Colours in songs
Back to the delightfully random now after being spoilt by so much on-topic news recently. I don’t know about you, but I needed a few days away to recover.
Although I could have sworn that we’ve done this already (maybe in a dream?), today’s musical test of memory concerns songs with colours in the titles and lyrics. Heck, even bands that have taken a colour and made a name for themselves out of it. Think of it as a distraction for those who are already distracted by last-minute transfer dealings on deadline day. (Alexander Hleb to Birmingham City?)
In memory of Birmingham son, Carl Wayne, who died on this day in 2004, this was The Move’s only No.1 single among many a memorable hit – in December 1968.
Perhaps best remembered for his frenzied destruction of stage props during performances, which once included hacking through a Cadillac at London’s Roundhouse whilst strippers did their thing (and resulted in The Move being temporarily banned from every theatre in the UK), Carl Wayne also succeed Allan Clarke as lead vocalist for the Hollies in 2000, found time to act both on stage in the West End (in Blood Brothers – for six years) and on television (including the much-loved British soap opera, Crossroads), and so very admirably ran major marathons to raise funds for research into leukaemia. I think the latter fact alone makes him worthy of your remembrance and respect today.
Here are six songs which have a colour in their title. Can you add to them? There have to be at least a dozen songs for each and every colour in the rainbow – the rainbow as sung by The Dells, preferably. What a performance that is.
- Beatles, ‘Old Brown Shoe’
- Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, ‘Red Eyes and Tears’
- Leonard Cohen, ‘Famous Blue Raincoat’
- Little Barrie, ‘Green Eyed Fool’
- Joni Mitchell, ‘Big Yellow Taxi’
- Red Hot Chili Peppers, ‘Purple Stain’
All that’s left for me to do is remind you that the chatroom will be open tomorrow from 3pm (UK). My apologies again for cancelling yesterday’s chat at short notice; I hope to see you tomorrow instead. Newcomers are very welcome and everything you need to know about the chatroom can be found here, so do drop in.
By the way, I do realise that, scientifically, black isn’t a ‘colour’ as such; colour being the result of the distortion of light and black objects absorb light but cannot reflect it, or something like that. But it still counts as a colour for the purpose of this exercise, as does white, if only because ‘Paint it Black’ and ‘White Rabbit’ are two of the finest songs ever recorded. I mean, who really cares about physics?
The one song that I have always enjoyed is Blue Monday by Fats Domino. It’s in a class of its own, so I’ll just stop here.
I hope you had a relaxing three day holiday FEd…
Take Care, Thomas
A classic.
I always liked the New Order song of the same name, too.
Beatles: Yellow Submarine
Prince: Purple Rain
Nice topic FEd. Here are ten just off the top of my head that I really like.
Purple Haze – Jimi Hendrix
Green River – Creedence Clearwater Revival
Devil In A Blue Dress – Mitch Ryder & the Detroit Wheels
The Red And The Black – Blue Oyster Cult
Blue Suede Shoes – Carl Perkins
White Room – Cream
Yellow Submarine – Beatles
Black Hole Sun – Soundgarden
Nights In White Satin – Moody Blues
Silver Machine – Hawkwind
I could list more but I think I am already kinda dating myself with these songs.
Hoss
‘Purple Haze’… So much better than my purple suggestion. If we had to separate these tracks by date, with 1980 as the dividing line, you know the oldies would be much better.
That said, I always liked that Soundgarden tune. They’re making a comeback with a previously unreleased track called ‘Black Rain’, funnily enough. You can listen to it here.
Hello, FEd!
I hope you enjoyed the Bank Holiday.
And what a FUN topic; and yes, it is vaguely familiar, but still fun!
I think I’ve got all the colours of the rainbow covered:
RED: “Red” – Sammy Hagar
ORANGE: “Orange Crush” – REM
YELLOW: “Yellow” – Coldplay
GREEN: “Green Eyed Lady” – Sugarloaf
BLUE: “The Blue” – Mr. Gilmour Himself~
or: “Flying In A Blue Dream” – Joe Satriani
PURPLE: “Purple Haze” – (of course)
WHITE: “White Light/White Heat” – David Bowie (written by Lou Reed)
BLACK: “Black Magic Woman” – Santana (although I’ve never seen black in a rainbow)
And that physics thing? Well, I learned that all colours except for blue are reflected from glaciers/icebergs. That’s why they get that ‘blue’ colour. It’s apparently the only colour they absorb.
Hope you are well along with all the Irregulars, Gilmourettes, and newbys!!
xoxo
Hi good evening!
I think, there are many colours in rock and pop music to find:
Blue Suede Shoes – Carl Perkins
Yellow Submarine – The Beatles
Lady in Red – Chris de Burgh
Black Velvet – Alannah Myles
Green Manalishi – Peter Green/Fleetwood Mac
The Blue / Red Sky at Night – David Gilmour
White Toom – Cream/Eric Clapton
Bluebird Over the Mountain – Beach Boys
Brown Sugar – Rolling Stones
Purple Rain – Prince
That are my first ten, maybe I find some more.
Herbert
Good decision that black and white count. So many good songs with these “colours”:
White Room – Cream
Black Dog – Led Zeppelin
Black Night – Deep Purple
White Queen – Queen
White Flag – Dido
Black or White – Michael Jackson
…but also some other colours:
Green is the Colour – Pink Floyd (one of my PF favs)
Yellow Submarine – Beatles
Brown Sugar – Rolling Stones
Purple Rain – Prince
Red Red Wine – Neil Diamond
…and for the rainbow:
Rainbow Eyes – Rainbow (sung by the fantastic Ronny James Dio who sadly died in May this year).
Hello again, FEd.
“The Blue” by David and “Green Is The Colour” by Pink Floyd are obviously the first titles that came to my mind. Then, there are also:
The Beatles – Yellow Submarine
Donovan – Mellow Yellow
The Rolling Stones – Brown Sugar
CSN – Suite: Judy Blue Eyes
Jimi Hendrix – Purple Haze/Red House
Pearl Jam – Black/Green Disease
Metallica – Fade To Black
Soundgarden – Black Hole Sun/Fell On Black Days
R.E.M. – Orange Crush/Electron Blue
Jethro Tull – Jack In The Green
Cream – White Room
You are not the only one who doesn’t care about physics, everybody loves the Dark Side Of The Moon album cover, although the indigo colour is missing from the spectrum…
So many songs about colours! Some that immediately came to my mind:
- ‘The Blue’ – ‘Out Of The Blue’ by David
- ‘Green Is The Colour’, Pink Floyd
- ‘Blue Room In Venice’, Rick Wright
- ‘Behind Blue Eyes’, The Who
- ‘Brown Sugar’ – ‘Ruby Tuesday’ – ‘She’s A Rainbow’ (does it count?), The Rolling Stones
- ‘Purple Rain’, Prince
- ‘Black Dog’, Led Zeppelin
- ‘Tangled Up In Blue’, Bob Dylan
- ‘Mellow Yellow’, Donovan
- ‘A Coral Room’, Kate Bush
- ‘Violet Hill’, Coldplay
-’Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Yellow Polka Dot Bikini’, by ??? (I know the French version by Dalida, very funny)
- ‘La Vie en Rose’, Edith Piaf
- ‘L’Aigle Noir’, Barbara
- ‘Lemon Incest’, Serge et Charlotte Gainsbourg
Any Colour You Like…
Oh yes, Coldplay! How about Green Eyes, too?
I love the recording of David Gilmour singing ‘Green Is The Colour’ live at the Rainbow Theatre. I would play that song over and over with great joy, being affected by how beautiful it sounded. I think it was recorded from part of a radio program by J.J. Jackson if I remember correctly. I have no idea what happened to my copy.
- AC/DC ‘Back In Black’ (my school class song)
- UB40 ‘Red Red Wine’ (overplayed by wedding DJ’s everywhere)
- Elvis Presley ‘Blue Suede Shoes’ (the King of Pop)
- Grateful Dead ‘Scarlet Begonias’ (a very fun song)
- The Beatles ‘Yellow Submarine’ (fun but weird)
- Jimi Hendrix ‘Purple Haze’ (praise the tree)
- Donovan ‘Mellow Yellow’ (mellow…8^)
That was pleasant, thanks!
Any Colour You Like – Pink Floyd
Behind Blue Eyes – The Who
Yellow Submarine – The BEATles
Little Red Rooster – The Rolling Stones
Purple Haze – Jimmy Hendrix
Non coloured songs I like along with yours, FEd:
Nights in White Satin – Moody Blues
Back in Black – AC/DC
I shall retire to YouTube now and do some serious but relaxing listening. It will be great to get back to chat with all the regulars and newcomers today after a week of 110 and 106 degree temps in Texas and Louisiana with no AC in the truck!!
It’s pretty cool up here in the Ozarks this week and should stay that way the rest of the year.
‘…too lazy to crow for days.’
I love it.
Any Colour You Like, LOL.
I’m gonna add a couple of songs by one of my other fave, Pearl Jam:
Black
Yellow Ledbetter
Speaking about Pearl Jam, there are also “Spin The Black Circle”, “Black Red Yellow” and “Red Mosquito”.
I just realised I forgot to mension David’s “Red Sky at Night” and “Goodbye Blue Sky” from “The Wall”.
And don’t forget about the gnome Grimble Gromble, who “wore a scarlet tunic” and “a blue-green hood”.
It looked quite good.
Here’s my effort…
PINK Floyd:
ANY COLOUR YOU LIKE
Goodbye BLUE Sky
GREEN Is The Colour
QUICKSILVER
The GOLD It’s In The…
MAROONED
David Gilmour:
BLUE Light
Out Of The BLUE
The BLUE
RED Sky At Night
Richard Wright:
PINK’s Song
BLACK Cloud
BLUE Room In Venice
Syd Barrett:
GOLDEN Hair
A random A-Z of songs:
AMARANTINE – Enya (Amaranth = a shade of deep purple)
BROWN Sugar – Rolling Stones
A CORAL Room – Kate Bush
DANDELION – Rolling Stones (a shade of yellow)
EMERALD and Ash – Steve Hackett
Pretty FLAMINGO – Manfred Mann
GOLDEN BROWN – The Stranglers
HARLEQUIN – Genesis (a shade of green)
(EBONY) and IVORY – Paul McCartney & Stevie Wonder
JUNGLE – ELO (a shade of green)
All the boys in KHAKI get the nice girls – Music hall song, circa 1915.
LAVENDER – Marillion
Here We Go Round The MULBERRY Bush – Traffic (a shade of pink)
In The NAVY – Village People
ORCHID – Black Sabbath (a shade of pink)
PEARL’s a Singer – Elkie Brooks
REDWOOD Tree – Van Morrison
SILVER Machine – Hawkwind
TANGERINE – Led Zeppelin
UMBER – Bitch Magnet (a shade of brown)
VANILLA Sky – Paul McCartney
WHITE Shadows – Coldplay
XANADU – ELO & Olivia Newton John (a shade of green/grey)
Yellow – Coldplay
The ZIRCONS – Lonely Way (a shade of yellow) …sorry FEd, had to resort to a group for ‘Z’.
My hat is, and shall remain, off in respect of another fine effort, Ken… even though I suspect I’ll have ‘Here We Go Round The Mulberry Bush’ playing in my head all day (the jolly, skipping kids’ version, not Traffic’s).
I don’t think anyone mentioned “Red Door” by the Stones. Or “Black Sabbath” by (who else?) Black Sabbath.
Otherwise, all the good ones are already mentioned above!
Sometimes colors are mentioned in the lyrics, too. Stop me if you’ve heard this song: “Now there’s a look in your eyes, like black holes in the sky.”
Another color in a lyric:
“Mirrors on the ceiling, pink champagne on ice…”
Good one, Dan.
How about a Name That Colour (and Song… and Artist… and Album If You Really Want To) quiz?
Here’s one:
“_____ is the colour of my true love’s hair
In the morning, when we rise”
Hi!
Dan’s song is Hotel California by The Eagles.
About that, what FEd has put in here, I still have not a real good idea. It sounds like from a folksong, I have Fairport Convention or Steeleye Span in my mind. What colour makes sense? Golden…? Black…? Brown…?
CU
Herbert
I love that one, FEd.
By the same artist, I would also add “Turquoise” and “Celeste”, that I don’t know in English, but in Italian means sky-blue.
They make sense, Herbert, but I’m afraid they aren’t right. The first is close, though.
Alessandra’s given some clues; here’s another, if we’re being generous with our colours:
“I’m just mad about Saffron…”
You’re also on the right track Herbert to be thinking way back in time to early Fairport and Steeleye Span. The artist is from about that time, well, a little earlier.
Such a tease Fed. Saffron, Golden.
I didn’t know about Turquoise or Celeste Alessandra.
ash
“That’s the time, That’s the time, I love the best.”
Isn’t that song by Donovan? The blank should be filled in with the color “Yellow.” I don’t know the album name.
Family history with Donovan. My brother’s first wife had an affair with Donovan, which effectively ended that marriage and made Donovan’s name mud in the minds of some of us.
Interestingly, there is also a folk song called “Black is the color of my true love’s hair.” It’s been covered by every artist in the world, most notably Joan Baez who put a dark tone on this song.
Nights in WHITE Satin by the Moody Blues and one of my all time Rolling Stones’s songs: RUBY Tuesday.
And of course, there is the Kaiser Cheifs “Ruby, ruby, ruby, AhhhAhhAhAhAhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh”.
Turquoise – Donovan
In The Navy – Village People
The Big Sky – Kate Bush
It’s All Over Now Baby Blue – His Bobness
Breakfast At Tiffany’s – Deep Blue Something
Living Next Door To Alice – Smokey
Walk Like An Egyptian – Bangles
Oh Carolina – Shaggy
In The Midnight Hour – Wilson Pickett
Electric Feel – MGMT
I went for shades of blue, here’s the colour chart if anyone fancies finding some more.
In that case, let’s also have ‘Iris’ by the Goo Goo Dolls and ‘The Dodger Song’ by Woody Guthrie.
I was confused: but there it is, ‘DODGER BLUE’ on the color chart!
You’ve made my day, FED, thank you bunches for introducing me to another lovely Woody Guthrie song!
You didn’t ask for it but now you have it, Woody Guthrie songs with colors in title.
Pretty Boy Floyd (whoops, that’s a Floydian slip!
)
Black Diamond
Black Wind Blowing
Blue Eyes
Dust Pneumonia Blues
East Texas Red
Gonna Be a Blackout Tonight
Grassy Grass Grass
Green Back Dollar
Mean Talkin’ Blues
Muleskinner Blues
My Flowers Grow Green
Orange Blossom Ring
Ramblin’ Blues
Red Wine
Tea Bag Blues
Washington Talkin’ Blues
Worried Man Blues
Sorry, FEd.
Now if the perfect opportunity to mention Electric Light Orchestra’s ‘Birmingham Blues’.
Hleb is a great signing. He should never have left Arsenal.
How can you tell that I live in Birmingham?
In anticipation that no-one else dare bring it up, I shall offer up, wait for it, John Denver’s ‘Cool and GREEN and Shady’.
Sorry, cannot forget my childhood hero.
OK, so, Name That (Those) Colour(s) – and Song and Artist/Band:
1 – “We met when we were almost young
Deep in the _____ _____ park.
You held on to me like I was a crucifix,
As we went kneeling through the dark.”
2 – “As easy it was to tell _____ from _____
It was all that easy to tell wrong from right
And our choices were few and the thought never hit
That the one road we traveled would ever shatter and split.”
3 – “Why did we tell you then
You were always the _____ boy then
And that you’d never lose that light in your eyes.”
4 – “Cellophane flowers of _____ and _____,
Towering over your head.
Look for the girl with the sun in her eyes,
And she’s gone.”
5- (Big challenge!)
“La pluie est traversière, elle bat de grain en grain
Quelques vieux chevaux _____ qui fredonnent Gauguin
Et par manque de brise, le temps s’immobilise
Aux Marquises.”
Well, I really want it to be ‘pamplemousse’ for #5, but ‘bleus’ would sound better – even if you don’t see too many blue horses these days. It would give the line a nice rhythm, don’t you think?
As for #2, ‘Bob Dylan’s Dream’, for me, is his saddest song. Amazingly, recorded when he was just 21, yet he manages to sound like an old man mourning his youth.
“I wish, I wish, I wish in vain
That we could sit simply in that room again
Ten thousand dollars at the drop of a hat
I’d give it all gladly if our lives could be like that”
(Can’t Bob be president now? Obama’s had his turn.)
#4: “Yellow and green,” from Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds. This song also gave birth to a band name with a color in it: Tangerine Dream.
Wow! I also love the sound of ‘Des chevaux pamplemousse’.
But, no, it’s neither ‘pamplemousse’, nor ‘bleu’, it’s ‘Quelques vieux chevaux blancs’, a reference to a painting by Paul Gauguin (who is named in the lyrics): ‘Le Cheval Blanc’.
The song is ‘Les Marquises’ by Jacques Brel. Such wonderful lyrics.
Like Jacques Brel, Gauguin lived the rest of his life in the Marquesas Islands where his body is buried next to Brel’s grave.
* Bob, President? But who could understand his speeches?
“I forget to pray for the angels,
and then the angels forget to pray for us”
Green and lilac.
Michèle, ma belle,
Joyeux Anniversaire pour le Samedi.
J’espère que vous avez un pleine de couleurs week-end.
#4 Yellow & Green
What about the first verse, ma belle?
“Picture yourself in a boat on a river
With _________ trees and _________ skies
Somebody calls you, you answer quite slowly
A girl with kaleidoscope eyes”
Yellow and green.
The song is “Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds”, by The Beatles.
The same from me. Have a good one – avec beaucoup vin rouge et Tiramisu… et peut-être un grand Gugelhupf, aussi.
Joyeux Anniversaire.
Happy Birthday, Michèle. I hope you’ll have a great day.
I was going to write it in French, but Ken and FEd have been faster than me, so now it would be too easy.
Ken,
That’s very kind of you, merci beaucoup. Et un bon weekend à toi aussi.
“Picture yourself in a boat on a river
With tangerine trees and marmalade skies.”
Right?
I’m ashamed to confess that I didn’t know that ‘tangerine’ means ‘mandarine’ here and therefore is a colour.
Oh et merci à FEd, even though I’ve no idea what ‘Gugelhupf’ means…
Are you teasing me?
Have a nice and sunny weekend, FEd.
Come now, you expect me to believe that we haven’t talked about cakes in the chat room at least once or twice? Particularly cakes from Germany, Austria and Switzerland which may have chocolate in them?
It says here that it’s from the Alsace region of France.
Sorry, no, I don’t remember that name and I didn’t know that it’s an Alsatian recipe either.
See, FEd, you know French recipes better than I do.
It looks delicious, and I love chocolate, alors, merci beaucoup.
And I love Tiramisu too.
Thank you for your Birthday wishes, Alessandra.
In New Orleans Gugelhupfs are are called King Cakes, complete with a plastic baby baked inside! I knew the tradition came from Europe, but I didn’t know by which name!
Here are some King Cakes: now I’m homesick for ‘Nawlins!
Happy Birthday Michèle!
Happy Birthday, Michèle.
Enjoy your special birthday Tartiflette.
xxx
I’m ashamed to confess that I didn’t know that ‘tangerine’ means ‘mandarine’ here and therefore is a colour.
Michèle,
You’re not alone. I ignored it, too.
Many thanks, Sharon.
Your link: So many different colourful King Cakes, impressive! (perfect for this topic, too). And there’s even an ‘Obama King Cake’.
I recognised our ‘Galette des Rois’, the only one just completely brown…
You asked for bands with colours in their name, below… Do you know the progressive rock band Magenta?
Merci à toi aussi, Lorraine, c’est gentil.
Funnily enough, tomorrow, I’ll make a Tartiflette – with Reblochon, not Brie.
Autumn ~ Edgar Winter Group
Autumn, the wind blows colder than summer
Autumn, my love’s gone with another
I can’t demand anything of myself now
So I guess I’ll stay here in New England, for Autumn
Buildings look tall and gray
Birds flying, haven’t much to say
They all know that it’s coming again
So I guess they’ll stay here in New England, for Autumn, Autumn
Have you ever loved something, that you thought you knew?
Have you ever lost someone, who was close to you?
Well I lost my lover… and my summer too
To Autumn, the wind blows colder than summer
Autumn, my love’s gone with another
I can’t demand anything of myself now
So I guess I’ll stay here in New England, For Autumn, Autumn
Following on from Fed’s response to Dan and an evolution of the exercise…
“…. it’s my new obsession”
“I’m a hazard to myself
Don’t let me get me”
“Mr Freers, had sticky out ears
and it made him awful shy
and so they gave him medicinal compound
and now he’s learning how to fly”
“…. elephants and lemonade, dear”
Oh by the way…
ash
You forgot this one, Ash.
Ash,
I won’t reveal the answer, because I only knew the last song and I cheated to understand why you wrote “Oh by the way…”.
Thanks for that Michele.
I wish you a wonderful day on Saturday, Happy Birthday!!!!!
Have you also seen the films with Peter Sellers as Inspector Clouseau and his long suffering boss, Chief Inspector Charles LaRousse Dreyfus (played by Herbert Lom)?
I love how Clouseau drives Dreyfus nuts and he ends up with a nervous tick in his eye, not to mention various injuries. I sometimes wonder if that’s what we do to Fed.
Fed??
ash
Thank you, Ash.
Lily the Pink! I haven’t heard that since I was at school!
They are all pink.
Pink by Aerosmith.
I’m a Hazard to Myself by Pink.
Lily The Pink by the Scaffold.
Dear Jessie by Madonna.
Oh By the Way… Which One’s Pink by our very own.
ash
Green Earrings – Steely Dan
Coldplay – Violet Hill
Metallica – Fade To Black (The Lemonheads cover is good too)
Sting – Fields Of Gold
And if they count…
Amon Amarth – Cry Of The Blackbirds
Pendulum – Watercolour
And in answer to your question, people who ‘should’ care about physics include those who: use technology and electricity; want to understand the universe and attempt answer the questions it forces upon us; are involved in a scientific discipline of any kind; are made up of atoms or exist in this dimension and universe.
So unless you’re a 3D shape blogging from wi-fi cows in another universe, physics should at least warrant your respect. Unless you’re like me and take it way too seriously…
Now if you’ll excuse me, I have physics homework to do.
The Lemonheads doing ‘Fade to Black’ is a great call. It’s all so believable with Evan Dando’s tired vocal.
They’ve done some good covers, actually. I always liked their ‘Mrs Robinson’ and ‘Hey, That’s No Way to Say Goodbye’.
Have you heard their version of ‘Live Forever’? The whistling spoils it a bit for me.
Black rocks.
Black is Black, Los Bravos
Black is black
I want my baby back
It’s gray, it’s gray
Since she went away
What can I do
Coz I’m feelin’ blue
“Back to Black” by the fabulous Ms. Winehouse
Is there room for another quiz?
Whoa, _______ Betty
Wham a lam
Whoa, _______ Betty
Wham a lam
______ Betty had a child
The damn thing gone wild
She said it wasn’t in her mind
The damn thing gone blind
Said whoa ____ Betty
Whoa ____ Betty
Lovely, playing with colours.
Bella xo
Off topic: A Canadian radio station recently asked listeners to vote for the albums that changed their lives: Pink Floyd came in first with 21% (DSOTM, The Wall, Animals and Atom Heart Mother).
Green is the Colour – Pink Floyd
…and wow, what a great segue.
This past weekend I actually watched the movie More where that was one of the songs on the soundtrack. Difficult to describe the movie, it certainly had that feel for the time period. The male lead, Stefan totally treated Estelle like crap. Interesting how they handled the 3-some part without any graphic scenes yet you knew what went on. In fact all the sex in the movie was non-graphic.
But what is most interesting is that even with all the drug use, sex and nudity the thing the censors focused on were two words that were used while they were mixing a drug concoction. The words Benzedrine and banana peel were edited out of the dialogue. OK, I understand editing Benzedrine as that is a trade name for an amphetamine and maybe they didn’t have the copyright to use it. However, why edit banana peel?
Have you seen this movie FEd? It certainly is worth watching at least once. I mean it does have a cool soundtrack.
Thanks.
Andrew
I have seen it, but once was enough for me.
Of Barbet Schroeder’s earlier work, I preferred his film about Idi Amin.
I have never seen “More,” but I did see “The Valley (Obscured By Clouds).” It had a special screening in a tiny movie theater in The Park Plaza hotel in New York, at a time when The Wall was at the top of the charts and anything Floyd was hot. That was, shall we say, a very strange film. It was also very weird to walk out of a movie about drugs, sex, and the indigenous people of New Guinea, and find myself in the lobby of the poshest hotel on Earth.
Re: editing Benzedrine and Banana Peel out of the dialogue
They probably didn’t want to give away the recipe for the drug that would corrupt young minds. That combination is the “electrified banana” that Donovan sings about in “Mellow Yellow,” and people at that time were smoking it to get high.
“Yes, ‘n’ how many seas must a ____ dove sail
Before she sleeps in the sand?”
“____ and ____
And who knows which is which and who is who”
“You’d sail on water as ____ as air,
You’d see me here in the fields and say,
Doesn’t the sky look ____ today?”
Maybe “Black and Blue”?
“White”.
‘Blowin’ In The Wind’ – Bob Dylan.
“Yes, how many years can some people exist
Before they’re allowed to be free?
Yes, how many times can a man turn his head
Pretending he just doesn’t see?”
The answer, my friend…
‘Lo All.
You lot, and also the Fed, are creatures from another dimension, I think? You know my stand on lists. I don’t do ‘em. You lot are like, ummm, gathering information for the next world or something, LOL. KenF’s list made me feel mentally exhausted. Great stuff.
P.S. Did any followers of the TV programme Top Gear spot the headline? “Does anyone give a F*** who the Stig is”. Surely its what “it” does not who it is… Not thinking about writing a book are you Fed, LOL.
Enjoy the sunshine UK. x
Bruce hit it off right away with Any Colour You Like.
Neil Young’s Heart of Gold.
Van Morrison’s Brown Eyed Girl.
Bobby Vinton’s Blue Velvet.
Thanks to the bloggers yesterday. We all met up at one time. A first for me.
Be Well, people.
Hi FEd,
nice topic, I didn’t see anyone list Blue – Joni Mitchell. Some others are:
It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue – Bob Dylan
Silver and Gold – Neil Young (bonus for 2 colours?)
Heart of Gold, Cinnamon Girl, After the Gold Rush – Neil Young
Blood Red River – Beth Orton
Lemon – U2
Ultra Violet – U2
Grey Room – Damien Rice
Blue – An Emotional Fish
Small Blue Thing – Suzanne Vega
Exploring the Blue – Luka Bloom (also covered Black is the Colour)
Colours – An Emotional Fish – opening line…
One thing about colours is, colours always speak their minds…
Well that’s it for now keep up the great efforts, best wishes,
Tom B
Dublin
I think you deserve a bonus for that, Tom.
How about Quicksilver Messenger Service’s ‘Gold and Silver’? That’s a fine piece of music.
“Hey where did we go,
Days when the rains came”
“A dreamer of pictures
I run in the night
You see us together,
chasing the moonlight”
“Is this place
at your command
Can I stay here
for a while”
“Reading Rolling Stone, reading Vogue
They said, “How long can you hang around?”
I said “a week, maybe two, just until…”
ash
Love that first one, Ash.
Laughin’ and a-runnin’
Hey, hey
Skippin’ and a-jumpin’
Fed,
I know you know the next two, I tried to hide the second of the two from you by using a different verse but that verse had the wrong colour so I had to use the first one.
ash
Oh, alright… Yes, I do know them; they’re from the same album where Neil sings:
“She could drag me over the rainbow
Send me away”
Love that album so much. Your second and third examples are taken from the first and last tracks on it, if my memory is working well today. And, if it isn’t, you can excuse me because it’s Friday, right?
Lots of colours in the third one, actually.
These ones are all shades of brown.
BROWN Eyed Girl by Van Morrison.
CINNAMON Girl by Neil Young and Crazy Horse.
Cowgirl in the SAND by Neil Young and crazy Horse.
Yes Fed, you were absolutely right.
I hadn’t remembered they were from the same album. 
I did hanker after a fix though so had to put it on. How do you remember all this stuff? The other colours Fed talked about are, ruby, rust, purple and grey.
The last song is California by Joni Mitchell, there are several reds and ‘blues’ in there but the colour I wanted was “just until my skin turns BROWN”.
ash
“Oh, the rogue; the red, red rogue”
What a witty songwriter she is.
Re: the rogue, “he stole my camera to sell”
ash
How about bands with colors in their name (I’m thinking of one in particular: what’s their name? It’s just on the tip of the tongue…)
The Indigo Girls
Blue Oyster Cult
The Blues Brothers
Black Sabbath
Whitesnake
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Pearl Jam
The Raspberries
Silver Apples
Spectrum
At the risk of making myself look a complete twit, when I was much younger I used to think that the Moody Blues were singing about KNIGHTS in white satin and had visions of Lancelot, Galahad, etc. galloping round in tunics made of satin!!!! Monty Python could have made something of that!
Have a lovely weekend all and well done with the courgettes FED. Mine liked the heat but not the humidity!
Best wishes
Heather
Hahaha Heather, I used to think that too!
Some coloured bands names… apart from the most obvious one.
Black Sabbath
Deep Purple
King Crimson
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Green Day
Blue Oyster Cult
Cream (it’s also a colour, isn’t it?)
The Black Crowes
The White Stripes
Any others?
Two ‘newer’ bands that I’ve enjoyed a lot: The Blue Van and Black Rebel Motorcycle Club.
I suppose we could have Jet, too.
Thank you, MySpace.
Thanks for the advice, FEd.
I’m constantly looking for “newer” bands to listen to, but it’s so often a disappointing search.
If what I’ve just listened on the web is representative of BRMC and The Blue Van music, I might like them.
It’s probably my impression, but something in Black Rebel Motorcycle Club’s sound makes me think of another band I liked, My Bloody Valentine. Do you know them?
I know of them but have never really listened to them. I will start.
Hi FEd,
here are my preferred coloured tracks:
“Green is the Colour”
“Black Dog”
“Paint it Black”
“Mellow Yellow”
“A Whiter Shade of Pale”
A hug
diana
Gosh, Bev Bevan looks so young in that clip.
Here is a link that demonstrates some of Bev Bevan’s excellent drumming. I do believe he later became ELO’s drummer.
Rock on! Birmingham.
Oh, now I sing for you Michèle:
“Happy Birthday to you…
Happy Birthday to you…
Happy Birthday Michèle…
HAPPY… BIRTHDAY…TO YOUUUU!!!!!!!!”
(Buon Compleanno!)
And now, this is my surprise for you! I hope you like it!
Bye, Hydrea.
Awww… You know how to talk to me, Hydrea…
I wish my Cachou had played violin for me that day, but he only just repeated that I was his Servant…
Hi!
Here are some additional songs with colors in the title:
Porcupine Tree:
Blackest Eyes, Yellow Hedgerow Dreamscape
XTC:
Wrapped in Grey, Blue Overall
Frank Zappa:
Don’t Eat the Yellow Snow
Lou Reed:
The Blue Mask, My Red Joystick
The Smashing Pumpkins:
Blue
Cheers,
Richard
hi,
i am mr hoffmann. i live in brasil.
i love your songs – the songs of pink floyd.
i would like to see the end show of the pink floyd: mason, waters, and you… where is barrett? an acoustic show of the pink floyd…
A Whiter Shade Of Pale-Procol Harem
Red Rain-Peter Gabriel
Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini-Brian Hyland
Over The Rainbow-Arlen/Harburg
Ruby Tuesday-The Rolling Stones
Purple People Eater-Sheb Wooley
Green Green Grass Of Home-Claude Putman
Carribean Blue-Enya
Evolution Orange-Earth,Wind & Fire
Pink Cadillac-Bruce Springsteen
Here’s only a few. I could have listed many more.
Pink Floyd-Echoes
“Everything is Green and submarine”
Pink Floyd- Green is The Colour
“Heavy hung the canopy of Blue”
“White was the light that shines through the dress that you wore”
Pink Floyd- Fat Old Sun
“The Silver sound from a time so strange…”
Pink Floyd-Astronomy Domine
“Lime and limpid Green, a second scene, a fight between the Blue you once knew”
Pink Floyd- High Hopes
“The grass was Greener…”
Elvis-Blue Christmas
Willie Nelson- Blue Eyes Crying in The Rain
“Now my hair has turned to Silver…”
Velvet Underground-Pale Blue Eyes
Robert Plant and Allison Krauss- Killing The Blues
“In colors Red and Gold they set us on fire…”
Dion- Ruby Baby (I’ll be singing this for the rest of the day now)
The Black Keys (I hope everyone knows this band)
Hank Williams- I’m So Lonesome I Could Die
“The silence of a falling star
Lights up a Purple sky
And as I wonder where you are
I’m so lonesome I could cry”
Hi FEd, long time no type for me.
Just got back from the best week of the summer in your neck of the woods – Dolgellau. Drinking the best bitter from the Purple Moose brewery, overlooking a river of gold.
I was going to ask what you’d been up to, but I can see you’re quite busy. I shall slink away to cut back the greenery which seems to have taken over my garden in the meantime.
P.S. To get to and from Wales, I had to pass Astoria (twice).
Happy Birthday Michèle.
You’re too kind, Frank.
Bisous.
David Gilmour – The Blue / Out Of the Blue / Blue Light / Red Sky at Night
Pink Floyd – Green is the Colour
Prince – Purple Rain
Led zeppelin – Black Dog
Rolling Stones – Paint it Black
Paul mccartney – Ebony and Ivory
Coldplay – Yellow
Hoo, lawsy! Has anyone here flipped to the B side of Mungo Jerry’s ‘In the Summertime’?
Dust Pneumonia Blues, by Woody Guthrie!
It might be the strep going round: if there isn’t a strep throat blues, by the gods there should be one!!
Nobody has mentioned Stevie Wonder’s “Golden Lady:”
“A touch of rain and sunshine made the flowers grow
Into a lovely smile that’s blooming
And it’s so clear to me that you’re my dream come true
There’s no way that I’ll be losing.
And Golden Lady, Golden Lady
I want to go there.”
Such amazing poetry. Stevie Wonder is underrated as a lyricist.
Happy Birthday, Michèle
Hope you had a wonderful B-day weekend and a good glass of champagne.
Gros bisous,
Ralph
Awww… Champagne, vin rouge… You know I can’t resist…
Thank you and a big bisou back to you, Ralph.
Happy Birthday Roger Waters!
One of my long time favorites is Colour My World by Chicago. I think that fits this category also.
… I’m too late for this entry, but on the other hand it seems rather impossible for me to put down a complete list of songs with colours in their titles: I’m just getting too much hits on my MP3 archive of more than 10647 songs…
So just let me note a couple of favorites:
Green Mahalishi – Fleetwood Mac
Hot Plate Heaven At The Green Hotel – Frank Zappa
Green Is The Colour – Pink Floyd
Yellow Submarine – The Beatles
The Blue – David Gilmour
Brown Sugar – Rolling Stones
Silver Machine – Hawkwind
Nights In White Satin – Moody Blues
A Whiter Shade Of Pale – Procol Harum
Regarding the discussion about colours: I chose the meaning of the word colour to be the one for that that you can buy in an artists shop. And there, there are black, white, silver, et cetera colours to buy.
Best regards
Taki
I guess that nobody remembered The Doors’ “Blue Sunday” or “Runnin’ Blue”…
Also:
The Black Crowes – Evergreen
Creedence Clearwater Revival – Green River
Foo Fighters – The Deepest Blues Are Black
Os Mutantes – Tecnicolor (yeah… I’m from Brazil!)
Rush – Limelight
Rush – Red Barchetta
The Racounters – Blue Veins
The Fatales – Violette
The Flaming Lips – Yoshimi Fights The Pink Robots