Big Blue F.R.O.G.

But words don't heal you either

2012-01-21T12:12:00.003-05:00

Funny how they can always come up with the right thing to say...

Delicate - Damien Rice
I always wonder how it must have felt to Lisa Hannigan all that time she spent listening to the words and knowing otherwise...then again, that's what we all do, to varying degrees.

POW:011812

2012-01-19T00:26:00.002-05:00

The truth is, I'm pulling a Mrs. Dubose.

Just with people.

Modern love

2012-01-04T23:01:00.001-05:00

My favorite poem by Nader Naderpour.

از ویس به رامین

تو ای رامین تو ای دیرینه دلدارم
چو می خواهم که نامت را نهانی بر زبان آرم
صدا درسینه ام چون اه می لرزد
چو می خواهم که نامت را به لوح نامه بنگارم
قلم در دست من بیگاه می لرزد
نمی دانم چه باید گفت نمی دانم چه باید کرد
بیاد آور سخنهای مرا در نامه پیشین
سخنهایی که بر میخواست چون اه از دلی سنگین
چنین گفتم در ان نامه:
" اگر چرخه فلک باشد دبیرم
ستاره سر به سر باشد حریرم
هوا باشد دوات و شب سیاهی
حروف نامه:برگ و ریگ و ماهی
نویسند این دبیران تا به محشر
امید و آرزوی من به دلبر
به جان من که ننویسند نیمی
مرا در حجر ننمایند بیمی "
من ان شب کین سخنها بر قلم راندم
ندانستم کز این افسانه پردازی چه می خواهم
ولی امروز می دانم
نه می خواهم حریر آسمان طومار من گردد
نه می خواهم ستاره ترجمان عشق افسونکار من گردد
دوات شب نمی اید به کار من
نه برگ و ریگ و ماهی غم گسار من
حریر گونه ام را نامه خواهم کرد
سره مژگان خود را خامه خواهم کرد
حروف از اشک خواهم ساخت
مگر این سان توانم نامه ای اندوهگین پرداخت

نادر نادرپور

POW:010411 - No longer a legal alien

2012-01-04T19:57:00.003-05:00

But still an English[wo]man...

Englishman In New York - Sting

But if I had

2012-01-04T19:54:00.000-05:00

Close To Me (acoustic) - The Cure

2011-12-29T08:37:00.002-05:00

I'm tapping into resources that ran dry a while ago, to keep this facade of being okay going with any plausibility that a six year old won't see through.

Which I'm pretty sure he does.

***

I'm starting to think I am ready to be done.

She looks at me with the level, unblinking gaze that I suppose must be a necessary trick for the trade.

"Do you really want him to grow up thinking that you preferred it to him?"

"I want him to grow up thinking that it's okay to put yourself first for once. More than okay; it's necessary."

***

It's so much easier than you think, when it gets so much harder than you ever thought.

Steve McQueen cool

2011-12-23T10:22:00.003-05:00

Just play it.

Seville - Luiz Bonfa

In the know

2011-12-22T23:01:00.006-05:00

And sometimes something may initially seem like an an imitation, but turns out to stand pretty okay on its own. Because you can get addicted to a certain kind of sadness...that you used to know.

Somebody I Used To Know - Gotye (featuring Kimbra)
Of course, the video is an additional, different reminder in and of itself...

This Is The Picture (Excellent Birds) - Peter Gabriel and Laurie Anderson

My plate's empty

2011-12-02T21:55:00.003-05:00

I always thought this was possibly the song that most perfectly personified the general air of the late 80s.

Or maybe it just is the perfect personification of being sixteen back then.

And not being that--or there--anymore.

Twist In My Sobriety - Tanita Tikaram

Twist In My Sobriety (acoustic) - Tanita Tikaram

POW:112711

2011-11-27T11:44:00.003-05:00

The worst part isn't the desperate anger that comes with the realization every day when I wake up in the morning. It's that first somewhat incoherent awareness that brings blissful forgetfulness. The immediate knowing thought breaking through is a moment of pure hell.

And you don't want to know how I feel.

I Need Some Sleep - Eels

POW:112611

2011-11-26T21:06:00.003-05:00

The best part isn't the complete relief that comes once the manufactured release courses through my body. It's the first sensation of it moving through me that feels like freedom breaking wide open inside. The immediate exhalation after is a single moment of pure joy.

And I know how I feel.

Feeling Good (cover) - Muse

It's just talk

2011-11-15T18:52:00.003-05:00

An imitation isn't the same as the original that piqued your interest so...and it doesn't bring about the same joyful reaction...but in the aftermath of that which you first loved best, you make do with what's now available.

There's still a difference between what's home and what's not, though.

Little Talks (live) - Of Monsters And Men

Home (live) - Edward Sharpe And The Magnetic Zeros

POW:111111

2011-11-11T13:47:00.001-05:00

Je t'aime (live) - Staff Benda Bilili

Anyhow, now

2011-11-01T15:58:00.004-04:00

Calls The Tune - Hazel O'Connor

I miss the 80s. For so many different reasons. Who would've thought the time and place I was eventually so desperate to get away from is what I consider--the good, the bad, and the ugly--as my favorite?

Not yours to bear

2011-10-25T18:53:00.004-04:00

though, at the end of the day.

Crosses - José González

Don't you think

2011-10-21T14:44:00.003-04:00

I have wanted it for 21 years. Quietly, secretly...and fiercely.
And *now* I can have it. All of it. Every little bit that I imagined and more that I didn't.
I don't know whether to laugh or cry at the gigantic, stupid ironic timing of it all. Both, I think.

Be careful what you wish for.

Pretend Love - The Avett Brothers

Word

2011-10-19T09:24:00.002-04:00

Irreversible.

Well, then.

Saturday

2011-10-08T08:31:00.003-04:00

I would like to spend all day today in bed, wallowing. And I would like to be left alone to do so.

Instead, I will be getting up, getting dressed, forcing food down my throat under a seemingly unconcerned (or maybe this has already got old for him) watchful eye of the person who prepared it, and smile my enthusiasm and thanks. I will continue to exude that enthusiasm, more genuinely, to plan out an exciting day for the kid, which includes his grandfather (my dad). And I will spend the rest of today making sure there are good times, peppered with bright assurances from me to the adults that no, I am fine! (The assurances to the kid that I am having a good time will be genuine when he asks me, because at any of those moments that he does, his excitement is infectious, even if it's just for a minute at a time). I will respond to texts from my sister that we are having a great time! (The exclamation point is necessary in this dance of subterfuge). Then we'll come home, declare the day a good one and do the "see? Life is so much more than just xyz" conversation and try to believe it with varying degrees of success.

It probably will be a good day. I just need to start it, first.

The Biggest Lie - Elliott Smith

One last time

2011-09-14T16:31:00.001-04:00

Barstowe Station - Perkasie

No regrets

2011-07-17T19:36:00.005-04:00

I can't claim that the kid's love of music (and good taste, ha ha) comes entirely from me. Not when I get an e-mail from the other person who contributed to his genetic makeup and it has nothing but just these two links:

Try A Little Tenderness (live) - Otis Redding

Game For Fools (live) - Jamie Lidell

Get the behind me

2011-07-15T21:28:00.003-04:00

Old Devils (live) - William Elliott Whitmore

Digging My Grave (live) - William Elliott Whitmore

This July ground is mighty hard. For sure.

Pulling at the strings

2011-07-08T20:29:00.006-04:00

They were playing Katy f'in Perry in the main activities room when I picked up the kid from camp today.

Thankfully, I had inoculation handy in the car
Cosmic Love (live) - Florence + The Machine

By the way, the kid's take on Florence:

"Doesn't she remind you of Dolores O'Riordan?"
"Do you mean they sound similar?"
"I mean they have the same melancholy tone, like when they stretch their sounds."

Of course I'm supposed to love this kid as his mom but, damn, I like him so much.
(For once, the polysyllable word wasn't my doing--he got that one from his favorite Disney show, Phineas and Ferb. Great show, great music. Love watching it. I mean, he does. Right. )

POW:070211

2011-07-02T21:18:00.003-04:00

Feeling Good (cover) - Nina Simone

Quid pro quo

2011-06-28T20:15:00.002-04:00

Or you if show me yours, I'll pretty much always show you mine.

(Rather than leave this as a footnote, I am telling you upfront that you must buy these albums. If you don't you kind of have no soul.)

Here is what I got:

Everyday (cover) - Fiona Apple and Jon Brion

Oh Boy! (cover) - She & Him

Here is what I gave

The Passenger (cover) - The Jolly Boys

Golden Brown (cover) - The Jolly Boys
(Seriously, it's like they sat down and thought, "Now what songs should we cover? Oh, how about some of BBF's favorite songs of all time?)

Smile like you mean it

2011-06-24T20:47:00.004-04:00

They’re two pictures taken roughly about a decade apart. The subject in each appears to about 24-25 years old, both with a great head of hair but, really, that’s about where the similarity ends, especially with very marked difference in their coloring.

Except the one thing that draws your eyes back: an honest to goodness, none posing, living it and loving it in the moment, genuinely happy smile.

It might or might not make a difference to someone looking at the pictures to know that both of the people had endured a pretty harsh--and that word’s not being used at all inappropriately-- personal situation some years preceding that picture, made even harder by the fact that they had absolutely no control over the situation and were, in the true a sense, victims of circumstance. Completely different situations, but the kind that--to be cliched about it--changes you for life, and has you coming out either determined to get the better of it, or ambling along weighed down by it. They chose to get ahead, to get the upper hand.

Knowing that tidbit might make their smiles seem more attractive, but not knowing it doesn’t make them any less remarkable. It’s really not relevant for the purposes of your recognizing, and enjoying, pure joy when you see it in someone else’s face, especially not in the moment.

Because--and there may be some who’d disagree--better than being one of the people in the picture? Was probably being the person who took either picture.

Or pictures.

Smiley Faces (live) - Gnarls Barkley

Don't look back

2011-06-21T20:35:00.003-04:00

In anger or otherwise.
(And it's not a bad rule for the list, either. Nostalgia and regret are bad ass zombies.)

You're A Wolf (live) - Sea Wolf

POW:061311

2011-06-13T22:21:00.002-04:00

Dog Days Are Over (live) - Florence + The Machine

The Killing Moon (live) - Echo & The Bunnymen

Killing Days (mashup) - LeeDM101 (Florence + The Machine vs. Echo & The Bunnymen)

(Merci, MB)

I will

2011-06-07T20:09:00.006-04:00

I heard this before the album release, on the kid's birthday, and it sort of stuck in my head for a while.

And then I found out two weeks later that the bassist had just passed away from lung cancer.

It's everywhere you don't even look.

Will Do - TV On The Radio
(There's something slightly reminiscent of Peter Gabriel in Tunde Adebimpe's voice 'specially in this song, I think.)

Want...take...have.

2011-05-28T21:35:00.007-04:00

Je Veux (live) - Zaz

(It skips somewhere around minute 3:00ish, but I always prefer live over studio version unless it's really an inferior recording. In which case it kind of kills the studio version for me, anyway.)

P.S.
Nice...
Dans Ma Rue (cover/live) - Zaz

...nicer, though:

Dans Ma Rue - Edith Piaf

POW: 052711 - Lend me your ears

2011-05-27T21:20:00.002-04:00

Conscience, how I truly hate it sometimes.

Two Against One - Danger Mouse and Daniele Luppi (featuring Jack White)

Go to sleep

2011-05-24T21:57:00.003-04:00

Faure's Pavane in F Sharp Minor Op. 50 (excerpt) - Derek Custinger and Alexander Meyers

S is for

2011-05-23T21:02:00.004-04:00

More then and now comparisons for the incomparable Argerich. This is why I love technology.

Scarlatti Sonata in D minor, K.141 (L.422) - Martha Argerich

Scarlatti Sonata in D minor, K.141 (L.422) - Martha Argerich

***

Ivo Pogorelić is perhaps the pianist most famous for becoming a household name in the music world after not winning a famous musical competition. At age 21, he was eliminated from the Frederic Chopin International Music Competition before the finals--partly, so it was thought, because of some of jurors' aversion to his unconventional style, both in delivery and appearance. Looking more like an 80s pop star (with distinctly New Wave hair), than the stereotypical classical musician, and interpreting the pieces with the sort of deviance that could be thought just as much pompous show as real genius, he apparently caused enough of a difference of opinion to result in his displacement despite his obvious talent. He also apparently made enough of an impression on one of the jurors, a renowned pianist, to cause that juror to resign from the competition in disgust while proclaiming his genius--she was none other than Martha Argerich.

Pogorelić's style and talent has remained the subject of controversy for pretty much his entire career (which has been inconsistent and marked by several periods of absence, most notably after his wife's death [who was also his piano teacher and whom he married the same year as the infamous competition.]) My familiarity with his interpretations was until a couple of years ago, I admit, solely through his Scarlatti pieces; that's when I came across his videos. It's terribly interesting for me to watch his hands as he plays because, much to my surprise, there is (after all this time!) a residual adverse reaction on my part to how he holds and places and flexes his fingers and wrists, stemming from my very own traditional training that was based on the premise that controlled, even placement was the key to truly emotional and personal interpretation. Which is why, as much I will give Pogorelić his due for being an excellent interpreter of Scarlatti, I secret;y delight in the Michelangeli piece, for example, more.

Scarlatti Sonata No. 3 in C Major K. 159 - Ivo Pogorelić

Scarlatti Sonata No. 3 in C Major K. 159 - Arturo MichelAngeli

By the way, here are two of the pieces Pogorelić played at the 1980 competition he did not win. Keep in mind that while the likes of Joshua Bell perform in concert today without the requisite jacket and [bow]tie look, that was simply not done at a formal performance (especially an international competition)30 years ago.

Chopin Sonata No. 2 in B Flat Minor (3rd Movement "Marche funèbre"; Lento) - Ivo Pogorelić

Chopin Scherzo No. 3 in C Sharp Minor (Op. 39) - Ivo Pogorelić

***

Scarlatti will, of course, always remind me of Scott, who played his pieces like Ivo played his Chopin.

Just a number

2011-05-22T20:44:00.006-04:00

Putting aside the undisputed attractiveness of her voice for a moment--and the undoubtedly superficial nature of what I am about to say--how unbelievably hot is she here at 57?

Guess Who I Saw Today (cover)(live) - Nancy Wilson

Doesn't it make you wish she had recorded this with the gender switched to her own, then?

An Older Man Is Like An Elegant Wine (cover)- Nancy Wilson

She was born in the same year as my mom, by the way.

POW:052111 - Last laugh

2011-05-21T21:40:00.003-04:00

I'd previously linked to one of my favorite songs off the Merge Records 20th Anniversary covers compilation. This one isn't exactly a favorite cover, but there is a subtle appreciation here that is so much of an in-joke that no one, not even the one person who might think he does, actually gets it but me. Which makes this particular version all the more endearing.

Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)(cover) - Times New Viking

***

I've made a mix and find myself reluctant to release it. Maybe because I broke my own rule of not listening to it all the way through and did so--a necessity borne out of a lack of practice with how the mix was put together--and felt a strong sense of sudden exposure. Oh, not by what might or might not be obviously (and, for what it's worth, quite wrongly, at least by the general audience) deduced from the choices in the mix or the arrangement of the songs, but by my own reaction to what ended up in there. You could say this was one long in-joke that even I didn't want to be privy to.

Teach the world to sing

2011-05-15T20:10:00.003-04:00

Funny, I thought I had posted this a while ago, but in retrospect I think I just did it as a drive-by twitter link.

Her whole new album is fantastic.

Wrote A Song For Everyone (acoustic cover) - Mavis Staples (featuring Jeff Tweedy)

I love CCR unabashedly. One of my best memories is getting lost completely and utterly in some back roads in CT and being too busy singing along to a Best of CCR CD to give a damn, apparently charming the pants off my copilot (that's what she said).

Wrote A Song For Everyone - Creedence Clearwater Revival

Beelezebub has a devil put aside for me

2011-05-10T20:43:00.002-04:00

Devil Do - Holly Golightly and The Brokeoffs

POW:050711

2011-05-07T21:19:00.010-04:00

Light Up - Tegan and Sara

If you're going to write a song to/for your mom, you can't do any better than this.

(You know, every goddamn musician needs to listen to this to understand that when something is good, it carries itself on pure vocals and a simple set of strings and nothing more. This is also my favorite of all their songs, which means it edged out about nine or ten other 'favorites'.)

***

The kid's been a long time fan of They Might Be Giants, first because of their Here Comes The ABCs DVD/CD (which, side note, helped us through many a miserable mealtimes during those nightmarish months and months of food issues), and then their Here Comes Science DVD/CD. A few weeks ago he heard this song on a mix CD someone made me a long time ago, and became immediately enamored of it intially for the title and then for the part about being a snake head eating the head etc.

My possibly inappropriate maternal sense of humor makes me laugh every time he belts out the first couple of lines. Every single time.

(And it really wasn't until L. pointed it out that I fully realized there's another immediate line in there that would probably raise the eyebrows of a few of his classmates' eyebrows, should he feel the need to teach them the song. Then again, I had to put up with him finally asking who Jesus is and listening to a hilarious interpretation of the resurrection, courtesy of his self-appointed girlfriend at school, so I figure it's quite fair for him to use less than appropriate language and, in fact, expected: don't the good pious girls always secretly go for the foul mouthed heathens?)

I Palindrome I (live) - They Might Be Giants

Stuck on you

2011-05-02T20:30:00.002-04:00

I'm always getting hung up on the same things. And having the same things hung up on me.

Velcro - Bell X1

Velcro (acoustic) - Bell X1

Back in my head

2011-04-21T20:54:00.008-04:00

I've bought more music in the last nine months than I have in...honestly, I don't know how long. Not just singles, either, but whole albums. At last count, I was averaging about 20 songs or about two average albums' length worth a week.

And that's not counting the free [legitimate] downloads.*

That's a lot of music, if you add it up. And a good amount of money, I'm aware, although nowhere as close as what you might think, because of the insane amount of deals that are out, hourly, daily, weekly, monthly...I still think the overall social value of networks like Facebook and twitter are pretty low**, but damn if they aren't excellent as some sort of a virtual professional back alley pusher who doesn't even have to waylay you, but waits patiently for you to come to him.

And I guess you could surmise that nowadays I'm like the addict who is going so fast from one high to the next, taking no time between each score, that I've no time left to share anything.

Except that's not true. I haven't become a self-absorbed addict, I've become a cheating addict. A gloriously two-timing, overlapping addict. And, let me tell you, that is a one hell of a combination.

* Did I ever mention that short of bootleg or songs only available as a performance or those given to me as a mix etc., I've been a bit dogmatic since I graduated college about only having music purchased through payment or otherwise provided for free by the artist for my own collection? Of course, there are some areas of grey, I suppose: for example, I consider mashups property of the person creating the mashup, I am perfectly fine with not having any of the originals, if that's the case, as long as the mashup is purchased or offered for free. Look, these are my rules for how I get my music; I've no interest in what anyone else's is or inflicting mine on them.

**Actually, I should clarify that I find most of the so called feeds and updates from the folk located in the US to be the most consistently insipid. I also get to see a good amount of such updates from folk back home, and a fair amount from people all over Europe, and the differences in what is 'news worthy' is sometimes so extreme that it really does feel like watching alternative universes unfolding at once.

***

I'd say once the hot and heavy stage is over, I'll come back here regularly but it's been going strong for several months now, and I'm not sure it's abating soon (huh, that's the second time I've used that word in less than five minutes). I do know that I like this space, no matter how infrequently I may come around, and I can't dismiss what this was to me for a good two years. In the [paraphrased] words of one of the most perfectly penned songs I've heard, I'm not unfaithful, even though I stray.

Ixnay to XX

2011-04-21T14:44:00.002-04:00

God, but women bore me tremendously. Especially those within my age bracket (plus or minus 5 years).

POW:041111

2011-04-11T21:26:00.004-04:00

I don't care about being desirable. I want to be memorable. I don't care about being loved. I want to be remembered.
Always when least expected.

Why Try To Change Me Now (cover) - Fiona Apple

POW 031611: Build me up

2011-03-16T17:38:00.002-04:00

Sometimes I get so fucking tired of being everyone's Buttercup and just want to sit it all out.
(And then the next thing comes along and I pick up and go right back...)

Buttercup - Lucinda Williams

POW:021211

2011-02-12T00:40:00.002-05:00

Surely (live) - Black Dub

Ennui

2011-01-09T15:02:00.003-05:00

"Knowledge would be fatal. It is the uncertainty that charms one. A mist makes things wonderful."
"One may lose one's way."
"All ways end at the same point, my dear Gladys."
"What is that?"
"Disillusion."

- The Picture of Dorian Gray; Oscar Wilde

***

(Chapter 18 is is one of my favorite chapters from the book, and yet it wasn't even included as it is today in the very first edition.)

Six of one, half a dozen of the other

2011-01-07T22:44:00.004-05:00

At this rate my main excuse for not doing my end of year music recap is starting to have excuses of its own, so I'm just saying screw it and getting on with it.

However, I've not decided yet how I want to go about doing it, so in the meantime--because I know the two people who read this are waiting with bated breath for something--I give you the year in review in two parts: the first six months and the second six months. In the first half, I did some things that I can hopefully look back on and be somewhat proud of, and was immeasurably sad (more visibly than not) but tried very hard not to go crazy because of it; in the second half I did some things that I will probably look back on and not be terribly proud of, and was still immeasurably sad (though less visibly than not) so went willingly a bit crazy feeling justified because of it.

***

I've already established my penchant and my theory about musicians named Br[i/y]an . So it should be no surprise that I end up associating this year with offerings from yet another favorite Brian of mine.

1st half

Running Up That Hill (cover) - Placebo

And if I only could,
Make a deal with God,
And get him to swap our places,
Be running up that road,
Be running up that hill,
Be running up that building.
If I only could, oh...

Every You Every Me - Placebo

Sucker love, a box I choose.
No other box I choose to use.
Another love I would abuse,
No circumstances could excuse.
...
Like the naked leads the blind.
I know I'm selfish, I'm unkind.
Sucker love I always find,
Someone to bruise and leave behind

10

2010-12-31T21:51:00.007-05:00

I won't be posting a top ten review of the songs of ~~2011~~* 2010...at least not for a couple of weeks. I have one very good reason for not doing it yet, and one sort of lame reason, and I'm just going to pretend it's the very good reason that's causing me to not do it.

***

2010 was a shitty, shitty year. That's putting it in terms so mild, that I almost think I should not even bother with any attempts to describe how bad it was. To be totally honest, I don't hold a lot of high hope for 2011, not because I'm overly pessimistic given all that happened this past year (and, really the last two years leading up to it), but because I am fully aware that I'm just beginning to understand how something so fundamental to who I am--who I was--is never going to be right again. Is never going to be again .

On the surface, I'm heading into the new year with my life more or less back to a sense of [a newly defined, but nevertheless identifiable] normalcy. Only people who know me really, really well--and even maybe not all of them--would realize this is an indication that I'm role playing in a tightly established set of controlled circumstances. A closed perimeter life to make it emotionally manageable, once again, but now shaped for a different purpose. Last/past year(s) it was about sustaining. Now it's about surviving.

***

One thing I do know: I can dance again for the sheer joy of expressing my enjoyment of the music--my own, unadulterated joy, not otherwise instigated by or for another person. Music--in the various forms that it came to and stayed with me this past year--saved my sanity and it's good to be able to show appreciation for that in the best way I know how.

These two are not only the kid's two favorite video performances by the band, but among his top five overall videos for quite some time now. To say he rocks out to them is another understatement of the year.

Wanderlust King (live) - Gogol Bordello

Immigraniada (We Comin' Rougher) - Gogol Bordello

* Update: Sometimes I like to get a little ahead of myself...

POW:122210

2010-12-22T20:45:00.004-05:00

I should just go ahead and add an Oistrakh tag.

This is what I tell people on the rare occasion when I am actually in the mood to to give a short answer on why Oistrakh above any one else: he doesn't play to you, he plays for you. He doesn't forcefully present his interpretation and expect you to accept, he gratefully invites you to take in his interpretation and hopes you make something of it. If you can't see that, I can't make you and, unlike him, I'm not leaving myself open for discussion on this.

Bach Violin Concerto in A minor, BWV 1041; 2nd movement: Andante (David Oistrakh)

Regretfully yours

2010-12-21T19:26:00.003-05:00

My poor, beloved Andrew Bird. Not that I can blame the obsession, obviously.

I'm Sorry - Margaret Cho (featuring Andrew Bird)

(I still think one of the best of the lot for this, er, category(?) is Delia's Gone, as previously noted here. Seriously, how he says subm'o'chine is just EVIL.)

POW:121910

2010-12-19T20:26:00.002-05:00

Runaway - Oingo Boingo

"I'll think of you, if I don't forget..."

POW:121710

2010-12-17T20:56:00.002-05:00

Als das Kind Kind war,
ging es mit hängenden Armen,
wollte der Bach sei ein Fluß,
der Fluß sei ein Strom,
und diese Pfütze das Meer.

Als das Kind Kind war,
wußte es nicht, daß es Kind war,
alles war ihm beseelt,
und alle Seelen waren eins.

Als das Kind Kind war,
hatte es von nichts eine Meinung,
hatte keine Gewohnheit,
saß oft im Schneidersitz,
lief aus dem Stand,
hatte einen Wirbel im Haar
und machte kein Gesicht beim fotografieren.

Als das Kind Kind war,
war es die Zeit der folgenden Fragen:
Warum bin ich ich und warum nicht du?
Warum bin ich hier und warum nicht dort?
Wann begann die Zeit und wo endet der Raum?
Ist das Leben unter der Sonne nicht bloß ein Traum?
Ist was ich sehe und höre und rieche
nicht bloß der Schein einer Welt vor der Welt?
Gibt es tatsächlich das Böse und Leute,
die wirklich die Bösen sind?
Wie kann es sein, daß ich, der ich bin,
bevor ich wurde, nicht war,
und daß einmal ich, der ich bin,
nicht mehr der ich bin, sein werde?

Als das Kind Kind war,
würgte es am Spinat, an den Erbsen, am Milchreis,
und am gedünsteten Blumenkohl.
und ißt jetzt das alles und nicht nur zur Not.

Als das Kind Kind war,
erwachte es einmal in einem fremden Bett
und jetzt immer wieder,
erschienen ihm viele Menschen schön
und jetzt nur noch im Glücksfall,
stellte es sich klar ein Paradies vor
und kann es jetzt höchstens ahnen,
konnte es sich Nichts nicht denken
und schaudert heute davor.

Als das Kind Kind war,
spielte es mit Begeisterung
und jetzt, so ganz bei der Sache wie damals, nur noch,
wenn diese Sache seine Arbeit ist.

Als das Kind Kind war,
genügten ihm als Nahrung Apfel, Brot,
und so ist es immer noch.

Als das Kind Kind war,
fielen ihm die Beeren wie nur Beeren in die Hand
und jetzt immer noch,
machten ihm die frischen Walnüsse eine rauhe Zunge
und jetzt immer noch,
hatte es auf jedem Berg
die Sehnsucht nach dem immer höheren Berg,
und in jeder Stadt
die Sehnsucht nach der noch größeren Stadt,
und das ist immer noch so,
griff im Wipfel eines Baums nach dem Kirschen in einemHochgefühl
wie auch heute noch,
eine Scheu vor jedem Fremden
und hat sie immer noch,
wartete es auf den ersten Schnee,
und wartet so immer noch.

Als das Kind Kind war,
warf es einen Stock als Lanze gegen den Baum,

und sie zittert da heute noch.

Lied Vom Kindsein – Peter Handke

Verschränkung*

2010-12-14T20:17:00.007-05:00

Trouble With Dreams - Eels

*Sometimes I am so clever I hurt myself.

POW:120410

2010-12-04T00:05:00.000-05:00

I Don't Know (live) - Lisa Hannigan

Make no mistake, though. I won't cook.

POW: It's all right

2010-11-24T16:42:00.003-05:00

Here Comes The Sun (cover/live) - Richie Havens

Hangover

2010-11-22T22:01:00.006-05:00

Actually, you could say this is appropriately complementary to the last one.

Low Rising - The Swell Season

Masti

2010-11-21T09:50:00.007-05:00

No one does Persian 'new poetry' like Naderpour. It's still as delightful as the first time I came across it over two decades ago.

مستی
هوا بارانی و من مست و او مست
شراب سرخ شیرین در سبو مست
همه چشمه سیاهش سر به سر ناز
همه زلفه درازش مو به مو مست

نادر نادرپور

In case you want to 'read' along...

POW 111810: Here I Am

2010-11-18T20:11:00.001-05:00

I Want To Hold Your Hand (cover) - Al Green

"To sleep perchance to dream..."

2010-11-11T12:48:00.001-05:00

"...ay-there's the rub."

I Don't Sleep, I Dream - R.E.M.

POW 111010: Repurposed

2010-11-10T20:14:00.006-05:00

Sure, you can take the more prevalent riffs and arrangements from 60s and 70s songs, string them along, and come out with a song of your own to call new and exciting. It's not necessarily bad. It's just that it's only good enough for what it is.

And folk apparently tend to like good enough.

I Want The World To Stop - Belle And Sebastian

Update: Elgar! God that part of the arrangement was killing me, not quite knowing what it reminded me of. I'll give them kudos for that, even though I'm pretty sure someone else did it, too, now that I've got it nailed down.

We bring you this brief interruption

2010-11-06T20:28:00.005-04:00

I admit I feel a twinge of something akin to a momentary desire to pause and gush for a minute, when he manages, after all these years, to still surprise me by unexpectedly showing, even just this very morning, something else that he knows that I wasn't aware he did. But I don't because he's the most unpretentious incredibly intelligent person I know and it's almost insulting for me to do that, in light of how he is.

Besides, I don't really gush (in the general sense) about people I truly like, anyway.

***

Here's one written by another fairly unpretentious, yet quite intelligent guy. The Mercurys taking center stage need that kind of influence.

(Happy 39.)

'39 (live) - Queen

The studio version's lead vocals were actually sung by Brian himself although Freddie always did them live.

'39 - Queen

***
And that concludes the uncharacteristic departure from the usual.

POW:110310

2010-11-03T20:34:00.004-04:00

I know Frank's version is considered the definitive one, but we'd already established whose woman I am:

I've Got You Under My Skin - Al Bowlly

Killing time

2010-11-02T19:35:00.000-04:00

When You Were Young (live) - The Killers

Back in a "Baelen"

2010-10-30T21:39:00.004-04:00

I've been cheating quite a bit on this space, among other things. I'm not sure what exactly I want to do here...again, among other things. I'll probably get back into the mode of semi-regular updates with some substance other than just a couple of embedded videos or links, and a few throwaway lines, eventually; I'm actually pretty fickle most of the time and the shiny tends to wear off hard and fast for me, normally, with things as well as people, so I don't expect this time away is any different and I'll come back to the comfort of the old but known. (Now watch me suddenly get inspired and post all sorts of introspective and/retrospective posts one after another next week. )

In the meantime, to summarize October, literally and figuratively:

Skin And Bones (live) - Foo Fighters

کورش

2010-10-23T23:43:00.003-04:00

Don't Think Twice, It's All Right - Bob Dylan

Stop. Drop.

2010-10-17T21:34:00.004-04:00

Cover.
Ring Of Fire (cover) - Ray Charles

I'm On Fire (cover) - Tori Amos

Light My Fire (cover) - Patricia Barber

Great Balls Of Fire (cover) - Dolly Parton

and just because

Burning Love (cover) - Melissa Etheridge

Happy trails

2010-10-11T22:42:00.000-04:00

bon voyage, etc. Also known as those who won't ride, mix.

Full circle

2010-10-01T23:58:00.003-04:00

There was a boy, a very strange enchanted boy , who decided to write a memorable song for some friends of his who had formed a group

All The Young Dudes - Mott The Hoople

...who rose to fame and fortune after that, and decided to have some other friends open a tour for them, which they did and noted in a song of their own....

Now I’m Here - Queen

...and who decided, when they rose to fame and fortune in their own turn, to return the favor by providing backup for the lead singer of the original group....

You Nearly Did Me In - Ian Hunter (with Freddie Mercury, Brian May, Roger Taylor)

...who got back together one night with that enchanted boy to pay homage to the good old fashioned lover boy among them who wasn’t there anymore.

All The Young Dudes - Ian Hunter and David Bowie et al, (Freddie Mercury tribute concert)

Gimme gimme gimme

2010-09-30T21:43:00.002-04:00

List Of Demands (Reparations) - Saul Williams

POW:092910

2010-09-29T23:54:00.002-04:00

Sometimes the early stuff is arguably better than the later. There's something about the promise and possibility of things to come that's at times so much more desirable than the assurance and absoluteness of having arrived.

Blue Letter - Fleetwood Mac

Blue Letter (live) - Fleetwood Mac
(It still delights and awes and amazes me every time I find another live performance from someone or some group that I never ever would've even thought was available, let alone to me. Every time.)
I still fail to see what Stevie Nicks saw in Mick Fleetwood. He's just plain crazy.

For your eyes only

2010-09-28T21:50:00.003-04:00

Pale Blue Eyes - The Velvet Underground

Undercover angel(s)

2010-09-27T22:05:00.003-04:00

I started out making a list of the covers I liked that were notable not just for the different take on the original, but for the fact that the person ( or group) covering the song had done so, more or less, in their own distinctive style and voice. The list was noticeably skewed toward female vocals, so I figured, what the heck, let's put a gender spin on it and call it a theme.

There are about 7 or 8 songs on the list that are most definitely part of my top 15 favorite covers of all time, which should be fairly easy to figure out, since I've posted or mentioned them here before. (Oh, I think with the exception of one, because I never got around to posting something I wanted to, last month.) There are a few there that I'm not quite sure how I feel about, except that I go back and listen to them over and over, so there's something there that's attracting me, even I'm not exactly enamored of them.

I'll be uploading the originals of the covers as an update to the post sometime....when I feel like it, but they're none of them obscure songs, so I just may not.

P.S. I'm not sure how it plays on all the different browsers and devices, and I know a couple of people have complained about issues with the site itself (banner ad pop-ups and downloads, none of which I've experienced, but that's probably because my laptop is Fort Knox multiplied after the Clap Infection of 2008) but I am fairly in love with Grooveshark for both the breadth of songs I found there and its playlist feature which is very easy to use (the kid figured out how to use it on his own))--that is, I'm in love when it plays nice with me. For some reason, it's not liking my uploading mp3 versions of the last three songs (I think I know why, but man, imeem was never that picky!), so the last three songs in the overall list are only available through a youtube playlist right now, until I figure out how to get around what's bugging Grooveshark's ass.

Update: I got a nice little e-mail from their support and I've got two uploaded but the third is giving me trouble. I'm going to take it as a sign that there is just never going to be an acceptable Queen cover, even if I am momentarily deluded. (That's another nice thing about the playlist features, it updates on the fly if you edit it, wherever you've embedded it.)

1-2-3

2010-09-18T21:44:00.003-04:00

Chopin Waltz in A Minor, Op. 34 No. 2 ("Valse Brilliante") - Arthur Rubinstein

2010-09-18T20:10:00.003-04:00

She once told me she regretted that her being Baha'i had made it so we'd learned from an early age to lead a double life based on denial and self-censoring and duality, especially for me, living as long as I had to in post revolution Iran. She was never sorry about being Baha'i herself, of course, but sorry that, despite her best efforts including her disassociation publicly, we never really did have a choice to be completely free of it.

The irony of it is that all the lessons and tricks and controls I learned because of that are probably why I can make it--fake it?--through each day without her and not completely lose my mind. Even her regret was to my benefit again, in the end.

On the road again

2010-09-17T21:55:00.003-04:00

P.S. The spellings used in the song titles are those of the users who uploaded and are not a reflection of the opinions (or spellings approved) by this blog.

POW:091710

2010-09-17T20:55:00.001-04:00

She's A Star - James

POW:090810

2010-09-08T21:16:00.004-04:00

One of the triumvirate* of the original French ye-ye girls, France Gall may mostly be remembered nowadays for her winning song in Eurovision song contest. But before she was a wax doll, she was just a girl who especially enjoyed aniseed flavored lollipops.**

Les Sucettes - France Gall

Click here for the promotional video (can't embed but, really, click). Or you can watch the straight singing version below:

Lorsque le sucre d'orge
Parfum l'anis
Coule dans la gorge d'Annie,
Elle est au paradis

And when the barley sugar [ed lollipop]
Perfumed with aniseed,
Slides down Annie's throat
She is in paradise

*I've already mentioned another one of the trio several times before, but I'll post some more of her in a little while.

**Supposedly, Gall was completely oblivious to the double entendre of this and all other songs written for her by Gainsbourg; apparently, once she caught on, she completely disassociated herself from him. Okay, so maybe she was naive enough to not read anything into it, just singing the lyrics straight-up but then...I don't know, she still didn't get the subtext after participating in the promotional video, being a young French teenage girl in the swinging 60s? Ye-ye indeed.

Push-pull: the sequel

2010-08-31T00:07:00.002-04:00

Well, no one ever said it was a straightforward emotion...

Stay - Oingo Boingo

Goodbye, Goodbye - Oingo Boingo

(These live versions are delightful)

Stay (live) - Oingo Boingo

Goodbye, Goodbye (live) - Oingo Boingo

X

2010-08-27T00:01:00.001-04:00

You Wreck Me - Tom Petty

POW:082610

2010-08-26T22:05:00.002-04:00

Look Good In Leather - Cody ChestnuTT

And also:

The Seed - Cody ChestnuTT

The Lonely One

2010-08-24T20:51:00.004-04:00

Great old song courtesy of Messrs. Harry Tobias and Charles Kisco.

It's A Lonesome Old Town - Rodman Lewis with the Dick Cherwin Orchestra

It's A Lonesome Old Town - McKinney's Cotton Pickers

It's A Lonesome Old Town - Frank Sinatra

It's A Lonesome Old Town - Les Paul and Mary Ford

This is actually my least favorite musically of the bunch*, but it's the first version I ever heard, watching Leaving Las Vegas and there is such a funny (not so much ha ha as much as oh dear god) association with it, that it gets an honorable mention.

It's A Lonesome Old Town - Sting
(It was either the pasta angle(?!) or a CSI fan vid)

*There obviously other version; these are just the ones I like best.

Where the heart is

2010-08-23T21:14:00.004-04:00

Music from the Iranian province of Lorestan. I really think their music is my favorite...

Baroun (Lori folk song) - Rastak

..except maybe for Kurdish music. This includes a little bit of behind the scenes and the song starts around 2:01

Sozaleh (Kurdish folk song) - Rastak

(There's definitely a little bit of a modern sound to their interpretation, but I strongly suspect that is because they are all classically trained. Certainly, the instruments are authentic, and so is their enthusiasm for making the real music of Iran's provinces accessible, especially to younger Iranian generations domestic and abroad--whose interest in such music is apparently on rise bolstered by a renewed sense of national pride--and also to non-Iranians who may be surprised to hear the same rock and roll under currents, in these many decades and sometimes centuries old songs, as some of their standard favorites of the genre.)

Rock the casbah

2010-08-20T22:26:00.005-04:00

The kid and I tried out Rock Band for the first time this week at a friend's house. I realize that given our joint penchant to rocking out to music, it's rather strange that we are not already die-hard aficionados of the game, but I guess we like our re-enactment to be more (I'm going to use one of those words that makes me roll my eyes Linda Blair like when I see other people use it) organic. (See? Doesn't that just make me automatically sound like a tool? Heh. I could've tacked on a 'spontaneous' but that would just make me sound like a trippy tool. I prefer the plain version.)

That's not to say we didn't enjoy the shit out of playing it. Or, to be more precise, of the kid playing and me singing*. It turns out there was more than just parental refusal and circumstances that prevented me from having drum lessons: I was apparently not meant to be a drummer.

*That's not to say I was meant to be a singer, but the game scores on your pitch and note sustenance (where needed) not on quality. Not that anyone dared question the quality. Which was very good, in my opinion. (Whether I mean the lack of commenting on the quality or the quality itself, I'll let you figure it out.)

The kid, though? The kid was awesome on the drums and in just two sessions doubled his precision rate up to an impressive score, which is pretty darn good, given some of the songs we picked. He's got some wicked good hand/eye coordination and I already knew he had an excellent sense of rhythm. When we, along with V., collectively scored the highest band score of our run on the first song mentioned here, I thought, well, maybe my not so secret parental desire for the kid following in Stewart Copeland's footsteps may come to pass, yet.

(The other high scoring song should also not be a surprise. Two kids of the 80s and an offspring who asks for the '80s channel by choice and Rock Band? It's a no brainer. Any takers?)

*You'll note there was no mention of L. participating. He was given the opportunity to have someone else put up with what he endures on a near daily basis; you think he'd say, "Oh, I think I'll come along and join"? I swear I heard him double lock the door behind us. (His exact words when I called to let him to know we were heading home, so he could figure out dinner, were, "What, already?!" That exclamation mark was not an inflection of joy.

Ah, what the heck, let's have another listen, shall we?

Can't Stand Losing You - The Police

OMFG

2010-08-15T22:48:00.005-04:00

I actually said Oh.My.Fucking.God. Just like that.

(And the new answer to L.'s question apparently is that there are "songs" whose performance I would fuck.)

Bach - Concerto for 2 Violins, Strings and Continuo in D Minor, BWV 1043 (1st Movement; Vivace) - Yehudi Menuhin and David Oistrakh

B&B

2010-08-15T22:24:00.006-04:00

I will have this LP some day.

Bruch Violin Concerto No. 1 in G Minor Op. 26 (1st Movement; Vorspiel: Allegro Moderoato) - David Oistrakh

Beethoven Violin Concerto in D Major Op. 61 1st Movement [partial] Allegro Ma Non Troppo) - David Oistrakh

Hush, hush, keep it down now

2010-08-13T20:30:00.003-04:00

Takes me right back...

That Voice Again - Peter Gabriel

That Voice Again (demo) - Peter Gabriel
Regardless of whether this is the actual demo or not, if it wasn't for all the memories tied up with the studio version, I'd say I'm almost sorry he didn't release this as the final version.

P.S. So is an exceptional album, with the exception of one song which annoyed the heck out of me, and this was before I even knew of its iconic status as an anthem for young love.

POW: 081110 : Because

2010-08-11T22:18:00.003-04:00

Intervention - Arcade Fire

As one comment puts it:

-Why is Arcade Fire being cut to Battleship Potemkin?
-Because we can
-Good point

POW: 081110

2010-08-11T22:02:00.002-04:00

Lesson Learned - Ray LaMontagne

Old familiar

2010-08-07T20:42:00.002-04:00

Sure, time has mellowed and matured things even more, but it's not that much of a difference, in more ways than one, after all. That's a good thing.

Learning To Fly - Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers

Something Good Coming - Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers

(And still oddly attractive...)

POW 080410: Desirée

2010-08-04T21:32:00.006-04:00

Chopin Polonaise in A-flat major, Op. 53 ("Heroic") - Martha Argerich

Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 3 in D minor, Op. 30 - Martha Argerich
Ohhh....

***

But wait...

Schumann Piano Concerto in A minor Op. 54 - Martha Argerich

Schumann Piano Concerto in A minor Op. 54 - Martha Argerich

Maybe, maybe

2010-07-30T22:26:00.003-04:00

5 Years Time - Noah And The Whale

And though, if nearly all these moments are just in my head
I'll be thinking 'bout them as I'm lying in bed
And I know that none of it may really ever come true
But in my mind I'm havin' a pretty good time with you

Bird on a wire

2010-07-25T17:22:00.005-04:00

Talking of strings, here is why we are fans of Andrew Bird in this house. Because he can go from this:

Dr. Stringz - Andrew Bird

(Yes, this is where I first found out about him. Let me tell you, Jack's Big Music Show is an excellent source of music for children and adults alike.)

to this:

Excerpt from The Wordless Music Series - Andrew Bird

to this:

Ravel (live) - Andrew Bird
Oh, that he fits my my skinny boy fantasy type is completely incidental to liking him, of course. Hah.

To this:

Water Jet Cilice (live) - Andrew Bird
(After watching this, I may have publicly announced my, uh, affinity for him and desire to see him live in terms so eloquent that even my five year old looked at me oddly, saying, "Mommy, it's just a video!" in a tone that clearly had the undertones of, "Please stop embarrassing me and yourself, woman.")

Only strings attached

2010-07-22T21:21:00.003-04:00

Gives You Hell (acoustic) - All American Rejects
I dig the THX effect at the beginning. Well, that's one of many things I dig...

Dreaming Of You (acoustic) - The Coral

(Here's a general hint: if I like it, I'm gonna beat you over the head with it until it's bleeding out of your ears back into your internal organs. Think of it of my way of showing my love.)

Maxima culpa

2010-07-22T20:55:00.005-04:00

At this point, I don't what I like more, finding new covers, or finding new acoustic versions of songs I love.

Missionary Man (acoustic) - Eurythmics

Click here. Now.

Who's That Girl (acoustic) - Eurythmics

Missionary Man - Eurythmics

Who's That Girl - Eurythmics

This is probably one of my favorite music videos ever, because it's like a who's who of the most famous early 80s British female pop stars...how many can you name?

(I might post a little update later with the names and matching times...)

2010-07-21T03:14:00.002-04:00

So this is [still] how it is: fake it through denial for most of the day and make it through crying for part of the night. It's not ideal and I don't know how long it's sustainable, but for now, it is something I suppose. Or not. I don't know.

As for the crying, I've cried myself to wakeful exhaustion, I've cried myself sick, I've cried myself to sleep, I've just cried. Variation, least in this case, isn't doing much to spice up my life.

***

I overheard one of my reports (who I have a friendly acquaintance with, outside of work), in an almost paternally proud way (he is about 23 years older than I am, so I suppose it makes sense) tell my new manager today that I have a mind like a steel trap and a deep sense of loyalty, so it would be doubly good for my manager if he was good to me.

Right this minute, I'd much prefer to be forgetful and heartless.

Tua Culpa

2010-07-20T21:28:00.002-04:00

Why'd Ya Do It - Marianne Faithfull

Mea culpa

2010-07-20T21:25:00.001-04:00

Sin - Nine Inch Nails

Sin City

2010-07-19T21:53:00.003-04:00

Sinner Man (original) - Les Baxter

Sinnerman - Nina Simone

Call the other versions 'covers'. This is...much more than that, so hush. I'm listening.

They got it

2010-07-19T21:42:00.003-04:00

I Got You Babe - Sonny And Cher

I Got You Babe (cover) - Marianne Faithfull and David Bowie

I Got You Babe (cover) - Joey Ramone and Holly Beth Vincent

I Got You Babe (cover) - UB40 featuring Chrissie Hynde

Here

Graceful

2010-07-16T21:33:00.000-04:00

White Rabbit - Jefferson Airplane

White Rabbit (cover) - Grace Potter And The Nocturnals

***
Sometimes I wonder if I should stop letting the kid click through and watch some of the sidebar videos. For one thing, he's never going to want to cut his hair, because almost an overwhelmingly number of the music videos we watch show men with hair of notable length (note: I give a rat's ass how long he grows his hair, but I do have an issue with either L. or I becoming his personal hair caretaker beyond shampooing supervision and drying: he's either got to get better at combing it throughout the day, or he's got to agree to wear it tied back). For another, he has very specific expectations now on what we are going to do at our next hotel stay, which is coming up pretty soon.

Paris (live) - Grace Potter And The Nocturnals

2010-07-15T16:55:00.003-04:00

The reality of it is, I'm not okay. I'm not even remotely on the way to being okay.
I am, however, more than okay at talking a very good game.

Trip...

2010-07-14T20:56:00.002-04:00

Only in the 70s...

Beatles Medley - Cher, Tina Turner, and Kate Smith
Watch the whole thing. Seriously, this will make you feel you better, either through sheer amazement, snickering hilarity, actual pleasure, or fervent relief that yes, there are weirder things than the inside of your head.