Archive for October 2011
Bad
Forget MJ: Halloween’s just around the corner and Tom Waits’ latest album just landed.
Here’s the single that’s been all over the internet for the last few weeks.
Tom Waits – Bad As Me
They told me you were no good
I know you’ll take care of all my needs
You’re the same kind of bad as me
Anyway, staying with the Halloween theme, have you seen True Blood?
I just got Season 4 and will be overdosing on it some time soon. In the meantime, here’s one of the best song for opening credits on TV
Jace Everett – Bad Things
I don’t know what you’ve done to me,
But I know this much is true:
I wanna do bad things with you.
As good as it is, this track really reminds me of Chris Isaak’s song for Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut.
http://youtu.be/NIAneEiWEJ4
Watch the jealousy scene that triggers everything below.
Of course, the blue scene with the Naval Officer has scarred me for life (in a good but painful way).
Chris Isaak – Baby Did a Bad Bad Thing
Baby did a bad bad thing, baby did a bad bad thing.
Baby did a bad bad thing, baby did a bad bad thing.
You ever love someone so much you thought your little heart was gonna break in two?
I didn’t think so.
You ever tried with all your heart and soul to get you lover back to you?
I wanna hope so.
You ever pray with all your heart and soul just to watch her walk away?
Baby did a bad bad thing, baby did a bad bad thing.
Baby did a bad bad thing, feel like crying, feel like crying.
You ever toss and turn your llying awake and thinking about the one you love?
I don’t think so.
You ever close your eyes you making believe your holding the one your dreaming of?
Well if you say so.
I hurts so bad when you finally know just how low, low, low, low, low, she’ll go.
Baby did a bad bad thing, baby did a bad bad thing.
Baby did a bad bad thing, feel like crying, feel like crying.
Ohh. Feel like crying, feel like crying.
Ohh, feel like crying, feel like crying.
Art
I won’t even try to explain the subtle nuances between Lebanese and English in this graffiti.
Like Hank Moody said in Californication: “Far as I’m concerned, art’s just a guy from Brooklyn.”
Elle est drole cette vidéo. M’a fait penser tout de suite aux danseurs comptant (contents?) pour rien de Gad el Maleh.
Mais bon, passons à l’art poétique; celui de Verlaine, mis sur microsillons par Ferré. Et oublions sa vie d’artiste
De la musique avant toute chose
Et pour cela, préfère l’Impair
Plus vagu’ et plus soluble dans l’air
Sans rien en lui pèse ou qui pose,
…
Et tout le reste est littérature.
Et puisque vous insistez, sans toutefois tomber dans l’exhaustivité voilà un dernier morceau par un grand bonhomme incompris:
Drive
I finally watched Drive. Not at the movies but on a huge screen at a friend’s house.
When I went to watch at the cinema a few days ago, I was alone and the guy at the ticket booth explained that they’d play it if I bought 2 tickets. It seems they pay 10000LL to the municipality for every screening and since tickets are also 10000LL, the only way it would be worth their time was if I paid them an extra ten…
So I went and got it on DVD. Good copy / Played like a charm.
The only 2 problems with this “screener”:
– No closing credits
– Angelo Badalamenti credited for the soundtrack instead of Cliff Martinez!!!
So, go watch it at the movies if you can. It’s really worth it. I will not go into a fully-fledged review:
It’s bit violent with a beautiful cast and some great 80s inspired music.
http://youtu.be/eAc23x2JJG0
Download the Full Soundtrack pop it in your car and start driving. Beirut isn’t LA but yesterday night it felt like it.
The songs are also pretty cool in a very “literal lyric”-mode.
Nightcall, the Kavinsky (yes the guy who played Ajram Beach a few years ago) / Lovefoxxx (of CSS fame) was not written for the film but fits perfectly.
But the one that makes you swell up and want to slowdance like it’s 1984 is A Real Hero (feat. Electric Youth)
A real human being, and a real hero,
Real human being, and a real hero,
Real human being, and a real hero,
Real human being, and a real hero,
Real human being,
Real human being,
Talking about Drive, you probably know that REM just called it quits. You’ll tell me: “Why, were they still releasing new music?”
Now, don’t be mean!
I LOVE Automatic for The People. It’s up there with the albums of my teenage years with Blood Sugar Sex Magic, Nevermind, Achtung Baby…
Here’s a link to the Drive video. Weirdly enough, Warner Bros has disabled all the other videos for Lebanon…
And here’s the track in its original version and in the mindblowing live 1994 “funk” Version
And of course, the lyrics. Did you know there’s a whole blog dedicated to deciphering Michael Stipe’s lyrics and he even replied to fans’ questions!!!
Smack, crack, bushwhacked
Tie another one to the racks, baby
Hey kids, rock and roll
Nobody tells you where to go, baby
What if I ride? What if you walk?
What if you rock around the clock?
Tick-tock, tick-tock
What if you did? What if you walk?
What if you tried to get off, baby?
Hey kids, where are you?
Nobody tells you what to do, baby
Hey kids, shake a leg
Maybe you’re crazy in the head, baby
Maybe you did, maybe you walked
Maybe you rocked around the clock
Tick-tock, tick-tock
Maybe I drive, maybe you walk
Maybe you try to get off, baby
Hey kids, shake a leg
Maybe you’re crazy in the head, baby
Ollie, ollie
Ollie, ollie, ollie
Ollie, ollie in come free, baby
Hey kids, where are you?
Nobody tells you what to do, baby
Smack, crack, shack-a-lack
Tie another one to your back, baby
Hey kids, rock and roll
Nobody tells you where to go, baby
Maybe you did, maybe you walked
Maybe you rocked around the clock
Tick-tock, tick-tock
Maybe I drive, maybe you walk
Maybe I try to get off, baby
Hey kids, where are you?
Nobody tells you what to do, baby
Hey kids, rock and roll
Nobody tells you where to go, baby, baby, baby
I think I’ll end this post with Bobby McFerrin. You probably know Don’t Worry Be Happy. But his album Simple Pleasures was one of the important gifts my uncle gave me along with my electric guitar, and the LPs to Lyle Lovett and his Large Band and Rickie Lee Jones’ Flying Cowboys.
He covers Cream’s Sunshine of Your Love and The Beatles’ Drive My Car. But I prefer this track
Bobby McFerrin – Drive
Gonna get in my car, drive away
Drive so far, no one’s gonna find me
Put my foot on the gas, accelerate
Drive so fast, no one’s gonna catch me…
Silence
Be alert to the rules of the three
What you give, you will return to
This lesson, you have to learn
You only get what you deserve
http://youtu.be/-ptwmNVE1j8
Portishead – Silence
Empty in our hearts
Crying out in silence
Wandered out of reach
Too far to speak
Drifting unable
Did you know when you lost?
Did you know when I wanted?
Did you know what I lost?
Do you know what I wanted?
Depeche Mode – Enjoy the Silence
Words like violence
Break the silence
Come crashing in
Into my little world
Painful to me
Pierce right through me
Can’t you understand
Oh my little girl
All I ever wanted
All I ever needed
Is here in my arms
Words are very unnecessary
They can only do harm
Vows are spoken
To be broken
Feelings are intense
Words are trivial
Pleasures remain
So does the pain
Words are meaningless
And forgettable
http://youtu.be/k4EV1DWsCiI
Areski Belkacem & Brigitte Fontaine – Le Silence
Tous les chiens se sont tus
La lune s’est levée
Elle était rouge et nue
Sur mon coeur arrêté
Ah le silence éclaté
Dans le rang répandu
Là sous le ciel qui sue
Ah la chaleur torturée
La lumière qui tue
Et ma vie revenue
Tous les chiens se taisaient
Parfois les fleurs s’égorgent
Je n’oublierai jamais
le ciel est une forge
Ah les oranges écrasées
Les anges écartelés
Et ma vie retrouvée
Ah la chaleur étalée
Dix mille abeilles en feu
Mon amour sur les yeux.
The Tremeloes – Silence Is Golden (Four Seasons cover)
Oh don’t it hurt deep inside
To see someone do something to her
Oh don’t it pain to see someone cry
How especially if that someone is her
Silence is golden, but my eyes still see
Silence is golden, golden, but my eyes still see
Talking is cheap people follow like sheep
Even though there is no where to go
How could she tell he decieved her so well
Pity she’ll be the last one to know
How many times will she fall for his lines
Should I tell her or should I be cool
And if I tried I know she’d say I lied
Mind your business don’t hurt her you fool
Silence is golden, but my eyes still see
Silence is golden, golden, but my eyes still see
Au Revoir Simone – Stay Golden
I saw it coming
I just thought that you should know
I’m feeling better every day
I’m only waiting if you stay, so don’t feel bad
Your faith was an illusion
And you’re as loyal as your faith will let you be
Your expectation
It’s not hard to live without
I’m feeling better every day
And emptiness still leaves a space, so don’t feel bad
You lost all your emotion
And may you find all your relations will keep you free
A careless bird is complicated
An empty nest still leaves a space
And if you’ve still got some time on your hands after this long post, check out The Stupidest Music Lawsuit Ever – Infringing on Cage’s 4’33″
Know
Take my hand if you know where I’m going through
Take my hand if you know where I’m going
You know ow
You know ow
Are you in the know?
I don’t just type “know” into my itunes and go through the songs. A lot of thought goes into these selections… most of the time they appear in a “dream”…
http://youtu.be/GTXQt8IMDSg
Cut Copy – Where I’m Going
All you need is a dream and a lover too
All you need is a dream and a lover
Take my hand ’cause I know what you’re going through
After the time I haven’t known where you’re going
You know ow
You know ow
My uncle offered me Lyle Lovett and his large band’s LP in the early nineties.
I transferred it to MP3 recently and I’ve been listening to it a lot
I love 10 of the 12 tracks despite the country overtones. Here’s one for tonight’s theme.
Lyle Lovett – I Know You Know
So tell me something that you mean
Not just what comes to mind
Because you know I would believe
Anything you’d say
And I know you know
I know you know
I know you know
I’m so in love with you
Staying with the same period, Have you seen Pump Up The Volume?
Pirate radio flick with Christian Slater from 1990?
I love the Soundtrack. That’s where I discovered Concrete Blonde’s cover of Leonard Cohen’s Everybody Knows. Not to be confused with N*E*R*D’s Everyone Nose
Leonard Cohen – Everybody Knows
Concrete Blonde – Everybody Knows
Everybody knows that you love me baby
Everybody knows that you really do
Everybody knows that you’ve been faithful
Ah give or take a night or two
Everybody knows you’ve been discreet
But there were so many people you just had to meet
Without your clothes
And everybody knows
2 more tracks to go. No comment…
http://youtu.be/O71oNlKncww
The Smiths – I Know It’s Over
…
I know it’s over – still I cling
I don’t know where else I can go
Over and over and over and over
Over and over, la …
I know it’s over
And it never really began
But in my heart it was so real
And you even spoke to me, and said :
“If you’re so funny
Then why are you on your own tonight ?
And if you’re so clever
Then why are you on your own tonight ?
If you’re so very entertaining
Then why are you on your own tonight ?
If you’re so very good-looking
Why do you sleep alone tonight ?
…
The Beach Boys – God only knows
If you should ever leave me
Though life would still go on believe me
The world could show nothing to me
So what good would living do me
God only knows what I’d be without you
Fear
Just watched the latest episode of Philosophie on arte. It’s Raphael Enthoven’s vulgarization show which is hit and miss. You might know him as ex- MR Carla Bruni. Check out the story, it’s a real soap!!
This one was interesting and touched on a lot of subjects, including fear.
Confiance vs. défiance
Confiance vs. méfiance
Confiance vs. soupçon
Confiance vs. peur…
Pulp – The Fear (Live)
This is our Music from A Bachelors Den
– the sound of loneliness turned up to ten.
A horror soundtrack from a stagnant water-bed & it sounds just like this.
This is the sound of someone losing the plot –
making out that they’re okay when they’re not.
You’re gonna like it, but not a lot & the chorus goes like this:
Oh Baby, here comes the fear again.
The end is near again.
A monkey’s built a house on your back.
You can’t get anyone to come in the sack
& here comes another panic attack.
Oh here we go again.
So now you know the words to our song,
pretty soon you’ll all be singing along.
When you’re sad, when you’re lonely & it all turns out wrong.
When you’ve got the fear.
& when you’re no longer searching for beauty or love –
just some kind of life with the edges taken off.
When you can’t even define what it
is that you are frightened of
this song will be here.
Oh Baby, here comes the fear again.
The end is near again.
If you ever get that chimp off your back.
If you ever find the thing that you lack
but you know you’re only having a laugh
& here we go again.
Until the end
Until the end
The National – I’m Afraid of Everyone (feat. Sufjan Stevens)
Venom radio and venom television
I’m afraid of everyone, I’m afraid of everyone
They’re the young blue bodies
With the old red bodies
I’m afraid of everyone, I’m afraid of everyone
With my kid on my shoulders I try
Not to hurt anybody I like
But I don’t have the drugs to sort
I don’t have the drugs to sort it out
Sort it out
I’ll defend my family with my orange umbrella
I’m afraid of everyone, I’m afraid of everyone
With my shiny new star
Spangling tennis shoes on
I’m afraid of everyone, I’m afraid of everyone
With my kid on my shoulders I try
Not to hurt anybody out
But I don’t have the drugs to sort
I don’t have the drugs to sort it out
Sort it out
I don’t have the drugs to sort it out
Sort it out
You’re the voice that’s swallowing my soul, soul, soul
(repeat)
http://youtu.be/nC99KQF2VLo
The Smiths – Girl Afraid
Girl afraid
Where do his intentions lay ?
Or does he even have any ?
…
Boy afraid
Prudence never pays
….
I’ll never make that mistake again!
http://youtu.be/nyRg99Ofam4
I’m scared, I’m scared, I’m scared
I’m scared, so scared
I’m scared, I’m scared, I’m scared
As the years roll away
And the price that I paid
And the straws slips away
You don’t have to suffer
It is what it is
No bell book or candle
Can get you out of this, oh no!
I’m scarred, I’m scarred, I’m scarred
I’m scarred, uh huh
I’m scarred, I’m scarred, I’m scarred
Every day of my life
I just manage to survive
I just wanna stay alive
You don’t have to worry
In heaven or hell
Just dance to the music
You do it so well, well, well!
Hatred and jealousy, gonna be the death of me
I guess I knew it right from the start
Sing out about love and peace
Don’t wanna see the red raw meat
The green eyed goddamn straight from your heart
I’m tired, I’m tired, I’m tired
Of being so alone
No place to call my own
Like a rollin’ stone
Clou vs. chou
Je suis l’homme à la tête de chou
Moitié légume moitié mec
Vous le saviez, vous, que Bashung travaillait sur un spectacle inspiré de l’album de Gainsbourg, l’homme à tête de chou, avant sa mort?
Bashung – L’homme à tête de chou (Mediafire Link)
Je suis tombé dessus “par hasard et pas rasé” quand je cherchais une réplique.
On m’avait demandé: “un clou chasse l’autre?”
J’ai répondu: Quoi ? Moi ? L’aimer encore ? Des clous.
Qui et où suis-je ? Chou ici ou
Dans la blanche écume varech
Sur la plage de Malibu
Et la on passe du clou au chou
Et plus précisément le chou de Bruxelles.
Ca me fait penser à la bouffe d’avion. J’aime pas trop ca et ca pue.
Mais il paraît que parfois c’est délicieux: “mon père les fait revenir avec un peu de beurre salé. Des choux du jardin…” m’aurait dit quelqu’un si je ne m’abuse.
Je n’ai pas de chanson à propos des Brussel Sprouts, par contre les Caulifowers j’en ai:
I fell in love with a girl from the city
Still got cauliflower ears from when her voice first hit me
And a swollen lip, from when her lyrics first kissed me
As I went to pull away her verse had gently bit me
[…]
But I feel right now I must stress
That I write this with a smile on my face and nothing less
Coz when I think about the time we waste on regrets
I realise for those three days I was blessed
Maintenant, on oublie le chou-fleur et on passe à l’arabe: Bennesbeh la bukra chou?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZMsqC4QtP8
عايشة وحدا بلاك وبلا حبك يا ولد
حاجة تحكي عن هواك ضحكت عليك البلد
بتحبا إييييييييي بتحبا
لكن هي فيك يما بلاك
عايشة وحدة بلاك
وعايفة الله وسماك
شو الله بلاك يا ولد
عايشة وحدة ومرتاحة ولووو شو مرتاحة بلاك
يا بو عيون الدباحة
مش فارق معها حلاك
قلتلك دوبني دوب
دبت وهي ما دابت
مش أول مرا قبلا ميت مرا
لا قدرو فهمو عقلاتك ولا قدرو عرفو دواك
قايلي في إشارة بعيونا صوبك بتدل
لك ما بتمرئ بالحارة بشوفا بتطلع بالكل
حاجة تحلل بحياتك
تسلملي تحليلاتك
من مرا لمرا
عمترجع لورا
ولاد الحارة
كلون أبدا عرفو حبو من عداك
Sea
I love the sea. When I went there a few days ago it looked a bit like this Fouad Elkoury picture. I always thought it was taken at Sporting. Turns out it was taken at Ajram. same/same…
http://youtu.be/DAB0hTrVE1I
Nagat al Saghira – Ana Be3shak el Bahr (I adore the sea) – نجاة الصغيرة انا بعشق البحر
I thought of posting the lyrics but then I realized English would really spoil it. It’s just an amazing song.
You should go and BUY the charity album this song is taken from. It’s called “Dark was the Night” and it’s got great covers by some of the best artists from the Alternative/Indie scene.
And now, we end with a song that probably inspired The Little Mermaid’s “Under the Sea”, at the very least musically and thematically.
I discovered it today. I’ll be listening to it in less than an hour, by the seaside with an ice-cold beer.
http://youtu.be/uAnsSVTtRCY
Down by the sea
That’s where we wanted to be
With nothing to do
Down by the sea
Don’t tell me that is what
You wanted to do
We sold the house the car the tv the dog
Hopin’ we were on our way
Down by the sea
Don’t tell me that is what
You wanted to do
We had the children in number
John phillip susan alice carol teddy bobby jenny
I think we had one too many
But i hope i’m not out of line
Now it’s forty years after the laughs at the wedding
And i’m dreading retirement what would i do?
The children are married
And now the big question is
Was it all worth it? and who buries who?
You bury me or i bury you?
So down by the seaside
From now until we’re parted
Each day brings us back where we started
Closer to seeing each other much closer
And closer to seeing dream come true
Don’t tell me that isn’t what you wanted to do
Californication
The communication for Hank Moody’s show reminds me of this site
Anyway…
The Doors – L.A. Woman
Well, I just got into town about an hour ago
Took a look around, see which way the wind blow
Where the little girls in their Hollywood bungalows
Are you a lucky little lady in The City of Light
Or just another lost angel…City of Night
City of Night, City of Night, City of Night, woah, c’mon
[…]
I see your hair is burnin’
Hills are filled with fire
If they say I never loved you
You know they are a liar
Drivin’ down your freeways
Midnite alleys roam
Cops in cars, the topless bars
Never saw a woman…
So alone, so alone
So alone, so alone
First born unicorn
Hard core soft porn
Dream of Californication
I’d be safe and warm
if I was in L.A
California Dreamin’
on such a winter’s day
Admiral Radley – I Heart California
I am California… yeah?
The warm friendlier skies
You’re still my favorite past life martyred saint
Give me the places, I’ll give you the names
Wasted away alone on the planes
What’s it like to be small time and gay?
F*ck it baby, I know you’ll never change
[…]
Now you’ve corrupted us all with your sexuality
Tried to tell me love was free
Tried to tell me love was free
I said them? Maybe you you you you you and me
Swim
Life’s all about coincidences. I don’t think we should read too much into them. I’m not going all spiritual, but sometimes it does come “full circle”.
I missed a great projection at Batroun Art Space last weekend: The Swimmer with Burt Lancaster.
Plus, I’ve been longing for the sea since I came back to Beirut.
I desperately tried to find a partner in crime yesterday, going around shouting: Let’s Go Swimming!
Despite the clouds and the rain, I finally went to Sporting by myself, swam a bit and spent a great time facing the elements.
And then I switched my ipod on and randomly listened to The New Yorker’s fiction podcast. The second short story I heard was John Cheever’s “The Swimmer”!!!
Just saw the trailer. I’m glad I “read” the short story first… Check it out, it’s really good and you’ll understand what Narcissus is doing here.
Loudon Wainwright – Swimming Song (Mediafire Link)
This summer I swam in the ocean,
And I swam in a swimming pool,
Salt my wounds, chlorine my eyes,
I’m a self-destructive fool, a self-destructive fool.
This self-destructive fool bids you goodnight.
REM – Nightswimming (Mediafire Link)
Nightswimming deserves a quiet night
I’m not sure all these people understand
It’s not like years ago,
The fear of getting caught,
Of recklessness and water
They cannot see me naked
These things, they go away,
Replaced by everyday
[…]
You, I thought I knew you
You, I cannot judge
You, I thought you knew me,
This one laughing quietly underneath my breath…
And here’s the “loopy” epilogue: REM’s Mike Mills claims he recorded the piano part on the same piano used by Derek and the Dominos on the recording of “Layla“!
Audiogrammes 
