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Gone With the Wind
B-side of ‘Nothing to Do’ (from ‘Big Beat’) 1976
The old, obscure’ slightly odd ones are usually the best, that’s my motto, and for sure this sprightly ditty is certainly one of my all time favourites by Sparks. Written by Russell Mael, it joins the ranks of only a handful of tracks credited to Russell alone, before all songs were credited, blanket fashion to both Ron and Russell. Ron is quite often credited by fans to be the lyrical meat behind Sparks. If we take it that Ron had no involvement in the lyric writing process of this song, one thing is for sure: that both brothers share a similar penchant for slightly strange situations portrayed in their song words.
The song seems to be about taking a girl to a movie, and ever easy to please Russ opts for 1967 classic ‘Gone With the Wind’ because, ever easy to please the mother of said lady friend your Mammy’s got to think like me’ [and] ‘it’s praised by the academy’. Perhaps he is using this film and its wholesome image as cover to fulfil carnal desires with the girl, as Russell pleads ‘tell her please I’m an innocent lad’. Elsewhere the song boasts some wittiness in its middle eight break – ‘the south willnrise again they’re saying butnfrankly I don’t give a damn’, a nod to the movie’s most famous line.
Musically less seems to be more, with its strange, angular synth/guitar/drum type waltz. In fact the while structure seems a few years ahead of its time to me! I also particularly like The use of the stylophone, which in a way seems