Song 188: Today I added Wild Things by Cris Williamson to my Favorite Songs Playlist, to offer some contrast to last week's post, in a song with almost the same title. In the late '70s one of my folkie singer/songwriter friends, Nancy Milin, performed this song one night, probably at either Freight and Salvage or La Val's Pizza, which were the 2 major venues for our circle at the time. I liked the tune a lot, so I asked her about it, and not long after hearing it I got a copy of the CW album. The song offers a more serious and thoughtful tone, in contrast to the playful and raucous feel of the Troggs recording, as a cautionary tale about the reality of trying to live with a wild thing. The Wild Thing of the Troggs tune makes everything groovy, but then Cris Williamson reminds us that Wild Things can turn on you, and that no matter how much you might love the see the spirit of a wild thing, as we all so often do, in the end, you've got to set them free. She reminds us that wild things can have sharp teeth, and that they live another way. This song also made me do a bit of soul-searching, asking myself if I had hurt someone close to me by following the call of the wild, and having to admit to myself that surely I had, whether I had meant to do so or not.
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