Category Archives: Music

Mamma Mia

17 February 2025 By in Music Tags: , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

“Bohemian Rhapsody” was the eleventh track, and the first single released from Queen’s 1975 album, A Night at the Opera. Written by Freddie Mercury, the song has become the band’s signature tune and is hailed as one of the greatest rock songs ever recorded. Initially, critics were unsure what to make of the song, with some labeling it as a novelty, campy, calculated, and a brazen hodgepodge. However, they were all wrong. Rolling Stone ranked it 17th in its list of the 500 greatest songs in 2021, and Time ranked it among the top 100 songs written since 1923.

Mercury started writing the song in the 1960s, and it is a combination of three songs with multiple parts, including a cappella ballad, opera, and hard rock. This six-minute lament appeals to many, but everyone has their own interpretation of the song’s meaning. The band has never fully explained the lyrical meaning of the song, only stating that Freddie was a complicated individual with mercurial personality traits and habits. In the album’s Iranian release, it was mentioned in the liner notes that Freddie Mercury, of Indian and Persian descent, explained that ‘Bohemian Rhapsody‘ is about a young man who accidentally kills someone, makes a Faustian bargain by selling his soul to the devil, and ultimately calls upon God, Bismillah, to reclaim his soul.

Source: …Bohemian Rhapsody by Lily Rothman, Time, 2015. Graphic: Bohemian Rhapsody, Cover and Video by Queen, 2008.

Money for Nothing

10 February 2025 By in Music, Uncategorized Tags: , , , , , Leave a comment

In 1985 Dire Straits released their 5th studio album “Brothers in Arms”, becoming their most successful album while attaining several firsts for the band and British music. It was the first album to sell over a million CDs and the first British album to go 10x Platinum in the UK, eventually reaching 14x platinum.

The whimsical, tongue in cheek firmly planted, “Money for Nothing”, the 2nd track on “Brothers in Arms” was to become their greatest commercial success reaching No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States and winning the Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal. The song’s partially animated music video was a staple on MTV when the channel focused on music videos.

Mark Knopfler got the idea from listening to hardware store employees who thought rock stars had it easy. He, however, found a successful musician’s life exhausting. In 2009, he remarked, “If anyone can tell me one good thing about fame, I’d be very interested to hear it.”

Source: PDMusic.org. Knopfler…by Ian Young, BBC, 2009. Graphic: Money for Nothing—Dire StraitsVEVO.

Put Your Lights On

3 February 2025 By in Music Tags: , , , , , , Leave a comment

While lying in a hospital bed recovering from a major heart attack at the age of 28, Everlast (Erik Schrody, aka Whitey Ford), an American singer and songwriter, wrote the song “Put Your Lights On.” A song of hope, of belief, an affirmation of caring for one’s soul. A powerful message, a warning even, signifying that “all you sinners” need to “watch out” when you find yourself in a dark place and “Put Your Lights On.”

Everlast penned the song in 1998, and after Carlos Santana asked him to contribute a track to his new album, it was included in the “Supernatural” album release in 1999. The song won a Grammy for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal. As a single, it reached #18 on the charts.

Source: Songfacts. Graphic: Put Your Lights On, Santana, 2021, Video Remastered, Santana VEVO. Put Your Lights On cover 1999, copyright Arista Records.

No One Shall Sleep

20 January 2025 By in History, Music, Music, Poetry Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

“Nessun Dorma,” (No One Shall Sleep) an aria by Giacomo Puccini from the final act of his opera Turandot, is performed by an enigmatic tenor prince who seeks the hand of Princess Turandot. The Princess decrees that any suitor must solve three riddles to win her consent for marriage. The unknown prince answers all the riddles correctly, but the Princess still defers. He then proposes a counteroffer: if she can guess his name, she can have him executed, but if she cannot, she must marry him. In response, the Princess commands that none of her subjects shall sleep until they uncover his name.

Puccini’s opera, left incomplete at his death in 1924, offers a unique interpretation of Carlo Gozzi’s 18th-century play of the same name, which, in turn, drew inspiration from a 12th-century Persian fairy tale by Nizami as part of his poem collection titled Haft Peykar. In the fairy tale, a princess sets impossible riddles for her suitors.

Puccini retains three riddles from Nizami’s tale but alters the third one:

  1. What is born each night and dies each dawn? (hope)
  2. What flickers red and warm like a flame, but is not a flame? (blood)
  3. What is like ice but burns? (Princess Turandot)

(Nizami’s original 3rd riddle: What echoes with countless voices, yet has no voice of its own? (a letter))

Source: Grove Book of Operas edited by Stanley Sadie, 2006. Wikipedia. Graphic: Nessun Dorma by Pavarotti, 2023 copyright Warner Classics.

The Last Waltz: A Timeless Rock Odyssey

13 January 2025 By in Music Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

On Thanksgiving Day in 1976, Bill Graham’s legendary Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco played host to an unparalleled musical spectacular: The Last Waltz. Orchestrated by the visionary filmmaker Martin Scorsese and the iconic concert promoter Bill Graham, this five-hour marathon has earned its place in history as the greatest rock documentary ever made.

A star-studded fantasy night where rock, roots rock, blues, and folk giants converged. The Band taking center stage, were joined by a stellar lineup including Bob Dylan, Dr. John, Van Morrison, Joni Mitchell, Ringo Starr, Eric Clapton, and many more. Each performance was a masterpiece, weaving together years of musical brilliance into a single, unforgettable tapestry.

Michael Wilmington of the Chicago Tribune and Rolling Stone have rightfully hailed this epic concert as a monumental achievement, a time capsule of musical greatness that continues to inspire and captivate audiences nearly 50 years later.

The Last Waltz wasn’t just a concert; it was a celebration of artistic vision, camaraderie, and the timeless power of music.

Graphic: The Last Waltz Official Trailer #2, 1978, Copyright Last Waltz Productions.

Ground Control to Major Tom

6 January 2025 By in Music, Uncategorized Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

“Space Oddity,” David Bowie’s ode to the loneliness of space, framed as a conversation between ‘Major Tom and Ground Control’, was released in July 1969, nine days before Apollo 11 landed on the moon. Bowie didn’t draw inspiration from the moon landing but rather from Stanley Kubrick’s 1968 film “2001: A Space Odyssey.” However, the song was rushed through the production process to capitalize on the American moon shot.

While watching the movie in the theater in 1968, Bowie related to Classic Rock in 2012 that, “It was the sense of isolation I related to. I found the whole thing amazing. I was out of my gourd, very stoned when I went to see it – several times – and it was really a revelation to me. It got the song flowing.”

The song reached #5 on the charts in the UK but only made a slight blip in the US, peaking at #124 on the Billboard Hot 100. As Bowie’s fame increased in the next couple of years, RCA re-released the 1969 album and the song as a single, leading it to rise to #15 in the US on the Billboard Hot 100.

The attached video is Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield’s rendition of the song that he recorded aboard the International Space Station in 2013. With permission from Bowie, he updated the lyrics slightly to reflect current circumstances. The song was the first music video made in space and the first use of an acoustic guitar in space.

Trivia:

  • During the launch of Musk’s Falcon Heavy, with a Tesla Roadster aboard, the car’s sound system was said to be looping the Bowie songs “Space Oddity” and “Life on Mars?”
  • Kubrick’s film 2001: A Space Odyssey drew inspiration from Arthur C. Clarke’s novel of the same name, but also from Clarke’s earlier short stories, particularly “The Sentinel” and “Encounter in the Dawn,” both published in the early 1950s.

Source: David Bowie.com. Where is Telsa Roadster.space. Graphic: Space Oddity by Chris Hadfield, 2013.

Come and Get Your Love:

30 December 2024 By in Music Tags: , , , , , , , , Leave a comment



In the opening credits of the 2014 Marvel movie Guardians of the Galaxy, Peter Quill, aka Star-Lord (Chris Pratt), pops his Awesome Mix Vol. 1 into his Sony TPS-L2 Walkman, first released in 1979, and begins to dance and lip-sync on Morag, scooping up a lizard to use as a mic while grooving to the words of Redbone’s “Come and Get Your Love.”

In the 2017 sequel, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, during the opening credits, Baby Groot reprises the dancing role while the rest of the Guardians battle a big and nasty monster, with ELO’s “Mr. Blue Sky” blasting in the background.

“Come and Get Your Love,” originally titled “Hail” and released in 1974, was Redbone’s most successful song, reaching #5 on the Billboard Hot 100 and going Gold in the U.S. and Platinum in the U.K. The song was included on the Guardians of the Galaxy soundtrack, which reached #1 on the Billboard 200 for 2 weeks in August 2014.

Trivia: Beginning around the 3:15 mark in the video, the phrase “mehohta naa hekotahestotse” is written above a picture of the band members. While I’m not entirely sure of the language and its translation, it appears to be Cheyenne, meaning “I am happy to meet you.”

Source: Come and Get Your Love, RedboneVEVO by Juan E Bedolla, 2019.

Kung Fu Fighting

27 December 2024 By in Music Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Fifty years ago, during the Bruce Lee and David Carradine Kung Fu craze, the Jamaican musician Carl Douglas recorded “Kung Fu Fighting” as a B-side throw-away funky novelty song to his A-side soulful tune: “I Want to Give You Everything“.

“Kung Fu Fighting” quickly eclipsed the A-side record and rose to number 1 in December 1974 on the US Billboard Hot 100. The record went Gold in the same year as its release and eventually sold over 11 million copies worldwide.

Bruce Lee was instrumental in bringing Kung Fu and Chinese martial arts to the U.S. in the 1960s through his films and by teaching his skills to notable Hollywood personalities such as Chuck Norris, Roman Polanski, James Coburn, and Sharon Tate.

Trivia: The beginning and ending scenes in the “Kung Fu Fighting” music video are from the 2004 martial arts comedy movie “Kung Fu Hustle” starring Stephen Chow as Sing.

Source: Kung Fu Fighting (Remaster HD) by Carl Douglas 20th Century Fox 1974 and YouTube 2022.

The Little Drummer Boy

24 December 2024 By in Music Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Katherine Davis, an American composer of over 600 songs, is remembered today for one iconic song: “The Little Drummer Boy“, which she penned in 1941 and was originally titled “Carol of the Drum”.

Claire Fontijn of Wellesley College, commenting on the inspiration for the song, states that Davis, an alumna of the college, “when she was trying to take a nap, she was obsessed with this song that came into her head and it was supposed to have been inspired by a French song, ‘Patapan,’” explained Fontijn. “And then ‘patapan’ translated in her mind to ‘pa-rum-pum-pum,’ and it took on a rhythm” that became the beat of the song.

The Trapp Family Singers, famous from the 1959 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical “The Sound of Music“, brought the song to the American public when they recorded it in 1951 for Decca Records.

Jack Halloran, a composer and choral director for singers such as Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra, recorded the song with a different arrangement for the album “Christmas is A-Comin’” on Dot Records in 1957. The song was not released as a single, though. In 1958, Harry Simeone recorded an almost identical version of Halloran’s arrangement for Decca Records. The song, as recorded by Decca Records, credits Davis, along with arrangers Henry Onorati and Harry Simeone. Jack Halloran is not given credit for the Decca Record.

Source: Wellesley Faculty, Wellesley College, 2017. The Little Drummer Boy by Harry Simeone, 1977. Graphic: The Little Drummer Boy by Joan Jett on the 1981 I Love Rock’n Roll album, Boardwalk label.

Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire

23 December 2024 By in Music Tags: , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

On a sweltering summer day in 1945 in Los Angeles, Bob Wells was sitting at his piano, trying to coax himself into a cooler state of mind by writing some wintry lines in his notebook:

Chestnuts roasting on an open fire

Jack Frost nipping at your nose

Yuletide carols being sung by a choir

And folks dressed up like Eskimos

His songwriting partner, Mel Tormé, stopped by shortly after he had written those lines, and in less than an hour, they finished the lyrics to what would become “The Christmas Song” (also known as “Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire“).

Nat King Cole fell in love with the song when Tormé played it for him shortly after they had finished it. However, it took until 1946 before he could get into a studio to record it. Cole recut the song again in 1953 and 1960, with the last version becoming today’s definitive standard.

On most ranked lists of Christmas songs, “The Christmas Song” usually comes in at number 2, just behind “White Christmas“.

Source: The Christmas Song by Lydia Hutchinson, Performing Songwriter, 2016. Graphic: The Christmas Song by Nat King Cole, Capital Records and YouTube, 2010.