Roky Erickson - "For You (I'd Do Anything)" (forgotten song)

I'm pretty late getting to it, but on my birthday this year Roky Erickson died.  He was probably best well-known for his time in the 60s with The 13th Floor Elevators, but even they are all but lost to history, making Roky yet another installment in the "influential but not famous" category.  A song writer's song writer, his passing was noted by Rolling Stone, NPR, The New Yorker, and others. 

To say this life and career had many ups and down would be an understatement -- rather than rehash his troubles here I'll simply recommend the 2005 documentary "You're Gonna Miss Me", a documentary that is both entertaining, and then profoundly disturbing as it veers into Southern Gothic.

There are many parallels between Roky and Daniel Johnston, who died a few months after Roky.  One of the things they shared in common was a near universal respect from other artists.  As such, I'm choosing to mark his passing with a song I learned of from "Phases", Angel Olsen's excellent 2017 LP of covers, demos, and outtakes.  Angel Olsen is a tremendous song writer, and on "Phases" she covers a song by Bruce ("Tougher Than The Rest") as well as "For You (I'd Do Anything)" from Roky's 1995 LP "All That May Do My Rhyme".  There are about 100 reasons why I think Angel Olsen is incredible, and that fact that she does obscure covers from Bruce and Roky is one of those reasons. 

Roky Erickson - "For You (I'd Do Anything)", live version (IIRC, this is from the documentary)
Angel Olsen - "For You"*



Bonus link**: 13th Floor Elevators - "You're Gonna Miss Me"

Bonus bonus link: trailer for "You're Gonna Miss Me"


* So technically, Angel misnames her cover.  "All That May Do My Rhyme" has two different songs with similar titles: "For You" and "For You (I'd Do Anything)"; the song that Angel covers is actually "For You (I'd Do Anything)".

** By law, every article about Roky must mention this song. 

Bruce Springsteen - "For You" (the song remains the same)

I recently reviewed "Blinded by the Light", the song from Bruce Springsteen's first LP, "Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J." that was made famous by Manfred Mann's Earth Band. For MMEB's 1980 LP "Chance", they went back to the well again, recording "For You" from Bruce's 1973 debut LP. (Bruce never released "For You" as a single, so I chose MMEB's covert art.)

I don't recall ever hearing Bruce's version on the radio, only occasionally for the MMEB version, and nothing on classic rock radio in I don't know how many years. Which is too bad, since this is quite a good song. MMEB used the same formula they used on BBTL: increasing the production complexity and greatly simplifying the lyrical complexity (three stanzas to 1.5 stanzas), even to the point of removing half of the chorus. The LP version clocked in at almost 6 minutes, but the 7" version is just under 4 minutes. Bruce's version:

I came for you, for you, I came for you, but you did not need my urgency
I came for you, for you, I came for you, but your life was one long emergency
and your cloud line urges me, and my electric surges free

MMEB's version:

I came for you
I came for you
I came for you
For you
I came for you

Eliminating the urgency/emergency portion significantly changes the meaning of the song; explore the original version and the MMEB version for additional changes.

For You: Bruce Springsteen (studio version, 1978 live version), Manfred Mann's Earth Band (7" single version, LP version, 1986 live version).

And for completeness, I suppose I should mention the 2005 release by The Disco Boys, based on the MMEB version: Radio Edit version, Freemasons Remix version.