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.