Tag Archives: The Zombies

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Song of the Day #4,829: ‘The Way I Feel Inside’ – The Zombies

Wes Anderson’s fourth film came three years after the success of The Royal Tenenbaums and did not continue his hot streak. 2004’s The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou received a lukewarm response from critics, at best, and earned only $35 million against a $50 million budget.

In the 17 years since its release, however, The Life Aquatic has found new life among film fans and has emerged as something of a cult classic.

I was on board from the start. While this film is certainly no Rushmore or The Royal Tenebaums, it has a madcap zany energy and a fierce imagination. It indulges in the schoolboy fantasy of a roguish Jacques Cousteau figure gleefully shattering legal and societal norms, but its underlying theme about facing mortality is serious and poignant.

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Song of the Day #4,292: ‘Butcher’s Tale (Western Front 1914)’ – The Zombies

This offbeat track appears on The Zombies’ classic 1968 album Odessey and Oracle. It tells the story of a World War I battle through the eyes of a beleaguered soldier.

Given the time of its writing and recording, this song was widely interpreted as a comment on the Vietnam War, and released as an unlikely single for that reason. It was backed by the far more accessible (and a favorite song of mine) ‘This Will Be Our Year.’

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Song of the Day #3,948: ‘Care of Cell 44’ – The Zombies

Of all of this year’s Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductees, The Zombies have waited the longest for the honor. They first became eligible 30 years ago and were previously nominated in 2014, 2017 and 2018 before finally making the cut.

The delay is probably due to the fact that The Zombies’ influence is essentially limited to one album and a few singles. The band split up after just a couple of years and two studio album releases in the mid 60s (before reuniting in the 2000s).

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Song of the Day #3,397: ‘Hung Up On a Dream’ – The Zombies

Today’s Random Weekend selection hails from The Zombies’ acclaimed 1968 album Odessey and Oracle (their misspelling, not mine).

Like so many famous albums, this one wasn’t widely celebrated upon its release but over the decades it has been recognized as a seminal record in the baroque pop genre.

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Song of the Day #2,147: ‘Conversation Off Floral Street’ – The Zombies

zombies_odesseyI hate when instrumentals turn up on Random iTunes Weekends because I rarely have anything interesting to say about them. (That’s assuming I have interesting things to say about songs with lyrics, I realize, which probably isn’t always the case).

So I won’t attempt to analyze today’s SOTD, a bonus track from the re-release of The Zombies’ Odessey and Oracle. I’ll just present it without comment for your enjoyment.

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