Just casually appearing from the clock across the hall

She makes me so unsure of myself
Standing there but never talking sense
Just a visitor you see
So much wanting to be seen
She'd open up the door and vaguely carry us away

It is about time I got around to writing about the title song Paris 1919 from John Cale's 1973 LP. It is a clever ghost story, cloaked in his usual obscure lyrics, with one of pop music's finest keyboard and string arrangements. In recent years Mr. Cale has been known to give this the full symphonic treatment, hence the live video embedded below. This is another one of those songs that drilled into me on first listen and has remained inside throughout they years.

Considering that he had just previously produced the haunting, austere The Marble Index for Nico and the initial mix for the first LP byThe Stooges, the grandeur and scope of Paris 1919 went in a totally different direction. The addition of tubular bells and a glockenspiel in the last chorus in this live performance just put it totally over the edge for me.

You're a ghost la la la la la la la la la
You're a ghost
I'm in the church and I've come
To claim you with my iron drum
La la la la la la la la la