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)
Mother Nature's Son
Harry Nilsson Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
All day long I'm sitting singing songs for everyone.
Sit beside a mountain stream, see her waters rise
Listen to the pretty sound of music as she flies.
Find me in my field of grass, Mother Nature's son
Swaying daises sing a lazy song beneath the sun.
Mother Nature's son.
The opening two lines of Harry Nilsson's song Mother Nature's Son establishes the singer as a young country boy with humble beginnings. The song echoes elements of pastoralism; a literary and artistic movement which celebrates the virtues of rural life and sees it as superior to urban life. This is evident in the three quatrains separating the opening and concluding lines where the singer is seen as being in harmony with nature. The first quatrain depicts a picture of the singer sitting alone in the midst of nature, singing songs. The second quatrain includes the imagery of a mountain stream, and the words "pretty sound of music as she flies" might denote the idea of the stream's melody. The final quatrain places protagonist's field of grass which sways and is said to be singing beneath the sun.
The song's tropes convey an appreciation and love for nature that can be drawn from the simple joys of life. It highlights the singer's affinity with nature, seeing him as an embodiment of it, or in a sense, a "son" of nature. The lyrics suggest that if one connects with and honors nature, they will lead a life that is fulfilling in the present.
Line by Line Meaning
Born a poor young country boy, Mother Nature's son
I come from humble beginnings, a child of the countryside and a part of nature herself.
All day long I'm sitting singing songs for everyone.
I spend my days sharing my music and my voice with anyone who will listen.
Sit beside a mountain stream, see her waters rise
I take time to appreciate the beauty of nature, watching a stream flow and seeing how it grows stronger.
Listen to the pretty sound of music as she flies.
I hear the music of nature, as she moves and flows around me, and it fills me with joy.
Find me in my field of grass, Mother Nature's son
You can often find me in a field of grass, surrounded by the beauty of nature that inspires my music.
Swaying daises sing a lazy song beneath the sun.
I witness the simple joys of nature, like daisies swaying in the breeze and singing their own song to the sun.
Mother Nature's son.
I am a child of nature, and it is where I find my comfort, inspiration, and purpose in life.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: JOHN LENNON, JOHN WINSTON LENNON, PAUL MCCARTNEY, PAUL JAMES MCCARTNEY
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind