Artist: Devendra Banhart
Title: Heard Somebody Say
Format: 7" single
Label: XL Recordings
Catalogue Number: XLS222
Year of Release: 2005
Limited Edition number 1572
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Tracklisting
A Heard Somebody Say
B La Pastorcita Perdida
Heard Somebody Say is one of the more blatant anti-war songs from 2005's Cripple Crow album. An obvious reference point would be John Lennon (even more obviously-referenced in the artwork to the album, a pastiche of the Sgt. Pepper's sleeve), and with its simple piano intro, strummed acoustic, pedestrian drumming and extended aah-ing it makes for an odd single choice after veritable stomper I Feel Just Like a Child. But simplicity is its winning factor - "It's simple, we don't wanna kill" he sings. And you've got to think, well, fair enough then. But, like Give Peace a Chance, it won't change the world, will it?
The B-side is a cover version of a tune by Argentinian folkie Atahualpa Yupanqui, who is one of Devendra's heroes (as stated in an interview with Spanish-language magazine Pagina 12). The title translates as The Lost Shepherd Girl (I think), and it contains the Spanish-guitar stylings of Noah Georgeson. Another simple tune, comprising just the guitar, reverbed vocal and some light tabla-type drumming. Hard to say exactly what the song is about, my Spanish being limited to ordering drinks and tapas, but there's an air of menace detectable in the way the song is sung that suggests the singer is not entirely innocent in the shepherd girl's getting lost... Worth a listen.
