Song of the Day: “Tubular Bells” by Mike Oldfield

Please excuse me if some of this week’s reviews are short. I was so mentally exhausted after listening to these 10+ minute songs that I could only write a few curt sentences about most of them.

I groaned at the prospect of listening to a 49 minute song. (Well, technically, two parts, 26 and 23 minutes respectively to represent the original Side A and Side B, but I’ve seen it cited as one long song multiple times.)

But then I hit play, and was astonished. The song/album is great the entire near-hour, flowing from one experimental doodle to another. It displays a huge variety of instrumentation and styles and techniques. I loved it all — even the weird croaky part about ten minutes from the end. I got legitimate chills when Oldfield introduced the “tubular bells” — their echoing, resonant “gong” felt poetic.

I even loved the ending, which is a goofy “Turkey in the Straw”-style ditty.

Click here for the full list

Click here for the full list


Dan and Brian from Earn This now have a film review site and podcast:

The Goods: Film Reviews

The Goods: A Film Podcast

Available on Apple Podcast, Spotify, Stitcher, and more.

One thought on “Song of the Day: “Tubular Bells” by Mike Oldfield

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *