Llegaremos a Tiempo (2009) – Rosana

Posted on April 30, 2023 by observationblogger — Leave a comment

On April 14, 2009 Rosana Arbelo Gopar released her seventh album, ‘A las Buenas y a las Malas‘ (The Good and the Bad). In the words of the Canary Islander, it is her work “more electric, more direct, more pop-rock from top to bottom, more uniform and less Latin.” For the cover of this new work, the singer appears with a large peace symbol painted on her face along with two red stripes (seen above), the pre-war symbol of the Comanches. An aesthetic that she maintains in the video of today’s featured track Llegaremos a Tiempo (We’ll Arrive on Time).

A crude English translation follows:

[Verse 1]
If they tear off you the child we carry inside
If they take your breast and change your story
Do not swallow it because we’re not dead
We’ll be on time, we’ll be on time

[Verse 2]
If your wings were anchored in the dock of the wind
I wait for you a second on the edge of time
Got here when you go beyond the attempt
We’ll be on time, we’ll be on time

[Pre-Chorus 2]
Better slow than standing, unzip the heart
Don’t let your imagination get tied up
Do not stay waiting for the occasion to paint
That life is two strokes and a blur

[Chorus]
I’m afraid that hope is broken
Let freedom run out of wings
I’m afraid you have a day without morning
I’m afraid that fear gave you a pulse and could more
Don’t give up, don’t sit back and wait

The first three minutes of Llegaremos a Tiempo contain some of my favourite ballad-music in Spanish although it’s clearly an ‘activist’ message. It gets a bit muddled and lost after that, but the first 3 minutes alone deserve a place in the Music Library Project. Rosana began composing music after moving to Madrid in the early 1980s. She won first place in the Benidorm International Song Festival in 1996 with her song “Fuego y Miel” (“Fire and Honey” in English), which led her winning a recording contract with MCA Records. 

References:
1. Rosana – Wikipedia
2. A Las Buenas y las Malas – Wikpedia

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Living Proof (1992) – Bruce Springsteen

Posted on April 29, 2023 by observationblogger — 3 Comments
Bruce performing ‘Living Proof’ in the MTV plugged concert recorded in 1992.

Living Proof is lyrically one of my favourite songs from Bruce. It is about the birth of his first son Evan James, born in the summer of 1990. The song also explores the duality of fear versus love, the dusky room pierced by the Lord’s light, the innocence of a child in a hard and dirty world.
This is the fourth song to appear from Bruce’s double release albums Human Touch / Lucky Town. I always agreed with the Rolling Stones review of the double release that argued ‘the aims of the two albums would have been better realized by a single, more carefully shaped collection’. There at least ten songs from both albums that could have been combined to form one classic Springsteen album.

Bruce’s voice seems a bit haggard on Living Proof and perhaps that’s intentional given its subject matter. The dual-record was seen by some as evidence his voice was shot or at least no longer possessed the same ferocity heard on the Born in the USA tour. Well everyone gets older, I say. He’s only human.

[Verse 1]
Well now on a summer night in a dusky room
Come a little piece of the Lord’s undying light
Crying like he swallowed the fiery moon
In his mother’s arms it was all the beauty I could take
Like the missing words to some prayer that I could never make

[Chorus]
In a world so hard and dirty
So fouled and confused
Searching for a little bit of God’s mercy
I found living proof

[Verse 2]
I put my heart and soul, I put ’em high up on a shelf
Right next to the faith, the faith that I’d lost in myself
I went down into the desert city
Just tryin’ so hard to shed my skin
I crawled deep into some kind of darkness
Lookin’ to burn out every every trace of who I’d been

[Chorus]
You do some sad sad things, baby
When it’s you you’re tryin’ to lose
You do some sad and hurtful things
I’ve seen living proof

Lucky Town is the tenth studio album by Bruce Springsteen. The album was released on March 31, 1992, the same day as Springsteen’s Human Touch album. Compared to Human Touch, Lucky Town has a more stripped down, folk-based sound and is more personal in its songs’ lyrics such as today’s featured track Living Proof.

“The night my son was born, I got close to a feeling of real, pure, unconditional love with all the walls down. All of a sudden, what was happening was so immense that it just stomped all the fear away for a little while and I remember feeling overwhelmed. But I also understood why you’re so frightened. When that world of love comes rushing in, a world of fear comes with it. To open yourself up to one thing, you’ve got to embrace the other thing as well… My music over the last five years has dealt with those almost primitive issues; it’s about somebody walking through that world of fear so that he can live in the world of love.”  –Bruce Springsteen to David Hepworth, Q Magazine, August 1992

Reference:
1. Lucky Town – Wikipedia
2. Roll of the Dice – Living Proof – Estreet Shuffle

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About a Boy (2002) – Paul Weitz and Chris Weitz (Friday’s Finest)

Posted on April 28, 2023 by observationblogger — 2 Comments

I had an animated discussion about this movie recently and assumed I had written about it here at ‘Friday’s Finest‘. When About a Boy comes on cable I find myself compelled to watch it. I don’t know how many times I have seen it, but it’s a bucket load. I related a lot to Will, played by Hugh Grant because of my own circumstances and disposition. Will: ‘I am an island. I am bloody Ibiza!’.

There isn’t a scene in the film which I don’t enjoy watching. About a Boy constantly walks a tight rope constantly between witty and frivolous light comedy and serious drama. I think what I admire most about it, despite the fantastic performances and clever dialogue; is its salient message. And the movie delivers it in such a way as not to bludgeon the audience with ‘Dah, no man is an Island‘, but demonstrate through realistic and uncomfortable interactions (many of which are darkly funny) that we humans ARE social creatures. We require connection with other people even if some may be our polar opposite and be bothersome like 12-year-old Marcus is to Will.

IMDB Storyline:

Will, a rich, child-free and irresponsible Londoner in his thirties who, in search of available women, invents an imaginary son and starts attending single parent meetings. As a result of one of his liaisons, he meets Marcus, an odd 12-year-old boy with problems at school. Gradually, Will and Marcus become friends, and as Will teaches Marcus how to be a cool kid, Marcus helps Will to finally grow up.

About a Boy is an adaptation of the 1998 novel of the same name by Nick Hornby and nominated for an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. With a budget of US$30 million, the film grossed a worldwide total of $130.5 million. On Rotten Tomatoes the film holds an approval rating of 93% based on 187 reviews, and an average rating of 7.7/10.

Actors Hugh Grant and Toni Collette were nominated for a Golden Globe and a BAFTA Award, respectively, for their performances. When Toni followed this up after her immensely moving performance in The Sixth Sense (1999), I realised my fellow Australian was now in the big leagues. I also reviewed the movie Hereditary (2018) which she starred in and blew audiences away.

IMDB Trivia:

  • The shot of Will reflected in the mirror when he is depressed was actually taken when Hugh Grant was taking a break. The directors noticed him doing this and from behind he looked depressed, so they shot it without him knowing.
  • Brad Pitt turned down the lead role of Will Freeman on the grounds that it was implausible that someone so attractive would need to pretend to be a single father to meet women. He nevertheless appears in the film (sort of) – he is on the cover of an issue of “Esquire” magazine that Will is reading in his flat.
  • As Will describes web-based research as a “unit of time” in his day, he types the URL supermodelswithseethroughtops.com. This is an active Web site, consisting of a picture of Pope John Paul II in his “Pope-mobile”.
  • The quote “No man is an island” which Will jokingly attributes to Jon Bon Jovi, was actually written by John Donne in 1624, in his work “Meditation XVII”.

The scene I have presented below is one of many that make me chuckle called ‘A Depression free Life‘. Let me know what you thought of the movie. Thank you for reading.

References:
1. About a Boy (Film) – Wikipedia
2. About a Boy – IMDB

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Live it Up (1985) – Mental as Anything

Posted on April 27, 2023 by observationblogger — Leave a comment

I was with my Mom in Western Sydney when I was about 13 and we had to go the vet and while we visited I saw Greedy Smith, the lead singer of today’s track Live it Up. I believe it was the first time I saw someone famous in person. I was chuffed to put it mildly. Anyhows…It’s weird, but I like Live it Up more now than when when I first heard it.

Live It Up is a great Australian hit song. When I look back it seems more of a 60’s milkbar song than a song from the mid 80’s, but it hits all the right buttons for me. As is often the case the verses supersede the chorus, and you just wish for more verse time and less chorus; at least that is my appreciation of the song.

[Verse 1]
How can you see looking through those tears?
Don’t you know you’re worth your weight in gold?
I can’t believe that you’re alone in here
Let me warm your hands against the cold

[Verse 2]
A close encounter with a hard-hearted man
Who never gave half of what he got
Has made you wish that you’d never been born
That’s a shame ’cause you got the lot

[Chorus]
Hey there, you, with the sad face
Come up to my place and live it up
You, beside the dance floor
What do you cry for? Let’s live it up

Live it Up was released in 1985 in Australia and then Europe and America. Later it appeared in the movie Crocodile Dundee. I love the production of this song below in the milk bar setting. It’s really crafty and lends so much to the song. It even features the famous Australian ‘meat pie‘ which like ‘vegemite‘ I have been craving for over 14 years.

Greedy Smith said of the song:

“You know when I felt that was going to be a hit? When we finished mixing it. It took about half an hour to write in my head. But then two years to get it right. We had no idea of how big it would be.”

Live It Up appears on the band’s 1985 album, Fundamental. It was released in Australia as the album’s second single in May 1985. It spent 12 weeks in the Top 10, becoming the fourth biggest-selling single of 1985 in Australia. It reached top 20 in many countries. Greedy also recalled when Live It Up went to number three in the UK… ‘that was a special moment. It had been a hit in Australia but nobody was interested over there and in Europe. Then, when Crocodile Dundee came out, our record company over there said ‘Let’s put the poster on the single pack. After that, it was a huge hit‘.

References:
1. Live It Up (Mental As Anything song) – Wikipedia

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The AnkiDroid Collection (Part 38) – Mammal, Pituitary Gland & Baroque

Posted on April 26, 2023 by observationblogger — Leave a comment

Ankidroid additions related to Science, History and Philosophy. More information about Anki can be found in this article.

Mammal

Humans are mammals in the primate category.

Pituitary Gland

The Pituitary Gland is the endocrine gland (hypophysis) which sits at the base of the brain. It is about the size of a chickpea. Hormones are secreted to control stress, growth, reproduction, metabolism, lactation and water / salt concentration in the kidneys.

Baroque

Baroque is related to artistic characteristics and expression prevalent in the 17th century. It contains bold ornamentation and the juxtaposition of contrasting elements conveying a sense of drama such as grotesqueness, extravagance and flamboyance.

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Posted in Reading

Little Jeannie (1980) – Elton John

Posted on April 25, 2023 by observationblogger — 2 Comments
Elton John – Little Jeannie (Central Park, NYC 1980)

There are songs by Elton which have an American music vibe coursing through them despite Elton’s steeped English heritage and upbringing. Today’s song Little Jeannie is one such example and Philadelphia Freedom, Don’t Go Breaking My Heart and Tiny Dancer are three others. In the latter, Elton even projects an American twang in his voice.

I have always been fond of Little Jeannie because it seems a stylistic song locked in a time capsule. It’s a soft and mellow track from Elton which doesn’t grow old to my ears and always transports me back to my formative years and good times with family.

[Verse 1]
Oh, little Jeannie
You got so much love, little Jeannie
And you take it where it strikes
And give it to the likes of me
Oh, little Jeannie
You got so much love, little Jeannie
So I see you when I can
You make me all a man can be

[Chorus]
And I want you to be my acrobat
I want you to be my lover
Oh, there were others who would treat you cruel
And oh, Jeannie, you were always someone’s fool

Little Jeannie is a song written by Elton John and Gary Osborne and released as a single in 1980 from John’s album 21 at 33. It reached number three on the Billboard pop chart in the United States, becoming the singer’s biggest U.S. hit since 1976’s aforementioned Don’t Go Breaking My Heart (a duet with singer Kiki Dee). Despite its impressive performance in the US charts, Elton John has rarely performed Little Jeannie live, doing so only on his 1980 tour and during 2000’s One Night Only concerts.

References:
1. Little Jeannie – Wikipedia

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Listen to the Radio (1982) – Don Williams

Posted on April 24, 2023 by observationblogger — Leave a comment

Listen to the Radio was the principal song that hooked me onto Don William’s music. It was the title track and first single released in April 1982 from his album Listen to the Radio. Don (The Gentle Giant) sang a lot of music written by others including this song by Fred Knipe. The song reached number 3 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart.

Listen to the Radio is the fifth song from Don Williams to feature here at the Music Library Project and you can find so much back-story about Don’s career in those previous posts. His voice is my favorite to listen to in the classic – country music genre.

I guess as a lover I have a ways to go
When someone wants you they should just say it’s so
But you’ll understand if you’ll take my hand
And then we can dance real slow
To something on the radio

Listen to the radio
Oh, listen to the radio
‘Let’s spend the night together
Baby don’t go’
They sing it on the radio

I grew up on Don’s music since my Papa was an avid admirer. It didn’t take much time to envelop my father’s fascination in his music. He was one heck of a country artist and an inductee into the Country Music Hall of Fame. He also did community service when he got bored like mowing the high school baseball field and the city park. You can read more about that in the I Recall a Gypsy Woman article.

Fellow blogger Max at Powerpop told me he interacted with Don. He lived a few miles from where Max grew up about 30 minutes from Nashville.

‘He (Don Williams) was always nice to me and the people in town knew him, but he never acted like he was anything special‘.

Also, according to Max, Don was good friends with Eric Clapton (see image above). ‘Clapton really started to admire Don in the mid to late seventies. That is when Eric started to do some country tinged songs like Lay Down Sally and Promises. He covered one of Don’s songs on Slowhand…We’re All The Way…‘

References:
1. Listen to the Radio – Wikipedia

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Listen to the Music (1972) – the Doobie Brothers

Posted on April 22, 2023 by observationblogger — 1 Comment

I always enjoyed that line from Jack Colton played by Michael Douglas in Romancing the Stone – ‘Dammit man, the Doobie Brothers broke up! Sh*t! When did that happen‘?
When something bad happened as kids, my brother and I said “Aw man! The Doobie Brothers broke up!” Apart from this song I knew next to nothing about the Doobie Brothers until researching it here.

The Doobie Brothers did break up in 1982 but in 1987 they reformed. They are an American rock band formed in 1970 in San Jose, California. Today’s song Listen to the Music was recorded on their second album Toulouse Street and their first big hit.

[Verse 1]
Don’t you feel it growing, day by day?
People getting ready for the new
Some are happy, some are sad
Wo-oh-ah, we gotta let the music play
Mh-hm

[Verse 2]
What the people need is a way to make ’em smile
It ain’t so hard to do if you know how
Gotta get a message, get it on through
Oh now, mamma don’t you ask me why

[Chorus]
Woh-ho-ho, listen to the music
Woh-uh-oh, listen to the music
Woh-uh-oh, listen to the music
All the time

Writer Tom Johnston described the motivation for the song as a call for world peace:

“The chord structure of it made me think of something positive, so the lyrics that came out of that were based on this utopian idea that if the leaders of the world got together on some grassy hill somewhere and either smoked enough dope or just sat down and just listened to the music and forgot about all this other bullshit, the world would be a much better place. It was very utopian and very unrealistic (laughs). It seemed like a good idea at the time.”

The song remains a staple of adult contemporary and classic rock radio. The band also uses it as an encore song during live shows. The staff of Billboard rated it the Doobie Brothers‘ best song, saying that it “ranks high in the pantheon of rock n’ roll feel-good hits” and should “get your foot tapping and bring a bit of a smile to your face“.

Reference:
1. Listen to the Music – Wikipedia

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Linger (1993) – The Cranberries

Posted on April 21, 2023 by observationblogger — 12 Comments

I began the previous song article Dreams by The Cranberries with – ‘Can we all go back to the 90’s now‘? You know when Whitney Houston opens the 1991 Superbowl with this version of Star Spangled Banner that good times are in store.

Linger and generally The Cranberries material from this epoch encapsulated that carefree vibe and impressionable sound to a tee. Linger has an acoustic arrangement featuring a string section and became the band’s first major hit. It was voted by Australian Triple J listeners as number 3 on the Triple J Hottest 100, 1993 chart.

[Verse 1]
If you, if you could return
Don’t let it burn
Don’t let it fade
I’m sure I might be rude
But it’s just your attitude
It’s tearing me apart
It’s ruining everything
And I swore, I swore I would be true
And honey, so did you
So why were you holding her hand?
Is that the way we stand?
Were you lying all the time?
Was it just a game to you?

[Chorus]
But I’m in so deep
You know I’m such a fool for you
You’ve got me wrapped around your finger
Do you have to let it linger?
Do you have to, do you have to, do you have to let it linger?

When lead singer O’Riordan was auditioned as the lead singer for the band, she wrote the lyrics, turning it into a song of regret based on an experience with a 17-year-old soldier she once fell in love with. Drummer Fergal Lawler recalled:

We gave her a tape of the music for ‘Linger’, which she took with her. The following week she came back, and she had lyrics written out and melodies and she sang along to what we were playing, and it was like, ‘Oh, my God. She’s great’.

I’m going to finish this article with this immense quote from lead singer Dolores Mary Eileen O’Riordan which made me laugh out-loud:

“I remember when MTV first put Linger in heavy rotation, every time I walked into a diner or a hotel lobby, it was like, ‘Jesus, man, here I am again’. It was trippy, like Jacob’s Ladder. I didn’t even have to take drugs.”

Reference:
1. Linger (The Cranberries song) – wikipedia

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Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts (1975) – Bob Dylan

Posted on April 20, 2023 by observationblogger — Leave a comment

Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts is an epic ‘Western’ ballad and the third song to appear here from Bob Dylan’s 1975 masterpiece Blood on the Tracks. I consider Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts in the upper tier of Dylan’s musical output and a big part of the reason that Blood on the Tracks is considered one of the best albums ever made. I have loved this song for over 35 years… and it gets better every time I hear it!

Consummate with other stupendous music, I find myself discombobulated, wondering how Dylan realized Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts. I am listening to the same artist who wrote Visions of Johanna almost a decade earlier and yet the two genres, musical arrangement and themes couldn’t be further apart. But the lyrics are so damn good they evoke a picture for every line. ‘Visual music‘ is what they both have in common and when I listen, I retreat into total humility and awe.

[Verse 1]
The festival was over, and the boys were all planning for a fall
The cabaret was quiet except for the drilling in the wall
The curfew had been lifted and the gambling wheel shut down
Anyone with any sense had already left town
He was standing in the doorway looking like the Jack of Hearts

[Verse 2]
He moved across the mirrored room, “Set it up for everyone,” he said
Then everyone commenced to do what they were doing before he turned their heads
Then he walked up to a stranger and he asked him with a grin
“Could you kindly tell me, friend, what time the show begins?”
Then he moved into the corner, face down like the Jack of Hearts

Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts is known for its complex plot and nearly nine-minute running time. It is one of five songs on Blood on the Tracks that Dylan initially recorded in New York City in September 1974 and then re-recorded in Minneapolis in December that year; the latter version became the album track.

I think the only other songs I prefer ‘sentimentally’ over Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts from Blood on the Tracks are Tangled Up in Blue and If You See Her Say Hello; the latter I wrote about in September last year. These two like Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts don’t sound like any other songs I have ever heard.
With Blood on the Tracks, the manifestation of ‘a new music playing field‘ which was Like a Rolling Stone was relocated, re-landscaped, manicured and expanded.
To quote Edward Norton (again talking about Bob!):

Oh, you like what I’m doing? I’m gone..I’m over here..’enjoy’…You’re not gonna like it because you liked what I just did and now where I’m going you are going to be discombobulated and upset and eventually, you’re going to catch up and when you catch up, I’m going to move onto something else.

Dylan says that Blood on the Tracks was “an entire album based on Chekhov short stories. Critics thought it was autobiographical – that was fine “. According to his official website, Dylan has played the song live only once, on May 25, 1976, in Salt Lake City.

Reference:
1. Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts – Wikipedia

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