H'art Songs

H'art Songs is an album by the American composer and musician Moondog, released in 1978 via Kopf.[1]

H'art Songs
Studio album by Moondog
Released	1978
Recorded	1977
Studio	Rhein-Ruhr-Film Tonstudio
Genre	Contemporary classical pop
Language	English
Label	Kopf Managarm Musikverlag

Background and recording

H'art Songs was the second album Moondog made in Germany, and in comparison to the first, Moondog in Europe, it consists of more new material and is song-driven. The songs were written and recorded in 1977.[2] Moondog described the songs in the liner notes as having "an appeal to a whole range of tastes".[2] The satirical lyrics deal with Moondog's view of life and subjects including animal rights, the exploitation of natural resources and the outlaw John Wesley Hardin.[3]

Reception

The critic David Keenan wrote: "The 10 superficially simplistic piano-led pop songs, with lyrics like diamond-sharp haiku, open out with each listen to reveal a musical aesthetic as melodically complex as Johann Sebastian Bach's."[4] Mark Allender of AllMusic described the songs as "little ditties" and wrote that the album combines few and repetitive chord changes with melodies that feel "grandiose or celestial" which makes "the music feel bigger or fuller than it is", creating an exciting effect.[1] Allender complimented Moondog's baritone voice but wrote that the songs can be "a bit too singsongy for more pedestrian tastes and so political that the art suffers somewhat".[1] He rated the album three out of five and described it as "interesting" as a contrast to Moondog's "more complex compositions".[1] Moondog's biographer Robert Scotto wrote that "the novelty is in the subject matter, eccentric yet lyrical, offbeat yet alluring".[5]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Moondog.

Side one

No.	Title	Length
1.	"I'm Just a Hop Head"	2:42
2.	"High on a Rocky Ledge"	4:25
3.	"Do Your Thing"	3:07
4.	"Enough about Human Rights"	3:35
5.	"I'm This, I'm That"	3:47
6.	"Aska Me"	1:58

Side two

No.	Title	Length
1.	"I'm in the World"	3:38
2.	"Here's to John Wesley Hardin"	5:58
3.	"Choo-Choo Lullaby"	5:51
4.	"Pigmy Pig"	3:15

Personnel

• Moondog – harmonica, keyboards, percussion, vocals
• Fritz Storfinger – keyboards, piano

References

Citations

1. Allender.
2. Scotto 2013, p. 236.
3. Scotto 2013, pp. 237, 294.
4. Scotto 2013, p. 294.
5. Scotto 2013, p. 237.

Sources

• Allender, Mark. "H'art Songs". AllMusic. Retrieved 13 December 2020.
• Scotto, Robert (2013) [2007]. Moondog: The Viking of 6th Avenue, Revised Edition. Port Townsend, Washington: Process Media. ISBN 978-1-934170-41-0.