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)
How Can I Be Sure of You
Harry Nilsson Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
He said, the sun's not really yellow
He said, the sun is really red
I said, my friend, what do you mean?
You read that in some magazine?
Next thing you'll say the earth's not green
When you know the world's always changing
Rearranging, always changing, changing
I said, my friend, how do you do
And what you're saying isn't true
The next thing you'll say the earth is blue
He said, my friend, you're in a dream
And things are never what they seem
Oh, things are never what they seem
How can I be sure anymore?
When the world's always changing
Rearranging, changing
The lyrics of Harry Nilsson's song How Can I Be Sure of You explore the theme of uncertainty and skepticism. In the first verse, the singer's friend makes a claim that challenges his understanding of reality. The friend says that the sun is red, not yellow as it seems. The singer then questions the source of this information, wondering whether it comes from a magazine. He then expresses his doubt about his friend's claim, saying that he might even say that the earth is not green. This skepticism reflects the human propensity to question authority and the fallibility of human knowledge.
The second verse sees the singer making a counter-argument to his friend's claim. He greets his friend and tells him that his claim about the color of the sun is untrue. The friend then tells the singer that he is in a dream and that nothing is what it seems. This statement reflects a deeper skepticism about the nature of reality itself. The singer is then left with the question of how he can be sure of anything when the world is constantly changing, always rearranging itself. This question speaks to the human experience of uncertainty and the desire for stability and certainty in an ever-changing world.
In summary, How Can I Be Sure of You is a song that speaks to the human desire for certainty in an uncertain world. It explores themes of skepticism, doubt, and the fallibility of human knowledge.
Line by Line Meaning
The other day a friend of mine said
The singer begins with a story about a recent conversation they had with a friend.
He said, the sun's not really yellow
The friend made a claim that challenges commonly held beliefs, specifically about the appearance of the sun.
He said, the sun is really red
The friend's assertion is that the sun is a different color than what the singer and most people believe it to be.
I said, my friend, what do you mean?
The artist expresses confusion and asks their friend to explain their statement.
You read that in some magazine?
The artist suggests that the friend's belief may have come from a dubious source.
Next thing you'll say the earth's not green
The singer anticipates further statements that challenge widely accepted ideas, drawing an analogy to the friend's claim about the sun.
How can I be sure of you?
The singer's doubts about their friend's credibility and accuracy are cemented, and they question how they can trust them in the future.
When you know the world's always changing
The artist points out that the world is in a constant state of flux, which makes it difficult to have certainty or permanence in anything.
Rearranging, always changing, changing
The use of repetition here emphasizes the artist's point about the ongoing process of change in the world.
I said, my friend, how do you do
The artist changes the subject and greets their friend in a non-confrontational manner.
And what you're saying isn't true
The singer explicitly states their belief that the friend is wrong, contradicting their previous questioning and hinting that the conversation has soured.
The next thing you'll say the earth is blue
Continuing the analogy from earlier, the artist imagines more outlandish claims as a way of expressing disbelief and frustration.
He said, my friend, you're in a dream
The friend accuses the singer of being deluded or misled in some way, reversing the roles of belief and skepticism from earlier.
And things are never what they seem
The friend's statement suggests a more philosophical point about the nature of reality and perception.
Oh, things are never what they seem
Repeating the previous line emphasizes the idea that there is a fundamental unreliability to human knowledge and understanding.
How can I be sure anymore?
The artist now feels even more uncertain and unsteady about their grasp of reality and factual knowledge.
When the world's always changing
Returning to the idea introduced earlier, the artist restates that the world is marked by a constant process of change and transformation.
Rearranging, changing
This shorter repetition of the phrase emphasizes the persistent transience of the world, drawing the song to a close on a note of ambiguity and unsettledness.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: HARRY NILSSON, HARRY EDWARD NILSSON
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind