“Thursday (Here’s Why I Did Not Go To Work Today)” has always been one of my favourite Harry Nilsson tunes. It comes from Sandman, a latter day effort. Harry’s voice had never been the same after the John Lennon produced Pussycats during Lennon’s “Lost Weekend.” This was no fault of Lennon’s. Nilsson had hurt his vocal cords and rather than tell Lennon he continued afraid to delay working with his hero. It only made it worse. While he never had that angelic voice again, he still wrote some lovely songs and this is one of them.It’s also a song on which his raspy voice gave the song the exact right amount of pathos. What do you think?
I’ve always especially loved the lyrics nearest the end. They’ve always had a Cole Porter feel to them for me, and that’s one of the highest forms of praise there is.
Monday is a blues day
That goes for Tuesday
Wednesday’s just the middle of the week, yeah mm
Friday is just another payday
The weekend’s just another heyday
But Thursday’s surreptitiously uniqueThat’s why I didn’t go to work today
Thursday’s got its own peculiar way
Of saying “hey”
Sometimes Thursday makes you want to run awayThursday’s such a crazy, lazy day
Thursday’s such a crazy, lazy day
Thanks, Harry, for giving me a musical excuse to toss Thursday aside from time to time. However, today my clients were forced to cancel so I have the day off anyway.
So, while I have your attention: Here’s another wonderful Harry Nilsson performance, 100% live, from a BBC broadcast on which he did his entire “A Little Touch of Schmilsson In The Night” LP live. It’s sublime. And please note: Harry Nilsson was covering the American songbook long before Rod Stewart, Willie Nelson, or even Linda Ronstadt.
If you liked that, you will love parts two, three, four and five, which are all on the YouTubery.
You’re welcome.