The Rock Spot – Morning Dew
By WTJU Rock
I first heard The Morning Dew on a record drawn from the crates of a local record shop. It was called, Lulu Sings To Sir With Love. I couldn’t believe my luck finding an old Lulu record on vinyl. To Sir With Love is a great song and I knew a couple of other songs on the album, the Beatles Day Tripper and the Bee Gees, To Love Somebody. But not Morning Dew which on playing, had a haunting, rather un-Lulu-like sound. I had no idea what it was about but believed it to be something special.
As coincidences happen, there followed an article in a music magazine about Morning Dew. The song was written in 1962 by Canadian folk singer, Bonnie Dobson and is about the end of the world. She had read Nevil Shute’s book, On the Beach, where the last people on earth are awaiting the arrival of a nuclear cloud that has destroyed the rest of the world. The article talked about how some bloke had claimed ownership of the song for many years but eventually his pants caught fire.
For such a grim, but brilliant song, it has been recorded by many groups including the Grateful Dead and Robert Plant, (who recorded it then later performed it in concert with Dobson) and Nazareth.
Of all the versions we listened to Nazareth was the most apocalyptic, gentle voices then the guitars at full pelt; Robert Plant did a very nice job, but back to Lulu, it has to be my favourite version of all the covers.
Incidentally, Dobson has written a book called, Take Me Out For A Walk In the Morning: The Life and Times of Bonnie Dobson and the Story of her Iconic Song. And she continues to perform with a group called The Hanging Stars.
Have you found anything extraordinary in a record shop crate? Or in the ‘newly added’ section which is always the first place to start. Seen any good singers recently and want to let the Rock Spot know why? Send submissions to [email protected].
