one has a supportive family.  However, Wainwright’s family life – at all levels – seems to have been quite dysfunctional; or at least that is the impression given by a long article in Vanity Fair a few years back.

I guess, then, it could be genetic.

In reality, Loudon Wainwright III was not cut out to be a superstar.  In a career spanning six decades he has had exactly one song that made it as a top-20 hit.  That was “Dead Skunk (in the Middle of the Road)” from his 1972 album that was cleverly titled “Album III.”  I have read that after the song made it up to Number 16, Wainwirght began wearing a fake beard out in public because he was afraid that someone might recognize him.

The “B” side of the “Dead Skunk” single was “Needless To Say.”  On Album III, there is a song called “B Side,” but it is about bees and was not actually a “B” side of a single; and that is just a part of Wainwright’s slightly twisted sense of humor.

“Dead Skunk” is also an example of that humor, as are many of his other songs.  Even his most recent, 2014’s Haven’t Got the Blues (Yet), keeps pace with lyrics like  “When I wake up in the morning, life seems so unfair/ Although my woman hasn’t left me yet, and there’s a cleaning lady there.”

At first blush, “Needless To Say” sounds like a play on words seasoned with a bit of sarcasm; but there is more to it.  If you really listen to it, and perhaps read the lyrics, you will find some insightful comments on the human condition.

No, Loudon Wainwright III was never a superstar, and never will be.  His music seems to fit much better in a coffee house than a stadium.  But it is more fun to listen to than most of the songs that are meant to be performed in stadiums.

 

Needless To Say
By Loudon Wainwright

Needless to say
Say it anyway
In any way that you need to.

You know nothing at all
Nothing is all
and there’s nothing to know so accept you.

Please remember my song.
Please remember my song.

Make no mistake
Take what you make
You make it so take it it’s for you.

Nevertheless
The less you guess
So never at guessing you’ve got to.

Please remember my song.
Please remember my song.

Welcoming change
Changes arrange your arrangement
Well they’re supposed to.

Believe it or not
Notwithstanding your lot
The lot that you got stands for you.

Please remember my song.
Please remember my song.

(I have not found copyright information for this song)

3 thoughts on “SONG OF THE WEEK – NEEDLESS TO SAY

  1. “…and there’s nothing to know so accept you.”

    “Believe it or not
    Notwithstanding your lot
    The lot that you got stands for you.”

    I really like these lines! Thanks, Louis – glad you remembered his song.

    • Also, with regard to whether good writing is genetic or not, that is hard to say. Just as hard to say as whether being a member of a dysfunctional family is genetic or not, although in my own experience it does seem that I have inherited mine…

      I have been considering my relatives lately, the clot of them, and have begun to suspect I am the beneficiary of the best our gene pool has to offer, and a rare combination indeed in light of what it typically accounts for.

      It seems an apology should follow such arrogant sentiments, and I am happy to do so. I apologize for all of them… ; o)

      All of which makes it a little bit harder to digest that bit about “the lot that you got stands for you.”

      • Here is another quote – the first and last verses from Wainwright’s “All in a Family”:

        It’s all in a family, that’s no lie
        Even stays that way after we die
        Leaves, branches, twigs on a family tree
        And the forest can be hard to see
        ……
        It’s all in a family, that’s no lie
        It’ll stay that way after we die
        You forgive, forget, and finally see
        When you get to hold the new baby

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