First off, have you seen the documentary Who Is Harry Nilsson (And Why Is Everybody Talkin’ About Him?)? If not, you should get on that. This weekend the mailman delivered Songs From The Point, a collection of ‘indie’ artists each covering a track off the soundtrack to Nillson’s 1971 animated children’s story of the same name. The cast of characters includes: Andrew Bird, Devotchka, Marth Wainwright and Nada Surf among others.
Bird’s rendering of Nilsson’s “Think About Your Troubles” moves stylistically away from the original, instead, and in typical Bird fashion, employs plucky orchestration. Interesting results for sure, but in comparison to the original ultimately loses some of its charm. Songs From The Point is due out October 27th via Amano Recordings.
Related: Nilsson :: The Point (Me And My Arrow) 1971
Download:
MP3: Andrew Bird :: Think About Your Troubles (cover)
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Seek out the original.
1 | Paul September 27th, 2009 at 12:01 amthat’s great news! The point is a brilliant album, waiting to hear what Nada Surf did to Me and My Arrow
thanks for that
2 | Yair Yona September 27th, 2009 at 12:19 amYair
p.s. and Bird’s version is great!
Is there actually any way to see the documentary? It appears never to have been released on DVD, and doesn’t seem to be online either…
3 | Szabe September 27th, 2009 at 11:59 amHmm. I can see what Bird is getting at here, and I suppose the stilted, self-healing meter and swirling psycha-sonic approach serve the original premise well. But I must admit I much prefer the more melodic versions from both the Nickel Creek-slash-Glen Phillips collaboration Mutual Admiration Society and the version by The Jellyfish from Nilsson tribute album For the Love of Harry: Everybody Sings Nilsson. Hope the rest of the album here proves more effective.
4 | boyhowdy September 27th, 2009 at 1:25 pm@ Szabe – I assumed it was on DVD by now. I saw it at a theater here in L.A. a couple of summers ago.
5 | Satisfied '75 September 27th, 2009 at 2:51 pmYeah, I’m a long time Nilsson devotee, and sans a trailer on Youtube, the film has remained in cinematic limbo for the past couple years. There’s no sign of a distributor picking up the film, hence no theatrical or DVD release in sight.
I gotta say “Nilsson Schmilsson” and “Son Of Schmilsson” are stone cold classics, too.
6 | Jay September 28th, 2009 at 12:40 pm[...] Cover Alert: Andrew Bird tackles Harry Nilsson [...]
7 | Hidden Track » BG: More From Mermaid Avenue October 1st, 2009 at 12:01 pmHey, what happened to the song? I thought it had a melody.
8 | Bill October 2nd, 2009 at 8:48 pmack! I searched for the DVD…alas…not released…looks great…huge fan of Harry…IMdb says this: Up 18% in popularity this week…hmmmm!
9 | Karen October 4th, 2009 at 6:18 pmDid not love Bird’s version.