Archive for the ‘Call and response’ Category
Carnaval!
Every Friday and Saturday night it’s Pata Pata time.
Except this week: It’s Carnaval!
Em fevereiro (em fevereiro)
Tem carnaval (tem carnaval)
http://youtu.be/WYqMg5x8vus
I discovered Wilson Simonal‘s cover of this Jorge Ben track yesterday in Portuguese class. There’s a huge party tonight at the Brazilian Cultural Center. Come!
But the Spanish speaking world also enjoys a “carnaval”
http://youtu.be/lArGoRhFr4E
And don’t forget, La Vida Es un Carnaval but it’s also a tom tom Tombola!
Friends?
That’s how it starts
We go back to your house
We check the charts
And start to figure it out
And if it’s crowded, all the better
Because we know we’re gonna be up late
But if you’re worried about the weather
Then you picked the wrong place to stay
That’s how it starts
And so it starts
You switch the engine on
We set controls for the heart of the sun
One of the ways we show our age
And if the sun comes up, if the sun comes up, if the sun comes up
And I still don’t wanna stagger home
Then it’s the memory of our betters
That are keeping us on our feet
You spent the first five years trying to get with the plan
And the next five years trying to be with your friends again
You’re talking 45 turns just as fast as you can
Teah, I know it gets tired, but it’s better when we pretend
It comes apart
The way it does in bad films
Except in parts
When the moral kicks in
Though when we’re running out of the drugs
And the conversation’s winding away
I wouldn’t trade one stupid decision
For another five years of life
You drop the first ten years just as fast as you can
And the next ten people who are trying to be polite
When you’re blowing eighty-five days in the middle of France
Yeah, I know it gets tired only where are your friends tonight?
And to tell the truth
Oh, this could be the last time
So here we go
Like a sales force into the night
And if I made a fool, if I made a fool, if I made a fool
On the road, there’s always this
And if I’m sewn into submission
I can still come home to this
And with a face like a dad and a laughable stand
You can sleep on the plane or review what you said
When you’re drunk and the kids leave impossible tasks
You think over and over, “hey, I’m finally dead.”
Oh, if the trip and the plan come apart in your hand
Tou look contorted on yourself your ridiculous prop
You forgot what you meant when you read what you said
And you always knew you were tired, but then
Where are your friends tonight?
Where are your friends tonight?
Where are your friends tonight?
If I could see all my friends tonight
If I could see all my friends tonight
If I could see all my friends tonight
If I could see all my friends tonight
Don’t bother saying you’re sorry.
Why don’t you come in?
Smoke all my cigarettes – again.
Every time I get no further.
How long has it been?
Come on in now,
Wipe your feet on my dreams.
You take up my time,
Like some cheap magazine,
When I could have been learning something.
Oh well, you know what I mean.
I’ve done this before,
And I will do it again.
Come on and kill me baby,
while you smile like a friend.
And I’ll come running,
Just to do it again.
You are the last drink I never should have drunk.
You are the body hidden in the trunk.
You are the habit I can’t seem to kick.
You are my secrets on the front page every week.
You are the car I never should have bought.
You are the train I never should have caught.
You are the cut that makes me hide my face.
You are the party that makes me feel my age.
Like a car crash I can see but I just can’t avoid.
Like a plane I’ve been told I never should board.
Like a film that’s so bad but I’ve gotta stay til the end.
Let me tell you now,
It’s lucky for you that we’re friends.
Like a car crash I can see but I just can’t avoid.
Like a plane I’ve been told I never should board.
Like a film that’s so bad but I’ve gotta stay til the end.
Let me tell you now,
It’s lucky for you that we’re friends.
(pas très) Clair
Aujourd’hui c’est Vendredi et j’aimerais bien qu’on m’aime
J’sens qu’j’vais encore finir chez Wanda et ses sirènes
Et ses sirènes
Gaby, oh Gaby, tu devrais pas m’laisser la nuit
J’peux pas dormir, j’fais qu’des conneries
Gaby, oh Gaby, tu veux qu’j’te chante la mer
Le long, le long, long des golfes
Pas très clairs
Vendredi vient de se pointer. De toutes façons, la nuit je mens
J’fais mon footing au milieu des algues et des coraux
Et j’fais mes pompes sur les restes d’un vieux cargo
J’dis bonjour… Faut bien que je me mouille
C’est ma dernière surprise-party, je m’écrase le nez au hublot
J’ai mon contrat de confiance l’encéphalo qu’il faut
J’ai qu’du bol, j’en vois un qui rigole
Gaby, oh Gaby, tu devrais pas m’laisser la nuit
J’peux pas dormir, j’fais qu’des conneries
Gaby, oh Gaby, tu veux qu’j’te chante la mer
Le long, le long, long des golfes
Pas très clairs
En r’gardant les résultats d’son check-up
Un requin qui fumait plus à rallumé son clope
Ca fait frémir, faut savoir dire stop
Tu sais, tu sais c’est comme ce type qui voudrait que j’me soigne
Et qu’abandonne son cleps au mois d’août en Espagne
J’sens comme un vide, remets-moi Johnny Kidd
Gaby, oh Gaby, tu devrais pas m’laisser la nuit
J’peux pas dormir, j’fais qu’des conneries
Gaby, oh Gaby, tu veux qu’j’te chante la mer
Le long, le long, long des golfes
Pas très clairs
Gaby j’t’ai déjà dit qu’t’es bien plus belle que Mauricette
T’es belle comme un pétard qu’attend plus qu’une allumette
Ca fait craquer, au feu les pompiers
Aujourd’hui c’est Vendredi et j’aimerais bien qu’on m’aime
J’sens qu’j’vais encore finir chez Wanda et ses sirènes
Et ses sirènes
Gaby, oh Gaby, tu devrais pas m’laisser la nuit
J’peux pas dormir, j’fais qu’des conneries
Gaby, oh Gaby, tu veux qu’j’te chante la mer
Le long, le long, long des golfes
Pas très clairs
Alors à quoi ça sert la frite si t’as pas les moules
Ca sert à quoi ‘cochonnet si t’as pas les boules
Ça fait plusieurs jours que j’écoute en boucle la version Bashung d’Avec le temps. Et puis tout d’un coup, j’oublie d’appuyer sur Repeat et je tombe sur Gaby Oh Gaby. Ça m’a fait un bien fou. Et puis je me suis souvenu de J’ai toujours rêvé d’être un gangster et de cette scène magnifique avec Bashung et Arno. Si vous aimez un tant soit peu l’un ou l’autre, prenez 15 minutes et regardez ces 2 extraits + le making of.
Et puis je me suis parti dans un délire sur A la Claire Fontaine. Connaissez-vous la version très libertine de Colette Renard?
À la claire fontaine
Hier, après dîner
Y avait trois capitaines
Qui m’ont déshabillée
{Refrain:}
Il y a longtemps que je baise
Jamais, je ne m’arrêterai
Et là, sous la verdure
Tous les trois à la fois
M’ont glissé leur nature
Dans tous les bons endroits
{au Refrain}
Après les capitaines
Vint le gentil meunier
M’a pris la turlutaine
Et s’en est régalé
Puis, ce fut le notaire
Passant sur le chemin
Qui me mit son affaire
Gentiment dans la main
Après quoi, les gendarmes
Vinrent, les polissons
Tous deux verser leurs larmes
Sur mon petit gazon
Jamais je ne m’arrêterai
Là, je vis sous la lune
Arriver le bedeau
Qui me dit “Viens, ma brune
Faire la bête à deux dos”
Puis, le maître d’école
À son tour est venu
M’a glissé son obole
Dans l’abricot fendu
Enfin, tout le village
Par l’amour alléché
Me fit un ramonage
Dont je me souviendrai
Quelle belle nuit pour une femme
Quel voluptueux gala
Car comme vous, mesdames
Je ne pense qu’à ça
Et si vous voulez vous rincer les oreilles voilà 2 versions instrumentales et les paroles originales
Impro Africaine + chanson (Ballake Sissoko & Vincent Segal)
Version brésilienne (Baden Powell)
À la claire fontaine
M’en allant promener
J’ai trouvé l’eau si belle
Que je m’y suis baigné
Il y a longtemps que je t’aime,
Jamais je ne t’oublierai.
Sous les feuilles d’un chêne,
Je me suis fait sécher.
Sur la plus haute branche,
Un rossignol chantait.
Il y a longtemps que je t’aime,
Jamais je ne t’oublierai.
Chante, rossignol, chante,
Toi qui as le cœur gai.
Tu as le cœur à rire…
Moi je l’ai à pleurer.
Il y a longtemps que je t’aime,
Jamais je ne t’oublierai.
J’ai perdu mon amie
Sans l’avoir mérité.
Pour un bouquet de roses
Que je lui refusai,
Je voudrais que la rose
Fût encore au rosier,
Et que ma douce amie
Fût encore à m’aimer
With/out
“I want to be like the black Tom Waits – I don’t want to make one kind of sound.” Willis Earl Beal
OK, OK… I know. Hipster alert and all that jazz: This guy played it low profile. No blogosphere buzz but actual flyers etc…And now he’s signed to XL Recordings?! Pitchfork called him “An eclectic lo-fi artist struggling to find a space between outsider and insider”.
His album Acousmatic Sorcery is due in a few weeks, but he recorded it between 2007 and 2009.
Have a look at a couple of links I found online: 2011 and even 2010. Or just listen to the music.
In remission of a mind, watch and listen to find
The position behind this illusion of time
Got me counting my dimes so on the bus I can write
I’m even doubting the rhyme, I’m in no rush I can hide
Because I know that I tried, no longer taking a side
Tears don’t flow from my eyes, no longer go for the lies
I don’t protest or resist, I’m not invested in this
I’m backing out of the fight to give my spirit tonight
Gazing at the face of an overcast day
Watching rain fall from a dim cafe
Can’t see the wind but I see the trees sway
Now the evening’s kiss got me fading away
Just fading away
Just fading away
Fading away
Drip-drop, window pane hypnotic
Clip-clop, concrete heels on it
I’m still disillusioned and cool catatonic
Always in a daze without smoking that chronic
And the doors still open at the end of the day
And I’m still hoping without much to say
Ask me how I’m feeling; well I’m full of shit n doubt
Ask me who I’m with and I’ll tell you I’m without
These phantasm women got me swimming through the sea
Apprehension steady creeping, whirlpool is pulling me
So I might as well relax, go down with the flood
‘Cause my hearts been attacked and the sharks smell my blood
If I lose consciousness and awaken a-shore
I will never complain I will never get cold
Gazing at the face of an overcast day
Watching rain fall from a dim cafe
Can’t see the wind but I see the trees sway
Now the evening’s kiss got me fading away
There’s also an older very different version that popped up on the web a few days the whole media frenzy started.
PS: Found Magazine seems like a fantastic concept. Check out their website / there’s some really great random stuff.
Disco Therapy
While I was researching this post I discovered these 2 links: a mobile Disco / DJ hire service and a post about Disco Therapy for autism.
But, this isn’t our topic: I went to the Studio 54 revisited event at Estral yesterday. It was so much fun!
I managed to burn the disco out depsite my sprained ankle. I was wearing a white suit and sporting a moustache!
Deca-disco-dancing is therapeutic! Plus you get to discover disco versions of the most depressing/heartbreaking songs:
http://youtu.be/oD8h9xFud2U
Viola Wills‘s cover is pretty catchy but the original was written after Gordon Lightfoot‘s divorce…
But the most depressing version is the one Johnny Cash recorded on his last album.
If you could read my mind, love,
What a tale my thoughts could tell.
Just like an old time movie,
‘Bout a ghost from a wishing well.
In a castle dark or a fortress strong,
With chains upon my feet.
You know that ghost is me.
And I will never be set free
As long as I’m a ghost that you can’t see.
If I could read your mind, love,
What a tale your thoughts could tell.
Just like a paperback novel,
The kind the drugstores sell.
When you reached the part where the heartaches come,
The hero would be me.
But heroes often fail,
And you won’t read that book again
Because the ending’s just too hard to take!
I’d walk away like a movie star
Who gets burned in a three way script.
Enter number two:
A movie queen to play the scene
Of bringing all the good things out in me.
But for now, love, let’s be real;
I never thought I could act this way
And I’ve got to say that I just don’t get it.
I don’t know where we went wrong,
But the feeling’s gone
And I just can’t get it back.
If you could read my mind, love,
What a tale my thoughts could tell.
Just like an old time movie,
‘Bout a ghost from a wishing well.
In a castle dark or a fortress strong.
With chains upon my feet.
But stories always end,
And if you read between the lines,
You’ll know that I’m just tryin’ to understand
The feelin’s that you lack.
I never thought I could feel this way
And I’ve got to say that I just don’t get it.
I don’t know where we went wrong,
But the feelin’s gone
And I just can’t get it back!
But usually covers work the other way around. It’s the fast songs that get the slow treatment.
Did you know David Byrne has a live “sincere version” of Whitney Houston‘s biggest hit?
http://youtu.be/K-liFDbtt5w
And here’s her gorgeously 80s video, just in case you needed to delete the Bodyguard memory you’ve probably kept of her since the 90s.
Disco
I love exotic Disco hits, or new edits of old disco tracks. I find a lot of great stuff on the BCE’s blog. They recently posted some great vintage Lebanese Disco and as I was looking for similar links when I discovered Nazia Hassan
Disco Deewane is one of her biggest hits. She was Pakistani but sang in Urdu and Hindi. She started as a Playback singer when she was 15! Here’s the download link for Aap Jaisa Koi, however you have to watch the video below: it’s her voice but it’s not her on stage. The movie is Qurbani, Bollywood’s biggest movie of 1980!
http://youtu.be/5o5C1yUlx6w
Anyway, so this young girl and her brother Zoheb were launched by Biddu, a legendary Indian music producer. His biggest achievement was producing Kung-Fu Fighting, Carl Douglas’ only hit in 1974. Perhaps you know the Cee-Lo Green + Jack Black version from the Kung Fu Panda soundtrack?
This track surfed the chopsocky wave AND was the first mainstream disco hit. So when disco died in the West, Biddu returned to India and launched the whole 80s Bollywood Disco fever. If you go back up and listen to Disco Deewane, it sounds a lot like Kung Fu Fighting (especially the Uh-Huhs…). The album was a huge hit around the world with 60 million copies sold?! Check out some of the different covers for the latin american versions here and here.
In my opinion, her best track is Boom Boom. You could say it’s Bollywood’s take on Donna Summer’s I Feel Love
The only sad part of this post is that Nazia Hassan passed away in August 2000. She had stopped singing and had dedicated her life to charity organizations and to her family. She was only 35. Here’s the Guardian obituary and a beautiful tribute I found online.
What’s in a word (press)?
Just to inform you that this blog is going back to it’s origins starting tomorrow.
For some weird reason, WordPress won’t let me renew the ‘Domain Mapping’, the ‘Domain Registration’ and the ’10GB Space Upgrade’ for http://www.audiogrammes.com
It’s either an expiry date problem with my card, or a country issue…. All that expires on February 3, 2012 / tomorrow!!!
This means, most of the old podcasts won’t be available to download but more importantly you’ll have to type https://audiogrammes.wordpress.com to get here. I’m hoping to get an answer from their support team very soon. In the meantime the only thing I can say is “What’s up with that?” = What’s in a word + Word up
I can’t stand the rain
Photo © Karen Kalou. Check out her Rain Series. This has been Beirut for the last 2 weeks…
I can’t stand the rain
Against my window
Bringing back sweet memories
Hey window pane
Do you remember
How sweet it used to be
When we was together
Everything was so grand
Now that we’ve parted
There’s just one sound
That I just can’t stand
I can’t stand the rain
Against my window
Bringing back sweet memories
I can’t stand the rain
Against my window
Cause he’s not here with me
Alone with the pillow
Where his head used to lay
I know you’ve got
Some sweet memories
But like the window
You ain’t got nothing to say
I can’t stand the rain
Against my window
Bringing back sweet memories
I can’t stand the rain
Against my window
Bringing back sweet memories
Just keeps on haunting me
Hey rain,
Get off my window…
I think we’re gonna have a “rain post trilogy”. This is officially number 2, after I like Rain.
I love this song. It was Ann Peebles biggest (only hit?) but was also covered by Tina Turner and I originally discovered it in Alan Parker’s The Commitments (yet another northern blue eyed soul discovery…).
Download her whole album here.
There are a lot of songs about rain and tears. The most obvious being Aphrodite’s Child‘s track of the same name. Useless trivia: this psychedelic one hit wonder band launched the careers of 2 of Greece’s biggest musical exports: Demis Roussos and Vangelis!!!!
Rain and tears, are the same
But in the sun
You’ve got to play the game
When you cry
In winter time
You can pretend
It’s nothing but the rain
How many times i’ve seen
Tears coming from your blue eyes
Rain and tears, are the same
But in the sun
You’ve got to play the game
[interlude]
Give me an answer of love
(o—-ooohhh)
I need an answer of love
(o—-ooohhh)
Rain and tears in the sun
But in your heart
You feel the rainbow waves
Rain and tears
Both i shun
For in my heart there ‘ll never be a sun
Rain and tears, are the same
But in the sun
You’ve got to play the game
Game…
And so we go back to Motown and the Temptations who are actually wishing for rain.
Sunshine, blue skies, please go away.
My girl has found another and gone away.
With her went my future, my life is filled with gloom.
So day after day, I stay locked up in my room.
I know to you it might sound strange.
But I wish it would rain. (Oh how I wish that it would rain)
Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
‘Cause so badly I wanna go outside. (Such a lovely day)
But everyone knows that a man ain’t supposed to cry, listen.
I gotta cry ‘cause cryin’ eases the pain, oh yeah.
People this hurt I feel inside, words could never explain.
I just wish it would rain (Oh how I wish that it would rain)
Oh, let it rain.
Rain, rain, rain. (Oh how I wish that it would rain)
Oh baby. Let it rain.
(Let it rain) Oh yeah, let it rain.
Day in, day out, my tear-stained face, pressed against the window pane.
My eyes search the skies, desperately for rain.
‘Cause raindrops will hide my teardrops.
And no one will ever know.
That I’m cryin’, (crying) cryin’ (crying) when I go outside.
To the world outside my tears, I refuse to explain.
Oh, I wish it would rain. (Oh how I wish that it would rain)
Oh baby.
Let it rain (Let it rain), let it rain.
I need rain to disguise the tears in my eyes.
Oh, let it rain.
(Let it rain) Oh yeah, yeah listen.
I’m a man and I got my pride.
‘Til it rains I’m gonna stay inside.
Let it rain (Let it rain) …
The instrumental bit reminds me so much of their best know track My Girl. No?
Since we’re talking about the weather, The Velvet Underground are right to ask Who Loves The Sun?
http://youtu.be/JeGRNT_Sd24
Who loves the sun
Who cares that it makes plants grow
Who cares what it does
Since you broke my heart
Who loves the wind
Who cares that it makes breezes
Who cares what it does
Since you broke my heart
Pa Pa Pa Pa
Who loves the sun
Pa Pa Pa Pa
Who loves the sun
Pa Pa Pa Pa
Not everyone
Pa Pa Pa Pa
Who loves the sun
Who loves the rain
Who cares that it makes flowers
Who cares that it makes showers
Since you broke my heart
Who loves the sun
Who cares that it is shining
Who cares what it does
Since you broke my heart
Pa Pa Pa Pa
Who loves the sun
Pa Pa Pa Pa
Who loves the sun
Pa Pa Pa Pa
Not everyone
Pa Pa Pa Pa
Who loves the sun
Well it seems that Irma Thomas does.
http://youtu.be/1u3WpbFB0Cg
It’s raining so hard
Looks like it’s going
To rain all night
And this is the time
I’d love to be
Holding you tight
I guess I’ll have
To accept the fact
That you are not here
I wish tonight
Would hurry up and end
My dear
It’s raining so hard
It’s really coming down
Sittin’ by my window
Watchin’ the rain
Fall to the ground
This is the time
I’d love to be
Holding you tight
I guess I’ll just go
Crazy tonight
It’s raining so hard
Brings back memories
Of the times
When you were
Here with me
Counting every drop
About to blow my top
I wish this rain
Would hurry up
And stop
I’ve got the blues
So bad
I could hardly
Catch my breath
The harder it rains
The worst it get
This is the time
I’d love to be
Holding you tight
I guess
I’ll just go
Crazy tonight…
And I’m gonna end this post with Karen Dalton tearing you heart out.
(Expect another rain post very soon… it’s probably going to be longer than a trilogy if the weather stays as bad this year in Beirut)
If I should leave you
Try to remember all the good times
Warm days filled with sunshine
And just a little bit of rain
And if you should look back
Try to forget all the bad times
Lonely blue and sad times
And just a little bit of rain
If I should leave you
Try to remember all the good times
Long days filled with sunshine
Just a little bit of rain
Everyday is like Sunday
© Rima Abdel-Baki
Trudging slowly over wet sand
Back to the bench where your clothes were stolen
This is the coastal town
That they forgot to close down
Armageddon – come Armageddon!
Come, Armageddon! Come!
Everyday is like Sunday
Everyday is silent and grey
Hide on the promenade
Etch a postcard :
“How I Dearly Wish I Was Not Here”
In the seaside town
…that they forgot to bomb
Come, Come, Come – nuclear bomb
Everyday is like Sunday
Everyday is silent and grey
Trudging back over pebbles and sand
And a strange dust lands on your hands
(And on your face…)
(On your face …)
(On your face …)
(On your face …)
Everyday is like Sunday
“Win Yourself A Cheap Tray”
Share some greased tea with me
Everyday is silent and grey
It was also covered by Natalie Merchant and the 10.000 Maniacs
And by the Pretenders
I like rain
It’s cold outside the knife-edge (the knife-edge)
The paper in the stream looks brittle (brittle)
Shiny white and grey are the colours (colours)
It’s good to be inside and comfy
I like rain
Falling on my window (I like rain)
I like rain
Splashing on the roof (I like rain)
I like rain
Dancing on the pavement (I like rain)
I like rain
When I’m inside
Falling down
Falling down
I like rain
The Jean-Paul Sartre Experience was an indie band from New Zealand. This song is 25yrs old. I discovered it when Lali Puna covered it. Go to this blog to download their gorgeous version or watch it below. Or you can go here and download the JPS’ album Love Songs.
Let’s stay positive about the rain despite our wet socks. We’re not equipped to face this weather in Beirut / so what!? Here’s a song from the nineties.
http://youtu.be/jU1eG8GW3XU
Come and wash away the pain, step into the blessed rain
Cool the fire in your soul, the rain will make you whole
Take me dancing naked in the rain
Feel it washing over me, oh oh
Join me dancing naked in the rain
Cover me in ecstasy
And of course there’s the classic Gene Kelly song from the movie Singin’ in the Rain.
http://youtu.be/D1ZYhVpdXbQ
I’m singing in the rain
Just singing in the rain
What a glorious feeling
I’m happy again
I’m laughing at clouds
So dark up above
The sun’s in my heart
And I’m ready for love
For love
Let the stormy clouds chase
Everyone from the place
Come on with the rain
I’ve a smile on my face
I’ll walk down the lane
With a happy refrain
Singing, singing in the rain
In the rain.
I thought I was ending this post on a happy note. But actually, this song will always remind me of Malcolm McDowell in A Clockwork Orange. As Alex, the leader of the droogs he indulges in a bit of the “old ultra-violence” while he whistles and sings this tune.
It always triggers a very primitive feeling of let’s just break everything. A bit like this Mano Negra song
J’ai comme envie de tourner le gaz
Comme envie de m’faire sauter les plombs
Comme envie de t’expliquer comme ça
Que ton indifférence, elle ne me touche pas
Je peux très bien me passer de toi
Comme envie de sang sur les murs
Comme envie d’accident d’voiture
Comme envie d’expliquer comme ça
Que ton indifférence elle ne me touche pas
Je peux très bien me passer de toi
J’ai comme envie d’n’importe quoi
Comme envie de crever ton chat
Comme envie d’tout casser chez toi
Comme envie d’expliquer comme ça
Je peux très bien me passer de toi
J’ai comme envie d’une fin torride
Comme on en voit qu’au cinéma
J’ai comme envie qu’ce soit terrible
Et qu’ça se passe juste en bas de chez toi
Je peux très bien me passer de toi
Audiogrammes 