Little Fluffy Clouds

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 Orb – Little Fluffy Clouds (1990)

Little Fluffy Clouds

” Little Fluffy Clouds” is a single released by the British ambient house group The Orb. It was originally released in November 1990 on the record label Big Life and peaked at #87 on the UK Singles Chart. The Orb also included it on their 1991 double album The Orb’s Adventures Beyond the Ultraworld .

Lyrics (via Genius)

Read “Little Fluffy Clouds” by The Orb on Genius

Learn more about this song (via Genius)

What were the skies like when you were young? They went on forever and they, when I, we lived in Arizona And the skies always had little fluffy clouds And they moved down, they were long and clear And there were lots of stars at night And when it would rain it would all turn, it, they were beautiful The most beautiful skies as a matter of fact The sunsets were purple and red and yellow and on fire And the clouds would catch the colors everywhere That’s neat, cause I used to look at them all the time when I was little You don’t see that
― The Orb – Little Fluffy Clouds

We’re leaving the US today, dear reader, and New York after lots of sightseeing though I didn’t get time for Central Park. To the UK we must return and to London. The Orb were formed in 1988 and specialised in electronic music, leaning towards a psychedelic feel in their melodies. When we join them in 1990 it is with the release of a new single entitled Little Fluffy Clouds.

Little Fluffy Clouds is a mixture of samples and electronic beats. Running throughout the track is audio from an interview with American singer, Rickie Lee Jones, who reminisces about the beautiful clouds she used to see growing up in Arizona. The interview sample is on a loop through the track but it also includes interjections from the likes of Ennio Morricone’s superb The Man With the Harmonica which featured in my favourite Western, Sergio Leone’s 1968 masterpiece, Once Upon a Time in the West. It is an interesting concoction to say the least with the audio tampered with at times to fit the beat of the track.

The Orb have been compared to Pink Floyd with their elaborate and colourful live shows. Their music sounds equally experimental though they have fallen foul of the odd lawsuit from time to time when using samples without permission. Rickie Lee Jones was initially not best pleased when her interview was used in Little Fluffy Clouds. The group are continuing as of today and released their sixteenth album in 2020.

Favourite songs so far:

The Animals – House of the Rising Sun (1964)

Simon & Garfunkel – The Sounds of Silence (1965)

The Beatles – A Day in the Life (1967)

The Doors – The End (1967)

Pink Floyd – Wish You Were Here (1975)

Meat Loaf – Bat Out of Hell (1977)

Queen – Don’t Stop Me Now (1978)

Ultravox – Vienna (1980)

The Smiths – How Soon Is Now? (1984)

Tracy Chapman – Fast Car (1988)