Not long ago, we explored Jean Sibelius’s Finlandia. Now we turn to another work strongly tied to national identity – Má vlast (My Fatherland) by Czech composer Bedřich Smetana. He wrote the six symphonic poems that form this cycle between…
Blog Archives
Salchichas Con Huevos (1969) – Jimmy Sabater (Joe Cuba Sextet)
Salchichas y Huevos (Eng: Sausages and Eggs) by Jimmy Sabater doesn’t exactly hide what it’s cooking. It’s risqué, audacious, and can easily be read as chauvinistic – or worse. Much of that comes down to the wordplay and the stack…
She Belongs to Me (1965) – Bob Dylan
She Belongs to Me is a gentle song, sung with Dylan’s relaxed phrasing and a lightly swaying accompaniment that feels easy. On the surface, it sounds warm and affectionate, almost carefree. The woman he sings about is an “artist” too,…
Tagged with: Bob Dylan, Bringing it all back home, Love Minus Zero / No Limit, she belongs to me
Posted in Music
Posted in Music
Thank You (2000) – Dido
Thank You is the kind of song you can wake up to on a dreary, cloudy day and find yourself in better spirits after hearing it. It’s a hopeful song when it comes down to it, and very relatable. Dido…
Thunder Road (1975) – Bruce Springsteen
I can’t think of another song from my youth that left such a lasting mark on me, or that captured so clearly what music and storytelling could be, as Bruce Springsteen’s Thunder Road. And is there a more vivid, grounding…
Rubber Ring (1985) – The Smiths
Morrissey sings here about how music mattered intensely to so many of us when we were young: A sad fact widely knownThe most impassionate song to a lonely soulIs so easily outgrownBut don’t forget the songs that made you smileAnd…
Tagged with: 2296, asleep, Morrissey, rubber ring, The Boy With The Thorn In His Side, the smiths
Posted in Music
Posted in Music
Karelia Suite, Op. 11: 1 Intermezzo (1893) – Jean Sibelius
The Finnish composer and violinist – Jean Sibelius returns here with a buoyant, almost regal fanfare. The Intermezzo (Eng: Interlude) is a jaunty Allegro march-like theme, the orchestra portraying the atmosphere of marching contingents. May it set your day off in a…
Tagged with: Finland, Jean Sibelius, Karelia Suite, Op. 11: 1. Intermezzo (Moderato), Tableau 3
Posted in Music
Posted in Music
All Right Now (1970) – Free
I can’t help but think of AC/DC and the Rolling Stones when this comes on. That punchy, wide-open guitar riff feels like something straight out of their playbook – only this song actually predates AC/DC by a few years. What…
Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me (1991) – Elton John (Ft. George Michael)
I became more familiar with this expansive, but vulnerable ballad during its 1991 resurgence, when it was recorded live as a duet between Elton John and George Michael and reached number one in both the UK and the US. It…
Si No Te Hubieras Ido (1984) – Marco Antonio Solís
Someone once described today’s featured song as “one of those tracks Hispanic mothers play while cleaning the house on a Sunday.” Which gave me my first proper belly chuckle of the day – and, to be fair, there’s probably a…
Observation Blogger 