For as long as I’ve been on the radio, and definitely for as long as I’ve been writing a blog, I will occasionally make a reference to a song being “One of the Greatest Songs Ever Recorded!” (GSER)
I would usually follow that by saying that I would eventually start a category for it, but then never get around to it.
Well, now I’m getting around to it!
It will pretty much follow the pattern of The Most Awesomest Song of the Day.
I’ll select a song to celebrate and then give my thoughts about it. Nothing really brand new here that hasn’t been done before. But since I have a website, I can collect them and lay out what my own greatest songs are.
My radio show, “Prime Time Theme Attic,” is on Monday nights 8PM-10PM ET but is on hiatus because of the pandemic.
Here’s the link for when the show returns: http://rdo.fm/r/4qntu )
Even though I always emphasize new music and artists, it’s always fun to take a short drive through the legendary artists, since they influenced those other artists!
But a song doesn’t have to be old or done by a legendary Theme Attic Hall of Fame member to be thus honored.
I can think of several songs that are only a few years old or less that I could identify as One of the Greatest Songs Ever Recorded.
This will be fun, and hopefully you will join me on my journey…at least sometimes!
QQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQ
When singer/songwriter, TV host, and multiple Philby Award winner Eric Gnezda told me he’d written a new song called, “Separation,” I made the presumption in my mind, that it was a song about a marriage that was failing.
He asked if he could send me a copy.
I said, “Yes. Of course!”
Who was I to turn down a song from a songwriter that I felt had already written One of the Greatest Songs Ever Recorded: “Daddy’s Wheels?” (But that’s a story for another day.)
I was doing show prep, but something told me to listen to the song after receiving a digital copy.
“Separation” opens with three discordant piano notes and some synth strings setting a moody musical palette.
After Eric switches to chords, the lyrics begin to tell the tale:
“She once seemed to have it all/
Brilliant, brave, and beautiful/
She was everything you’d ever want to be.”
OK. So far “Separation” sounds like I thought it would. A guy was obviously in love with a woman.
The song continued:
“She was free and self assured/
Everyone looked up to her/
A shining light for all the world to see.”
Now I’m not so sure where we’re going. If this female was so great, what happened?
“But she lost touch with who she was/
And all she’d ever be/
Now we can’t even talk without a fight.”
Now we’re getting to it.
Somebody cheated.
Somebody lied.
Someone left the toilet seat up?
What would it be?
What caused the breakup?
“I hate to have to say it.”
Yes. Yes. I’m with you. I’m waiting in anticipation of the reason.
‘”‘Cause it hurts down to the core.”
Yes…………………………………
“But I don’t know my country anymore.”
WHOA!
Gut punch!
I was reeled in by Eric, and then got sucker punched in my stomach, knocking the wind out of me!
At least emotionally!
No matter what I was planning to play, I knew that song would be on my show that night!
It was like Eric had bored into my heart, and then left it exposed to an onslaught of even more powerful feelings!
And, of course, he did singing about dreams that might not be fulfilled.
He contemplates the thought that the situation my be irreparable.
When the song was released in 2018, before the Mid Term elections, those feelings were very strong.
And they may be even more so today before the 2020 election!
Speaking only about “Separation” as a song, it holds a simple beauty that anyone on the political spectrum, from far left to far right, can identify with it!
It’s like a painting that can change depending on the angle that one looks at it!
The lyrical structure of the song is asymmetrical, but it doesn’t matter because it always dovetails back to the one line chorus:
“But I don’t know my country anymore.”
You can’t top the impact of that line!
As the song fades out, “Separation” stays unresolved in both its music and lyrics.
It gives the listener time to contemplate a couple of truly haunting lines:
“Is it too late to get back all we’ve lost?
Also:
“…and afraid of what’s in store”
Those sentiments are probably currently in the back of most voters.
For anyone who has heard my show, they know I play a “Grand Finale” for my sign off song.
“Separation” closed the show so the thoughts presented in the song could echo in the listeners’ heads.
I also think I was the first person to have the honor of playing it!
One of the Greatest Songs Ever Recorded: “Separation” by Eric Gnezda!!!
QQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQ
If you like what you see, don’t forget to spread the word by hitting the “like” button on my Facebook page, Phil Maq!
#Separation #EricGnezda #PhilMaq #OneoftheGreatestSongsEverRecorded #GSER
