The Story Behind "Man On The Silver Mountain"

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In a 1975 radio interview with Ritchie Blackmore and Ronnie James Dio, Dio said he would allow Ritchie to give the story behind “Man On The Silver Mountain,” “but you’d get completely lost in his explanation, so I’ll do it for you.” I don’t think Dio was trying to be a jerk. The song really is deep and difficult to grasp.

According to LastFM, “It is, he (Dio) said, a semi-religious song, the man on the silver mountain is a kind of God figure everyone is crying out to.” The song’s writing credits are shared by Ritchie Blackmore and Ronnie James Dio.

According to Jon Tiven, the song’s meaning is something along these lines: “It’s supposedly about some guy on top of a mountain who’s like a Jesus Christ, kinda religious in a way. My interpretation is that some guy goes on top of a silver mountain, finds the silver, and realizes that he can’t get down again.”

Tiven continued on the recording process: “A classical progression with about 25 chords in it, but you don’t realize it because they’re all relative, and it resolves after about 30 bars. We recorded the album in a hotel, and it was really loud. I had one of the speakers down in a cellar to get echo on one side, and this was reverberating throughout the whole hotel so everybody was complaining.”

“Man On The Silver Mountain” was the debut single for Rainbow. They went on to sell more than 30 million albums as Rainbow / Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow.

“Man on the Silver Mountain”

Many of the band’s early songs had mystical lyrics and neoclassical metal stylings. After Dio left for Black Sabbath, the band’s music became more pop-rock-oriented. That sound worked for them too. “Since You Been Gone” was Rainbow’s highest charting hit.

To check out the story behind the Dio devil horns, CLICK HERE.

Speaking of RAINBOW, what song titles make great crayon colors?

24 Songs That Make Great Crayon Colors

If you could make a box of crayons using only song titles, what would you choose? Below is a list of what I would put in my box of 24… songs that make great crayon colors.

My daughter and her fiancé just bought a house. They’re going nuts with paint colors. I know that excitement. When my family was living in Maryland, we rented a condo for 11 years. WHITE WALLS. I had enough of white walls after 11 years and I went color crazy when we moved back to Michigan. I had an orange kitchen and a yellow entryway. Every room was a color other than white.

Now our house is pretty neutral in color, but with my daughter’s living room being painted “Plumville,” it started me thinking about songs that make great crayon colors (or paint). My first thought was “Purple Haze.” I love this color name but I would probably not paint any rooms in my house purple. I would, however, want it in my crayon box.

I LOVE asking your opinions on social media. I recently asked, “What classic rock songs could also be a crayon color?” The answers were AMAZING.

People didn’t just answer with song titles that had a color in them (not that I don’t love those answers too). They got CREATIVE. One of my favorites was “Night Moves.” I would 100% paint a room in “Night Moves.” What I loved about this response was that it didn’t have a color word in it… it was more about the FEELS. I picture a smokey gray, personally, but it’s totally open to your interpretation. Here are some of my favorite responses.

24 Songs That Make Great Colors

Mellow Yellow
I love this color because I love the idea of my home being zen. My home is not zen, nor Mellow Yellow, but I do love the idea of it. Donovan working on Over Easy and in my future home. BTW, this will be overlapping throughout. I asked for crayon colors, but the idea of being able to paint my house in the color of songs is too great to pass up.
Green Onion
Booker T & The MG’s bringing the rockabilly to our 24-pack of crayons. I feel like the green might be too much for paint, but ya never know.
Brown Sugar
This Rolling Stones classic pairing of extremely serious lyrics mixed with a snappy, happy upbeat arrangement makes Brown Sugar that crayon (or paint color) that has deep meaning but also likes to dance.
Touch of Grey
This Grateful Dead song is about aging gracefully. How can this NOT be an instant classic in our 24-pack? “Touch of Gray” is an actual paint color by Benjamin Moore! IDK how copyrights work on this sort of thing, but I have a feeling Benjamin is not sending benjamins to the band for use of this color name.
Rocky Mountain Way
I love this suggestion because of its creativity. There is no clear color word in the title, but you get a picture in your mind. I would think that Joe Walsh’s “Rocky Mountain Way” is a warm brown color, but a cool gray could work too. It’s all in our own personal perception.
Red Rain
This one trips me out a bit. I love the name as a color, but Peter Gabriel said this of the song in an interview with Mojo Magazine, “‘Red Rain’ was written after a dream I’d had about the sea being parted by two walls. There were these glass-like figures that would screw themselves into each wall, fill up with red blood and then be lowered across the sand, as it were to the next wall, where they’d unload the blood on the other side. I used to have these extremely vivid dreams that scared the hell out of me.” I always thought the song was pretty soothing, but that dream… that’s not soothing.
Yellow Ledbetter
The name of the song has been the subject of numerous different theories. I tribute to Blues legend, Huddy Ledbetter, a spin-off an age-old tongue-twister, “Yellow better, red better.” Truth be known, Eddie Vedder named it after a friend, Tim Ledbetter. I still love the ambiguity that surrounds it. One of these yellow hues has to be a great “Yellow Ledbetter.”
Midnight Blue
DEFINITELY has the potential for being a great crayon color. Lou Gramm explained the song in an interview with Songfacts. Cherry red is “everything going as best as it can,” while midnight blue is “dark and mysterious.”
Back in Black
NO crayon box could be complete without “Back in Black.” I think it would also make for a wonderful nail polish name. “Back in black, I hit the sack. I’ve been too long, I’m glad to be back.” This crayon has attitude for days.
Purple Haze
“Purple Haze” all in my crayon. “Lately, things don’t seem the same.” Jimi said the song was about a dream he had. He was walking under the sea and surrounded by a “purple haze.” Also… aliens.
Mr. Blue Sky
I don’t know if I could actually color with a “Mr. Blue Sky” crayon because I would love it too much. I would want to keep it perfect, but I would also consider it a quintessential part of my box of 24.
Raspberry Beret
Prince had such a gift for painting a picture with his lyrics. I totally would have loved to have found a raspberry beret in a second-hand store, but sadly, I never did. A crayon the color of “Raspberry Beret” would make any picture more vivid.
Tangerine
Tangerine is LITERALLY a color (and a fruit), but to have tangerine in my box of 24-song crayons would be very special. A Led Zeppelin influenced “Tangerine” would make the crayon a cut above the rest. Also, I’m not ruling out Tangerine as a paint color on an accent wall.
Hazy Shade of Winter
To me, the “Hazy Shade of Winter” is that crappy snowbank at the end of winter. I mean this with no disrespect to the magnificent lyrics of Simon & Garfunkel. A song about reaching a point later in life where you realize that while you were searching for perfection, you missed so much. The song was then covered by young the Bangels in the ’80s which is a bit ironic given the song’s content. Having said that both versions are cool to be in my crayon box.
Red Barchetta
Red Barchetta is an intense song. Rush’s song tells a story and so should the color.
Goodbye, Yellow Brick Road
For those times when you’re off to see the wizard…
Green River
John Fogerty has said of the song, “The actual specific reference, Green River, I got from a soda pop-syrup label. You used to be able to go into a soda fountain, and they had these bottles of flavored syrup. My flavor was called Green River. It was green, lime flavored, and they would empty some out over some ice and pour some of that soda water on it, and you had yourself a Green River.”
Orange Crush
This song is NOT about pop/soda. Although there is an Orange Crush beverage, Michael Stipe wrote this song about something very different: Agent Orange. He wrote in Part Lies, Part Heart, Part Truth, Part Garbage 1982-2011: “[The song is] a composite and fictional narrative in the first person, drawn from different stories I heard growing up around Army bases. This song is about the Vietnam War and the impact on soldiers returning to a country that wrongly blamed them for the war.” Stipe’s father served in Vietnam in the helicopter corps.
Amber
Who is the woman this song is about? Nick Hexum of 311 “will neither confirm nor deny.” Amber is the color of your energy and a crayon color for our box of 24.
White Rabbit
Grace Slick noticed a lot of children’s stories revolved around mind-altering substances and she decided to write a song about it. This shade of white should still have a touch of darkness to it.
Tequila Sunrise
This is what my tequila sunrise looks like. The Eagles may have a different version and you another, but Tequila Sunrise is definitely a color I want in my box of crayons.
Paint It Black
For when you want complete coverage… paint it black.
Lemon
Lemon is one of my favorites in the crayon box. Double bubble: LZ “Lemon Song” and U2 “Lemon.” The colors that give you an idea of what they are without being direct are so amazing.
Night Moves
“Night Moves” was suggested by Dean on FB. I saved this color for last because I mentioned it in the beginning and I thought it was a really cool ending for our box of 24 crayons. The song speaks of endings. As I said, my Night Moves is a smokey gray… what’s yours? Thanks for checking out my 24 songs that make great crayon colors!

20 Iconic MTV Videos
MTV kicked on in 1981 and, kids, they ACTUALLY PLAYED VIDEOS. They had VJs… Video jockeys. They hosted the music in a similar fashion to DJs on the radio. We loved it. It was a new way to experience music and it exposed us to music that we might have not otherwise known existed. Some of those videos are completely intertwined in my memory with the song itself. Check out our list below of 20 iconic MTV Videos.

We’ve talked recently about “What was the first MTV video you saw?” I received SO MANY answers for “Video Killed the Radio Star.” This was the very first video MTV aired. In 1981, we didn’t have the internet, smartphones, or social media. We had radio stations, records, and cassette tapes. Aunt Doni will tell you the story of cassette singles for a buck on another day. Today we celebrate the songs that you know not just by sound but by the VIDEOS. Here’s a list of the first 5 videos aired on MTV and the most iconic… the videos we remember the most based on the listener and social media input we received.

Oh and if you’re looking for cool MTV gifts, CLICK HERE

20 Iconic MTV Videos

#1 "Video Killed the Radio Star" - The Buggles

#2 "You Better Run" - Pat Benatar

#3 "She Won't Dance With Me" - Rod Stewart

If I’m being honest, I don’t remember this song… sorry, Rod.

#4 "You Better You Bet" - The Who

This one is cool! It includes an MTV clip intor.

#5 "Little Suzie" - PhD

Most of us think TESLA on this song,, but PhD were the originators. 🙂

"Jeoprady" - Greg Kihn

I was too young for the party scene of the ’80s, but this is the way I pictured it. LOL

"Money For Nothing" - Dire Straits

Mark Knoepfler uses an over-heard conversation at the mall as the foundation for an amazing and, at times, controversial song.

"Hot For Teacher" - Van Halen

"We're Not Gonna Take It" - Twisted Sister

Get ’em, Dee!

"Sweet Child "O Mine" - Guns N Roses

"Burning Down the House" - Talking Heads

SIDE NOTE: Before Peter Gabriel’s video for “Sledgehammer,” the same director used stop-motion in the Talking Heads video for “Road to Nowhere.” Scroll in to 2:56 to check it out.

"Sledgehammer" - Peter Gabriel

THIS is the video that started this conversation. It was the first video that used stop-motion for the WHOLE VIDEO. I can’t even imagine how much effort went into this.

"Land of Confusion" - Genesis

WTH is going on in this video?? From the opening scene of “Bedtime for Bonzo” on crack, this video left many Genesis fans feeling… confused.

"Hungry Like the Wolf" - Duran Duran

THIS is why Duran Duran fans are some of the most loyal folk out there. A smokin’ hot Simon LeBon meets Indiana Jones.

"Stand Back" - Stevie Nicks

So much power… also: Fame dancers.. so ’80s!

"Owner of a Loney Heart" - Yes

In my opinion, the video helped the song reach number one (The only number one song Yes has). Even though one of the scene’s in this video RUINED ME for Asian cuisine for a good five years, it’s still amazing.

"Too Much Time on My Hands" - STYX

Trippin’ balls and hanging at bars.

"Sharp Dressed Man" - ZZ Top

It doesn’t get any cool than ZZ Top.

"Sweet Dreams" - Eurythmics

Annie Lennox blew my mind. Part of the reason Annie had untraditional hairstyle and wardrobe choices was that she wanted to be known first for her music, not her looks. She’s still a very pretty lady, but I think she made the right choice, The first thing you notice is the power of her voice and presence.

"Fish heads" - Barnes and Barnes

Who says people were high in the ’80s? I still can’t believe they aired this. What the holy hell is going on here?