Tag: Crazy Dreams

If Paul Brady’s name doesn’t ring out like Dylan’s or Springsteen’s, that might just be because he was too versatile for his own good. In the music industry, which prefers its musicians to pick a lane and stick to it, Brady chose the scenic route, wandering from Irish traditional ballads to blue-eyed soul, from Dylan-esque singer-songwriter fare to ‘80s radio pop.

Brady was born in Strabane, a town in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland in 1947. He was raised in a musical household (his mother taught piano), Brady was classically trained early on but gravitated toward American rock and blues as a teenager, playing in local showbands before finding his way into the 1960s Dublin folk scene.

This song is on his album Trick or Treat, released in 1991. Paul was a busy man on this album. He is listed doing vocals, mandolin, piano, keyboards, tin whistle, percussion, drum programming, acoustic, and electric guitar. Some of Toto helped him out in the studio for this one. One of them was Toto drummer Jeff Porcaro in one of the last projects before his death. This song sounds like it should have been blaring out on the radio in the summer of 1991. The album did peak at #1 on the Irish Charts.

I want to add one more song from his second album, Hard Station, to give you another example of him. Hard Station was released a decade earlier than Trick or Treat in 1981. This man is worth checking out!

On Crazy Dreams, that opening guitar riff is tight and dry, like a fuse just waiting to burn down. Then Brady’s voice comes in, urgent, soulful, every syllable laced with exasperation and hope. It’s very smooth without being too smooth. 

Can’t Stop Wanting You

Hot words on a summer night
You ‘n’ me having a fight
One drink and it all come out
Before I knew what we were fightin’ about

Hurt come from a midnight place
Dressed in a web of lace
Brainstorm blowin’ up inside
I can’t stop wanting you
I can’t stop wanting you

Now I know it’s a modern world
And baby you’re a modern girl
And I try to be tops at school
Pickin’ up on these modern rules
Teacher come and teacher go
Teacher know when a boy is slow
This boy got a lot to learn
I can’t stop wanting you
I can’t stop wanting you

It’s a new kind of world
For a boy and a girl
And my mind’s in a whirl
I can’t stop wanting you
I can’t stop wanting you

Hot words on a summer night
You ‘n’ me having a fight
One drink and it all come out
Before I knew what we were fightin’ about
I tried but the truth is out
I can’t stop wanting you
I can’t stop wanting you

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