Gloria (1982) – Laura Branigan

Posted on October 23, 2022 by observationblogger — Leave a comment

I have heard the Spanish version of this song more in recent years than I have Laura Branigan’s cover version. It was composed initially in Italian by Umberto Tozzi and then translated into Spanish and then English. I just finished writing an email about a project to two ladies with the first name – ‘Gloria‘ and it reminded me of today’s featured track. It also reminded me of the Goodfellas wedding scene where every second woman in attendance is called ‘Marie‘, but that’s another story. So, I sent off Branigan’s release to the two Glorias in the same email and thought ‘What the heck, I’m going to write about it‘. I should have had Gloria in my Music Library Project anyhow.

Gloria, you’re always on the run now
Running after somebody
You gotta get him somehow
I think you’ve got to slow down
Before you start to blow it
I think you’re headed for a breakdown
So be careful not to show it

You really don’t remember
Was it something that he said?
Are the voices in your head calling, Gloria

Laura Ann Branigan was an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Her signature song, the platinum-certified 1982 single Gloria, stayed on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 for 36 weeks. It reached number one in Australia and Canada. I think the song Gloria was the most played song on Australian radio that I can remember during the 80’s. I never got tired of listening to it…. Just a stellar song and wonderfully sung. After the 80’s-decade closed, Branigan’s chart success began to wane and her last 2 albums garnered little attention, and she retired from public life for the rest of the 1990s.

Laura returned in the 2000’s to perform as Janis Joplin in the off-Broadway musical Love, Janis. As she was recording new music and preparing a comeback to the music industry, she died at her home in August 2004 from a previously undiagnosed cerebral aneurysm, just 52 years old.

In more recent times, the Branigan legacy has seen renewed popularity and public interest with the NHL’s St. Louis Blues using Gloria as their unofficial victory song while they completed a historic mid-season turnaround to win their first Stanley Cup in 2019.  Branigan’s legacy manager and representative Kathy Golik embraced the trend and traveled to St. Louis to publicly represent Branigan among the Blues fanbase during the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs, later stating her belief that Branigan and Gloria “will forever be intertwined” with the Blues and the city of St. Louis.

Reference:
1. Laura Branigan – Wikipedia
2. Gloria – Wikipedia

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Back in Time (2022) – Christina Perri

Posted on October 22, 2022 by observationblogger — Leave a comment

Back in Time is just a few months old, released in July 2022 on Christina Perri’s A Lighter Shade of Blue. I am so enamoured and by golly, did it ‘hit me for six’ upon first listen. Back in Time is one of the few songs which I hear for the first time and then set on repeat for half an hour because I like it more each subsequent listen and eventually send it to all and sundry. Argentinian Nathy Peluso’s ‘Nasty Girl‘ which is rap had the same effect on me recently.

Perri gives a master-class lesson on how to deliver a ballad in the first verse. I mean that quite technically. Her intonations, pauses and animated texture of voice is the stuff that only the best know how to do. How she pauses and sings ‘Ok‘ is really cool and instantly induces a smile and then when she sings, ‘I’m not sayin’ things were better then, But I wish I could see you smile at me again‘ makes the hair on my arms stand up on end. The melodic sequence, lyrics and her voice put me into a space which makes me gasp with appreciation and emotion.

If I had a time machine
That went right back to you and me
For a minute
I wouldn’t get in it
Okay, maybe I would climb inside
Press some buttons and turn the dial
To that summer
Where my heart felt younger

I’m not sayin’ things were better then
But I wish I could see you smile at me again

Pennsylvania-born singer-songwriter Christina Perri had a breakthrough hit in 2010 with her debut single ‘Jar of Hearts’ which is one of my favourite post 2000’s ballads and will feature here shortly. Words will be hard to summon when I have to write about that song, that’s for sure. Jar of Hearts was a hit across the globe, and it launched Perri’s debut album ‘Lovestrong’.

Back in Time is the second song to feature here from Perri. I wrote in my first article – Human, ‘Christina is just a wonderful talent and I’ve seen her ‘music’ in live videos, and she definitely replicates and at time supersedes her studio output‘. See her in Brazil singing Human. Ben Rector features on Back in Time where he and Perri reflect back on how you can’t turn back the clock. This is definitely one of those songs where the verses surpass everything else. I wish it focused more on what Perri did in the first verse and followed that for the remainder, because that is some sublime music right there.

Perri is such a gifted artist and since 2020 she has concentrated on processing her grief through her music. On November 10, 2020, Perri said she was experiencing pregnancy complications, and two weeks later, Perri said that her daughter, Rosie, was stillborn, stating: “She is at peace now and will live forever in our hearts.”

Updated:

At the time I was delving into Christina Perri’s material, You Tube sent me Alex and Jo’s version of Perri’s Back in Time. To say I was moved would be an understatement. I sent it to all in a blink of an eye. Alex and Jo told me 6 days ago they are huge fans of Perri:

Haha, it’s impossible Christina Perri can’t have any bad songs, every song is masterpiece she’s that brilliant… thank YOU for listening. Sending your family much love and happiness

Since I saw Alex and Joanna’s Back in Time, I have enjoyed other versions by the Serbian twins including today’s featured track I Know the End by Phoebe Bridgers and Lorde’s Liability. My family and I are big admirers of Lorde’s Team which will feature here when we work down the alphabetical list of songs in the project. Also, Alex and Jo do an amazing job of At My Worst – Pink Sweat$.

Reference:
1. Christina Perri – ‘Lighter Shade Of Blue’ Review
2. Christina Perri – Wikipedia

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Incident On 57th Street (1973) – Bruce Springsteen

Posted on October 22, 2022 by observationblogger — 5 Comments

From Bruce Springsteen’s 1973 record –The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle, I played the following 4 songs incessantly in my early adolescence:

4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)
Wild Billy’s Circus Story
Incident on 57th Street
New York City Serenade

These 4 songs enabled me to enjoy great story telling about topics and scenarios I wasn’t privy to, up until then. Not only did I appreciate the music, but I internalised the words because they transported me to another time and place. The first song on side 2 of that album Incident on 57th Street is today’s featured song. You can read the song lyrics without the music and it’s a wild ride. I wrote about another song from the record – 4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy) which pertains to these very early songs of Bruuuuce:

There was a small band of us at school who cherished his music. We felt through his (The Boss) music we could sidestep some of those landmines in middle school. You see, he had already loved and lost. He was someone much older than us and had got out the other end and was telling us stories of what he had seen and learnt growing up.

Johnny was sitting on the fire escape
Watching the kids playing down the street
He called down “Hey little heroes
Summer’s long but I guess it ain’t very sweet around here anymore”
Janey sleeps in sheets damp with sweat
Johnny sits up alone and watches her dream on, dream on
And the sister prays for lost souls
Then breaks down in the chapel after everyone’s gone

Incident on 57th Street is one of my favourite songs from his early career. Looking back on it, Incident and Sandy seems to me a key development in Springsteen’s songwriting career. Incident was the last song recorded for the record and Springsteen had been working on it under the working title “Puerto Rican Jane.” The song has parallels to Leonard Bernstein’s West Side Story in telling a Romeo and Juliet-like story with Latin American characters set in New York. Johnny is explicitly referred to as “a cool Romeo” and Jane as “a late Juliet”.

The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle is Bruce Springsteen’s second studio album. It was well-received critically but had little commercial success at the time, nationally but locally sold well. There was very little press, no advertisements in the trade papers and no release party, possibly because of Springsteen’s deteriorating relationship with Columbia Records. Springsteen and the E Street Band played the album in its entirety for the first time during a concert at Madison Square Garden. In the 2020 updated version of Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, the album was ranked at number 345.

Reference:
1. Incident on 57th Street – Wikipedia

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In This World (2002) – Moby

Posted on October 21, 2022 by observationblogger — Leave a comment

I was weighing up whether to add In This World to the project, so I listened to it again this morning. It’s mainly an instrumental electronic track which envelopes you – at least it did me. It’s debateable whether this track has aged well since its release due to its repetitive nature and the advancement in atmospheric – electronic music, but I found it still appealing to my ears. The song incorporates prominent vocal samples from Lord Don’t Leave Me by The Davis Sisters.

Lordy don’t leave me
All by myself

Sometimes I’m up
Now I’m almost level

18 is the sixth studio album by American electronica musician, songwriter, and producer Moby. It went to number one in 12 countries, including the UK, and reached number 4 in the US. The album went on to sell over 4 million copies worldwide. Richard Melville Hall known professionally as Moby is considered by some to be among the most important dance music figures of the early 1990s, helping bring dance music to a mainstream audience both in the United States and the United Kingdom.

The music video for In This World features aliens from a small asteroid, who are planning a mission to the Earth bringing customary Earth greetings, including “Hello“, “Hi“, and “Hola“.

Reference:
1. In This World (song) – Wikipedia
2. 18 (Moby album) – Wikipedia

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In the Mood (1983) – Robert Plant

Posted on October 20, 2022 by observationblogger — 5 Comments

In the Mood is a song I added to the project after hearing it on Max’s blog – Powerpop. The song sounded uncannily familiar to me, and after racking my brain I believe I located the source (or have I?). It’s called Safety Dance by Men Without Hats to feature later here in the Music Library Project. I don’t know if it’s because I originally heard In the Mood many moons ago or if the song reminded me so much of Safety Dance. That mystery will most likely remain unsolved.

I’m in the mood for a melody
I’m in the mood for a melody
I’m in the mood

I can make you dance
I can make you sing
I can make you dance
I can make you sing
If you want me too

In the Mood was from Robert Plant’s second solo studio album, The Principle of Moments (1983). The drummer on the recording was Genesis’ Phil Collins. It reached Number 4 on the charts. The song’s lyrics are not going to garner a Nobel Prize in Literature any time soon, but it’s a sweet listen. The funny thing is In the Mood and Safety Dance came out the same year. Just a coincidence?

References:
1. In the Mood (Robert Plant Song) – Wikipedia

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In the Ghetto (1969) – Elvis Presley

Posted on October 19, 2022 by observationblogger — 6 Comments

In the Ghetto was written by country music songwriter and singer Mac Davis. I’ve never been a big fan of the music by Elvis, but I appreciate his greatness and influence on music and there are some songs which hit home for me. This is one such song. Oh, and it appears based on audience feedback, Baz Luhrmann did a good job recently with his Elvis biopic – Elvis.
Regarding today’s song: the following listener’s quote of the song struck me:

Thankfully I had a very strong single mother who wouldn’t let me out of her sight hardly. At the time I resented it, but she did the right thing and kept me out of an unwise path. I pray for everyone in poverty.

As the snow flies
On a cold and gray Chicago mornin’
A poor little baby child is born
In the ghetto (In the ghetto)
And his mama cries
‘Cause if there’s one thing that she don’t need
It’s another hungry mouth to feed
In the ghetto (In the ghetto)

The Ghetto was originally titled The Vicious Cycle. It was part of Elvis’ comeback album and was his first top 10 hit in 4 years and he included it in his setlist during his return to live performances at the International Hotel in Las Vegas. Now isn’t it strange – In the Ghetto was a staple played to the richest able to see Elvis in Las Vegas. Interestingly “In the Ghetto” was covered by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds and was their debut single.

References:
1. In the Ghetto – Wikipedia

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The AnkiDroid Collection (Part 27) – Perception vs Perspective

Posted on October 19, 2022 by observationblogger — 2 Comments

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

Perception vs Perspective

I didn’t get much sleep Monday just passed because I listened to the entire Lex Fridmen’s podcast with ex CIA spy Andrew Bustamente. Fridmen asked Bustamente the question: What is the greatest spy-trick to generally improve anyone’s life? His answer (or words to the effect) were the following:

‘We all look at the world through our own perception. Perception is reality. It is unique only to you. That’s why people argue all the time. There is no advantage in trying to convince other people of your own perception. The way you win any argument or convince other people is when you replace perception with perspective. The way you get ahead in your career, your marriage, outsell or outrace is when you move off perception and into perspective.

Perspective is the art of looking outside of yourself; like an entity viewing the world from a third person or even more powerful – you sit in the other person’s shoes, sit in the seat of the person opposite you. And you think to yourself; what is their life like, what do they feel right now, and are they comfortable or are they afraid? What is the stressor they woke up with this morning? What is the stressor they will go to sleep with tonight? When you shift places with and get out of your own perception and into someone else’s perspective, now you are thinking like them, and it gives you an informational advantage. But what everyone is doing is thinking with their own perception and not from a different perspective. So, developing this practice of perspective gives you a superior advantage that the other does not have. If you do that to your boss; it’s going to change your career, to your spouse it will change your marriage, to your kids – your family legacy.

It’s not about empathy which is sympathising with another’s feelings, it’s about seeing another’s world view and logic – both left and right brain hemispheres. It is understanding what actions they are going to take because basically you’re telling them the story that’s in their own head. People want community; someone that understands and validates them. That I am with you in this time and moment – feelings aside. That is powerful and intimate.‘

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Posted in Reading, Reflections

In Reverse (2014) – The War on Drugs

Posted on October 18, 2022 by observationblogger — 8 Comments

In Reverse is the third song to appear here from one of the most popular ‘Americana’ bands – The War on Drugs to sweep the music-world in the last decade. It’s an atmospheric and dreamy-vibe song which meanders for a good while and the listener uncertain where it will go. A bit like how the writer unveils himself, but this song eventually coalesces into something special…. If you look hard enough, you may find it. And this 2014 album ‘Lost in the Dream‘ took over 2 years for the band to get right. You can see the journey of this dream represented in In Reverse, the last song from the album.

You’ve been out in the street
Talkin’ ’bout the war with me
In the background is the night
Don’t wanna hesitate
Well, they tell me where you’re hidin’
But through the haze, there’s no one there
Wonderin’ if you care
Callin’ out your name in the darkness

When I’m done with my time here
And my keepsake is strollin’
Through the railways
But I never mind goin’
And I realize now
That the road is bare
And I hear it all
Through the grand parade

The 2014 album ‘Lost in the Dream‘ is one of the most acclaimed by critics and public in that year. The Pitchfork‘s Stuart Berman remarked that the album is “loaded with songs whose greatness is revealed slowly, where the simplest, most understated chord change can blow a track wide open and elevate it from simply pretty to absolutely devastating.’

According to Genius.com about In Reverse:

This is the most obvious Bob Dylan influenced song on the album. On how this track came together, frontman Adam Granduciel (lead singer and guitarist) explained in an interview:

“In Reverse” is one song that’s surprises me I wrote it. It’s one of those things that came about from mixing and arranging. At the last minute I started changing the song around. Now it’s a unified piece I can’t believe I fucking put this together….’

References:
1. Lost in the Dream – Wikipedia

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10/10 – 16/10/22 – Fact Checkers, Paulo Freire & Tulsi Gabbard

Posted on October 17, 2022 by observationblogger — Leave a comment
news on the march

Welcome to Monday’s News on the March – The week that was in my digital world.

Who Fact Checks the Fact Checkers?
Video presentation at Dr. John Campbell

I consider Dr. John Campbell one of the most important YouTube channels around today regarding facts surrounding the vaccines and the Pandemic. I admire his honesty, clarity and integrity.

‘..thousands of people have been writing in, asking who do we trust – how do we know what the evidence is? And that is what we are going to be talking about in the video. And I have been very concerned about this. It’s never been as eroded as this in my long career as far as I can remember.‘ (View video presentation here)

How Paulo Freire Made Marxism Stupid
Audio podcast with James Lindsay at New Discourses

In last Wednesday’s ‘Ankidroid Collection’ post I discussed the concept of Dialectics and its association with the history of Leftism. James Lindsay’s audio presentations on the subject of Marxism are engaging and educational. Today’s presentation on the impact of Paulo Freire, who was the leading advocate of critical pedagogy, is no exception.

Paulo Freire is a Brazilian Marxist who is responsible for “Marxifying” education thereby ruining it. In effect, what he did was created a Marxist Theory of being educated and what this did, in turn, was create a Marxist Theory of knowledge and knowing. Who gets to be considered a knower? On what grounds? To whose benefit? Who decides? All of these questions are to be answered on (Critical) Marxist grounds. (Listen to audio podcast here)

# – Tulsi Gabbard
Video interview at The Joe Rogan Experience – Spotify

Tulsi Gabbard is a Former United States Representative, Iraq War veteran, political commentator, and host of the podcast “This is Tulsi Gabbard.” http://www.tulsigabbard.com (Video interview at here)

news on the march the end
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In My Secret Life (2001) – Leonard Cohen

Posted on October 16, 2022 by observationblogger — 2 Comments

When I began exploring Leonard’s music, this is one of the first songs outside out of his classic cannon that I was drawn to. In My Secret Life is a solid song from Leonard. Not in his top tier songs by any stretch but it’s firm and treads a beaten path. I think it’s a good introductory song to Leonard for anyone unaccustomed with his music, because it’s no frills – Leonard. This is the third song to appear here from the album Ten New Songs, released in 2001.

I saw you this morning
You were moving so fast
Can’t seem to loosen my grip
Well on the past
And I miss you so much
There’s no one in sight
And we’re still making love
In my secret life
In my secret life

The song was performed by Leonard and Sharon Robinson. Sharon’s voice appears a lot on Leonard’s later records. She was a frequent writing collaborator and has written songs for the likes of Don Henley and Roberta Flack.

The dystopian video scenes of this song in the official video below are alluring as well. It was filmed in Montreal at Habitat 67 famous for its futuristic take on architecture and was built by Jewish architect Moshe Safdie.

The lead response to the song (video below) I found enlightening:
Shanti: Leonard made me realise instead of running away from my misery it is ok to just sit with all of it and make peace with it.

References:
1. In My Secret Life – Wikipedia

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