Music: He Hit Me (And It Felt Like a Kiss) / The Crystals

Sometimes choices made turn out to be real duds. Witness, for example, the comment by the Emperor Franz Josef to Mozart about The Marriage of Figaro: “Too many notes, Mozart, too many notes.” No one remembers what else he did, only that he told Mozart there were too many notes.

Sometimes the Streaker’s Defence applies. That defence comes from the words spoken by one of the first streakers to be prosecuted in Sydney, back in the 1960’s. On being asked by the Magistrate why he had done it, the young man mumbled that “It seemed like a good idea at the time.”

So it is with music: what seemed like a good idea at the time can turn out to be a real loser because events or attitudes change, or because it should have been thrown out at inception.

I mention this because in the early 1960’s there was a girl group known as the Crystals, who had hits with He’s a Rebel and Da Doo Ron Ron. Early in their career, after some initial limited success and before their later hits,  they recorded a clunker called He Hit Me (And It Felt Like a Kiss).

Music: PC and Teacher Songs

A point made in previous posts is that things that were acceptable in the past may today be unacceptable because of changes in society, outlooks and political correctness. There are many such issues: women’s roles, racial and ethnic differences, religion.

These days there is a very strong position against teachers having relationships with students and vice versa.

There is a difference, however, in reporting in the print media when a young male student has a relationship with an older female teacher, especially if the teacher is physically attractive. The attitude of some newspapers, being a reflection of a common attitude in society in general, is that the young student “got lucky” and there is no harm done. In reality students in such situations can end up as psychologically and emotionally disturbed as young female students who are in relationships with older male teachers, with their sexual development and ability to form meaningful relationships often stunted and adversely impacted upon. It is the female student/male teacher relationships which are more widely condemned.

Songs in the past did not exhibit a condemnation of the teacher/student relationship and were much more relaxed about the issue.

Some examples:

Music: Harry Nilsson/Coconut

It is always an indication of age when a song that I know from first release is known to my kids as part of a retro soundtrack. An example I gave previously was the use of Little Boxes in the TV show Weeds

So it is with Coconut, which is known to them from its being featured in that great Quentin Tarantino flick Kill Bill. I could go on for hours about Kill Bill but we’ll save that for another day, this post is a music item.

Everyone knows that brother bought a coconut for a dime, that his sister put the lime in the coconut and that as a result she developed a belly ache, necessitating the calling of the doctor. Sure it’s nonsense, but what wonderful nonsense.

There is a marvellous clip on YouTube of Coconut being sung with the guys dressed in gorilla suits. See it at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tbgv8PkO9eo

Music: Johnny I Hardly Knew Ye

Change...

To cause to be different, to transform.

Change has come to America” President Obama said when elected.

“If I can change,” Rocky tells the Russian crowd at the end of the fight with Drago in Rocky IV, “and you can change, everybody can change.”

“The more things change, the more they remain the same” said Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Kerr in 1849. In contrast nearly 3,400 years ago Heraclitus declared that “The only constant is change.”

Music: John Lennon / Mother

In 1969, before the dissolution of the Beatles, John Lennon and Yoko Ono had formed the Plastic Ono Band, a supergroup which included John Lennon, Yoko Ono, Eric Clapton, George Harrison, Ringo Starr, Klaus Voorman, Alan White, Keith Moon, Billy Preston, Nicky Hopkins and Phil Spector.

The Beatles split happened when Paul McCartney said he was leaving the band in April 1970. The band officially split on 31 December 1970. The album John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band was released on 28 December 1979, the song Mother coming from that album.

The version in the link below is the longer album version, which has the tolling bells at the beginning and the Lennon screams at the end. The single version is shorter and omits those parts. Go for the longer version to truly appreciate the work.

Click on the following link to listen to the song:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85rPsIEHkyU

Music: Damned Whores and God's Police / Devil Woman

There has been discussion over the last few years as to the depiction of women in video clips on shows such as Rage, Video Hits and MTV. The criticism is that women are portrayed merely as sex objects belonging to males, or as slutty, and that the images presented are unsuitable for impressionable young females going through formative years. This is especially so in that the young people are watching such shows at increasingly younger ages. Most of Saturday morning free to air programming is taken up with music video shows.

It is not my intention today to enter into that debate. Everyone will have their fixed views on the topic and, as Frank Zappa once said, people will agree with you if they already agree with you, you don’t change people’s minds.

What is interesting is how the depiction of women in popular music has changed. (Or has it? There may be arguments that women are still depicted the same way although appearing superficially to be different).

In the late 1950’s and early 1960’s, references to women in popular music typified the attitude referred to by Anne Summers as “Damned Whores and God’s Police.” Summers, in her 1975 book by that name, examined the colonisation of women in Australia. It is her thesis that the Judeo-Christian notion that all women could be considered wholly good or wholly evil came to Australia with the First Fleet. However, because of the preponderance of convict women in Australia for the first 50 years, nearly all the women were categorised as whores (“damned whores” as Lieutenant Clark referred to them). Female convicts who obtained their freedom remained so categorised, they did not alter status to the women who were considered pure and virtuous, the God’s police. Wives of the soldiers fell into the latter category.  Summers maintains that these attitudes and imbalance underlies the role of women in Australia to the present, hence the need for activism.

Music: Malvina Reynolds / Little Boxes

(First emailed 17.01.2009)
“Do you know a song about houses made of ticky tacky?” my 15 year old Honourable Number Two son asked. “Little boxes on the hillside, little boxes made of ticky tacky..” I began singing, as my thoughts drifted back to the simpler, bygone 1960’s. Then I stopped and asked how he knew it. “It’s used in Weeds all the time,” he said, “and it’s been going around in my head.” He suggested that I do a post on Little Boxes and, as I headed up the stairs singing it, honourable 19 year old Number One Son called out “Have you been watching Weeds?”

Now I confess from the outset that the only acquaintance I have with weeds is that you pull them out of gardens, often getting told off by honourable wife because what looked like a weed turned out to be a valued plant. We therefore now have a division of labour in the garden where I am free to do anything except pruning or weeding, unless the weeding is pulling up the green bits between the pavers.

Music: Phil Collins / In the Air Tonight

I like Phil Collins, I like In The Air Tonight, but I love the video clip used in the Cadbury advertisement that utilises the song. The video clip I am referring to is the one with the gorilla, which has spawned numerous remixes, spoofs and the like.

The clip can be viewed at:

http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=wHjieD6CTYs&feature=related

Sometime ago I heard that the Phil Collins’ song was about his brother drowning, that there was a man on the shore who watched and did not help, and that Collins learned who he was. He sent tickets to his show to the guy, front row seats, and then sang that song to the guy with the spotlight on him. True?

The lyrics of the song are:

I can feel it coming in the air tonight, oh Lord

I've been waiting for this moment all my life, oh Lord
Can you feel it coming in the air tonight, oh Lord, oh Lord

Music: Subterranean Homesick Blues / Bob

In March 1965 Bob Dylan released an album, Bringing It All Back Home, which contained the song Subterranean Homesick Blues. That song was issued as a single the following month, reaching Number 39 in the American charts and Number 10 in the UK. One of Dylan’s first electric works, it was his first in the Top 40 in the US.

The song is a put down of a schoolgirl being unable to exist outside of an institutional umbrella and is particularly well known because of the film clip associated with it.

See and hear Dylan’s performance of it at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=srgi2DkDbPU

The lyrics can be read at:

http://www.lyricsfreak.com/b/bob+dylan/subterranean+homesick+blues_20021303.html

The video shows Bob Dylan with a series of cue cards with selected lyrics from the song. The video has been spoofed/reenacted many times, some notable ones including INXS's "Mediate" and Les Claypool's Fearless Flying Frog Brigade's "Buzzards of Green Hill."

Music: Fretkillr

Unless you’ve been living on Mars for the last 5 years you would know what YouTube is. For those who have been living on Mars, YouTube is a video sharing website where people can post, view and share video clips. Think of it as a giant video library with millions upon millions of video clips that can be accessed by typing in the name. You will find clips of people doing silly stunts, clips of 60’s TV stars, your kids singing… it’s a bit like that song Portobello Road in Bedknobs and Broomsticks or Alice’s Restaurant, a place where you can find and get anything you want.

Which brings me to today’s topic.

Anyone can post what they want (within reason) on YouTube.Some people have achieved fame from their video clips having gone world wide for viewing, such as the guy in Sydney who walked around with a sign saying “Free Hugs” and then gave hugs to people.

One guy who posts videos of himself singing and playing is a guy who goes by the name of Fretkillr (also known as Fretkiller).

Music: Rolf Harris / Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport

(First sent  29.11.2008)

Never let it be said, dear readers, that this regular email does not strive, on occasions at least, to be topical and relevant. Certainly an item on what was thrown off the Tallahatchie Bridge may not be of riveting interest in 2008, but today’s item is bursting with topicality…
Rolf Harris has been in the news in the last few days for a number of reasons:

Baz Luhrman did a last minute deal with Rolf to have Rolf’s wobble board in the sound track for Australia, Baz having realised how iconic for Oz that wobble board sound is;

Rolf has released a picture book of his paintings illustrating the lyrics to Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport.

After doing the big atonement grovel for some of the lyrics, Rolf made a few comments that weren’t exactly PC (more of that later).

Music: Saturday Night Fever / CPR

Back when my daughter lived with me, I was invited to a 21st birthday party by one of her friends. My daughter, however, uninvited me on the basis that it was for young people. I remonstrated that if I dug out the white flares, brightly patterned shirt, the platform shoes and did a comb over, I would blend right in. As I said this I spun my index fingers around on each other and went into an angled pose with one hand pointing upwards and one pointing to the ground. She remained unmoved.

I mention this because recently the Bee Gees hit Stayin’ Alive was back in the news.

This is the song which opens the movie Saturday Night Fever, as Tony Manero (John Travolta) struts the streets of Brooklyn with paint can in hand. http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=KOXa8mkPpeY

Music: Ode to Billie Joe / What was Thrown Off the Tallahatchie Bridge?

Each generation has its own name and description:

Lost Generation (1883–1900)

Greatest Generation (1901–1924)

Silent Generation (1925–1942)

Baby Boomers (1943–1960)

Generation X (1961–1981)

Generation Y (1982–2001)

Generation Z (2001–)

For us Baby Boomers (who are now getting a bit long in the tooth), as for Generations X, Y Z etc, a song can transport you back to a particular time in history or a time in your life. So it is that lately I have had Ode to Billie Joe going round in my head after I came across it on You Tube whilst looking up something else.

So set the Wayback Machine to 1967 Sherman, visit

http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/b/bobbie_gentry/ode_to_billie_joe.html

and have a listen to Bobbie Gentry from Chickasaw County, Mississippi sing that Worldwide No 1, Ode to Billie Joe. Then let's consider what actually was thrown off the Tallahatchie Bridge.

Music: Lyrics as Poetry / Tom Waits

There is many a time that I have commented that the lyrics of Bob Dylan or Billy Joel should be taught in schools as poetry. No doubt many would agree. This however raises an issue of whether song lyrics can be, or should be, considered to be poetry.

There are those who argue that lyrics are lyrics and poetry is poetry eg “Music lyrics are not poetry” at

http://media.www.dailynebraskan.com/media/storage/paper857/news/2001/04/20/Arts/Music.Lyrics.Are.Not.Poetry-1729453.shtml

This raises the issue of what is poetry? Two quotations immediately come to mind. The first is that a poem is like a hippopotamus: hard to describe but you know one when you see one. The other is a quote from one of my favourite books, 'When I use a word,' Humpty Dumpty said, in a rather scornful tone,' it means just what I choose it to mean, neither more nor less.' (Through the Looking Glass).

Music: Leonard Cohen / The Old Revolution

In response to a request for some lyrics from Leonard Cohen, I present for your enjoyment the lyrics of Leonard Cohen's The Old Revolution. For those who are not acquainted with the musical style and depth of Mr Cohen, it would be best described as "music to slash your wrists by".

Cohen's own comment on himself:

“I don't consider myself a pessimist. I think of a pessimist as someone who is waiting for it to rain. And I feel soaked to the skin.”
In many ways - images, language, musical style - Cohen and Dylan are similar.

The following has always been one of my favourites and can be heard at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNN0804olxw

Music: Bebe Daniels / You're Getting to be a Habit with Me

I have previously mentioned the ability of country & western songs to both tell a story and deliver a life message in a 3 minute song. Lyrics are an overlooked source of poetry, humour, literature and general interest.

Therefore, for your reading and listening pleasure, I bring you today the lyrics of You’re Getting To Be A Habit With Me, a song featured in the marvelous 1933 movie 42nd Street. The song was inspired by a remark of one of the women working on the Warner Bros set who, when asked why she was still dating a certain man, replied that he had become a habit with her.

The song is illustrative of the differing attitudes towards drug use between 1933 and the present day and its escalation into a major society problem.

Music: Billy Joel / We Didn't Start The Fire (Part 2)

Meanings in We Didn't Start The Fire:

1949:

Harry Truman

1884-1972, 33rd President of the US, for the years 1945-1953. Became President on the death of Franklin D Roosevelt, authorised the dropping of atomic bombs on Japan.

Doris Day

Popular US actress and singer, made wholesome and schmaltzy films, prompting Oscar Levant to say that he knew her before she was a virgin. First large successful films in 1950. Real name Doris Mary Ann von Kappelhoff.

Music: C & W / Coward of the County

Don't you just love country and western music? It's never complex, it tells a complete story in 3 minutes and it has a life lesson in that 3 minutes as well. Where else do you get that sort of value? Old joke... What happens when you play a C & W song backwards? Answer: Your dog comes back to life, your crops start growing and your wife comes back to you. But take the time to listen to some C & W lyrics, or read them, and you will find a condensed Shakespeare. So here is the first...

Kenny Rogers with Coward of the County

Moral and life lesson:  Sometimes you gotta fight when you're a man...

Music: Redgum / I Was Only 19

About a hundred years ago when I was young, the Viet Nam War was current and conscription was in force for those who turned 20. Each 6 months the Australian Government held a ballot where marbles bearing birthdates were drawn out of a barrel, like Oz Lotto. Only the prize for having your number come up in this draw was not a truckload of cash, it was the Army and a trip to Viet Nam.  I could have obtained a deferment until my university studies were finished but my birthdate did not come out of the barrel. My brothers, twins, turned 20 a year and a half after me. Their birthdate also did not come out, a relief to our parents, especially our mother.

From the time of the arrival of the first advisers in 1962, almost 60,000 Australians, including ground troops and air force and navy personnel, served in Vietnam; 521 died as a result of the war and over 3,000 were wounded.

The US sustained 58,913 dead, over 300,000 were wounded.

In 1983 Redgum, an Australian folk and political music group, released I Was Only 19 as a single and subsequently as part of a live album, Caught in the Act.

Music: Jon English / Hollywood Seven

I have previously discussed whether music lyrics can and should be regarded as poetry, the bottom line being that some, but not all, would qualify as good poetry. The lyrics of Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan, Billy Joel and Janis Ian are cases in point.

I have also previously discussed country and western music, and its ability to provide a complete story plus a life lesson in a 3 minute song. The example I used earlier was The Coward of the County (“Sometimes you gotta fight when you’re a man”).

So how about combining the two? Good lyrics telling a good story.

Set the Wayback Machine to 1976, Sherman, where we shall witness Jon English singing the classic Hollywood Seven.

For you readers who do not have a Wayback machine, you can hear it at:

http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=t04weCtTGJI