Earlier this week I was driving and not paying any attention to the radio until I heard the name Tal Bachman and I thought I know that name. So one of his songs came on the radio and I listened to him sing. You meet such interesting people on this web site.

I was telling my daughter about Tal when I drove her to art class the other day, because his song was playing on the radio. Then, when I picked her up from class, they had a Guess Who song playing and I got to tell her all about Tal’s dad. Then the next day we heard Tal’s dad again on the radio with the BTO song ‘Takin’ care of Business.’ My daughter is a music buff, so I enjoyed filling her in on some good old Canadian classic rock history.

We also heard Tal’s song in an episode of the old TV series ‘Charmed’ we were watching recently, which is about three witches … oops, how did that happen?

Anyway, it’s like the Bachman invasion around here lately. But that’s ok, I like Tal. I might even try and look him up if I go out to the Coast to see my friends sometime. I have a few friends that inhabit those little islands out there too. It’s a nice area.

Rock on Tal.

ya ~ he's pretty good on the radio

but if you go to his live shows

keep an eye on your women

I have, "She's so High" on my phone's playlist.
A few weeks ago, on shuffle, it came on.
My daughter said, "I like this song."
"Me too," I said, "the guy who sings it is an ex-mormon and he hangs out on the forum I'm on."
"Oh, so you're friends with him?" she asked.
"Not really, pretty sure he can't stand me," I replied.

Oh, well :)

She's so High is the song that was playing on the radio. May e Tal could write a song called The Church Ain't True It's a Pack of Lies. LMAO.

Sure, I’ll kick it off with some awesome lyrics.

The church ain't true it's a pack of lies,
It’ll strain your ears and burn your eyes.
Your belly will churn, your brain will chafe,
So hide yer chilluns and keep ‘em safe.

Again everybody! Oooooh …

… the church ain't true it's a pack of lies,



Ok, maybe not so much then. I did tried though …
I was picturing a washboard and tub bass, jug band sorta groove.
Maybe not, though. :(

Hey, it's a hit on RfM! Yeah, baby! ....

:)

My oldest brother's first rpm album when he was a teenager as a present from mom and dad was The Guess Who. I must've played that album more times than he did lol, on our old family phonograph.

BTO was the first rock concert I ever attended, at age 15, in the company of what else? teenagers.. We rocked and rolled right along with their music in Pocatello, Idaho where they were performing.

Gee, was it really that long ago? ((((Yikes, yes it was..))))



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 05/21/2015 10:31PM by amyjo.

"She's so High is the song that was playing on the radio. May e Tal could write a song called The Church Ain't True It's a Pack of Lies. LMAO."

Well, Tal is pretty good at writing song parodies:

The "Wonderful World" of Randy Jordan by Tal Bachman

In honour of Randy J., who has spent so many hours online discussing Mormonism with members, many of whom are incredibly ignorant of church history and doctrine, I submit my own version of the Sam Cooke song, "Wonderful World".

(Cue maestro)

Don't know much about polygamy
Don't know much about theocracy
Don't know much about Elohim
I've never even heard of “Kokaubeam”
But I know that Joseph never lied
Cos when you feel you're right – it means you're right
What a wonderful church this has been

Don't know much about DNA
Don't know much about being gay
Don't know much about electroshocks
I barely listen to the conference talks
But I know the scriptures are all true
Even though I've never read them through
What a wonderful church this has been

Now I don't claim to be a big expert
And I'm not trying to be
Cos I know through the power of the spirit
That one and one make three

Don't know much about Peterson
Don't know much about Sorenson
Don't know much about Midge or Gee
Don't know much about Hugh Nibley
But I know folks rode on tapirs and goats
And Jaredites survived in upside down boats
What a wonderful church this has been

Now I'm not trying to cause irritation
I'm just stating facts
Every church but mine is an abomination
Run by Satan's hacks

Don't know much about reality
Don't know much epistemology
Don't know much about the mental states
That make somebody “see” invisible plates

(multiple repeat on the this last B section)

I've never heard of Zina Huntington
I've never heard of Wild Bill Hickman
I've never heard of Hoffmann's clever fakes
That fooled “the seers” and made them look like flakes
And what is more, is I don't even care
Cos I've been broken like an old brood mare
I'll send my kids on missions even though
If I was wrong, I wouldn't want to know
And if they die for what is someone's fraud
I'll keep imagining they died for God
Cos Mormonism is my “heritage”
My group of friends, my bloated self-image
My “paradigm”, my favourite fantasy
I rather like the group security
And even when the prophet's wholly wrong
I'll keep obeying like a slavish drone
So you can stuff your comments, Randy J.
I won't listen to a word you say
You can keep your facts, your logic, too
Cos in the end, this isn't 'bout what's “true”
In the name of truth, I fear the truth
So I don't wanna hear your “solid proof”
All I wanna do is close my eyes
Shut my ears, and tell myself I'm right

What a wonderful church this has been

---

Thanks for all those great posts, Randy J. - 06/15/2006

Wow - I don't even remember writing that lol.

It sounds...sarcastic.

I picked up the COMPACT DISC the other day. It crossed my path.

Hey Tal

M@t

I cut Tal a lot of slack because it must be tough having a father who is a god.

Yes, believe me, it is tough having a father who is a god.

Maybe Tal can write a song about Boyd's little factory...

Holy crap! I never would have put 2 and 2 together! That's awesome! Good job Tal! Not only are you a funny, talented writer, I've always loved your music! :) Good times!!!

It is very clever and funny. I wish there was a You Tube video so I could post the link to it on my facebook for all to see.

And he was on Melrose Place, too! ;-)

"She's So High" was a huge hit for a very good reason: it's a great song. I used to hear it a lot when I was (mentally) leaving the church, and I found it very moving. It seemed to bridge the gap between aspiring godhood and earthbound reason very well, a gap we all needed to cross.

I really like the ‘She’s So High’ song; it’s a terrific arrangement with a great melody. I liked it long before meeting Tal here or knowing it was written by Randy B’s son.

Tal’s going to hate me for pointing this out, but if you look at the lyrics, they seem to indicate that Tal was working through the psychology behind his ‘cobra’ move in that song. In the lyrics, he’s feeling insecure about where he stands with a woman he see’s, and he’s amazed to find out that yes, girls like boys, and maybe she could see something in him after all. He was just placing them too ‘high above him’ on a pedestal, and just needed to see that yes, they might actually be able to be interested in him after all.

We can see from his posts lately that he seems to have finally broken through this insecurity by discovering his inner cobra. I really think his song reflects working through the same psychology surrounding his cobra move.


What could a guy like me
Ever really offer?
She's perfect as she can be
Why should I even bother?

But somehow I can't believe
That anything should happen
I know where I belong
And nothing's gonna happen

She comes to speak to me
I freeze immediately
'Cause what she says sounds so unreal

Cause she’s so high above me …


I think that song was probably very cathartic for Tal. It made for a very honest, real lyric.

Well done Tal. I’ll probably always think of it as the cobra song from now on.

Really? Catchy tune, sure, but I see the shallow indoctrinated male Mormon attitude and mindset towards women in the lyrics. The expectation of feminine perfection of an unnamed female with, of course, the emphasis on the perfection of her physical body. Her physical beauty, alone, puts her in the league of Goddesses and Heroines - the equivalent of an unnamed Heavenly Mother - if only "she" would see him as the God equal to her.

What happens when this illusion is broken and, gawd forbid, the guy finds out the woman is NOT perfect, but is only human, afterall?

I'm sure Tal is sick of people analyzing his song to death.

Ya, I just saw a typical insecure guy who thought, ‘wow, she’d never be interested in me.’ Then he was amazed when she actually was. It was like the Madonna complex to me. But ya, I’m sure this conversation is completely annoying to Tal.

Sometimes people see profound statements in visual art, when really the artist will tell you he just got drunk and painted a picture cause he felt like it. That’s what a visual artists buddy told me one day, rolling his eyes as people pondered over the meaning of his work. LOL.

Sorry Tal.

Actually, I'm only sick of people analyzing it incorrectly, like you, janeaustenjunkie...

There is no implication in that little ditty that the woman's exquisite awesomeness was solely the product of physical beauty. That's why it mentions Joan of Arc, an exemplar of feminine spiritual power; Cleopatra, an exemplar of feminine social and political power (she was a Pharaoh); and Aphrodite, an exemplar of feminine aesthetic power.

Now, certainly it is a hymn of sorts to Feminine Awesomeness; and if you'd like to criticize it for that, do go ahead.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 05/22/2015 02:34PM by Tal Bachman.

@Tal

+1

That’s what I saw too Tal. Sometimes ‘nice guys’ who really revere women a lot are too afraid to approach them. ‘She’s so awesome, she won’t like silly old me.’ But that leaves these women pretty lonely, and sets them up to only have the brazen male chauvinist pigs ever approach them because they, unlike Tal, were born in a barn.

That’s what resonates with boys in that song. Don’t be afraid of awesome women, go talk to them, they might actually like you. Don’t leave them to only suffer the onslaughts of the alpha male misogynists. Sometimes, really powerful (and beautiful) people actually can wind up with a complex, because they are so stunning and radiant NO ONE TALKS TO THEM. They actually can get an inferiority complex from people being too intimidated by them to ever approach them (except for maybe misogynists .)

Come on super nice wallflower guy, go say hi to her. Maybe she’s sad because nobody will talk to her except jerks.

To me, this song demonstrates Tal’s reverence to the awesomeness of the goddesses. The song hits a nerve in boys, which is often why songs climb the charts. I give it an A+.

But I'll shut up about it now. What do I know, it's his song. :)

Thanks, Tortured.

In any case, I guess I need to clarify that when you write a song, you're not necessarily expressing a deeply considered worldview. You're not necessarily "preaching".

You might just have noticed one little aspect of being human, one that everyone can relate to (in this case, being in awe of someone), and you decided to just capture that. Like a snapshot.

NOW, as you have picked up on, that is not necesssarily an accurate representation of my entire worldview. I happen to think that men and women can be equally sane or insane, equally constructive or destructive, equally admirable or detestable; and I can't find any particular quality in one sex, that I cannot find in the other (though the particular expression might tend to be different depending on culture and circumstance).

It seems to be yin and yang all the way down.

I write some songs, and they tend to flow somewhat out of my subconscious, without even realizing what I’ve said until sometimes even years later. It’s just a flow, so I agree songs aren’t always as contrived as people sometimes think.

Like I said above, the visual artist rolling their eyes when overhearing people analyze the meaning of their work in the gallery.

But thanks for letting us play. I like considering subconscious meanings in peoples lyrics.

Interesting choices to hold as the ultimate examples of femininity. Cleopatra and Joan of Arc could not be controlled by men, and so were killed by men.
Men and Gods try to posses and control Aphrodite. She was forced into an unhappy marriage and as a consequence is frequently unfaithful to her husband and causes all sorts of havoc, including the Trojan War.

Mormon doctrine requires women to submit to men, in return men "honor" women and figuratively place them on a pedestal, making them Queens and Godesses. We can only hope that you and other male exmos will develop a new, enlightened respect for women as real people, with real feelings, with real flaws.

Well - I didn't know they were killed by men. I doubt anyone who liked it on the radio did, either.

In any case, let me see if I'm following you here:

First you criticize "She's So High" on grounds it's only about physical beauty;

Then I point out it's not only about physical beauty, but expresses admiration for other things altogether;

So then, instead of acknowledging your mistake, you entirely shift the goalposts and criticize it because the exemplars it mentions were murdered by men, thereby implying it's a sort of roundabout call for the murder of women;

You conclude by calling for songs which acknowledge that "women have faults, too".

I have a newsflash for you: every man on this planet is well aware that women have faults just like they do (one of them is crude, simple-minded criticisms of innocuous pop songs). And guess what else? Not every song can be about that, or should be about that. (Your music collection must be awfully boring if those are the only sorts of songs you're into). And by the way, on the same grounds, you should have to criticize every love song ever written by a man to a woman. You sound very cranky and narrow.

Songs, like short stories, pick out just one or two aspects of human experience to discuss. One doesn't have time in a three minute pop song to go over a laundry list of all the ways a girlfriend drives him insane. Nor would it be particularly endearing necessarily.

I suggest you start writing your own songs about all the ways women suck just like men (on the absurd presumption that men and women haven't lit on your amazing insight yet) , and let the rest of us enjoy the complexity of human experience...



Edited 5 time(s). Last edit at 05/22/2015 03:47PM by Tal Bachman.

No, you got it wrong, but..... whatever....

And that’s exactly the message of the song. She’s not on a pedestal, like some boys minds are often conditioned to believe, so go talk to her. He’s singing about exactly why he was intimidated by her, an illusion of mind. His intimidation was exactly because he ‘saw’ her those ways, when in fact, she was just a regular person after all. It’s all about getting past that illusion, overcoming it. The cobra.

But I think we all interpret meanings somewhat through our own filters, no?

Tortured - Some people - ideologues chiefly - MIS-interpret even the plainest things. Most people don't have such bizarre "filters", I don't think.

-1

janeaustenjunkie Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Really? Catchy tune, sure, but I see the shallow
> indoctrinated male Mormon attitude and mindset
> towards women in the lyrics. The expectation of
> feminine perfection of an unnamed female with, of
> course, the emphasis on the perfection of her
> physical body. Her physical beauty, alone, puts
> her in the league of Goddesses and Heroines - the
> equivalent of an unnamed Heavenly Mother - if only
> "she" would see him as the God equal to her.
>
> What happens when this illusion is broken and,
> gawd forbid, the guy finds out the woman is NOT
> perfect, but is only human, afterall?
>
> I'm sure Tal is sick of people analyzing his song
> to death.


-100