This song just crushed me. Heard it for the first time now. It’s an unusually dark kind of day in Colorado and the emotion within this song adds color and texture to the bleakness of it all. Taps directly into how I’m feeling. The song is breathtaking and Thom Yorke’s touch turns it into gold.
mp3: Thom Yorke – All For The Best – Ciao My Shining Star: The Songs of Mark Mulcahy (September 2009)
Waking up and the bed was made
No one looked me in the eye
More I try, More I cry
And it’s all for the best
Watched my brother cutting grass outside
Sitting on the porch he told me
It’s a long way to go before we can rest
But it’s all for the best
You’re so beautiful it sings
On a lonely lazy morning
And when I see you rocking back and forth
Whispering that it’s all for the best
One day the stone will roll away
Soon you’ll see
You’re far away from home but never far away from me
And that’s all for the best
(…and say you love me)
Promise me, son, not to do the things I’ve done
Walk away from trouble
(at the end of the day)
Say you love me
Say you love me
“All For The Best” appears on Ciao My Shining Star: The Songs of Mark Mulcahy, the tribute album released to provide support for Mulcahy, whose wife’s sudden death last year left the musician to raise their three-year old twin daughters alone. The original track appears on Miracle Legion’s Surprise, Surprise, Surprise LP (2000).
All 41 songs on the album, staggering in their intimacy and form, burst with love, hurt, loss, sarcasm and melody. Ciao My Shining Star is a strikingly beautiful and entirely appropriate tribute to an under-valued songwriter, who may now receive an appropriate level of attention. The collection (21 on CD, an additional 20 available online only) features covers of Mulcahy and Miracle Legion songs performed by artists including The National, Dinosaur Jr., Frank Black, Michael Stipe, Mercury Rev, Ben Kweller, and Elvis Perkins.
Thom Yorke’s music video for “All The Best”:
It seems that Mark Mulcahy hasn’t quite yet enjoyed the recognition he deserves. Through the Connecticut-based band Miracle Legion and his solo work, he has written an impressive body of largely ignored material.
Mulcahy is an unmistakably low-key individual, but even he was taken aback by the gathering of friends and peers who contributed songs. “This, in a strange way, has given me a look at what I’ve done or what impact I’ve had on something, which I just don’t think you normally get,” he says. “It’s one thing when you meet a band that opens for you, and they say, ‘Oh, man, I’ve always loved you guys,’ and that feels normal. But when it’s Thom Yorke or someone on a much different level, it’s kind of surprising.” – Hartford Currant
All I can say is that we are lucky that Thom Yorke keeps releasing tracks for us.
Download through Amazon: All For The Best
Download through Amazon: Ciao My Shining Star
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