It’s that day again. Wednesday. Weller Wednesday. The day of the week set aside to celebrate, listen to, and learn about all things Paul Weller. This week let’s travel back to 1977 and have a listen to my favorite track from This Is the Modern World. Reminiscent of The Kinks’ “Waterloo Sunset” and “Liza Radley”, from later album, 1980’s Setting Sons, “Life From a Window” showcases the songwriting talents of Weller, as it captures the wistfulness of watching a world from a window that you are not yet a part of, but want to be.
“Life From a Window” by The Jam
from the album, This Is the Modern World (1977)
Weller Wednesday
“Looking from a hill top, watching from a lighthouse.
Just dreaming
Up here I can see the world.”
Haven’t we all looked out windows in our lives and dreamed of something different? Perhaps as a child, definitely as an adolescent, and even as adults. “Life From a Window” is not just my favorite from This Is the Modern World, but it is in my Top 10 of favorite Jam tracks. A lot of that love for it comes from the relatability of it – that sentiment. I know I’ve looked out of so many windows dreaming and wishing.
Haven’t you?
I always seem to find hidden treasures of Jam songs I’ve either overlooked or didn’t turn up on youtube and this is definitely one of them! Suddenly I want to know everything about this song and play it live somewhere.
And this song is unique too in that you hear first the chord progression and then the lyrics repeatedly. It forces you the listener to piece the song together to find the hidden melody. This is what makes it stick and makes you want to listen to it over and over. Wow thankyou Mr Paul Weller for your musical genius in your ability to create such a masterpiece in musical arrangement and in lyrics. Yes definitely one of my favorite all time Jam songs.