Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Song of the Day: Harry Nilsson - Jump into the Fire

There is a decent chance you know this song. Perhaps right now you're trying to place it, but you can't quite make it out. Imagine a coked-out guy driving around trying to sell some guns, process some cocaine...yup, it's Goodfellas, featuring some of the best use of music in any movie.

For not knowing much about Harry Nilsson's music, I know a decent amount about the man - most famously, he was involved in John Lennon's "Lost Weekend." The Walkmen covered one of his albums in its entirety. A new documentary is out (now or soon) about him.  And he seems to have one hell of a cult following.

All of this information led me to seek out Nilsson Schmilsson, often cited as one of his best albums.  It also contains one of his best-known songs, "Coconut" ("you put the lime in the coconut").  I simply do not understand the appeal of this song, but a lot of the album is good, and this song - perhaps in part due to its involvement in Goodfellas - is my favorite.

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