Album: Nancy & Lee (1968)
Lyrics excerpt:
Strawberries, cherries and an angel's kiss in spring
My summer wine is really made from all these things
Take off your silver spurs and help me pass the time
And I will give to you summer wine
Reasons to love this song:
The songs I have written in this blog are mostly performed (and written by) solo female musicians, but I will make an exception now and then -- starting with this song, one of my favourite summer songs. It tells the story of a man who is seduced and robbed by a femme fatale, but Nancy Sinatra sings her part in a sweet and dreamy voice, not even trying to sound "evil".
The lyrics to this song have made a friend of mine, who is very literal-minded, angry. "No, your summer wine is bloody well not really made of all these things, because you can't make wine out of strawberries, cherries and bloody angel's kisses!" When I told her the wine in the song isn't necessarily real wine at all, but a metaphor for the female character's love, she grumbled: "Even worse."
YouTube link:
I love Nancy's little laugh at about 2:10. Bizarrely, in the beginning of the video her head looks as if it were screwed on backwards.
petak, 31. kolovoza 2012.
nedjelja, 27. svibnja 2012.
#29 Emmy The Great - Exit Night/Juliet's Theme
Album: Virtue (2011)
Lyrics excerpt:
But when the sun is getting lower then the highway marks the graves
And the taillights they circle like the roses of an infinite bouquet
And everybody leaves
Taillights for the grey ghosts of railways and candle holders
Reasons to love this song:
Emmy The Great is a new discovery for me. From her album Virtue, Paper Forest (In The Afterglow Of Rapture) was probably my favourite on first listen, but after several listens and paying more attention to the lyrics (which reminded me a little of Leonard Cohen), Exit Night eventually emerged as my favourite. Although the music is rather upbeat, it manages to convey the ghostly atmosphere of the lyrics, especially in the moments the backing vocals sound like gusts of wind.
YouTube link:
Emmy The Great performing the song in Queen Elisabeth Hall, London, in 2011.
Lyrics excerpt:
But when the sun is getting lower then the highway marks the graves
And the taillights they circle like the roses of an infinite bouquet
And everybody leaves
Taillights for the grey ghosts of railways and candle holders
Reasons to love this song:
Emmy The Great is a new discovery for me. From her album Virtue, Paper Forest (In The Afterglow Of Rapture) was probably my favourite on first listen, but after several listens and paying more attention to the lyrics (which reminded me a little of Leonard Cohen), Exit Night eventually emerged as my favourite. Although the music is rather upbeat, it manages to convey the ghostly atmosphere of the lyrics, especially in the moments the backing vocals sound like gusts of wind.
YouTube link:
Emmy The Great performing the song in Queen Elisabeth Hall, London, in 2011.
srijeda, 29. veljače 2012.
#28 Nina Simone - Sinnerman
Album: Pastel Blues (1965)
Lyrics excerpt:
So I run to the Lord,
Please hide me Lord,
Don't you see me prayin'?
Don't you see me down here prayin'?
But the Lord said: go to the devil
The Lord said: go to the devil
All on that day.
Reasons to love this song:
I must admit, I was only a very casual fan of Nina Simone until I heard this song in the second season final of the BBC series Sherlock. I fell in love with the song instantly, and thought at first the singer was male until I found it was Nina Simone. I listened to all the versions of this (traditional) song I could find, including Les Baxter (1956) and Peter Tosh (1966) ; one of my favourites was 16 Horsepower (2002). But for me no other version can compare to Nina Simone's; her voice is, like Johnny Cash's, so perfectly suited for singing about the Apocalypse.
Youtube link:
The album version
Lyrics excerpt:
So I run to the Lord,
Please hide me Lord,
Don't you see me prayin'?
Don't you see me down here prayin'?
But the Lord said: go to the devil
The Lord said: go to the devil
All on that day.
Reasons to love this song:
I must admit, I was only a very casual fan of Nina Simone until I heard this song in the second season final of the BBC series Sherlock. I fell in love with the song instantly, and thought at first the singer was male until I found it was Nina Simone. I listened to all the versions of this (traditional) song I could find, including Les Baxter (1956) and Peter Tosh (1966) ; one of my favourites was 16 Horsepower (2002). But for me no other version can compare to Nina Simone's; her voice is, like Johnny Cash's, so perfectly suited for singing about the Apocalypse.
Youtube link:
The album version
utorak, 30. kolovoza 2011.
#27 Kate Bush - Sunset
(summer playlist, #4)
Album: Aerial (2005)
Lyrics excerpt:
Who knows who wrote that song of Summer
That blackbirds sing at dusk?
This is a song of colour
Where sands sing in crimson, red and rust
Then climb into bed and turn to dust
Reasons to love this song:
Birdsong -- and the passage of one day -- are the subject of the second part of Bush's 2005 album Aerial, A Sky Of Honey. I chose to describe Sunset as a "summer song", but all the songs on A Sky Of Honey are actually summer songs, a celebration of life on a warm summer's day full of birdsong. If I say this album makes one happy to be alive it will sound horribly clichéd, but -- I'm sorry! -- it really does.
Link to Amazon preview:
An Endless Sky Of Honey
(The whole Sky Honey as one song)
YouTube link:
This video shows the album cover, which looks like a photo of islands in the sea, but is actually a waveform of a blackbird song.
Album: Aerial (2005)
Lyrics excerpt:
Who knows who wrote that song of Summer
That blackbirds sing at dusk?
This is a song of colour
Where sands sing in crimson, red and rust
Then climb into bed and turn to dust
Reasons to love this song:
Birdsong -- and the passage of one day -- are the subject of the second part of Bush's 2005 album Aerial, A Sky Of Honey. I chose to describe Sunset as a "summer song", but all the songs on A Sky Of Honey are actually summer songs, a celebration of life on a warm summer's day full of birdsong. If I say this album makes one happy to be alive it will sound horribly clichéd, but -- I'm sorry! -- it really does.
Link to Amazon preview:
An Endless Sky Of Honey
(The whole Sky Honey as one song)
YouTube link:
This video shows the album cover, which looks like a photo of islands in the sea, but is actually a waveform of a blackbird song.
utorak, 23. kolovoza 2011.
#26 Cesária Évora - Sodade
(summer playlist, #3)
Album: Miss Perfumado (1992)
Lyrics excerpt:
Quem mostra' bo ess caminho longe?
Quem mostra' bo ess caminho longe?
Ess caminho pa São Tomé.
(Who showed you this long journey?
Who showed you this long journey?
The journey to São Tomé.)
Reasons to love this song:
"Sodade" in Cape Verdean Creole or "Saudade" in Portuguese is not a concept that can be translated in one word; I'm not a speaker of either, but I take it from good authority that "nostalgia" would be the closest one.
The song was written by Armando Zeferino Soares (also attributed to Amândio Cabral and Luís Morais), and describes the longing of Cape Verdean emigrants to São Tomé e Príncipe for their homeland.
For many listeners throughout the world, myself included, this song is tied to Cesária Évora, the singer who made the whole genre of morna internationally famous.
YouTube links:
A live performance by Cesária Évora in Paris in 2004:
Cesária Évora performing the song as a duet with Greek singer Eleftheria Arvanitaki -- I love how these two completely different voices sound together:
Album: Miss Perfumado (1992)
Lyrics excerpt:
Quem mostra' bo ess caminho longe?
Quem mostra' bo ess caminho longe?
Ess caminho pa São Tomé.
(Who showed you this long journey?
Who showed you this long journey?
The journey to São Tomé.)
Reasons to love this song:
"Sodade" in Cape Verdean Creole or "Saudade" in Portuguese is not a concept that can be translated in one word; I'm not a speaker of either, but I take it from good authority that "nostalgia" would be the closest one.
The song was written by Armando Zeferino Soares (also attributed to Amândio Cabral and Luís Morais), and describes the longing of Cape Verdean emigrants to São Tomé e Príncipe for their homeland.
For many listeners throughout the world, myself included, this song is tied to Cesária Évora, the singer who made the whole genre of morna internationally famous.
YouTube links:
A live performance by Cesária Évora in Paris in 2004:
Cesária Évora performing the song as a duet with Greek singer Eleftheria Arvanitaki -- I love how these two completely different voices sound together:
ponedjeljak, 15. kolovoza 2011.
#25 Enya - Orinoco Flow
(summer playlist, #2)
Album: Watermark (1988)
Lyrics excerpt:
From the North to the South, Ebudae into Khartoum,
From the deep sea of Clouds to the island of the moon,
Carry me on the waves to the lands I've never been,
Carry me on the waves to the lands I've never seen.
Reasons to love this song:
To some people, "Enya" has become not only the name of a single artist but also the name of a whole genre. Consequently, her name has also been used derisively by some people, as a synonym for bland elevator music. Well, I think these people are very silly and they don't know what they're talking about.
I still remember how I felt when I first heard this song in 1988 -- the video came up on MTV and I thought it was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen and heard, unlike anything I had heard before. The fact that her music has been emulated so much has never, for me, cheapened its appeal.
Once, in the nineties, I was traveling by ferry to a Mediterranean island and they were playing Watermark (the whole album) on the ship's stereo. Listening to this album and looking at the blue sea what an unforgettable, dreamlike experience.
Link to Amazon preview:
Orinoco Flow
YouTube link:
The official video
Album: Watermark (1988)
Lyrics excerpt:
From the North to the South, Ebudae into Khartoum,
From the deep sea of Clouds to the island of the moon,
Carry me on the waves to the lands I've never been,
Carry me on the waves to the lands I've never seen.
Reasons to love this song:
To some people, "Enya" has become not only the name of a single artist but also the name of a whole genre. Consequently, her name has also been used derisively by some people, as a synonym for bland elevator music. Well, I think these people are very silly and they don't know what they're talking about.
I still remember how I felt when I first heard this song in 1988 -- the video came up on MTV and I thought it was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen and heard, unlike anything I had heard before. The fact that her music has been emulated so much has never, for me, cheapened its appeal.
Once, in the nineties, I was traveling by ferry to a Mediterranean island and they were playing Watermark (the whole album) on the ship's stereo. Listening to this album and looking at the blue sea what an unforgettable, dreamlike experience.
Link to Amazon preview:
Orinoco Flow
YouTube link:
The official video
utorak, 19. srpnja 2011.
#24 Emiliana Torrini - Unemployed In Summertime
(summer playlist, #1)
Album: Love In The Time Of Science (1999)
Lyrics excerpt:
Let's get drunk on saturday
Walk on Primrose Hill
Until we lose our way
We''ll get sunburned on the grass
Playing silly buggers 'till I make a pass
And you laugh at my face
Reasons to love this song:
Do you remember how, when you were a child, summers would last forever -- a seemingly endless time without any obligations? And then, as you grow older, time starts speeding up and summers get shorter and shorter and much less carefree. But in your early twenties there is still something left of that superpower children posess: slowing down time. This song captures the feeling of a long, carefree summer perfectly.
YouTube Link:
The official video:
Album: Love In The Time Of Science (1999)
Lyrics excerpt:
Let's get drunk on saturday
Walk on Primrose Hill
Until we lose our way
We''ll get sunburned on the grass
Playing silly buggers 'till I make a pass
And you laugh at my face
Reasons to love this song:
Do you remember how, when you were a child, summers would last forever -- a seemingly endless time without any obligations? And then, as you grow older, time starts speeding up and summers get shorter and shorter and much less carefree. But in your early twenties there is still something left of that superpower children posess: slowing down time. This song captures the feeling of a long, carefree summer perfectly.
YouTube Link:
The official video:
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