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Song Stories

“I Know Where Syd Barrett Lives”

The Television Personalities | 1981

Original Pink Floyd leader Syd Barrett had hardly been seen in public for about a decade whenTelevision Personalities claimed to know his whereabouts in the indie pop-folk ditty "I Know Where Syd Barrett Lives," the pastoral atmosphere of the Barrett-esque tune enhanced by constant bird chirps. The band was removed as the supporting act on a mid-1980s tour by Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour after giving out Barrett's actual address onstage. Contended songwriter Daniel Treacy, "No one writes it down, no one believes it for a minute!"

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Song Stories

“Help Me”

Joni Mitchell | 1974

Joni Mitchell wrote and recorded this song for her album Court and Spark, but she had to switch from her regular band to make the song sound exactly the way she wanted. "I had attempted to play my music with rock & roll players," she told Rolling Stone. "They’d laugh, 'Awww, isn't that cute? She's trying to teach us how to play.'" Mitchell switched to a jazz band, Tom Scott’s L.A. Express, and scored the biggest hit of her career in the process.

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