Believe it or not, one of my personal goals for 2012 was to write more. #epicfail, as my BIL would say. There's a couple of things I'm working on right now, but mostly I'm treading water until graduation in May. (At least, that's the excuse I've been giving myself to not work harder at making real change.) If I've been a bit silent here it's because I've been putting all my energy into poundin' the water and hollerin' like hell to put off the sharks to another day.
In the meantime, here's one of my most favorite songs interpreted by Bon Iver. I think he's an interesting artist, like Rothko. Sometimes I totally get his works, like I was struck by a tuning fork. Other times, I think the guy is out to lunch. I suppose that's always the way with art, no?
Showing posts with label music. Show all posts
Showing posts with label music. Show all posts
Oct 25, 2012
Apr 17, 2012
What I'm Working on Right Now
I'm looking forward to jammin' w my BIL next week on this (as soon as he teaches me the strumming pattern)
Feb 19, 2012
The Ultimate Song of Goodbye
Moreena recommended this artist, Lhasa de Sela. (Unless you understand French, skip to ~1:27.) I may never be happy again.*
*UPDATED: My Beloved defines artistry as the ability to take a thought or emotion and to put it into another person's head. Like magic, a playwright, for example, can make you feel hatred, excitement, jealousy, etc. This woman, Lhasa de Sela, by that definition, is an artistic genius because this song makes me feel like I am saying goodbye forever to the greatest love I've ever known while simultaneously realizing that it was the greatest love I'll ever know.
the next song is a love song and the lyrics say:I thank your body to have waited for me
I had to lose myself to get to you.
I thank your arms for reaching me
I had to move away to get to you.
I thank your hands for supporting me
I had to burn to get to you.
Mar 18, 2011
Aug 28, 2010
Seeing Fireworks
Last night, we went to Penn's Landing to watch the final fireworks show of the summer. This city is so great: in this midst of the worst financial setting any of us have known, they still kept the weekly show going. There was a concert before the fireworks, so when we got there the waterfront was teeming with people. Most carried those folding chairs that ft into a sling plus a cooler of some type. Even thought it was after 9pm, some carried small children. Everyone was so happy and neighborly, you could feel it coming off in waves.
At one point in the promenade we came across some young - men? boys? - doing a street dancing show. They'd taped a pice of cardboard(?) that was thin and shiny, and had a boom box playing the most craptacular music. We sat and watched for a while. The process was interesting. You could see them working themselves up (we got there just as it started): one would step back and forth over the center of the cardboard (working up momentum? nerve?) and then he would drop to the ground and begin to spin. One tried a hand plant, which was impressive!
At one point in the promenade we came across some young - men? boys? - doing a street dancing show. They'd taped a pice of cardboard(?) that was thin and shiny, and had a boom box playing the most craptacular music. We sat and watched for a while. The process was interesting. You could see them working themselves up (we got there just as it started): one would step back and forth over the center of the cardboard (working up momentum? nerve?) and then he would drop to the ground and begin to spin. One tried a hand plant, which was impressive!
Of course, My Beloved and I both wanted to drop $$$ into the hat mostly to applaud these guys for effort, not because we could appreciate any of the moves!
Jan 19, 2010
Borodin: Quartet #2 in D major
I promised myself that one day when I had expendable income I would get me some violin lessons. I've played classical musical on the piano all my life. It has been a powerful emotional outlet for me, and good recordings of Chopin - my all time favorite composer - make my heart go pitter-patter. Yet, the piano remains a percussion instrument and can never achieve the lyrical emotions of the cello or viola.
A hundred years ago, My Beloved and I were driving in the car listening to an NPR review of a new recording of Mozart for two violins and a viola. The reviewer commented that Mozart, speaking generally, was a pretty up-beat composer...with the exception of this one piece. And then they played an excerpt of the four saddest bars of music ever heard in all the world. In seconds, tears were streaming down my face and I felt like I would never be happy ever again. And then it was just as quickly over. It was an amazing experience.
For Christmas, my parents - who have always fostered and fed this love of the classics - gave me a recording of select string quartets by Tchaikovsky, Borodin, and Shostoakovich. Without exaggeration, it has been YEARS since I listened to this kind of music. And now (I'm listening to it as I write this) I can't imagine why I would listen to anything else? Singer-songwriter (my popular default) is so obvious. This? This is layers of call/recall, excitement, chase, longing, playfulness! It's like listening to a recording of Churchill, then listening to Dubyah! It's like wine after years of water!
In particular, I'm swooning over the Nolturno: Andante mov't of Borodin's Quartet #2 in D Major. Mom said it was used as a song in the movie "Kismet" (no longer available) for a duet with Anne Blythe and Howard Keel. My mom chokes up thinking about how these two singers harmonized with each other. (I get it from her :) Turns out, Borodin wrote the symphony as a gift for his wife. She is represented by the violin, he by the cello. The liner notes proclaim this to be "one of the most exquisite anniversary presents ever given by a man to his wife."
skip to 0:30 and picture yourself watching your beloved across the room, caught in the vicissitudes of his world, as his beauty fills you to your fingertips and you are so full of love that if you opened your mouth to speak this music is the very sound that you would make.
A hundred years ago, My Beloved and I were driving in the car listening to an NPR review of a new recording of Mozart for two violins and a viola. The reviewer commented that Mozart, speaking generally, was a pretty up-beat composer...with the exception of this one piece. And then they played an excerpt of the four saddest bars of music ever heard in all the world. In seconds, tears were streaming down my face and I felt like I would never be happy ever again. And then it was just as quickly over. It was an amazing experience.
For Christmas, my parents - who have always fostered and fed this love of the classics - gave me a recording of select string quartets by Tchaikovsky, Borodin, and Shostoakovich. Without exaggeration, it has been YEARS since I listened to this kind of music. And now (I'm listening to it as I write this) I can't imagine why I would listen to anything else? Singer-songwriter (my popular default) is so obvious. This? This is layers of call/recall, excitement, chase, longing, playfulness! It's like listening to a recording of Churchill, then listening to Dubyah! It's like wine after years of water!
In particular, I'm swooning over the Nolturno: Andante mov't of Borodin's Quartet #2 in D Major. Mom said it was used as a song in the movie "Kismet" (no longer available) for a duet with Anne Blythe and Howard Keel. My mom chokes up thinking about how these two singers harmonized with each other. (I get it from her :) Turns out, Borodin wrote the symphony as a gift for his wife. She is represented by the violin, he by the cello. The liner notes proclaim this to be "one of the most exquisite anniversary presents ever given by a man to his wife."
skip to 0:30 and picture yourself watching your beloved across the room, caught in the vicissitudes of his world, as his beauty fills you to your fingertips and you are so full of love that if you opened your mouth to speak this music is the very sound that you would make.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)