Skylark, Wildflower | Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶

In the 24^th edition of Throwback Vibez (2023), we recollect and reflect on “Wild Flower” by Skylark. 

The vibes, the vibes, those Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶! Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 is a column that celebrates awesome songs from the past.  The records that grace this column are older, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re ancient – no fossils 🦴! All genres of music are welcome. In the 24^th edition of Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 (2023), we recollect and reflect on 🎵 “Wildflower”, performed by 🎙 Skylark. 

“She’s faced the hardest time you could imagine / And many times her eyes fought back the tears.” The late, great 🎙 Donny Gerrard superbly brings though lyrics to life melodically, singing lead for the short-lived, Canadian pop/rock band, 🎙 Skylark. Despite their tenure as a band, Skylark scored a huge hit with their single, 🎵 “Wildflower” (💿 Skylark, 1972), which peaked at  no. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100.  Gerrard’s expressive voice is one of the reasons this one hit is sufficient to remember the pop/rock collective.  Another reason is the sound. The arrangement, and the production (🎛 Eirik Wangberg) are impressive. There are some great rock cues incorporated (ripe guitar) as well as the classical, symphonic ideas embraced by pop and soul music at the time (strings, including harp). Safe to say, the auditory experience is celestial.

Besides marvelous vocals and top-notch production, thematically, “Wildflower” is poetically penned. The song was composed by 🎼 ✍ David Richardson and Doug Edwards. The focus is a lady, who seems to face her fair share of adversity.  The wildflower metaphors are utterly superb, something highlighted while commenting on the The New Birth’s 1973 cover (“A free and gentle flower growing wild,” “Be careful how you touch her, she’ll awaken,” and “As sleep’s the only freedom all that she knows / And when you walk into her eyes, you won’t believe / The way she’s always paying for a debt she never owes.” Given the beauty and memorable nature of this 70s classic, it’s unsurprising it has been covered by others, including 🎙 The New Birth, saxophonist 🎙 Hank Crawford, and Color Me Badd.

🎙 Skylark • 💿 Skylark • 🏷 Capitol • 🗓 1972

Skylark, “Wildflower”: Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 No. 24 (2023) [📷: Brent Faulkner/ The Musical Hype; Capitol; John Alan Sperry, PIRO via Pixabay]