Team (2013) – Lorde

Posted on February 22, 2025 by observationblogger — 2 Comments

I first heard snippets of Lorde’s song Team in ESPN commercials promoting women’s sports. Its rousing, hypnotic rhythm and beat amplified the energy and appeal to me of both the individuals and their given pursuit. I just had to find the whole song and I’m grateful I did since I enjoy it so much. This is the second song to feature here from Lorde after her previous entry Liability. The New Zealand popstar born Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O’Connor (born 7 November 1996) gained attention performing at a talent show in her early teens. She signed with Universal Music Group in 2009 and later rose to stardom as a 16 year-old with her breakthrough single Royals.  

Team was the third single from her Debut LP Pure Heroine. It is is a hybrid of alternative pop and electropop featuring synthesiser, bass and snare drum instrumentation over a handclap based beat. The song was produced using the software Pro Tools. Lyrically, the track is a tribute to her friends and country. “I’m kind of over getting told to throw my hands up in the air. So there,” a lyric from Lorde’s song Team these raw but relatable lyrics reiterates a smell like teen spirit dirt on your shoe and chip on your shoulder angst. Lorde’s music proves difficult to categorize but its sonically atmospheric like Lana Del Rey‘s music.

Team peaked at No. 6 in the US and No.19 in Australia and No. 3 in New Zealand. By December 2014, Team had sold 2.45 million copies in the USA. The music video below was filmed in the abandoned Red Hook Grain Terminal in Red Hook, Brooklyn, the video’s content was inspired by Lorde’s dream of teenagers in their own world. On 12 November 2013, Lorde performed several songs from Pure Heroine during the Late Show with David Letterman to promote the album, including Team.

Wait till you’re announced
We’ve not yet lost all our graces
The hounds will stay in chains
Look upon Your Greatness and she’ll
Send the call out, send the call out

[Verse 1]
Call all the ladies out
They’re in their finery
A hundred jewels on throats
A hundred jewels between teeth
Now bring my boys in
Their skin in craters like the moon
The moon we love like a brother
While he glows through the room

[Pre-Chorus]
Dancin’ around the lies we tell
Dancin’ around big eyes, as well
Even the comatose
They don’t dance and tell

[Chorus]
We live in cities you’ll never see on-screen
Not very pretty, but we sure know how to run things
Livin’ in ruins of a palace within my dreams
And you know, we’re on each other’s team

[Post-Chorus]
I’m kind of over gettin’ told to throw my hands up in the air
So there

[Verse 2]
So all the cups got broke
Shards beneath our feet
But it wasn’t my fault
And everyone’s competing
For a love they won’t receive
‘Cause what this palace wants is release

References:
1. Team (Lorde song) – Wikipedia
2. Team Lorde – The Rider Online

Tagged with: , ,
Posted in Music

Professor Lazhar (2011) – Philippe Falardeau (Friday’s Finest)

Posted on February 21, 2025 by observationblogger — Leave a comment

A month ago in my Friday’s Finest segment I presented an article about The Book Thief – a movie about a young girl living with her adoptive German family during the Nazi era. It’s a wonderful family film which my children and I enjoyed twice over the Christmas holidays. I wrote how the young actress Marie-Sophie Nélisse (at the bottom – centre in the above image) was stellar in that film and low and behold just a week or so later I saw her again in today’s featured film – the Canadian French-language drama film called Monsieur Lazhar.

Monsieur Lazhar (English title: Professor Lazhar) tells the story of an Algerian refugee in Montreal who steps in to teach at an elementary school after the former full-time teacher dies by suicide. Professor Lazhar is like the antithesis of the ludicrousness and unrealism of the more popularly known School of Rock, offering a sobering and deeply human portrayal of the teacher-student relationship. While School of Rock thrives on exaggerated rebellion and comedic chaos, Professor Lazhar delves into the emotional complexities of education, grief, and resilience. The film was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the 2011 Academy Awards.

IMDB Storyline:
Bachir Lazhar, an Algerian immigrant, is hired to replace an elementary school teacher who died tragically. While the class goes through a long healing process, nobody in the school is aware of Bachir’s painful former life; nor that he is at risk of being deported at any moment. Adapted from Evelyne de la Cheneliere’s play, Bachir Lazhar depicts the encounter between two distant worlds and the power of self-expression. Using great sensitivity and humor, Philippe Falardeau follows a humble man who is ready to transcend his own loss in order to accompany children beyond the silence and taboo of death.

The following two paragraphs were extracted from the Wikipedia reference below:
The source material Bachir Lazhar is a one-character play, making it a challenge to adapt for the screen. However, the producers attended a performance with director Philippe Falardeau, and Falardeau expressed excitement about making a film version. Bachir Lazhar author Évelyne de la Chenelière suggested Falardeau cast comedian Mohamed Fellag as the protagonist. Falardeau learned how to contact Fellag by researching the comedian’s YouTube videos. Falardeau said he continuously consulted de la Cheneliere, allowing her to review screenplay drafts.

It was shot in Le Plateau-Mont-Royal, Montreal. There were 28 days of shooting, about an average time for a film to be shot in Quebec. The principal filming occurred in the summer so the production could use the school and so the educations of the child actors were not disrupted. Four of the shooting days occurred in the winter. Child actress Sophie Nélisse turned 10 shortly before shooting began.

Monsieur Lazhar is a heart-warming, but at the same time, heart-wrenching story of how people (whether it be children or adults) trying to come to terms with the loss of a family member (albeit for the children it was a teacher, but school, at that young age, can be something like a second home). Mohamed Fellaq puts in a superb performance as the new incumbent ‘teacher’, and we share in his earnest efforts at doing his best despite not being fully open about what he truly is or which his past contains.

This movie has a documentary feel when dealing with scenes involving the classroom, with a myriad of student characters performed by very charismatic young actors and actresses boasting naturalness in their delivery, that it makes it seem like a real class rather than a rehearsed one. What I find fascinating about this film is that it chose not to be too ambitious in finding a good conclusion, but introduces all the elements of restraint and helplessness by the characters. I forwarded a trailer of the movie below.

References:
1. Monsieur Lazhar – IMDB
2. Profesor Lazhar – Wikipedia

Tagged with: , , , ,
Posted in Movies and TV

Te Va a Doler (2003) – Maelo Ruiz

Posted on February 19, 2025 by observationblogger — 1 Comment

Te Va a Doler (You are Going to Hurt) was one of the first songs that made such a big impression on me after my arrival in Colombia. I still love hearing it when it comes on the radio here and my goodness is that often. The smoothness and profundity of Maelo Ruiz’s voice is impressive and the trumpeting and percussion is exquisite. I definitely recommend his live version performance at the end of this post which demonstrate those musical aspects in all its splendid glory including the audience reactions and interactions on stage.

So much fantastic music has featured here from the island Puerto Rico mainly of the ‘Salsa Rosa’ variety including today’s featured track. Well technically Ruiz is a New York City-born Puerto Rican Salsa singer who is identified within the Salsa romántica genre. Also, Te Va a Doler was written by the Salvadorean singer Alvaro Torres and you can listen to his ballad version here. So in short, El Salvador and Puerto Rico carry this song to us today.

Te Va a Doler at least lyrically is of the form ‘Despecho‘ which means out of spite and jealousy and remains a quite common theme in Latin music in general. The song expresses regret and a warning towards an ex-partner who made the wrong decision by leaving the narrator for someone else.

Maelo Ruiz, born Ismael Ruiz Hernández on October 22, 1966, in New York, USA moved to Puerto Rico with his family at the age of four. He began his formal music education at the age of 16, singing at the Antonio Paoli Free Music School in Caguas under the direction of Juan Pacheco.

Maelo Ruiz started his professional career at the age of 19 as the lead singer for Pedro Conga y Su Orquesta Internacional, where he recorded four albums and achieved significant success with hits like “No Te Quites la Ropa,” which sold over 50,000 units. In 1995, he released his first solo album, “Solo,” which spent four consecutive weeks at number one throughout Latin America.

I have presented below both the original studio version of Te Va a Doler from Maelo Ruiz’s 2003 album – En Tiempo De Amor (In the time of Love) and a live version.

A loose English translation follows:

[Verse 1]
It’s a shame that you’re like this
That you don’t like being led by the good
I don’t understand how you pretend to be happy
With that idiot who treats you like a nobody

[Pre-Chorus]
I know that one day you’ll need my love
And I’m not saying it out of spite even though it may seem like it
You made a mistake choosing between him and me
But you’re going to regret it for the rest of your life

[Chorus]
It’s going to hurt you
Sooner or later you’ll see what happens to you
When your skin no longer excites him and he abandons you
Or when you bitterly discover that he has someone else
It’s going to hurt you
As it’s hurting me now that you’re leaving me
But this love won’t last forever
And I’m warning you right now, better not come back

[Refrain]
(And I know it’s gonna hurt)
Sooner or later you’ll see what you get
When your skin no longer excites him when he kisses your mouth
(And I know it’s gonna hurt)
As it hurts me now
That you’re leaving me, that you’re leaving me
And so you don’t It matters
(And I know it’s going to hurt you)
I know that one day I’m going to miss you, my love

[Refrain]
(And I know it’s going to hurt you)
You made a mistake in choosing, you’re going to regret it
And so you won’t be able to live knowing that the pain is drowning you
(And I know it’s going to hurt you)
Because this love has to last forever

References:
1. Maelo Ruiz – Wikipedia
2. Álvaro Torres – Wikipedia

Tagged with: , ,
Posted in Music

Te Quiero Igual (1999) – Andrés Calamaro

Posted on February 18, 2025 by observationblogger — 1 Comment

Te Quiero Igual (I Love You the Same) is another gem from my favorite Latin rock artist, Andrés Calamaro. I was introduced to the music of the Argentine rock-great a few years ago by my daughter, Katherine, and I’ve been a fan ever since. Like a woman possessed, she played his phenomenal track Flaca (Skinny) on repeat – and I can’t blame her, as it has since become one of my favourite Latin rock songs too. Kat also introduced me to today’s featured track, Te Quiero Igual.
I’ll never forget the first time I watched the video below and realized that Calamaro was pulling off a pretty sweet Bob Dylan tribute, even incorporating the iconic signage imagery from Subterranean Homesick Blues. Also, when Calamaro sings repeatedly ‘Te Quiero‘ (I Want You) he’s channelling yet another Bob staple – yes you guessed it – I Want You.

Beyond its unmistakable Dylan-esque vibe, Te Quiero Igual stands out to me as a masterfully crafted song. Much like its sister track Cuando No Estás (When You Are Not Here), it encapsulates nearly everything I cherish about contemporary music, seamlessly blending poetic lyricism, raw emotion, and a wonderful production into a single alluring piece. It is a great testament to the complexity of love, acknowledging the pain of absence while still celebrating the love that remains. 

Te Quiero Igual comes from his double album Honestidad Brutal (Brutal Honesty), see image inset, which is considered one of his most acclaimed works. With 37 songs in total – one for each year of life that its author had at that time – positioned Calamaro at the top of the Spanish-speaking music scene, but not before working on it for a whole year.

During 1998 and early 1999, Calamaro went from recording studio to recording studio in Miami, Madrid, New York and Buenos Aires with the musicians who accompanied him on his tour. Among them were his brother Javier and Coti Sorokin. For 9 months, they recorded every day, spontaneously and as they came, around 100 songs that were later reduced to the final 37. Figures such as Pappo, Maradona, Mariano Mores, Daniel Melingo and Moris, among many others, participated in the sessions. This double CD was created after the breakup with his girlfriend, which is reflected in the songs. 

Calamaro added: “We were ready to record this album, even to never finish it. Much gratitude to all those involved in this unusual recording, ready for anything, in fifteen studios, in different countries, without stopping.“

In 2000, he recorded 103 songs in his five-CD album El Salmón.

A loose English translation follows:

I love you but you took the flower
And you left me the vase
I love you, you left me the ashes
And you took the ashtray
I love you but you took March
And you gave up in February
First, I love you the same

I love you, you took my head
And you left me my hat
I love you but you forgot April
In the closet but I love you the same
I don’t like to wait
But I wait for you anyway
First, I love you the same

I don’t know if I’m awake or my eyes are open
I don’t know if I’m awake or my eyes are open

[Verse 2]
I love you, I don’t know if I’m awake
Or my eyes are open
I know that I love you and that they’re waiting for me
More airports
I love you, you took the candle
And you left me the burial
First, I love you the same

References:
1. Andrés Calamaro recordó “Honestidad Brutal” a 20 años de haberlo lanzado – Filo.news

Tagged with: , ,
Posted in Music

Tarota (1979) – Mike Batt and Friends

Posted on February 17, 2025 by observationblogger — 7 Comments

Tarota marks the sixth song I’ve featured from Tarot Suite by Mike Batt and Friends – one of my all-time favorite albums. Inspired by tarot card imagery, the record masterfully blends orchestral elements with progressive rock and folk influences. No other album was played more in our house during my youth. My father adored it like no other, insisting it be played whenever my parents entertained friends. I, too, felt a deep urge to share it, introducing songs from Tarot Suite to my school friends, hoping they’d recognize its brilliance. And sure enough, during a makeshift camping trip, they confided that it was, indeed, the bee’s knees. To sum it up, I’d be lost without this record.

Mike Batt is a British composer, songwriter, and producer known for his eclectic musical style, blending classical orchestration with pop, rock, and folk influences. Tarot Suite was his traditionally difficult follow-up second album of which he had the following to say:

“The success of my first solo album, Schizophonia had spurred me on, and I wanted to make a truly cohesive album that had a dramatic concept on which to hang the ideas. I had always been fascinated by the artwork and the tradition of Tarot Cards. I wasn’t really that interested in the occult, – I suppose I was curious like anyone else, but I got to know the various Tarot packs and read a lot about them. I decided to write an album (“Tarot Suite”) which would once again combine my more experimental combination of rock and symphonic instruments and ideas with songs, some of which could be quite simple. Looking back, I think it was the most cohesive of my solo albums.”

This spectacular instrumental Tarota continues to impress me after all these years. The tarot cards of Justice and The Wheel of Fortune were presented on the album insert and linear notes to represent this song. The cinematic song is driven by an energetic, medieval-flavored melody that showcases Batt’s signature orchestration. The track features a fusion of rock elements, with prominent use of various electric guitar solos (even a country flavoured one towards the end) that sometimes overlap each other, lively string arrangements and a galloping percussion. Tarota like the rest of the record evokes a sense of adventure, mystery, and destiny – fitting themes for an album centred around tarot.

Tagged with: , ,
Posted in Music

Take This Waltz (1988) – Leonard Cohen

Posted on February 16, 2025 by observationblogger — Leave a comment

How Leonard Cohen weaves poetry into music so seamlessly is on full display in today’s track – Take This Waltz. Inspired by the Spanish poet Federico García Lorca, the lyrics of Take This Waltz are a loose translation, into English, of the poem “Pequeño vals vienés” (Little Viennese Waltz). It was originally issued as part of the 1986 Federico García Lorca tribute album Poets in New York – to commemorate the 50 years anniversary of the assassination of the poet by the Fascists in Spain in 1936.

Leonard Cohen’s rendition retains Lorca’s surreal vision, where “there’s a lobby with nine hundred windows” and “death comes in through a fiddle’s moan.” The result is a hypnotic waltz infused with an almost cinematic sense of nostalgia and longing. In fact the video below was filmed in Spain, in the city of Granada in 1986, famous for the Alhambra Castle. Leonard Cohen is shown in the house of Federico Garcia Lorca.

Two years after his 1986 original release, Cohen revisited Take This Waltz for his album I’m Your Man. This later version (which I have included below the 1986 video) added Raffi Hakopian’s violin and Jennifer Warnes’ vocals in overlayers. A longtime Cohen collaborator, Jennifer Warnes also included her own version of Take This Waltz in her 1987 Cohen tribute album, Famous Blue Raincoat which you can read more about in my friend Christian’s post – First We Take Manhattan. You may remember Warnes had big chart successes with Up Where We Belong and (I’ve Had) The Time of My Life.

According to Wikipedia Cohen’s eighth studio album I’m Your Man was received as follows:
I’m Your Man was hailed by critics as a return to form. It was number 1 in Norway for 16 weeks. The album went silver in the UK and gold in Canada. In the original Rolling Stone review, David Browne called it “the first Cohen album that can be listened to during the daylight hours.” Also interestingly, Tom Waits named it one of his favourite albums.

Now in Vienna there’s ten pretty women
There’s a shoulder where Death comes to cry
There’s a lobby with nine hundred windows
There’s a tree where the doves go to die
There’s a piece that was torn from the morning
And it hangs in the Gallery of Frost

Ay, Ay, Ay, Ay
Take this waltz, take this waltz
Take this waltz with the clamp on it’s jaws

Oh I want you, I want you, I want you
On a chair with a dead magazine
In the cave at the tip of the lily
In some hallway where love’s never been
On a bed where the moon has been sweating
In a cry filled with footsteps and sand

Ay, Ay, Ay, Ay
Take this waltz, take this waltz
Take its broken waist in your hand

This waltz, this waltz, this waltz, this waltz
With it’s very own breath of brandy and Death
Dragging it’s tail in the sea

There’s a concert hall in Vienna
Where your mouth had a thousand reviews
There’s a bar where the boys have stopped talking
They’ve been sentenced to death by the blues
Ah, but who is it climbs to your picture
With a garland of freshly cut tears?

Ay, Ay, Ay, Ay
Take this waltz, take this waltz
Take this waltz it’s been dying for years

There’s an attic where children are playing
Where I’ve got to lie down with you soon
In a dream of Hungarian lanterns
In the mist of some sweet afternoon
And I’ll see what you’ve chained to your sorrow
All your sheep and your lilies of snow

Ay, Ay, Ay, Ay
Take this waltz, take this waltz
With its “I’ll never forget you, you know!”

This waltz, this waltz, this waltz, this waltz …
With its very own breath of brandy and death
Dragging its tail in the sea

And I’ll dance with you in Vienna
I’ll be wearing a river’s disguise
The hyacinth wild on my shoulder
My mouth on the dew of your thighs
And I’ll bury my soul in a scrapbook
With the photographs there, and the moss
And I’ll yield to the flood of your beauty
My cheap violin and my cross
And you’ll carry me down on your dancing
To the pools that you lift on your wrist

Oh my love, Oh my love
Take this waltz, take this waltz
It’s yours now. It’s all that there is

{Instrumental}

(Ay, Ay, Ay, Ay)

References:
1. Take This Waltz (song) – Wikipedia

Tagged with: , , ,
Posted in Music

A Real Pain (2024) – Jesse Eisenberg (Friday’s Finest)

Posted on February 14, 2025 by observationblogger — Leave a comment

The latest Academy award nominated movies are starting to come out here; so over the next month or so I will be frequenting the cinema as I did this week seeing Companion and today’s featured movie – A Real Pain. Next week, I have The Brutalist and I’m Still Here lined up. Thereafter Conclave and A Complete Unknown. They will also be relaunching Se7en which I am looking forward to seeing with my son since he hasn’t seen it.

I wasn’t sure what to expect from Jesse Eisenberg’s directorial debut, A Real Pain, but the premise intrigued me. It also felt like a refreshing change of pace – a grounded, nuanced drama – after the explosive sci-fi spectacle of Companion, which I had just seen. A Real Pain turned out to be a smart, funny, and deeply emotional film that resonated with me on every cinematic level. As the credits rolled, I felt as though my companion and I had embarked on our own journey through Poland, honoring the Jewish experience during World War II. I had never seen a film that so vividly transported me to a place, making me feel as if I had been exploring the sights and absorbing the history alongside the protagonists – all for the price of a movie ticket.

IMDB Storyline:
“A Real Pain” follows mismatched cousins David (Jesse Eisenberg) and Benji (Kieran Culkin) as they reunite for a tour through Poland to honor their beloved grandmother, but their adventure takes a dark turn when the odd couple’s old tensions resurface against the backdrop of their family history.

The movie demonstrates Eisenberg as a thoughtful filmmaker, devoted to showing his characters as multi-dimensional, flawed human beings. Benji and David feel like real people, not cardboard cut-outs with one aspect to their personalities. The film is taut with unhappiness but allows itself to be funny. Each conversation in A Real Pain feels organic, almost improvised, yet carries an unusual, sometimes absurd, but never dull rhythm. There’s a darkly comic undercurrent to the dialogue that had me laughing out loud – even when the rest of the audience remained silent. But I didn’t mind; few films make me feel so present, so willing to let the seemingly trivial expressions, awkward pauses, and offbeat detours take me wherever they lead.

From one scene to the next, there’s no predicting how the protagonists will react or what unexpected remark will surface, yet every interaction crackles with authenticity. The film thrives on this unpredictability, toeing the line between discomfort and engagement, making even the most mundane moments feel oddly profound. Eisenberg masterfully captures the raw, messy nature of family connection, proving that sometimes, the most meaningful conversations are the ones that meander without a clear destination.

Beyond Jesse Eisenberg’s direction, the real revelation in A Real Pain is Kieran Culkin’s remarkable performance. It’s easy to see why he’s been nominated for Best Supporting Actor at the upcoming Academy Awards – his portrayal is nothing short of mesmerizing. The film’s title is no exaggeration, and Culkin carries that emotional weight masterfully, though it’s often masked by a facade of humor, impulsivity, and manic outbursts that can shift the mood of a scene in an instant.

What makes his performance so compelling is the delicate balance he strikes between deep, lingering pain and an almost frenetic charm. His interactions with the tour group oscillate between hilarity and heartbreak, leaving the audience in a constant state of intrigue. At times, he’s disarmingly tender; at others, he’s an unpredictable force of nature. This emotional duality is one of the most fascinating elements, inviting viewers to peel back the layers of his character long after the credits roll.

There is a lot more I admired about this movie, including the beautiful cinematography by Director of photography Michal Dymek captures some haunting imagery, from Poland’s cobble-stone streets and grim, post-Soviet architecture to the cold cruelty of a concentration camp. In addition, the music of Frédéric Chopin (who is Polish of course) is interwoven cleverly into the film, becoming a character in itself, his melancholy melodies seeming to heighten the drama and power of proceedings. Further, Robert Nassau’s editing ensures the film has a good pace, never wanting for momentum.

I highly recommend A Real Pain to the conscientious cinema goer. I hope it hits all your right buttons as it did for me. If you have already seen it I would love to know what you thought. Thank you for reading.

References:
1. A Real Pain (2024) – IMDB
2. A Real Pain – Wikipedia

Tagged with: , , , , , ,
Posted in Movies and TV

Do It Again (1968) – the Beach Boys

Posted on February 13, 2025 by observationblogger — 10 Comments

“He (Brian Wilson) remembers it being at my house. I remember it as being at his house. He starts pounding at the piano, I was summoning up the words and we got a chorus together, which was basically a bunch of doo-wop inspired harmonies. We created that whole song in fifteen minutes“.
– Mike Love

This is when music made people smile. Released in 1968 Do It Again was the Beach Boys attempt to channel their earlier surf image which they had not embraced since 1964. So it was back to the sun-drenched days of surf, sand, and carefree living that had defined the group’s early success. Although they were hardly what you’d call ‘grommets’, however in reality one of the founding members Dennis Wilson in 1983 was found dead in the waters after diving off a boat slip.
Carl Wilson recalled:
‘Yes, I suppose it has got the old Beach Boys surfing sound. It’s back to that surfing idea with the voice harmony and the simple, direct melody and lyrics. We didn’t plan the record as a return to the surf or anything‘..

By the late 1960s, the Beach Boys had ventured far beyond their early surf-rock roots. With Brian Wilson steering the ship, their sound had evolved into intricate studio masterpieces like Pet Sounds (1966). However, by 1968, the group found itself at a crossroads. Psychedelic rock was in full bloom, and their signature style was seen as something of a relic from a bygone era. So Do It Again as the title suggests is a song born out of pure nostalgia.

The following contains extracts from the Wikipedia article below:
Originally titled “Rendezvous“, the lyrics to the song were inspired after a day Mike Love had spent at the beach in which he had gone surfing with an old friend named Bill Jackson. Mike then showed the lyrics to his cousin Brian Wilson, who proceeded to write the music to Mike’s lyrics of nostalgia. Brian stated that he believes the song was the best collaboration that he and Mike ever worked on.

During the mixdown, engineer Stephen Desper came up with the drum effect heard at the beginning of the track. He explained that he had “commissioned Philips, in Holland, to build two tape delay units for use on the road (to double live vocals). [he] moved four of the Philips PB heads very close together so that one drum strike was repeated four times about 10 milliseconds apart, and blended it with the original to give the effect you hear.”

The single peaked at number one on the UK Singles Chart on August 28, 1968, 40 days after its release, and thus became the band’s second number-one hit in the UK after Good Vibrations two years earlier. Love remembered thinking that the song’s success in Britain “was unbelievable. It showed how many fans we had there and how attractive the whole California lifestyle is.” It remained at the top for only one week, after which it was supplanted by the Bee Gees‘ I’ve Gotta Get a Message to You.

[Verse 1]
It’s automatic when I talk with old friends
The conversation turns to girls we knew
When their hair was soft and long
And the beach was the place to go

[Verse 2]
With suntanned bodies and waves of sunshine
The California girls and a beautiful coastline
And warmed-up weather, let’s
Get together and do it again

[Chorus]
Do-do-do, do-do-do
Do, do-do-do-do
Do-do-do, do-do-do
Do, do-do-do-do
Do-do-do, do-do-do
Dum-de-doo-ron
Do-do-do, do-do-do
Do, do-do-do-do

[Bridge]
With a girl, the lonely sea looks good
With moonlight
Makes your night times warm
And out of sight (Been so long)
Do, do, do-do-do (Been so long)
Do, do, do-do-do (So long, been so long)
Been so long

[Guitar Solo]
Hey now, hey now, hey now, hey now
Hey now, hey now, hey now, hey now
Hey now, hey now, hey now, hey now

[Verse 3]
Well, I’ve been thinking ’bout all the places
We surfed and danced and all the faces
We miss, so let’s get
Back together and do it again
(Come and do it)

References:
1. The Beach Boys – Wikipedia

Tagged with:
Posted in Music

In The Making (2024) – Aisha Badru

Posted on February 12, 2025 by observationblogger — 2 Comments

Let’s start with soulful folk-pop singer-songwriter Aisha Badru who hails from New York. Her AllMusic bio notes she began playing guitar and singing during high school. After three years of non-music-related studies in college, she dropped out to pursue music. In 2016, a song from a self-released EP was licensed by an automaker for a marketing campaign. The resulting exposure led to a record deal and her April 2018 debut Pendulum. The beautiful In the Making, written by Badru, is from her sophomore album The Sun Still Rises. Her airy vocals drew me in right away.

– New Music Musings (November 30, 2024) at Christian’s Music Musings

Each post at Observation Blogger ends with the quote by French musical composer, conductor and jazz pianist – Michel Legrand: “The more I live, the more I learn. The more I learn, the more I realize, the less I know.” It emphasises the importance of lifelong learning and the humility that comes with it; leading us neatly into today’s featured track In The Making by Aisha Badru. This song is a statement of intent and a brave declaration of vulnerability, where Badru looks at how change affects her. 
Each Saturday, my blogger friend Christian at Christian’s Music Musings writes about brand new song releases and that’s where I first heard In The Making. I couldn’t recommend more highly his Saturday segment for anyone who appreciates music and is curious of the latest offerings.

As Christian stated above – Singer/songwriter Aisha Badru released In The Making as a single from sophomore album, The Sun Still Rises, which by the way, sounds awfully like one of my favourite books – The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway which I wrote a series on. Now back to Aisha Badru; Mark Buckley wrote in his article below about how the Nigerian-American artist: ‘Explores uncertainty and, at times, the resultant sense of indecision, it (In the Making) actually looks at those things not as flaws, but as staging posts on a journey to self-improvement and a brighter future‘.
Bardu explains further about the track, “In The Making is a reflection on personal evolution and the continuous journey of self-discovery. This song embodies the essence of change, the fluidity of identity, and the desire to break free from expectations.”

Painting a picture
Sculpting the clay
Who I was yesterday
I am not today
Floating down a river
The river of change
Things I saw yesterday I don’t see the same way

I could never be what you want me to be
My mind is changing endlessly
I’m breaking through every mold and expectation
Like when fire heats the sand
Where one form ends a new one begins
I am always in a state of creation

I’m still in the making (ohh)
I’m still in the making (ohh)

Weaving a fabric with my own hands
Telling a story with every strand
Holding my opinions, but never too strong
What I got right yesterday, what if I was wrong?

Reference:
1. New Music: Aisha Badru – In The Making – Analogue Trash
2. Aisha Badru’s “In The Making” Embodies The Essence Of Change – Wildfire Music and News

Tagged with: , ,
Posted in Music

Don’t You Want Me (1981) – The Human League

Posted on February 11, 2025 by observationblogger — 7 Comments

Don’t You Want Me by The Human League was the epitome of cool and sexy in my youth. For decades, it had slipped from my consciousness, only to magically appear to my senses recently like an old flame. The song is a shimmering time capsule of the early ’80s, where glossy synths and glam – infused production reigned supreme. Sure, that era often gets a bad rap for its excess – synth stabs, reverb, drum machines, but here, the overproduction doesn’t just work; it fits Don’t You Want Me like a glove. I also like the vocal interplay between Phil Oakey’s and Susanne Sulley’s which creates this cool, yet infectious tension.

Don’t You Want Me was released in the UK on 27 November 1981 as the fourth single from The Human League’s third album, Dare. The song had initially been intended for Philip Oakey to sing solo, but, inspired by the film A Star Is Born (1976), Oakey decided to turn it into a duet with Susan Ann Sulley, one of the band’s two female singers. For the lyrics, Oakey was inspired by a comic he read in a teen magazine. Oakey says that Don’t You Want Me is not really a love song, but “an unpleasant song about the politics of sexual power.”

Don’t You Want Me was the biggest selling single in England in 1981, reaching number one at Christmas, staying there for five weeks, and has since sold over 1.5 million copies in the UK, making it the 23rd most successful single in British singles history. In the United States, Don’t You Want Me topped the Billboard Hot 100 on July 3, 1982, staying there for three consecutive weeks. In November 1983, Rolling Stone magazine called the single a “breakthrough song.” In 2015, the song was voted the nation’s seventh favourite song by the British public.

[Verse 1: Philip Oakey]
You were workin’ as a waitress in a cocktail bar
When I met you
I picked you out, I shook you up, and turned you around
Turned you into someone new
Now five years later on, you’ve got the world at your feet
Success has been so easy for you
But don’t forget, it’s me who put you where you are now
And I can put you back down too

[Pre-Chorus: Philip Oakey]
Don’t, don’t you want me?
You know I can’t believe it when I hear that you won’t see me
Don’t, don’t you want me?
You know I don’t believe you when you say that you don’t need me
It’s much too late to find
You think you’ve changed your mind
You’d better change it back or we will both be sorry

[Chorus: Philip Oakey]
Don’t you want me, baby?
Don’t you want me? Oh
Don’t you want me, baby?
Don’t you want me? Oh

[Verse 2: Susan Ann Sulley]
I was working as a waitress in a cocktail bar
That much is true
But even then, I knew I’d find a much better place
Either with or without you
The five years we have had have been such good times
I still love you
But now I think it’s time I live my life on my own
I guess it’s just what I must do

References:
1. Curiosidades Musicales: Don’t You Want Me (The Human League) – 22 minutes con

Tagged with: , ,
Posted in Music

Follow Blog via Email

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 767 other subscribers

← Back

Thank you for your response. ✨