 The Indescribable Wow (1988) [ larger cover art ] |
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If I close my eyes
I'm afraid I won't wake up
If I stop and listen
I'm afraid I'll hear too much
Trying to hold on to the earth
Holding on for what it's worth
I've got a long black cadillac
marble hot tub in the back
Champagne waterfall
solid gold question mark twenty feet tall
Try to paint a world of shapes
Over the holes as we're falling
The tightened grip is our mistake
As we're trying to hold on to the earth
Looking for his name
wet on brave lips carved on road
Look for flame and mercy
Hope that tired hands can hold
I'm afraid I won't wake up
If I stop and listen
I'm afraid I'll hear too much
Trying to hold on to the earth
Holding on for what it's worth
I've got a long black cadillac
marble hot tub in the back
Champagne waterfall
solid gold question mark twenty feet tall
Try to paint a world of shapes
Over the holes as we're falling
The tightened grip is our mistake
As we're trying to hold on to the earth
Looking for his name
wet on brave lips carved on road
Look for flame and mercy
Hope that tired hands can hold
| WonderLizard (2,755.46 mi. due east of Paradise) | Posted: Dec 31, 2012 - 13:08 From the beginning she's chosen great material. This song, with its retro feel, is very cool. |
| ckcotton (Adding snarky comments since 2007) | Posted: Sep 28, 2012 - 08:38 Jelani wrote: I thought, initially, via the vocals, that this might be Cyndi Lauper...
But way worse |
| gemtag (Texas) | Posted: Jul 11, 2012 - 17:38 A young Sam. Over the years a little loss of range, and a little raspier. But still she sounds great. |
| Byronape ("post-capitalist wreckageville") | Posted: Feb 19, 2012 - 22:51 Mandible wrote: why is she tryin to hold on to the earth anyway? Because that's where she keeps all of her stuff. |
| CatInTheHat | Posted: Dec 18, 2011 - 11:53 When I first heard this played, I thought it was a cover of the Eels' Flyswatter. But with different lyrics. |
| kcar | Posted: Jul 13, 2011 - 22:17 Randomax wrote: Love this song and all the songs on Martinis & Bikinis!!! Ms. Phillips rox...saw her open for Bruce Cockburn once...awesome (used to be married to Tbone Burnett - right? or did I dream that?) Yeah, she was married to T-Bone. I think he produced one of her albums after the divorce. |
| kcar | Posted: Jul 13, 2011 - 22:16 Nice segue from U2's "Love is Blindness"... |
| Jelani (Home of the freak, land of the vague) | Posted: Mar 25, 2011 - 06:50 I thought, initially, via the vocals, that this might be Cyndi Lauper... |
| kaybee (Lost in the Wilds of Toronto) | Posted: Mar 09, 2011 - 14:39 I dig me some throwback 60's - gotta love the sitar! |
| Hannio (Austin, TX) | Posted: Mar 09, 2011 - 13:05 Mandible wrote: 4>6 why is she tryin to hold on to the earth anyway? Agoraphobia? |
| tiare (St. Remy, Paris, Los Angeles, Hilo, Wailuku Manoa, are my main hangs) | Posted: Mar 09, 2011 - 13:04 Kinda old ( a little crimsony and cloverish) and 70s sort of guitar work, and edgy vocals, humm. I do like it, gots a backbeat and I can use it :-) |
| cohifi (Denver) | Posted: Jan 05, 2011 - 22:17 This works for me.....  |
| ziakut (A place with air, water and chocolate.) | Posted: Dec 21, 2010 - 07:53 Frater_Kork wrote: Yeah, that was a truly risque album cover... Around 1955. I mean, that is just waaay too much elbow. Well put...but I didn't see it as that at first. I thought it was a close up of female genitalia with her head sticking out of it. Thanks for the relief Frater_Kork. Whew! I know...I'm a sick bastard. What else is new? |
| Frater_Kork (Uppsala, Sweden) | Posted: May 28, 2010 - 06:43 ziakut wrote: The song is good enough to sell without the risque album art. Wonder if the rest of the album is any good. Maybe I'll check it out. Wonder why this artist felt so compelled to use this close up? Hmmm.... Yeah, that was a truly risque album cover... Around 1955. I mean, that is just waaay too much elbow. |
| peter_james_bond (The Burg) | Posted: Apr 26, 2010 - 13:57 Hey, the Wikipedia link is for Sam Phillips - the Sun Records guy!....Samuel Cornelius Phillips  . It should go to Leslie Ann Phillips, aka Sam Phillips. |
| ziakut (Chicago, IL) | Posted: Apr 26, 2010 - 13:56 The song is good enough to sell without the risque album art. Wonder if the rest of the album is any good. Maybe I'll check it out. Wonder why this artist felt so compelled to use this close up? Hmmm.... |
| Randomax (Wimberley, TX) | Posted: Apr 26, 2010 - 13:53 Love this song and all the songs on Martinis & Bikinis!!! Ms. Phillips rox...saw her open for Bruce Cockburn once...awesome (used to be married to Tbone Burnett - right? or did I dream that?) |
| Sloggydog (UK) | Posted: Feb 22, 2010 - 09:16 I join the earlier suckers who thought they were getting Doors and well it was never going to live up to that but still a decent little tune. |
| Zep | Posted: Feb 03, 2010 - 13:06 Shades of Teardrop Explodes.... |
| ceviche (Lima, Peru) | Posted: Dec 21, 2009 - 13:30 She now has a pretty cool web site. samphillips.com |
| Bleyfusz | Posted: Nov 04, 2009 - 11:34 ca1vinandhobbes wrote: Thought it was about to be a Doors song... My thought was if it might have sounded retro back in '88.... |
| Baby_M (a 100-year old building in downtown Akron, Ohio) | Posted: Nov 04, 2009 - 11:31 Nancy Sinatra and Question Mark & The Mysterians — together again for the first time! |
| DaveInVA (In a crumbling Queen Anne mansion in Damnville, VA) | Posted: Nov 04, 2009 - 11:31 This was the first Sam Phillips song I heard years ago that got me started being a big fan of hers. |
| kcar | Posted: Jul 17, 2009 - 00:37 LD wrote: She was also the female villan, Katya, in the third Die Hard movie. Holy crap, you're right! I just saw 10 minutes of that on cable TV at my gym—she and Jeremy Irons were about to get it on in a very S/M way. I wonder how the hell she got that gig. |
| Proclivities (Carrboro, NC) | Posted: May 14, 2009 - 10:47 Mandible wrote: 4>6 why is she tryin to hold on to the earth anyway? I assume she feels as if she might otherwise fall off. I guess it also could mean she's digging with her hands and is having a hard time holding onto the dirt. |
| Mandible | Posted: May 14, 2009 - 10:40 4>6 why is she tryin to hold on to the earth anyway? |
| peter_james_bond (Lunenburg, NS) | Posted: Mar 12, 2009 - 07:48 E_A_D_G wrote: Strawberry Alarm Clock - Incense and Peppermints  Yes that's what it reminded me of as well. |
| jagdriver (Tunin' in from the aptly-named Grass Valley, CA) | Posted: Feb 24, 2009 - 14:46 kalkin84 wrote: too repetative. Repetitive, too. Who cares? You mean to tell me the Fabs never repeated a lyric? Why, that was standard songwriting procedure prior to Rubber Soul. Fuhgedaboutit. |
| alaken (Missoula, MT) | Posted: Jan 24, 2009 - 00:48 ca1vinandhobbes wrote: Thought it was about to be a Doors song... I was thinking Zombies when I heard the intro! |
| lattalo (Beartooths) | Posted: Dec 23, 2008 - 10:14 kalkin84 wrote: too repetative. On of my all time favorite albums, and if I like something I don't mind the artist repeating it. Maybe music just isn't your thing, because most of it does have parts in the piece that repeat. |
| Arianna (in my mind) | Posted: Dec 23, 2008 - 10:13 ca1vinandhobbes wrote: Thought it was about to be a Doors song... LOL! Me too. |
| Fourdawg (South Africa) | Posted: Dec 07, 2008 - 12:07 kalkin84 wrote: too repetative. Guessing you've never heard "Around the World" by Daft Punk http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/daftpunk/aroundtheworld.html |
| nigelr (Coffs Harbour, Australia) | Posted: Nov 05, 2008 - 23:12 rangersfan wrote: TRIPINDICULAR!  That's the word I'm looking for! |
| Otomi (The edge of civilization) | Posted: Sep 19, 2008 - 16:11 Hannio wrote: The most puzzling of musical criticisms. If you don't like repetition, then maybe music in general is not for you. Yeah, that's exactly what I think whenever anybody throws out that word on the RP comment pages. |
| miamizsun (New Digs in Fort Lauderdale(3261.3 Miles SE of RP), FL) | Posted: Sep 19, 2008 - 16:09 n4ku wrote: Been a while since I have heard this on RP. Gives me this 60s vibe every time. I like it a lot (being a child of that era). yep. i say 8 |
| Droidac (4066 kms east of Paradise) | Posted: Jul 18, 2008 - 11:44 Hannio wrote: The most puzzling of musical criticisms. If you don't like repetition, then maybe music in general is not for you. I totally disagree. Sure, there's some level repetition in almost every song, but other times some artists are flogging a dead horse. I'm withholding my own opinion on the repetition in this song for now. This was my first time hearing and I'd like to get a second opinion. |
| LD | Posted: Jul 18, 2008 - 11:37 SmileOnADog wrote: Sam is or was married to T-Bone Burnett, a musician and big producer. He won multiple Grammys for the "Oh Brother Where Art Thou" and Down from the Mountain in 2002. I just saw him on a movie credit last month again, can't remember what tho. He has produced a lot of artists, including notably Bruce Cockburn who is a R-P regular (fortunately!). I would guess Sam is raising a family and doing music as her time/energy permits.
Sam's last album as "Leslie" was "The Turning", which was an interesting and eclectic Christian Contemp effort circa 1988, after that she must have rearranged the mental furniture to something less Evangelical shaped. I think she probably decided she's rather be an artist than toe various doctrinal lines, and back then that was probably more of an issue than it is now. I saw her open for Bruce Cockburn in Phoenix around 1991 or so, I think it was on his "Burning Light" tour. "T Bone Burnett has helmed highly successful recordings for Elvis Costello, Roy Orbison, Tony Bennett, k.d. lang, Alison Krauss, Counting Crows, the Wallflowers, Sam Phillips, Gillian Welch, and Ralph Stanley among numerous others. Burnett was musical director for the concert film, "Roy Orbison and Friends: Black and White Night," which featured Orbison and an all-star band of Bruce Springsteen, Elvis Costello, Tom Waits, Bonnie Raitt, Burnett and many others." She was also the female villan, Katya, in the third Die Hard movie. |
| Hannio (Austin, TX) | Posted: Jul 18, 2008 - 11:36 kalkin84 wrote: too repetative.
The most puzzling of musical criticisms. If you don't like repetition, then maybe music in general is not for you. |
| ca1vinandhobbes (city among the trees, by way of the city of bridges) | Posted: Jul 18, 2008 - 11:34 Thought it was about to be a Doors song... |
| kalkin84 (Sol, planet 3) | Posted: Jul 02, 2008 - 14:32 too repetative. |
| gutboy (hanging out in) | Posted: Jun 01, 2008 - 19:18 I agree, I loved stuff like this back in the sixties! I love this song, it brings back my teen angst. Good times... good times.. |
| wferrier (Johnson City, New York; Home of the Factory) | Posted: Mar 14, 2008 - 12:38 steeler wrote: Yes!  Indescribable |
| steeler (Teetering on the precipice) | Posted: Mar 14, 2008 - 12:32 E_A_D_G wrote: Strawberry Alarm Clock - Incense and Peppermints Yes! |
| Detlaps (Littlerock, too close to Los Angeles) | Posted: Feb 27, 2008 - 15:59 Wow. If that wasn't recorded in the 60's, it should have been.  |
| E_A_D_G (DC) | Posted: Nov 25, 2007 - 09:21 n4ku wrote: Been a while since I have heard this on RP.
Gives me this 60s vibe every time. I like it a lot (being a child of that era). Strawberry Alarm Clock - Incense and Peppermints |
| n4ku (KY) | Posted: Sep 07, 2007 - 22:15 Been a while since I have heard this on RP. Gives me this 60s vibe every time. I like it a lot (being a child of that era). |
| RobK (Leucadia, CA) | Posted: May 20, 2007 - 21:48 SmileOnADog wrote: Sam is or was married to T-Bone Burnett, a musician and big producer. He won multiple Grammys for the "Oh Brother Where Art Thou" and Down from the Mountain in 2002. I just saw him on a movie credit last month again, can't remember what tho. He has produced a lot of artists, including notably Bruce Cockburn who is a R-P regular (fortunately!). I would guess Sam is raising a family and doing music as her time/energy permits.
Sam's last album as "Leslie" was "The Turning", which was an interesting and eclectic Christian Contemp effort circa 1988, after that she must have rearranged the mental furniture to something less Evangelical shaped. I think she probably decided she's rather be an artist than toe various doctrinal lines, and back then that was probably more of an issue than it is now. I saw her open for Bruce Cockburn in Phoenix around 1991 or so, I think it was on his "Burning Light" tour. Thank you for answering my question (which was, "who the hell is Sam Phillips?") ! |
| snowcat (Another Minnesoter) | Posted: May 05, 2007 - 06:30 This was one of the very first albums I ever owned on CD. Need to get it again, not sure where it went. |
| krg123 | Posted: Apr 19, 2007 - 09:49 def an unusual voice, but i like it. i think this is overall her best album and highly recommended, although the others do have a few songs that are good. i first heard her on the soundtrack for "ruby in paradise," which is a fine little film directed by victor nunez and starring ashley judd in one of her first movie roles (also highly recommended). |
| SmileOnADog | Posted: Mar 03, 2007 - 11:06 Sam is or was married to T-Bone Burnett, a musician and big producer. He won multiple Grammys for the "Oh Brother Where Art Thou" and Down from the Mountain in 2002. I just saw him on a movie credit last month again, can't remember what tho. He has produced a lot of artists, including notably Bruce Cockburn who is a R-P regular (fortunately!). I would guess Sam is raising a family and doing music as her time/energy permits. Sam's last album as "Leslie" was "The Turning", which was an interesting and eclectic Christian Contemp effort circa 1988, after that she must have rearranged the mental furniture to something less Evangelical shaped. I think she probably decided she's rather be an artist than toe various doctrinal lines, and back then that was probably more of an issue than it is now. I saw her open for Bruce Cockburn in Phoenix around 1991 or so, I think it was on his "Burning Light" tour. "T Bone Burnett has helmed highly successful recordings for Elvis Costello, Roy Orbison, Tony Bennett, k.d. lang, Alison Krauss, Counting Crows, the Wallflowers, Sam Phillips, Gillian Welch, and Ralph Stanley among numerous others. Burnett was musical director for the concert film, "Roy Orbison and Friends: Black and White Night," which featured Orbison and an all-star band of Bruce Springsteen, Elvis Costello, Tom Waits, Bonnie Raitt, Burnett and many others." |