Please check out my new music publishing page at
banginawaymusic.weebly.com/
So far, we have one new song, I Am Red Sox Nation".
banginawaymusic.weebly.com/
So far, we have one new song, I Am Red Sox Nation".
Please check out my new music publishing page at
banginawaymusic.weebly.com/ So far, we have one new song, I Am Red Sox Nation". In 1971 I was introduced to the music of Jacques Brel as a part of my high school French class by our teacher, Madame Skolnick. This was particularly appealing to me being a student of both French and of Music. The serendipity of these events has lead to a lifetime of love of both his music and the French language. I never mastered either, but the music and the poetry of Jacques Brel has stuck with me all these years. It was also great to have a high school music teacher who was a professional guitarist and actually playing in the Boston production of "Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris", Henry "Hank" Wiktorowicz. Brel wrote of love and loss, war and peace, classes of society, and many other topics of life. Fortunately, many of his videos can be found on YouTube. One of his most famous is "Port of Amsterdam". You can see a version here, and an English version by the late Mort Shuman who was partly responsible for bringing the music of Jacques Brel to the English audience. Many of Brel's songs made it into the English songbook. His song "Quand on N'a que L'amour" became "If we only have Love", and his song "Le Moribond" became "Seasons in the Sun". In his song "The Old Folks" he writes of the old silver clock on the wall (Mort Shuman Version): The old folks never die, They just put down their heads and go to sleep one day,They hold each other's hand like children in the dark, But one will get lost anyway And the other will remain just sitting in that room Which makes no sound, It doesn't matter now, the song has died away And echoes all around You'll see them when they walk through the sun-filled park, Where children run and play It hurts too much to smile, it hurts too much but life goes on For still another day As they try to escape the old silver clock When day is through It tick-tocks oh so slow, it says, "Yes," it says, "No" It says, "I'll wait for you." The old, old silver clock that's hanging on the wall That waits for us All. French: Jacques Brel LES VIEUX 1963 Les vieux ne parlent plus ou alors seulement parfois du bout des yeux Même riches ils sont pauvres, ils n'ont plus d'illusions et n'ont qu'un coeur pour deux Chez eux ça sent le thym, le propre, la lavande et le verbe d'antan Que l'on vive à Paris on vit tous en province quand on vit trop longtemps Est-ce d'avoir trop ri que leur voix se lézarde quand ils parlent d'hier Et d'avoir trop pleuré que des larmes encore leur perlent aux paupières Et s'ils tremblent un peu est-ce de voir vieillir la pendule d'argent Qui ronronne au salon, qui dit oui qui dit non, qui dit: je vous attends Les vieux ne rêvent plus, leurs livres s'ensommeillent, leurs pianos sont fermés Le petit chat est mort, le muscat du dimanche ne les fait plus chanter Les vieux ne bougent plus leurs gestes ont trop de rides leur monde est trop petit Du lit à la fenêtre, puis du lit au fauteuil et puis du lit au lit Et s'ils sortent encore bras dessus bras dessous tout habillés de raide C'est pour suivre au soleil l'enterrement d'un plus vieux, l'enterrement d'une plus laide Et le temps d'un sanglot, oublier toute une heure la pendule d'argent Qui ronronne au salon, qui dit oui qui dit non, et puis qui les attend Les vieux ne meurent pas, ils s'endorment un jour et dorment trop longtemps Ils se tiennent la main, ils ont peur de se perdre et se perdent pourtant Et l'autre reste là, le meilleur ou le pire, le doux ou le sévère Cela n'importe pas, celui des deux qui reste se retrouve en enfer Vous le verrez peut-être, vous la verrez parfois en pluie et en chagrin Traverser le présent en s'excusant déjà de n'être pas plus loin Et fuir devant vous une dernière fois la pendule d'argent Qui ronronne au salon, qui dit oui qui dit non, qui leur dit: je t'attends Qui ronronne au salon, qui dit oui qui dit non et puis qui nous attend. These two videos speak for themselves. Vangelis - Memories of Blue Kenny G.- Forever in Love Enjoy. A moment with one of Israel's greatest treasures - Musician George Saman. George lives in the Galilee town of Gush Halav or Jish in Arabic. One of Israel's most sought-after musicians, George has performed and recorded with many of Israel finest groups including, Sheva, Gaya, Ehud Banai, Machina and many others. His ability to combine many of the musical styles from all over the Middle East and incorporate them into his own Israeli identity makes him a special and unique person to know. Who doesn't love the classic voice of the late great Johnny Maestro? I actually didn't know until today he not only fronted the band "Johnny Maestro and the Brooklyn Bridge (Worst that Could Happen, 1968) , but he was also the lead voice in the Doo-Wop band The Crests (16 Candles, 1958) ! God Bless you, John Mastrangelo (May 7, 1939 – March 24, 2010). |
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