The Old Man's Back Again (Dedicated to the Neo-Stalinist Regime)

Now that's not a title you'd normally expect to see for a song on an LP released by a very popular pop singer who had grown accustomed to hit singles and LPs in the UK throughout the course of the 1960s. Scott Walker was not your ordinary pop singer or songwriter. The Old Man's Back Again was the 7th song from 1969's Scott 4 LP. The subject matter itself was bleak. The year before this song was released, the Czechoslovakian government's efforts to offer some liberalized reforms for its citizens were crushed by the invasion of Soviet and Warsaw Pact tanks, thus reinstalling the old Stalinist approach to communism with all of the repression that comes with it. This is a song about hope crushed. Try playing that at a wedding reception. 

This was a song written by a bassist for a bassist. The prominent bass line (one very much of the late 1960s) drives this song. The orchestral arrangements almost remind me of Ennio Morricone's work around that time. If used in the right scene in a spaghetti western of the era, this is a song that could really add some punch to the scene. Let's listen:


This is dark stuff. I can see how it might not have been a big hit for that reason, although if our era were to merge the musical sensibilities of 1969 with our current cultural attitudes, it would probably chart today. And I have heard this song used in films and TV episodes, although usually just at a time when an aging character is making his entry, thus failing to fully utilize this song the way it could be utilized. Better, imagine a scene where something really wonderful is practically within reach for a character or characters in a film, and how that all begins to crumble when a key antagonist enters the scene. That would be powerful. 

Scott 4 wasn't much of a departure from Scott 3 (released more toward the start of 1969). It did hint at Scott's increased interest in more experimental musical forms more strongly than its predecessor, but had some songs that could have been potential hits (including the subject of this post). I read that initial pressing for Scott 4 was released under Scott Walker's real name (Scott Engel) rather than his more-familiar stage name. That could easily confuse fans. I understand that subsequent pressings of Scott 4 were attributed to his stage name as a result. Apparently the record company did not adequately promote Scott 4 the way it had promoted his previous records. It's a shame, as it is easily one of Scott's masterpieces. 

Scott would spend some time in the proverbial wilderness after that LP, and it would be well into the 1970s before he began writing and performing his own material again. After the mid-1980s, Scott's connection to pop would be completely severed. His later work is well worth the effort. But his work from the 1960s should not be ignored.

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