Archive for the ‘Call and response’ Category
Blue
Just one of those days.
Woke up with Mood Indigo in my head. Ella’s version. Couldn’t get up. Couldn’t move… Well maybe it was the 2h basketball session I had last night. Put me to sleep and destroyed me more than anything else I’ve had in the last few weeks.
If you want to hear another version of this Duke Ellington song you can always check out the Boswell sisters‘ (Blues all around my head…)
You ain’t been blue; no, no, no.
You ain’t been blue,
Till you’ve had that mood indigo.
That feelin’ goes stealin’ down to my shoes
While I sit and sigh, “Go ‘long blues”.
Always get that mood indigo,
Since my baby said goodbye.
In the evenin’ when lights are low,
I’m so lonesome I could cry.
‘Cause there’s nobody who cares about me,
I’m just a soul who’s
bluer than blue can be.
When I get that mood indigo,
I could lay me down and die.
Gitanes Jazz is a series of compilation from the early nineties. Thematically organized, they introduced me to all sorts of tracks including Ella’s Mood indigo and Chet Baker’s Born To Be Blue. His voice just killed me. And then the looks… It was before I realized he played the trumpet and I saw him sitting behind the piano. It was the beginning of a beautiful friendship.
I guess I’m luckier than some folks
I’ve known the thrill of loving you
but that alone is more
than i was created for
’cause i was born to be blue
If you want a woman’s take on the same song, there’s always this Helen Merrill cover. But I’m slightly biased towards the first one.
Chet Baker had the kind of life you’d expect of him and wound up a total wreck of a junkie at the end of the eighties. If you have the time and the inclination, watch Let’s Get Lost on Youtube. If not, let’s continue with the blue theme. Chet also covered Elvis Costello’s Almost blue around that time of his life. I discovered this track very recently. His take is so much smoother than Costello’s. The original can’t help being spiteful. Sorry Elvis, that angry young man reputation isn’t wearing off and you’re 57!
http://youtu.be/alUSx_X_za8
http://youtu.be/Zju3lT02PiE
Almost blue
Almost doing things we used to do
There’s a girl here and she’s almost you
Almost all the things that your eyes once promised
I see in hers too
Now your eyes are red from crying
Almost blue
Flirting with this disaster became me
It named me as the fool who only aimed to be
Almost blue
It’s almost touching it will almost do
There’s a part of me that’s always true…always
Not all good things come to an end now it is only a chosen few
I’ve seen such an unhappy couple
Almost me
Almost you
Almost blue
Had enough of all this blue?
Sorry, there’s one last one for the road. We’re revealing the immaterial… Not….
Seriously now, we’ll go out with a bang: Tangled Up In Blue from one of the ultimate break-up albums, Blood On The Tracks.
We always did feel the same
We just saw it from a different point of view
Tangled up in blue
Here’s the original New York Sessions version. Note the different lyrics. I feel he initially couldn’t sing it from his own point of view.
Last night, I was listening to Don’t Think Twice It’s Alright in a bar and told the person with me that listening to Bob made me cry. But I didn’t expect to have such an emotional morning…
http://youtu.be/wTaIXNlN4Vw
People tell me it’s a sin
To know and feel too much within
I still believe she was my twin, but I lost the ring
She was born in spring, but I was born too late
Blame it on a simple twist of fate
Radio
Raid The Radio
Cuz we’re tired of hearing the same old song
We’re gonna change the dial to something new
Bring some truth to this town
Call your station, tell them we’re coming
Imagination is what we’re demanding
We won’t stray, you’ll hear us scream and shout
Till they play songs we can dream about
Across the nation, dance to a different drum
Raid The Radio
Cuz we’re tired of hearing the same old song
We’re gonna change the dial to something new
Bring some truth to this town
Free the DJs, burn the ties
Let the music they play electrify
Bring out the poets, bring out the punks
Watch them give rise to a brand new funk
Across the nation, dance to a different drum
Raid The Radio
Cuz we’re tired of hearing the same old song
We’re gonna change the dial to something new
Bring some truth to this town
General Elektriks – Raid The Radio
So, after 2 months away from the radio, I will be raiding it tomorrow at 6pm with my ex (and from now on current) colleague Môh!
We will be crashing Ziyad Makhoul’s slot and taking both his and Loulou’s place!
Love,
The Vultures
Morning
As the dawn began to break – I had to surrender
The universe will have its way – too powerful to master
This used to be the view from my balcony at the wee hours of the morning.
The convent has just been torn down and the building I live in is surrounded on all sides by construction sites!
I used to love hearing the birds waking up and chirping away. Even though I couldn’t help but hear This town is coming like a ghost town in my head every time I was lucky enough to be there at this time of day.
Anyway, today I’m feeling kinda “Specials”
Two o’clock has come again
It’s time to leave this paradise
Hope the chip shop isn’t closed
Cos’ their pies are really nice
I’ll eat in the taxi queue
Standing in someone else’s spew
Wish I had lipstick on my shirt
Instead of piss stains on my shoes
I go out on Friday night and I come home on Saturday morning
Here’s the original and the Nouvelle Vague cover, if you’re into that kind of thing.
I remember waking up on sunday mornings when I was around 10 years old. My mother used to blast us with either Mozart’s requiem or Pink Floyd’s Wish You Were Here album. The volume was so overwhelming I actually thought the music came from outside! I’d open the window and it would roll into my room. This morning I did the same with this track, on repeat for the last few hours.
Sunlight on your eyelids
You were sleeping
Sunlight on your back
You were dreaming
You probably know Rostam Batmanglij from Vampire Weekend or from Discovery his side project with Wes Miles of Ra Ra Riot. You can download this track on soundcloud. And if you like it, why don’t you check out his latest release.
This eastern-sounding promise reminded me instantly of Jeff Buckley’s Morning Theft. Just sticking to the theme and triggering an unstoppable stream of tears “consciousness(?)”
http://youtu.be/Zl-VisJBMas
Time takes care of the wound, so I can believe.
You had so much to give, you thought I couldn’t see.
Gifts for boot heels to crush, promises deceived
I had to send it away to bring us back again.
Your eyes and body brighten silent waters, deep.
Your precious daughter in the other room, asleep.
A kiss “Goodnight” from every stranger that I meet.
I had to send it away to bring us back again.
Morning theft, and pretender left, ungrateful.
True Self is what brought you here, to me.
A place where we can accept this love.
Friendship battered down by useless history,
Unexamined failure.
What am I still to you?
Some thief who stole from you?
Or some fool drama queen whose chances were few?
Love brings us to who we need,
a place where we can save
A heart that beats as both siphon and reservoir.
You’re a woman, I’m a calf.
You’re a window, I’m a knife.
We come together making chance into starlight.
Meet me tomorrow night, or any day you want.
I have no right to wonder just how, or when.
And though the meaning fits, there’s no relief in this.
I miss my beautiful friend.
I had to send it away to bring her back again.
If you feel like pulling your heart out and crying all day download it here or check out this live version.
According to wikibible The Morning of the Magicians has been credited with playing a significant role in bringing mysticism and conspiracy theories (such as secret societies and ancient prophesies) into popular culture. It spurred a revival of interest in the occult during the 1960s and 70s, and was a forerunner to the popularization of New Age ideas. A kind of proto-Zeitgeist.
I’m not sure it inspired this track but I love it. Same morning-themed heartbreak.
In the morning I’d awake and I couldn’t remember
What is love and what is hate? – the calculations error
Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-what is love and what is hate?
And why does it matter? – Is to love just a waste?
How can it matter?
However, I’m sure this book was behind the name of a classical music radioshow in the nineties: “Le matin des musiciens”. Merci monsieur Musique.
Eco-Beirut was the first radio station I worked at. Every day started with Lully’s Marche pour la cérémonie des Turcs. A track you probably know from Tous Les Matins du Monde
It was so reassuring to hear it every morning.
It reminds me of that Robert Frost quote: “In three words I can sum up everything I’ve learned about life — It goes on”.
Wicked
Something wicked this way comes.
It’s the Weeknd!
And no this isn’t a typo
Chillhop, whatever you want to call it… This guy makes some really sexy music.
In a nasty jealous angsty heartbreaking teenagey way.
And he posts his mixtapes on his site. Go back a few lines, click on that hyperlink. You won’t regret it. Actually you might… But I didn’t.
I discovered him with House Of Balloons – Glass Table Girls which samples Ginger Ale’s Happy House. I still don’t know which one I prefer…
I learned to accept the cheesy effects. It’s part of the sleaze.
The one that used to hit the spot for me was What You Need
http://youtu.be/XGfb9TkLnWE
I’ve got everything you want with me
I’ll do everything he does times three
He’s what you want
I’m what you need
But the song that triggered this post is Coeur de Pirate‘s cover of his Wicked Games. Nothing to do with Mr Isaak. Bear with us please. He’ll be landing shortly.
…Bring your love baby I can bring my shame
Bring the drugs baby I can bring my pain
I got my heart right here, I got my scars right here
Bring the cups baby I can bring the drink
Bring your body baby I can bring you fame
[…]
So tell me you love me
Only for tonight
Only for tonight
Even though you don’t love me
Oh, oh
Just tell me you love me
I’ll give you all of me, I’ll give you all of me
Even though you don’t love me
Let me see you dance
I love to watch you dance
Take you down another level
Get you dancing with the devil
Take a shot of this
But I’m warning you
I’m on that shit that you can’t smell baby
So, put down your perfume…
Of course, the title threw me into Helena Christensen nostalgia. This video was probably the hottest thing on MTV in the early nineties. It’s also a song a lot of people my age associate to first crushes etc… I obviously do!
http://youtu.be/UAOxCqSxRD0
The world was on fire
No one could save me but you.
Strange what desire will make foolish people do
I never dreamed that I’d meet somebody like you
And I never dreamed that I’d lose somebody like you
No, I don’t want to fall in love
[This love is only gonna break your heart]
No, I don’t want to fall in love
[This love is only gonna break your heart]
With you
With you
What a wicked game you play
To make me feel this way
What a wicked thing to do
To let me dream of you…
If you want to hear a recent cover go to Stereogum and check out the Washed Out version
If you want the ultimate weird cover, check out Les Reines Prochaines‘ version on WFMU
And if you want to dance to it, check out the Soul Clap Edit I discovered thanks to the BCE
Intoxicated
That’s me imitating Gainsbarre when I was around 2.
Last night was the first time this month I went to sleep without being intoxicated: stayed home and watched Gainsbourg (Vie Héroique).
That was a first too: hadn’t been able to concentrate long enough to finish a videoclip, let alone a whole movie.
It’s not a biography, it’s a poetic cartoon-like reading of the Gainsbourg myth with a lot of very charming moments despite trying too hard to recreate mannerisms and a slightly abrupt ending (or maybe that was me dozing off?)
Anyway, one of the best moments is Serge’s meeting with Boris Vian. Great mashup!
Je bois
Systématiquement
Pour oublier les amis de ma femme
Je bois
Systématiquement
Pour oublier tous mes emmerdements
Je bois
À trop forte dose
Je vois
Des éléphants roses
Des araignées sur le plastron
D’ mon smoking
Des chauves-souris au plafond
Du living-
room
La vie vaut-elle d’être vécue
L’amour vaut-il qu’on soit cocu
Je pose ces deux questions
Auxquelles personne ne répond… et
Eh toi
Dis-moi quelque chose
Tu es là
Comme un marbre rose
Aussi glacée que le plastron
D’ mon smoking
Aussi pâle que le plafond
Du living-
room
Je bois
Dès que j’ai des loisirs
Pour être saoul, pour ne plus voir ma gueule
Je bois
Sans y prendre plaisir
Pour pas me dire qu’il faudrait en finir…
L’amour
Ne m’ dit plus grand-chose
Toujours
Ces éléphants roses
Ces araignées sur le plastron
Systématiquement
Ces chauves-souris au plafond
Tous mes emmerdements
Je bois
Je bois
And we continue with a beautiful cover. A few posts back we had Bashung covering Serge.
This time it’s Keren Ann covering Alain.
Best track on Tels Alain Bashung and one of the reasons I believe the hype regarding this singer whose middle name is trouble.
http://youtu.be/y2yfFLnxnI8
C’est pas facile, facile de s’foutre en l’air
Ca coûte, ça coûte, ça coûte très cher
Je vais me faire la peau, je vais me tirer la chasse d’eau
Dans les WC de mon petit studio
C’est pas facile, facile de se foutre en l’air
C’est pour les riches les somnifères
La roulette russe c’est complètement idiot
Quand on peut mourir d’un coup de chasse d’eau
Je fume pour oublier que tu bois
Je fais comme chez moi
Je renvoie la fumée sur un poster de toi
La vie c’est comme une overdose
Tu prends tout tout de suite
Tu en crêves et vite
Et si tu prends pas, c’est la vie qui t’a
Je suis bien, bien, très bien dans mon cagibi
Y’a des journaux, alors j’les lis…
Ils disent que le bonheur
C’est peut-être qu’un bobard
Je m’en fous, j’attendrai pas la fin de mon histoire
…
And today, I watched Where Do We Go Now? Nadine Labaki’s latest overhyped offering.
I won’t be a prick but honestly, let’s stop using big words to describe this movie. Actually I won’t even bother to formulate my opinion.
Let’s just say there’s a very catchy song that fits today’s theme:
A few years back I did an intoxication special on my radio show.
I had pre-recorded it and was busy with family when I got a phone call while the show was being aired.
It was Ghassan Rahbani. He’d taken my number from the radio station and insisted on talking to me!
The problem was this track:
http://youtu.be/jVFJSrbyr9s
Like a lot of people, I thought this was a song by Ziad Rahbani: if you google Dawwerha, his name comes up (a lot!).
Turns out the song is by The Bendaly family. The ones behind Do you Love Me? and Ghassan was sick of having his cousin bad-mouthed.
I issued an official apology on my next show and make sure to credit these guys, that have been receiving a lot of coverage recently because of another track I strongly recommend.
Pipe
Ça fait 30 ans jour pour jour que Georges Brassens nous a quitté. Il aurait eu 90 ans!
Je vous avoue que c’est celui de la Trinité que j’ai découvert en dernier. Après Brel, évidemment, et même après Ferré, qui aurait du être plus difficile d’accès.
Barbara – quant à elle – n’est pas l’immmaculée conception, plutôt la mante religieuse. Et Gainsbourg a toujours été le vilain petit canard.
Moustaki, enfin, a toujours eu le rôle de l’Outsider. Mais il a écrit l’un des plus beaux hommages à Brassens
http://youtu.be/4dtRiJQikkU
Les amis de Georges étaient un peu anars
Ils marchaient au gros rouge et grattaient leurs guitares
Ils semblaient tous issus de la même famille
Timides et paillards et tendres avec les filles
Ils avaient vu la guerre ou étaient nés après
Et s’étaient retrouvés à Saint-Germain-des-Prés
Et s’il leur arrivait parfois de travailler
Personne n’aurait perdu sa vie pour la gagner
Les amis de Georges avaient les cheveux longs
A l’époque ce n’était pas encore de saison
Ils connaissaient Verlaine, Hugo, François Villon
Avant qu’on les enferme dans des microsillons
Ils juraient, ils sacraient, insultaient les bourgeois
Mais savaient offrir des fleurs aux filles de joie
Quitte à les braconner dans les jardins publics
En jouant à cache-cache avec l’ombre des flics
Les amis de Georges, on les reconnaissait
A leur manière de n’être pas trop pressés
De rentrer dans le rang pour devenir quelqu’un
Ils traversaient la vie comme des arlequins
Certains le sont restés, d’autres ont disparu
Certains ont même la Légion d’honneur – qui l’eût cru?
Mais la plupart d’entre eux n’ont pas bougé d’un poil
Ils se baladent encore la tête dans les étoiles
Les amis de Georges n’ont pas beaucoup vieilli
A les voir on dirait qu’ils auraient rajeuni
Le cheveu est plus long, la guitare toujours là
C’est toujours l’ami Georges qui donne le la
Mais tout comme lui ils ne savent toujours pas
Rejoindre le troupeau ou bien marcher au pas
Dans les rues de Paris, sur les routes de province
Ils mendient quelquefois avec des airs de prince
En chantant des chansons du dénommé Brassens
Il y a quelques semaines j’ai écouté ce podcast qui m’a fait réaliser que je n’avais pas encore fait le tour de toute l’oeuvre de Brassens. Pour lui rendre hommage à ma façon voici quelques unes de ces découvertes. Du Swing?
http://youtu.be/xz6yYY2lH-Y
On oublie le Brassens provocateur qui foutait la merde à chaque fois qu’on voulait l’élever au statut de légende vivante etc… et on revient sur les chansons de salle de garde
Les chansons de salle de garde
Ont toujours été de mon goût,
Et je suis bien malheureux, car de
Nos jours on n’en crée plus beaucoup.
Pour ajouter au patrimoine
Folklorique des carabins,
J’en ai fait une, putain de moine,
Plaise à Dieu qu’elle plaise aux copains.
Ancienne enfant de Marie-salope
Mélanie, la bonne au curé,
Dedans ses trompes de Fallope,
S’introduit des cierges sacrés.
Des cierges de cire d’abeille
Plus onéreux, mais bien meilleurs,
Dame! la qualité se paye
A Saint-Sulpice, comme ailleurs.
Quand son bon maître lui dit: “Est-ce
Trop vous demander Mélanie,
De n’user, par délicatesse,
Que de cierges non encore bénits?”
Du tac au tac, elle réplique
Moi, je préfère qu’ils le soient,
Car je suis bonne catholique
Elle a raison, ça va de soi…
Misogyne, lui?
Misogynie à part, le sage avait raison:
Il y a les emmerdantes, on en trouve à foison,
En foule elles se pressent.
Il y a les emmerdeuses, un peu plus raffinées,
Et puis, très nettement au-dessus du panier,
Y’a les emmerderesses.
La mienne, à elle seule, sur toutes surenchérit,
Elle relève à la fois des trois catégories,
Véritable prodige,
Emmerdante, emmerdeuse, emmerderesse itou,
Elle passe, elle dépasse, elle surpasse tout,
Elle m’emmerde, vous dis-je.
Je lui laisse le mot de la fin avec son Bulletin de santé
http://youtu.be/DfK6oL8ImaQ
J’ai perdu mes bajou’s, j’ai perdu ma bedaine,
Et, ce, d’une façon si nette, si soudaine,
Qu’on me suppose un mal qui ne pardonne pas,
Qui se rit d’Esculape et le laisse baba.
Le monstre du Loch Ness ne faisant plus recette
Durant les moments creux dans certaines gazettes,
Systématiquement, les nécrologues jou’nt,
À me mettre au linceul sous des feuilles de chou.
Or, lassé de servir de tête de massacre,
Des contes à mourir debout qu’on me consacre,
Moi qui me porte bien, qui respir’ la santé,
Je m’avance et je cri’ toute la vérité.
Toute la vérité, messieurs, je vous la livre
Si j’ai quitté les rangs des plus de deux cents livres,
C’est la faute à Mimi, à Lisette, à Ninon,
Et bien d’autres, j’ai pas la mémoire des noms.
Si j’ai trahi les gros, les joufflus, les obèses,
C’est que je baise, que je baise, que je baise
Comme un bouc, un bélier, une bête, une brut’,
Je suis hanté : le rut, le rut, le rut, le rut !
Qu’on me comprenne bien, j’ai l’âme du satyre
Et son comportement, mais ça ne veut point dire
Que j’en ai’ le talent, le géni’, loin s’en faut !
Pas une seule encor’ ne m’a crié ” bravo ! ”
Entre autres fines fleurs, je compte, sur ma liste
Rose, un bon nombre de femmes de journalistes
Qui, me pensant fichu, mettent toute leur foi
A m’donner du bonheur une dernière fois.
C’est beau, c’est généreux, c’est grand, c’est magnifique !
Et, dans les positions les plus pornographiques,
Je leur rends les honneurs à fesses rabattu’s
Sur des tas de bouillons, des paquets d’invendus.
Et voilà ce qui fait que, quand vos légitimes
Montrent leurs fesse’ au peuple ainsi qu’à vos intimes,
On peut souvent y lire, imprimés à l’envers,
Les échos, les petits potins, les faits divers.
Et si vous entendez sourdre, à travers les plinthes
Du boudoir de ces dam’s, des râles et des plaintes,
Ne dites pas : “C’est tonton Georges qui expire “,
Ce sont tout simplement les anges qui soupirent.
Et si vous entendez crier comme en quatorze :
“Debout ! Debout les morts ! ” ne bombez pas le torse,
C’est l’épouse exalté’ d’un rédacteur en chef
Qui m’incite à monter à l’assaut derechef.
Certe’, il m’arrive bien, revers de la médaille,
De laisser quelquefois des plum’s à la bataille…
Hippocrate dit : ” Oui, c’est des crêtes de coq”,
Et Gallien répond “Non, c’est des gonocoqu’s… ”
Tous les deux ont raison. Vénus parfois vous donne
De méchants coups de pied qu’un bon chrétien pardonne,
Car, s’ils causent du tort aux attributs virils,
Ils mettent rarement l’existence en péril.
Eh bien, oui, j’ai tout ça, rançon de mes fredaines.
La barque pour Cythère est mise en quarantaine.
Mais je n’ai pas encor, non, non, non, trois fois non,
Ce mal mystérieux dont on cache le nom.
Si j’ai trahi les gros, les joufflus, les obèses,
C’est que je baise, que je baise, que je baise
Comme un bouc, un bélier, une bête, une brut’,
Je suis hanté : le rut, le rut, le rut, le rut !
Lay
I’m not wearing an iron armor
So if you wanna feel a little warmer
Any time be my guest
Lay your head on my chest
You should let me drive the car yo
And play good music on the stereo
From this town to the next
Lay your head on my chest
Herman Düne – Lay your head on my chest
My father calls his chest a runway. He used to encourage me to do sports in order for my chest to get larger and entice women to come and land on it. His selection would have been closer to Put Your Head On My Shoulder…
And I could have played all my “chest songs” but i think I’ll stick with LAY. Not the chips…
Does this explain the picture of the plane landing… or could it have been “lay-over”?
Timber Timbre – Lay Down In The Tall Grass
Lay down and wait for you
with nothing but a piece of rope
Dreaming every night of you
Shaking at the sight
I’ll be dreaming every night of you
I’ll be shaking at the sight – of – you
Similar subject matter and imagery. Laying down on both sides of the grass…
This is the best cover of this Tom Waits song from the 2004 album Real Gone. If you want to download Agathe & Fine’s version of Green grass, have a look here. And go check their covers of Tom Waits’ Innocent When You Dream and Beirut’s Postcards from Italy. Watching girls playing ukuleles is quickly becoming a serious turn-on / fetish…
Lay your head where my heart used to be
Hold the earth above me
Lay down in the green grass
Remember when you loved me
Come closer don’t be shy
Stand beneath a rainy sky
The moon is over the rise
Think of me as a train goes by…
And now we get to the serious laying.
Unfortunately, Prince says: Come! lie beneath my shadow
So we go to Bob Dylan’s Country album Nashville Skyline for one of his most powerful declarations
http://youtu.be/U_yvrugtnpo
Why wait any longer for the world to begin
You can have your cake and eat it too
Why wait any longer for the one you love
When he’s standing in front of you
Obviously with lyrics like that you’re bound to get Laid
Very catchy song. But the lyrics are rubbish.
This bed is on fire
With passionate love
The neighbors complain about the noises above
But she only comes when she’s on top
My therapist said not to see you no more
She said you’re like a disease without any cure
She said I’m so obsessed that I’m becoming a bore, oh no
Ah, you think you’re so pretty
Caught your hand inside a till
Slammed your fingers in the door
Fought with kitchen knives and skewers
Dressed me up in women’s clothes
Messed around with gender roles
Dye my eyes and call me pretty
Moved out of the house, so you moved next door
I locked you out, you cut a hole in the wall
I found you sleeping next to me, I thought I was alone
You’re driving me crazy, when are you coming home
Pretty
Pretty
Leih?
A lot of people have been asking me why I’ve chosen this format.
Or why I chose a slightly darker theme for certain posts.
Trying to read into them as if they were a doorway to my soul.
Why am I doing it? Maybe this small text in French can clarify things. A friend sent it to me a few weeks ago and it’s from an article in Magazine Litéraire on Paul Ricoeur (I think).
Still hiding behind other people’s words. Hopefully mine will emerge soon enough.
La narration de sa propre vie, quelque forme qu’on lui donne, offre à chacun la liberté et la créativité de l’écrivain, mais aussi la satisfaction du lecteur – celle de découvrir une histoire cohérente et fouillée. Les variations, les détails incongrus et sans liens mutuels prennent sens dans une œuvre qui n’appartient qu’à soi
زياد الرحباني – هيك بتعمل هيك
….
أني عم بفكر أبقى اني …وياك، ليك، ليه عم تعمل هيك…
هاي تاني مرة بتحكيني هيك… ليك… ليه عم تعمل هيك…
ياحبيب الروح شو عم بتسوي… نايم تاركني عم ضوي…
ياعواطف حاجة تتلوي… هيك… صعبة العيشة هيك…
…
This song by Ziad Rahbani has been a favorite of mine since its release in 1995. Leih 3am ta3mel heik translates roughly as “Why are doing this?”
Now if we want another take on the same question, let’s go to Marianne Faithfull’s Why D’ya do it?
When I stole a twig from our little nest
And gave it to a bird with nothing in her beak,
I had my balls and my brains put into a vice
And twisted around for a whole fucking week.
Why’d ya do it, she said, why’d you let that trash
Get a hold of your cock, get stoned on my hash ?
Why’d ya do it she said, why’d you let her suck your cock ?
Oh, do me a favour, don’t put me in the dark.
Why’d ya do it, she said, they’re mine all your jewels,
You just tied me to the mast of the ship of fools.
Why’d ya do it, she said, when you know it makes me sore,
‘Cause she had cobwebs up her fanny and I believe in giving to the poor.
Why’d ya do it, she said, why’d you spit on my snatch ?
Are we out of love now, is this just a bad patch ?
Why’d ya do it, she said, why’d you do what you did ?
You drove my ego to a really bad skid.
Why’d you do it, she said, ain’t nothing to laugh,
You just tore all our kisses right in half!
Why’d ya do it, she said, why’d ya do what you did,
Betray my little oyster for such a low bitch.
Why’d ya do it, she said, why’d you do what you did ?
You drove my ego to a really bad skid.
Why’d ya do it, she screamed, after all we’ve said
Every time I see your dick I see her cunt in my bed.
The whole room was swirling,
Her lips were still curling.
Why’d ya do it, she said, why’d you do what you did
Why’d ya do it, she said, why’d you do what you did
Why’d ya do it, she said, why’d ya do it, she said,
Why’d you do what you did ?
Oh, big grey mother, I love you forever
With your barbed wire pussy and your good and bad weather.
Why’d ya do it, she said, why’d you do what you did …
Ah, I feel better now
I love the lyrics. Probably one of the best jealousy songs ever. It was initially released on Broken English, her comeback album in 1979. It’s weird to see her singing it in that video above: a bit older, in Irina Palm mode. Watch the trailer and the amazing bonus below and find this movie!
She reminds me a bit of Catherine Deneuve in Les Bien-Aimés.
Probably for the wrong reasons.
And one final song in order to justify the cover illustrating this post: Question Mark & the Mysterians.
Plus the lyrics work well with Irina Palm…
http://youtu.be/fYDIuWHOsV8
Do something to me
I’ve got to find love in a hurry
Do something to me
Help me to ease all the worry
Country
– I won’t forget about you. It’s cool. No matter where he takes you…Timbuktu, it don’t matter. ‘Cause we’re fate. You know? Nobody can stop fate. Nobody can.
And one of these nights soon…I’m gonna be comin’ for you.
I’ve been driving after midnight, shoulda been walkin’: it would have been closer to today’s theme.
Met a country-lover. The raunchier/louder stuff. But I couldn’t help but think of Patsy Cline.
Crazy
I’m Crazy for feeling so lonely
http://youtu.be/K-wJNpWgss8
Here’s the original but you HAVE to check out this great version by the Kills.
So, anyway Patsy sang a lot of great country songs including “You belong to me”.
Rose McGowan covered it in Grindhouse: Planet Terror. But the Tarantino connection is even older since Bob Dylan’s version was used in Natural Born Killers (which was based on a script by Quentin)…
Sorry I got carried away with all this useless trivia I carry around.
Here’s the song and the small dialogue excerpt quoted above. Unfortunately it’s just a still.
See the pyramids along the Nile
Watch the sunrise on a tropic isle
Just remember darlin’ all the while
You belong to me
See the market place in Old Algiers
Send me photographs and souvenirs
Just remember when a dream appears
You belong to me
I’ll be so alone without you
Maybe you’ll be lonesome too, and blue
Fly the ocean in a silver plane
See the jungle when it’s wet with rain
Just remember ’til you’re home again
You belong to me
And now we go full circle. From “You Belong To Me” we skip to one of the most beautiful Dylan tracks ever. From Bringing It All Back Home: “She Belongs To Me”
http://youtu.be/rWJhiP44s60
But I prefer this version from the The Bootleg Series, Vol. 7: No Direction Home – The Soundtrack
She’s got everything she needs,
She’s an artist, she don’t look back.
She’s got everything she needs,
She’s an artist, she don’t look back.
She can take the dark out of the nighttime
And paint the daytime black.
Crying
Ardisson: “Can one be happy again after such a relationship?”
Anna Karina: “One can be happy but in a different way.”
Godard: “I believe one can be much happier.”
Approximative translation taken from JLG and Anna Karina’s first meeting after 20 years.
Thank you for sharing Mr R.
http://youtu.be/WQZdu4InawA
Anna Karina est tout simplement bouleversée de se retrouver assise à côté de son ex-mari, Jean-Luc Godard. L’animateur lui a caché jusqu’à la dernière minute la présence du grand amour de sa vie, qu’elle n’a plus vu ni entendu depuis vingt ans. Elle quitte le plateau en larmes lorsque le cinéaste se montre maladroit – ou simplement goujat – au point de déclarer qu’il a été « plus heureux après la rupture ».
Pour plus d’infos
I remembered a friend used the same image from “Vivre sa vie” on Soundcloud for a track called Crying
Nothing to do with the Roy Orbison track that was covered in Spanish in David Lynch’s Mulholland Drive by Rebekah del Rio.
Really intense scene. Go and watch this movie!
You don’t have to get it the first or even the 6th time around…
And we end today’s Crying Game with Rickie Lee Jones’ cover of Gerry and the Pacemakers’ “Don’t Let The Sun Catch You Crying”.
Or why I’ve decided to become a vampire…
http://youtu.be/87DGbHdTZPM
Don’t let the sun catch you cryin’
The night’s the time for all your tears
Your heart may be broken tonight
But tomorrow in the morning light
Don’t let the sun catch you cryin’
The night-time shadows disappear
And with them go all your tears
For the morning will bring joy
For every girl and boy
So don’t let the sun catch you cryin’
We know that cryin’s not a bad thing
But stop your cryin’ when the birds sing
It may be hard to discover
That you’ve been left for another
But don’t forget that love’s a game
And it can always come again
Oh don’t let the sun catch you cryin’
Don’t let the sun catch you cryin’, oh no
Oh, oh, oh
Audiogrammes 
