Tubular Bells 2003 By Mike Oldfield
We’ve been talking the past few days about the Tubular Bells piece by Mike Oldfield, and these conversations have inspired me to look around on YouTube for others of his recordings. Here’s an updated (30th anniversary) version, called Tubular Bells 2003; the original version of which was released in 1973. This video is spectacular and goes quite well with the music. Enjoy. My only complaint: It’s too short. Unfortunately, the video I originally included in this piece has been deleted. I’ll continue looking for a legitimate copy of it on YouTube and will link to it when and if I find one.
Soon, grasses and trees sprout as the tubular bell floats around overhead, presumably to oversee and guide this wonderful genesis.
I liked the time lapse for the growing grass. But it would really have been neat if they showed the trees growing from seedlings to full-grown postures as well.
Then there came flowers, falling leaves, birds, man, civilization, cities, and then cars.
Finally, the tubular bell floated for one final pass over the living, breathing planet it helped to infuse with life. Then it flew back out into space in its water bubble, perhaps to do the same elsewhere.
I so love this video. I so love this song! Perhaps the message that Mike Oldfield wanted to convey was that his Tubular Bells 2003 piece has godlike abilities in that his music livens up those who hear it, much as the tubular bellin the video brought life to a dead planet. Hmmmmm. What do you think?
Many folks prefer the original Tubular Bells 1973 version to this Tubular Bells 2003 remix version. Indeed for me, MOST songs are not meant to be revised; I usually dislike remakes and remixes of the original versions that I love.
But this piece is different somehow. I still think the original is great, and as much as I’m enjoying this 30th anniversary version, I still would not say that it’s is any better than the original. I suppose they both have their charms. But Mike Oldfield did a terrific job modernizing this music.
Perhaps it’s the melodies and the pieces used from the original in this 2003 remix that make it as impressive as it is to me. The original 1973 version had a lot of pleasantly fitted together instrumentation; some of which got carried to the 2003 version. So, at least some of what I liked about the original has been included in this 2003 remix in fact. In this way, they’re both good in their own ways I think.
Yet if I had to give up all but one of the Tubular Bells versions that I own, I’d be hard pressed to do it. But ultimately, I’d choose to keep the 1973 classic, and then sneak off to YouTube to hear this 2003 rendition once in a while.
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Tags: Hits, Pop Hits, Popular Music, Songs
February 19th, 2011 at 7:39 pm
I enjoyed that song.
I like the 1973 version the best. I listened to the 1973 LP as well as the Single version. Also I than heard the 2003 remix of it. The long one is great because Mike Oldfield introduces each of the instruments and you actually get a chance to hear them in amongst the other instruments. The single version was okay, I liked the LP version better.
Both the single and the 2003 remix don’t even show how powerful the long version is. It’s beautiful and I can almost imagine what the video might look like. Thanks for describing what the video shows.
Before I continue, I thought that the remix was good but it could’ve been a little longer. It’s still pretty.
Back to the LP version. As I was listening to it, I thought how heavenly it sounds. Thanks for sharing it with me and others. I didn’t remember it until Mike started introducing each instrument than I started to remember it. Laura Becker really enjoyed that song as well as the theme to Star Wars. That was pretty long. It’s hard for me to remember things from a couple of years ago. Funny how I forgot such a beautiful piece of music.
February 19th, 2011 at 7:41 pm
Glad you liked it. By the way, there is an LP version of the 2003 redo that appears to be about as long as the 1973 version. I’m going to get hold of it when I find it for a good price, and then we can check it out the next time you’re here.
February 20th, 2011 at 10:21 pm
I wonder why Mike Oldfield named this piece Tubular Bells. In fact, you don’t hear them very much throughout the over twenty five minutes of this piece. I added a blurb about this to the original post above.