My Top 1000 Songs #988: Down By The Sea

[I've been writing up my Top 1000 songs on a daily basis--you can see them all in descending order by hitting the All My Favorite Songs tag.]

Wow, can't believe this is the first time the Strawbs are finding their way into the blog. But maybe not that surprising; while I enjoyed their blend of British folk and arty conceptual music back in my proggy youth, I don't reach for their records too often these days. Still, plenty of great songs in their bustling catalog. I've always been partial to "Down By The Sea," off 1973's Bursting At The Seams, which nicely melds their folk & rock tendencies--quiet, acoustic passages alternating with a catchy, killer riff-driven rocker, stretched out to epic length with a portentous orchestral coda. And, yeah, it's easy to fall back on "reminds me of Jethro Tull!" (for better or worse), but without the classic rock overplay. Which, frankly, makes no sense to me, as this one seems custom-designed for some mid-70s slightly stoned DJ to cue up when he needs to run down the hall for a bathroom break.

Live 1975: