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A math guy's random thoughts. |
| A math guy's random thoughts. |
| Over the Rainbow The song of the century, at least according to a poll conducted by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Recording Industry Association of America. But did you know that the song almost never made it into The Wizard of Oz? Harold Arlen and Yip Harburg had been hired to write the music and lyrics, respectively, for the movie. Arlen isn't exactly a household name, but you've heard of his songs, like "Stormy Weather" or "That Old Black Magic." Their job included writing a ballad for Judy Garland to sing before she's whisked off to Oz--something catchy like the previous year's hit, "Sometime My Prince Will Come." They finished all the other music for the movie, but the ballad wouldn't come. Then, one day, feeling ill and stopping outside Schaum's drug store on Sunset Boulevard, the Muse hit and Arlen had the melody. But the song still almost didn't make it to the movie. Louis B. Mayer, the head of the studio, hated it and thought that it slowed the movie down. He ordered it cut from the film. Fortunately for everyone, Arthur Freed, who was an uncredited associate producer on the movie, said, "The song stays or I go." Mayer replied, “Let the boys have the damn song. Put it back in the picture. It can’t hurt.” The rest, as they say, is history. This became Garland's signature song; eventually she included in every concert or recital she gave. She varied the pitch, the tempo, the tembre of her voice, finding endless nuances in the music and the lyrics. While she included it in every performance, she almost always made the audience demand it before letting her leave the stage. The song itself is beautiful, but so are the lyrics. The two components work together to give hope to the hopeless. They sing a promise for the troubled, a promise of a time when clouds are far behind us and when troubles melt like lemon drops. In the sixties, gay people were just emerging from the darkness of the closet, and this song became an unlikely anthem for liberation. It can't be entirely a coincidence that the day after Garland's death the Stonewall riots took place, where gay people stood up to police harrassment. This is another song that countless artists have covered. Garland herself had many different performances. One of my personal favorite covers of the song is Israel Kamakawiwo'ole's blending of "Rainbow" with "What a Wonderful World." Some Links. Clip from Wizard of Oz with Judy Garland singing Over the Rainbow https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSZxmZmBfnU Lyrics https://bpo.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Somewhere-Over-the-Rainbow-Lyrics.pdf... Israel Kamakawiwo'ole's mix of Over the Rainbow and What a Wonderful World https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-Ooxpz0Eqk&list=RDU-Ooxpz0Eqk&start_radio=1&rv=... |
| Bridge Over Troubled Water 1969. The best of times and the worst of times. The best because I was 19, starting out on my own, a freshman at college. Live was an unwritten book stretching in front of me. When you're 19, anything is still possible. The worst because, well, everything else. The year before, Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy had been assisinated. Richard Nixon was President. Viet Nam continued unabated. At first, the sixties felt like the Enlightenment and the Renaisance, but then came the violence and the reaction. In many ways, we're sitll enduring that reaction, ever more violent and cruel in its relentless anger. Hope could have died, then, but it didn't. One reason, one small reason, was songs like Bridge Over Troubled Water. It was certainly a song for the times. We all felt down and out, and evening fell so hard. We all needed a companion to be there with us, to help us weather the storm. This song reminded us that our time to shine will come, that our dreams are on the way. Simon said that his inspiration for the song was the gospel hymn, "Mary, Don't You Weep." Indeed, the cadences and chord changes of "Bridge Over Troubled Water" shimmer with the sounds of gospel and tent meetings. The message acknowledges loneliness and despair, and acknowledges a human need for a "silver girl" to be by our side in times of trouble. With help--with human companionship--we can keep on saliling despite adversity. Simon wrote the song, but insisted that Garfunkel sing it on the album. Garfunkel resisted. Simon regretted the decision to force Garfunkel to sing it, not because of the performance, which was magnificent and inspiring. Rather, because it ultimately resulted in the pair breaking up. They reunited on sporadic occassions, but it was never the same. When they did come back together, it was often to assist others in their time of need--to become the silver girl of song. Countless artists of covered this song since its first appearance, from Willie Nelson to Johny Cash to Clay Aiken. Aretha Franklin won a Grammy for her 1972 performance of the song. Some links. From Simon and Garfunkel album of the same name. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4G-YQA_bsOU Lyrics https://www.paulsimon.com/track/bridge-over-troubled-water/ Aretha Franklin's version https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWwaMcj5gqQ Elvis's version https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9SlNxUBVQHQ Clay Aiken on American Idol https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QC9SKjdoTXg Mary Don't You Weep, by the Swan Silvertones. Simon said this gospel song inspired him in writing "Bridge." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICHm7YUDc0M |
| When I'm Sixty-Four In another couple of weeks, I'll turn seventy-four, but that doesn't mean that this song doesn't still speak to me. McCartney wrote the first version of the song in 1956, when he was 14. In one sense, it's a nostalgic looking back at the music of his parents, and in particular the British star of the thirties and forties, Peter Fromsby. But the musical style is more advanced than mere nostalgia, and one can find echos of such diverse composers as Scott Joplin and Johann Strauss. The lyrics pose a young lover's question: will you still love me when I'm old? Will their love for each other survive the ravages of time? The lyrics leave the question unanswered, so the listener can find their own message. Surely, when I turned sixty-four I found solace in the love my partner and I shared, and still share. On the occasion of his sixty-fourth birthday, McCartney's grandchildren recorded a version of the song for him--it's still hard for me to think of McCartney having grandchildren, but we all age. Sadly for him, his first wife had died long before he reached sixty-four. His second marriage had ended acrimoniously just a month before this sixty-fourth birthday, providing an answer of sorts to the question the song raises. But the events of his sixty-fourth year weren't the end of his story, and he eventually found another life partner, a long-time friend. By all accounts, their 2011 marriage continues to thrive. The song appeared in the Beatle's animanted movie, "Yellow Submarine," and played over the opening credits in The World According to Garp. This is one of those songs I enjoyed in 1967 when it came out, and continue to enjoy today. The Beatles were a multi-talented group, and any number of thier songs could be on my personal soundtrack. This one, by McCartney, is as good as any other. Links Lyrics https://www.thebeatles.com/when-im-sixty-four Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCTunqv1Xt4 |
| Turn, Turn, Turn The King James Bible is surely one of the most influential English-language texts ever written. It's the most-published version of the most-published book in the English language. Its influence on the culture and the language can't be over-estimated. Whether one is religious or not, its an enormous part of our shared cultural heritage. I've always been struck by the book of Eccesiastes. It's easy to imagine everyone from Machiavelli to Voltaire to Sartre being inspired by the words of the teacher. Certainly, Pete Seeger found inspiration when he wrote the song, "Turn, Turn, Turn," which quotes famous lines from the text. This has always been one of my favorite songs. The gentle mix of folk music and the beautiful poetry of the text imbue the text with a particular sensibilty, that of ageless wisdom. Seeger wrote the song in 1959. Except for the title, which is repeated throughout the song, the lyrics consist of the first eight verses of the third chapter of Ecclesiastes. The song was originally released in 1962 as "To Everything There is a Season," but it was the version by the Byrds in 1965 that we know the best. The song charted on Billboard as number one on December 4, 1965. That version must have been the one I first heard. The song has been used in many movies and TV shows. For example, it appears in Forrest Gump and The Wonder Years. The song plays he closing credits of episode 3 of Ken Burns and Lynn Novick's 2017 documentary The Vietnam War. Here are some links The Byrds 1965 version https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4ga_M5Zdn4 The Limelighters 1962 version https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZuzE5dwPCd4 Judy Collins and Pete Seeger singing the song in 1966 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qURAnrk30ng Max Griffin Please visit my website and blog at https://new.MaxGriffin.net Check out most recent release!
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Take on me is an excellent choice.
Interesting... and thankfully, not germaine to me at this time 
