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Christopher, Mr. Christopher

PostPosted: Fri Nov 14, 2008 1:55 am
by styxfansite
I have been listening to the WN albums a good bit as of late. One song that styx :lol: out to me more than others by Dennis is Christopher, Mr. Christopher. Although "Father OSA", and "Earl of Roseland" are great as well.

I see where this was discussed earlier on this board here.

http://forums.melodicrock.com/phpBB/vie ... chistopher

Also I noticed after doing some reading on "Saint Christopher" I came accross this wiki article.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Christopher

This is an extract from the wiki page.

"Dennis DeYoung of the rock band Styx wrote the song "Christopher, Mr. Christopher" for Styx's 1974 album Man of Miracles. The song reflects fondly of the story of Saint Christopher and laments the perceived downgrade of Saint Christopher's status in 1969, when DeYoung sings "So when they took that saint away, all that's left were her fears"."

Anybodys opinions changed over this song? Likes, Dislikes?

Thanks

PostPosted: Fri Nov 14, 2008 6:06 am
by bugsymalone
I have always liked this song. Not in my top faves from Dennis, but good, nonetheless.


Bugsy

Re: Christopher, Mr. Christopher

PostPosted: Fri Nov 14, 2008 6:19 am
by Rockwriter
styxfansite wrote:I have been listening to the WN albums a good bit as of late. One song that styx :lol: out to me more than others by Dennis is Christopher, Mr. Christopher. Although "Father OSA", and "Earl of Roseland" are great as well.

I see where this was discussed earlier on this board here.

http://forums.melodicrock.com/phpBB/vie ... chistopher

Also I noticed after doing some reading on "Saint Christopher" I came accross this wiki article.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Christopher

This is an extract from the wiki page.

"Dennis DeYoung of the rock band Styx wrote the song "Christopher, Mr. Christopher" for Styx's 1974 album Man of Miracles. The song reflects fondly of the story of Saint Christopher and laments the perceived downgrade of Saint Christopher's status in 1969, when DeYoung sings "So when they took that saint away, all that's left were her fears"."

Anybodys opinions changed over this song? Likes, Dislikes?

Thanks



For what it's worth, Dennis himself points to this song as one of the few of his own songs from that period that he still likes today.


Sterling

PostPosted: Fri Nov 14, 2008 10:54 am
by FormerDJMike
This is in my interview with him. I was basically complimenting the Wooden Nickel albums and how much I enjoyed them. I was basically telling him "they are not that bad!". That's when he said he really liked "Christopher Mr. Christopher".

Re: Christopher, Mr. Christopher

PostPosted: Fri Nov 14, 2008 12:50 pm
by Toph
styxfansite wrote:I have been listening to the WN albums a good bit as of late. One song that styx :lol: out to me more than others by Dennis is Christopher, Mr. Christopher. Although "Father OSA", and "Earl of Roseland" are great as well.

I see where this was discussed earlier on this board here.

http://forums.melodicrock.com/phpBB/vie ... chistopher

Also I noticed after doing some reading on "Saint Christopher" I came accross this wiki article.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Christopher

This is an extract from the wiki page.

"Dennis DeYoung of the rock band Styx wrote the song "Christopher, Mr. Christopher" for Styx's 1974 album Man of Miracles. The song reflects fondly of the story of Saint Christopher and laments the perceived downgrade of Saint Christopher's status in 1969, when DeYoung sings "So when they took that saint away, all that's left were her fears"."

Anybodys opinions changed over this song? Likes, Dislikes?

Thanks


Dennis is still singing with that fake British Accent on some of the songs on this album. It's distracting as hell.

Re: Christopher, Mr. Christopher

PostPosted: Fri Nov 14, 2008 2:10 pm
by Rockwriter
Toph wrote:
styxfansite wrote:I have been listening to the WN albums a good bit as of late. One song that styx :lol: out to me more than others by Dennis is Christopher, Mr. Christopher. Although "Father OSA", and "Earl of Roseland" are great as well.

I see where this was discussed earlier on this board here.

http://forums.melodicrock.com/phpBB/vie ... chistopher

Also I noticed after doing some reading on "Saint Christopher" I came accross this wiki article.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Christopher

This is an extract from the wiki page.

"Dennis DeYoung of the rock band Styx wrote the song "Christopher, Mr. Christopher" for Styx's 1974 album Man of Miracles. The song reflects fondly of the story of Saint Christopher and laments the perceived downgrade of Saint Christopher's status in 1969, when DeYoung sings "So when they took that saint away, all that's left were her fears"."

Anybodys opinions changed over this song? Likes, Dislikes?

Thanks


Dennis is still singing with that fake British Accent on some of the songs on this album. It's distracting as hell.


One of my favorite Dennis vocal performances is from "Golden Lark", which he sings completely fake British, but it works for the track. I always thought he might have been listening to Greg Lake around that time. The phrasing is reminiscent of Greg.

Sterling

PostPosted: Fri Nov 14, 2008 11:49 pm
by Abitaman
I never thought of it as a being fake accent, but rather part of his show man ship. Yea that is fake too, but it is what makes Dennis Dennis!

PostPosted: Sat Nov 15, 2008 12:42 am
by bugsymalone
Abitaman wrote:I never thought of it as a being fake accent, but rather part of his show man ship. Yea that is fake too, but it is what makes Dennis Dennis!


Good point, Eric. Some of Dennis' more exaggerated pronunciations and phrasings do get on my nerves, but, overall, it is what he does as a performer. Part of that little bit of Broadway in him, I suppose. :wink:

I was always struck by the disconnect between his singing voice and his speaking voice. By that I mean, with some singers you can hear the singer in the speaker, but in Dennis' case, they are wholly separate. I have always thought that was a very cool thing about him.


Bugsy