Cover version of the month #72
Galaxie 500 cover Yoko Ono & The Plastic Ono Band
Released as the b-side to John Lennon's Happy Xmas (War Is Over), Yoko Ono's Listen, The Snow Is Falling, a gentle lullaby, with Lennon's Plastic Ono Band backing.
Beginning with Ono singing childlike, gently, almost like a lullaby, the song then develops with Yoko singing beautifully over music that wouldn't be out of place on The Beatles Abbey Road or Lennon's Imagine album.
Yoko allegendly criticised keyboard/organ player Nicky Hopkins by saying something classically Ono-esque - "Play as if the snow is melting from your fingertips, not that banging."
Ono has also said of the song - "The first pop song I ever wrote was Listen, the Snow Is Falling. I did that before John and I got together. Then, when we got together, I made it into a real pop song. When you hear the original, you couldn't pick out why it was a pop song."
Galazie 500, no strangers to my cover version of the month blog having previously featured with their stunning versions of New Order's Ceremony and George Harrison's Isn't It A Pity?, covered Ono on their 1990 album This Is Our Music with Naomi Yang on lead vocals.
Yang's vocals are very Ono-like, but at 2-minutes 40 seconds the song receives the unmistakable stamp of Galaxie 500. The guitars are raw and soulful, like a cross between Neil Young and Crazy Horse and The Velvet Underground. For a full glorious 5-minutes! Raw and soulful, I love the guitar sounds Galaxie 500 create.
Things slow down to a couple of chords and Misunderstood style feedback going on, then things build and become beautifully crazy and hazy again, music to get lost in. A sublime choice of cover, Galaxie 500 have such great taste.
Yoko Ono - Listen The Snow Is Falling
Galaxie 500 - Listen The Snow Is Falling
I've added the song to my cover versions playlist or search for Everything Flows Cool Cover Versions on Spotify.
You'll find a list of all previous songs to feature on the blog and links to them below the lyrics to Yoko's Listen, The Snow Is Falling.
Snow is falling everywhere
Snow is falling all the time
All the time
Listen, the snow is falling all the time
Listen, the snow is falling everywhere
Between Empire State Building
And between Trafalgur Square
Listen, the snow is falling all the time
Listen, the snow is falling all the time
Listen, the snow is falling everywhere
Between your bed and mine
Between your head an my mind
Listen, the snow is falling all the time
Between Tokyo and Paris
Between London and Dallas
Between your love and mine
Listen, the snow is falling everywhere
Snow drift, snow fall, snow fluff
Listen, listen, listen baby, listen
Previous covers of the month
40. Jumpin' Jack Flash
44. Witchi Tai To
45. Our Lips Are Sealed
46. Sunshine Of Your Love
47. Here Comes The Sun
48. I Think We're Alone Now
49. Don't Let Me Down
50. It's Oh So Quiet
51. Alcoholiday
52. Summer Holiday
53. Who Do You Think You Are?
54. Head On
55. Nothing Compares 2 U
