For several days running I have had a tune roaming about my head. The first few days, just the tune and then, the lyrics. I remembered the title but I couldn't remember where I'd heard it or why I know it.
Than I asked my daughter. She came up the source in a a nano-second.
Once she named the source it all became clear (why I know it). What still remains a mystery is why this tune suddenly arrived in my head and more to the point, why the tune won't leave my head.
The tune: "A Whole New World" ~ I bet you all know the source.
*About the art, the prompt was laughter. The image that immediately came to mind was a neighbor's porch goose dressed for Mardi Gras. This same goose is now dressed for St. Patrick's Day. There is a second house on the block with a porch goose (what are the odds?) who is also dressed but more for the elements than making a statement.
Have you ever been streaming music when something unfamiliar yet striking comes on? So struck by this tune, you jot down the title with expectations of queuing it up some time later, to give it a good listen, to perhaps add it to a playlist or two.
Then you misplace your note and promptly forget the note, the title, the song and whatever mood it evoked for many, many days.
Until you stumble upon the note again.
So, you queue up the song, give it a good listen and think, "What the heck! What was I thinking?"
It isn't, mind you that the song was suddenly horrible. It just wasn't striking. Or rather, as striking. It is an okay song. It is (or was) a popular song. It has been covered by many artists, I have discovered.
Maybe it was just the day, or time of day, or . . . I don't know. Whatever it was to me at that first listen it is no longer.
So, this song has been in my mind off an on over the past several weeks, surprised to realize I even knew the lyrics after all these years. I don't remember liking the song (especially) when it was popular.
Despite the fact that I'd given birth to my second child only a few months before, I was far from a "happy in love" station (in the romantic sense). Life was, in a word, turbulent. It became less so over the years but right when this song / album came out I was dreaming of a past that never really was and for a future I hoped to secure. Same ole . . but, new.
This song has been blowing through my mind for the last several weeks. Why? I don't know. I mean, yes, I used to love it but hadn't thought about it for years. Like most of Smokey's song catalog it is about love, falling in love, being in love, loving - - - L O V E. And that is not where I am or have been. Well, except with . . well, that's another post.
Anyways . . . I always thought I knew this song like the back of my hand. For while I hadn't thought about it for years and years until a few weeks ago, I used to listen to it often. Blow, baby. And so, as I couldn't get the song off my mind, I decided to build a post around it. And even thoughI felt I knew the song backward and forward, I checked lyric sites none-the-less.
And now, I'm thrown.
The first stanza after the chorus: When you sigh, weak am I, A butterfly caught up
in a hurricane, hurricane. Lucky me, umbrella free. Suddenly I'm caught up in your summer rain
Those lyrics are in my bones. I've listened to the song again and again and again in the past several weeks and that is what I hear.
Or is it that I have always believed those lyrics to be true and refuse to hear it any other way?
Most of the lyric sites have the lyrics to that stanza as follows:
Windy sigh, weaken my Butterfly caught up in a hurricane, hurricane
Lucky me, I'm better free, Suddenly I'm caught up in your somber rain
I mean, I listen to the song and try to hear those lyrics....but, I can't. In my mind it is fairly obvious what he's singing and it anything about being better free (WTF?) or somber rains.. idiotic. Really.
So, I don't trust the site. I trust what I hear/d. It is in my bones.
PS. Good golly I miss albums and liner notes with song lyrics.
I got Aretha in the morning High on my headphones and walking to school I got the blues in springtime 'cause I know that I'll never have the right shoes
Momma she'd notice but she's always crying I got no one to confide in, Aretha nobody but you Momma she'd notice but she's always fighting Something in her mind and it sounds like breaking glass
This song / recording is old however new it may be to me. I heard it for the first time a couple of weeks ago while listening to one of those DIY streaming music sites. It was suggested because I played (or searched) for something else. I don't even know what the something else is now. I may have it written down somewhere but for the life of me, I can't bring IT to the surface now. If it is meant to come back to me, it will. But for now, I am all over Rumer (stage name) Sarah Joyce and her tale of a girl being lifted by the music of Aretha Franklin, trying to forget just how bleak life is for her and her mom. .
My son ("The Actor") is, through a variety of means (youtube tutorials, books picked up in thrifts, and one-on-ones with working musicians) learning to play the blues harp as well as acoustic guitar.
He's played on the streets to the delight of passers-by, he's participated in open mic type jam sessions at one of the few spaces featuring live music, he has held guest appearances with some featured acts.
Today is the anniversary of the actor's birth. He continues his slice through time with his usual grace and aplomb; staying in tune and razor sharp to the bone.
Aretha Franklin has been as much a part of my growing up as collard greens and cornbread. Carol King's Tapestry was one of the first albums I bought with my own money. This moment was one of the greatest TV moments in my recent memory and I shall cherish it for years to come. Natural. Women. Swoon. #MicroBlogMonday
This was the meme that started it all so perhaps, meme (1) would be more appropriate, but since I'm answering and posting it second, well, number 2 it is.
1. When was the last time you cut your hair? Because I keep my hair short I cut it pretty often. This example is longer than I usually keep it.
Did you like the haircut? I liked the idea of it right from the start (when I first started cutting it very short, several years ago). I've had to grow into the style and learning HOW to cut it myself in a way that is agreeable.
2. Grapes with seeds or seedless? So long as they aren't green, I'm good. Green grapes suck.
3. When was the last time you went to a fancy party? Probably 5 or so years ago. A golden anniversary part for an uncle and is wife.
What did you wear? My finest slacks and a shimmery shirt.
4. What colour is your bedroom wall? In my mind, lavender. In reality, white.
5. The worst smell in the world is… Chitterlings. Or rather, Chit'lins. 6. Last thing you spat out. Some chicken trying to slide down the wrong pipe. ::cough::
7. Do you sing when no one is around? YES What do you usually sing? Often, something from the "Wizard of Oz" Lately, "Shake it Off".
8. Your least favourite name (and it’s okay if it’s Melissa; I can take it). Olga. And, Clementine.
9. Did you like the food served at the last dinner party you went to? I did. The dinner was in honor of an aunt's birthday and held at a Brazilian steak house. Mouth-watering good.
10. What is your most prized possession? Photos of and notes and cards from my mother.
Would you kill a unicorn in order to save your most prized possession? I'd be so stunned to be face-to-face with a unicorn I don't know that I'd have the presence of mind to do anything but stare. Likely, I'd think I'd died and well, the possessions . . . rather insignificant, at that point.
A friend's status update: Some weeks just kick my ass . . .
And I agree. Some weeks kick asses...all over this land. These have been two such weeks for me. This ass-kicking week has resulted in a two martini, skip the Condo board meeting, relax in my socks and undies (the actor is out) kind of Friday night. And while my ass is thoroughly kicked on this day, well into this night, I am bolstered by this new find:
She. Don't. Stop. A special shout out to friends who check in, check on me. Your words lift me up so very much. ♥
Well, no is isn't Thursday. I meant it for Thursday, but that didn't happen. Where have I heard that (or something similar) before? Anyhoo, it isn't Thursday, but this is this or that. So, piano players, not necessarily, Ms. Alicia, but generally. That is to say, tickling the ivories? Or . . .
Plucking or strumming the strings. Recently, I had occasion to hear a woman telling a story whilst she played a sitar. I do believe it was my first live sitar playing story-telling concert like event. In fact, I know it was. Well, not the live women telling stories part, just the sitar part. She told a fascinating tales whilst plinking the strings. Oh, and it was an audience participation type event. Oh. The. Joy. Anyhoo...strings (not necessarily a sitar) or piano playing.
But then again, it really isn't an either / or situation, is it?
