Past My Door



Past My Door
Written by Gene Clark

You say it’s all your imagination
Should I just stand here or bury myself in your floor?
You say don’t add to my frustration
Well, I didn’t intend to linger at your door.

Blackboard explanations
And trial examinations
And temperature,
Relations on the moon
The streetcar of invention
An afternoon of slight intention
The effects of some strong lesson learned too soon.

"Too late," cries a melting, lonely snowman,
"Forget," reminds a blackbird taking wing,
"Tomorrow," whisper voices in the darkness,
But the days go slowly moulding past my door.

Took a walk with you
The clouds were blue on the bottom
And white on the top
Saw that one day could show
I wish that I would never have to stop.

Up the walk cry vendors
Mrs. Black never remembers
Finally she goes screaming through the night
Apartment house conceptions
A girl who paints deception
With the blurred out recollection of the light.
"Stop her," slurs a constable in denims
What dare relates the viewer from the blind,
"Whenever," says the upstairs Angelina
But the days go slowly moulding past my door.

You say it’s only imagination
Should I just stand here or bury myself in your floor?
You say don’t add to my frustration
But I didn’t intend to linger at your door.


Next installment: 'Down By the Pier' from Gene Clark Sings for You

Comments

ge said…
thanks for these gene lyrics; he was a good rhymer, goin' for the 2 & 3 syllable-ers.
I hear it wasnt a Mellotron which makes more sense: how many [if any!] could there have been in the '60s in USA? & west coast to boot...however maybe the keyboardist had fun the way some of us do, trying to emulate that distinctive phased pitch-bent chords sound on other instruments; there's one in King Crimson's 'Larks Tongue' playing behind me now
The Clarkophile said…
Hi ge,
You may be correct, but in any event, the "strings" sound on Past My Door is certainly not a real string quartet.
Since the Chamberlin was invented in California in 1946 (according to Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chamberlin) it certainly would not be a stretch to suggest that a studio as famous Gold Star was in possession of a Chamberlin/Mellotron by November 1967, when Past My Door was recorded.
The Clarkophile said…
I've done some further investigation into this, and California-based studio veterans assure me that this kind of equipment was readily available for rental during this period.
ge said…
Didnt this refer to that session?

"although in my interview with Alex del Zoppo he insisted he only played electric piano with Gene, not mellotron which leaves that a mystery for another day."...

[yahoo group]

your ears vs. his memory? :)
Sha said…
Hi there,

I thought I'd let you know how much I'm enjoying your blog. Your profound analyses make a really interesting read. They have drawn my attention to some Gene songs I had not given a proper listening before (e.g. Shooting Star, All I Want).
I'm on the GeneList (so far shy and non-posting ;-) and I read the discussion that your analysis of "Past My Door" provoked. For my part, I can say that I appreciate to at least be able to read about what I can't listen to.

Keep up the good work. I'm looking forward to your next analysis.

sha
The Clarkophile said…
Hi ge!

Yes, John E. was talking about the Sings for You sessions, but what he meant was Alex has no recollection of playing the Chamberlin/Mellotron part that's evident on 'Past My Door'; whoever did play it is still a mystery. John E. does agree that that 'Past My Door' features a Chamberlin/Mellotron(cf. pg. 121 of Mr. Tambourine Man: Life and Legacy of Gene Clark).

Hello Sha,
Thanks for leaving a message. Nice to know there's people out there listening to Gene and curious about his work.
Don't be shy about posting on the Yahoo site. Please join in, introduce yourself.

All the best to both of you,
Tom
ge said…
thanks---our ears are salivating...
Rufus said…
Hi, thanks for putting together this wonderful blog. I look forward to reading each post. I am very curious about this period in Gen Clark's life and have especially enjoyed reading about these recordings. Do you have any insight in to who is in possession of the recordings and who actually controls the rights to the Gene Clark demos and sessions tapes? Is it Gene Clark's sons? Also, at the end of John E. book, there was mention made of Gene Clark's personal recordings in home at the time of his death. Do you know if his estate has gone through these recordings and cataloged their contents?
The Clarkophile said…
Hi Rufus,
The Sings for You acetate is in the hands of private collectors, as far as I know.

The current whereabouts of the private recordings which were in Gene's house at the time of his death, and which fell into the possession of the late Terri Messina, are unknown.

Thank you for your comments. I appreciate it when people let me know they're out there.

All the best to you,
Tom
Rufus said…
Tom,

Thanks for replying and confirming my fears. By any chance can you recommend any site that lists Gene Clark shows that are or have been circulated? Any help will be greatly appreciated.

-- Rufus
The Clarkophile said…
The recent In Concert 2-CD set, as well as the Silverado '75 release (both on Collector's Choice) are essential purchases for any serious Gene Clark fan.

The boots are of varying, often dubious quality, and can be found with relative ease through online searches. However, the official releases support the Estate of Gene Clark, so my advice is to acquire the aforementioned releases before delving into the boots.

There are many boots of the boozy performances of Gene and Co.'s "20th Anniversary of the Byrds" tour, circa '85/'86. These are poor representations of Gene's music and, truth be told, rather depressing affairs.

Hope this helps.
Rufus said…
Hi Tom,

I have been off line for a few days. Thanks for replying back. Over the years I have bought everything Gene ever put out commercially, first on vinyl and later on CDs. I have also amassed a collection of his non commercial recordings (alternate and bonus tracks; live shows with Silverados, KC Southern Band, McGuinn-Clark,MCH, 20th Anniversary of the Byrds; with Jesse Ed Davis, with Carla Olson, etc).
I did purchase the "In Concert 2-CD set, and the Silverado '75 release as soon as they were released. Although I already had the recordings in my collection, I purchased them to show my support for Gene Clark's sons. It is my hope that more of his rarer recordings will be released in the near future by his estate. I personally wasn't thrilled with Collector's Choice and do hope the Clark's choose another company to partner with such as Sundazed, Rhino. Or better yet release directly to their father's fans via their own download site or partner with CD Baby and or Amazon.
Unfortunately I was in a rush when I posted my message and didn't take the time to explain why I was asking about Gene Clark shows in circulation. I have been inspired by your blog and been thinking about putting together a wiki dedicated to Gene Clark recordings.
I have come across a good amount of information concerning his commercially released but not that much regarding his concerts and tour dates. I have been looking at deadbase, featbase, rust and other artists setlist oriented sites for ideas. Any ideas, thoughts or suggestions that you have would be greatly appreciated. Peace.

-- Rufus
The Clarkophile said…
This comment has been removed by the author.

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