Song Name: Morning Dew
Artist: DEVO (cover song)
Appears On:
- ◦ Smooth Noodle Maps
- ◦ GREATEST HITS [1988-1990][1]
Run Time: 3:01
Year Written: 1961
Year Cover Recorded: 1990
Writing Credits:
Sung By:
Demo Versions:
- ◦ Morning Dew (Demo) (2:59) - Smooth Noodle Maps (2019 expanded album)
Trivia / Info:[]
- ◦ Not performed live.
- ◦ “Morning Dew” is the fifth track and last song on side A of the album release, and the tenth and final track on a Greatest Hits compilation.
- ◦ “Morning Dew (demo)” is the eleventh track on disc two of the remastered, expanded album reissue.
- ◦ The lyrics depict a conversation between the last woman and man after a nuclear apocalypse.
Lyrics:
Walk me out in the morning dew, my friend Walk me out in the morning dew today Can't walk you out in the morning dew, my friend Can't walk you out in the morning dew today I thought, I heard a baby cry this morning I thought, I heard a baby cry today You didn't hear no baby cry this morning You didn't hear no baby cry today Where have all the people gone this morning? Where have all the people gone today? You'll never find no people here this morning You didn't need those people anyway I thought, I heard a young male call this morning I thought, I heard a young male call today You didn't hear no young girl call this morning You didn't hear no young girl call today And now I can't walk you out in the morning dew, my friend I guess it doesn't matter anyway
Additional Info:
Original Lyrics:
[spoken intro] This is a song about morning dew And I hope that it never falls on us Take me for a walk in the mornin' dew, my honey Take me for a walk in the mornin' sun, my love You can't go walkin' in the mornin' dew today You can't go walkin' in the mornin' sun today But listen, I hear a man moanin', "Lord" Oh yes, I hear a man moanin', "Lord" You didn't hear a man moan at all You didn't hear a man moan at all But I thought I heard my baby cryin', "Mama" Oh yes, I hear my baby cryin', "Mama" You'll never hear your baby cry again You'll never hear your baby cry again Now, where have all the people gone? Won't you tell me where have all the people gone? Don't you worry about the people anymore Don't you worry about the people anymore Won't you take me for a walk in the mornin' dew, my love? Please take me for a walk in the mornin' sun, my honey? You can't go walkin' in the mornin' dew today You can't go walkin' in the mornin' sun today But listen, I hear a man moanin', "Lord" Oh, you didn't hear a man moan at all But I'm sure I hear my baby cryin', "Mama" You'll never hear your baby cry again Oh, where have all the people gone? Won't you tell me where have all the people gone? Don't you worry 'bout the people anymore Oh, don't you worry 'bout the people anymore Don't you worry 'bout the people anymore
- ☢ “Morning Dew” was released on Dobson’s 1962 debut album, sequenced as the final song, following “Two Carols For A Nuclear Age - (A Carol for Sheltered Shut-Ins / A Carol for U.N. Delegates)” - her musical adaptation of two Pierre Berton narratives.
- ☢ Fred Neil of the Briarwood Singers altered the first lyric line when they recorded the first cover of “Morning Dew”. The line “Take me for a walk in the morning dew” was altered to “Walk me out in the morning dew.”
Song Reviews
- ◦ (Album preview:) “The album sports an environmentally slanted remake of the [Bonnie Dobson] classic ‘Morning Dew’ that's perhaps better known through cover versions by the Jeff Beck Group and the Grateful Dead.” - (1990)[6]
- ◦ “Devo has cast late-model protest lyrics in electro- synth settings that are futuristic and odd yet compellingly human, even warm. Despite the synthesized bleep-burbles, Devo's versionof [Bonnie Dobson's] folk-rock standard Morning Dew is sung without irony.” - Parke Puterbaugh, Stereo Review, (1990, December), (PDF, pp108, 110 of 156)
- ◦ “The cover of [Bonnie Dobson’s] Morning Dew is the best track on the CD.” - Robert Wm. Gomez (2008)
- ◦ “The nadir must have surely been the obvious cover song, “Morning Dew.” It sounded like a late 60s West Coast Psych song but I was shocked to find out that one Bonnie Dobson had recorded it in 1976; a good nine years later than it sounded, from the lyrics. Everyone from Lulu to The Grateful Dead [let that sink in good and hard…] have covered this song. I can’t imagine why DEVO felt the need. It stuck out like a sore thumb here, that’s for certain! The faux harpsichord does it no favors.” - Post-Punk Monk (2015)
- ◦ “...Her song lived on through the likes of...” “...Devo (a typically strident, jerky rendition)...” - Charles Morris, Financial Times, (2021)
- ◦ ‘The album attempted to infuse Devo’s music with elements of contemporary dance-pop, but it simply didn’t work. For proof, check out their drab take on the Bonnie Dobson folk classic “Morning Dew”.’ - Andy Greene, Rolling Stone, (2023, February).
- ◦ "Smooth Noodle Maps": Songs Ranked: Morning Dew - 3 [out of 5] - retrocraize (2024)
References:
- ↑ BMG Special Products, [ 44842-2,] released (1998, November)
- ↑ https://www.bonniedobson.net/archive.html
- ↑ https://www.cshf.ca/song/morning-dew/
- ↑ https://www.rootsmusic.ca/2018/06/28/bonnie-dobson-finally-gets-her-due-for-morning-dew/
- ↑ "The war started when people accepted the idiotic principle...
that peace could be maintained...
by arranging to defend themselves with weapons they couldn't possibly use...
without committing suicide.”
- On The Beach (1959)
(film adaptation of the 1957 novel)
- ↑
“Walk Me Out In The Morning Devo,”Compact Data, Music, R&R: Radio & Records, Issue #836, (1990, April 20), p50 (PDF, p 50 of 100)
Enigma Records has set a June 4 release date for Devo's forthcoming (and self-produced) LP, "Smooth Noodle Maps." The album sports an environmentally slanted remake of the [Bonnie Dobson] classic "Morning Dew" that's perhaps better known through cover versions by the Jeff Beck Group and the Grateful Dead. The single "Post Post-Modern Man" will precede the release of the ten-track platter.
Links:
- External Links
- Internal Links
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