Leaves Of Golden Brown

Album: Division Street (2013)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Harper Simon's Division Street album was recorded with a small circle of guest musicians including Pete Thomas from Elvis Costello's Attractions on drums, Nikolai Fraiture from the Strokes on bass, and Feist's musical director Brian LeBarton playing synths. "I'm very lucky," said Simon. "Everybody that we asked to come and guest on the record showed up."
  • Simon told the story of this song to Artist Direct: "There was something about the drum patter that Pete Thomas came up with," he said. "We worked out the arrangements and the album together. We rehearsed before we went in."

    "There was a power to the rhythm of that track," Simon added. "It's rolling and done with mallets. It had a feeling of movement. It suggested traveling. There's a car trip in there. There's a lot of movement and change. It's a rather personal story of heartbreak set to a travelogue."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Lita Ford

Lita FordSongwriter Interviews

Lita talks about how they wrote songs in The Runaways, and how she feels about her biggest hit being written by somebody else.

Pam Tillis

Pam TillisSongwriter Interviews

The country sweetheart opines about the demands of touring and talks about writing songs with her famous father.

Jon Oliva of Trans-Siberian Orchestra

Jon Oliva of Trans-Siberian OrchestraSongwriter Interviews

Writing great prog metal isn't easy, especially when it's for 60 musicians.

Joe Elliott of Def Leppard

Joe Elliott of Def LeppardSongwriter Interviews

The Def Leppard frontman talks about their "lamentable" hit he never thought of as a single, and why he's juiced by his Mott The Hoople cover band.

Tony Joe White

Tony Joe WhiteSongwriter Interviews

The writer of "Rainy Night in Georgia" and "Polk Salad Annie" explains how he cooks up his Louisiana swamp rock.

Early Days of MTV

Early Days of MTVFact or Fiction

If you can recall the days when MTV played videos, you know that there are lots of stories to tell. See if you can spot the real ones.