So, it isn’t the Neil Diamond song of almost the same name, but it certainly comes from a similar place. Think of this same sentiment upgraded and retooled for a more contemporary, perhaps more cynical audience.
So, instead of the ethereal duet and deep dive into the nature of love, longing, and relationships that Neil and Barbara Streisand so eloquently explored, Man With A Corduroy Heart instead gives us a take on the same theme but this time for Generation X-box.
Here, our cloth-hearted hero ponders why the romance may be waning—his pointed jokes, his sartorial shabbiness, and his bathroom habits. But, when he does make an effort, his dozen roses seem a poor substitute for the Big Mac, coke, and fries his partner was hoping for after a tough day. You just can’t win!
And musically, the sonic delicacy of, well, not the original, let’s call it that parallel song, is ramped up, swerving the neo-classical chamber pop of Neil and Barb and opting for his more characteristic folk-pop acoustica.
So, what is the conclusion here? It may be that the first flush of romance doesn’t last forever but is instead replaced by more practical concerns. Or that not everything has to echo the world of Mills and Boon novels. Is it something to do with just being happy with what matters – love, comfort, trust, partnership – and not using such titular gestures as a metric for how you are doing as a couple?
Whatever the answer, we get a great song out of it.
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