1000 SONGS - DAY 155: SONG #185

Day 155: A song that reminds you of someone

Back in those times when I was studying Catholic Theology, there were some friends of mine who did like U2. Some of them specifically liked the idea, that this was a catholic band, so Rock Music and religion seemed to go together. I do not like U2 too much, as I can't stand the priestly attitude of Bono combined with U2's megalomanic stardom. But I do like some of their early songs, and one among those I find really beautiful, New Year's Day. This also fits the time of the year and it reminds us of the Polish Solidarność Movement.

1000 SONGS - DAY 154: SONG #184

Day 154: Another song by Európa Kiadó

Today's song should match the category "Song that makes me sad"; as there have been so many sad songs on that blog lately, here is a song the mood of which is not to be called "sad" in my opinion, but it is also clearly not a "hippy-yippie-happy"-song. As I want to practice my Hungarian a bit (not to loose all of it and to be "fluent" when I am going to Szegedi Tudományegyetem to give a course on West-African Religions once more in February), I chose another song by my fav Hungarian band and tried to translate the lyrics once again. The song is in "visszafogott hangulat", which I found hard to translate. I ended up with "low-keyed mood" after consulting the Akadémiai Kiadó Dictionaries: Hungarian to German and English to Hungarian (I got one for the purpose of making myself understood when teaching in English in Hungary) and some German-English dictionaries. This is a live version of Nem Banja. Although the voice of Menyhárt Jenő does not easily and smoothly get all the notes (maybe he should stop "singing" songs like "Mocskos Idők" in the shouting style...), this is a fine rendering of a fine tune, all in all:

Halk zene, visszafogott hangulat
Az órámra nézek, épp éjfélt mutat
Itt ülök egy bárban, ő itt ül velem szembe
Olyan vonzó, és olyan idegen
Ragyog és sugárzik, finom és magabiztos
A szépsége titkos, de beavat, ahogy rám nevet
Nem tudom, ki ő, és mit mondjak neki
A szavak néha semmit nem jelentenek
De ha ő nem bánja, én nem bánom
És lenn az utcán megvárom

Ugyanaz a csillag, ugyanaz a bolygó
Ugyanaz a város és ugyanaz a bár
Az éjszaka előtte és nincs mit vesztene
Ö éppen itt, és engem éppen itt talált
Ragyog és sugárzik, finom és magabiztos
A szépsége titkos, de beavat, ahogy rám nevet
Nem tudom, ki ő, és mit mondjak neki
A szavak néha semmit nem jelentenek
De ha ő nem bánja, én nem bánom
És lenn az utcán megvárom


Quiet music, low-keyed mood
I look at my watch, it shows midnight
Here I sit in a bar, face to face with her*
So attractive and so foreign to me
She* shines and gleams, fine and self-conscious
Her* beauty is a secret she* lets me in on when she smiles
I don’t know who she* is and what to say to her*
Sometimes the words don’t have no meaning
But if she* does not regret, I do not regret
And keep waiting down in the street

It is the same star and the same planet
It is the same town and the same bar
The night before her and nothing she could loose
She is here right now and she has found me here
She shines and gleams, fine and self-conscious
Her beauty is a secret she lets me in on when she smiles
I don’t know who she is and what to say to her
Sometimes the words don’t have no meaning
But if she does not regret, I do not regret
And keep waiting down in the street

* as there is no grammatical gender in Hungarian, it could also mean: his, he a.s.o.

1000 SONGS - DAY 153: SONG #183

Day 153: A song that makes me happy

This is the best Hungarian punk song of all times (hitherto), Mocskos Idök from the 80ies, the anthem of the legendary Európa Kiadó. Once again, if you do not feel immediately motivated to jump around like a rubber ball gone wild when listening to this song, you are dead. I remember giving a class at Szeged University and playing this song from my laptop during the break - and there were some officials of the university exchange programne that made my lecture possible in the audience, and the students asked me, whether I understood the words of the song. As my knowledge of Hungarian is rather limited (this beautiful language does not love me as much as I love HER), I am not sure, whether I got the lyrics right - there are some differing renderings to be found on the internet, I tried to find out what the singer actually sings on the live version from 2004 featured here. And I am pretty sure that I did not catch the last line. I also tried to translate it, hopefully my English version it is at least near to the Hungarian original.

Helló, bébi, te nyomorult állat,
Soha nem akartam különbet nálad,
Elállom az utat és megszerezlek,
Hihetetlen, hogy nem szeretlek,
Nem szeretlek, nem szeretlek,
De hogyha eltűnsz, megkereslek,
Bébi, bébi, te nyomorult állat,
Soha nem akartam különbet nálad,
Mocskos idők, szeretned kéne,
A jövő itt van, és sose lesz vége,
Mocskos idők, a sarokba bújva,
Bárhogy is volt kezdjük újra!
Helló, bébi, én azt hiszem, baj van,
Szúrj belém egy utolsót, halkan!
Ugrálni akarok, vadul ugrálni,
A nyomorult mennyeket akarom látni!
Népszerűtlen szerelem,
Sokan vagyunk kevesen,
Bébi, bébi, újra nálad,
Már nem ember, még nem állat.
Mocskos idők, szeretned kéne,
A jövő itt van, és sose lesz vége,
Mocskos idők, a sarokba bújva,
Hello bébi, kezdjük újra!
Egy hely örökzöld álmaimban,
Egy hely a titkos életemben,
A nővéred öreg, a húgod meg gyerek,
Hát ezért van, hogy hozzád megyek,
De ha úgy akarja a szervezetem,
Soha többé nem vagy senki nekem,
Bébi, bébi, elmegyek hozzád,
Ugyanaz a város, de mégse ugyanaz az ország.
Mocskos idők, szeretnem kéne,
A jövő itt van, és sose lesz vége,
Mocskos idők, a sarokba bújva,
A jövő itt van, kezdjük újra!

Hello baby you miserable animal / I never wanted something better than you / I leave the street and win you / Unbelievable that I don’t love you / Don’t love you, don’t love you / But when you disappear, I search for you / Baby, baby, you miserable animal / I never wanted something better than you / Dirty times, you should like it / The future is here, and it will not end / Dirty times, hiding in the corner / However it was, let’s start anew / Hello baby, I think there’s a problem / Stab me one last time, silently / I want to jump, to jump around wildly / I want to see the miserable heavens / Unpopular love / Often we are but a few / Baby, baby, again with you / No more human and not yet an animal / Dirty times, you should like it / The future is here, and it will not end / Dirty times, hiding in the corner / Hello Baby, let’s start anew! / A place in my evergreen dreams / A place in my secret life / Your big sister is old, the younger one still a child / This is why I come to you / But when my organism wants it / You are never nobody to me / Baby, Baby, I come to you / It is the same town, but not the same state / Dirty times, you should like it / The future is here, and it will not end / Dirty times, hiding in the corner / The future is here, let’s start anew!

1000 SONGS - DAY 152: SONG #182

Day 152: A Song that takes you to the Heart of Darkness

Rudi Spitzer, a Hungarian Jew who came to be known as Rezső Seress, composed the song "Szomorú Vasárnap" (lit: Sad Sunday) to the words of László Jávor in 1933. It became a world famous song and a jazz standard in the English version, to the words of Sam M. Lewis as "Gloomy Sunday". Many people have done recordings of that song, amongst them Billie Holiday. There is an urban legend, that the song has inspired hundreds of people to commit suicide. The one person connected to the song that actually has committed suicide is the composer himself. Here is his rendering of the song in the original Hungarian version (with lyrics):

Szomorú vasárnap
száz fehér virággal
vártalak kedvesem
templomi imával.
Álmokat kergető
vasárnap délelőtt,
bánatom hintaja
nélküled visszajött.
Azóta szomorú
mindig a vasárnap,
könny csak az italom,
kenyerem a bánat.

Szomorú vasárnap.

Utolsó vasárnap
kedvesem gyere el,
pap is lesz, koporsó,
ravatal, gyászlepel.
Akkor is miránk vár,
virág és – koporsó.
Virágos fák alatt
utam az utolsó.
Nyitva lesz szemem, hogy
még egyszer lássalak.
Ne félj a szememtől,
holtan is áldalak…

Szomorú vasárnap.

Here are three versions by three female singers each done in a different style, starting with Ms. Holiday, with the more optimistic finale that Diamanda Galás talks about when introducing the song to her audience (last version featured here):



The version by Lydia Lunch from her 1979 album "Queen of Siam":



And finally, the dark dionysian lady herself, Diamanda Galás:

1000 SONGS - DAY 151: SONG #181

Day 151: A forgotten favourite song from times ago

Who invented the effect of the "megaphone-voice"? Although many will think that Mark E, Smith was the one to get the credits, it seems to have been David McWilliams (1945-2002) from Northern Ireland. He wrote the magnificent song The Days of Pearly Spencer and first recorded it in 1967. The one who had the biggest success with a version of this song was Marc Almond, who charted with his cover in 1992 (top five). As McWilliams had lost the rights to his music by then due to some management failures, he did not receive a penny for that succes of his song. Although I do like some of Almond's records I do not think that his rendering of the song can match the original. Among the covers, the one I do like most is the recording of the song done by the French psychedelic group The Vietnam Veterans, featured here alongside McWilliams' original recording.

A tenement, a dirty street Walked and worn by shoeless feet Inside it's long and so complete Watched by a shivering sun Old eyes in a small child's face Watching as the shadows race Through walls and cracks and leave no trace And daylight's brightness shuns The days of Pearly Spencer The race is almost run Nose pressed hard on frosted glass Gazing as the swollen mass On concrete fields where grows no grass Stumbles blindly on

Iron trees smother the air But withering they stand and stare Through eyes that neither know nor care Where the grass is gone The days of Pearly Spencer The race is almost run Pearly where's your milk white skin What's that stubble on your chin It's buried in the rot gut gin You played and lost not won You played a house that can't be beat Now look your head's bowed in defeat You walked too far along the street Where only rats can run The days of Pearly Spencer The race is almost run The days of Pearly spencer The race is almost run

1000 SONGS - DAY 150 : SONG #180

Day 150: Some of my favourite songs of all time

As I have found out that this here blog has not included any songs by the Kinks until yesterday, I go on with three of my fav songs written by the great Ray Davies. There are funny songs he wrote (like Lola), there are poetic songs (like the one featured yesterday), straight rock tunes and there are - as I have already mentioned yesterday - songs to be considered better analyses of society than some works of (the not so good among the) sociologists. The following typical You Tube video (arranging stills and photographs that seem to fit the music and inserting the lyrics) brings to you the original version of one of those songs, "Dedicated Follower of Fashion", as recorded in 1966:

Another one of those sarcastic social commentaries that Ray Davies gave us is the well-known song about a well respected man doing the best things so conservatively, featured here in a live rendering from 1965 (the year it appeared on a single that reached #4 in the UK charts):

Cause he gets up in the morning,
And he goes to work at nine,
And he comes back home at five-thirty,
Gets the same train every time.
'Cause his world is built 'round punctuality,
It never fails.

And he's oh, so good,
And he's oh, so fine,
And he's oh, so healthy,
In his body and his mind.
He's a well respected man about town,
Doing the best things so conservatively.

And his mother goes to meetings,
While his father pulls the maid,
And she stirs the tea with councilors,
While discussing foreign trade,
And she passes looks, as well as bills
At every suave young man

'Cause he's oh, so good,
And he's oh, so fine,
And he's oh, so healthy,
In his body and his mind.
He's a well respected man about town,
Doing the best things so conservatively.

And he likes his own backyard,
And he likes his fags the best,
'Cause he's better than the rest,
And his own sweat smells the best,
And he hopes to grab his father's loot,
When Pater passes on.

'Cause he's oh, so good,
And he's oh, so fine,
And he's oh, so healthy,
In his body and his mind.
He's a well respected man about town,
Doing the best things so conservatively.

And he plays at stocks and shares,
And he goes to the Regatta,
And he adores the girl next door,
'Cause he's dying to get at her,
But his mother knows the best about
The matrimonial stakes.

'Cause he's oh, so good,
And he's oh, so fine,
And he's oh, so healthy,
In his body and his mind.
He's a well respected man about town,
Doing the best things so conservatively.

Last, not least, look at and listen to Ray Davies proving to be not only a wonderful songwriter but also a great performer on the German TV show Beatclub with a rendering of "Alcohol":

Here's a story about a sinner,
He used to be a winner who enjoyed a life of prominence and position,
But the pressures at the office and his socialite engagements,
And his selfish wife's fanatical ambition,
It turned him to the booze,
And he got mixed up with a floosie
And she led him to a life of indecision.
The floosie made him spend his dole
She left him lying on Skid Row
A drunken lag in some Salvation Army Mission.
It's such a shame.

Oh demon alcohol,
Sad memories I cannot recall,
Who thought I would say,
Damn it all and blow it all,
Oh demon alcohol,
Memories I cannot recall,
Who thought I would fall a slave to demon alcohol.
Sad memories I cannot recall,
Who thought I would fall a slave to demon alcohol.

Barley wine, pink gin,
He'll drink anything,
Port, pernod or tequila,
Rum, scotch, vodka on the rocks,
As long as all his troubles disappeared.
But he messed up his life, went and beat up his wife,
And the floosie's gone and found another sucker
She's gonna turn him on to drink
She's gonna lead him to the brink
And when his money's gone,
She'll leave him in the gutter,
It's such a shame.

Oh demon alcohol,
Sad memories I cannot recall,
Who thought I would say,
Damn it all and blow it all,

Sad memories I cannot recall,
Who thought I would fall,
A slave to demon alcohol.

"Floosie" is my word of the year 1971, when the ninth album of the Kinks, Muswell Hillbillies, was released, from where this song is taken. There is also a live version on disc 2 of the 1972 album "Everybody's in Show Biz". As a bonus track, you can listen to and look at a live version of "Dedicated Follower of Fashion", that demonstrates Ray Davies'qualities as a show-man. You will have to follow the link,since embedding is de-activated for that one on UTube:

http://youtu.be/tqXrAHuLksU

1000 SONGS - DAY 149: SONG #179

Day 149: A Song from Your Childhood

Still one of the most underrated bands from the sixties in my opinion, the Kinks are at least to be considered a legendary group for some of the fine songs Ray Davies wrote and for some of his social comments in his lyrics, the likes as "Dedicated Follower of Fashion" or "Well Respected Man", and, not to forget, "Demon Alcohol". Being known for some rather straight-forward rock tunes ("You Really Got Me" and the notorious "Lola", for example) on the one hand, they have also contributed rather poetic songs to the song book of popular music on the other hand, like "Days" (there are versions of that song by Kirsty MacColl and Elvis Costello amongst others) and the one Kinks song that I have most often in mind: Waterloo Sunset. It belongs to my childhood (primary school days) when i frequently used to listen to Kinks tunes on the radio. They were among my favourite bands although I did not understand the lyrics back then. Here is a video from UTUBE featuring the song in good audio quality - everybody knows it, i have heard it a thousand times or more, nevertheless, it is still beautiful:

Dirty old river must you keep rolling flowing into the night
people so busy make me feel dizzy taxi light shines so bright
but I don't need no friends
as long as I gaze on Waterloo Sunset I am in paradise

Every day I look at the world from my window
but chilly chilly is the evening time Waterloo Sunset's fine

Terry meets Julie Waterloo Station every Friday night
but I am so lazy don't want to wander I stay at home at night
but I don't feel afraid
as long as I gaze on Waterloo Sunset I am in paradise

Every day I look at the world from my window
but chilly chilly is the evening time Waterloo Sunset's fine

Millions of people swarming like flies 'round Waterloo Underground
but Terry and Julie cross over the river where they feel safe and sound
and they don't need no friends
as long as they gaze on Waterloo Sunset they are in paradise

Waterloo Sunset's fine

1000 SONGS - DAY 148: SONG #178

Day 148: Statistics and a Song about Pain

I have spent some time doing statistics of this blog and have also tried to find new links for all those links that have been "killed" in the meantime. I did succeed with the exception of two songs, Serge Gainsbourg's "Dieu et Juif" and Bob Dylan's "Wigwam". As there are always problems with Rob Zimmermann's songs on UTube, I will never ever feature a song by Dylan again. That does not mean there weren't any worthy to be featured here. For the complete

List of postings

from Dec 23.2010 to Dec 24.2011 click on the link above. It says, that the 1000 Songs Challenge in its first year has had 177 postings, which featured 405 tracks and 315 songs (90 tracks being alternative versions of some of the songs). I did not look at the number of songs contributed by the respective artists. Maybe I'll do that later on.
Now for today's song, which is Song # 316 in Posting # 178. It is a song about Pain by Josh Rouse (the first song by Mr. Rouse I came to know), from his 2002 album "Under Cold Blue Stars". There is not much to say about the song but that it is really beautiful and one of the songs I have on constant replay once I have listened to them - at nearly every instance of doing so.

1000 SONGS - DAY 147: SONG #177

Day 147: A Song That Is A Very Clever Rendering of Another Song We All Like

When I first heard this song (thank you, Hermann Doerfler!) I immediately thought, that this guy will be sued for royalties by Bob Zimmerman. I sat down to write an e-mail to my friend Hermann about plagiarism, and in that very moment the song switched to the original it is taken from. He ain't done nothing else than to use a sample and to re-interpret the lyrics or so. This seemed to be way better than the ordinary cover-version that changes the rhythmic structure of the song or the like. And it is one of the principles of today's music: quote, improvise, re-arrange. That is creativity, whatever a lawyer (see verse one of the lyrics) might think or do about it. And, Ramsay Midwood is a fine commentator on the nation's status quo, methinks. Since yesterday I have his songs on constant replay, a fine cure against the remnants of X-Mas songs in my soul.

Doctors and lawyers they wont do nothing for you
the parking attendant is a tax and I spend it
suck it from the poor make another war
catch the details on the tv news at four
my old man says that's a paranoid construction,
cast your vote in the November election
I'm too tired to protest it.
I dont even know if Im against it

Home of the free land of the free
when did everyone start picking on me?
I'm just trying to get from here to there
I swear to the Lord I treat everybody fair
and I dont want no sympathy,
a shake, a howdy or a cup of tea
and that's my state of mind right now
I think I'll go out and eat a cow
and that's the truth as I know it to be
here in the land, the land of the free
and if you dont like it you can kiss my ass
cause I drive a monster truck

That's my state of mind right now
I think I'll go out and eat a cow
and that's the truth as I know it to be
here in the land, the land of the free
and if you dont like it you can kiss my ass
cause I drive a monster truck

And I don’t care how many letters they sent
The morning came and the morning went
Pack up your money and pack up your tent
Lord, you ain’t goin’ nowhere

Whoo-ee! ride me high
tomorrow’s the day
my bride’s gonna come
and, Oh, oh, are we gonna fly
lord, down in the easy chair!

Here is the Dylan-song, in the version that made it famous, done by Roger Mc Guinn and friends (and I promise, that this blog will feature some more songs by Ramsay Midwood later on):

Clouds so swift
Rain won’t lift
Gate won’t close
Railings froze
Get your mind off wintertime
You ain’t goin’ nowhere
Whoo-ee! Ride me high
Tomorrow’s the day
My bride’s gonna come
Oh, oh, are we gonna fly
Down in the easy chair!

I don’t care
How many letters they sent
Morning came and morning went
Pick up your money
And pack up your tent
You ain’t goin’ nowhere
Whoo-ee! Ride me high
Tomorrow’s the day
My bride’s gonna come
Oh, oh, are we gonna fly
Down in the easy chair!

Buy me a flute
And a gun that shoots
Tailgates and substitutes
Strap yourself
To the tree with roots
You ain’t goin’ nowhere
Whoo-ee! Ride me high
Tomorrow’s the day
My bride’s gonna come
Oh, oh, are we gonna fly
Down in the easy chair!

Genghis Khan
He could not keep
All his kings
Supplied with sleep
We’ll climb that hill no matter how steep
When we get up to it
Whoo-ee! Ride me high
Tomorrow’s the day
My bride’s gonna come
Oh, oh, are we gonna fly
Down in the easy chair!

1000 SONGS - DAY 146: SONG #176

Day 146: A Song the Audience Knows All the Word to

Robert Earl Keen from Texas, USA, has already been featured in the 1000 Somgs Challenge on May 23, 2011, in the category "Songs about Drinking"; here is a song about wedding and about gringos and a song that also fits into the category of the day in the original 30 Days Song Challenge, because I can play it on the drums (at least I think, I can..,). Featured here is a rather recent live version, you can look out for other versions on UTube. As many other REK songs, this one is a grower: the more you listen to it, the bigger it gets, until you are a member of the audience knowing all the words:

We were standin' on a mountain top
Where the cactus flowers grow
I was wishin' that the world would stop
When you said we'd better go

We took a rowboat 'cross the Rio Grande
Captain Pablo was our giude
For two dollars in a weathered hand
He rowed us to the other side

And we were dreamin' like the end was not in sight
And we dreamed all afternoon
We asked the world to wait so we could celebrate
A gringo honeymoon

We stepped out onto the golden sand
The sun was high and burning down
Rented donkeys from an old blind man
Saddled up and rode to town

Tied our donkeys to an ironwood tree
By the street where the children play
We walked in the first place we could see
Servin' cold beer in the shade

We were drinkin' like the end was not in sight
And we drank all afternoon
We asked the world to wait so we could celebrate
A gringo honeymoon

Met a cowboy who said that he
Was running from the DEA
He left a home, a wife, a family
When he made his getaway

We followed him on down a street of dust
To his one room run-down shack
He blew a smoke ring and he smiled at us
I ain't never goin' back

We were flyin' like the end was not in sight
And we soared all afternoon
We asked the world to wait so we could celebrate
A gringo honeymoon

He said there's one last place that you should go
He took us to the town's best bar
He knew a crusty caballero
Who played an old gut string guitar

And he sang like Marty Robbins could
Played like no one I've known
For a while we knew that life was good
It was ours to take back home

We were singin' like the end was not in sight
And we sang all afternoon
We asked the world to wait so we could celebrate
A gringo honeymoon

We were standin' on a mountain top
Where the cactus flowers grow
I was wishin' that the world would stop
When you said we'd better go