Save Me A Place

[Hawkeye]

Originally Posted by dontlookdown

i'm coming again.


I suppose the single "Tusk" best fits that description - but once listeners got the album in their sweaty palms, Save Me A Place was the first song they heard that was a true departure - a signal of what was to come for the rest of the album.
I grew up in New York and in 1979 there were a handful of pretty adventurous dj's on the radio - and they ate Tusk up like it was the best thing they had heard in ages. The New York shows were pretty spectacular also - very uncommercial - but very loud and raw. Which is how I like Fleetwood Mac best - when maybe the harmonies aren't perfect, with no back-up singers, no additional musicians - just the band as they were meant to be. That's what Tusk was for me.

The Ledge is #2 on the album and I think it's the first that departs. And The Ledge also kicks SMAP's ass. The Ledge is a masterpiece. As is Not That Funny and Tusk and I Know I'm Not Wrong, and one that just very recently grew on me, Walk a Thin Line. But this thread is about the awful Save Me a Place, so I have to be raining on a parade

[gldstwmn]

This is Lindsey at his minimal best. I loved this song from the first listen

[Somajoseph]

I also enjoyed the band and their performances in the Tusk era. I remember seeing them in Los Angeles 3 times on that tour, and I recall that they played "Save Me A Place". I enjoyed it live much more than on the album.
Back in those days it was great to just hear the 5 onstage, without extra musicians and vocalists. It was raw, but alot more powerful, as someone just mentioned.

[sodascouts]

SMAP is not my favorite Lindsey song on Tusk, but I certainly find its harmonies and mood appealing. After hearing it live at his Soundstage, I gained a renewed appreciation for its simplistic but effective artistry. I can understand why some people don't think it's his best, but the passionate hatred some exhibit towards it completely mystifies me!

Now THE LEDGE - there is something to passionately hate.

Someoneouttasomeoneouttasomeoneouttasomeoneotta.....

[Johnny Stew]

I have a love/hate relationship with "Save Me A Place." (Well, I think "hate" is way too strong of a word.)
I disliked it when I first heard it... started to enjoy it for a while, several years back... and then disliked it again.

It's a song that I love the various parts of, but dislike how they were brought together.
I like the lyrics in all their minimalist glory, I like the harmonies, I like the central theme and the conviction with which Lindsey conveys it... but, for me, the enjoyment ends there. But I won't get into why, since I have already done so in the past, and since this is supposed to be an appreciation thread.

So, basically, the song isn't my favorite, but it's cool that others love it... and, at the end of the day, anything that brings enjoyment to someone else is OK in my book.

[diamondsnake]

I don't like this song. It is kind of a snooze fest.

[GateandGarden]

Originally Posted by diamondsnake

I don't like this song. It is kind of a snooze fest.

Those are my feelings for it at the moment. People often rave about the pacing being perfect (though some say the opposite), and the production and passion he puts into it making it one of his masterpieces, but there's one thing I can't really understand--the reverence for the lyrics. I guess someone has certainly explained their significance on this board before, but I have a hard time seeing why people like the lyrics, since I can't find a thing to like about them. But I guess it's a "to each his own" kind of thing, since I love most of the lyrics in "The Ledge," and some people don't care for them at all.

Hillary

[Les]

What's to like about the lyrics? They're vulnerable and sweet and a little bit helpless and that's kind of irresistible to me. It's only my interpretation of the lyrics, but what I like about them is his honesty. He knows he's been working too much, and he knows he can't really come up with an explanation that will be satisfactory for her because he can't fully explain himself why he hasn't been able to tear himself away from the work, so he's telling her to get mad at him, give him the cold shoulder, to do all of these things that he probably deserves for not being around enough. But today, just let him know in some small way that he's still loved, because as long as he knows that, he'll be there with her in a heartbeat (because he's in love even if he sometimes falls down on the job about showing her). There's a strong implicit message about his love for her that emerges between the lines. That's what I like about the lyrics.

[Moony]

Originally Posted by Hawkeye

The Ledge is #2 on the album and I think it's the first that departs. And The Ledge also kicks SMAP's ass. The Ledge is a masterpiece. As is Not That Funny and Tusk and I Know I'm Not Wrong, and one that just very recently grew on me, Walk a Thin Line. But this thread is about the awful Save Me a Place, so I have to be raining on a parade

I would rate Lindsey's Tusk songs like this:

I Know I'm Not Wrong
Walk A Thin Line
Not That Funny
The Ledge
Tusk
That's All for Everyone
That's Enough for Me
...
..
.
Save Me A Place

SMAP has the most annoying chorus EVER.

[Les]

Originally Posted by Moony

SMAP has the most annoying chorus EVER.

Or not.

[HomerMcvie]

Not.
dot dot dot

[macfan 57]

I like "Save Me A Place" alot. It's one of my favorite songs of Lindsey's on Tusk. But as good as it is on the album, it was even better live on the Tusk tour with the Chris & Stevie harmonies added. Same thing with "The Ledge". I like the album version, but it was even better on that rehearsal bootleg. "Not That Funny" is just the opposite. I like the album version, but I hate the live versions on the Tusk, Mirage & especially the Dance tours. "Walk A Thin Line" is pretty slow & sludgy on Tusk, but Mick's solo version on The Visitor is terrific. "I Know I'm Not Wrong" is my favorite Lindsey song on Tusk. It was just as great on that rehearsal bootleg tape, too.

[NicksIllume]

Originally Posted by macfan 57

I like "Save Me A Place" alot. It's one of my favorite songs of Lindsey's on Tusk. But as good as it is on the album, it was even better live on the Tusk tour with the Chris & Stevie harmonies added.

I have a VHS of Largo from '79. The harmonies aren't perfect, but they're on there. Besides, Christine with a guitar. Another added bonus to SMAP live.

[strandinthewind]

Originally Posted by Les

What's to like about the lyrics? They're vulnerable and sweet and a little bit helpless and that's kind of irresistible to me. It's only my interpretation of the lyrics, but what I like about them is his honesty. He knows he's been working too much, and he knows he can't really come up with an explanation that will be satisfactory for her because he can't fully explain himself why he hasn't been able to tear himself away from the work, so he's telling her to get mad at him, give him the cold shoulder, to do all of these things that he probably deserves for not being around enough. But today, just let him know in some small way that he's still loved, because as long as he knows that, he'll be there with her in a heartbeat (because he's in love even if he sometimes falls down on the job about showing her). There's a strong implicit message about his love for her that emerges between the lines. That's what I like about the lyrics.

ITA - AND - as I have said before, it reminds me of the Negro Spirituals I grew up listening to. It has that bluesey quality. I think this song is brilliant!!!!!! I do think, however, Stevie and Chris are somewhere in that harmony mix - I can hear them in the "I'll come runnin'." Stevie and LB sounded to me alot alike in this period because both of their voices could be so high.

ALso, I do not have a live version of it. Would some kind soul PLEASE (with sugar on top) send me one at [email protected]

Thanks in advance!!!!!!

[skcin]

Originally Posted by NicksIllume

I have a VHS of Largo from '79. The harmonies aren't perfect, but they're on there. Besides, Christine with a guitar. Another added bonus to SMAP live.

Exactly! That performance really made me like the song a lot more. Love that show.

Paula