laura nyro timer

[69chacka]

U got me walkin thru the walls of space Timer is timeless!! Bless all 4 2012 !!chacka 69

[69chacka]

bLESS ALL i FIND MYSELF HAVING TO HEAR THIS SONG IN ORDER START MY DAY!!great SOND LIKE MORNING COFFEE !!CHACKA b!!

[69chacka]

bLESS NTHOSE tIMER  tIMER NOKNOWS THE.............gREAT CHACKA!!!

[69chacka]

What a great title Tkimer is Timeless!!!chacka69 Soul pours out of this song!! Bless 2012

[69chacka]

@69chacka 

[stonedpicnic]

What an absolutely incredible song this is..probably my favourite song of all time. I have to say it didn't register with me immediately, probably because of it's complexity. But the more I listened, the more I got hooked. Now, I feel like I'm flying every time I hear it!

[joeyrider]

I feel I need to join in the praise of Laura Nyro' enormous contibution to music and in this song in particular. I had the rarest and quite unespected to see her performing live in London in the early '90. I had following her since Stoned Soul Picnic came out in and I was a little baby and i can't agree more, this song never fails to spiritually uplifting me more whenever I hear.

.. 'and if the song goes minor I won't mind' is the close I can claim to be near the ONE. She was and is a blessing

[69chacka]

eyrider how rite U R111chacka69 bless us 4 2012!!!!

[JDCT37]

According to the book about Nyro, "Timer" is about God being a "Timer", in other words you don't know how long you have to live on this earth...

[ClueSign]

Kate Bush studied this like you and I studied algebra.

[kurt11110]

@ClueSign that's an interesting comment clusign . i'm a big fan of kate bush . tell me more .

[ClueSign]

@kurt11110 Hi Kurt -- I think you can hear it so clearly in Kate's work (I'm a fan of both composer/performers) -- first in the deeply personal emotional content of the subject matter and lyrics -- and then in the compositional style: change of tempos, change of keys, dramatic vocal runs, etc.

[karlstadflicka]

A friend took me to see Laura Nyro at the Shakespeare Theater in Stratford, Connecticut in 1972-73. I'd never heard of her, but fell madly in love, especially with this song. I had the good fortune of seeing her several other times and always walked away better for having heard her beautiful voice. What a gift she is to those who listen.

[orgwellian]

what can i say...I have lived and breathed this song for 30 years and it has such a private and personal and spiritual uplift for me...WHENEVER I NEED IT! So.. to see all these great comments is just making me feel ALIVE! It is really the amazing cadence and sweep and the use of the name "timer" which has so many cool meanings to me...aside form the cat...anyway.. THANKS FOR DOING THIS!

[SmartyLion]

I belong to Laura she changed my face.

She's a jig saw Laura she had me walking through the gates of space through a pleasureground.

So let the wind blow

LAURA LAURA LAURA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I abosolutely loved this woman with every fibre of my being!

[dajkptwinna]

@Rabdrake,not sure what you were responding to or what you were saying to me but thanks for introducing me to a new word...'sobriquet'. I love learning new things(and words)! What is a towel f*cker?

[rabdrake2447]

@dajkptwinna, you wrote "How does a black woman from the southside of Chicago who discovered Laura..." I felt your empathy for her music might have arisen from Laura's négritude. She so impressed her peers that a white Italian/Jewess had such a natur'l soul, she was dubbed "Brown." Your last remark seemed abusive, if it I was being insensitive, let me apologize. I meant no offense.

[dajkptwinna]

@rabdrake2447 What remark seemed abusive?

[rabdrake2447]

@dajkptwinna, I thought you were being sarcastic re: towel f*cker. I'm often too thin skinned. I will say; I prefer paper towels, lol. Hey, don't knock masturbation; it's sex with someone I love, Woody Allen.

I love "Timer" I say Maria was the inspiration until I'm blue in the face. Kurt n Kort say it's about a cat until their red in the face. lol. Laura tended to boast about Maria in her songs e.g. Emmie, Désiree, Roodnotes, Walk the Dog and Light the Light, and the pesky back cover of ELI

[allennnnnn91]

I played this record when my gf came over yesterday. It was awesome... now I cant get this song and my gf out of my head....

[Drblooter99]

@allennnnnn91

What is a gf, I wonder...

[elirosen1391]

00:28-00:35 Damn! What a range!

[dajkptwinna]

How does a black woman from the southside of Chicago who discovered Laura at ELGIN STATE HOSPITAL remember all the words to this song and a lot of her other songs????? Her music was among the top ten artist that got me through an interesting time in my life! Thanks for this post!

[rabdrake]

@dajkptwinna, didn't her music peers in Rock n Roll, Soul, Blues, R & B, Gospel, and Folk give her the sobriquet "Brown"?

[TOXINO14]

towel fucker

[omayzinggrace]

I have been listening to Laura since the 70's and she is still my favorite. This is one of my favorite songs. I saw her in Boston at the Music Hall In about 1975. Just Great! Thanks to you and all who have put her legand onto YouTube.

[sisterblister77]

@omayzinggrace- I was just in Boston yesterday, walking from Back Bay to downtown listening to Laura Nyro on my IP (I've recently discovered her and happily so. I'm 33 and have never heard of her before) and was wondering to myself if she ever prerformed in Boston and where? and when? You just answered all my questions. Amazing! From what I've read, she didn't make many live performances?

[omayzinggrace]

@sisterblister77 It was, I would say, in '76 maybe. She was showcasing her "smile" album if my memory serves me right. The Combat Zone still existed, lol.

[rabdrake]

Hi jweldt, “I’ve got this dog Beautybelle. A great big German Sheppard. She’s much bigger than I. She walks me” “Coast FM & Fine Arts” October 1969. Listen to “Timer” ‘68. Be sure to close your eyes. I dare anyone to comment that they can’t feel Beautybelle pulling Laura down the street on a walk as Laura muses about love.

BTW how about the musical tribute to Tin Pan Alley, apart from the changes the song is a “Cake Walk” i.e. a march, a strut and a flourish. Missed the cats, props kort

[jweldt]

I named my dog Timer after my favorite Laura song. The next dog will be named Jigsaw.

[bjbinmke]

This is my favorite Laura Nyro song. I have been singing it to myself since hearing it for the first time in mid-70's. I guess Joni was right; thank God she's still with us.

"God is a Jigsaw Timer." How can you beat that?

[RamonaFromPomona]

I wore out the grooves on this song back in the day..........

[joey3244]

Same here- and it's been 40 years now. I never get tired of hearing this magical tune.

[bjbinmke]

me too. My mom made me stop after about 4 hours replaying the same Eli's Coming album for a few days in a row.

[Rabdrake47]

steeleyeman - He's just like his Mom. He takes on drugs and the Street and does it in a raw and naked way..

[Elyscomin]

Kurt - excellent video. Enjoyed it much. One of my favorites by Laura, but of course, they're all favorites. When they all send chills down a person's spine, it's hard to distinguish which one is liked better than the others.

[joey3244]

"Timer" to me- The essence of life, the fun and wonderment of a new discovery, the excitement of the search, the absolute thrill of being alive. But then it's also about a thousand other things. Or it's about whatever you want it to be at whatever time you are listening. Laura's music always has this way of setting my thoughts free. She was so incredible.

[Paintpro91952]

Music/songwriting does not get any better than (or very often equal) to Laura ...

one of my very favorite Laura tunes ...

[muckbluvid]

Yes, kurt! Beyond the artists who had hits with her songs, Laura influenced the entire pop field: BS&T, Todd Rundgren, etc. Check Todd's Runt LP for "Baby Let's Swing," a Nyro derived ditty about how his songwriting was radically changed after hearing Laura "whoopin' in LA." And then the Runt pretty soon had three hits--"We Gotta Get You a Woman," "I Saw the Light," and "Hello It's Me," all I think owing to her inspiration. Thanks for sharing!

[pnyc1969]

In addition to the Todd Runt song, Laura pops up in Rickie Lee Jones's "Weasel and the White Boys Cool" in the first line: "Sal was working at Nyro's nook in downtown". Rickie Lee regards Laura as a big influence on her work. They never met but RLJ performed at a memorial concert for Laura and wrote the introduction to a book of Laura's lyrics. I personally think Rickie Lee is the closest we have to a Laura-like talent--musicianly and poetic. Maybe also Nora Jones and Tracy Chapman.

[muckbluvid]

Thanks for commenting. Laura had an incrdible spirit, and was one of the most underrated artists of the "Rock Era."

[tomrom7]

muckbluvid

You are right about Laura's influence on Todd. Elton John also cited Laura as his biggest influence. He stated that Burn Down The Mission was especially fashioned after her style.

[muckbluvid]

I love this woman's music! Joni Mitchell considered Laura the only contemprary woman songwriter on her level. And here's as good a reason why as any.  Continuous surprize and delight throughout.

[kurt11110]

thank you muckbluvid !!!

[zombiemsw]

Wow. Laura Nyro esoterica and erotica. All i know is I love her songs and the poetry and emigma of her lyrics. Timer and Save The Country are my favorites.

[jaynez31]

I am concerned her lyric that should treat as other poets like Sylvia Plath and Saxton. Her not only music, creativity but her genre of confessional poetry should be evaluated.

[nedmanxxx]

well put ....! " confessional poetry "

[Rabdrake47]

Hi Sharapoet: Almost forgot, check out Soul Picnic p.62. Charlie Callelo claimed that every song of ELI had some underlying meaning about her own lifeEli was one of her boyfriends. If the lyrics for the song Confession love my lovething, super ride inside my lovething, are described by Kort as a postcoital exuberance. p.61, then oo who stole Mamas heart and cuddled in her garden? darlin Emmie, oo la la la ought to be described as a postsapphic exuberance. An awesome bisexual woman!

[DiggingMyOwnGrave2]

I thought Emmie was her daughter.

[kurt11110]

she just had one kid, a  son named gil

[DiggingMyOwnGrave2]

oh. ok. thank you for telling me that.

[steeleyeman]

He's a rapper. Pretty raw stuff. Such a different vibe than Laura. There was a youtube vid by him.

[jcisbell]

Gil Nigro

[mfbinc]

wasn't "timer" her girlfriend maria desiderio?

[kurt11110]

no, that was years later

[Rabdrake47]

Hi kurt11110: Seasons Greetings. I can't resist your cats, pure pleasure! May I, respectfully, disagree? There are claims they may have had a meeting in 1977 after an estrangement? I believe the initial meeting is 1967. The naysayers can argue all they want; they can't get around her 1971, Sapphic Reverie, Désiree. Maria's last name Desiderio means desire; Désiree means desire. And there is that pesky 1968, vinyl, back cover of Eli. Google images: Eli and the Thirteenth Confession for a peek.

[SharaPoet]

Timer was written long, long before Nyro met Desidero. It was on her second album, Eli and the Thirteenth Confession. Beautiful song, beautiful Laura. There has never been another like her.

[Rabdrake47]

Hi SharaPoet: No one knows exactly when, where & how they first met! As to "how" see Michele Kort's Soul Picnic p.196 "None of Nyro's close friends are certain how she met Maria" Who is Laura romping through them doors onto a pleasure ground with? If not Maria, who? Maria was 13; Laura was 19. "So let the wind blow ...Timer, I like her song and if the song goes minor - I won't mind." Check out the vinyl back cover of Eli. Please listen to Désiree. Listen to the song & tell me I'm wrong!

[SharaPoet]

I'm reading that book right now but I'm only about 1/2 through it. I'll definitely get to the section you mention soon. I'm still not sure about if Timer was about a relationship or about Nyro's own feelings about getting older. "Song goes minor" could just as easily be a reference to jazz and blues rhythms, which she adored. Either way, I love her. She has been my favorite artist since the Eli album came out, and I'm so sorry the world lost her way too young.

[Rabdrake47]

Hi Sharapoet: Thanks for the feedback. As to what the song is all about, Kurt11110 has me all but convicnced, it's about cats. Don't overlook the fact that "I like her song" preceeds "and if the song goes minor." Who is her? BFN

[SharaPoet]

I've got to read this whole thread. It's good being around other people who love Laura like I do. BTW, I cheated at peeked at the latter part of the book, and was very interested in the comments about December's Boudoir likely being very revealing about her bisexuality.

[DiggingMyOwnGrave2]

I thought Timer was her cat.

[uptighthippie]

Just found laura,and i'm 46 yrs old. I think she is the best. Can somebody please post desiree. I only heard it once on the movie Home at the end of the World. Much appreciated.

[Paintpro91952]

she's the best,

period.

THE BEST

[aceab24]

Couldn't agree more...it's good to find kindred Laura spirits here! Timer is perhaps my favorite Laura Nyro song.

[mehersong]

love laura nyro...one of my favorites..please put on new york tendaberry

[ZooeyGlassDancer]

WHAT A FIND! Loved Miss Nyro from so long ago...TIMELESS.

[midnightmlk]

i lv this song.. as a matter of fact i love all her albums .. what about emmie.. that is a beautiful song.. poverty train(about cocaine) she could write a song.. oh i love her .. she left to soon..

[kurt11110]

thank you for your generous comments rab, and i appreciate reading the great article on laura's earliest albums, well written and very illuminating

[rabdrake]

Thanks for a great video. The cover is adorable & irresistable. Love the cats. You made it a pure pleasure to view/hear Timer.

Curious to see the inspiration for Timer? Google Laura, click images search at Laura Nyro popmatters. It's a rendering of the back cover of ELI

[okhan001]

lovely tribute...always nice to see others who appreciate her glowing brilliance.

[yewluan]

beautiful video! love all the cat clocks. love laura forever!

[kurt11110]

thank yewluan, it was my ambition to make a fun video based on the idea that her old cat was named timer. i am so glad people still remember and like laura and her great songs and that someday she will be remembered for her proper contibution to the music we enjoy so much from other musicians, all of whom owe a debt to her somewhere and at sometime : )

[nomadsroad]

The most joyous of Laura's songs. I never knew Timer was the name of her cat - now I know why I love that song! Cats are my constant companions. That was also a perfect montage of pictures to go with that song. Loved the kitty clocks; I have one in my home, too, but none of those. Thank you so much.

[kurt11110]

thank you nomadsroad for your kind comments. it was a labor of love, but worth every minute when people tell me they enjoyed watching it. i also have posted a tribute to laura nyro based on one of my own compositions. hope you enjoy that one too!

[Aslanspal]

Thank you for posting this ..very well done. I will always miss her.

[earlreaves]

Thank U god for Laura Nyro..

[hawk5175]

I love Laura to death...THIS is my favorite song.

Words can't catch up with me pointing toward this 'n that and everything she gave birth to. I love you, Laura. You are light...energy and light. Thank you.

[jeffdw1970]

One of my favorite LN songs. 2nd would be Decembers Boudoir.

[kurt11110]

a fine choice. one of my favorites also from eli and the thirteenth confession is farmer joe (once it was all right)

[arindi]

I'm digging all the cats.

[smarlonc]

Wonderful. Could someone post "Brown Earth" from the "Christmas and the Beads of Sweat" album?

[fotoguynyc]

I love this song. Great songwriting. I love her.

[MassiveNyro]

great song

[rainneonline]

simple flash