Born in Brooklyn, Nilsson moved to Los Angeles as a teenager to escape his family's poor financial situation. While working as a computer programmer at a bank, he grew interested in musical composition and close-harmony singing and was successful in having some of his songs recorded by various artists, such as the Monkees. In 1967, he debuted on RCA Victor with the LP Pandemonium Shadow Show, followed by a variety of releases that included a collaboration with Randy Newman (Nilsson Sings Newman, 1970) and the original children's story The Point! (1971).
He created the first remix album, Aerial Pandemonium Ballet, in 1971, and recorded the first mashup song ("You Can't Do That") in 1967. His most commercially successful album, Nilsson Schmilsson (1971), produced the international top 10 singles "Without You" and "Coconut". His other top 10 hit, "Everybody's Talkin'" (1968), was featured prominently in the 1969 film Midnight Cowboy. A version of Nilsson's "One," released by Three Dog Night in 1969, also reached the U.S. top 10.
During a 1968 press conference, The Beatles were asked what their favorite American group was and answered "Nilsson." Sometimes called "the American Beatle," he soon formed close friendships with John Lennon and Ringo Starr, joining them in the Hollywood Vampires drinking club. He and Lennon produced one collaborative album, Pussy Cats (1974). After 1977, Nilsson left RCA, and his record output diminished. In response to Lennon's 1980 murder, he took a hiatus from the music industry to campaign for gun control. For the rest of his life, he recorded only sporadically. In 1994, Nilsson died of a heart attack while in the midst of recording what became his last album, Losst and Founnd (2019).
The craft of Nilsson's songs and the defiant attitude he projected remain touchstones for later generations of indie rock musicians. Nilsson was voted No. 62 in Rolling Stone's 2015 list of the "100 Greatest Songwriters of All Time," where he was described as "a pioneer of the Los Angeles studio sound" and "a crucial bridge" between 1960s psychedelia and the 1970s singer-songwriter era. The RIAA certified Nilsson Schmilsson and Son of Schmilsson (1972) as gold records, indicating over 500,000 units sold each. He earned two Grammy Awards (for "Everybody's Talkin'" and "Without You").
Full Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Nilsson
Discography
Spotlight on Nilsson (1966)
Pandemonium Shadow Show (1967)
Aerial Ballet (1968)
Skidoo (1968) (soundtrack)
Harry (1969)
Nilsson Sings Newman (1970)
The Point! (1970) (studio album and soundtrack)
Nilsson Schmilsson (1971)
Son of Schmilsson (1972)
A Little Touch of Schmilsson in the Night (1973)
Son of Dracula (1974) (soundtrack)
Pussy Cats (1974)
Duit on Mon Dei (1975)
Sandman (1976)
...That's the Way It Is (1976)
Knnillssonn (1977)
Flash Harry (1980)
Popeye (1980) (soundtrack)
Losst and Founnd (2019)
Down by the Sea
Harry Nilsson Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
That's where we wanted to be
With nothing to do
Down by the sea
Don't tell me that isn't what
You wanted to do
Hopin' we were on our way
Down by the sea
Don't tell me that isn't what
You wanted to do
We had the children remember
John, Phillip, Susan
Alice, Carol, Teddy, Bobby, Jenny
I think you had one too many
But I hope I'm not out of line
Cause now it's forty years after the laughs at the wedding
And I'm dreading retirement, what would I do?
The children are married
And now the big question
is "Was it all worth it?"
And who buries who?
You bury me or I bury you?
Down by the sea
Don't tell me
that's isn't what you wanted to do
Down by the sea
It's where you wanted to be baby, just me and you
We sold the house, the car, the TV, the dog, the duke
and we were on our way
Down by the sea
Don't tell me that isn't what you wanted
To do
We had the children remember
John, Phillip, Susan
Alice, Carol, Teddy, Bobby, Jenny
I think you had one too many
But I hope I'm not out of line
Cause it's forty years after the laughs at the wedding
And I'm dreading retirement, what would I do?
The children are married
And now the big question
is "Was it all worth it?"
And who buries who?
You bury me or I bury you?
Down by the sea
That's where we wanted to be with nothing to do
Down by the sea
Don't tell me that's not what you wanted
To do, to do
We sold the house, the pope, the dope, the bear
the rug, the cart . . .
We had the children remember
Ringo, Jimmy, Claus, Sneaky, Jesse
Dany, Bobby, Keith, Shane, Harry, John, Roy...
The song "Down by the Sea" by Harry Nilsson is a wistful reflection on the passage of time and the choices we make in life. The first verse sets the scene of a perfect idyll: the sea, the absence of responsibilities, and the pleasures of solitude with one's lover. The image is so perfect that it's almost impossible to believe it could come true - but in the second verse, we learn that the couple really did sell everything they owned, down to the dog, to achieve this ideal lifestyle. This lifestyle is eventually revealed to have had its own challenges and doubts, with children, the demands of work, and the pressing question of whether sacrificing all to live by the sea was truly worth it. The singer, now approaching retirement age, is left to wonder what their ultimate legacy will be and who will bury whom.
The song paints an evocative portrait of a life lived, and the accompanying sense of nostalgia and melancholy is sensitively expressed by Nilsson's clear voice and gentle guitar accompaniment. The song's subdued tone occasionally veers into a note of ironic humor, such as the verse listing the children's names, or the absurd image of selling the pope and the dope. Ultimately, though, the song speaks to anyone who has reached mid-life and is left to ponder the decisions they made along the way.
Line by Line Meaning
Down by the sea
The location where we desired to go to.
That's where we wanted to be
The place where we aimed to spend our time.
With nothing to do
No tasks or activities to accomplish.
Don't tell me that isn't what You wanted to do
I believe that was your intention.
We sold the house, the car, the TV, the dog
We relinquished our material possessions.
Hopin' we were on our way
Expecting that we were proceeding to our goal.
We had the children remember John, Phillip, Susan, Alice, Carol, Teddy, Bobby, Jenny
We had children named John, Phillip, Susan, Alice, Carol, Teddy, Bobby, Jenny.
I think you had one too many
I believe you had more kids than we intended.
But I hope I'm not out of line
I hope I'm not overstepping.
Cause now it's forty years after the laughs at the wedding
It has been forty years since the fun and laughter at our wedding.
And I'm dreading retirement, what would I do?
I am worried about retiring, as I don't know what to do next.
The children are married
Our kids are now wedded.
And now the big question is "Was it all worth it?"
The significant question now is if our efforts were worthwhile.
"And who buries who?
Who will put the other to rest?
You bury me or I bury you?
Will you bury me or will I bury you?
It's where you wanted to be baby, just me and you
That is where you preferred to spend your time, only with me.
the pope, the dope, the bear, the rug, the cart . . .
We sold other things like the pope, the dope, the bear, the rug, the cart...
Ringo, Jimmy, Claus, Sneaky, Jesse, Dany, Bobby, Keith, Shane, Harry, John, Roy...
We also had children with other names like Ringo, Jimmy, Claus, Sneaky, Jesse, Dany, Bobby, Keith, Shane, Harry, John, Roy...
Contributed by Carter O. Suggest a correction in the comments below.