Autumn (song)

"Autumn" is a three-part song by English band Strawbs featured on their 1974 album Hero and Heroine. The final part "The Winter Long" was released as a single in 1974 under the title "Hold on to Me (The Winter Long)."

Heroine's Theme

The first part of the three part song is an instrumental written by keyboardist John Hawken. It was later released as a single in the United States due to demand from black radio stations. The music begins with a menacing riff played on a Moog synthesizer, gradually builds to a climax and then segues into the much quieter second part of the song.

Deep Summer Sleep

"Deep Summer Sleep" is written and sung by Dave Cousins.

The Winter Long

The final part of the song is written by Dave Cousins but sung by Dave Lambert. It was released as a single in the UK in 1974. Several overseas releases followed.

Release history

B-Side of the single

The B-side track "Where Do You Go (When You Need a Hole to Crawl In)" is a Dave Cousins composition, featured on the 1974 album Ghosts album.

Chanson d'automne

"Chanson d'automne" ("Autumn Song") is a poem by Paul Verlaine, one of the best known in the French language. It is included in Verlaine's first collection, Poèmes saturniens, published in 1866 (see 1866 in poetry). The poem forms part of the "Paysages tristes" ("Sad landscapes") section of the collection.

In World War II lines from the poem were used to send messages to the French Resistance about the timing of the forthcoming Invasion of Normandy.

Content

Translation (by C. F. MacIntyre)

Critical analysis

The poem uses several stylistic devices and is in many ways typical of Verlaine, in that it employs sound techniques such as consonance (the repetition of "n" and "r" sounds) that also creates an onomatopoeic effect, sounding both monotonous and like a violin. In the second verse, the stop consonant and pause after the word suffocant reflect the meaning of the word. The sound of the words Deçà, delà, in the third verse evoke the image of a dead leaf falling. Verlaine uses the symbolism of autumn in the poem to describe a sad view of growing old.

Autumn Song (Mose Allison album)

Autumn Song is the fifth album to be released by blues/jazz pianist and vocalist Mose Allison which was recorded in 1959 and released on the Prestige label.

Reception

Scott Yanow of Allmusic states, "One realizes why Allison was soon emphasizing his vocals; he was a much more distinctive singer than pianist although his piano playing was actually pretty inventive. This is an excellent all-round set".

Track listing

All compositions by Mose Allison except as indicated

Personnel