Instrumental

          Today's category is  Your Favorite Instrumental.

          Since electronica and trance (and many of their sub-genres) are my preferred genres, it's simple to understand why Orbital's full version of The Box is my favorite instrumental (The Box Part 1 and The Box Part 2 is the full almost 13 minute title).

          For those unfamiliar with elec-trance—claiming a preference for Orbital is the equivalent of declaring that one's favorite male vocalist of the 50s is Elvis or saying Pink Floyd is your favorite psychedelic rock band of the 70s.  I know I'm picking low-hanging fruit.  It's the best.

Day 21:   Favorite Foreign Language Song

The Paragon of Protest Songs

          My personal Paragon of Protest Songs (today's category) is Timmy Thomas' 1972 song, "Why Can't We Live Together".  The Hammond organ.  That punctuation note.  Hammering home the message.  Demanding your attention with subtle simplicity.

          I was a child during Vietnam (that's how everyone referred to it.  One word.  One noun.  Heavily laden with invisible but not silent verbs.)  When I joined the "teenager ranks" my requirement to register for the draft in a short five-years didn't seem very distant.  I thought my choices were clearly defined by Walter Cronkite on the nightly news:  become a scorned soldier who napalmed innocent villagers or join the ranks of protesters beaten by police.


           At thirteen, I didn't want to do either.

          The draft was eliminated when I was fourteen.

          Vietnam ended when I was sixteen.

          When I entered Purdue University (go Boilermakers) at seventeen, all the protests had faded like my jeans.

          Papa (mentioned here and here) passed away from a heart attack in his sleep when I was nineteen years old.  At Nana's house, after his funeral, my sister and I sat at the organ (mentioned here) while family members milled, cried, and whispered around us.  We both tried to play Timmy's melody and punctuation note; demanding attention with subtle simplicity.

Day 20:  Favorite Instrumental

When Two Heads Are Better

          My song-category for this eighteenth day of thirty is:  Your Favorite Duet.

          There are almost as many forgettably-forgotten songs sung by two people in tandem as there are played by groups and sung by soloists.  To identify this favorite I ran my mind, ears, and eyes across many such songs, tunes, and titles.

          I recall not hating the film Duets directed by Bruce Paltrow and starring Paul Giamatti.  The one duet which has always stuck with me from the film—Giamatti singing Try a Little Tenderness with Andre Braugher.  Although it's not my favorite duet, by deconstructing it I was able to identify my favorite.

          Try a Little Tenderness is a fantastic song.  I've heard it sung by several artists.  I enjoy the version by Otis Redding and the covers by Three Dog Night as well as The Commitments.   So, first and foremost, a favorite duet must be a great song all by itself, no matter who sings it.

          I was a bit surprised to learn that Giamatti and Braugher are capable-to-good vocalists, but there's a reason they both earn their livings acting and not singing.  So, the second factor in identifying a favorite duet, is that both singers must be great solo-vocalists in their own right.

          The third and final determinate is the gestalt or the mise-en-scène (if you'll allow a visual metaphor to describe the realm of song).  Combine the tunes meter, rhythm, instrument's sounds, vocals, echos, vibrations, silences, etc...with the lyric's words, phrasing, inflections, structure, intended meanings and emotions.  Now mix in all the unintended meanings and associated emotions introduced by each listener.  The result is a favorite song.

          My favorite duet is one which both of the vocalists as well as the band of musicians contributed equally to the creation of, and overall everything of:  Under Pressure by Freddie Mercury and David Bowie.  They never recorded it together live.  None-the-less, this wonderful video adds an additional layer of emotion to the recording.

...turned away from it all, like a blind man; sat on a fence, but it don't work...

Day 19 - Your Paragon of Protest Songs

Seventeen—You're Ready

          "Ok, folks!  We're back.  And we're here with the Insipid family.  Talking with their adorably cute young daughter, Brandi.  Hello there my dear."
          "Hi."
          "Your family already has two strikes.  Are you nervous?"
          "Maybe kinda.  But, not really.  This is, like, pretty simple."
          "Well, the topic is interesting song-meme titles.  Two weeks of answers still on the board.  Get this one wrong and the Snapperhead's get a chance to steal.  What do you say?"
          "A Song You Often Hear On The Radio?"
          "Show us A Song You Often Hear On the Radio!"
          *braaaaaaazzzzzz*

          "To steal, Snapperhead, what do you say?"
          "A Fucking Song."
          "Are you sure?  That can be interpreted as an intensifier, adjective, adverb, verb, emphatic particle..."
          "That versatility makes it a brilliant title."
          "Show us "A Fucking Song!"
          *bing*

          17^th day, seventeen people surveyed said A FUCKING SONG .   I'm going with the verb.  Mia Culpa by Enigma happens to be the only song I've intentionally programmed to play while fucking.
 

          Sticking with today's dual theme (fucking and 17) and trying to end on a humorous note:

Day 18 - Your Favorite Duet

Celebr·ageing Evolu·ddites Not So Fast!

          If you're counting, this is my 16^th consecutive day of song-O-rama.   A few of the insipid titles I'm disregarding and replacing with my own: a song that no one would expect you to love (a shadow of yesterday's title) a song that you used to love but now hate, and a song from a band you hate (that you used to?..terrible grammar.  Both titles are foolish—only a child hates bands and songs).

          My title for today is The Oldest Song You Enjoy.

        
          The reason mine is Boléro by Ravel (1928) is that it is in a portion of the wonderful 1976 Italian film Allegro Non Troppo, by Bruno Bozzetto.  I first watched that humorous homage to Disney's Fantasia in 1979.

Day 17 - A Fucking Song