On a Day Like This (2003) – David Bridie

Posted on November 10, 2023 by observationblogger — 11 Comments

Like fellow Australian singer-songwriter Kasey Chambers yesterday, David Bridie is no stranger to this blog. I’ve lost count how many posts have appeared here from him as a solo artist and his folky and rootsy band – My Friend The Chocolate Cake. Today’s featured track On a Day Like This reflects more than any other song how the album (Hotel Radio) radiates a sensual summer’s warmth with an expansive sense of mystery. It possesses an earthy and breezy Australian sound, creating an atmosphere akin to what a Tim Winton novel might conjure.

You see that man slumped by the corner
Swigging on a tin can
Half filled with brandavino, it’s the middle of the day
And on a day like this it’s the drink that makes them colourful;

He goes waltzing round the garden wall
He’s casting demons from his battered soul
A cold wind cuts from the south side all the shoppers go inside
And on a day like this it’s the drink that makes them colourful

The mighty cliff, the barren sea
A heart that is ringing out for me
Push on ’til you feel complete
Happy dancing dusty feet

Out front of the amusement hall
A laugh when you think of it all
Takes the panic edge off the waiting ’til the fortnight comes round

And away from any evidence
The Major pushes zero tolerance
So the girl who thinks that she’s Jesus faces jail for her crimes

And on a day like this it’s the drinks that makes them colourful
And on a day like this it’s the drink that makes them wonderful
And on a day like this it’s the drink that makes them colourful

For we are young and free….this wonderful country

I’ve always considered David Bridie as musically Australia’s best kept secret. Despite his profound influence on the Australian music industry and the composition of soundtrack music, with credits for over 100 feature films he is hardly a household name. Let this sink in; today’s song has just 16 views in 5 months on YT. Yet he is my favourite Australian singer-songwriter and I count myself blessed that I have seen him perform many times and talked to him between sets. Much of Bridie’s work is still shrouded in obscurity, usually finding its way out of Australia when the singer occasionally tours his material.

Reference:
1. David Bridie – Wikipedia
2. Wake to a Dream: An Interview with David Bridie – Pop Matters

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On A Bad Day (2001) – Kasey Chambers

Posted on November 9, 2023 by observationblogger — 24 Comments

On a Bad Day is the fifth song to be presented here from Australian country music singer Kasey Chambers’ second album Barricades and Brickwalls. It is one of my all time favourite Australian albums and was listed in 100 Best Australian Albums.
Wikipedia states: The album would end up going platinum in 2002, becoming the highest selling album by an Australian artist in that year, along with the highest selling single.

I remember when, where and what I was doing when I first-heard this album. It was a hot summer day back in 2002 and I was driving my car through Crib Point on my way to Hastings in South East Victoria, Australia and I turned on ABC radio (which always hosted great non-commercial music like the Go-Betweens etc) and I heard….(Am I) Not Pretty Enough the first song to feature here from Kasey. It reached No1 on the ARIA singles charts in 2002, where it remained at the top spot for 4 weeks.

Every time my tears have ever fallen
I keep them in my pocket for a rainy day
So when its pouring I take them outside
I let the rain start washin’ my tears away

But on a bad day when hearts are breaking
There’s not enough rain to carry all the tears away

Every time I’m blue I take my feeling
I hold it tighter and I don’t let go
And when the sky gets whiter and the air is colder
I throw my feeling to the fallen snow

But on a bad day when hearts are breaking
There’s not enough snow to carry all the blues away

Today’s song On a Bad Day was a sleeper track for me. Its soft and smooth sound has grown on me over time. Apart from Kasey Chambers obvious talent and superior singing voice, I always admired her down to earth and Aussie next-door girl demeanour. Kasey born on June 4, 1976, is arguably Australia’s most popular country music performer, with three consecutive albums reaching No1 on the Australian album charts in 2002, 2004, and 2006, each achieving multi-platinum sales.

References:
1. Barricades and Brickwalls – Wikipedia

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The AnkiDroid Collection (Part 47) – Deracinate, 5th Generation Warfare & Amygdala

Posted on November 8, 2023 by observationblogger — 1 Comment

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

Deracinate (vb)

I heard Douglas Murray mention this term in a recent podcast and my Ankdroid came a callin’.

Deracinate is to remove or separate from a native environment or to remove the ethnic characteristics or influences from.

5th Generation Warfare

I mentioned 5th Generation Warfare in the post: ‘The Future of War Video’ and Political Grace (The Art of Disagreeing Well).

5th Generation Warfare is conducted through non kinetic military action such as social engineering, misinformation, cyber-attacks and Artificial Intelligence.

Amygdala

‘It’s clear that we have problems. In order to get ourselves cognitively organised and rallied around them we have to have a way of articulating them without it tripping all of our amygdala land mines‘ – Narrative, Metaphor and Hyper-Novelty.

The amygdala is one of two almond-shaped clusters of nuclei located deep and medially within the temporal lobes of the brain’s cerebrum. Shown to perform a primary role in the processing of memory, decision making, and emotional responses (including fear, anxiety, and aggression), the amygdalae are considered part of the limbic system.

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Pixie Dust (2023) – Christina Perri (Special Edition Dust)

Posted on November 7, 2023 by observationblogger — 14 Comments

You did read that correct…this is a Special Edition ‘Dust’ post. Guess who just popped their head out from the motherhood covers to deliver us another classic song? The one and only Christina Perri. On October 20, my favourite female contemporary music artist released ‘Pixie Dust‘ a lullaby dedicated to her daughter Pixie’s first birthday. It is from her brand new lullaby album Songs for Pixie. What makes this release even more momentous is it is the first time I have ventured forward in the alphabetic listing of songs in my Music Project to present a song such is my excitement about its release.

Like her other songs presented here Pixie Dust 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. Perri gives master-class lessons on how to deliver a ballad. I mean that quite technically. Her intonations, pauses and animated texture of voice is the stuff that only the best know how to do. And here in Pixie Dust she outdoes herself even, if that is even possible. If you could harness the best of what A.I. could produce from Perri’s music back catalogue and lyrics then Pixie Dust is it.

We’ve been waiting for little sister
With roses in our garden
Then like magic, you appeared
In our hearts, the healing started

Moonlight
You shine bright

All at once
You’re what our dreams are made of
Wrapped up in love
With a little faith and trust and pixie dust

You turn the light on, in the dark
And it sparkles when I hold ya
There’s a story, in your name
That I’ll tell you when you’re older (Read the remainder here)

Perri shares on Instagram alongside a video of her gently singing “Pixie Dust” a capella as she shows off the album that sits inside a case surrounded by crystals. Songs for pixie continues Perri’s tradition of releasing lullaby albums in honor of her three daughters. She released songs for carmella in 2019 and songs for rosie in 2021. Rosie was stillborn in 2020 and the album was released on what would have been her first birthday.

“I’ve also learned over time, and as a songwriter progressing in my craft, I’ve learned to go and dig deeper and deeper and deeper,” she explained to American Songwriter in 2022. “And if I’m not feeling better, I haven’t hit the core of that emotion yet. I have to keep singing about it until I feel better, which I think is the magical thing about songwriting.”

I think she has achieved that with Pixie Dust. This is a fantastical voyage into the mystique and exhilaration of Motherhood. I feel grateful to be witness to this legendary art.

Reference:
1. Christina Perri Releasing Lullaby Album, ‘songs for pixie’ – American Songwriter

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All The Tired Horses (1970) – Bob Dylan

Posted on November 6, 2023 by observationblogger — 3 Comments

I always enjoyed listening to Bob Dylan’s ridiculed 1970 record Self Portrait starting with today’s featured track All the Tired Horses which opens the double album. I like the beautiful interplay of voices and instruments on All the Tired Horses. It’s where simplicity and sophistication intersect and eventually collide into a spectacular array of sound….yes it repeats one lyric over and over, but each and every line has a different musical progression.

All the Tired Horses is most notable for its absence of Dylan’s singing. It consists of a small choir of female voices (Hilda Harris, Albertine Robinson, and Maeretha Stewart) repeating the same two lines to the same melody for 3 minutes and 14 seconds, with varying instrumental accompaniment. In the key of C major, this song consists musically of the chord structure C-Am-Em-G repeated throughout.

All the tired horses in the sun
How’m I s’posed to get any ridin’ done? Hmm.

All the Tired Horses was used in the 2001 film Blow and covered by Lisa O’Neill and used in the last scene of the 2022 finale of the TV series Peaky Blinders.

In my previous entry from the album I Forgot More Than You’ll Ever Know Dylan said the following about the Self Portrait album (which he also called his own bootleg record):

There’d be crowds outside my house. And I said, “Well, fuck it. I wish these people would just forget about me. I wanna do something they can’t possibly like, they can’t relate to. They’ll see it, and they’ll listen, and they’ll say, ‘Well, let’s go on to the next person. He ain’t sayin’ it no more. He ain’t givin’ us what we want,’ you know? They’ll go on to somebody else,”

References:
1. All the Tired Horses – Wikipedia
2. Self Portrait – Bob Dylan

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All Things Must Pass (1970) – George Harrison

Posted on November 5, 2023 by observationblogger — 49 Comments

As I grow older and a little bit wiser, some music artists like George Harrison leave an indelible mark or feel like a kindred spirit the more I hear from them. Today’s track All Things Must Pass is another one of his post Beatles songs I wish I had heard earlier in my life. It’s a song that puts me into a mature and softened mind-state. The emotion in George’s voice shines through.

Most of the following is sourced from the 2 Wikipedia references below:

All Things Must Pass (the song) is the title track of George Harrison’s first solo record and the second entry here from the record after Isn’t It it a Pity. The composition reflects the influence of the Band’s sound and communal music-making on Harrison, after he had spent time with the group in Woodstock, New York, in late 1968. Harrison spent Thanksgiving and much of December in upstate New York, where he renewed his friendship with a now semi-retired Dylan and took part in informal jam sessions with the Band.

In his lyrics, Harrison drew inspiration from Timothy Leary’s poem All Things Pass, a psychedelic adaptation of the Tao Te Ching. The words and music combine to reflect impressions of optimism against fatalism. 
The Beatles had rehearsed the song in January 1969 but did not include it on their Let It Be album. Music critic Ian MacDonald described All Things Must Pass as “the wisest song never recorded by The Beatles“.

Sunrise doesn’t last all morning
A cloudburst doesn’t last all day
Seems my love is up and has left you with no warning
It’s not always gonna be this gray

[Chorus]
All things must pass
All things must pass away

[Verse 2]
Sunset doesn’t last all evening
A mind can blow those clouds away
After all this, my love is up and must be leaving
It’s not always gonna be this gray

[Chorus]
All things must pass
All things must pass away

On 25 February 1969, his 26th birthday, Harrison entered Abbey Road Studios alone and recorded a demo of All Things Must Pass. With Ken Scott serving as engineer, he recorded two takes of it, adding extra electric guitar onto the second. This version was eventually released in 1996 on the Beatles’ outtake collection Anthology 3.

Things Must Pass (the record) was co-produced by Harrison and Phil Spector. Many musicians contributed to the album, including Eric Clapton, Ringo Starr, Billy Preston, Pete Drake, Gary Wright, Klaus Voormann, members of Badfinger, players from Delaney and Bonnie band, and John Barham. The triple-LP topped charts around the world and earned universal acclaim as a rock masterpiece. 

Reference:
1. All Things Must Pass – Wikipedia
2. All Things Must Pass (song) – Wikipedia

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California Dreamin’ (1965) – The Mamas & the Papas

Posted on November 4, 2023 by observationblogger — 12 Comments

California Dreamin’ is one of the most instantly recognisable pop tunes from the 1960’s. It became a signpost of the California sound, heralding the arrival of the nascent counterculture era. I must have heard this song a thousand times but it never disappoints. The Mamas & the Papas were a leading vocal group of the 60s from New York. The group recorded and performed from 1965 to 1968, releasing five albums and charting ten hit singles that hold up as well today as they did back in the sunshine era. The foursome hit it big immediately after forming The Mamas & the Papas with today’s featured track California Dreamin‘, still their most recognizable and enduring song.

[Chorus 1]
All the leaves are brown (All the leaves are brown)
And the sky is gray (And the sky is gray)
I’ve been for a walk (I’ve been for a walk)
On a winter’s day (On a winter’s day)
I’d be safe and warm (I’d be safe and warm)
If I was in L.A.(If I was in L.A.)
California dreamin’ (California dreamin’)
On such a winter’s day

[Verse]
Stopped in to a church
I passed along the way
Well, I got down on my knees (Got down on my knees)
And I pretend to pray (I pretend to pray)
You know the preacher liked the cold (Preacher liked the cold)
He knows I’m gonna stay (Knows I’m gonna stay)
California dreamin’ (California dreamin’)
On such a winter’s day

The name of the band was inspired by a daytime television talk show. Wanting an easier name to remember, they were sitting around their house (which all four band members initially shared) brainstorming on a new name. Someone switched on the TV and a talk show was on with a Hells Angel. The first thing they heard was: “Now hold on there, Hoss. Some people call our women cheap, but we just call them our Mamas.” Cass jumped up and exclaimed, “Yeah! I want to be a Mama!” Michelle chimed in that she wanted to be a “Mama” too. John and Denny looked at each other and John said, “Papas? Okay, problem solved.” And the band had a new name.

The single California Dreamin‘ was released in late 1965 but was not an immediate breakthrough. After gaining little attention in Los Angeles, a radio station in Boston was the catalyst to break the song nationwide. After making its chart debut in January 1966, the song peaked at No. 4 in March on the Billboard Hot 100, lasting 17 weeks. California Dreamin‘ was the top single on the Billboard end-of-the-year survey for 1966.  

References:
1. California Dreamin’ – Wikipedia

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The Crow (1994) – Alex Proyas (Friday’s Finest)

Posted on November 3, 2023 by observationblogger — 7 Comments

Last week we featured the biopic of martial arts legend Bruce Lee in Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story and today we pay homage to his son Brandon Lee who appeared in his final film – The Crow. Dragon was less than two months away from opening when Brandon Lee died on the set of The Crow March 31, 1993. I haven’t revisited The Crow in many years, but I did watch it incessantly after it came out. I even owned the VHS Cassette.
The Crow is a dark, gothic supernatural superhero movie that is set in a lawless metropolitan city. It is based on the 1989 limited comic book series of the same name by James O’Barr. The viewing experience is all the more disturbing considering the fate of its protagonist Brandon Lee.

I found The Crow a beautifully-filmed, engrossing and touching thriller. I’d recommend it to anyone who has a fondness for weird gothic mythological stories. The script is superior to other films I’ve seen of this genre. As for Brandon Lee, this really was a superb performance. This film is a fitting memorial to a fantastic talent who undoubtedly would have become a major star.
So it’s said, the Crow of all birds is the one charged with the special mission of bringing souls to heaven once they’ve departed this mortal coil. But when one soul leaves behind some business that really needs finishing The Crow can bring you back. Such is the premise of the film. The Crow is where Brandon Lee is brought back to the mortal coil on a vengeance quest.

IMDB Storyline:

A poetic guitarist Eric Draven is brought back to life by a crow a year after he and his fiancée are murdered. The crow guides him through the land of the living, and leads him to his killers: knife thrower Tin-tin, drugetic Funboy, car buff T-Bird, and the unsophisticated Skank. One by one, Eric gives these thugs a taste of their own medicine. However their leader Top-Dollar, a world-class crime lord who will dispatch his enemies with a Japanese sword and joke about it later, will soon learn the legend of the crow and the secret to the vigilante’s invincibility.

Production on The Crow was struck by tragedy when Lee was fatally wounded by a prop gun during filming. As Lee had finished most of his scenes before his death, the film was completed through script rewrites, a stunt double, and digital effects. The film is dedicated to Lee and his fiancée, Eliza Hutton. Eliza Hutton supported Alex Proyas’ decision to complete the movie. It’s a terrible loss when youy consider how much Brandon Lee was bursting with talent, good looks and cat like reflexes like his father who also was tragically taken away all too soon. The film received positive reviews from critics. It was a sleeper hit at the box office and grossed $94 million on a $23 million budget and gained a strong cult following. The success of the film led to a media franchise. 

Interesting Trivia from IMDB:

  • Although he was not at fault for the death of Brandon Lee, Michael Massee stopped acting for a year because he was so traumatized by the incident. (His next film was a small role in Se7en (1995).) Up until his death in 2016, he had never watched the film.
  • Alex Proyas said that Brandon Lee was unhappy with the way his face paint looked when the makeup department applied it to him before shooting. Lee and Proyas then agreed that it would look best if Lee applied his own makeup every night before going to bed so that when he woke up his face paint would naturally look more worn out.
  •  James O’Barr didn’t like casting Brandon Lee as the main lead for his comic-book adaptation. But he was thrilled when he first met Brandon on the set with the makeup and Crow outfit. He was amazed by Brandon’s take on the character when he spoke the exact lines from the comics.
  • With his profits from the film, James O’Barr bought his mother a car, and a surround system for himself, then donated the rest. “I was really good friends with Brandon, so it just felt like blood money to me,” he said at a comics convention in 2009. 
  • Brandon Lee lost 40 lbs for the role.
  • (at around 47 mins) The latter part of the scene in Albrecht’s apartment was ad-libbed by Brandon Lee and Ernie Hudson. The line about Shelley (“Believe me, nothing is trivial“) was not in the script.
  • Even though the movie, based on the comic, is called ‘The Crow’, none of the birds used in the film were actually crows. All of them were in fact ravens, which are much larger than crows and have a longer, more impressive beak.
  • River Phoenix and Christian Slater turned down the role of Eric Draven.

References:
1. The Crow (1994 film) – Wikipedia
2. The Crow (1994) – IMDB

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Posted in Movies and TV

All Over You (1994) – Live

Posted on November 2, 2023 by observationblogger — 4 Comments

I remember when Live‘s outstanding record Throwing Copper came out in 1994. It was the bee’s knees and played everywhere. I didn’t hear any other music by them except from this album. Today’s song transports me to where I lived at the time Mornington, Southeast Melbourne and the golden – age rock scene. It seems to me ‘The Nineties‘ was a good decade in many respects and the music during that era reflected it. But has their music aged well? My previous entry from them – Lightening Crashes received just 4 ‘likes’ which is low even by my meagre readership.

All Over You was released on the band’s third studio album Throwing Copper. This monumental record has other excellent songs on it like Selling the Drama, Hold Me Up, and Lightening Crashes. The cover art (see insert) is a painting by Scottish artist Peter Howson titled Sisters of Mercy. On September 23, 2005, it was sold for $186,000 by Christie’s in New York. 

Throwing Copper has generally been regarded as Live‘s best album, having sold over 8 million copies and certified 8× platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. All Over You was never released as a single in the US, but it reached #33 on the Billboard Hot 100 Airplay chart. A Rolling Stone review stated that the band “strived for an epic sound” and considered the musicians to be “expert players [who] drop musical smart bombs with unerring precision“.

Our love is like water
Pinned down and abused for being strange
Our love is no other
Than me alone, for me all day

Our love is like water
Pinned down and abused, ayy

All over you, all over me
The sun, the fields, the sky
I’ve often tried to hold the sea
The sun, the fields, the tide

Pay me now, lay me down
Oh, yeah

References:
1. All Over You (Live song) – Wikipedia
2. Throwing Copper – Wikipedia

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The AnkiDroid Collection (Part 46) – Pleasure Chemicals, The Renaissance & Carbohydrates

Posted on November 1, 2023 by observationblogger — 1 Comment

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

Dopamine and Serotonin

Dopamine and Serotonin are neurotransmitters (chemical messengers that communicate via neurons) that help regulate many bodily functions and emotions.
Dopamine is involved in movement, coordination and feelings of pleasure and reward. It signals rewards or promises of rewards.
Serotonin is associated with feelings of happiness and calmness. It also affects digestion, metabolism and sleep.

The Renaissance

Florence: The Center of Early Italian Renaissance Art

The Renaissance is the period in European history (covering the 15th and 16th centuries) marking the transition from the Middle Ages to Modernity. It is characterised by an attempt to revive and surpass ideas of classical antiquity. Originating in Florence, Italy the Renaissance was characterised by a version of humanism derived from Roman humanists and the rediscovery of classical Greek philosophy such as Protagoras who said that ‘man is the measure of all things‘. This manifested in science (observation and inductive reasoning), art (oil painting), politics (diplomacy), culture, architectural perspective and modern systems of banking and accounting.

Carbohydrates

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Posted in Reading

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