Eek, I missed a week. Or two. Life's a rollercoaster and all that.
This one's worth it alone for the new Let's Eat Grandma tune.
Music
TenTuneTuesday2
Back once again with the Ten Tune Tuesday.
I'm cheating a little today because it's not new music but it is great music. Today's all about Arthur. Arthur Russell. The greatest Arthur ever? I think so. Visionary, collaborator and maker of beautiful music.
Love you, Arthur.
Tentunetuesday
I made a playlist. I'm going to try and keep making playlists. Every Tuesday. Ten tunes in each one.
I stopped listening to music a while ago. I didn't stop exactly, I was just listening to the same tunes over and over again. (Love you, Carly Rae.) I didn't seek out new music which is weird for me because I'm usually pretty rabid when it comes to new stuff: new books, new films, new tv shows, new, new, new... Then I realised, 'Shit me, I'm turning into a person that doesn't even try.'
But I'm going try. There are tonnes of studies showing how listening to music (especially new music) is good for your brain. Brains love new stuff. They love reading new books, eating new dinners, seeing things they've never seen before... Brains are the worst for FOMO.
So, to sate my brain (and yours) here's the first one. Think of it as sweet aural medicine. Until next week...
Stop Making Sense
I'll fight anyone that says there's a better concert film than Jonathan Demme's Stop Making Sense.
Yesterday I rewatched it and was reminded that I'll never see anything like it again. Or any better concert film. I don't think it's possible, certainly not now, to make something that makes you feel so perfectly connected to the performance. Something that's so human and frantic and joyous and I will fight you if you tell me you think there's anything better. I will.
Also, do you think Kanye was influenced by the whole Stop Making Sense clothing aesthetic for early Yeezy collections? Early Yeezy is like The Hunger Games meets Stop Making Sense minus 'the big suit'.
Storytellers: New Music // Old Footage ♡
David Dean Burkhart's fan-made videos mix new music with old footage to create mesmerising new narratives.
If you've got some time to spare you should lose yourself in his playlist.
WHAT ARE WORDS WORTH?
What are words worth?
What are words worth? Words.
Words in papers, words in books.
Words on TV, words for crooks.
Words of comfort, words of peace.
Words to make the fighting cease.
Words to tell you what to do.
Words are working hard for you.
Eat your words but don't go hungry.
Words have always nearly hung me.
What are words worth?
What are words worth? Words.
Words of nuance, words of skill.
And words of romance are a thrill.
Words are stupid, words are fun.
Words can put you on the run.
mots pressés, mots sensés,
mots qui disent la vérité, mots maudits, mots mentis,
mots qui manquent le fruit d'esprit
What are words worth?
What are words worth? Words.
It's a rap race, with a fast pace.
Concrete words, abstract words.
Crazy words and lying words.
Hazy words and dying words.
Words of faith and tell me straight.
Rare words and swear words.
Good words and bad words.
What are words worth?
What are words worth? Words.
Words can make you pay and pay.
Four-letter words I cannot say.
Panty, toilet, dirty devil.
Words are trouble, words are subtle.
Words of anger, words of hate.
Words over here, words out there,
In the air and everywhere.
Words of wisdom, words of strife
Words that write the book I like.
Words won't find no right solution,
To the planet earth's pollution.
Say the right word, make a million.
Words are like a certain person
Who can't say what they mean
Don't mean what they say.
With a rap rap here and a rap rap there.
Here a rap, there a rap.
Everywhere a rap rap.
Rap it up for the common good.
Let us enlist the neighbourhood.
It's okay, I've overstood,
This is a wordy rappinghood, okay, bye.
What are words worth?
What are words worth? Words.
What are words worth?
What are words worth? Words.
He'll stop... Don't stop... Stop.
Mondegreens
Say what?
“‘Mondegreen’ means a misheard word or phrase that makes sense in your head, but is, in fact, entirely incorrect. The term mondegreen is itself a mondegreen. In November, 1954, Sylvia Wright, an American writer, published a piece in Harper’s where she admitted to a gross childhood mishearing. When she was young, her mother would read to her from the Reliques of Ancient English Poetry, a 1765 book of popular poems and ballads. Her favorite verse began with the lines, ‘Ye Highlands and ye Lowlands / Oh, where hae ye been? / They hae slain the Earl Amurray, / And Lady Mondegreen.’ Except they hadn’t. They left the poor Earl and ‘laid him on the green.’ ”
Misheard words bring such joy but it's misheard lyrics that really gets the LOLZ lolling. These are some of my favourites:
"Blinded by the Light", Manfred Mann
What it actually is: “Revved up like a Deuce, another runner in the night.”
What it sounds like: “Wrapped up like a douche, another rumour in the night.”
"Drunk in Love", Beyoncé
What it actually is: “I’ve been drinking, I’ve been drinking…”
What it sounds like: “I’m a dragon, I’m a dragon…”
"Walk of Life", Dire Straits
What it actually is: "Do the song about the sweet loving woman."
What it sounds like:"Do the song about the senile old woman. "
"Ms Jackson", Outkast
What it actually is: "I'm sorry Ms. Jackson, I am for real. Never meant to make your daughter cry."
What it sounds like: "I'm sorry Ms. Jackson, I’m not your meal. Never meant to make your money die."
"We Built This City", Starship
What it actually is: “We built this city on rock and roll.”
What it sounds like: “We built this city on logs and coal.”
"Dancing Queen", Abba
What it actually is: “See that girl, watch that scene, diggin' the dancing queen.”
What it sounds like: “See that girl, watch her scream, kicking the dancing queen.”
And this one from my mum:
"Watching You", The Police
What it actually is: "How my poor heart aches..."
What she thinks it sounds like: "I'm a pool hall ace..."
Storytellers: Ghostface Killah
Great storytellers are everywhere and they can be anyone.
Ghostface Killah, AKA Dennis Coles, is a 44-year-old rapper and a truly great storyteller. His flow is powerful and his stories are epic and all-consuming. NPR nailed it when they called him "painterly".
He conjures worlds with his words and I can't wait to get lost in his new album 36 Seasons.