I am a jazz flutist, and the flute solo on this piece (Joe Farrell) is, in my opinion, one of the all-time greatest flute solos in pop music! Just in case you don't know, all those "whistle sounds" at the quiet part, near the end, are all made by the flute!
I heard this song for the first time tonight and I am blown away. I love it so much. Can't believe this was 1968, it could have been released yesterday, it's timeless. Just beautiful.
On this haunting tune, Laura Nyro sings from the perspective of an addict in the midst of a terrifying drug trip, where “You can see the walls roar, see your brains on the floor” as the Devil watches with a grin. Nyro was a frequent pot smoker herself, but she stayed away from harder drugs (cocaine, heroin, etc.), except for a bout with LSD that conjured horrific hallucinations like the ones described in this. “Poverty Train” (1968) featured jazz musician Joe Farrell on the flute. “He kind of turned it into ‘Alice in Wonderland,’ almost. He came into my world, and he really enhanced it,” she stated. This was one of the numbers Nyro did at her appearance at the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967, a counterculture milestone that marked major debuts from Janis Joplin and Otis Redding. Nyro felt out of her element belting soul songs for a hippie crowd who was there to see Jimi Hendrix and the like. As the legend goes, the crowd hurled “boos” at her and she fled the stage in tears, afterwards demanding documentarian D. A. Pennebaker remove her performance from the accompanying film. He complied, but when footage of her showing emerged on the 2002 DVD release, it was obvious Nyro was catastrophizing the incident. 💙🪈💜 May you rest in peace, Laura Nyro (1947 - 1997)… 🌹… and Joseph Carl Firrantello, a.k.a. Joe Farrell (1937 - 1986)… 🌹
She was great. This is my favorite female singer of all time and I have some I really like. I just don't know who sing likes her and her lyrics are deep man. I don't think Laura got the credit she did because she was to mentally advanced with a message and the industry wasn't ready for that. See this is what you call an ARTIST. So many use that term lightly today but this woman composed her own music, wrote it, arranged it, and that microphone was a paintbrush and the world was her canvas. She was showing us something but nobody was looking.
feeling you brother... laura nyro was/is/always will be a stella artist touched by talent so rare. Light years ahead of the curve imo.... peace to you.
This was and still is my absolute favorite Laura Nyro tune. Actually, one of my all time favorites from any artist. I liked Eli's Coming too, but this was some fabulous singing, playing and lyrics. Believe it or not, Stoned Soul Picnic was my second favorite, which ONLY Laura Nyro could sing properly. Both bring back great memories from well over 50 years ago. Lauro Nyro was great and left her mark on me forever.
There was madness to her music. Some songs tip-toed gently as fairy’s feet on flower petals; others stomped like a ghetto gang charging down an alley-and any one of her song’s could do both. Her lyrics could be glints of sparkling sunlight bouncing off flowing melodies or heavy hail pounding a tin roof or mournful tears washing away dreams. Upbeat as a picnic in Central Park. Dark as Satan’s heart. Jazzy. Folksy. Broadway. Soul. Funk. Rock. Gospel. Soaring. Crashing. A poetic muse. A alluring siren. A gutter cussing waif. Her creations were the ultimate synthesis of mind-soul-hand. They should have named a new genre of music just for her: Stream of Consciousness music.
boy, YOU'RE a writer waitin' to happen, Don Mooradian. those ol' prose trip off YOUR tongue and flower like the darling buds of may. LOVED reading YOUR review of Laura Nyro's soulful cries of passion lost in the mist of time, but soon to be rediscovered and pounding a tin roof that is washing away fake dreams that were never meant for real. it's a picnic of the soul, for real. it's the real deal. it's the TIN ROOF,,,,,,,RUSTED!!!!!!!! .............................YOU should write more reviews, and write them everywhere.
My first experience with listening to the Poverty Train. Amazing voice. Her texture, the range is absolutely amazing. I have no idea how I missed her during a era I was very involved in , especially in music. Incredible.
So great to read everyone's comments ~ I'm always amazed when I meet people who've never heard of Laura Nyro - I've listened to her ever since she was first 'on the scene' in the 60's - I was a teenager when she was popular - and feel incredibly grateful to have seen her in concert (tickets were all of $10!) in 1971 @ Ithaca College in upstate NY - I can still 'see' her dressed all in black with her gorgeous black hair flowing behind her - Stunning! and Brilliant in every way...! And yes, she tragically died way too young... If you're only just now getting turned on to her, check out ALL her albums ~ each one is a treasure trove of classics, some of which you might even recognize as so many were made famous by others!
Why does no one ever talk about her in the same sentences as other female artists of the time? In my opinion she was so much better than a lot of more famous acts. This song is so good.
She is relatively obscure, one reason being that she did not have a hit single, although other had big hits with her songs, However, in the music industry she is known to everyone and revered. Even Kanye has sampled her. See Laura youtube discussions by Elton John, Todd Rundgren, Alice Cooper, Sara Bareilles.
Because she didn't really care. That is why she refused to appear on television, movies or Broadway even though she was repeatedly asked to by all three
How could any one voice be the "greatest ever by far". You show yourself to be musically ignorant, and probably profoundly ignorant at many more levels. In fact, a normal opera singer from any opera house in Italy should and would have a far better voice than Laura. It is because she is Not trained as this kind of singer, and you are ignorant of truly great voices, that you assume your false and romanticized statement to be true. Hype is not helpful. She had a great and dramatic voice; it was one that blew me away personally. The recording industry lost an extraordinary talent. "Greatest".... an infantile comment.
.My favorite female singer. I do not know why Laura Nyro is so often compared to Joni Mitchell. Well, man in himself is a comparative animal. But Laura Nyro stands alone. It was and is incomparable. I am aware of this every time when I am listening to her. Just unique....
So many amazing songs on this album. At random, I will crave any one of about 7 songs from this classic disc. At the moment, this is what I want to hear. 1968.. 1968.. it's insane that she pulled off this masterpiece at a time when The Beatles were just really getting their shit together.. It literally sounds like something that came out this year. Laura Nyro is one of the most brilliant singer/songwriter/composers of all time. And fairly unknown, sadly. You hear this album and don't realize that many things she did on this record had NEVER been done before. She swings between musical genres and musical tempos in a way that had NEVER EVER been done by anyone before her. Pure awesomeness.
one of the greatest blues songs ever recorded. the writing, musicianship and singing beggar belief. check out the downbeat vibe/flute flareups in the last verse. unadulterated genius.
The whole LP is brilliant in terms of songwriting, arrangements, musicianship, vocal performance and production. On that basis, its one of rock/pop's best musical achievements along with Electric Ladyland, Pet Sounds, Sgt Pepper and Astral Weeks. But it hasn't dated like the others - it has really stood the test of time. Its absurd that those seemingly ignorant and woefully biased Rolling Stone writers didn't have Eli in their top 500 LP's of all time. There were also so few female artists in that list that I wonder if Rolling Stone is just a tedious, jealous and neurotic boy's club. Laura is revered by myriad artists of all era's to this day, but the boys of Rolling Stone who probably have never written a song know better. And compared to Eli, the critics darling, 'Revolver', is very dated and trite:tomorrow never knows is really yesterdays news. The Beatles were great writers, but were short on soul. Laura moves people profoundly, like no other I know, and her melodies are genius.
I'd be disinclined to bash the Beatles but share your view of Eli, it's in my top 25 and the snubbery it receives is an embarrassment to society. Also agree about its agelessness, not a thing on it sounds dated. She's a giant.
My brother liked her music, had this tune on an album. He’d play it from time to time back then. I was 14 and thought she was so good and felt it was unlike anything I’d heard before. She was rather avant-garde for the time. She was a personal favorite of Lou Adler who produced the Mama’s and the Papas and in ‘67, helped put on the Monterey Pop Festival. She performed there. She said she “kinda felt like I didn’t fit in there “ and that the audience was not as responsive as to others. I think it’s maybe because she was kinda new to them and her black evening gown was not what they expected…I really don’t know.
Intro: Last call for the poverty train... Last call for the poverty train... Yeah.. Verse 1: It looks good and dirty on shiny light strips And if you don't get beat you got yourself a trip. You can see the walls roar, see your brains along the floor, Become god, become cripple, become funky and split... Refrain: Why was I born? Woah, no, no, n-nn-no Woah, no, no, n-nn-no No, no, no, no woah Verse 2: Oh baby, I just saw the devil and he's smiling at me. I heard my bones cry, devil why's it got to be? Devil played with my brother, devil drove my mother, Now the tears in the gutter are flooding the sea... Refrain: Why was I born? Woah, no, no, n-nn-oo Woah, no, no, n-nn-o, no, no, no, no-oah! Verse 3: Oh baby, it looks good and dirty them shiny lights glow A million night tramps, tricks and tracks. Your starving today but who cares anyway! Baby, it feels like I'm dying... Hook: Now I swear there's something better than... Getting off on sweet cocaine. Outro: It feels so good... It feels so good... Getting off the poverty train! Morning.
A few weeks ago (August 2016) I heard Professor Dianne Kenny from Sydney University (Australia) discuss her research on 13,000 pop/rock artists. She found that, on average, their longevity is significantly less that the general population, explained by industry pressure, drugs, and music culture (e.g. homicide). I surmise from this that Laura's unwavering assertiveness in in engaging with the industry on her terms probably enhanced her quality of life substantially. The more I read about Laura I realise just how wise and clever she was. She clearly didn't measure artistic success by record sales and fame, but by realizing her artistic vision, which she did stupendously. So it is no surprise that so, so, many artists, musicians and producers revere her.
See Professor Dianna Kenny's twitter account for August 2016 for links to two short articles about her research: 'Stairway to Hell' and the other about women in rock. Being a pop star is very dangerous.
Simply gorgeous music. Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Laura Nyro now a member? That would be true. No surprise to me. Not in the least. Laura Nyro - A musical genius. Anyone that takes half a second to listen to her library of songs will have their socks knocked off.
Too many of my friends rode this train back then and I still miss them. They left this world too early. "I heard my bones cry, Devil's why's this got to be?"
I wore this album out at least 3 times. Gone before her time. You are missed. I still have the music book to this album with the original piano score. I cherish it. Play it on a regular basis.
Last call for the poverty train Last call for the poverty train It looks good and dirty on shiny light strip And if you don't get beat you got yourself a trip You can see the walls roar, see your brains on the floor Become God, become cripple, become funky and split Why was I born No-no-no-no whoa-oh no-no-no-no no no no, no Oh baby, I just saw the Devil and he's smilin' at me I heard my bones cry, Devil why's it got to be Devil played with my brother, Devil drove my mother Now the tears in the gutter are floodin' the sea Why was I born No-no-no-no whoa-oh no-no-no-no no no no, no Oh baby, it looks good and dirty, them shiny lights glow A million night tramps, tricks and tracks will come and go You're starvin' today But who cares anyway Baby, it feels like I'm dyin' now I swear there's something better than Getting off on sweet cocaine It feels so good It feels so good Gettin' off the poverty train Mornin'...
I remember reading in an old article that she wrote this song after a very bad trip where she thought there were massive rats coming out of her walls, and she believed she was fighting the rats for hours... hence "hear the walls roar"
wouldn't the walls "meep" in that case? this (highly caffeinated) treatise discusses a somewhat more plausible genesis, her experience of Bronx addicts in the 50s and 60s hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-00660090/document
NYTimes Oct 6, 1968 "Laura Nyro: She's the Hippest - and Maybe the Hottest?" "The victory was symbolized by a hallucination induced by LSD. Laura has since stopped using acid because of the medical evidence that it is genetically dangerous, but it seemed useful to her at the time. She refers to the event as "the day I became a woman". During the experience, monsters - half men, half rats - filed into her room and menaced her from the walls. She summoned the strength to resist them, and after nine hours of spiritual combat they withdrew... 'I won the struggle for myself,' she says. 'I stopped being a loser and became a winner instead.'"
She sang this song at the Monterey Pop Festival at only 19 years old. Yes, she was a musical and poetic genius having released four albums of all original songs with only one cover by the age of 23. IMHO, she was the best singer songwriter ever, so tragic she passed away at only 49. 😥
All I can say is "WOW". It is sophisticated yet very soulful at the same time. It is really remarkable how well this song has aged. Amy Winehouse could have done a great version of this song.
They are from totally different backgrounds, and totally different MUSICAL backgrounds, and their influences were different and the ways they chose to make music are different, but as someone who is drawn to female vocal, and to lyricists who do different things, I hear links between Laura Nyro and Kate Bush. And I found both of them, and lost both of them, in the seventies. Nyro because she was only in the UK on some sampler albums and never played on UK media (no Internet back then!), and Bush because she came and went, and I hadn't latched on as a genuine fan, just liked her big hits. And then Laura died, and Bush came back to us ... what a lot I had missed, of both. I realised how much I loved them both. Only one still has the chance to make more music.
I see a lot of similarities between them as well. And now, five years after you wrote this, Kate Bush is on top of the charts because a TV show introduced her to a world that was finally ready to appreciate her. I hope something similar happens for Laura someday.
Whenever friends of mine asked me why don't you like this female artist or that female artist I always refer to Laura Nero when you're hero can do anything like she does then I'll listen
Too true. Inventive music with this kind of emotion and honesty is rare...especially these days, when it seems like anyone with recording gear and a computer can put out an album. The industry has just been flooded with crap.
Like she sings “who cares anyway” …her unearthly talent will never be revered as it should be. It’s exceedingly difficult year after year to listen to pop singers on the radio who can’t find their soul. Last call.
A lot of people going to be riding the poverty train, whether they want to or not.2021 this train stops all stations and everyone's got a ticket. Manipulation power politics, morally bankrupt.
I am a jazz flutist, and the flute solo on this piece (Joe Farrell) is, in my opinion, one of the all-time greatest flute solos in pop music! Just in case you don't know, all those "whistle sounds" at the quiet part, near the end, are all made by the flute!
I heard this song for the first time tonight and I am blown away. I love it so much. Can't believe this was 1968, it could have been released yesterday, it's timeless. Just beautiful.
This couldn't happen today.
I can. I was 20 in 1968 and I had this album.
Yes I've loved her style, singing & writing
This album dropped in 1968 when Laura Nyro was 21 years old. Just wow!
19
I thought she was born in '47?
@@benkleschinsky She wrote most of these songs when she was still a teenager
+When I was 20.
On this haunting tune, Laura Nyro sings from the perspective of an addict in the midst of a terrifying drug trip, where “You can see the walls roar, see your brains on the floor” as the Devil watches with a grin.
Nyro was a frequent pot smoker herself, but she stayed away from harder drugs (cocaine, heroin, etc.), except for a bout with LSD that conjured horrific hallucinations like the ones described in this.
“Poverty Train” (1968) featured jazz musician Joe Farrell on the flute. “He kind of turned it into ‘Alice in Wonderland,’ almost. He came into my world, and he really enhanced it,” she stated.
This was one of the numbers Nyro did at her appearance at the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967, a counterculture milestone that marked major debuts from Janis Joplin and Otis Redding. Nyro felt out of her element belting soul songs for a hippie crowd who was there to see Jimi Hendrix and the like. As the legend goes, the crowd hurled “boos” at her and she fled the stage in tears, afterwards demanding documentarian D. A. Pennebaker remove her performance from the accompanying film. He complied, but when footage of her showing emerged on the 2002 DVD release, it was obvious Nyro was catastrophizing the incident. 💙🪈💜
May you rest in peace, Laura Nyro (1947 - 1997)… 🌹… and Joseph Carl Firrantello, a.k.a. Joe Farrell (1937 - 1986)… 🌹
She was great. This is my favorite female singer of all time and I have some I really like. I just don't know who sing likes her and her lyrics are deep man. I don't think Laura got the credit she did because she was to mentally advanced with a message and the industry wasn't ready for that. See this is what you call an ARTIST. So many use that term lightly today but this woman composed her own music, wrote it, arranged it, and that microphone was a paintbrush and the world was her canvas. She was showing us something but nobody was looking.
Beautifully put.
feeling you brother... laura nyro was/is/always will be a stella artist touched by talent so rare. Light years ahead of the curve imo.... peace to you.
Just Lord Amen to that Lord
c!ear as water man
Laura was such a genuine example of creativity. Unrestrained. Alive.
Pure. Beauty like this is rediscovered
with each listen.
When Laura Nyro sang this song at Monterey she rocked my world
Her lyrics are heartbreaking, such a talent, very underrated
This was and still is my absolute favorite Laura Nyro tune. Actually, one of my all time favorites from any artist. I liked Eli's Coming too, but this was some fabulous singing, playing and lyrics. Believe it or not, Stoned Soul Picnic was my second favorite, which ONLY Laura Nyro could sing properly. Both bring back great memories from well over 50 years ago. Lauro Nyro was great and left her mark on me forever.
A truly GREAT song. What a talent. Gone too soon.
I was all over this album!!
One of the best....ever!
Genius! So talented! She probably wrote this when she was 12! What a phenomenon!)
Another NYC anthem❤
SOUL SISTER. LAURA NYRO. SING IT SISTA. SING IT SISTA
There was madness to her music. Some songs tip-toed gently as fairy’s feet on flower petals; others stomped like a ghetto gang charging down an alley-and any one of her song’s could do both. Her lyrics could be glints of sparkling sunlight bouncing off flowing melodies or heavy hail pounding a tin roof or mournful tears washing away dreams. Upbeat as a picnic in Central Park. Dark as Satan’s heart. Jazzy. Folksy. Broadway. Soul. Funk. Rock. Gospel. Soaring. Crashing. A poetic muse. A alluring siren. A gutter cussing waif. Her creations were the ultimate synthesis of mind-soul-hand. They should have named a new genre of music just for her: Stream of Consciousness music.
And this track is psychedelic blues in 6/8 time. She's so brilliant.
Don Mooradian, so beautifully said. U r a poet. Love your work. So beautiful.
well said.
@@bandit3837 thank you
boy, YOU'RE a writer waitin' to happen, Don Mooradian. those ol' prose trip off YOUR tongue and flower like the darling buds of may. LOVED reading YOUR review of Laura Nyro's soulful cries of passion lost in the mist of time, but soon to be rediscovered and pounding a tin roof that is washing away fake dreams that were never meant for real. it's a picnic of the soul, for real. it's the real deal. it's the TIN ROOF,,,,,,,RUSTED!!!!!!!! .............................YOU should write more reviews, and write them everywhere.
I was following for 54 years.saw her 20 years ago at towson universty.one of her last concert before she died .god bless you and her.
Absolute 100% connection between singer and lyric...remarkable!
she was amazing
Maybe someday they'll make a movie about her as a tribute to her greatness❤
My first experience with listening to the Poverty Train. Amazing voice. Her texture, the range is absolutely amazing. I have no idea how I missed her during a era I was very involved in , especially in music.
Incredible.
Psychedelic blues in 6/8 time. So cool. Jazz legend Joe Farrell on flute.
Mr moon jerms
Who played guitar?
@@slimturnpike Hugh McCracken, future Steely Dan player.
@@lupcokotevski2907 ah yes
Effing priceless. Whoa.
Nyro was an amazing talent and a wonderful human being.
So great to read everyone's comments ~ I'm always amazed when I meet people who've never heard of Laura Nyro - I've listened to her ever since she was first 'on the scene' in the 60's - I was a teenager when she was popular - and feel incredibly grateful to have seen her in concert (tickets were all of $10!) in 1971 @ Ithaca College in upstate NY - I can still 'see' her dressed all in black with her gorgeous black hair flowing behind her - Stunning! and Brilliant in every way...! And yes, she tragically died way too young... If you're only just now getting turned on to her, check out ALL her albums ~ each one is a treasure trove of classics, some of which you might even recognize as so many were made famous by others!
The first time I heard this I was convinced this was a mid 90s trip hop song. She was so ahead of everyone else its insane
I heard it first tonight on a show called 6 feet under it's a great song I Love it
Why does no one ever talk about her in the same sentences as other female artists of the time? In my opinion she was so much better than a lot of more famous acts. This song is so good.
She is relatively obscure, one reason being that she did not have a hit single, although other had big hits with her songs, However, in the music industry she is known to everyone and revered. Even Kanye has sampled her. See Laura youtube discussions by Elton John, Todd Rundgren, Alice Cooper, Sara Bareilles.
Because she didn't really care. That is why she refused to appear on television, movies or Broadway even though she was repeatedly asked to by all three
I listened to her non stop in the sixties. I can still smell the perfume they tainted the album with.
@@perrytsiokas3419 What perfume was that?
Loved this & her first time I heard her. Then I found out she wrote many songs
This VOICE is the greatest ever - by far! Beautiful!!! I love her!
How could any one voice be the "greatest ever by far". You show yourself to be musically ignorant, and probably profoundly ignorant at many more levels. In fact, a normal opera singer from any opera house in Italy should and would have a far better voice than Laura. It is because she is Not trained as this kind of singer, and you are ignorant of truly great voices, that you assume your false and romanticized statement to be true. Hype is not helpful. She had a great and dramatic voice; it was one that blew me away personally. The recording industry lost an extraordinary talent. "Greatest".... an infantile comment.
.My favorite female singer. I do not know why Laura Nyro is so often compared to Joni Mitchell.
Well, man in himself is a comparative animal. But Laura Nyro stands alone. It was and is incomparable. I am aware of this every time when I am listening to her. Just unique....
Laura Nyro is just incredible! I think the greatest ARTIST in music ever!
YOU IMPRESSED ME. YOUR VOICE HITS .
So many amazing songs on this album. At random, I will crave any one of about 7 songs from this classic disc. At the moment, this is what I want to hear. 1968.. 1968.. it's insane that she pulled off this masterpiece at a time when The Beatles were just really getting their shit together.. It literally sounds like something that came out this year. Laura Nyro is one of the most brilliant singer/songwriter/composers of all time. And fairly unknown, sadly.
You hear this album and don't realize that many things she did on this record had NEVER been done before. She swings between musical genres and musical tempos in a way that had NEVER EVER been done by anyone before her. Pure awesomeness.
Too bad she's gone...a huge loss...I miss her
She died of ovarian cancer at the age of 49
@@samkohen4589 Her mother also died of ovarian cancer at the same age.
TImeless!! She was incredible xx
one of the greatest blues songs ever recorded. the writing, musicianship and singing beggar belief. check out the downbeat vibe/flute flareups in the last verse. unadulterated genius.
The whole LP is brilliant in terms of songwriting, arrangements, musicianship, vocal performance and production. On that basis, its one of rock/pop's best musical achievements along with Electric Ladyland, Pet Sounds, Sgt Pepper and Astral Weeks. But it hasn't dated like the others - it has really stood the test of time. Its absurd that those seemingly ignorant and woefully biased Rolling Stone writers didn't have Eli in their top 500 LP's of all time. There were also so few female artists in that list that I wonder if Rolling Stone is just a tedious, jealous and neurotic boy's club. Laura is revered by myriad artists of all era's to this day, but the boys of Rolling Stone who probably have never written a song know better. And compared to Eli, the critics darling, 'Revolver', is very dated and trite:tomorrow never knows is really yesterdays news. The Beatles were great writers, but were short on soul. Laura moves people profoundly, like no other I know, and her melodies are genius.
I'd be disinclined to bash the Beatles but share your view of Eli, it's in my top 25 and the snubbery it receives is an embarrassment to society. Also agree about its agelessness, not a thing on it sounds dated. She's a giant.
SGT PEPPERS & PET SOUNDS do not sound dated at all and are 100X betters than any L Nyro album
you are 100 times stupider than anyone on RUclips
chrisnagi2 Laura was light years ahead of the music biz with her poetry and next level musicality.
Beautiful !!
My brother liked her music, had this tune on an album. He’d play it from time to time back then. I was 14 and thought she was so good and felt it was unlike anything I’d heard before.
She was rather avant-garde for the time. She was a personal favorite of Lou Adler who produced the Mama’s and the Papas and in ‘67, helped put on the Monterey Pop Festival. She performed there. She said she “kinda felt like I didn’t fit in there “ and that the audience was not as responsive as to others. I think it’s maybe because she was kinda new to them and her black evening gown was not what they expected…I really don’t know.
This is another kind of blues...she's one of the kind! She was great! Amazing composer, musician and of course ..great the voice!
Intro:
Last call for the poverty train...
Last call for the poverty train...
Yeah..
Verse 1:
It looks good and dirty on shiny light strips
And if you don't get beat you got yourself a trip.
You can see the walls roar, see your brains along the floor,
Become god, become cripple, become funky and split...
Refrain:
Why was I born?
Woah, no, no, n-nn-no
Woah, no, no, n-nn-no
No, no, no, no woah
Verse 2:
Oh baby, I just saw the devil and he's smiling at me.
I heard my bones cry, devil why's it got to be?
Devil played with my brother, devil drove my mother,
Now the tears in the gutter are flooding the sea...
Refrain:
Why was I born?
Woah, no, no, n-nn-oo
Woah, no, no, n-nn-o, no, no, no, no-oah!
Verse 3:
Oh baby, it looks good and dirty them shiny lights glow
A million night tramps, tricks and tracks.
Your starving today but who cares anyway!
Baby, it feels like I'm dying...
Hook:
Now I swear there's something better than...
Getting off on sweet cocaine.
Outro:
It feels so good...
It feels so good...
Getting off the poverty train!
Morning.
One of the all time greats on music poetry and depth of feeling. I feels you Laura
A few weeks ago (August 2016) I heard Professor Dianne Kenny from Sydney University (Australia) discuss her research on 13,000 pop/rock artists. She found that, on average, their longevity is significantly less that the general population, explained by industry pressure, drugs, and music culture (e.g. homicide). I surmise from this that Laura's unwavering assertiveness in in engaging with the industry on her terms probably enhanced her quality of life substantially. The more I read about Laura I realise just how wise and clever she was. She clearly didn't measure artistic success by record sales and fame, but by realizing her artistic vision, which she did stupendously. So it is no surprise that so, so, many artists, musicians and producers revere her.
See Professor Dianna Kenny's twitter account for August 2016 for links to two short articles about her research: 'Stairway to Hell' and the other about women in rock. Being a pop star is very dangerous.
Simply gorgeous music. Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Laura Nyro now a member? That would be true. No surprise to me. Not in the least. Laura Nyro - A musical genius. Anyone that takes half a second to listen to her library of songs will have their socks knocked off.
These lyrics are perfect and her delivery spoton. Very powerful, and firey.
Too many of my friends rode this train back then and I still miss them. They left this world too early.
"I heard my bones cry, Devil's why's this got to be?"
I really enjoy her music. She was popular and known but I think she should have been more popular and better known.
Great artist
I wore this album out at least 3 times. Gone before her time. You are missed. I still have the music book to this album with the original piano score. I cherish it. Play it on a regular basis.
Was weaned on this album. 1969-70.
A great one indeed! Thanks for posting. And thank you Laura, wherever you are, we love you!
The best album ever!
Why was I born!
I swear there's somethin' better than!
God! she was good!!
Last call for the poverty train
Last call for the poverty train
It looks good and dirty on shiny light strip
And if you don't get beat you got yourself a trip You can see the walls roar, see your brains on the floor Become God, become cripple, become funky and split Why was I born
No-no-no-no
whoa-oh no-no-no-no no no no, no
Oh baby, I just saw the Devil and he's smilin' at me
I heard my bones cry,
Devil why's it got to be
Devil played with my brother,
Devil drove my mother
Now the tears in the gutter are floodin' the sea
Why was I born
No-no-no-no
whoa-oh no-no-no-no no no no, no
Oh baby, it looks good and dirty, them shiny lights glow
A million night tramps, tricks and tracks will come and go You're starvin' today
But who cares anyway
Baby, it feels like I'm dyin' now
I swear there's something better than
Getting off on sweet cocaine It feels so good
It feels so good
Gettin' off the poverty train
Mornin'...
This song won over all of college roommates bought 3 copies of this LP wore them out timeless stuff
I remember reading in an old article that she wrote this song after a very bad trip where she thought there were massive rats coming out of her walls, and she believed she was fighting the rats for hours... hence "hear the walls roar"
Where did you find this article ? Must read lol
wouldn't the walls "meep" in that case? this (highly caffeinated) treatise discusses a somewhat more plausible genesis, her experience of Bronx addicts in the 50s and 60s hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-00660090/document
NYTimes Oct 6, 1968 "Laura Nyro: She's the Hippest - and Maybe the Hottest?" Found it thru library database.
NYTimes Oct 6, 1968 "Laura Nyro: She's the Hippest - and Maybe the Hottest?"
"The victory was symbolized by a hallucination induced by LSD. Laura has since stopped using acid because of the medical evidence that it is genetically dangerous, but it seemed useful to her at the time. She refers to the event as "the day I became a woman". During the experience, monsters - half men, half rats - filed into her room and menaced her from the walls. She summoned the strength to resist them, and after nine hours of spiritual combat they withdrew... 'I won the struggle for myself,' she says. 'I stopped being a loser and became a winner instead.'"
That may be the single biggest LN historical find of the last decade. I'm glad I was wrong. Thank you for sharing it.
Someone said she wrote this when she was 21? Well she obviously was a genius
She sang this song at the Monterey Pop Festival at only 19 years old. Yes, she was a musical and poetic genius having released four albums of all original songs with only one cover by the age of 23. IMHO, she was the best singer songwriter ever, so tragic she passed away at only 49. 😥
Thank-you for posting this amazing vocalist*
Total love!
What a tune!.
Amazing.
All I can say is "WOW". It is sophisticated yet very soulful at the same time. It is really remarkable how well this song has aged. Amy Winehouse could have done a great version of this song.
What a beautiful and talented women she was...
The late Joe Faril on flute
She was too damn good for this lousy world.The geniuses like her are forgotten in a sea of mediocrity.
Sounds fantastic!
They are from totally different backgrounds, and totally different MUSICAL backgrounds, and their influences were different and the ways they chose to make music are different, but as someone who is drawn to female vocal, and to lyricists who do different things, I hear links between Laura Nyro and Kate Bush.
And I found both of them, and lost both of them, in the seventies. Nyro because she was only in the UK on some sampler albums and never played on UK media (no Internet back then!), and Bush because she came and went, and I hadn't latched on as a genuine fan, just liked her big hits. And then Laura died, and Bush came back to us ... what a lot I had missed, of both. I realised how much I loved them both.
Only one still has the chance to make more music.
I see a lot of similarities between them as well. And now, five years after you wrote this, Kate Bush is on top of the charts because a TV show introduced her to a world that was finally ready to appreciate her. I hope something similar happens for Laura someday.
I just love soul music.
perfection
they're all great ones from her, in truth!
brilliat
la canzone piu bella,emozionante e vera artista!!!anche di origine italiana!!
Not Italian....
LOVE.
Whenever friends of mine asked me why don't you like this female artist or that female artist I always refer to Laura Nero when you're hero can do anything like she does then I'll listen
Too true. Inventive music with this kind of emotion and honesty is rare...especially these days, when it seems like anyone with recording gear and a computer can put out an album. The industry has just been flooded with crap.
Today was Laura's birthday
Remember her from the 60’s.Monterry pop.
LP released March 13, 1968
You can also see a live performance of this number from Monterey summer '67.
Amazing.
nobody knows her , and I like to introduce her occasionally . 99% good reaction. Radio from the 60's is so mainstream
And RUclips is helping me realize there were hundreds of brilliant, unknown artists back then. And in the 70’s, too!
it's her UNIQUE style that does it. um, yeah?
💰💰💰😔😔🥺💓💓
young woman!
A female todd rungren. ...awesome talent.....shame the world's musical sheep are stuck up on shite commercialism.
live version better captivating and haunting
Six Feet Under anyone?
Damn that was a long time ago...But yes, I recognized the song immediately way back then. Nice shout out.
In Danbury, Connecticut
What a strange dress she wears at 0.46. Janice Ian, a close friend of hers, mentioned that she always wore the weirdest attire
Like she sings “who cares anyway” …her unearthly talent will never be revered as it should be. It’s exceedingly difficult year after year to listen to pop singers on the radio who can’t find their soul. Last call.
A lot of people going to be riding the poverty train, whether they want to or not.2021 this train stops all stations and everyone's got a ticket. Manipulation power politics, morally bankrupt.
Ray
Joni Mitchell does nothing for me
What a strange gown she is wearing at 0.47
CAPTAIN PICARD PEAR L JAM BAND A L L IN THE FAMILY DR B E N C A SEY
I loved it except for the cocaine reference. There are people dying horribly in Mexico because of that garbage.
it was 1969...you would have to been there...
She is the devil herself when she belts this song out!U can tel she ben there done that! chacka
What a strange gown she is wearing at 0.54