2000s songs – What's It All About?: Recent Episodes
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If you’re not a fan of musical theatre, or indeed musicals of any kind, look away now, as that’s where I’m going today. I went to see the newly released film Wicked last week and following on from my last post about ladies with big, big voices, I think I’ve just discovered another two – Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande. They are the two leads in the film, both witches-in-training, but from opposite ends of the witchy spectrum. Although the stage musical Wicked has been around for 20 years now, I have never seen it (I don’t seem to get out of The Highlands much), so the story really was all new to me, and I loved it.
For anyone else like me who has missed out on the whole Wicked phenomenon, the story is taken from the 1995 Gregory Maguire novel, Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West. That novel was in turn based on L. Frank Baum’s 1900 novel, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. I am surprised at how early it was written as most of us are familiar with the 1939 film adaptation starring Judy Garland so I assumed the story was from around that time. But anyway, the musical Wicked is told from the perspective of two witches, Elphaba and Galinda, before and after Dorothy’s arrival in Oz.
I said in the title that the two leads have big, big voices. As for Ariana Grande it’s not so much a “big” voice but one with a four-octave range. I knew little of her before the film other than the Manchester Arena attack happened during one her concerts. It turns out she has been voted among the ten greatest pop stars of the 21st century by Billboard and is also ranked among Rolling Stone‘s greatest vocalists of all time, the highest for any artist emerging since the 2010s. It also turns out that Ariana is a great comedic actress and could give Reese Witherspoon (Legally Blonde) and Alicia Silverstone (Clueless) a run for their money. Here she is singing the song Popular from the film.
Someone who does have a big voice however is Cynthia Erivo and as we reach the end of the film, which is just part one (the second part will be released next year at the same time), she sings the most well-known song from the musical, Defying Gravity. This is a song I know well as when DD was aged only 15, she was gifted one of those Experience packages, where she was given the chance to visit a recording studio and lay down some tracks. Being a keen singer, and having been in a few musical theatre shows up to that point, there was much excitement, and when we turned up for the day the song she chose was Defying Gravity. Of course now she would probably choose something quite different but I really liked her version which doesn’t have the power of the professionals but is very sweet nonetheless. I know she would be very embarrassed about me sharing this but hey, I was a proud mum, so here is what she came up with on that day. It was a fascinating process, how you record many versions of the same song, do a bit of tweaking and then cut and paste sections together to create the best version possible. She starts off a bit tentatively but after 1:00 the confidence shines through.
Defying Gravity by Darling Daughter (DD)
So, “What’s It All About?” – Judy Garland’s Wizard of Oz is a film classic, but it was made 85 years ago. The film Wicked is similarly colourful, and full of fun characters, but cinematography, soundtracks and script-writing have come a long way since the 1930s so I felt it was a real extravaganza for the eyes and ears. I’m not sure, however, if many of my followers would want to pay good money to go and see it? All I would say is…, just do it – you might surprise yourself.
Until next time…
Defying Gravity Lyrics
(Song by Stephen Schwartz)
Something has changed within me
Something is not the same
I’m through with playing by the rules of someone else’s game
Too late for second-guessing
Too late to go back to sleep
It’s time to trust my instincts, close my eyes and leap!
It’s time to try
Defying gravity
I think I’ll try
Defying gravity
Kiss me goodbye
I’m defying gravity
And you won’t bring me down
I’m through accepting limits ’cause someone says they’re so
Some things I cannot change but ’til I try, I’ll never know!
Too long I’ve been afraid of losing love I guess I’ve lost
Well, if that’s love, it comes at much too high a cost!
I’d sooner buy
Defying gravity
Kiss me goodbye
I’m defying gravity
I think I’ll try
Defying gravity
And you won’t bring me down
I ended up going to see the Amy Winehouse biopic Back To Black twice this week. A friend asked me if I wanted to see it on Monday night so of course I said yes, as it had been on my radar. Later on in the week my “Last Thursday of the Month Film Group” friend got in touch to say she was really looking forward to Back To Black this week. I don’t know about you but this month seems to have flown in and I had honestly thought we had another week of April to go, but it seemed not. I played dumb and didn’t mention I’d messed up and seen it already, so I tripped along for another outing.
Was it worth seeing twice? Probably not as we mostly know Amy’s story from all the media coverage she was given at the time of her success, but we did get a bit more of her backstory from the time just ahead of her breakthrough. I’m not sure how true to life it all was but it seems she was really close to her grandmother, Cynthia, who had been a jazz singer back in the day and sang at Ronnie Scott’s. It was from Cynthia she got her love of jazz singers like Sarah Vaughan and Ella Fitzgerald. She also got her trademark beehive hairdo from Cynthia.
The late, great Amy WinehouseThe actress who played Amy, Marisa Abela, did a pretty good job and I’ve read that she did the singing for the film, which if true, impresses me a lot. I suspect there was a bit of jiggery-pokery with the soundtrack though to make her sound so similar – I suspect there can only be one Amy Winehouse.
For someone like me who likes everything in her life to be ship-shape and in good order, it was a tough watch. Amy led a chaotic life and in the film I just wanted to give her house a good thorough, mend her ripped clothes and give her a hot bath before she went to bed. Would she still be with us if she hadn’t met “her Blake”? I’m not sure, as even before she met him she was on a bit of a self-destructive path but there is no doubt they, as a couple, were a fairly toxic mix. Her dad Mitch doesn’t come out of it too badly as it seems he was her biggest supporter but had very little control over her behaviour.
Whatever the truth of the film there were some very good musical segments where all the hits got performed – Back To Black, Tears Dry On Their Own, Valerie, Rehab, Me & Mr Jones and many more. Just so sad that Amy left us at the tender age of 27, heading off to join all the others in that illustrious 27 Club like Jimi, Brian, Janis, Jim and Curt. Like the rest of them, success came quickly for Amy but there were too many temptations for someone with an addictive personality and no-one strong enough around to keep her on the right path. Only one song to leave you with.
Back To Black by Amy Winehouse
Until next time…
Back To Black Lyrics
Song by Amy Winehouse/Mark Ronson
He left no time to regret
Kept his dick wet
With his same old safe bet
Me and my head high
And my tears dry
Get on without my guy
You went back to what you knew
So far removed from all that we went through
And I tread a troubled track
My odds are stacked
I’ll go back to black
We only said goodbye with words
I died a hundred times
You go back to her
And I go back to…
I go back to us
I love you much
It’s not enough
You love blow and I love puff
And life is like a pipe
And I’m a tiny penny rolling up the walls inside
We only said goodbye with words
I died a hundred times
You go back to her
And I go back to…
We only said goodbye with words
I died a hundred times
You go back to her
And I go back to…
Black, black, black, black, black, black, black
I go back to…
I go back to…
We only said goodbye with words
I died a hundred times
You go back to her
And I go back to…
We only said goodbye with words
I died a hundred times
You go back to her
And I go back to black
It is with good grace that I return to this series with another edition. Last time I had complained that such series can end up not being as much fun as was anticipated at the outset. It has come to my attention several times this week however that this is very much a First World problem. Yesterday marked the first anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and it occurred to me that if any of the displaced Ukrainians being put up locally in hotels stumbled upon my post, they would not be impressed. They have lost everything. I have just temporarily lost my enthusiasm for something which in the grand scheme of things, is a bit of light-hearted fluff and nonsense. With that it mind let’s get on with it.
The name February apparently comes from the Latin term februum which means purification. The Roman ritual Februa was always held on February the 15th to ‘purify the city’, promoting health and fertility. Hmm…, interesting, NOT. I don’t know about you but I feel these Latin names used for the months of the year have well and truly lost their meaning in today’s world, but they’re too engrained now to be changed or updated. Valentine-uary or Snowdrop-uary anyone? No, that definitely wouldn’t work either, for all sorts of reasons, so we’re stuck with them. A safe and familiar pair of hands I suppose. Let’s look at the songs that reference February.
I’ll start off with a song suggested by two of last month’s visitors. First of all we had C who remembered a song she has never been too keen on, but which fits the remit. Here are her own words:
I can’t think of anything at all, apart from January February by Barbara Dickson which as I’m sure you know is not my cup of tea at all, but for some reason I seem to know it very well – it must have had a lot of radio play at the time.
Rigid Digit also came up with Barbara’s song as a suggestion, ‘a Scottish MOR Folkie Two For The Price Of One’, he said. Sadly I had forgotten about it for the January edition so a lost opportunity, but happy to include it now as I quite like Scottish MOR Folk. She’s had a long career Barbara Dickson and I feel a certain loyalty to her as first of all she’s Scottish, but also she used to work for a good friend’s dad way back in the day before she got her big break. Yes, Barbara used to be a humble civil servant in Rosyth where she grew up. A lot less glamorous than the world of West End Theatre, where she ended up.
January February by Barbara Dickson:
I look at Barbara in that clip and remember a perm I had in 1978 (and in 1979, in 1980…) that looked just like her one. That was a really popular style for girls back then and although it looks very dated now, and a bit poodle-like, it was a great low-maintenance style that just needed to be washed and left to dry naturally. A bit of a fluff up with one of those afro combs and you were good to go. My middle-aged hair needs much more maintenance, so I look back at those days fondly, although I now realise there was an element of cultural appropriation going on. The afro comb became recognised as a way of saying no to oppression, and wearing it in the hair led to a kind of comradeship amongst those whose hair grows up and out, not down. I was definitely not aware of this back in 1978 when I headed along to our local salon.
But this is supposed to be all about February songs so what else was suggested last time. Rick dropped by again:
Not a ton of great February songs but Xmas in February by Lou Reed is a good one, pretty sad tale though it is.
Crikey Rick that really is a sad tale – what a song though. It often occurs to me that had some of the American bloggers who visit this place been born a few years earlier, Vietnam would have beckoned. Not lost on you either I imagine.
Next up we have Ernie Goggins whose blog I have just discovered (apologies for the delay Ernie). Here are his own words:
Only a couple of suggestions for February, both of them as miserable as Rick’s suggestion – Cold Days of February by Edinburgh’s own Incredible String Band and Sad February by The Unthanks.
I had started this series with September songs and they were pretty sad but February seems to be upping the ante. Here are Ernie’s suggestions.
Martin from the New Amusements blog offered up this song by Billy Bragg, The Fourteenth of February. This is the studio version but Martin also added a link to a lovely, simple, live version. What a beautiful love song. Unlike Billy I do remember everything about the first time I met Mr WIAA but just down to the kind of memory I have. He, needless to say, remembers nothing.
Rol decided he couldn’t beat Martin’s suggestion, but offered up February by Dar Williams as an ‘also-ran’. Hope Dar never drops by as not an ‘also-ran’ song at all, although September by now has well and truly been usurped by February in the sadness stakes.
Neil came up with another Two For The Price Of One suggestion – Van Morrison’s March Winds In February. Thanks Neil, a new one for me from Mr Grumpy of Belfast, a Mr Grumpy who delivers sublime songs.
Nearly at the end of the suggestions now but Rigid Digit did come up with a second one. Here are his own words:
From the Foo Fighters The Colour & The Shape – is it the best Foos album? – comes February Stars. Actually, writing out that album title, I’ve just noticed – The Foo Fighters spell “Colour” properly, not the US English version sans U.
Yes Neil and Rick, funny that an American band used the British English spelling as opposed to the American English version, or as RD calls it, the proper version! Here is their February song.
Finally, we have Khayem’s pick for February:
My February suggestion is a lovely little instrumental ditty by Australian musical collective Architecture In Helsinki. One Heavy February is the opening song of their debut album (Fingers Crossed) from 2003, just under a minute long but with a fun video.
He goes on to say:
I own a different version from 2008 on the Like It Or Not EP. No video for this one (though an image pops up around 0:38) but it’s a veritable extended club banger, with a handy run through of the calendar towards the end, all done in under three minutes. That’ll blow the cobwebs away!
It certainly will Khayem, so thanks for suggesting that Australian collective with a Scandinavian capital in their name. Having just looked it up they apparently got their name after cutting up a newspaper and re-arranging the words. Was it a Finnish newspaper I wonder.
So, that brings our February edition to a close. All new songs for me apart from the Barbara one but regulars to this place would probably have expected that. A lot of sad songs amongst them, but personally I’ve quite enjoyed February this year. In the Celtic calendar, Spring starts on the 1st of February (Imbolc, written about here), and the lighter nights and flowers in my garden would attest to that.
Imbolc was one of the cornerstones of the Celtic calendar, as the success of the new farming season was of great importance. Winter stores of food were getting low and rituals were performed to ensure a steady supply of food until the harvest six months later. This year, it seems that however many rituals are performed, supermarkets are still going to be low on supplies of certain fruits and vegetables. All to do with climate change and politics though. Compared with what the people of Ukraine have been through over the last year I think we can forego our raspberries and cucumbers this month without too much complaint.
Next month is definitely a Spring month (if you live in the Northern Hemisphere) and it also means we are now half way through this series. If you have any March songs you would like to see included, please add them to the comments boxes. I couldn’t do this one without you.
Until next time…
Xmas In February Lyrics
(Song by Lou Reed)
Xmas in February
Sam was lyin’ in the jungle
Agent orange spread against the sky like marmalade
Hendrix played on some foreign jukebox
They were praying to be saved
Those gooks were fierce and fearless
That’s the price you pay when you invade
Xmas in February
Sam lost his arm in some border town
His fingers are mixed with someone’s crop
If he didn’t have that opium to smoke
The pain would never ever stop
Half his friends are stuffed into black body bags
With their names printed at the top
Xmas in February
Sammy was a short order cook
In a short order black and blue collar town
Everybody worked the steel mill
But the steel mill got closed down
He thought if he joined the army
He’d have a future that was sound
Like no xmas in February
Sam’s staring at the vietnam wall
It’s been a while now that he’s home
His wife and kid have left, he’s unemployed
He’s a reminder of the war that wasn’t won
He’s the guy on the street with the sign that reads
“Please help send this vet home”
But he is home
And there’s no xmas in February
No matter how much he saves
Yet again I’m up against a deadline, sneaking the latest edition of this series into the tail end of the month, and what a month it’s been. I had fully expected this edition to be a really festive one, full of jollity and Christmas songs, but for me, December 2022 has been memorable for the sheer number of deaths there have been both in the world of celebrity and closer to home.
The latest tally ‘closer to home’ is now seven deaths since the start of the month. None of them family or really close friends, but people I knew through their offspring, through work, or from my neighbourhood. Out there in the wider world the obituaries just keep on coming. Last night we heard of the death of Vivienne Westwood (would punk have happened in quite the same way without her?), and yesterday we also lost Pele, whose playing style probably gave football the moniker, ‘the beautiful game’. On Christmas Eve we lost Maxi Jazz, lead vocalist of British electronic band Faithless. To be honest, until reading a comment about him on another blog just before his death, I wouldn’t have known his name, but there can’t be many of us who weren’t aware of him. Such a striking man whose struggle with Insomnia gave us the dance track that even those of us who missed the Ibiza boat know well. I’ve already written tributes for Christine McVie and Terry Hall this month, but we’ve also lost Jet Black of the Stranglers, and many others from the world of music and entertainment.
Insomnia by Faithless:
But this is supposed to be a post full of December songs and appropriately I’m going to kick things off with George Michael, who himself died on Christmas Day, 2016. That year had been incredibly cruel for losses but his death was the one that hit me hardest as his music had accompanied me throughout my entire adult life up until that point. I’ve shared his December Song (I Dreamed of Christmas) around here before, but no reason not to share it again.
December Song (I Dreamed of Christmas) by George Michael:
It always seems a bit odd listening to Christmas songs after the 25th so apologies for the timing of this post. Hope everyone who visits this place had a good time over the peak festive period, but I am also aware it can be a tough time for many. For the second year in a row we went out for Christmas lunch as it seemed high time that DD and the new fiancé gave it a bash. I can report back that it all went really well and I think she got a lot less stressed than I usually do when juggling so many dishes at the same time. When we got back home in the evening though it was just the two of us, so very different from the years when we had our own parents, Mr WIAA’s siblings and DD to entertain. Just the place we’ve reached on the conveyor belt of life I suppose.
DD’s Christmas table complete with fancy napkins!Before I get on with the song suggestions, here is the bit of trivia I found really interesting back in September, but now find a bit boring and repetitive. Yes, yet again the month of December is named after a Latin number, this time ten, or decem, all because the Roman calendar used to have 10 months with a gap for an ‘unorganised winter’. Phew, think we’re done with all that now, so it should get a bit more interesting once we head into a new calendar year.
The first suggestion last time came in from Rick who thought the line, ‘I wanted to assassinate Christmas’, in the Teenage Fanclub song, December**, was a really good one. First time this Scottish band has put in an appearance around here, so thanks Rick, and yes, a sentiment many of us probably agree with.
Our next pick came from Ernie Goggins who suggested Merle Haggard’s song, If We Make It Through December. Listening to the lyrics I can’t help thinking there must be many, many families out there thinking exactly the same thing this year. Sadly, the way things are going, I don’t think there will be much respite in January, or February, and the the current incumbent at No. 10 is not going to offer up any easy fixes. But thanks Ernie, a new song for me, and I do like Merle’s voice despite the sad lyrics.
Got laid off down at the factory
And their timing’s not the greatest in the world
Heaven knows I been workin’ hard
Wanted Christmas to be right for daddy’s girl
I don’t mean to hate December
It’s meant to be the happy time of year
And my little girl don’t understand
Why daddy can’t afford no Christmas here
Next up we have a suggestion from Khayem who for the second time in this series came up with something from the band The The (I think he must be a big fan). Here are his own words:
‘Unsurprisingly, lots and lots of December songs out there, so I’m just going to stick with one, although it’s been re-recorded and covered several times over. It’s DecemberSunlight (no spacing) by The The. The original version appeared on the 2000 album NakedSelf.’
Thanks Khayem, and anyone who wants to investigate some of the many covers can find them in last month’s comments boxes (link here).
Rol promised to be kind this time, with fewer suggestions to drown me with. As it turns out, a couple of the songs he mentioned, I might well have included myself anyway. First of all, I can’t write a December themed post without including this song from the Four Seasons. I always used to think it was simply called, Oh What a Night, but the official title is December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night). This time the lead vocals came from drummer Gerry Polci, with Frankie Valli just singing the bridge sections and backing vocals. Whenever I hear this song I am transported back to 1975 when our newly minted community centre was the focal point for local teenagers. Most of our year at school headed along every Saturday night for the ‘disco’, where the decks were manned by some of our enterprising classmates. Fun times played out to songs like this one, and as I’ve said around here before, I think the Four Seasons provided the backdrop to my first kiss!
December, 1963 (Oh, What A Night) by the Four Seasons:
Another of Rol’s suggestions was this one, December, by Count Basie & the Mills Brothers. The Mills Brothers, originally known as the Four Kings of Harmony, were an American jazz and traditional pop vocal quartet who made more than 2,000 recordings that sold more than 50 million copies. They were active from 1928 to 1980 and were the first African-American artists to have their own show on national network radio in the US.
December by The Mills Brothers:
I am reminded of a Christmas several years ago when our blogging buddy Jez used to ask for suggestions for his very entertaining feature, The Chain. I’m not sure how it came about but I remember offering up this Mills Brothers song back then as I had it in my library, and no suggestions were ever rejected. As it turns out Jez isn’t very well at the moment, so if he reads this, we’re all wishing you well and hope you can get back to the important business of blogging soon. No pressure though, health comes first an’ all that.
A suggestion now from C of Sun Dried Sparrows fame. Here are her own words:
‘The first song that springs to mind for me is **My
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