Six minus one

I'm listening to a CD I bought a few weeks ago called Six by The King's Singers. It's a good album, or rather a good EP, but I don't like the third song called "The Wishing Tree." It was commissioned by The King's Singers and the BBC for the Golden Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II and is just plain awful. A quote from the author of the song, Joby Talbot, appears on the The King's Singers' website.

My music is accordingly punchy and angular - a sense of desperation creeping in as words and syllables are bounced from one side of the ensemble to the other.

Yes, a sense of desperation certainly comes over me when I listen to the song. I am desperate for the song to end.

Having said that, I do like the rest of the songs. My favorite is "Blackbird." I heard the group perform it as an encore many years ago when I was in college. It's a song which brings back wonderful memories for me. I bought the CD primarily for this song. I didn't find out until a few years ago that it is from the Beatles.

The other songs are "Down to the River to Pray" which appeared in O Brother, Where art Thou? and "Lullabye" by Billy Joel. Also "After the Goldrush" by Neil Young and "Blue Skies" by Irving Berlin. I don't suppose too many records out there contain songs by both Irving Berlin and Neil Young.