Song Cycle (album)
Song Cycle is a 1968 album by Van Dyke Parks that mixes a number of genres, including psychedelic, folk, baroque, and experimental rock and pop. The release was Parks' debut album, and was produced by future Dreamworks Records co-founder Lenny Waronker.
The album's material explores unconventional song structures, and reflects an American Gothic trip. Song Cycle also features three cover songs: Randy Newman's "Vine Street", Donovan's "Colours", and the traditional "Nearer My God to Thee" (listed on the album as "Van Dyke Parks").
The subjects of many songs, on the other hand, are Southern California locales, including Laurel Canyon Boulevard, Vine Street, Silver Lake Boulevard, and Palm Desert. The lyrics on Song Cycle also reflect Parks' history working in both the film and music industries of Southern California.
Read more about Song Cycle (album): Background, Reception, Track Listing, Personnel
Famous quotes containing the words song and/or cycle:
“Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away; for now the winter is past, the rain is over and gone. The flowers appear on the earth; the time of singing has come, and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land. The fig tree puts forth its figs, and the vines are in blossom; they give forth fragrance. Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away.”
—Bible: Hebrew, Song of Solomon 2:10-13.
“Only mediocrities progress. An artist revolves in a cycle of masterpieces, the first of which is no less perfect than the last.”
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900)