0. Doubled Over Happy. Michael Grey

A happy song for the end of the decade. I didn't think I could keep this up but somehow I managed it. Hope you found some music you like. Perhaps I will post every now and then if I find something good to share.
Wishing you all the best for 2010!

1. Pata Pata. Miriam Makeba

I thought that I had played my swan song on this blog but it seems that K thought otherwise. She picked this song, but it is one that we both love. K gave me this record for Christmas a number of years ago.

Miriam Makeba, Mama Africa, first performed in the 1950s, and died in November 2008 at the age of 76. She was a genius in combining traditional Xhosa folk songs (notably those using "clicking") with jazz rhythms, and attracted a lot of attention outside her native South Africa ... which she used to bring attention to the injustice of apartheid. Mama Africa's role in this musical revolution cost her her passport in 1960 and resulted in her losing her citizenship and being exiled from her homeland in 1963. She finally returned to South Africa in 1992, after the revolution succeeded.

I remember a small but (to me) important part of that musical revolution, when in 1986 or 87 a South African band called Amandla came to play at an anti-apartheid benefit at the Cornerstone pub in St. John's. There was a lot of enthusiastic dancing and, consequently, the need for refreshment. The bar specials that night were all Carling-O'Keefe, at that time still heavily invested in South Africa. Struck by the incongruity, several of us launched what I guess was my first ever campaign, convincing university students to buy more expensive beer!

Miriam Makeba wrote Pata Pata in her teens, and it was one of her biggest hits. As she sings, it's a song about "a dance we do down Johannesburg way...." The words "pata pata" apparently refer to touching, but other than that I have never been able find out the meaning of the Xhosa lyrics. I like to think that the song is about finding joy in the midst of struggle and oppression. And I suppose, as a call to dance, it is.

2. Pal-Yat-Chee. Spike Jones

Don't worry, there will be a song for the 31st. My math was a bit off when I started the blog.

I've tried to like opera, I really have. I've spent good money on a couple of opera cds that come in those huge cases with a big fat book. I intended to listen to them. I just can't get past all the shrieking when they could just say the stuff in a normal voice. I don't mind the choruses - that's just like a musical. So when I heard Pal-Yat-Chee for the first time, it really spoke to me.

3. Shestopsalmie: Slava v Vyshnikh Bogu from Rachmaninov's Vespers

The altos sing the melody in this one, and the sopranos and men are church bells. Apparently Rachmaninov was very taken with bells.

It means:
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men. O Lord, open Thou my lips and my mouth shall show forth Thy praise.



For Cousin GTTD and her sister T.

4. The Rebel Jesus. Jackson Browne and The Chieftains

This one's dedicated to Dr S, who does the work of the rebel Jesus.

All the streets are filled with laughter and light
And the music of the season
And the merchants' windows are all bright
With the faces of the children
And the families hurrying to their homes
While the sky darkens and freezes
Will be gathering around the hearths and tables
Giving thanks for God's graces
And the birth of the rebel Jesus

Well they call him by 'the Prince of Peace'
And they call him by 'the Savior'
And they pray to him upon the seas
And in every bold endeavor
And they fill his churches with their pride and gold
As their faith in him increases
But they've turned the nature that I worship in
From a temple to a robber's den
In the words of the rebel Jesus

Well we guard our world with locks and guns
And we guard our fine possessions
And once a year when Christmas comes
We give to our relations
And perhaps we give a little to the poor
If the generosity should seize us
But if any one of us should interfere
In the business of why there are poor
They get the same as the rebel Jesus

Now pardon me if I have seemed
To take the tone of judgement
For I've no wish to come between
This day and your enjoyment
In a life of hardship and of earthly toil
There's a need for anything that frees us
So I bid you pleasure
And I bid you cheer
From a heathen and a pagan
On the side of the rebel Jesus

5. Good King Wenceslas. The Skydiggers

I love this carol; it's a nice little story. I remember one Christmas Eve when L and I went carolling by ourselves and sang this - we went up to Hunt Place to Mrs Burry's house (she was known locally as the Candy Lady because she would give kids candy at any time of the year, not just Halloween). Mel Torme has a good version of Good King Wenceslas for when you're drinking martinis instead of hot chocolate.

6. Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas. Ella Fitzgerald

I like what the trumpets are doing on this one. Normally I can do without all this secular Christmas music (Rudolph, Jingle Bells, Frosty, Winter Wonderland, etc.), but when it's well done by a good singer, it can be worth listening to. The photo is from last year's traditional Christmas Day get-together at S & M's. We always have a merry Christmas when we're there!

7. O Magnum Mysterium. Cambridge Singers

Rutter and the Cambridge Singers are an integral part of Christmas. When I joined the choir at church and actually started singing some of this Rutter, I got a bit Ruttered out (it can be a bit rich), but as long as I don't indulge in too much I'm fine. I have four Rutter Christmas CDs. The best may be Christmas Night: Carols of the Nativity, which is very serene with lots of a capella stuff from the Oxford Book of Carols. The others have livelier stuff and the pure, over-the-top Rutter. There's a version of Joy to the World that's arranged like something from the Messiah (from Christmas with the Cambridge Singers). There's something that evokes the Caribbean in Jesus Child (from Music for Christmas). The best for over-the-top is his Go Tell it on the Mountain (from Christmas Day in the Morning), which is arranged like something from an old western. At the climax, you expect the magi to yell out "hee-yaw!" and spur their horses on to the end of the song.

O Magnum Mysterium is from Christmas with the Cambridge Singers. This version is by T.L. de Victoria, a Spanish composer who overlapped with Palestrina. Our choir has sung this one, one by Poulenc, and one by Morten Lauridsen. You just can't beat an O Magnum or a Hodie Christus Natus Est at this time of the year.

O magnum mysterium, et admirabile sacramentum,
ut animalia viderent Dominum natum jacentem in praesepio!
Beata Virgo, cujus viscera meruerunt portare Dominum Christum.
Alleluia.

O great mystery and wondrous sacrament,
that the animals should witness the birth of the Lord in the manger.
Blessed are you, O Virgin Mary, whose womb was deemed worthy to bear Christ the Lord.
Hallelujah.

8. Linus and Lucy. Vince Guaraldi Trio

How can it be that I never get sick of this music? The Charlie Brown Christmas special was a crucial part of every Christmas. I memorized the passage from Luke (King James version) because I heard Linus recite it every year. Speaking of when I was young, my favourite Christmas album was some kids' Christmas album - I don't even know what it was now - but I remember begging my parents to play Up on the Rooftop one more time before I had to go to bed. We also had Feliz Navidad by Jose Feliciano, and an album of carols by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, and an album called A Music Box Christmas, my dad's favourite, which was all music box versions of carols. I managed to find this on CD years ago and it's our traditional tree-trimming music. During Christmas dinner we would listen to A Child's Christmas in Wales, another tradition we continue. However, I'm glad my tastes have progressed from Up on the Rooftop.

9. Quem Pastores. Maddy Prior & The Carnival Band

This CD and A Tapestry of Carols (also by Maddy Prior & The Carnival Band, who were featured at #66) are two of my favourites at Christmas. They include lots of the traditional English (and Latin) carols found in the Oxford Book of Carols, which is special to me because when I was young we used to go carolling with it. Quem Pastores is one of my favourite Christmas carols because we used to sing it every year when we went carolling, and because it's in Latin, and it has a nice tune and it's not too long. I haven't found anyone up here on the mainland who's into carolling or the Oxford Book of Carols, unfortunately, but the other night at our choir Christmas party a fellow alto (originally from England) and I forced everyone to sing the Boar's Head Carol and Quem Pastores.

Quem pastores laudavere,
Quibus angeli dixere,
Absit vobis iam timere,
Natus est rex gloriae.

Ad quem magi ambulabant,
Aurum, thus, myrrham portabant,
Immolabant haec sincere
Nato regi gloriae.

Christo regi, Deo nato,
Per Mariam nobis dato,
Merito resonet vere
Laus, honor et gloria.

My literal translation:
[Jesus] whom the shepherds praised,
[The shepherds] to whom the angels said,
"Let fear be gone from you now!
The king of glory is born!"

[Jesus] to whom the magi travelled
Carrying gold, frankincense, and myrrh,
They offered these sincerely
To the king of glory born.

To Christ the king, born God,
Given to us by Mary,
To him deserving let resound truly
Praise, honor and glory!

Here's another carol Maddy Prior does. I love the words:
Ding dong merrily on high,
In heav'n the bells are ringing:
Ding dong! verily the sky
Is riv'n with angel singing.
Gloria, Hosanna in excelsis!

E'en so here below, below,
Let steeple bells be swungen,
And "Io, io, io!"
By priest and people sungen.
Gloria, Hosanna in excelsis!

Pray you, dutifully prime
Your matin chime, ye ringers;
May you beautifully rime
Your evetime song, ye singers.
Gloria, Hosanna in excelsis!

In the good traditional Christmas music category I include CDs like the Tavener Consort's The Christmas Album: Festive Music from Europe and America and The Tallis Scholars' Christmas Carols and Motets. I could include The Cambridge Singers too, but Rutter and his singers merit their own category!

An extra entry about Christmas carols!

Ok, so they're just lists. But I am almost blogged out!

Carols I love to sing: Quem Pastores, O Come All Ye Faithful, People Look East, The Virgin Mary Had a Baby Boy (Dr S HATES this one!), Tomorrow Shall Be My Dancing Day, In the Bleak Midwinter (the Holst tune), In Dulci Jubilo, Good King Wenceslas, Green Grow'th the Holly, Joy to the World, Coventry Carol, Angels from the Realms of Glory.

Other carols I love (don't mind singing these either): Carol of the Bells, Ding Dong Merrily on High, The Angel Gabriel, The Boar's Head Carol, The Holly and the Ivy, Noel Nouvelet, I Wonder as I Wander, Jesus Christ the Apple Tree, Un Flambeau, Jeanette, Isabelle.

Carols I really could do without: The First Nowell (I have to fight to stay awake when singing it), O Little Town of Bethlehem (ditto, except for one particular tune that you hardly ever hear but that I heard on a tape of a King's College music that L made me), What Child is This, God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen (except when sung in a round), We Wish You a Merry Christmas, It Came Upon a Midnight Clear. Oh, and O Holy Night is quite heinous; it brings out the warbler in people.

P.S. If anyone's out there I would be interested in your favourite and least favourite carols, too.

10. Star of Wonder. The Roches

The Roches can be very grating and a bit too heavy on the synthesizer, but I like this one because it's an original (written by Terre Roche) and it surprises you because the shepherd is a girl.

It seems I've divided up my Christmas music into categories (appetizer, pre-New Year's), and this CD I would put into the semi-pop category, along with Mary Chapin Carpenter's Twelve Songs of Christmas, Emmylou Harris's Light of the Stable, and Shawn Colvin's Holiday Songs and Lullabies. These can be played safely before Christmas, along with various eclectic mixes of Christmas music.

11. "Homecoming" Jingle Bells. Dave Brubeck

This is a relaxed, understated version of Jingle Bells. I usually reserve jazz Christmas CDs (Wynton Marsalis, Mel Torme, Ella Fitzgerald) for the days closer to New Year's, but this "Homecoming" Jingle Bells can be played pre-Christmas. There's also a very laid-back version of Joy to the World on this album.

I am so going to have to do an extra blog to tell you all my favourite and least favourite Christmas songs!

12. Excerpt from The Messiah. Handel

I use the Messiah as sort of an appetizer to Christmas music. As soon as Advent starts at the end of November, I feel it's safe to listen to the Messiah; you can't start the full-on Christmas music too early or you'll get sick of it by Christmas. The next week or so I feel ok listening to the King's College Advent CD, and then gradually I get in to the heavy Christmas music. My Messiah of choice is this Neville Marriner and St Martin-in-the-Fields version, which good friend C taped for me from an album many many years ago and gave me as a Christmas present. I later bought the CD. A couple of years ago, C gave me a Tafelmusik Messiah CD which is also very good.

This year I found another CD that will serve as a Christmas music appetizer: Vaughan Williams' Hodie. Parts of it really remind me of his Dona Nobis Pacem (featured at #95 and #50). It's bits of the Christmas scriptures interspersed with poetry, and it includes, as a mezzo-soprano solo, this beautiful poem by John Milton:

It was the Winter wild,
While the Heaven-born child,
All meanly wrapt in the rude manger lies;
Nature in awe to him
Had doffed her gaudy trim,
With her great Master so to sympathize:
And waving wide her myrtle wand,
She strikes a universal Peace through Sea and Land.

No war or battle's sound
Was heard the world around,
The idle spear and shield were high up hung;
The hookèd Chariot stood
Unstained with hostile blood,
The Trumpet spake not to the armèd throng,
And Kings sate still with aweful eye,
As if they surely knew their sovran Lord was by.

But peaceful was the night
Wherein the Prince of light
His reign of peace upon the earth began:
The winds, with wonder whist,
Smoothly the waters kissed,
Whispering new joys to the mild Ocean,
Who now hath quite forgot to rave,
While birds of calm sit brooding on the charmèd wave.

13. Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme. J.S. Bach

Hey, Anonymous! Last Bach cantata! You have to love this one, though.

We sang this cantata about a year ago, I think. Until then it had never really registered with me; we had sung Mendelssohn's Sleepers, Wake before but it wasn't familiar to me. Then we did this and I heard it everywhere. Sleepers, Wake is on my King's College Advent CD. Wachet auf is on my Tallis Scholars Christmas CD. I heard a Respighi arrangement which interposes the tune of the tenor aria from this cantata with the Wachet auf tune.

I like the alto line of this chorus: we get to sing, "Wach auf! Wach AUF!" (Wake up! Wake UP!). To me this chorus has a particularly German sound - very imperative.

The text is from the parable of the ten virgins, which I first studied many years ago in my first-year Anglo-Saxon class. It was there that I learned how to say, "Lord, Lord, let us in!" in Anglo-Saxon: "Dryhten, dryhten, laet us inn." I use that line sometimes when I'm knocking at someone's door, but they never know what it means. Too bad for them.

Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme
Der Wächter sehr hoch auf der Zinne,
Wach auf, du Stadt Jerusalem!
Mitternacht heißt diese Stunde;
Sie rufen uns mit hellem Munde:
Wo seid ihr klugen Jungfrauen?
Wohl auf, der Bräutgam kömmt;
Steht auf, die Lampen nehmt! Alleluja!
Macht euch bereit zu der Hochzeit,
Ihr müsset ihm entgegen gehn!

Wake up, the voice calls us
of the watchmen high up on the battlements,
wake up, you city of Jerusalem!
This hour is called midnight;
they call us with a clear voice:
where are you, wise virgins ?
Get up, the bridegroom comes;
Stand up, take your lamps! Hallelujah!
Make yourselves ready for the wedding;
you must go to meet him!

14. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen. Jerry Douglas

Let the Christmas music begin! Jerry Douglas is one of the greatest dobro players in the world. The greatest, according to Alison Krauss, and who would doubt her? Jerry joined her band Union Station in 1998, and thus we have seen Jerry in concert several times with them (and once we saw him solo). In case you don't know what a dobro is, it's a resonator guitar that's held perpendicular to the player's body and played with a metal slidy thing on the frets. Jerry is another artist whose albums we collect faithfully, so this Christmas we rushed out to purchase his new Christmas album, Jerry Christmas (har har).

15. You Won't See Me. The Beatles

When I was young I thought this was an Anne Murray song (it was a big hit for her in 1974). Later, I was introduced to Rubber Soul, the Beatles album it's from. It's very catchy; I think Anne Murray was quite faithful to the original but I don't know if her version had the great harmonies.

16. I Love You, Porgy. Billie Holiday

Another of my dad's favourites.

17. Love at the Five and Dime. Nanci Griffith

Nanci Griffith (also featured at #65 with a livelier song) is a big favourite of ours. This one is from a live album - she talks about Woolworth's at the beginning. I remember Woolworth's on Water Street in St. John's; they had the most excellent chocolate-dipped doughnuts in the world. Plato's chocolate-dipped doughnuts. I will never taste their like again. Anyway, this is a great song. I thought it was especially poetic when she sings, "Eddy was a seed romancer" - what a nice way to describe a farmer! But then Dr S explained that Eddy is merely a "sweet romancer," not a farmer at all. Despite this setback, I still like the song.

18. The Birdland Story. Eddie Jefferson

This song was driving me crazy for quite a while. I guess I knew it from way back - perhaps it was on a mixed tape my dad made or maybe he used to play it a lot around the house. I could actually sing some of the song, but for the life of me I could not find it anywhere. I assumed it was King Pleasure, whom my dad played a lot. But King Pleasure, it seems, did not record a heck of a lot, and I couldn't find this song among his recordings (another wrinkle was that I didn't know the name of the song). Recently I wrote to my dad's great friend and fellow jazz afficionado, E, and asked him for help. He suggested another music site to try, but I had no luck there either. Finally I tried google again, typing in the lyrics I could remember, and that led me to an article with the name of the song, which led me to information about said song, which led me to Eddie Jefferson, and finally the song which had been rattling around in my head. Anyway, it's vocalese, which is words set to an instrumental passage, in this case a saxophone solo by Charlie Parker, I believe. I had a pseudo-vocalese at #87, which was words set to Mozart's horn concerto; however, jazz vocalese usually seems to be words set to improvisational solos, so they can be pretty interesting.

19. Where Are You, O Mother. Isabel Bayrakdarian

Around the demise of CBC2, I bought the DiscDrive 20th Anniversary CD, and this song was on it. I find it hauntingly beautiful.

20. Wings. Harlem Christian Tabernacle Church Choir

This absolutely fantastic gospel song was on one of the mixed tapes my dad made for us when we were in grad school hell in Hamilton. The sound quality isn't great because I had to do the mp3 off that tape, which is 20 years old; we looked for the CD or album it was from but weren't able to locate it in my dad's humungous collection, but I have hope that it will turn up eventually. At first you may not think much of it; it starts off kind of slow. But just wait until they get going at the end!

21. Proof of Love. Old Man Luedecke

Can it be - another song first heard on Weekender? Yes, it's true. This banjo guy is from Nova Scotia.

22. Happiness. Alison Krauss & Union Station

We all knew this day would come. Dr. S's last entry on 99 songs. I've really enjoyed my guest appearances here, but one thing in life is certain: you can't always trust happiness.



This is just about my favorite Alison Krauss song. She has a fondness for really, really sad songs. In an interview she once talked about listening to the demo of Gillian Welch's song New Favorite and thinking, "That's awful. That's devastating. We gotta have it." She did get it, and we're all the more miserable and all the better for it. Alison sings New Favorite in concert but in the 5 or 6 times we've seen her, she's not sung Happiness. She often says "We don't want anyone leaving our shows feelin' good!" so I think she should give it a try. We'd all be wrecked.

23. Aguas de Marco. Antonio Carlos Jobim & Elis Regina

Yet another song I first heard on Weekender. There's a part in it when Elis Regina actually seems to be trying not to laugh as she sings. Holly Cole also does a version (in English) which is kind of dark but good nonetheless. Finally, there's a funny take-off of this song about Trader Joe's (for Canadians who may not be familiar with Trader Joe's, it's a trendy American proprietory label store that carries affordable health-food, pseudo-health-food, and gourmet food for the the crunchie and pseudo-crunchie crowd).

24. I Cain't Say No. Oklahoma

It is strange that there is anyone who does not think this song is fantastic. I think the lyrics are very clever. This is one of my favourite songs to sing at social occasions when I've had just a bit too much to drink. My public premiere with this song was at the first annual Library Idol competition at the S. Walter Stewart Library on Christmas Eve, 2001.

P.S. The photo shows me in a nurse's uniform that my grandmother, a nurse and excellent seamstress, made for me one Christmas.

25. Ae Fond Kiss. Eddi Reader

Eddi Reader was first featured back at #93. This song is quite different and very lovely, from her album of Robbie Burns songs. The photo shows our good friends S and M, who are very fond of one another.

26. Christ for President. Billy Bragg & Wilco

Woody Guthrie wrote a lot of songs which were never recorded; I'm not sure if he had actually written the music or not. In the 90s, his daughter approached Billy Bragg and asked him to put these lyrics to music. Billy Bragg and the band Wilco put out two albums, Mermaid Avenue and Mermaid Avenue II, of these Woody Guthrie songs.

Let's have Christ for President.
Let us have him for our King.
Cast your vote for the Carpenter
that you call the Nazarene.

The only way we can ever beat
these crooked politician men
Is to run the money changers out of the temple
And put the Carpenter in

O It's Jesus Christ for president
God above our king
With a job and a pension for young and old
We will make hallelujah ring

Every year we waste enough
to feed the ones who starve
We build our civilization up
and we shoot it down with wars

But with the Carpenter on the seat
away up in the capital town
The USA would be on the way prosperity bound!

Funny story about a Very Close Friend: this Friend was on a whale-watching tour with another Friend (also Very Close) who was back home for a visit, and on the boat they met this nice bloke from England and his girlfriend and had a nice chat. Fast forward to the weekend, when the VCF had bought tickets for her and Dr S (also visiting home) to see Billy Bragg in concert. As they were waiting in the line to go into the concert, they bumped into the English bloke's girlfriend. Friend asked girlfriend if her boyfriend was coming to the concert. Girlfriend looked at Friend quizically and did not answer. The Aha moment came when the English bloke walked onto the stage: Billy Bragg.

27. Stardust. Ruby Braff

I was introduced to this album in my teens, I think. The music is great and I loved the album cover. The CD I bought of this in the 90s had the wrong cover but I found the right one on the internet.

28. Johnny Has Gone for a Soldier. James Taylor

This traditional song from the American Revolution is actually a version of a Gaelic song from the late 1600s / early 1700s, when the Irish went to France to fight in the French army - the original song is called Siul a Ghra or Siul a Run. Pamela Morgan and Anita Best did a version of it, but I can't seem to find it anywhere. One verse that seems to be common in all the versions (this one is from Siul a Ghra) is:

I'll sell my lock, I'll sell my reel
When my flax is spun I'll sell my wheel,
And buy for my love a sword and steel
Is go dti a mo mhuirnin, slainte.

Another guy who does Johnny Has Gone For a Soldier is Old Man Luedecke, a banjo player from Nova Scotia. You'll hear him in a few days.

29. Finlandia. Sibelius

I discovered Sibelius kind of late in life, because I never listened to side two of my Finlandia album (see post #38). This piece starts out sounding very menacing, and continues in a serious note until it gets about halfway through. Then things start to get kind of excited, and finally we get this very hopeful tune. We have a hymn to this tune in Voices United, the United Church hymn book, and the words (most of them) really fit the sound of the music, I think.

All praise to you, O God of all creation: you made the world, and it is yours alone.
The planet earth you spun in its location amid the stars adorning heaven's dome.
We lease the earth but for a life's duration, yet for this life it is our cherished home.

With wondrous grace you clothed the earth in splendour; with teeming life you filled the sea and land.
Instil in us a sense of awe and wonder when we behold the bounty of you hand.
Then when we hear the voice of bird or thunder, we hear the voice our faith can understand.

I don't approve of words like "lease" in a hymn, but I like the imagery of creation and nature.

30. You'll Never Leave Harlan Alive. Patty Loveless

I first heard Patti Loveless sing this at a Down from the Mountain concert in Toronto in 2002. This song has a lot of things going for it: the story, with its plot twists; the instruments, especially the fiddle and mandolin, and the great harmonies (in the chorus, you get the harmony line above the melody). I like the way the chorus starts out on kind of a hopeful note (at least it sounds like a hopeful key), but turns dark.

31. If God's On Your Side. Danny Michel

I first heard this on Weekender, and recently I heard it again on faux-Weekender. It's kind of a cool message.

32. A Song for All Seasons. Oliver Schroer

I once met a person who, after I told her I was doing PhD and that one of my favorite possessions was a Mickey Mouse hat, said "You are a very complex woman." Exactly. That is how I, Dr. S, can be a fan of ABBA and Oliver Schroer at the same time.

Unfortunately, I didn't cotton on to Oliver Schroer, an amazing violinist from Toronto, until it was too late. He was diagnosed with leukemia in 2007 and died about a year later. This tune is from an album he created in the last year of his life.

It's sad and elegiac, but hopeful and transcendant at the end. A song for all seasons.

33. 'Round Midnight. Marlene Shaw

This was on one of my dad's mixed CDs. I'd never heard this version of the song before and at first I was a bit taken aback; it sounded kind of "modern" for my dad's tastes. I really like the way she sings it, though, and I guess he did too.

34. Freedom Trilogy From Paul Halley's Missa Gaia

Fun to sing, and talk about layering! It starts off with a children's choir singing a Kyrie, then the choir comes in with Haleluya! Pelo tsa rona (Hallelujah! We sing your praises, in Shona), then the hymn Siyahamba (the anti-apartheid hymn We Are Marching in the Light of God, in Zulu), and finally the soloist sings Amazing Grace over the whole thing. When we were singing it, I didn't realize that the children's choir was singing the Kyrie at the same time we were singing other stuff - everything was so loud I didn't hear them until I listened to the recording later.

35. A-Tisket, A-Tasket. Ella Fitzgerald

I think this was Ella Fitzgerald's first big hit. I like the big band in the background.

36. The Things We Said Today. Mary McCaslin

This is a Beatles song from A Hard Day's Night. I heard this version on NPR's Folk Show (I love the internet radio!).

37. Swing Low, Sweet Chariot. Paul Robeson

Paul Robeson was one of my dad's favourite singers, period. I think one reason was that my dad himself had a really deep bass singing voice. We heard a lot of Robeson's spirituals around the house.

38. Anitra's Dance. Edvard Grieg

We had this ancient album of the Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by Eugene Ormandy, with Peer Gynt Suite No. 1 by Grieg, Valse Triste by Sibelius, Swedish Rhapsody by Alfven and Finlandia. You can tell how ancient the album was; this statement appears on the back cover: "This Columbia STEREO FIDELITY recording is designed for use on 33 1/3 RPM stereophonic reproducers." I used to listen to side one all the time (Peer Gynt and Valse Triste) but I grew to appreciate side two in later years. I wish I could find a CD of this album but so far I've had no luck. Anyway, Anitra's Dance is just one pretty part of Peer Gynt Suite No. 1. More familiar are Morning Mood (kind of a Scandinavian Oh What a Beautiful Morning sans words) and In the Hall of the Mountain King.

39. Marie's Wedding. Van Morrison and The Chieftains

This album was a staple in the hellish McMaster days; lots of scotch was imbibed to it. I like the traditional instruments used by The Chieftains, especially the uilleann pipes (sort of like little bagpipes) and the bodhran (the drum). It's incredible how many collaborations The Chieftains have done. One good collaborative album is Tears of Stone, which features a bunch of different female artists, including a deep-voiced Joni Mitchell singing The Magdalene Laundries. They've also done collaborations with bluegrass and country artists, Down the Old Plank Road and Further Down the Old Plank Road, which feature such diverse people as Ricky Skaggs, Alison Krauss, and Lyle Lovett.

40. Anchorage. Michelle Shocked

Dr S reporting for duty. We first heard Michelle Shocked when we moved to Onatrio for grad school. I think it's safe to say that she's a very up and down talent. Anchorage, her first big hit, and the album on which it's found, Short Sharp Shocked, are among her best work. We saw Michelle Shocked in concert once, and she said that the song, if a little exaggerated, is rooted in truth.

I wonder if I liked this song so much at that time because it was the story of someone revisiting her youth and concluding that those days were truly gone and that a new future beckoned. That was what I was discovering too. (Of course, things hadn't gone so well for Michelle's pal. Here's hoping my old friends are happier.)

But it is also good music and a story well-told. I love the part where she sings the text of the letter from her friend, "Leroy says send a picture. Leroy says hello. Leroy says .... oh, keep on rockin' girl. Keep on rockin'."

41. I've Got a Crush on You. Lee Wiley

Lee Wiley was a favourite of my dad's. She does a great version of I'm Coming, Virginia, too. This is another great Gershwin song.

42. Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 77, 3rd movement. Brahms

One of my all-time favourite pieces. I had heard this many times but when I saw it performed live it made a big impression on me. I love this movement; a lot of it sounds very self-important, but I think it also sounds happy. Just before the 6-minute mark the violin has histrionics, and then you get four bars of low strings going "duddle-ump, duddle-ump, duddle-ump, duddle-ump" (which sort of sounds to me like a bunch of elephants tip-toeing in), and then the main theme comes back, only in triplets, so it sounds faster and kind of funny, as if Brahms is making fun of himself. Thanks to golden-haired C, a real conductor, who suggested that I look at the score so I could figure out what was going on.

43. Free Nelson Mandela. The Specials

This is not a good recording. It's an mp3 copy of an approximately 25-year-old cassette recording of some other recording. The cassette was a mixed tape that friend MEH made us, and this is one of the best songs on it. Now I guess this song is very historical. Strange to think that it's almost 20 years since Nelson Mandela was freed.


P.S. That mixed tape also included an excellent, extremely laid-back version of Jump by Aztec Camera; I recommend it.
P.P.S. Imagine my surprise upon learning that MEH actually follows this blog! Hello, MEH! Perhaps you will leave a note sometime...

44. Libera Me. Yaron Herman

One weekend morning I was brushing my teeth while listening to the radio and did a double-take as I thought I heard a jazz piano version of Libera Me from Faure's Requiem. I thought it was brilliant. I sang this in the MUN Festival Choir in 1982 or 1983 and I loved it; some of the harmonies reminded me of stuff like the Beatles' Sun King. The words to Libera Me are:
Libera me, Domine, de morte aeterna, in die illa tremenda quando coeli
movendi sunt et terra, dum veneris judicare saeculum per ignem.
Deliver me, O Lord, from eternal death, on that fearful day when the heavens
are moved and the earth when thou shalt come to judge the world through fire.
Faure's setting is mellow; this is even mellower. The end of it is like a heartbeat slowing down and then stopping.

45. Sister Goldenhair. America

Back in high school the now-successful-musician Keith and my friend L and I formed a sort of trio called M.I.T. We sang a lot of Beatles songs and we also sang Sister Goldenhair. I vaguely remember going to the Janeway children's hospital and singing it there, probably as something to do with the YMCA leaders' corps, of which we were members. The photo is of another wonderful friend with golden hair.

46. Love is Here to Stay

One of my favourite George Gershwin songs. This is a fun version.

47. I Don't Know What It Is

I can't remember for sure but I think the first Rufus Wainwright song I heard was Oh, What a World, and I liked how he gradually layered the music, incorporating Bolero towards the end. I like this song for the same reason; he adds layers and the sound builds. What the heck is it about? I don't know, but it's got a line from Three's Company. And I like the line "give me heaven or hell, Calais or Dover." This kind of reminds me of The Beatles Magical Mystery Tour. I like the quality of his voice, too: it sounds kind of lazy but it has a richness.

48. Lobe den Herren, BWV 137. J.S. Bach

Our choir sang this one in 2006. In this recording, they start with the chorale (the last verse of the piece), and then go into the chorus. I love the trumpets; the altos, tenors and basses pick up their line while the sopranos sing the chorale over the top. I couldn't find a very good translation of it but I've included something I found on the internet which seems pretty close to the original German.

Lobe den Herren; was in mir ist, lobe den Namen.
Alles was Odem hat, lobe mit Abrahams Samen.
Er ist dein Licht; Seele, vergiß es ja nicht;
Lob ihn und schließe mit Amen!

Lobe den Herren, den mächtigen König der Ehren!
Meine geliebte Seele, das ist mein Begehren.
Kommet zu Hauf! Psalter und Harfe, wacht auf!
Lasset den Lobgesang hören!

Praise the Lord; what is in me, praise his name.
All that hath breath, praise with Abraham's seed.
He is thine light; soul, do not forget it!
Praise him into eternity. Amen!

Praise the Lord, the mighty king of honour,
My dear soul, this is my desire.
Come in droves, psalter and harp awake,
Let the song of praise be heard!

Technical difficulties

Apologies: our computer is not working, so I may not be able to post for a few days, or the posts may be kind of spotty.

49. Blue and Lonesome. Alison Krauss and Union Station

It's cool how Alison Krauss and Dan Tyminski do this duet and stick together on all the curlicues. They do a nice train whistle sound, which seems to be a pretty dominant theme in bluegrass singing. (The chugging sound of a train is prevalent too, but this song doesn't have it.) Also cool is how in bluegrass, the melody line is not the top line; there's harmony going on above it. I noticed this on my own at some point but then my observation was verified in a book by my friend L's father, who is an internationally renowned bluegrass expert. Boy, did I feel intelligent. (On listening to this song again, however, I'm not sure which line is supposed to be the melody, Alison's or Dan's. Comes from being an alto, I guess; the alto line often sounds more like the melody to me than the soprano line does.)

50. O Man Greatly Beloved from Vaughan Williams' Dona Nobis Pacem

I featured another part of the Dona Nobis Pacem as #95. This is at the end. It's preceded by words from a speech by John Bright in the British House of Commons during the Crimean War:
The Angel of Death has been abroad throughout the land; you may almost hear the beating of his wings. There is no one as of old . . . to sprinkle with blood the lintel and the two side-posts of our doors, that he may spare and pass on.

... and by a passage from the book of Jeremiah (8:15-22):
We looked for peace, but no good came; and for a time of health, and behold trouble!
The snorting of his horses was heard from Dan; the whole land trembled at the sound of the neighing of his strong ones;
for they are come, and have devoured the land, and those that dwell therein.
. . .
The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved...
Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there?
Why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered?

Dona Nobis Pacem ends (almost) on a joyous and hopeful note with O Man Greatly Beloved (taken from various parts of scripture):

O man, greatly beloved, fear not, peace be unto thee, be strong, yea, be strong.
The glory of this latter house shall be greater than the former, and in this place will I give peace.
Nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall there be war any more.
And none shall make them afraid, neither shall the sword go through the land.
Mercy and truth are met together, righteousness and peace have kissed each other.
Truth shall spring out of the earth, and righteousness shall look down from heaven.
Open to me the gates of righteousness, I will go into them.
Let all the nations be gathered together, and let the people be assembled; and let them hear, and say, it is the truth.
And it shall come, that I will gather all nations and tongues. And they shall come and see my glory.
And I will set a sign among them, and they shall declare my glory among the nations.
For as the new heavens, and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, so shall your seed and your name remain for ever.
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good-will toward men.

Isn't that a beautiful line: "righteousness and peace have kissed each
other." The piece ends with a haunting "dona nobis pacem."

51. Ten Cents a Dance. Ruth Etting

I knew nothing about Ruth Etting before my dad put this on one of his CDs, although I had heard the song before. Born in Nebraska in 1897, Etting got a job in a Chicago night club and caught the attention of a mobster, Moe Snyder (aka The Gimp), who married her in 1922. Ten Cents a Dance was a big hit for her in 1930. Doris Day and James Cagney starred in a 1955 movie about her life, Love Me or Leave Me. I like how this recording has that really old sound (a kind of muted quality). And you can understand all the words!

52. Under Attack. ABBA

I don't think that this was ever a big hit. I grew to love it while listening to Dr S's extensive ABBA collection. The chorus is fantastic even though I can't understand all the words. About the photo: this is Dr S's grandmother and two cousins. When I first saw it, I thought how creepy it looks with this woman standing menacingly behind two sweet, unsuspecting children. (Apologies to cousins E and R, but don't you kind of agree?)

53. Big Noise from Winnetka. Bob Haggart and Ray Bauduc

Another piece from my dad's library. This one is cool because all it is is Bob Haggart whistling and playing bass, with Ray Bauduc on drums. (They were members of the Bob Crosby Orchestra.) Dr S and I have just agreed that we never really realized that it was only those three things until I looked it up on the internet to find out a little about the background. It kind of reminds me of Golden Wedding by Woody Herman and his orchestra, which opens with just drums and clarinet (but then the rest of the band comes in). The drums are great. Big band music made good use of the cow bell. You don't hear enough cow bell anymore.

54. Grand Central Station. Mary Chapin Carpenter

Dr S reporting for duty!

Mary Chapin Carpenter is one of my favorite artists -- she's kind of an intellectual country singer, and sings a wide variety of stuff. Zydeco. Traditional sentimental country duets like Not Too Much to Ask (with Joe Diffie). Good old fashioned folk. Pissed-off anthems like He Thinks He'll Keep Her and its flipside, The Hard Way. An entire album, Time*Sex*Love, that is flecked through with Beatles influences and includes a song featuring the "mind the gap" announcement from the London underground.

I think this is one of her best songs. Simple, deliberate guitar that gradually gives way to more orchestration and then back again. Slightly shaky voice. And the simple first person story of a worker from the World Trade Center "pile" who stops at Grand Central Station every night as he leaves work to let the dust on his clothes --all that's left of those who were killed-- float off his clothes onto the platforms and trains heading home.

Got my work clothes on, full of sweat and dirt
All this holy dust upon my face and shirt
Heading uptown now, just as the shifts are changing
To Grand Central Station
I got my lunch box, got my hard hat in my hand
I ain't no hero, mister, just a working man
And all these voices keep on asking me to take them,
To Grand Central Station
Grand Central Station

In the care of most other people it would be completely maudlin. But with her, it's just heartbreaking.

55. Sun King. The Beatles

The Beatles are my favourite group ever. I started listening to them at an early age and gradually collected all their albums. I'm pretty sure I like singing harmony because of them. Abbey Road is one of my favourite Beatles albums, especially side 2 (which I guess doesn't exist since the advent of CDs). I got my Abbey Road album in the summer of 1977 at Jack's in Jacksonville, Illinois while visiting my grandmother. I played it over and over on her stereo, which was one of those old-fashioned ones in a walnut (or some fancy wood) cabinet, while thinking about Luke Skywalker (we had gone to see Star Wars in Montreal on our way to Grammie's). (Later I realized that Luke Skywalker was kind of pathetic compared to Han Solo.) Anyway, I like the way side 2 of Abbey Road kind of runs together. This is just a snippet of it, but I love the mellow harmonies, the crickets, the faux-Italian, etc. I assume it's faux-Italian; to tell you the truth, I don't even know all the lyrics to all the Beatles songs - some of them sound like gobbledegook to me and I just sing along phonetically. I think at the end of this they say "cake-and-eat-it."

56. On the Appian Way. Respighi

Last year we got some tickets to the Toronto Symphony. I chose this concert because I recognized Respighi (they used to play stuff from his Ancient Airs and Dances on CBC2 a lot, but that's really all I knew of him). We had great seats at the back of the orchestra; the sound was wonderful. They opened the concert with Italiana (Ancient airs and dances, Suite No.3). I thought it was absolutely beautiful. Later in the concert, they played The Pines of Rome, four short pieces. The opening piece is supposed to portray children playing among the pines of Villa Borghese; it's striking because it's written all in the treble clef (even the parts for low instruments like the cello and bassoon). This makes the sound quite brilliant and even shrill, for which reason Dr S did not like it. She didn't like On the Appian Way, either, for the same reason that I do like it; the sound crescendos gradually until it's blasting out (when the orchestra played, the trumpets were standing up in the choir stalls). This is a scene of an army (I'm thinking an ancient Roman army) approaching from the distance, coming closer until they're right on top of you. Although it starts off kind of menacing, it ends up being a very triumphal, even happy-sounding piece (so it's not very politically correct). Boy, did that Respighi write some evocative music!

57. Guess Who I Saw Today. Carmen McRae

When Dr S and I moved to Hamilton (aka The Armpit of Canada) to go to McMaster (aka Hell on Earth), my dad made us four mixed tapes of jazz and blues. This song (in a different version) was on one of them. It's a good song because it tells a story, and you don't get climax until the very last word.

58. Buonaparte. Keith Murphy

Keith is an old friend; we first met at Y camp over 30 years ago and bonded over singing and ukulele-playing. He's married to Becky Tracy (song #84). When we visited them in Vermont last year, Keith gave us a copy of his CD. This song is based on a shape note song (which I do not absolutely understand, so I won't try to explain it); Keith wrote the third and fourth verses. It's a very pleasant melody and I like his voice. If you enjoy this and are interested in getting a copy of the CD, go to BlackIsleMusic.com.

59. Dead. They Might Be Giants

They Might Be Giants is a very strange band with very strange but catchy songs. This is a good one. To my knowledge, I never made my younger brother have to be my personal slave, but it's a good line.

I returned a bag of groceries accidently taken off the shelf before the expiration date.
I came back as a bag of groceries accidently taken off the shelf before the date stamped on myself.

Did a large procession wave their torches as my head fell in the basket, and was everybody dancing on the casket?

Now it's over I'm dead and I haven't done anything that I want
Or, I'm still alive and there's nothing I want to do.

I will never say the word "procrastinate" again; I'll never see myself in the mirror with my eyes closed.
I didn't apologize for when I was eight and I made my younger brother have to be my personal slave.

Did a large procession wave their torches as my head fell in the basket, and was everybody dancing on the casket?

Now it's over I'm dead and I haven't done anything that I want
Or, I'm still alive and there's nothing I want to do.

So I won't sit at home anymore
and you won't see my head in the window
and I won't be around ever anymore
and I'll be up there on the wall at the store.

I returned a bag of groceries accidently taken off the shelf before the expiration date.
I came back as a bag of groceries accidently taken off the shelf before the date stamped on myself.

Did a large procession wave their torches as my head fell in the basket, and was everybody dancing on the casket?

Now it's over I'm dead and I haven't done anything that I want
Or, I'm still alive and there's nothing I want to do.

60. In the Beginning. Aaron Copland

Aaron Copland is best-known for works like Billy the Kid and Appalachian Spring, and a great arrangement of Shall We Gather By the River. I love all of those, but I thought I'd share something you may never have heard before, In the Beginning, which is Genesis, chapters 1 and 2:1-7. Our choir sang the first bit of this piece one January when the lectionary was on Genesis. We sang only the first bit because the piece (at least this recording of it) is almost 16 minutes long (don't worry - I'm only giving you the first two days here!). I think our choir director said we'd never be able to do it because we'd surely go flat in a piece that long (since it's a capella, or acapulco, as he likes to say). I notice that in this recording, the mezzo-soprano soloist (not named in the liner notes, but on the CD itself, Catherine Denley is listed as a soloist) goes flat pretty quickly but somehow the choir manages to maintain their pitch. It's kind of neat word-painting, etc. with those cool Copland harmonies. At the end of each day the choir sings very quietly: "And the evening and the morning were the first (second, etc.) day." Here are the words for the bit you're listening to:

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep.
And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.
And God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night.
And the evening and the morning were the first day.
And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.
And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.
And God called the firmament Heaven.
And the evening and the morning were the second day.



Not the kind of thing you listen to on your ipod on your way to work, but worth a listen sometime.

61. I Love Paris. Jonathan & Darlene Edwards

This is appropriate for Halloween; it's pretty scary. It's actually an act; Jo Stafford and Paul Weston are real musicians who thought it would be funny to be awful. My dad loved this song and The Last Time I Saw Paris. He delighted in playing them for my mom, whose teeth were set on edge. When he knew he was on the way out, he made six mixed CDs (Dick's Curtain Call, volumes 1 to 6 - he had a good sense of humour) that were to be played at the party following his memorial service in the Reid Theatre at MUN. My mom, knowing his dangerous sense of humour, made my aunt listen to all six CDs prior to the event so that any songs with objectionable lyrics could be censored. However, she didn't tell my aunt to check for atrocious singing, so when we were setting up for the memorial service in the afternoon and testing the music/ speakers, all of a sudden we heard the familiar introduction to I Love Paris. "He didn't!" exclaimed my mother. Yep, he did.

62. Stumbling Through the Dark. The Jayhawks

This is from a CD I came across in the library: The Grass is Always Bluer. Apparently it's a collection of "nu-grass" artists, including Gillian Welch and Lucinda Williams. I'd never heard of The Jayhawks before but I liked this song. I have no idea what the lyrics are about, but I like the part where they sing "the men who proceeded us here left only questions and fears." I picture the voyageurs or somebody like that exploring the wilds, and I sing along (fixing the grammar at the same time) "the men who preceded us here left only pretzels and beer."

63. It's a Raggy Waltz. The Dave Brubeck Quartet

Thanks to a CD buying trip in Winnipeg with L for starting my love affair with Dave Brubeck.
This is so cool; there's a part in it (almost six minutes in, I think) where he seems to be playing in one tempo and it turns into another tempo. Actually the liner notes include an interview with Dave Brubeck where he listens to the recording of the performance, and he says, "Frankly, I don't know what I'm doing here. At first I'm in 2/4 or maybe it's 4/4 within 3/4 and then I got into double time. I'm going to have to listen to this more carefully and figure out exactly what it is that I was doing here." At least now I don't feel so bad about not knowing what was going on. Liner notes from another CD I have (Dave Brubeck Jazz Collection, Columbia C2K 64160) say that Brubeck had a great ear as a child but bad eyesight, so when his mother taught him to play the piano, he pretended to be reading the music. In his senior year as a music major at College of the Pacific in California, they discovered that he couldn't read music. The dean told him that he wouldn't graduate, but the composition and counterpoint professors convinced the dean to allow it; the dean agreed as long as Brubeck promised never to teach music. The most famous Brubeck piece is Take Five (used to great effect in the soundtrack of the movie Pleasantville), but this live stuff is pretty exciting.

64. Get in the Car. Moxy Fruvous

Another good road trip song. We actually know one of the members of Moxy Fruvous: Mike Ford, who's married to a former colleague of Dr S's. He has a solo career now, and we like his song Stars Shone on Toronto (from the CD of the same name), which is about the blackout of August 2003. Moxy Fruvous has nice harmonies and funny songs. They're kind of a cross between Barenaked Ladies and They Might Be Giants.

65. Wasn't That a Mighty Storm. Nanci Griffith and Friends

Dr S first heard Nanci Griffith on Morningside in the late 80s; then we heard her on a Chieftains Christmas tape; finally, Dr S went to Austin, Texas (Nanci Griffith's hometown) in 1993 and saw a bunch of her CDs in a music store. We've bought every NG CD since then. I have to say that sometimes I find her voice a little irritating, but overall I really enjoy her and the songs she sings - both the traditional and contemporary folk. We've even seen her in concert once. This is just one of many great songs, from a CD of classic folk songs. On this song, NG is joined by Odetta, Emmylou Harris, etc. It's about the hurricane that hit Galveston, Texas in 1900; this storm claimed the lives of between 6,000 and 12,000 people. (In comparison, Hurricane Katrina killed about 1,800 people.)

66. As Pants the Hart. Maddy Prior and The Carnival Band

I heard this on Jurgen Gothe's Disc Drive many, many years ago. It's a beautiful, simple setting of Psalm 42. This is on the CD Sing Lustily and With Good Courage: Gallery Hymns of the 18th and Early 19th Centuries, the title of which is from John Wesley's 1761 instructions for singing; Dr S takes this advice with varying results. The CD has some other great hymns on it, too. Also check out their Christmas CDs, A Tapestry of Carols and Carols & Capers - lots of good old Oxford Book of Carols stuff.

67. Mamie's Blues. Jelly Roll Morton

My dad put this song on many mixed tapes and CDs.

68. William Tell Overture. Spike Jones

At first I had The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald scheduled for today; it's a fantastic, moving song but you all know it. So I decided to feature Spike Jones' William Tell Overture instead. This post is dedicated to my oldest friend in the world, L - we used to listen to this at her house. I'm afraid you will have to listen to more Spike Jones before the year is over. I'm not really sorry - Spike Jones is hilarious, no matter what my mother thinks!



P.S. We used to call this song Beetlebaum (the horse), but some people seem to think the horse is Fetelbaum or Feitlebaum.

69. Grazing in the Grass. Hugh Masekela

Dr. S learned about Hugh Masekela from a colleague who had done a CUSO placement in Botswana in the 1980s during the anti-Apartheid struggle; he took music lessons from Hugh Masekela! Along with Miriam Makeba, Hugh Masekela is one of the most important black South African musicians and critics of Apartheid. He's great wherever he's from. This song is so mellow. I love it.

70. Marry Me. Dolly Parton

This is from the CD Little Sparrow, which is a return to bluegrass, less commercial fare, for Dolly Parton. I like this song because it's just plain funny.

71. Christ lag in Todesbanden. J.S. Bach, BWV 4

Another cantata our choir sang for a Sunday service. This is an Easter cantata, about how Christ conquered death. I find it a bit strange that it's in a minor key, but I guess it's not inappropriate because the subject is so heavy. Below are the words in German and English.

Christ lag in Todesbanden für unsre Sünd gegeben,
er ist wieder erstanden und hat uns bracht das Leben;
des wir sollen fröhlich sein, Gott loben und ihm dankbar sein
und singen halleluja, halleluja!

Christ lay in death's bonds, given over for our sins,
He has risen again and brought us life;
therefore we should be joyful, praise God and be thankful to Him
and sing Hallelujah, Hallelujah!

During the "des wir sollen fröhlich sein," the music gets a little cheerful to fit with the words. At the end, in the halleluja part, there's this thing called an alla breve, which means cut time - basically, all the hallelujas speed right up.



This other chorus is great too. If you ever hear it, listen for the words at the end: "wie ein Tod den andern fraß" - "how one death ate the other" - it's a great line. And when the choir sings "Ein Spott aus dem Tod ist worden," they almost spit it out.

Es war ein wunderlicher Krieg, da Tod und Leben rungen,
das Leben behielt den Sieg, es hat den Tod verschlungen.
Die Schrift hat verkündigt das, wie ein Tod den andern fraß,
Ein Spott aus dem Tod ist worden. Halleluja!

It was a strange battle that death and life waged;
life claimed the victory, it devoured death.
The scripture had prophesied this, how one death gobbled up the other,
a mockery has been made out of death. Hallelujah!

Dedicated to G, D, and H.

72. Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out. Bessie Smith

I chose this song to follow Judy Henske because I was listening to it one day and thought that Judy Henske must have been at least partly inspired by Bessie Smith - she really belts it out just like Smith. Bessie Smith (1894-1937) was a popular blues singer of the 20s and 30s, and one of my dad's favourites.

73. Ballad of Little Romy. Judy Henske

Judy Henske is a singer we discovered by accident. My dad was searching for a recording of the Salvation Army Song ("put a nickel on the drum, feed another drunken bum") and we turned up the CD Judy Henske, recorded live in 1963. She introduces some songs with whacky patter - the patter, in fact, is half the experience on this album. This is a good example.

74. SOS. Agnetha Faltskog

Dr. S here. I think I was possibly the biggest ABBA fan ever in Newfoundland. S.O.S was always one of my favourite of their songs, because it was such a great example of the layered ABBA sound. I especially love the kind of burbling piano leading into the chorus, followed by a folky acoustic guitar, which gradually gives way to synthesizer and electric guitar. A music critic once wrote of ABBA's music that (lyrics aside) it was such a complex wall of sound that you could lie down on the floor in your headphones and get lost in it.

As well, this song was sung by my favourite band member, Agnetha (the blond). In fact, this version is not technically ABBA but rather Agnetha on her 1975 solo album, Elva Kvinnor i Ett Hus (Eleven Women in One House). However, that's really a technicality since Benny plays keyboards, Bjorn plays guitar, Anni-Frid sings backup, and all the usual ABBA musicians play the other instruments.



You may have noticed that it's in Swedish. I have a considerable collection of ABBA LPs in Swedish. Told you I was a big fan.

75. If I Had a Boat. Lyle Lovett

We heard this song on somebody else's mixed cd and liked it. It's sort of a weird cowboy meets sailor fantasy. My favourite line, of course, is "kiss my ass, I bought a boat, I'm going out to sea."

76. Je Ne Regrette Rien. Raquel Bitton

This is a song that my dad liked; it's usually associated with Edith Piaf, but this recording is by Raquel Bitton. I like the way she practically spits out "je ne regrette rien."

77. People Will Say We're In Love. From Oklahoma

A favourite song from a favourite musical, Oklahoma. This recording is from the motion picture and features Shirley Jones and Gordon MacRae. It's great for both the lyrics and the tune. The lyrics are clever with some nice internal rhyme; the best is "grantin' your wish, I carved our initials on the tree." The introduction to each verse is very complex, not easy to sing but neat to listen to, which gives way to a very pleasant tune. It's actually not easy to pick a favourite song from this musical, since there are so many good ones: Oh, What a Beautiful Morning, The Surrey with the Fringe on Top (there's a really cool little punctuation thing that the trumpets do), Many a New Day (another one with a great tune and lyrics), etc. I will feature a more humorous song from this musical at a later date!

78. Sing Sing Sing. Benny Goodman

From Benny Goodman's live concert at Carnegie Hall in 1938, this recording is one of my favourite pieces of music ever. Where to begin? This is a very long piece; it was the last thing they played at the concert, apart from the encore. (Since it's so long, I'll give the approximate times as I describe what I'm hearing.) The piece starts with Gene Krupa on drums - the drums are the glue that holds the whole piece together. At the beginning, it's just another big band number - a great one, but not earth-shattering. Saxes and raunchy trumpets, then normal big band, then a clarinet solo. At 1:18, the drums lead us into another bit: this is actually the tune Christopher Columbus. More good big band. At 2:20, the drums lead us into another section. At 3:04, the drums are on their own again for a bit of a solo before the whole band joins in for what seems like a big finale, but a clarinet emerges from the applause at 3:55 and the music continues. At 5:21 the drums quietly introduce a trumpet solo by Harry James. At 7:35, another clarinet solo begins, punctuated by Krupa on every third beat. Goodman ends on a couple of really high notes (according to the liner notes, an A and a C). At 9:30, Jess Stacy's piano solo begins; he plays the main theme and then spins off into a couple of minutes of more reflective stuff. At 11:28, he tapers off, the audience applauds, and the drums come back. Four knocks on the cow bell herald the big finale and the piece is over!



This post is dedicated to my saxy cousin with her fancy new job!

79. Watermark. Mae Moore

Dragonfly, the album this song is from, was the flip side of the cassette we used to play first on road trips (see #80). When I hear anything from it, I see highway 12 in Michigan (on our first couple of road trips, we were too scared to drive the interstate), with all its picturesque little towns. Mae Moore is a BC singer who we first heard on CBC's Morningside with Peter Gzowski, both now long gone. Another great song of hers is Red Clay Hills, which I just learned is about PEI, where she lived for three years, and the threat people feared would be posed by the proposed fixed link to the mainland -- the present Confederation Bridge. As for me, I'd be scared about the dangers posed to self driving across a 13 km bridge!

80. Baby, Now That I've Found You. Alison Krauss & Union Station

This is from the CD of almost the same name (Now That I've Found You), which is the first CD we play whenever we go on a road trip - at first it was on a cassette, then a CD, and now it's an ipod playlist. Usually we start it as soon as we hit the 401. This CD is a compilation of some of Alison's earlier music. It includes stuff she did with the Cox Family, like Everybody Wants To Go To Heaven (But Nobody Wants To Die) - a very catchy number. Since we discovered Alison in the early 90s, she is one of our favourite musicians - although there was bluegrass next door to me when I was young, Alison's the one who opened the door to bluegrass for me in adulthood. Her voice is exceedingly pure and she's a good fiddle player, too. She's also very funny - check out this plug for Ken Burns' National Parks series.



P.S. From a certain standpoint, the lyrics of this song are kind of obsessive, kind of freaky-stalkerish. So just listen to the music and ignore the lyrics if you must.

81. Serenade for Strings in C Major, 1st movement. Tchaikovsky

I think I first heard this on CBC2 years ago, and I liked it so much I got this Decca 2-CD set (Neville Marriner and the Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields) which also includes serenades by Wiren, Brahms, Dvorak, and Suk, all of which are great. The part I like the best in this piece is the opening (which is also the ending). In between there is some dramatic stuff and some quite cheerful stuff, but the opening and ending are incredibly rich and poignant.

82. Laughing in Rhythm. Slim Gaillard

Slim Gaillard did some weird stuff. Funny weird. I find the laughter on this one contagious. There's not too much to say about Slim Gaillard (1916-1991); the songs with their ridiculous lyrics speak for themselves. If you like this one, check out Potato Chips, Cement Mixer, and Chicken Rhythm, all available on itunes.

83. Pilate's Dream from Jesus Christ Superstar

I seem to be partial to musicals, and Jesus Christ Superstar is a favourite. My parents had the album back in the 70s; our babysitter Charmaine used to play it and it scared the bejeezus out of me - at least the part where they nail Jesus to the cross. In 1976 the movie came to town and I went to see it with an older friend or two. After I had seen it on the screen, it wasn't as scary. At some point it became a tradition for me to watch the movie every Easter Saturday, a tradition which continues to this day somewhat to Dr. S's chagrin (however, Dr. S feels a little different now that she's been to Jerusalem, and somehow we always find some new aspect of the movie to discuss). I know the whole movie pretty much by heart. It's fun to sing the Last Supper scene but (as with Bess, You Is My Woman Now) it's difficult to sing both parts when they overlap. This song is so short and sweet and simple, and Barry Dennen is great as Pontius Pilate.

84. La Fille dans le Bois / Reel a D'Idas Boudreault. Becky Tracy

Dr. S here, in the first of a limited number of guest appearances I have been granted. The musical half of the partnership is a pretty hard act to follow, but here goes...

These two tunes are from a friend of ours who, with her husband and an assortment of other talented folks in Vermont and Massachussetts, turns out an amazing assortment of music. American contra, traditional Scots, Irish, Breton, Newfoundland, Quebecois, and even Scandinavian fiddle tunes. There are many I could have picked from her repertoire, but I chose this combination because it showcases her fiddling so well, the first tune was written by her husband (our original friend in the pair), and it's got an addictive toe-tapping rhythm that gets me in the right frame of mind no matter what. It's frequent listening on the TTC!

The first tune was written about a fiddle student who lived in a cabin the woods, the second is a traditional Quebecois tune. I love what I think is the edgy, anticipatory bridge between the two beginning at about 1:14, and then the lilting reel that follows at about 1:30. And from then on, it's a beautiful mesmerizing dance!



Available for purchase at www.blackislemusic.com!

85. Misa Criolla: Credo. Ariel Ramirez

Ariel Ramirez, an Argentinian composer, wrote this folk mass in 1964; our choir sang it this spring. What I'm giving you today is the Credo, which has fantastic rhythms. Well, they're fantastic to listen to, but not so easy to sing. I think this is the part in the mass that actually has "quintuplets" (I guess that's what they're called!) - where the composer wants the singers to squish five notes into a space that's meant for four notes. More usual are triplets, where you make three notes fit into a four-note space. There are probably some of those in here, too. Anyway, all five parts of the mass (Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, and Agnus Dei) are available on itunes.

86. Brother, Can You Spare a Dime? Milton Douglas with Leo Reisman Orchestra

I don't know much about this singer or orchestra other than that they recorded this in 1932. The song will be familiar to most people as an anthem of the Depression. I like this version because it's so dramatic with the trumpets. The introduction got my attention and made me listen to the words more than I had before; it helps that Milton Douglas sings so clearly, too. It's quite a poignant song when you think about it.

87. Ill Wind. Flanders & Swann

Is there a name for a piece where they've set words to a piece that's instrumental? That's what this is. Flanders and Swann have taken the third movement of Mozart's Horn Concerto No. 4 (perhaps you will find it familiar) and written a song about a guy (probably technically a bloke) who is an amateur French horn player. I love funny songs, and the words to this are very clever, full of internal rhymes, etc. The best line is "I found that horn - gone;" he manages to make "gone" rhyme with "horn."

89. John Doe No. 24. Mary Chapin Carpenter

Mainly I picked this song because of the first line: "I was standing on this sidewalk in 1945 in Jacksonville, Illinois." Yesterday's song was about my dad's hometown, and this song starts in my mother's hometown. Jacksonville is in central Illinois; Hannibal, Missouri, where Mark Twain lived and got the inspiration for so many of his characters, is about an hour to the west, and Springfield, Illinois, the state capitol where Abe Lincoln got his political start, is about a half-hour to the east. Jacksonville is a very pretty town, home of Illinois College, which was founded in 1829 and from which both my parents got their BAs.

Apart from the subject matter, though, this song is a good example of Mary Chapin Carpenter's storytelling. It's about a teenager, blind, deaf, and unable to speak, who was found wandering in Jacksonville in 1945. He spent his life in various institutions and died at the age of 64. In the song, MCC imagines his thoughts going back to his childhood in New Orleans, although in reality nobody was ever able to ascertain where he was from.

90. Talking Centralia. Woody Guthrie

This song, which is actually spoken (hence the name), is about the Centralia mining disaster of 1947, in which 111 miners were killed. Centralia is where my dad grew up; it's in southern Illinois about an hour east of St. Louis, Missouri, and it's named for the Illinois Central Railroad. My dad would have been 12 when the mine exploded. My aunt says that the mine whistle blew long and loud to announce the emergency. My granddad was just arriving home from work at the Illinois Central Railroad, where he was an electrician, when he got a call to hurry down to the mine to help. A neighbour of theirs two doors down died in the mine. Apparently, on the day of the explosion (March 25) Woody Guthrie sat down and wrote three songs about the disaster.

91. Wir danken dir, Gott, wir danken dir. J.S. Bach

In 2005, our church got involved with the annual International Bach Festival in Toronto (which seems to be no more). During the Festival in 2005, 2006, and 2007, there was a Sunday church service featuring a Bach cantata sung by our choir (with some ringers) and conducted by Helmuth Rilling, an internationally renowned Bach musician. Wir danken dir is the first one we did. I still remember the day; it was Thanksgiving Sunday and my parents were arriving later that day. When I went down to the laundry room before getting dressed in my special black cantata clothes, I discovered that the sewer had backed up. Good times.

Anyway, this is supposed to be about the music. I'm not an expert, so I checked out some of the following on the internet. Bach's cantatas were an integral part of the church service and followed the lectionary (the prescribed Old and New Testament readings for each Sunday of the year) -- I guess this is why there are so many Bach cantatas. The cantatas start with a chorus, which is a four-part fugue-y thing sung by the choir, followed by a few arias (solos or duets or whatever - there are some that are quite beautiful) and/or recitatives (which I find very boring), finishing with a chorale, which is basically a hymn in four-part harmony -- the congregation would sing along with this. The words to this chorale are: "Wir danken dir, Gott, wir danken dir und verkundigen deine Wunder," which means: "We thank you, God, we thank you and proclaim your wonders."

P.S. For those of you wondering what's up with BWV, it stands for Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis, which means Bach-Works-Catalogue. This guy has over 1000 works, so it's just as well there's a numbering system to keep track of them all.

P.P.S. The photo is Lincoln Cathedral.

92. Americo. Carlos Guedes & Desvio

I really can't say much about this music except that I like it. It's catchy and happy and it's some kind of harp, which is nice. I heard it long long ago on a Disc Drive show that I taped and listened to over and over for many years. Perhaps it's just South American elevator music, but it's still nice.

93. Muddy Water. Eddi Reader

My acquaintance with this singer from Glasgow is thanks again to Peter Togni and Weekender. This is a contemporary song and although I know the words to it I'm not sure what it's about. Dr S is convinced it's about a woman who drowns her family in muddy water. In any case, I like the sound of it (the song, not drowning your family). This whole CD (see the end of the video) has other good stuff on it too. We liked it so much we bought a CD of Reader doing Robbie Burns songs. You will hear more of her before the decade is out.

94. Heaven. Tangle Eye

I was introduced to this song by Jurgen Gothe on his new show Farrago exactly one year ago! It's actually a remix of a field recording made by Alan Lomax in the 1930s or 1940s, during which time Lomax and his father made thousands of recordings of traditional American music for the Library
of Congress. Now you would find these original recordings under the Smithsonian Folkways label. About Tangle Eye I know nothing!

95. Dirge for Two Veterans. Ralph Vaughan Williams

Our choir sang Dona Nobis Pacem as a protest at the beginning of the Iraq War in 2003. Vaughan Williams wrote this in the years before the Second World War. Of the six parts in it, two take their words from scripture, one from a speech delivered in the British House of Commons during the Crimean War, and three from the Civil War poetry of Walt Whitman. It's a very forceful work. This part is from Whitman. Great word-painting, as our choir director, B, would say: "And every blow of the great convulsive drums strikes me through and through" and "Two veterans, son and father, dropped together."

In fact, the combination of words and music was so powerful that I was moved almost to tears during one rehearsal. War is so abstract when you are not directly involved in it, and this music forces you to confront what it means. Now this song has an even greater significance as our nephew joins the Canadian Armed Forces.

The last sunbeam
Lightly falls from the finish'd Sabbath,
On the pavement here, and there beyond it is looking,
Down a new-made double grave.

Lo, the moon ascending,
Up from the east the silvery round moon,
Beautiful over the house-tops, ghastly, phantom moon,
Immense and silent moon.

I see a sad procession,
And I hear the sound of coming full-key'd bugles,
All the channels of the city streets they're flooding,
As with voices and with tears.

I hear the great drums pounding,
And the small drums steady whirring,
And every blow of the great convulsive drums,
Strikes me through and through.

For the son is brought with the father,
(In the foremost ranks of the fierce assault they fell,
Two veterans son and father dropt together,
And the double grave awaits them.)

Now nearer blow the bugles,
And the drums strike more convulsive,
And the daylight o'er the pavement quite has faded,
And the strong dead-march enwraps me.

In the eastern sky up-buoying,
The sorrowful vast phantom moves illumin'd,
('Tis some mother's large transparent face,
In heaven brighter growing.)

O strong dead-march you please me!
O moon immense with your silvery face you soothe me!
O my soldiers twain! O my veterans passing to burial!
What I have I also give you.

The moon gives you light,
And the bugles and the drums give you music,
And my heart, O my soldiers, my veterans,
My heart gives you love.



And now I must tell you about the photograph. It's a picture of the graveyard at the Carnton Plantation in Franklin, Tennessee, which was right in the middle of the Battle of Franklin on November 30, 1864. During the 5-hour battle, about 10,000 soldiers were killed, injured, or went missing. The plantation owners gave up their home to be used as a hospital, keeping one room for themselves. Injured soldiers filled every room, every inch of floor, stair, and veranda, and spilled out onto the grounds. The dead were buried in a farmer's field. In 1866, when the farmer wanted to reclaim his field, the owners of the Carnton plantation gave up some of their land to re-bury the 1,481 soldiers. This whole thing was retold in Robert Hicks' The Widow of the South, which I intend to read someday.

96. Bess, You Is My Woman Now. George Gershwin

This is a beautiful duet from George Gershwin's Porgy and Bess, which I guess my dad used to play a lot. At first, Porgy and Bess go back and forth singing to each other, but then they sing together, two competing melodies which twine together. If I start out on the right note, I can actually sing both parts, which is quite fun until I get to the part where they sing together. That's not so easy.

97. Fairytale of New York, The Pogues

This is from the bad old days when Dr S and I were doing our masters at McMaster. Dr S's hippie office-mate Barb introduced us to this song one night after a bunch of scotch. It's a great story - whenever she played it, Barb would say, "You can tell they really loved each other!"

"You're a bum, you're a punk."
"You're an old slut on junk, living there almost dead on a drip in that bed."
"You scumbag, you maggot, you cheap lousy faggot, Happy Christmas your arse, I pray God it's our last."
Yeah, the love really shines through.



Actually, the whole album (If I Should Fall From Grace With God) is great. There's a song on it called Thousands Are Sailing - it really resonated with us after leaving Newfoundland for "Canada." I think our culture shock couldn't have been far behind what the Irish would have felt when they got to New York.