Best of roy orbison series#

In the final verse, the bolero-like, sauntering rhythm of the opening sections gives way to a nervous strut as the thing the narrator most feared, the appearance of his rival, is realized. As the song progresses, itвЂ™s somewhat of a gray area as to whether the faithfulness of his girl can really be called into question or if his own insecurity is just getting the best of him: Just running scared, afraid to lose/If he came back which one would you choose? Yeah, running scared, what would I do? Orbison asks. вЂњRunning Scared,вЂќ a 1961 #1 smash, depicts a scenario where a frazzled narrator is terrified of the possible return of his loveвЂ™s former flame into the picture. ItвЂ™s in that vein lyrically as well up until the final lines, when a table-turning happy ending surprises us all. вЂњRunning ScaredвЂќ fits in with that group musically, sounding like something that would accompany a Shakespearean king on his way to a noble death. вЂњ Crying,вЂќ вЂњ Only The Lonely,вЂќ and вЂњ In DreamsвЂќ (which was a solo Orbison composition) soared to breathtaking heights by combining ingeniously ascendant melodies and RoyвЂ™s stunningly acrobatic vocals.

Best of roy orbison series#

Orbison and co-songwriter Joe Melson crafted a series of hits in that time period that somehow captured all the drama and torment of a broken heart. There wasnвЂ™t anything else on the radio like him.вЂќ Orbison was deadly serious- no pollywog or fledgling juvenile. They shifted from major to minor keys without any logic. His voice could jar a corpse, always leaving you muttering something to yourself like, вЂMan, I donвЂ™t believe it.вЂ™ His songs had songs within songs. Typically, heвЂ™d start out in some low, barely audible range, stay there a while and then astonishingly slip into histrionics. вЂњHe was now singing his compositions in three and four octaves that made you want to drive your car off a cliff,вЂќ Dylan remembered. In his autobiography Chronicles, Volume 1, Bob Dylan wrote a vivid passage about hearing Roy Orbison sing вЂњRunning ScaredвЂќ on the radio back in the early вЂ™60s. This article is from the American Songwriter Archives, originally published in September of 2014.