Symphonic Silliness

Time to raise the tone of this blog!

Can you guess what this next visual pun is?

"The Flight of the Bumblebee" of course!

I'll show myself out.

Rock On, Santa!

Hit "full screen" and pump up the volume for this one!

Thanks to Kay G at Georgia Girl With An English Heart for introducing me to this great cover of Elvis Presley's "Santa Claus Is Back In Town!"

This version comes from the 2018 film The Christmas Chronicles and is performed by lead singer Kurt Russell (Santa) backed up by the band Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul. If you're a fan of Bruce Springsteen's The E Street Band or of The Sopranos TV series, you'll recognize Steven Van Zandt playing guitar behind Santa!

Everybody Sing!

Oh, did you think your

musical PUNishment 

was over with my last post?

Think again, LOL!

Where would we be

without the joy of

musical instruments?

Or the joy of beloved

musical performers?

Going For Baroque

Passover on the High Seas

Here's a bit of rollickin' good piratical fun

to celebrate Passover (March 27 to April 4)!

The Jewish a cappella group Six13 has joined 

the sea shanty bandwagon to sing a few

well-known sailing songs (with altered lyrics)

to celebrate the holiday and freedom! 

Love the kippah-yarmulke-eye-patches and 

spork-hand-prosthesis, LOL!

"The Wellerpossum"

Well, that viral sea shanty "The Wellerman" 

has been given new life again! 

(See my previous post here)

But this time the video stars

the world's cutest possum --

And, just like before, another 

random person on the internet

felt inspired to participate and 

complete the lyrics for it --

Possums have not received this much

attention since the glory days 

of Red Green and his

Possum Lodge Oath and Man's Prayer!

Do Ye Know "The Wellerman"?

[Hand-painted miniature of 

HRH the Pirate Queen

© Anne O'Leary, 2012]

Avast, ye swabs, aye, 'tis me, 

Her Royal Highness the Cat, 

Pirate Queen and Scourge of the Seven Seas!

A mighty sea shanty called "The Wellerman"

has been taking teh interwebs by storm for the past month.

This phenomenon started with a video of one guy singing

a cappella. His video was then modified by other video fans

who later added bass lines, harmonies, and fiddle music!

And I got in on the act too!

I love this shanty so much, me hearties, that I actually had a bath, 

cleaned myself up, and joined in right at the end of this video!

Now, if I were a pedantic bore like my tiresome human, 

I'd explain the meaning of all these odd lyrics, 

but lucky for you I'm not. 

However, if you do want to know more, go watch 

the first two-and-a-half minutes of 

this video right here for an explanation.

Alas, my landlubber human has completely

gone off the deep end over this song and has

obtained the sheet music so she can learn to play it.

An intervention is necessary and 

I'm just the cat who can do it.

"For Unto Us A Child Is Born"

 

This year, for the first time 35 years, I was unable to attend a live performance of Handel's Messiah at Christmas. Thanks, Covid-19! But I made do by listening a couple of times to a full recording of the oratorio. Hopefully next year, I'll hear it performed live once again.

Over the decades, I've heard every conceivable performance variation of this work -- including outstanding soloists, mediocre soloists, downright gawdawful soloists, with female contraltos/mezzo-sopranos or male countertenors, featuring big choirs, small choirs, on one memorable occasion a massed choir of 500 voices, the music played on modern instruments, baroque instruments, at the traditional slower tempo, at a modern faster tempo, etc. etc. etc.

This recent 2019 performance by Boston Baroque features the same kind of small, stripped-down orchestra and chorus that would have been common in Handel's day. Its breezy tempo is almost too fast for my taste but it's still preferable to the traditional tempo's ponderous, overly-reverential pacing.

I hope you enjoy this particular chorus which is perfect for Christmas day. 

Merry Christmas

To All Who Celebrate!

Ye Olde Medieval LOLs

The Middle Ages in Europe had a time span 

of a thousand years (500-1500 CE). 

But you know, "people are people." 

Were their lives really that different from ours?

 thatoneshadyshop

One can’t decide whether to join the Bard’s College or the Thieves Guild.

One will just have to weigh the prose and the cons.

 fuck-rand

*loads crossbow*

They had their problems too, just like us!

Dragons aside, one animal 

in particular gave them major issues.

But like us, they took 

solace in good music.

Such as Lady Dolly of Parton --

 

Or the Mother of Monsters, Lady Gaga --

 

[These medieval covers by Hildegard von Blingin' 

are described as "Bardcore for the discerning clergyman, 

noble, or muck-gathering peasant." 

Many thanks to Miss Cellania, whose blog introduced them to me!]

JUST DROPPED IN . . .

. . . To See What Condition My Condition Was In (yeah, yeah, oh yeah)

It's sad news that Kenny Rogers died a few weeks ago. Like many, I was a fan right from his days as lead singer for The First Edition with its evolving rock/folk/country sound, through to his even more successful solo career as a country singer.

Here's Kenny Rogers' first big hit with The First Edition in the late 1960s when he was almost unrecognizably young, hairy and handsome. Now considered to be an early classic of psychedelic rock, it's also a classic cautionary description of drug addiction.



This song went on to even greater heights as the musical backdrop for the drug-fueled dream sequence "Gutterballs" found in the cult classic movie The Big Lebowski (1998). This surreal dream sequence has it ALL -- bad visual double entendres, bowling, a valkyrie, a fabulous Busby Berkeley-esque dance sequence, and (best of all in my opinion) the hilariously exuberant, but completely atrocious, dance routine of Jeff Bridges as The Dude.



Please pardon me, but in the true spirit of over-the-top Lebowski excess, here's a third version of the song that I simply must include in this post. I found it while looking for the other two. It's a great cover version done recently in a more folksy-bluesy-country style by a band called Front Country. As you can see, they perform it while dressed as the main characters from The Big Lebowski, LOL! Their lead singer, Melody Walker, does a superb job -- it's definitely worth a listen!



And this concludes our musical interlude for today!

All Together Now . . . WTF?

I don't know who this Luciano Rossi guy is, but he's a lip sync maniac! Enjoy his rendition of "The One That I Want" from Grease!



Thanks to Mildred of Mildred Ratched Memoirs, on whose blog I first saw this a few months ago.

"Baby, Just Go Outside!"

Hey, have you seen this new satirical video with rewritten lyrics for "Baby, It's Cold Outside"? Hahahahaha, I love it and couldn't resist posting it here, given our discussion of this song last week!



Oh and by the way, the next time you hear some straight guy complaining that the concept of sexual consent is just overly complicated, too nuanced and difficult to apply, remind them that --

Oh yes, they do understand it when the shoe is on the other foot -- every subtle little nuance suddenly becomes crystal clear and obvious!

Happy Labour Day!

Hey, ever notice that miners, farm workers, truckers and other blue collar types get all the great, classic labour protest songs? But what about modern white collar workers -- where are their songs of toil, suffering and injustice, eh?

I know of only one -- "The White Collar Holler" -- written by an ex-pat Canadian musician named Nigel Russell and recorded by the late, great Canadian singer-songwriter Stan Rogers.

So I proudly present it here today, brothers and sisters, in solidarity with the ongoing common struggle. Happy Labour Day!

Enjoy!

Americano Song

Hey, remember this crazy video from a few years ago?



Today's post is all about the wonderful Italian swing/jazz song featured in it, which I just adore! The song is known by various names, typically "Pa Para Americano," "Pa Pa Americano," or "We No Speak Americano."

According to Wikipedia, however, its actual name is "Tu Vuò Fà L'Americano" ("You Want to Be American") and it dates from the mid-1950s. Written by Nicola Salerno (words) and Renato Carosone (music), it was a huge hit for Carosone and his band. Wikipedia further notes that the lyrics:

. . . are about an Italian who affects a contemporary American lifestyle, drinking whisky and soda, dancing to rock 'n roll, playing baseball and smoking Camel cigarettes, but who still depends on his parents for money. The song is generally considered to be a satire of the Americanization that occurred [in Italy] in the early years after World War II, when southern Italy was still a rural, traditional society.

Here's a video of Carosone and his band performing the song, with English lyrics superimposed by someone who is unaware of the difference between "your" and "you're" (but let's not be picky about that even though it irks me to no end) --



Around 10 years ago, the song's English lyrics were significantly updated by Lou Bega, the German latin/pop star, so that the satire about how Europeans see Americans is much more modern and pointed. It's a fun remake!



And finally, here's a fab 2015 version of the original song by Hetty & the Jazzato Band! Love that clarinet!

An Unlikely Duet

Lately I've been listening to some old, fave CDs from my collection, such as Elton John's 1993 album Duets. On it, he sings various songs with a wide and sometimes rather improbable assortment of musical partners like Tammy Wynette, Bonnie Raitt and Gladys Knight.

But the most unlikeliest duet of all is with the (now late) great singer-songwriter and ladies' man, Leonard Cohen. Talk about a contrast in style and voices! The two sing a bluesy Ray Charles hit from the 1960s called Born to Lose. Not only does this song choice humorously reinforce Leonard Cohen's (entirely undeserved) reputation as a horribly depressed and depressing singer, it inadvertently provides a delightfully homoerotic subtext to an otherwise innocuous old song.

If you've never heard this before, you're in for a treat! Enjoy!

Song for a Winter's Night

Winter arrived full-force in Edmonton on November 1st, with cold, snow, icy roads and windchill. I'm tired of winter already and it hasn't even been a week!

It goes without saying that we'll need some good music to get through it! So here for your listening pleasure are two different versions of a classic winter song recorded by a couple of Canada's greatest singer/songwriters.

I've loved Gordon Lightfoot's voice and his songs ever since I first heard his music on the radio as a small child.

Among all his many other hits, Gordon Lightfoot wrote a beautiful ballad of love and longing called Song for a Winter's Night. He recorded it in his straightforward acoustic folk style in the mid-1970s. It's always been one of my favourites --



Then, in 2003, Sarah McLachlan did her own arrangement of the song and recorded an absolutely stunning new version of it.

So beautifully melodic and evocative, it almost sounds like an entirely different song! When I first heard it, I couldn't believe how wonderful it was --



I hope you enjoy both versions!

Gotta go plug in my car now so the engine won't freeze.

Happy International Women's Day!

On this day every year, my blog post always focuses on how WONDERFUL women are, rather than focusing on the many, many struggles in which we must all still engage to obtain, guarantee and preserve equality rights. Those struggles are what the OTHER 364 days of the year are for. Today is for CELEBRATION! *cue Cher*

O Holy Night

One of my favourite renditions of this beautiful carol. I hope you will have time during this busy day to pause, listen and contemplate.

Merry Christmas to All Who Celebrate!

Rise Again!

All this week I've been listening to the greatest hits of Stan Rogers, one of Canada's best singer-songwriters in the traditional/maritime/folk music genre. He died tragically young in a 1983 airplane fire and is still mourned in this country. But thankfully, he left us a treasure trove of classic songs!

One of his most beloved works is "The Mary Ellen Carter." Every year at the Winnipeg Folk Festival, it is sung as the final song of the final concert, both as a tribute to Stan Rogers and because its conclusion is a rousing, enheartening clarion call to all who struggle against the unfairness and misfortunes of life:

And you to whom adversity has dealt the final blow

With smiling bastards lying to you everywhere you go

Turn to and put out all your strength of arm and heart and brain

And like the Mary Ellen Carter, rise again.

Rise again! Rise again!

Though your heart it be broken or life about to end

No matter what you've lost, be it a home, a love, a friend

Like the Mary Ellen Carter, rise again.

I'm dedicating this video to all the forest fire evacuees of Fort McMurray and elsewhere who are waiting to return to their communities and rebuild their lives. And to any of you out there in the blogosphere who are currently waging your own personal battles.

Music and Words Award

My favourite Australian, Michael d'Agostino of A Life Examined, recently gave me this award, the sweetie! Thanks, Michael, here's my "music and words" answers to the accompanying questions!

1. What does music mean to you?
I have always loved music -- all types of music. I don't think any other art form can express emotion so well, so accurately and so movingly. Plus music transcends time, language, culture and is truly universal. Now, here's some uniquely Canadian music for you! These young Inuit throat-singers performed at Prime Minister Trudeau's recent swearing-in ceremony. Traditionally, a throat-singing song ends when one participant can't help but laugh. Isn't that a great way to finish?



2. What's your first music-related memory?
As a pre-schooler in early 1960s Canada, my favourite kiddie TV show was "The Friendly Giant" on CBC. Every Canadian of my generation knows its opening theme song "Early One Morning" played on recorder and harp. And hey, those cheesy special effects were state of the art in those days!



3. What was the first album you purchased yourself?
I don't remember the first full album I bought, but I do remember the first 45 I purchased -- "Hitchin' a Ride" by Vanity Fare. It would have been around 1970 when I was 13. And I still have it! No, I am not a hoarder. Oddly enough, this song features a recorder too.



4. What's the latest music you purchased?
The last CD I recently purchased for myself was "100 Days 100 Nights" by Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings. I love their sound and their retro-cool video for the title song!



5. What's the last song you listened to? (be honest)
While I'm writing this post, I'm listening to a CD of Dwight Yoakam's greatest hits. How I love old-timey-twangy-drawly country hurtin' songs!



I'm passing this award on to several fave bloggers who regularly post music videos on their blogs. Often they introduce me to great new music (well, new to me anyway). I'd love to hear their answers to these same questions!

LL Cool Joe of CAPture the BEAT
anne marie in philly of From My Brain To My Mouth
fearsomebeard of Fearsome Beard
Jim of Ocean Breezes
The Cranky of Cranky Bar
Kay G of Georgia Girl With An English Heart
Professor Chaos of The Daily Irritant
Janie Junebug of Janie Junebug Righting & Editing