29.2.08

let it be...


Let It Be from Across the Universe
Carol Woods & Timothy T. Mitchum


When I find myself in times of trouble
Mother Mary comes to me
Speaking words of wisdom, let it be.
And in my hour of darkness
She is standing right in front of me
Speaking words of wisdom, let it be.
Let it be, let it be.
Let it be, let it be.
Whisper words of wisdom, let it be.

And when the broken hearted people
Living in the world agree,
There will be an answer, let it be.
For though they may be parted there is
Still a chance that they will see
There will be an answer, let it be.

Let it be, let it be.
Let it be, let it be.
Yeah, There will be an answer, let it be.

And when the night is cloudy,
There is still a light that shines on me.
Shine until tomorrow, let it be.
I wake up to the sound of music
Mother Mary comes to me
There will be no sorrow

Let it be, let it be.
Let it be, yeah let it be.
There will be and answer, let it be.

Let it be, let it be.
Let it be, yeah let it be.
Whisper words of wisdom, let it be.
- The Beatles


the first time i heard this version of Let It Be it sent chills up my spine. i have said this before and caught flak, but i've always found that the Beatles' music always sounds better when sung by other performers. this being in a gospel version adds to the beauty of the lyric and sound.

26.2.08

alabama song...




Well, show me the way
To the next whiskey bar
Oh, don't ask why
Oh, don't ask why
Show me the way
To the next whiskey bar
Oh, don't ask why
Oh, don't ask why
For if we don't find
The next whiskey bar
I tell you we must die
I tell you we must die
I tell you, I tell you
I tell you we must die
Oh, moon of Alabama
We now must say goodbye
We've lost our good old mama
And must have whiskey, oh, you know why
Oh, moon of Alabama
We now must say goodbye
We've lost our good old mama
And must have whiskey, oh, you know why
Well, show me the way
To the next little girl
Oh, don't ask why
Oh, don't ask why
Show me the way
To the next little girl
Oh, don't ask why
Oh, don't ask why
For if we don't find
The next little girl
I tell you we must die
I tell you we must die
I tell you, I tell you
I tell you we must die
Oh, moon of Alabama
We now must say goodbye
We've lost our good old mama
And must have whiskey, oh, you know why



Alabama Song, aka Next Whiskey Bar, was made most famous by The Doors. it's been sung by many people, including Marilyn Manson. What most people do not know is that it is from an opera composed by Kurt Weill with a libretto written by Bertolt Brecht. It is entitled Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny. It was first performed in 1930.

the story is really very interesting in that it deals with vice being the acceptable way of life in the City of Mahagonny [pronounced Ma-ha-GO-nny]. the song is sung by a prostitute named Jenny Smith. she sings it, along with six other girls, as they leave home in alabama searching for whiskey, dollars and pretty boys. she settles in Mahagonny [it's in Florida in the opera], she finds her pretty boy and they lead a life of, well, debauchery. Jimmy, her pretty boy [of the moment] is the lead and runs afoul of the laws of the city. He is hung for not paying his bar bill.

I've seen the opera performed a few times and I really like it. It also helps to understand the historical background. It was written with a backdrop of the upheaval in Germany after WWI and with Hitler beginning his rise to power. It was a very bleak time in Germany with runaway inflation and people looking for an escape to all their troubles.

the story of The Doors recording this song i'll leave to another time. i have a long history with the group and especially Jim Morrison. not a personal history in that i knew them, but a history in how my life developed. as just a little foresight, Jim Morrison is one of my heroes. strange thing to say, i know, but it is true. i did my own version of running away as Jenny did and found my own whiskey bar...

a little curious?

later...

21.2.08

me and my shadow...



wow! this is so much fun. it's done as Sammie Davis Jr. & Frank Sinatra performed it. well... not the end, but the style.


[spoken]
[Robbie: (american accent)] Johnny and Robbie
[Jonathon:] Youth why you talking like that were from Stoke!
[Robbie:] I dunno but I can't stop here pally

Like the wallpaper sticks to the wall
Like the seashore clings to the sea
Like you'll never get rid of your shadow
You'll never get rid of me

Let all the others fight and fuss
Whatever happens, we've got us.

(Me and my shadow)
Closer than pages that stick in a book
We're closer than ripples that play in a brook
(Strolling down the avenue)
Wherever you find him, you'll find me, just look
Closer than a miser or the bloodhounds to Liza

Me and my shadow
Closer than smog is to all of L.A.
Closer than Ricky to confessing he's gay??
Not a soul can bust this team in two
We stick together like glue

And when it's sleeping time
That's when we rise
We start to swing
Oh you think you're so jazz you
Our clocks don't chime
What a surprise
They ring-a-ding-a-ding-ding!
Happy New Year

(Me and my shadow)
And now to repeat what I said at the start
You'll need a large crowbar to break us apart
We're alone but far from blue

Before we get finished, we'll make the town roar
We'll hit a few late spots, and then a few more
We'll start out at Stringy's and maybe Groucho
Life is gonna be wow-wow-whee!
For my shadow and me!

[spoken]
[Jonathon:] Can we do that again
[Robbie:] No, I'm too tired
[Jonathon:] Please Rob
[Robbie:] No, I'm swung out
[Jonathon:] I'll give you some money
[Robbie:] I don't need money
[Jonathon:] What about a cup of tea
[Robbie:] I'm not thirsty
[Jonathon:] I won't tell anyone you're gay.
[Both Laugh]

Before we get finished, we'll make the town roar
We'll hit all the late spots, and then a few more
We'll start out at Stringy's and maybe Groucho
Life is gonna be wow-wow-whee!
For my shadow and me!

20.2.08

being alive...


Being Alive - John Barrowman


i'm sitting here watching the 2006 version of Company by Stephen Sondheim on PBS right now with Raul Esparza. It won the 2007 Tony for Best Revival and he was nominated for Best Actor in a Musical.

Being Alive is usually considered the show stopper in the play. it is also the finale. it really says a lot when you listen to the words. I prefer the John Barrowman version of all of the ones i've heard. Barrowman did it in a revue with Carol Burnett years ago, but the videos are not very clear. when i found the video above, it combined John's version with my favorite character - Captain Jack - in Torchwood. what more could i ask for?

after the lyric, i have included the Raul Esparza version for your added enjoyment.

Someone to hold you too close
Someone to hurt you too deep
Someone to sit in your chair
And ruin your sleep
And make you aware of being alive

Someone to need you too much
Someone to know you too well
Someone to pull you up short
And put you through hell
And give you support for being alive - being alive
Make me alive, make me confused
Mock me with praise, let me be used
Vary my days, but alone is alone, not alive.

Somebody hold me too close
Somebody force me to care
Somebody make me come through
I'll always be there
As frightened as you of being alive
Being alive, being alive

Someone you have to let in
Someone whose feelings you spare
Someone who, like it or not
Will want you to share a little, a lot of being alive
Make me alive, make me confused
Mock me with praise, let me be used
Vary my days, but alone is alone, not alive

Somebody crowd me with love
Somebody force me to care
Somebody make me come through
I'll always be there
As frightened as you to help us survive
Being alive, being alive,
Being alive, being alive.



Being Alive - Raul Esparza



[the other song from the play i'll have to post is The Ladies Who Lunch with Elaine Stritch who was in the original Broadway version at another time. it was a theme song the bartenders had at the bar i worked at many years ago. we had a tendency to go out to lunch before work and felt no pain when we got there. if you get my drift?]

12.2.08

eighth blackbird: reflections...



i had the pleasure of actually being at the performance when this was taped. the entire show was quite an experience. this piece, Reflections was my favorite.

they are a Chicago & Virginia based group with members working not only in performance but also instructing at university; the University of Chicago and the University of Richmond in Virginia.

eighth blackbird was honored at the Grammy Awards the other night as the winner for Chamber Music Performance album of the year in the classical division for their album Strange Imaginary Animals. It was produced on the Chicago based Çedille Records label.

10.2.08

padam, padam...




Cet air qui m'obsède jour et nuit
Cet air n'est pas né d'aujourd'hui
Il vient d'aussi loin que je viens
Traîné par cent mille musiciens
Un jour cet air me rendra folle
Cent fois j'ai voulu dire pourquoi
Mais il m'a coupé la parole
Il parle toujours avant moi
Et sa voix couvre ma voix

Padam...padam...padam...
Il arrive en courant derrière moi
Padam...padam...padam...
Il me fait le coup du souviens-toi
Padam...padam...padam...
C'est un air qui me montre du doigt
Et je traîne après moi comme un drole d'erreur
Cet air qui sait tout par cœur

Il dit: "Rappelle-toi tes amours
Rappelle-toi puisque c'est ton tour
'y a pas d'raison pour qu'tu n'pleures pas
Avec tes souvenirs sur les bras...
" Et moi je revois ceux qui restent
Mes vingt ans font battre tambour
Je vois s'entrebattre des gestes
Toute la comédie des amours
Sur cet air qui va toujours

Padam...padam...padam...
Des "je t'aime" de quatorze-juillet
Padam...padam...padam...
Des "toujours" qu'on achète au rabais
Padam...padam...padam...
Des "veux-tu" en voilà par paquets
Et tout ca pour tomber juste au coin d'la rue
Sur l'air qui m'a reconnue
...
Écoutez le chahut qu'il me fait
...
Comme si tout mon passé défilait
...
Faut garder du chagrin pour après
J'en ai tout un solfège sur cet air qui bat...
Qui bat comme un cœur de bois...


this song is about its melody - padam, padam, padam. it causes a great uproar for her. She sees all the comedies and all the tragedies of her past loves. In one performance Piaf says, "This melody you will hear follows me everywhere I go. I hear it when I am sad and especially when I am glad. It seems to mock me for my past sins. It taunts me and it is driving me crazy."

Qui bat comme un cœur de bois... - it beats like a wooden heart...

7.2.08

make our garden grow...


Cunegonde - June Anderson, Candide - Jerry Hadley, Leonard Bernstein, conducting



Leonard Bernstein died within a few weeks of this performance. June Anderson was severely ill with the flu during the performance but Bernstein literally begged her to sing, saying that she was his ideal Cunegonde. Jerry Hadly committed suicide a few months ago. This may very well be the ultimate recording of Bernstein's Candide.

CANDIDE
You've been a fool
And so have I,
But come and be my wife.
And let us try,
Before we die,
To make some sense of life.
We're neither pure, nor wise, nor good
We'll do the best we know.
We'll build our house and chop our wood
And make our garden grow...
And make our garden grow.

CUNEGONDE
I thought the world
Was sugar cake
For so our master said.
But, now I'll teach
My hands to bake
Our loaf of daily bread.

CANDIDE AND CUNEGONDE
We're neither pure, nor wise, nor good
We'll do the best we know.
We'll build our house and chop our wood
And make our garden grow...
And make our garden grow.

(ensemble enters in gardening gear and a cow walks on)

CANDIDE, CUNEGONDE, MAXIMILLIAN, PAQUETTE, OLD LADY, DR. PANGLOSS
Let dreamers dream
What worlds they please
Those Edens can't be found.
The sweetest flowers,
The fairest trees
Are grown in solid ground.

ENSEMBLE (a cappella)
We're neither pure, nor wise, nor good
We'll do the best we know.
We'll build our house and chop our wood
And make our garden grow.
And make our garden grow!

(The cow dies)

VOLTAIRE
Any questions?



update:

After posting "Make our garden grow", I realized that I also had to post Christa Ludwig, who was in the same performance as the Old Woman, singing "I am easily assimilated." She almost, no, she did, steal the show with this number. If you watch carefully, you will see June's face with a grin on it because she's enjoying it, as sick as she was during the performance, and actually is applauding Ms. Ludwig at the end, a fairly rare thing to see in a performance.

I had the pleasure to spend an evening with Ms. Ludwig and her husband. By the end of the night my sides ached from laughing. As funny as she did this role, she is the same way, and more, in person. At one point in the evening she turned to her husband, who seemed to be talking alot, and said, "I'm supposed to be the Diva, not you!" We all lost it...




Old Woman - Christa Ludwig



I was not born in sunny Hispania,
My father came from Rovno Gubernya.
But now I'm here, I'm dancing a tango;
Di dee di! Dee di dee di!
I am easily assimilated.
I am so easily assimilated.

I never learned a human language.
My father spoke a High Middle Polish.
In one half-hour I'm talking in Spanish:
Por favor! Toreador!
I am easily assimilated.
I am so easily assimilated.

It's easy, it's ever so easy!
I'm Spanish, I'm suddenly Spanish!
And you must be Spanish, too.
Do like the natives do.
These days you have to be
In the majority

Tus labios rubi
Dos rosas que se abren a mi,
Conquistan mi corazon,
Y solo con
Una cancion.

Mis labios rubi
Dreiviertel Takt, mon tres cher ami,
Oui ou, si si ja ja ja, yes yes, da da.
Je ne sais quoi!

Me muero, me sale una hernia!

A long way from Rovno Gubernya!

Mis/Tus labios rubi
Dos rosas que se abren a mi,
Conquistan mi corazon,
Y solo con
Una divina cancion.
De tus labios rubi!
Rubi! Rubi!
Hey!

6.2.08

Donizetti's Tudor Trilogy...

Gaetano Donizetti wrote three opera about the queens of the Tudor era in England - Anna Bolena, Maria Stuarda, & Roberto Devereux. They are a great trilogy, though I've never heard of any company doing them in trio. It could be a great success. Below are scenes from each of the operas.

The first is with Dame Joan Sutherland as Anna Bolena; the second is Montserrat Caballe in the "Final Scene" from Maria Stuarda; and the third is Edita Gruberova as Elisabeth I in Roberto Devereux. The last is also quite different than the first two in that it is a revisionist production from Bayreuth. Europeans are wont to update operas and they always seem to do it right.

oh, and if you don't remember your Tudor history, someone gets their head chopped off at the end of each opera. What else would you expect?

enjoy...



Anna Bolena
with Dame Joan Sutherland


Maria Stuarda
with Montserrat Caballe



Roberto Devereux
with Edita Gruberova as Elizabetta I

4.2.08

best days - graham colton...



this is my newest music-crush. i really like his music and voice. i also have a penchant for what i call "story songs". songs that relate a story or part of a scene. his song "New Year's Resolution" is my current favorite, but i couldn't find a decent video of it.

With everything I've ever done
I'd give it all to everyone
For one more day
Another night I'm waking through
Another door I walk into
I can't break

And it's a winding road
And it's a long way home

So don't wait
For someone to tell you it's too late
Cause these are the best days
There's always something tomorrow
So I say let's make the best of tonight
Here comes the rest of our lives

I count the steps
The distance to
The time when it was me and you
It's so far gone

Another face,
Another friend,
Another place,
Another end,
But I'll hang on

And it's a winding road

And it's a long way home

So don't wait
For someone to tell you it's too late
Cause these are the best days
There's always something tomorrow
So I say let's make the best of tonight
Yeah, let's make the best of tonight
Here comes the rest of our lives
Rest of our lives

And it's a winding road
It's a long way home

So don't wait
For someone to tell you it's too late
Cause these are the best days
There's always something tomorrow
So I say let's make the best of it

Don't wait
Cause no one can tell you it's too late
Cause these are the best days
There's always something tomorrow
So I say let's make the best of tonight
Yeah, let's make the best of tonight
We'll make the best of tonight
Here comes the rest of our lives

3.2.08

i will go with you...




Stranded alone on a sea of emotion
You found me
Your love was a light
In the darkness that shone
So profoundly
Say that you’ll stay
Do not be afraid, afraid
You, you’re my breath
The air I breathe
You are my imagination
Su le finesse
Song of my heart
Secrets I’m not afraid to whisper

Con te partiro
I’ll go where you lead me
Wherever you are
(forever and ever we’ll stay)
In love together
I will go with you
I’ll go where you lead me
Forever true
(forever and ever we’ll stay)
In love together

Stranded alone on a sea of emotion
You found me
It’s you who first found me
Come here, come here
Put your arms around me,
Come here
It’s you who surrounds me
Come here, come here
Come here
Come here
You, you’re my breath
The air I breathe
You are my imagination
Su le finesse
Song of my heart
Secrets I’m not afraid to whisper

I will go with you
I’ll go where you lead me
Forever true
(forever and ever we’ll stay)
In love together
Con te partiro
I’ll go where you lead me
Wherever you are
(forever and ever we’ll stay)
In love together
I will go with you
I’ll go where you lead me
Forever true
(forever and ever we’ll stay)
In love together

Con te partiro
I’ll go where you lead me,
Wherever you are
I will go with you
I’ll go where you lead me
Forever true
In my...
Heart!


this video could have been great without the pretty dancers doing a lot of stupid moves. i love this version of the song the best...