1001 Songs Challenge #190: You’re Gonna Miss Me (1966)

On 11 February 2019 I set myself the challenging of reading 1001 Songs You Must Hear Before You Die by Robert Dimery (ed.) and following the book’s advice to the letter. I’ve previously read 1001 Films… and started 1001 Albums… but felt 1001 Songs… would be a sensible place to start for what I have in mind here.

My challenge is to read about one song per day and listen to it (YouTube and Spotify, I need you tonight!) before sharing my own thoughts. Some songs I will love, others I’ll hate, and I’m sure there will be those that leave me perplexed but listen to them I shall.

I’ll also try, and most likely fail, to pinpoint the best song from the 1001 on offer but I’m nothing if not foolhardy. Instead of one song, I’m predicting I’ll have about 100 favourites by the end and may have to resort to a Top 10 so far to maintain any semblance of sanity.

So long as I post everyday (including Christmas) then this challenge should come to an end on Wednesday 8 November 2021. Staying with the Barney Stinson theme I am hoping that the whole experience will prove to be…

 

The Thirteenth Floor Elevators – You’re Gonna Miss Me (1966)

Well, after a 40-minute Egyptian epic, we’re back on a plane to the US and touching down in Austin, Texas. It’s a spot of garage rock today, dear reader, but this group known as The Thirteenth Floor Elevators were considered one of the influencers of psychedelic rock and they were apparently the first to use that phrase. The group did not last long though, disbanding by the end of the 1960s but they left enough of their mark for a place on this list with You’re Gonna Miss Me.

You’re Gonna Miss Me sees the narrator singing to a woman of how he has upped and gone. He seems quite gleeful about the whole thing, relishing the prospect of her waking up and wondering where she is and then finding no trace of him. The narrator insists that he warned this girl he may go but it’s unclear what the problem is or was in their relationship. The narrator does mention that the girl may say she misses his love but she never needed it to begin with. It has a complicated, even toxic, feel to it. As painful as the whole thing is maybe it’s for the best.

You’re Gonna Miss Me was decent but I didn’t feel this one shined brighter than any of the other garage rock I have listened to so far. It’s not a song that was a huge hit but its value here is more with its influence. The group fell apart in 1969 when lead singer, Roky Erickson, faced 10 years in prison for marijuana possession but pleaded insanity and was admitted into hospital for a few years at which point the group were no more.

 

Favourite songs so far:

Eddie Cochran – Summertime Blues (1958)

The Everly Brothers – All I Have to Do Is Dream (1958)

Ben E. King – Stand By Me (1961)

The Animals – House of the Rising Sun (1964)

The Mamas & The Papas – California Dreamin’ (1965)

The Rolling Stones – (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction (1965)

The Supremes – Stop! In the Name of Love (1965)

Simon & Garfunkel – The Sounds of Silence (1965)

The Who – My Generation (1965)

The Righteous Brothers – Unchained Melody (1965)