Another lovely song from the Move to help ease your Sunday night blues. This one is an even more obvious example of how the band was just a tad behind the curve... Something about the chord progression, the slightly flanged vocals, and the generally whimsical vibe give Curly a McCartneyesque feel. The song would have been right at home on Magical Mystery Tour. Unfortunately, by 1968 the fruity pop thing had run its course and become totally unhip, replaced by a heavier sound that marked the end of innocence. If the Move had just waited a few more years to release Curly, I'm convinced they would have had a big transatlantic hit with it. They needed to let the era of simulation begin, the postmodern condition, under which pop music would become ever more referential and imitative. Think Badfinger. Think Barclay James Harvest. Think Big Star. Think ELO... ELO is a very interesting example in this context because of the crossover with the Move. Would ELO have been such a huge success if they had done what they did in the late 60s? I think not. ...But all these Johnnie Walker Black-fueled thoughts make the listening experience too dry and overly intellectualized, don't they? The real test for me is how the song makes me feel. If I put all the socio-historical stuff to one side and move from my head to my heart (admittedly a difficult thing for me to do sometimes), I'm left with one of the truly gorgeous pop songs to come out of England in the 60s. It might've been retrograde when it came out, but hearing it now fills me with joy and makes me feel less lonely, somehow. Compared to this, all the other considerations are small potatoes...
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