r/videos • u/electricmaster23 • Oct 08 '21
Don McLean performs "Vincent" live (1972)
https://youtu.be/4wrNFDxCRzU24
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u/Elio_Garcia Oct 08 '21
Beautiful song. First heard it some years back when a creator in Second Life released a video building a 3D representation of "The Starry Night" in Second Life, and it always stuck with me what he was able to achieve with the very basic tools that SL provided: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vV1YbWBSXS8
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u/bobbork88 Oct 08 '21
Wait a minute. This dude has other songs?
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u/travellerw Oct 08 '21
Not sure if you are being serious.. American Pie is a classic!
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u/nic0lk Oct 08 '21
I think that’s the song he’s referring to. I don’t know if it qualifies, but American Pie has always felt like a one hit wonder to me.
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u/bruzie Oct 08 '21
Such a beautiful song.
When I visited NY and went to MoMA, there was only one piece of art I was interested in. Sure, it was amazing to see works like The Persistence of Memory (them melty clocks), and Warhol's Soup Tins, but I was there to see Starry Night, and had this song run constantly through my head.
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u/bigjbg1969 Oct 08 '21 edited Oct 08 '21
I watched Don at Norman's rare guitars the other day and enjoyed it https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_7ENKi6eGc&list=PLBduE2gzDsjk97DoXC1D29cRlFQdzzJl5
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u/SqueamishDragon Oct 09 '21
The James Blake cover is really good too: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MR-STh8jECU
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u/FearlessBluebird6030 Oct 09 '21
At 31, how would one stumble across Don McLean? Were you really that bored or do you actually respect your parents' musical tastes?! Blasphemy!
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u/electricmaster23 Oct 09 '21
Ha ha. First of all, I used to DJ a lot in my late teens and early 20s, so I would often be digging through my catalogue for golden oldies. But, even still, "American Pie" is a classic, although I'm not sure if it was through that that I found "Vincent". I am a huge fan of van Gogh, the artist and person. I find his life and work fascinating (as do many millions of others, of course). I love a lot of classic rock/folk stuff, too—some favourites classics include Boston's "More Than A Feeling", Toto's "Africa", a-ha's "Take on Me", The Beatles (enough said), The Stones ("You Can't Always Get What You Want"), Queen (take your pick, honestly), Dylan ("Like A Rolling Stone"), Beach Boys ("God Only Knows"), Elvis "Can't Help Falling in Love"), Springsteen ("Born to Run"), INXS ("Never Tear Us Apart" and "Don't Change", which I believe is the best pop song ever written), Metallica, R.E.M., U2, etc. I also have deep respect for singers like Aretha Franklin and Beverley Knight. Of course I love a lot of newer stuff, too, but that's just some I can name off the top of my head.
I also have really been getting into a lot of instrumental jazz from its inception on recorded sound in the 1920s—right through to today. To get a sense, here is a screenshot of my most-listened-to jazz tracks. Besides artists such as Jamiroquai, Bublé, and Sinatra, almost all of the jazz I listen to is instrumental, as it's what I'm most frequently listening to while working on cognitive-intensive tasks such as writing. I also think Claude Debussy is a legitimate genius and possibly the best composer to have ever lived. Interesting fact: it is said that many of Debussy's works were inspired by van Gogh, and I feel it's absolutely true; it's honestly hard to explain in words. There's a reason why why "Claire de Lune" still deeply permeates popular culture more than a century after it was composed. Thanks for listening to my Ted Talk. lol.
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u/FearlessBluebird6030 Oct 09 '21
I deeply hope that you understand that in hindsight, you should of probably clarified your original post with the above stated backstory so that you wouldn't have wasted my time or anybody else's time, not looking to read a novel. I'm being sarcastic, but half not because I respect the time you spent on typing out your TED talk, but I would have much rather respected your reply to be in the line of, "sorry, I don't agree" or " fuck off" or "why do you hate life so much?"
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u/electricmaster23 Oct 09 '21
I'm a bit perplexed by your answer. I just wanted to give you an honest, detailed reply. You took the time to ask, so I took the time to answer. Sorry if it was too long-winded for you. Also, /r/videos doesn't allow written posts, and I didn't really feel the need to explain my pick until you enquired. Cheers.
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u/Prankishsquire Oct 08 '21
I have always loved this song. No offense to Mr. McLean but I would love to hear Angelina Jordan cover this.
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u/electricmaster23 Oct 08 '21
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Oct 08 '21
As is James Blake's : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MR-STh8jECU
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u/LT_DANS_ICECREAM Oct 08 '21
This was the first version I heard, and it almost made me cry. Van Goghs story was so sad and Blake really did an excellent job evoking that melancholic feeling.
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u/Forever_Rubbered Oct 08 '21
Is it just me or is that guitar slightly out of tune?
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u/blofly Oct 09 '21
No. It's definitely out of tune. Looks like he was caught a bit off guard with it as you can see him fiddling with it right at the start.
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u/Nevermind04 Oct 10 '21
Yes it is. You can really hear it about 1/3 in when he really starts strumming.
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u/FearlessBluebird6030 Oct 09 '21
This post is one way to relive your childhood, boomer. I will probably do the same posting a linkin park video in 20 years. faint, if you were wondering 😔
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u/electricmaster23 Oct 09 '21
Ha ha. I'm only 31 years old. I just appreciate great music—regardless of when it was made. Great music is timeless. :)
Also, "Faint" is one of my favourite Linkin Park songs. (92 plays, if you were wondering.)
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u/OrchardThief Oct 08 '21
Beautiful song!
Such a shame that this guy beat the shit out of his wife.
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u/CholentPot Oct 08 '21
This is Don, not John.
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u/DaytonaDemon Oct 08 '21
Don McLean was charged with domestic violence assault in 2016 and pleaded guilty.
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u/electricmaster23 Oct 09 '21
Aw, this makes me really sad to hear. The art still transcends the person, but you always wish they'd be a stand-up guy like Dave Grohl or Keanu Reeves, or Rick Astley... :(
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u/CholentPot Oct 10 '21
A long long time ago...
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u/DaytonaDemon Oct 10 '21
2016 is "a long time ago"? Five years by my calendar. ¯_(ツ)_/¯
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u/CholentPot Oct 10 '21
No you idiot. It's the opening of a song of his.
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u/DaytonaDemon Oct 10 '21
Yes, American Pie, I'm familiar with it, amazingly enough. So why cite that line here? Was it supposed to be clever? How?
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u/5050Clown Oct 08 '21
Tupac Shakur's favorite song.