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RIP: Charlie Watts

 

Five Songs for the Weekend - CXXIV -

Sorry for the break, I really didn't have time for the blog recently. Heavy load of business along with the radio programs for this last couple of weeks made me leave the blog out in the cold, but here I am nonetheless.

As Jack Kornfield once said;

"The trouble is, you think you have time."

Here is the list for this weekend;

• Yasmine Hamdan - "Hal"

• June Tabor & Oyster Band - "Love Will Tear Us Apart"

• Funky Destination - "The Inside Man"

• Vampire Weekend - "This Life"

• Tinush - "Struggle" (ft. Aretha Franklin)

Hope you have a great weekend.

nb. You can open the actual youtube page by clicking the name on the upper left side of each video.

Five Songs for the Weekend - CXXIII -

Back to the city after a short break on the beach. Waiting to get vaccinated tonight, hopefully with minimal side effects. Hoping this Covid issue will be over soon and things will get back to normal before the end of summer.

As Ursula Le Guin once said;

"The only thing that makes life possible is permanent, 

intolerable uncertainty; not knowing what comes next."

Here is the list for this weekend;

• Gabin & Dee Dee Bridgewater - "Into My Soul"

• Plan 2 Scape - "Clouds Above the Circle"

• Alice Phoebe Lou - "She"

• Beth Hart & Joe Bonamassa - "Black Coffee"

• GusGus - "Out Of Place"

Hope you have a great weekend.

nb. You can open the actual youtube page by clicking the name on the upper left side of each video.

Five Songs for the Weekend - CXXII -

Back to normal as of this week hoping that the full lockdown worked to decrease the number of cases. Once the vaccinations speed up I hope that life will be better after summer. But for now we need to pay more attention than ever and not relax at this final junction.

As Napoleon Hill once said;

"Effort only fully releases its reward 

after a person refuses to quit."

Here is the list for this weekend;

• Tim Booth & Angelo Badalamenti - "Fall In Love With Me" 

• The Rolling Stones ft. Dave Matthews - "Wild Horses"

• Brittany Howard - "Stay High"

• Max Cooper - "Repetition"

• Tricky - "Makes Me Wonder"

Hope you have a great weekend.

nb. You can open the actual youtube page by clicking the name on the upper left side of each video.

Which one is your favorite? - LXXX -

This week's song is a song popularized in 1969 by Frank Sinatra set to the music of the French song "Comme d'habitude" composed and written by French songwriters Claude François and Jacques Revaux, performed in 1967 by Claude François. Its English lyrics were written by Paul Anka and are unrelated to the original French song.

Here is the song for this week;

"My Way"

The French version tells the story of a man, living out the end of his marriage, love killed by the boredom of everyday life.

Paul Anka discovered this song while visiting France and re-wrote the lyrics as "My Way" when he returned to New York. Anka says it was 3 a.m. on a rainy night when the words came to him. Anka, who was a very popular singer, pitched the song to Frank Sinatra, who recorded it on December 30, 1968. Anka's lyrics changed the meaning to be about a man looking back fondly on a life he lived on his own terms, and Sinatra's version became one of his signature songs.

This became Frank Sinatra's signature song, but he couldn't stand it, saying he "loathed" the song. In his later years, he described the song as "a Paul Anka pop hit which became a kind of national anthem." In a 2000 interview with the BBC show Hardtalk, Sinatra's daughter Tina said, "He always thought that song was self-serving and self-indulgent. He didn't like it. That song stuck and he couldn't get it off his shoe."

A song of individuality and aspiration, there is a scientific explanation for why it has triggered such a strong emotional reaction despite the rather pedestrian lyrics and silly rhymes (losing/amusing, curtain/certain). The song starts with a rising 6th progression, which indicates striving. It builds in intensity and powers to a big finish, which Sinatra could really sell with his declaration, "I did it my way."

This is a very popular Karaoke song, but one you should probably avoid in The Philippines. As detailed in a February 6, 2010 article in the New York Times, many violent incidents have taken place following Karaoke performances of "My Way." Karaoke is very popular in that country, and there is a certain etiquette which tends to break down when patrons choose this song, sometimes resulting in fights that can escalate quickly. The bravado of the song may have something to do with it, but whatever the cause, most Filipinos will avoid the song, and many bars don't offer it on their playlists.

The song was a favorite of former Serbian president Slobodan Milosevic. He often played it in his cell at a loud volume during his trial for crimes against humanity in 2002.

Former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder requested "My Way" for his final send-off (Zapfenstreich in German) prior to the inauguration of Angela Merkel. More than seven million television viewers watched tears well up in his eyes as a military band saw him off with a version of this song.

Donald Trump's first dance as president of the United States was to this song. On January 20, 2017, the night of his inauguration, he danced to it with his wife Melania at the Liberty ball, his second of the evening. Trump was never seen dancing on the campaign trail, with good reason: he is very awkward on the dance floor. Despite sticking to a basic side-to-side shuffle, he still managed to look pained, as did Melania. Midway through the dance, he called his vice president, Mike Pence, to join him with his wife, Karen. At this point, Trump did more waving and gesturing than dancing.

Two days earlier, Nancy Sinatra was asked on Twitter what she thought of Trump using the song. Her reply: "Just remember the first line of the song."

That first line is: "And now, the end is near, and so I face the final curtain."

Here are the 6 versions I picked for you;

• Nina Simone - "My Way"

• The Sex Pistols - "My Way"

• Miley Cyrus - "My Way"

• Robbie Williams - "My Way"

• Shirley Bassey - "My Way"

• Elvis Presley - "My Way"

Now the floor is yours, go ahead and make your comments (here, Instagram, Facebook wherever you feel like...).

nb. Please note that I intentionally do not include the original versions of the songs as it would be a little unfair to the artists covering the songs, and I am sure that sometimes you will be surprised to see that the songs you thought were the originals are just covers.

Five Songs for the Weekend - CXXI -

Lockdown still going on but I had the chance to go out yesterday for a doctor's appointment and witnessed that the streets are even more crowded than usual... My only hope is that this lockdown works as planned and after May 17th people will be more comfortable and all of us faces fewer Covid threats.

As Mark Twain once said;

"Only he who has seen better days and lives 

to see better days again knows their full value."

Here is the list for this weekend;

• M83 - "Bibi The Dog"

• Kelsey Lu - "Rebel"

• Rodrigo y Gabriela - "Take Five"

• The Cult - "She Sells Sanctuary"

• Angel Olsen - "Lark"

Hope you have a great weekend.

nb. You can open the actual youtube page by clicking the name on the upper left side of each video.

Which one is your favorite? - LXXIX -

This week's song is a song from Billy Idol that was released as the second single from his self-titled studio album in 1982. Although not Idol's highest-charting hit, it is often considered one of his most recognizable songs. In the US, it peaked at No. 10 on the Billboard Bubbling Under the Hot 100 chart on 27 November 1982, then reached No. 36 on the Billboard Hot 100 on 2 July 1983 after it was re-issued.

Here is the song for this week;

"White Wedding"

Despite rumors to the contrary, this song is not about Idol's actual little sister. "Little sister" is slang for girlfriend. He is singing about a woman/girl he loves marrying someone else while he still loves her.

Idol did have a sister who was getting married, but on an episode of VH1 Storytellers, he explained that his sister's wedding simply gave him the idea for the song. Like many of Idol's compositions, he started with the title and wrote the song from there. 

The video for this song helped launch Billy Idol to stardom. It was directed by David Mallet, who had worked with Queen and David Bowie. Idol had little cash, so Mallet cut him a break on his fee. The concept was a "nightmare wedding," with a Goth guy (Idol) marrying a normal girl, with some vampire imagery thrown in. The bride was played by Perri Lister, who was Billy's girlfriend. The resulting video contained some of the most indelible images seen on MTV, including the barbed-wire wedding ring, the motorcycle crashing through the church window, and the dancers slapping their own butts in time to the music.

Mallet said of Idol in the book I Want My MTV: "In those days, he was the greatest looker and mover since Elvis. Before 'White Wedding,' nobody would have admitted that was even possible. One look at that video and they got him."

A key element to this song is the quick little guitar riff that starts it. Idol and his guitarist, Steve Stevens, liked to have a distinctive guitar part to open the songs - they thought of it like a flag harkening its arrival.

This song is a very anti-marriage song, and yet many people have it played at their weddings simply because it mentions a wedding.

This was used in the movie The Wedding Singer. After getting dumped at the altar, Adam Sandler tells his friends to "turn this crap off" after the video comes on. Idol later appears in the movie as himself. He helps get Sandler together with Drew Barrymore.

Here are the 6 versions I picked for you;

• Queens of the Stone Age - "White Wedding"

• Leo Moracchioli - "White Wedding"

• Polkaholix - "White Wedding"

• Janet Devlin - "White Wedding"

• Herman's Hermits - "White Wedding"

• Cityrocks - "White Wedding"

Now the floor is yours, go ahead and make your comments (here, Instagram, Facebook wherever you feel like...).

nb. Please note that I intentionally do not include the original versions of the songs as it would be a little unfair to the artists covering the songs, and I am sure that sometimes you will be surprised to see that the songs you thought were the originals are just covers.

Five Songs for the Weekend - CXX -

Another full lockdown as of this Friday due to increasing Covid-19 cases and deaths. Let's hope this will be the last time and with one last effort let's try to turn this nuisance into a manageable scenario...

As Aristotle once said;

"Patience is bitter, but its fruit is sweet."

Here is the list for this weekend;

• Tom Misch & Yussef Dayes - "Can You Feel It"

• Cande y Paulo - "Summertime"

• Silver Apples - "Ruby"

• Kraftwerk - "The Man Machine"

• Nick Hakim, Roy Nathanson - Moonman

Hope you have a great weekend.

nb. You can open the actual youtube page by clicking the name on the upper left side of each video.

Which one is your favorite? - LXXVIII -

This week's song is a Chuck Berry original dating back to 1956. It was a hit single originally released on Chess Records, with "Drifting Heart" as the B-side. The lyrics of the song mention rock and roll and the desire for rhythm and blues to replace classical music. The title of the song is an imperative directed at the composer Ludwig van Beethoven to roll over out of the way and make room for the rock and roll music that Berry was promoting.

Here is the song for this week;

"Roll Over Beethoven"

According to Rolling Stone, Berry wrote the song in response to his sister Lucy always using the family piano to play classical music when Berry wanted to play popular music. It was, as biographer Bruce Pegg says, "inspired in part by the rivalry between his sister Lucy's classical music training and Berry's own self-taught, rough-and-ready music preference". The lyric "roll over Beethoven and tell Tchaikovsky the news" refers to how classical composers would roll over in their graves upon hearing that classical music had given way to rock and roll.

In addition to the classical composers Beethoven and Tchaikovsky, the lyrics mention or allude to several popular artists: "Early in the Mornin'" is the title of a Louis Jordan song; "Blue Suede Shoes" refers to the Carl Perkins song; and "hey diddle diddle", from the nursery rhyme "The Cat and the Fiddle", is an indirect reference to the Chess recording artist Bo Diddley, who was an accomplished violin player. Although the lyrics mention "rocking" and "rolling", the music that the classics are supposed to step aside for is referred to as "rhythm and blues". The lyric "a shot of rhythm and blues" was appropriated as the title of a song recorded by Arthur Alexander and others.

Berry's single was one of 50 recordings chosen in 2003 by the Library of Congress to be added to the National Recording Registry. In 2004, "Roll Over Beethoven" was ranked number 97 on Rolling Stone's list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time". The accompanying review stated that it "became the ultimate rock & roll call to arms, declaring a new era".

 Here are the 6 versions I picked for you;

• The Beatles - "Roll Over Beethoven"

• Jerry Lee Lewis - "Roll Over Beethoven"

• Shakin' Stevens - "Roll Over Beethoven"

• Electric Light Orchestra - "Roll Over Beethoven"

• The Rolling Stones - "Roll Over Beethoven"

• Status Quo - "Roll Over Beethoven"

Now the floor is yours, go ahead and make your comments (here, Instagram, Facebook wherever you feel like...).

nb. Please note that I intentionally do not include the original versions of the songs as it would be a little unfair to the artists covering the songs, and I am sure that sometimes you will be surprised to see that the songs you thought were the originals are just covers.

Five Songs for the Weekend - CXIX -

I had planned to write a completely different entry to this week's post but ten minutes ago I turned on the radio that I am also a part of and came across a show that is playing a soundtrack of the movie called "Draupadi Unleashed" by the great musicians Ahmet Kenan Bilgiç and Can Saka. I suggest you listen to this wonderful album on digital platforms. 

As Dave Attell once said;

" I feel like soundtrack music is almost

like seeing the movie again, but with my ears."

Here is the list for this weekend;

• Ahmet Kenan Bilgiç - "Draupadi Unleashed"

• Etwas - "Strahl"

• Mdou Moctar - "Tarhatazed"

• GoGo Penguin - "Petit_a"

• James - "Moving On"

Hope you have a great weekend.

nb. You can open the actual youtube page by clicking the name on the upper left side of each video.

Five Songs for the Weekend - CXVIII -

A new round of so-called "lockdown" is here with a warning, saying that it could even be worse in May if the cases would not begin to decrease within two weeks. Therefore it is everyone's duty to respect the regulations if we want to be in a better position for the summer. Let the music be your support during these tough times...

As Art Blakey once said;

" Jazz washes away the dust

of everyday life."

Here is the list for this weekend;

• The Chemical Brothers - "Wide Open" (ft. Beck)

• Jackie Scott - "I'm Tired"

• Sonic Youth - "Pacific Coast Highway"

• Benjamin Clementine - "Condolence"

• Kris Davis - "The Very Thing"

Hope you have a great weekend.

nb. You can open the actual youtube page by clicking the name on the upper left side of each video.

Which one is your favorite? - LXXVII -

This week I have a great punk song for you, originally released by The Ramones in 1977. This was the first punk song to hit the pop charts. While this was the first punk rock song to hit the Hot 100, it was not the first song on the chart with the word "Punk" in the title: Barry Mann made #78 in 1976 with "The Princess And The Punk," a song that about mismatched lovers that was certainly not a punk rocker.

Here is the song for this week;

"Sheena Is A Punk Rocker"

The name "Sheena" came from Sheena, Queen of the Jungle, who was kind of a female Tarzan character. It was a popular comic book and TV series in the '40s and '50s.

Joey Ramone: "'Sheena Is A Punk Rocker' first came out as a single. I played it for (Sire Records President) Seymour Stein. He flipped out and said 'We gotta record that song now.' It was like back in the '50s; you'd rush into the studio because you thought you had a hit, then put it right out. To me 'Sheena' was the first surf/punk rock/teenage rebellion song. I combined Sheena, Queen of the Jungle with the primalness of punk rock. Then Sheena is brought into the modern day: 'But she just couldn't stay/she had to break away/well New York City really has it all.' It was funny because all the girls in New York seemed to change their name to Sheena after that. Everybody was a Sheena."

Written by Joey Ramone, it is one of the Ramones' most popular songs, evidence of Joey's early 1960s surf rock and bubblegum pop influences. It first appeared in May 1977 as a single in the UK where it charted at number 22 in the UK Singles Chart.[1][5] In the US, it was released as a single in July 1977, and reached number 81 in the Billboard Hot 100, and appeared on copies of the second issue of the band's 1977 album Leave Home (replacing the track "Carbona Not Glue"). The track, as well as its B-side "I Don't Care", was remixed and re-released for their third LP Rocket to Russia.

Here are the 6 versions I picked for you;

• Paul Jones - "Sheena Is A Punk Rocker"

• Sixth Finger - "Sheena Is A Punk Rocker"

• Hüsker Dü - "Sheena Is A Punk Rocker"

• The Queers - "Sheena Is A Punk Rocker"

• Los Del Tonos - "Sheena Is A Punk Rocker"

• The Yeah Yeah Yeahs - "Sheena Is a Punk Rocker"

Now the floor is yours, go ahead and make your comments (here, Instagram, Facebook wherever you feel like...).

nb. Please note that I intentionally do not include the original versions of the songs as it would be a little unfair to the artists covering the songs, and I am sure that sometimes you will be surprised to see that the songs you thought were the originals are just covers.

Five Songs for the Weekend - CXVII -

Even though it is April already, I hear from friends in various countries that it is still winter. Most cities in Europe are getting some snow instead of sunshine and warmer weather. Anyways, most probably very soon we will start to complain about being too warm as nothing is normal anymore...

As William Arthur Ward once said;

" The pessimist complains about the wind,

the optimist expects it to change, 

and the realist adjusts the sails."

Here is the list for this weekend;

• Crowded House - "Weather With You"

• Arianna Neikrug - "Spring Can Really Hang You Up The Most"

• Avishai Cohen & Yonathan Avishai - "Sir Duke"

• CamelPhat & Cristoph - "Breathe"

• Vegyn - "It's Nice To Be Alive"

Hope you have a great weekend.

nb. You can open the actual youtube page by clicking the name on the upper left side of each video.

Which one is your favorite? - LXXVI -

I believe this is a first that I will be mentioning about a German song. However, we all very well know its English covers from many artists. "Und jetzt ist es still" was first performed by Horst Winter in 1948, with music written by Austrian composer Hans Lang and German lyrics by Erich Meder. The English lyrics were written by Bert Reisfeld.

Here is the song for this week;

"Und jetzt ist es still" or "It's Oh So Quiet"

Prolific film composer Hans Lang and regular collaborator Erich Meder wrote a song called "Und Jetzt ist es Still." This roughly translates to "And Now It's Quiet." It was recorded by Austrian/German singer Horst "Harry" Winter (best known for competing in the 1960 Eurovision contest for Austria). 

The song traveled to America three years later. Betty Hutton--star of stage, screen, and radio--released a newly orchestrated and translated version of the song oddly called "Blow a Fuse" which afterwards evolved to "It's Oh So Quiet".

The song was covered by Icelandic musician Björk in 1995. It was released as the third single from her second album Post and remains her biggest hit, reaching number 4 in the UK and spending 15 weeks on the UK Singles Chart. Fueled by the Spike Jonze-directed music video clip, the single also shot Björk into the spotlight in Australia, where it reached number 6. In the United Kingdom, the single has been certified as Gold, having sold upwards of 400,000 copies. In an interview on BBC Radio 1 with Chris Evans in 1995, Björk said the song had been played on the bus she had used on a recent tour and she recorded it as a thank you to the team that worked with her on that tour.

Here are the 6 versions I picked for you;

• Betty Hutton - "It's Oh So Quiet" (Blow a Fuse)

• Björk - "It's Oh So Quiet"

• Lucy Woodward - "It's Oh So Quiet"

• Lyambiko - "It's Oh So Quiet"

• Lisa Ekdahl - "It's Oh So Quiet"

• Bria Skonberg - "It's Oh So Quiet"

Now the floor is yours, go ahead and make your comments (here, Instagram, Facebook wherever you feel like...).

nb. Please note that I intentionally do not include the original versions of the songs as it would be a little unfair to the artists covering the songs, and I am sure that sometimes you will be surprised to see that the songs you thought were the originals are just covers.

Five Songs for the Weekend - CXVI -

Every week I plan to write a non-covid related entry but unfortunately, that is still the hottest topic all around the world. In the earlier months of 2021, everyone was thinking that once the vaccinations are widely spread the problem would erode however it is not the case at all. So it looks like we still need to wait a bit more, keep the measures at the highest level and hope those normal days will arrive soon...

As Charles Eisenstein said;

"We sense that ‘normal’ isn’t coming back, 

that we are being born into a new normal: 

a new kind of society, a new relationship to the earth, 

a new experience of being human."

Here is the list for this weekend;

• Bahamas - "Lost In The Light"

• Wendy McNeill - "In Bocca Al Lupo"

• Aldous Harding - "Zoo Eyes"

• Bill Frisell - "Everywhere"

• The Cinematic Orchestra - "To Believe"

Hope you have a great weekend.

nb. You can open the actual youtube page by clicking the name on the upper left side of each video.

Which one is your favorite? - LXXV -

This week's song is coming from the Rolling Stones and most probably it is one of my favorite Stones songs. It is written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards and the opening track on their 1968 album Beggars Banquet. It is considered one of the best songs of the popular music era, and it is ranked number 32 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time list.

Here is the song for this week;

"Sympathy for the Devil"

"Sympathy for the Devil" is credited to Jagger and Richards, though the song was largely a Jagger composition. The working title of the song was "The Devil Is My Name", having earlier been called "Fallen Angels". Jagger sings in first-person narrative as the Devil, boasting his role in each of several historical atrocities. The singer then ironically demands the listener's courtesy towards him, implicitly chastising the listener for their collective culpability in the listed killings and crimes. 

The lyrics were inspired by "The Master and Margarita", a book by Mikhail Bulgakov. British singer Marianne Faithfull was Mick Jagger's girlfriend at the time and she gave him the book. Faithfull came from an upper-class background and exposed Jagger to a lot of new ideas. In the book, the devil is a sophisticated socialite, a "man of wealth and taste."

The song perpetuated the image of the Stones as frightening bad boys, as opposed to the clean-cut Beatles. It was great marketing for the band, which got some press by implying an interest in the occult.

A documentary by French filmmaker Jean-Luc Godard called One Plus One captured the recording of this song, which took place over five days: June 5, 6, 8 - 10, 1968. At one point, a lamp for the documentary started a fire in the studio. The tapes were saved, but a lot of the Stones' equipment was destroyed.

Keith Richards said in 2002: "'Sympathy' is quite an uplifting song. It's just a matter of looking the Devil in the face. He's there all the time. I've had very close contact with Lucifer - I've met him several times. Evil - people tend to bury it and hope it sorts itself out and doesn't rear its ugly head. 'Sympathy For The Devil' is just as appropriate now, with 9/11. There it is again, big time. When that song was written, it was a time of turmoil. It was the first sort of international chaos since World War II. And confusion is not the ally of peace and love. You want to think the world is perfect. Everybody gets sucked into that. And as America has found out to its dismay, you can't hide. You might as well accept the fact that evil is there and deal with it any way you can. Sympathy for the Devil is a song that says, Don't forget him. If you confront him, then he's out of a job." 

Some of the historical events mentioned in this song are the crucifixion of Christ, the Russian Revolution, World War II, and the Kennedy assassinations. Robert Kennedy was killed on June 5, 1968, after Mick Jagger started writing the song. His original lyric was "who killed Kennedy?" referring to the 1963 John F. Kennedy assassination, but he changed it to "who killed the Kennedys?"

Here are the 7 versions I picked for you;

• Guns N' Roses - "Sympathy For The Devil"

• Natalie Merchant - "Sympathy For The Devil"

• Bryan Ferry - "Sympathy For The Devil" 

• Jane's Addiction - "Sympathy For The Devil"

• Motörhead - "Sympathy For The Devil"

• Ann Wilson - "Sympathy For The Devil"

• The Big Push - "Sympathy For The Devil"

Now the floor is yours, go ahead and make your comments (here, Instagram, Facebook wherever you feel like...).

nb. Please note that I intentionally do not include the original versions of the songs as it would be a little unfair to the artists covering the songs, and I am sure that sometimes you will be surprised to see that the songs you thought were the originals are just covers.

Five Songs for the Weekend - CXV -

It is sad to see contradictory decisions by the government regarding the Covid precautions. On one hand, we witness strict measures, however, on the other hand, people get together in large numbers like the risk has been eliminated... Difficult to comprehend...

As George Carlin once said;

"Let's not have a double standard. 

One standard will do just fine."

Here is the list for this weekend;

• Sleep Party People - "I'm Not Human At All"

• Cymande - "Dove"

• Kollektiv Turmstrasse - "Tristesse"

• Grant Green - "Untitled Blues"

• Nilüfer Yanya - "In Your Head"

Hope you have a great weekend.

nb. You can open the actual youtube page by clicking the name on the upper left side of each video.

Which one is your favorite? - LXXIV -

This week's song is a song that has been recorded by Judy Collins, a year earlier than the version that we all know by Joni Mitchell, who is the writer of the song. Collins is known as a folk singer, and has recorded songs written by Leonard Cohen, Pete Seger, Bob Dylan and many others, as well as traditional songs like "Amazing Grace." Her recording of this song provided her first hit, and also brought exposure to Mitchell, who went on to a very successful career as both a songwriter and performer.

Here is the song for this week;

"Both Sides Now"

In 1969, it was included on Mitchell's album Clouds (which was named after a lyric from the song). In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked "Both Sides, Now" at number 170 on its list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

This was the first hit song written by Joni Mitchell. She recalled: "I was reading Saul Bellow's Henderson the Rain King on a plane and early in the book Henderson the Rain King is also up in a plane. He's on his way to Africa and he looks down and sees these clouds. I put down the book, looked out the window and saw clouds too, and I immediately started writing the song. I had no idea that the song would become as popular as it did."

Joni Mitchell had been through a very difficult time when she wrote this song's lyric. In 1965, she gave birth to a baby girl but struggled as a single mom (the father was an old boyfriend who left soon after Mitchell got pregnant). She married a musician named Chuck Mitchell that year, but soon after the marriage, gave up the child for adoption. Soon, her marriage was on the rocks, and in 1967 they split up.

This is Joni Mitchell's most-covered song; with over 1000 versions recorded, it could be considered a standard. Some of the luminaries to record it include Frank Sinatra (on his 1968 album Cycles), Bing Crosby, and Ronan Keating.

When Mitchell first started performing this song in 1967, she called it "From Both Sides, Now." On her album, it was listed as "Both Sides, Now." 

Mitchell released an orchestral version of this song in 2000 to close out her album Both Sides Now, which is mainly comprised of jazz standards.

Here are the 7 versions I picked for you;

 

• Dion - "From Both Sides Now"

• Frank Sinatra - "From Both Sides Now"

• Anne Murray - "Both Sides Now"

• Seal - "Both Sides Now"

• Paul Young with Clannad - "Both Sides Now"

• Dianne Reeves - "Both Sides Now"

• Gang of Youths - "Both Sides Now"

Now the floor is yours, go ahead and make your comments (here, Instagram, Facebook wherever you feel like...).

nb. Please note that I intentionally do not include the original versions of the songs as it would be a little unfair to the artists covering the songs, and I am sure that sometimes you will be surprised to see that the songs you thought were the originals are just covers.

Five Songs for the Weekend - CXIV -

It has been exactly one year (for my country) since the Covid-19 came into our lives. It was again my birthday, just like today, we were going home from the office for an unpredictable time. What an interesting year it has been :( I hope music has helped you better survive this tough period.

As Jane Swan once said;

"How is it that music can, without words, evoke our 

laughter, our fears, our highest aspirations?”

 

Here is the list for this weekend;

• Esperanza Spalding - "Endangered Species"

• Rufus Du Sol - "Underwater"

• The Weather Station - "Robber"

• Ben Harper - "Diamonds On The Inside"

• Leon Redbone- "Your Cheatin' Heart"

Hope you have a great weekend.

nb. You can open the actual youtube page by clicking the name on the upper left side of each video.

Which one is your favorite? - LXXIII -

Let's continue with another great song from the 80s. This is a 1986 song by the English rock band the Smiths from their third album The Queen Is Dead, written by Johnny Marr and Morrissey.  The song features self-deprecating lyrics that reflected Morrissey's frustrations with the music industry and the merciless media. Frontman, Morrissey, describes being hounded by the press and even compares himself to the French martyr, Joan of Arc.

Here is the song for this week;

"Bigmouth Strikes Again"

It was released the lead single from the album, bypassing Rough Trade's preferred choice, "There Is a Light That Never Goes Out". The single reached number 26 in the UK Singles Chart and has since seen critical acclaim. 

Bigmouth Strikes Again" began as a lyric written by Morrissey in the summer of 1985. The lyric was the final one of three written about Morrissey's frustration with the music industry, the previous two being "The Boy with the Thorn in His Side" and "Rubber Ring." "Bigmouth Strikes Again" specifically reflects Morrissey's negative experiences with the music press. When asked by the NME about the song, Morrissey replied, "I can't think of one sentence [I regret saying]. We're still at that stage where if I rescued a kitten from drowning, they'd say: 'Morrissey Mauls Kitten's Body'. So what can you do?"

Morrissey intended the lyrics of the song to be humorous; he explained, "I would call it a parody if that sounded less like self-celebration, which it definitely wasn't. It was just a really funny song." Drummer Mike Joyce commented, "What a fantastic title – one of Mozzer's better ones. And with this song, you can see why he made journalists cream their pants. Listen to the lyrical content. He was a one-off."

Johnny Marr based the song's music on a guitar riff he had written during a soundcheck of the band's 1985 tour. Marr later claimed that he had been inspired by the Rolling Stones' "Jumpin' Jack Flash", stating, "I wanted something that was a rush all the way through, without a distinct middle eight as such. I thought the guitar breaks should be percussive, not too pretty or cordial." Marr described the song as being "as close as getting to the sound of my heroes as we came."

During the song, the protagonist compares himself to Joan of Arc as "the flames rose to her Roman nose" and also says "now I know how Joan of Arc felt". In recent solo performances, Morrissey has changed the lyric "and her Walkman started to melt", to the more technologically current "and her iPod started to melt". Morrissey included the lyric "and her hearing aid started to melt" as a tribute to the band's hearing-impaired fans.

Kirsty MacColl sang backing vocals on this. Sometime later, Johnny Marr briefly became MacColl's London tenant and the pair began writing together. The working relationship resulted in several memorable songs, including MacColl's hit single "Walking Down Madison."

Here are the 7 versions I picked for you;

• Placebo - "Bigmouth Strikes Again"

• Treepeople - "Bigmouth Strikes Again"

• Among The Oak & Ash - "Bigmouth Strikes Again"

• The Snowdrops - "Bigmouth Strikes Again"

• MIAMI TIGER - "Bigmouth Strikes Again"

• Eva O & DJ Eric Ill - "Bigmouth Strikes Again"

• Heidemann - "Bigmouth Strikes Again"

Now the floor is yours, go ahead and make your comments (here, Instagram, Facebook wherever you feel like...).

nb. Please note that I intentionally do not include the original versions of the songs as it would be a little unfair to the artists covering the songs, and I am sure that sometimes you will be surprised to see that the songs you thought were the originals are just covers.

Five Songs for the Weekend - CXIII -

It appears to be even "back to half normal" is bringing along a lot of risks in the Covid-19 situation. Therefore we really need to be careful to the maximum extent if we want to stay away from the virus. Please do not let go of the precautions at least till the summer so that we can all enjoy a good holiday season.

 As Mahatma Gandhi once said;

"It is health that is real wealth and 

not pieces of gold and silver."

Here is the list for this weekend;

•  Lusine - "Just A Cloud"

• Princess Chelsea - "Monkey Eats Bananas"

• Still Corners - "The Trip"

• Ebo Taylor - "Atwer Abroba"

• Juju & The Space Rangers - "Plastic"

Hope you have a great weekend.

nb. You can open the actual youtube page by clicking the name on the upper left side of each video.

Which one is your favorite? - LXXII -

Here is a great song from the 80s with equally great lyrics. It is a song by the English singer-songwriter Kate Bush. It was the first single from her 1985 album Hounds of Love, released in the United Kingdom on 5 August 1985. It was her first 12-inch single. It was the most successful of Bush's 1980s releases, entering the UK chart at number 9 and eventually peaking at number 3, her second-highest single peak.

Here is the song for this week;

"Running Up That Hill"

Thie song is about making a deal with God to swap lives with another person. Bush explained in a 1985 interview: "It's about a relationship between a man and a woman. They love each other very much, and the power of the relationship is something that gets in the way. It creates insecurities. It's saying if the man could be the woman and the woman the man, if they could make a deal with God, to change places, that they'd understand what it's like to be the other person and perhaps it would clear up misunderstandings. You know, all the little problems; there would be no problem."

Bush's record company wanted to release "Cloudbusting" as the first single, but Kate convinced them to release this instead. Since they had already renamed her song, it was considered a compromise.

This was Bush's biggest hit in the US. She is very popular in the UK, but remains mostly unknown in America.

The song was originally written using a Fairlight synthesizer.

The music video featured Bush performing an interpretive dance with dancer Michael Hervieu. The video was directed by David Garfath while the dance routines were choreographed by Diane Grey. Bush and Hervieu are shown wearing grey Japanese hakamas. Bush wanted the dancing in "Running Up That Hill" to be more of a classical performance as she he felt the art was being cheapened by the newer crop of talent on MTV.

Here are the 7 versions I picked for you;

• Theo Bleckmann - "Running Up That Hill"

• First Aid Kit - "Running Up That Hill"

• Placebo - "Running Up That Hill"

• Within Temptation - "Running Up That Hill"

• Ellevator - "Running Up That Hill"

• Georgia - "Running Up That Hill"

• Mozartine - "Running Up That Hill"

Now the floor is yours, go ahead and make your comments (here, Instagram, Facebook wherever you feel like...).

nb. Please note that I intentionally do not include the original versions of the songs as it would be a little unfair to the artists covering the songs, and I am sure that sometimes you will be surprised to see that the songs you thought were the originals are just covers.

Five Songs for the Weekend - CXII -

It appears to be that the Covid restrictions are being reviewed all around the world and easing is on the way. Obviously, everyone will agree that it was about time but still need to be careful especially before the vaccination. On the other hand, this seems to be a fair decision for the businesses and people trying to make a living in the most affected sectors. Please support your local businesses and help them to overcome this terrible situation with relatively minimal impact.

As Toba Beta once said;

“Being cautious ain't merely look after myself, 

but also keep me away from others' carelessness..."

Here is the list for this weekend;

• Andra Day - "Strange Fruit/Tigress & Tweed Medley"

• The Be Good Tanyas - "Waiting Around to Die"

• Erykah Badu - "On & On"

• AKKU Quintet - "Deep Sea"

• Mammal Hands - "Black Sails"

Hope you have a great weekend.

nb. You can open the actual youtube page by clicking the name on the upper left side of each video.

Which one is your favorite? - LXXI -

There was breaking news in the music world during the week. The enigmatic and highly influential French electronic music duo Daft Punk was splitting. Founded by the former indie-rock bandmates Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo and Thomas Bangalter in Paris in 1993, Daft Punk won six Grammy Awards; collaborated widely, with artists from Giorgio Moroder to the Weeknd; and influenced many producers, D.J.s, rappers and pop stars. That's why I chose a popular song from Daft Punk for this week's post.

Here is the song for this week;

"Get Lucky"

The first single from Daft Punk's fourth studio album Random Access Memories features American rapper and record producer Pharrell Williams on vocals and studio legend Nile Rodgers of disco pioneers Chic on guitar. Speaking to Rolling Stone about his work on the French duo's record, Nile Rodgers said: "About a year ago, I get a knock on the door - first a virtual one and then a real knock - from Guy-Manuel and Thomas. The collaboration felt so unbelievably natural that it made me realise that I need to be in the studio with people. I love partnering with people. And then from that moment, a windfall of recording started happening. I just started going in with whomever I could."

Before its release as a single, "Get Lucky" was featured in television advertisements broadcast during Saturday Night Live, after which Rodgers and Williams announced their involvement in the track. Small excerpts also appear throughout the promotional video series The Collaborators.

"Get Lucky" is a disco song with lyrics that, according to Williams, are about the good fortune of connecting with someone, as well as sexual chemistry. After it leaked in mid-April, the single was released as a digital download on 19 April 2013. "Get Lucky" has since received acclaim from critics, and has spawned num erous cover versions and parodies. The single reached the top ten in the music charts of over 32 countries, and has sold more than 9.3 million copies.

The song won awards for Record of the Year and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance at the 56th Annual Grammy Awards, during which Stevie Wonder joined Rodgers, Williams and Daft Punk onstage to perform the song.

The song broke Spotify streaming records on the day of its release. It achieved the highest number of streams on the Swedish online music site in 24 hours in both the UK and US. It became Daft Punk's first UK #1 single.

This song is a prime example of Daft Punk's move away from pure House to more of a funk-style in the album Random Access Memories, following a popular song structure (verse, chorus, middle 8, etc.) rather than the typical EDM structure (intro, build-up, drop, breakdown, drop).

For 2017 Bastille Day, a French military band performed a medley of the song along for French president Emmanuel Macron and his guest, the American president Donald Trump, at place de la Concorde in Paris.

Here are the 7 versions I picked for you;

• Thomas Dutronc - "Get Lucky"

• Biffy Clyro - "Get Lucky"

• Daughter - "Get Lucky"

• The Struts - "Get Lucky"

• Halestorm - "Get Lucky"

• Wilco - "Get Lucky" 

• Scary Pockets - "Get Lucky"

Now the floor is yours, go ahead and make your comments (here, Instagram, Facebook wherever you feel like...).

nb. Please note that I intentionally do not include the original versions of the songs as it would be a little unfair to the artists covering the songs, and I am sure that sometimes you will be surprised to see that the songs you thought were the originals are just covers.

Five Songs for the Weekend - CXI -

I have subscribed to a streaming service called "MUBI". It is a movie platform and you can watch (well mostly) true cinema from new and/or award-winning directors. It is a curated streaming service, which offers an ever-changing collection of hand-picked films, introducing one new film each day. I suggest you take a look and maybe try it for a week for free. I am sure you will be addicted...

As Jean-Luc Godard once said;

“Photography is truth. 

The cinema is truth twenty-four times per second."

Here is the list for this weekend;

• Portico Quartet - "Prickly Pear"

• Kelly Lee Owens - "Corner Of My Sky"

• Elsa Hewitt - "That Thing"

• Gusgus - "Over"

• Soccer Mommy - "Night Swimming"

Hope you have a great weekend.

nb. You can open the actual youtube page by clicking the name on the upper left side of each video.

Which one is your favorite? - LXX -

This week's song is from the 60s but most of you will remember it from the 1991 Alan Parker movie "The Commitments"... It is a rhythm and blues (R&B) song written and first recorded by Mack Rice in 1965. It was released on the Blue Rock label in May 1965 with "Sir Mack Rice" as the artist.

Here is the song for this week;

"Mustang Sally"

It gained greater popularity when Wilson Pickett covered it the following year on a single, a version that was also released on the 1966 album, The Wicked Pickett.

Rice was visiting singer Della Reese, who was considering buying a new Lincoln Continental for her drummer and band leader Calvin Shields for his birthday. Rice and other band members were teasing Shields about the pending gift, and Shields replied that he did not want a Lincoln; he wanted a Ford Mustang. Rice had never heard of the Mustang, which had just come out, but he teased Shields about wanting a smaller car. He decided there might be a song in the situation, changing it to be about a woman who doesn't want to do anything but ride around in her new car. Rice called the early version "Mustang Mama," but changed the title after Aretha Franklin suggested "Mustang Sally" because he used the name Sally in the chorus.

Rice got part of the chorus from the children's game song (recorded by various artists) "Little Sally Walker," versions of which include the lyrics "Ride Sally ride, wipe your weepin' eyes," with variations. His variation goes, "All you wanna do is ride around, Sally/Ride, Sally, ride/One of these early mornings/You're gonna be wipin' your weepin' eyes."

Here are the 6 versions I picked for you;

• Wilson Pickett - "Mustang Sally"

• The Commitments - "Mustang Sally"

• Buddy Guy - "Mustang Sally"

• Los Lobos - "Mustang Sally"

• Bruce Springsteen, Chaka Khan & John Fogerty - "Mustang Sally"

• The Coasters - "Mustang Sally"

Now the floor is yours, go ahead and make your comments (here, Instagram, Facebook wherever you feel like...).

nb. Please note that I intentionally do not include the original versions of the songs as it would be a little unfair to the artists covering the songs, and I am sure that sometimes you will be surprised to see that the songs you thought were the originals are just covers.