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Posts tagged with "music"

"Songs From the Labyrith"

Tuesday, 7. November 2006, 03:18:01

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I was intrigued when at a music store recently I found a Sting album with 17th century lute music... then I had a listen, I was amazed! It's really good, well at least I like it :wink:

This is Amazon.com's review:

In choosing to cover the music of John Dowland (1563-1626), who is known as the "melancholy madrigalist" from his output of cheerful ditties like "Flow My Tears," Police bandleader Sting has entered into a whole new realm of austere eeriness.

Originally inspired by the gift of a lute, the rock superstar and activist sings the songs, deliciously sweet and tender or spirited by turn, accompanying himself, with Edin Karamazov sitting on lute and archlute.

For listeners accustomed to hearing material of this period interpreted by rigorously trained early music stylists, especially countertenors and the like, Sting's sometimes tight-jawed, chest-heavy vocals may seem amateurish. It's undeniable that in four-part harmonies, the singer, tightly overdubbed, comes across like a combination of the Swingle Singers and Queen (meaning Freddy Mercury and crew, NOT the first Elizabeth).

But it's important to remember that music of this period was routinely heard as a casual diversion in private homes, even more often than at Court. It was considered a crucial social skill to be able to join in with an adequate degree of skill, but not everyone was able to negotiate the perilous melodic twists and turns typical of the era's music.
With this in mind, the overall effect is of a candle-lit, postprandial entertainment in the home of an English gentleman.

Muttered readings from Dowland's letters and brief snippets of sampled birdsong aside, it is a courageous effort, displaying heartfelt admiration for the composer and a considerable degree of earnest charm.

1 Comment

Olhos negros!

Wednesday, 25. October 2006, 19:02:25

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I used to sing this back in my college days when I was in an academic music group popular in Spain, Portugal and some Latin-American countries that we call a "Tuna" (nothing to do with the fish!).

It is a folk song from the Azores, a very lovely one that always brings back very warm memories of friends and times my life was lot less complicated... [insert huge sigh here]

Anyway, I have found that this particular tune works wonders as a lullaby for both my kids, I used to sing it to Sam when he was very little, I still do... and Júlia also likes it, it seems to calm her down.

There is one caveat though... the audio file is me singing and playing and I am rustier than hell so I nearly murdered it, but Júlia's sleeping and that was the whole point. Also forgive the quality this was recorded with my laptop in-built mike and it is really bad!

Os teus olhos, negros negros
São gentios, são gentios da Guiné
Ai da Guiné por serem negros
Da Guiné por serem negros
Gentios por não terem fé

Os teus olhos são brilhantes
Semelhantes aos luzeiros que o céu tem
Os olhos negros, eu preferi
E nunca vi
De côr mais linda a ninguém

4 Comments

"Diamonds on the soles of her feet"

Tuesday, 17. October 2006, 10:53:27

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Diamonds On The Soles Of Her Shoes

(a-wa) O kod wa u zo-nge li-sa namhlange
(a-wa a-wa) Si-bona kwenze ka kanjani
(a-wa a-wa) Amanto mbazane ayeza

She’s a rich girl
She don’t try to hide it
Diamonds on the soles of her shoes

He’s a poor boy
Empty as a pocket
Empty as a pocket with nothing to lose
Sing Ta na na
Ta na na na
She got diamonds on the soles of her shoes
She got diamonds on the soles of her shoes
Diamonds on the soles of her shoes
Diamonds on the soles of her shoes

People say she’s crazy
She’s got diamonds on the soles of her shoes
Well that’s one way to lose these
Walking blues
Diamonds on the soles of her shoes

She was physically forgotten
Then she slipped into my pocket
With my car keys
She said you’ve taken me for granted
Because I please you
Wearing these diamonds

And I could say Oo oo oo
As if everybody knows
What I’m talking about
As if everybody here would know
Exactly what I was talking about
Talking about diamonds on the soles of her shoes

She makes the sign of a teaspoon
He makes the sign of a wave
The poor boy changes clothes
And puts on after-shave
To compensate for his ordinary shoes

And she said honey take me dancing
But they ended up by sleeping
In a doorway
By the bodegas and the lights on
Upper Broadway
Wearing diamonds on the soles of their shoes

And I could say Oo oo oo
And everybody here would know
What I was talking about
I mean everybody here would know exactly
What I was talking about
Talking about diamonds

People say I’m crazy
I got diamonds on the soles of my shoes
Well that’s one way to lose
These walking blues
Diamonds on the soles of your shoes

~ Paul Simon

1 Comment

Samuel "Amadeus" Henriques playing the keyboards like there's no tomorrow!

Tuesday, 19. September 2006, 22:00:36

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My son the future Mozart? Mmm... you never know, but for now it doesn't really look like it! :wink:

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Faraway voice...

Saturday, 9. September 2006, 11:31:38

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Soothing and relaxing tune... goes with the lollypops! :wink:

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Crawling Up The Hill!

Thursday, 31. August 2006, 10:07:52



Enjoy! :wink:

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The only truth I know is you

Wednesday, 30. August 2006, 14:08:17

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"(...)
My mind's distracted and diffused
My thoughts are many miles away
They lie with you when you're asleep
And kiss you when you start your day
(...)
And so you see I have come to doubt
All that I once held as true
I stand alone without beliefs
The only truth I know is you
And as I watch the drops of rain
Weave their weary paths and die
I know that I am like the rain
There but for the grace of you go I"

From "Kathy's Song" by Paul Simon

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The Obvious Child

Wednesday, 26. July 2006, 17:14:24

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I'm accustomed to a smooth ride
Or maybe I'm a dog who's lost its bite
I don't expect to be treated like a fool no more
I don't expect to sleep through the night
Some people say a lie's a lie's a lie
But I say why
Why deny the obvious child?
Why deny the obvious child?

And in remembering a road sign
I am remembering a girl when I was young
And we said These songs are true
These days are ours
These tears are free
And hey
The cross is in the ballpark
The cross is in the ballpark

We had a lot of fun
We had a lot of money
We had a little son and we thought we'd call him Sonny
Sonny gets married and moves away
Sonny has a baby and bills to pay
Sonny gets sunnier
Day by day by day by day

I've been waking up at sunrise
I've been following the light across my room
I watch the night receive the room of my day
Some people say the sky is just the sky
But I say
Why deny the obvious child?
Why deny the obvious child?

Sonny sits by his window and thinks to himself
How it's strange that some rooms are like cages
Sonny's yearbook from high school
Is down from the shelf
And he idly thumbs through the pages
Some have died
Some have fled from themselves
Or struggled from here to get there
Sonny wanders beyond his interior walls
Runs his hand through his thinning brown hair

Paul Simon


And the part the rang the truest today was "I don't expect to sleep through the night"... and I didn't!
Sam was a little feverish, he is toothing maddly (5 or 6 little buggers popping up at the same time).
And I'm just so tired I put on my headphones and listened to my music loud enough to keep myself awake through the last part of day!

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