Halloween is finally here! For breakfast I drank some blood (orange juice) and for a snack I am surly to eat some brains (made of butter cream on cupcakes). Perhaps aftewards I will finish carving out faces and spilling guts (on pumpkins) while listening to the screams of small children (trick or treating). I do like the sounds of screaming children. Don’t you!?
And of course I will be dancing the Monster Mash, though some may object…
Out from his coffin Drac’s voice did ring,
It seems he was troubled by just one thing,
He opened the lid and shook his fist and said,
“Whatever happened to my Transylvania twist”?
I had a little help from my friends on this one when they pointed it out to me last night. The video above is of Joe Cocker’s well known performance at Woodstock in 1969. What is different about the video above from the original live recording is someone has added lyrics matching what it sounds like Joe is singing. e.g. A couple lines are…
Oh baby, hoggify
All I need is my butt and I
Too funny!
You can listen to the original recorded album version, where Joe has a little bit more diction, here:
I’d like to also point out that although Joe Cocker’s rendition is famous, the song was originally written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney and released on The Beatles album “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band”. Joe’s cover is good, but so is the original. It is difficult to say which one I like more.
I have read different interpretations of this song. Some say it is about Eric Clapton’s cocaine habit back in the 60s. Others say it relates to the Vietnam War. I think it is just about lost and lonely people, wandering the shadows. Great song whatever Cream intended.
Oh also during the line “Platform ticket, restless diesels, goodbye windows” I keep hearing it as “Platform dickhead”. Perhaps it is just me?
After some deliberation, discussions with friends & family, meditation, singing, dancing, crying, drinking, tomfoolery, etc. … I think it is hard to argue with the evidence that “The Sound of Music” is the best musical of all time, and the 1965 movie in particular. Allow me to enumerate: the “boy” meets “girl” (and doesn’t even know it) story is classic, it is set in historical pre-World War 2 Austria, the singing is top notch with Julie Andrews’ voice, and the songs are all so good and solid that they stand on their own outside of the musical. Many of the songs I actually heard and knew before I watched it when I was young. “The Sound of Music” is also so pervasive and well known due to years of it being in the theaters and then shown on television during the holidays. G and I watched a brief segment of it on TV the other day too and we could’ve just sat and watched the whole thing.
Here are my 5 favorites from the soundtrack, with “My Favorite Things” being my favorite.
This is another great climax builder my siblings use to play on the record player when I was young. The slow rolling march of the snare drum in the beginning draws me in too. It always felt a little short though. Like there was room for more. I love it, and yet feel a bit unsatisfied at the end.
I love this song. I like to sing along to the “do do do, doobie bop bop bop, oh do bop she don don” part. It perfectly captures that feeling every young guy has when he think he has a shot with a girl he likes. For the feelings that follow you’ll have to listen to A Teenager In Love… heh.
I watched “The Devil Wears Prada” last night and among the many good songs in the movie, this song came on… not “The Mamas & The Papas” version, but the “Les Yeux Ouverts (Dream a Little Dream)” by “The Beautiful South”. I’d swear the song is following me because I had just listened to “The Mamas & The Papas” version specifically the day before. (It is the best one I think!)
When I was young I though the song was “In a Garden of Evil”, though I know “In the Garden of Eden” was another popular misinterpretation. I am definitely one of those people who will make up lyrics if I cannot understand what they are singing, which then makes me look like an idiot when I happen to quote them to anyone else. I’m sure many of you have had the same experience.
At over 17 minutes, this song is a monument, or perhaps more accurately a foundation, for hard rock and heavy metal. I am frequently amazed as the creativity and artistry of the early rock artists of the 60’s and how they literally created styles and genres of music single handedly that where unlike anything before. I think Iron Butterfly is a perfect example. So cool.
I would also like to dedicate this bonus song to G, my love.
Also because G seems to like to point out the posts where she is mentioned or an influence, I have created “The Illustrious G” category and added all the posts that belong. I’m sure I missed a few.
…who, by the way, got me this sweet new iPod Nano 4G (AKA 4th Generation for you non-iPod users out there) after my 1G’s battery bit the dust and replacing the battery appeared to be unlikely. G is so sweet to me!
Listen on Blip.fm!