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Rating: Randy Newman represents, in the pop rock scene, a decidedly unique case.
Born into a family of musicians (the grandson of composer Alfred Newman), the young Randy made his debut by composing the themes for the television series Peyton Place.
Caustic, cynical, and ironic in portraying stories and characters in his songs, in September '77 he released "Little Criminals." Compared to previous works, electric guitars, orchestrations, and significant collaborations appear (particularly with members of the "Eagles," who are perfect in the vocal harmonies in "Rider in the Rain").
The songs are irreverent, dreamy, and the sound of the Los Angeles pianist draws heavily from Gershwin to create songs that are often stories transposed into music.
From "Short People," amusing yet misunderstood, to "Texas Girl at the Funeral of her Father," the album traverses blues, film music, ragtime, and country.
Randy Newman will continue his career as a highly successful film composer (from "Awakenings" to the "Toy Story" saga), alternating it with albums that are always interesting and filled with sarcasm and mockery towards society, history, and humanity as a whole, with the great awareness of being part of that humanity.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Short People (02:57)
Short people got no reason
Short people got no reason
Short people got no reason to live
They got little hands
Little eyes
They walk around tellin' great big lies
They got little noses
And tiny little teeth
They wear platform shoes on their nasty little feet
Well I don't want no short people
Don't want no short people
Don't want no short people 'round here
(Short people are just the same as you and I)
A fool such as I
(All men are brothers until the day they die)
It's a wonderful world
Short people got nobody
Short people got nobody
Short people got nobody to love
They got little baby legs
They stand so low
You gotta pick 'em up
Just to say hello
They got little cars that go "beep, beep, beep"
They got little voices goin' "peep, peep, peep"
They got grubby little fingers
And dirty little minds
They're gonna get you every time
Well, I don't want no short people
Don't want no short people
Don't want no short people 'round here
05 Jolly Coppers on Parade (03:49)
They're comin' down the street.
They're comin' right down the middle.
Look how they keep the beat!
Why, they're as blue as the ocean!
How the sun shines down!
How their feet hardly touch the ground!
Jolly coppers on parade.
Here come the black-and-whites.
Here come the motorcycles.
Listen to those engines roar!
Now they're doin' tricks for the children.
Oh, they look so nice!
Looks like angels have come down from Paradise!
Jolly coppers on parade.
Oh, mama!
That's the life for me!
When I'm grown
That's what I want to be.
They're comin' down the street.
They're comin' right down the middle.
Look how they keep the beat!
Comin' through the heart of the city.
Oh, it's all so nice!
Just like angels have come down from Paradise!
Jolly coppers on parade.
Jolly coppers on parade.
06 In Germany Before the War (03:42)
In Germany before the war
There was a man who owned a store
In nineteen hundred thirty-four
In Düsseldorf
And every night at five-o-nine
He'd cross the park down to the Rhine
And he'd sit there by the shore
I'm looking at the river
But I'm thinking of the sea
Thinking of the sea
Thinking of the sea
I'm looking at the river
But I'm thinking of the sea
A little girl has lost her way
With hair of gold and eyes of gray
Reflected in his glasses
As he watches her
A little girl has lost her way
With hair of gold and eyes of gray
I'm looking at the river
But I'm thinking of the sea
Thinking of the sea
Thinking of the sea
We lie beneath the autumn sky
My little golden girl and I
And she lies very still
08 Baltimore (04:05)
Beat-up little seagull
On a marble stair
Tryin' to find the ocean
Lookin' everywhere
Hard times in the city
In a hard town by the sea
Ain't nowhere to run to
There ain't nothin' here for free
Hooker on the corner
Waitin' for a train
Drunk lyin' on the sidewalk
Sleepin' in the rain
And they hide their faces
And they hide their eyes
'Cause the city's dyin'
And they don't know why
Oh, Baltimore
Man, it's hard just to live
Oh, Baltimore
Man, it's hard just to live, just to live
Get my sister Sandy
And my little brother Ray
Buy a big old wagon
Gonna haul us all away
Livin' in the country
Where the mountain's high
Never comin' back here
'Til the day I die
Oh, Baltimore
Man, it's hard just to live
Oh, Baltimore
Man, it's hard just to live, just to live
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Other reviews
By alcol2
"'Short People,' born as a fierce and entertaining attack on human 'betise', was shortsightedly misunderstood as denigrating short people."
"Little Criminals is inspired by a wisdom and melodic completeness that it would be unjust to overlook."
