Roots of Rhythm
Paul Simon brought African rhythms to American popular music with his “Graceland” album, and other compositions.
By JoeAm
I’ve been around the world, here and there, now and then. Music was often my only companion.
If I step back to look at what is going on in the Philippines today, I can see it as just a few off-key bars in the otherwise vibrant and uplifting musical score that is the culturally rich Philippines.
Music is everywhere, and loud in the Philippines. Haha. It can also be found on the lips of a New York Jewish singer/composer who went to Africa in 1985 to discover a new style of music. He ended up making a brilliant kind of magic that is sure to uplift, even today.
Paul Simon is the writer and the voice. The African singers are Ladysmith Black Mambazo. The rhythms are born in Africa. They are made to be played loud.
Here at this Concert in Africa, 1987, Paul Simon joins with Miriam Makeba to celebrate the roots of rhythm, under African skies. I present this very different blog article because it is important to get outside ourselves now and then, and recognize the depth of our world, the struggles so many face, and our special part in the rich timeline of Philippine history.
I’m confident President Duterte would swear at Miriam Makeba, and the way I figure it, that defines him and elevates her. Excerpts from Wikipedia:
Born in Johannesburg to Swazi and Xhosa parents, Makeba was forced to find employment as a child after the death of her father. She had a brief and allegedly abusive first marriage at the age of 17, gave birth to her only child in 1950, and survived breast cancer. Her vocal talent had been recognized when she was a child, and she began singing professionally in the 1950s . . .
She testified against the South African government at the United Nations and became involved in the civil rights movement. She married Stokely Carmichael, a leader of the Black Panther Party, in 1968. As a result, she lost support among white Americans and faced hostility from the US government, leading her and Carmichael to move to Guinea. She continued to perform, mostly in African countries, including at several independence celebrations. She began to write and perform music more explicitly critical of apartheid; the 1977 song “Soweto Blues”, written by her former husband Hugh Masekela, was about the Soweto uprising. After apartheid was dismantled in 1990, Makeba returned to South Africa. . . . She was named a UN goodwill ambassador in 1999, and campaigned for humanitarian causes. She died of a heart attack during a 2008 concert in Italy.
Following are the lyrics to both Paul Simon songs, clipped from AZLyrics. In them you will find poverty, riches, and the rhythms of personal discovery.
May you always walk with diamonds on the soles of your shoes.
JoeAm
“Diamonds On The Soles Of Her Shoes”
(a-wa) O kodwa u zo-nge li-sa namhlange
(a-wa a-wa) Si-bona kwenze ka kanjani
(a-wa a-wa) Amanto mbazane ayeza
She’s a rich girl
She don’t try to hide it
Diamonds on the soles of her shoes
He’s a poor boy
Empty as a pocket
Empty as a pocket with nothing to lose
Sing Ta na na
Ta na na na
She got diamonds on the soles of her shoes
She got diamonds on the soles of her shoes
Diamonds on the soles of her shoes
Diamonds on the soles of her shoes
People say she’s crazy
She got diamonds on the soles of her shoes
Well that’s one way to lose these
Walking blues
Diamonds on the soles of her shoes
She was physically forgotten
Then she slipped into my pocket
With my car keys
She said you’ve taken me for granted
Because I please you
Wearing these diamonds
And I could say Oo oo oo
As if everybody knows
What I’m talking about
As if everybody would know
Exactly what I was talking about
Talking about diamonds on the soles of her shoes
She makes the sign of a teaspoon
He makes the sign of a wave
The poor boy changes clothes
And puts on after-shave
To compensate for his ordinary shoes
And she said honey take me dancing
But they ended up by sleeping
In a doorway
By the bodegas and the lights on
Upper Broadway
Wearing diamonds on the soles of their shoes
And I could say Oo oo oo
As if everybody here would know
What I was talking about
I mean everybody here would know exactly
What I was talking about
Talking about diamonds
People say I’m crazy
I got diamonds on the soles of my shoes
Well that’s one way to lose
These walking blues
Diamonds on the soles of your shoes
“Under African Skies”
Joseph’s face was black as night
The pale yellow moon shone in his eyes
His path was marked
By the stars in the Southern Hemisphere
And he walked his days
Under African skies
This is the story of how we begin to remember
This is the powerful pulsing of love in the vein
After the dream of falling and calling your name out
These are the roots of rhythm
And the roots of rhythm remain
In early memory
Mission music
Was ringing ’round my nursery door
I said take this child, Lord
From Tucson Arizona
Give her the wings to fly through harmony
And she won’t bother you no more
This is the story of how we begin to remember
This is the powerful pulsing of love in the vein
After the dream of falling and calling your name out
These are the roots of rhythm
And the roots of rhythm remain
Joseph’s face was black as night
And the pale yellow moon shone in his eyes
His path was marked
By the stars in the Southern Hemisphere
And he walked the length of his days
Under African skies
The Society of Honor by Joe America 
THANKS, Joe! Time out awhile from troubled times which call for courage and perseverance. I’ve always admired Miriam Makeba.
Yes, reflection is healthy. It is easy to get ground into angry paste, when ‘tis but a passage.
Joeam as music lover….
Can i give you another gem?
From Cuba, Buena Vista social club
Thanks, Sup. I’ll have to catch it later. Traveling now, poor connectivity. Cuba is also rich with character, for sure.
Yes, Ry Cooder was the one who discovered the soneros of old for the Western world. I was privileged to be at a live concert, close to the stage, of these now deceased stars late 90s.
Recently, I was at another concert of the most popular sonero of now.. and the final song is not only a hit, it is a bit jolting the first time. They didn’t have the “santos” or Orishas on the stage like in the video here, but friends in the audience came up and did their thing. The tradition of santeria, also known as voodoo in the West, is the old Yoruba religion carried over to Cuba. Jazz also has its ultimate origins in the New Orleans Frano-African voodoo, “When the Saints Come Marching In” is a referenced. It is a bit scary because they first ask you in the song if you are religious, then if you believe in Orishas.(also called Orixas in Brazil, where there are similar practices and Christian cover names for every “santo”)..
The warrior boy patron of Havana, the patroness of Cuba, the youngest of the Orixas always dressed in yellow, the patroness of the world, Yemaya, to whom agua, water is dedicated. Each saint with his/her own particular dance, more originally African than son or salsa..
And chants in Afro-Cuban dialect, which comes straight from the sugarcane plantations whose owners were all exiled to Miami. Unlike in the US South, Brazil and Cuba were able to preserve more of the African heritage. Cuba = Kongo languages, Brazil = Yoruba.
Still, the history of Afro-American music – and its relation to the struggle of blacks to overcome the legacy of slavery – is clearer to me. The Cuban one partly known, the Brazilian one I once read about a lot in the novels of the great author Jorge Amado. Whether it is the coolness of the black musician (kul in Swahili means good soul, but also in the sense of partying with others, at least that is what I remember) or the adjective sabroso (suave with a certain style and nonchalance) attributed to Ibrahim Ferrer whom I was able to experience at close hand back then, both come from music. Music helped blacks survive, was the best way against loss of soul. From gospel in the cotton fields to son in Havana.
..I met a girl who sang the blues, and I asked for some happy news,
but she just smiled and turned away..
That song comes up regularly on my playlist. The line you cite is rather a hammer to the poignancy.
There was another time Music Died for a few months.. that was September 11, 2001. Music for me returned with Kylie Minogues “Can’t get you out of my head” – and somehow the video captured the Zeitgeist, the spirit of the times. (people like robots, unreal world)
But it was almost like a signal to return to life. Still, to me it was clear then: the euphoric innocence of Nov. 9, 1989 (11/9/89) or the fall of the Berlin Wall was over. The present crisis is just a continuation of the End of the “End of History” which wasn’t the end after all.
A lovely “time out” from all the happenings around, nakakasawa na eh. Good morning Joeam. Good morning everyone. Let’s just enjoy the music. BTW, I love American Pie too.
Good afternoon, Arlene.
What a treat! Thank you!
On Fri, Jun 8, 2018 at 8:00 AM, The Society of Honor: the Philippines wrote:
> The Society of Honor posted: ” By JoeAm I’ve been around the world, here > and there, now and then. Music was often my only companion. If I step back > to look at what is going on in the Philippines today, I can see it as just > a few off-key bars in the otherwise vibrant and uplifting” >
Glad you enjoy it, DD.
ANG BAYAN KONG DUKHA . . . .https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryXE2s2as0g
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Thanks. I have tried to listen to all the offerings here. I didn’t anticipate that this link would lead to “Bayan Ko,” sung by Lea Salonga at Cory’s funeral.
The song is patriotic and not necessarily political. As rendered by Lea it is a dirge. And it was a protest song against Marcos. The song is essentially a cry for freedom. Beyond this, I will not comment as, for once, we are taking a break from the political.
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1. We all seek solace in music.
2. But we all vibrate to different rhythms. As we vibrate to different colors, to different ideas, and to different people.
3. The world is vibrations. The universe is vibrations.
4. At the atomic level, nothing is solid. Not the chair, not the table, and not the TV. The TV is a strange device. It is a receiver of electromagnetic (EM) waves – light and sound – that travel through space. Before the transmissions were analog (continuous waves) and now they are digital (discrete waves).
5. But the TV, like humans, are made of atoms. And at the atomic level, we are made of particles that are vibrating energy. So matter is energy. E=mc2.
6. “Everything in life is vibration.” — Einstein
7. We are like the TV in that we vibrate and that we receive vibrations. Unlike a TV though, which is a router and a converter, we emit our own vibrations.
8. Where do these vibrations come from? Well, for TVs, the transmissions are emitted by towers of broadcast transmitters. But for people, the source is a mystery.
8.1. No, that is not quite correct. Some people are mainly relayers of vibrations. Like human parrots. And others are creators of vibrations. Like human artists.
8.2. Musicians, composers, are creators of good vibrations for their audience. Politicians? Not so much.
9. And out of these vibrations we create – no, we alter — the world as it is.
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The world is definitely not in sync right now, it’s off-rhythm, not in the grove. So much dissonance.
The dominant vibration is coming from the forces of darkness, the vibrations of dark energy.
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Agree.
The pendulum seems to swing. We get periods of peace after great upheavals, although large conflicting isms continue to dominate the world stage at the same time — like Christianity vs. Islam and Democracy vs. Communism.
Part of the impression of dissonance is due to the world shrinking. Before our backyard was very small. Before we did not know what was happening in distant countries even with the development of the telegraph. Now with the 24/7 news cycle, with radio, television, and the Internet, we are hourly confronted with disturbing events in far-flung places.
We also seem to be living life at a faster pace because of planned obsolescence and developments in technology. Every year there’s a new update, a new version, a new gadget that we must have.
And, of course, the effects of relativism and postmodernism on cognition and on morality.
We are swamped with info, with too many vibrations, and it is hard to find the sound of silence in the noise.
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Yep, the world is smaller but the differences between people remain huge, as they have been raised and formed in cultures that were shaped by different circumstances/histories.
Damascus to Munich is nearer than Chicago to LA, and modern transport plus sheer desperation makes it easier for people to go to the promised lands of Germany – the adjustment between two disparate cultures can fill tomes, I am not ready to write on this.
Same as Easyjet brings loads of drunken British tourists on low budget to the cities of the Continent – Berlin, Munich, Barcelona etc. – they aren’t even really news anymore today.
Millions of Syrian refugees in Turkey, Venice so crowded they had to put turnstiles..
And: never confuse Facebook with reality. Many an African refugee started his trek because his friend sent him nice pictures of Europe via Facebook. That Facebook twisted the view of many an overseas Filipino (including me in the beginning) is known to us all by now..
Psychologists say it take six months to form a new habit or forget an old one like smoking. Marco Polo, Magellan, Captain Cook all had time to adjust, for their soul to arrive abroad. Allegedly a Native American chief who came by train to Washington once said that he was not ready to talk to the President, as his body was already there, but his soul still had to catch up. All our souls need time to catch up, lest we all become zombie or addict-like.
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So the mass migration of people with different cultures has added to the disharmony.
Yes, I can see that. It may be that, in the scheme of things, the mass migration is happening to sort out the inequality and disharmony and for people to assimilate with each other. For people to recognize their face in another.
I like your last example where even in just one country, a native Indian going to Washington needs his soul to catch up. We are trying to catch up with our souls. And music gives us that space to catch up.
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I think the cultural phenomenon of Balkan Beats was Europe only, but it is a fine example about how cultural clash and mixture can create new forms.. the Turkish-influenced music of the highly tribal Balkans mixing with electronic music.. the tune below I once heard..
Or the looney medley of Beethoven’s Fifth, Backstreet’s Back Alright and Thriller played by a crazy Eastern European band in Munich on a hot Saturday night.
This song is about the beginning of a journey for global star Katie Melua..
It is about how she and her brother as kids played on leftover planes on an abandoned Soviet airfield in Georgia in the early 1990s – and dreamed of the cities in the movies..
The family moved to Northern Ireland – of all places – later on – then she started her UK and international music career. Some musicians – George Michael is one – are marketed as a certain type in the beginning and find their own artistic identity later. Somehow she is with her most recent album “In Winter”. The first song of that album (which includes the Plane Song) is a bit of a homecoming as she sings “The Little Swallow” in Ukrainian with the powerful voices of the Gori Women’s Choir (Gori is Stalin’s hometown) – a migrant returning.
The best music to me (mind I’m a rocker in song and life) is still the silence of the early morning, the edge of night and day when creation awakes from temporary death. That’s when I take my beads and pray the Holy Rosary like when I was a child, in the soft light and hard darkness, hearkening to God’s voice within me, the Hail Mary’s and Glory Be’s rising in crescendo, recharging my trust in my Creator, shoring up my faith, hope and love in the silence of celestial sound which I can share but not everyone can actually listen to because it’s between the Holy Trinity, Mother Mary and me. Yes, music heard or unheard defines us, tuning our vibrations, molding and harmonizing us, making us one and the same like the rise and fall of musical notes. Thanks, everyone. Life is good, without conditions.
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Beautiful.
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Edgar, we are all tuned in to 7.85 mhz Schumann’s Resonances
7.83
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Ah, so that’s Earth’s Ohm.
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“A=432 Hz, known as Verdi’s ‘A’ is an alternative tuning that is mathematically consistent with the universe. Music based on 432Hz transmits beneficial healing energy, because it is a pure tone of math fundamental to nature.”
The universal music of sacred geometry
“According to Brian T. Collins, a musician and researcher, the standard pitch (A=440 Hz) does not harmonize on any level that corresponds to cosmic movement, rhythm, or natural vibration. The greatest musicians, such as Mozart and Verdi, based their music on the natural vibration of A=432. It’s true that it is only 8 vibrations per second different from the standard tuning, but this small difference seems to be remarkable to our human consciousness.”
https://attunedvibrations.com/432hz/
Check out this vibe, Edgar and see what has become of the bucolic Philippines you left.
The one I left already was a bit bukolic but still somewhat pleasant.. what happened?
That is the “Visayan subculture” of Duterte, not representative of Visayans but..
if the peg or role model is more Revillame than Yoyoy Villame you get that – would be great if the slums were to produce powerful music like Soweto in the 80s/90s, seems they don’t..
Re chemrock’s Schumann, some Munich underground stations play classical music as it (according to what I heard) drives people who are high on drugs nuts, keeps them away. Just like certain types of music drive sane and balanced people away.
Of course, music can give style to stuff that might otherwise be obscene..
Which is why I prefer the deceased Prince of Fentanyl to the sick Fentanyl King any day.
https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-44401051
New Prince album announced on 60th birthday
A posthumous album from the US musician Prince has been announced on what would have been his 60th birthday.
The nine-track album will contain previously unreleased recordings, including early versions of his hit Purple Rain, his estate said.
Prince sold more than 100 million records during his career, with his music spanning rock, funk and jazz.
The acclaimed and influential musician was 57 when he died at his Minnesota home in April 2016.
He died from an accidental overdose of painkillers and his body was discovered in a lift.
Prince: No-one in the universe will ever compare
Five strange stories about mysterious Prince
Prince: 12 things we’ve learned since his death
The new album, called Prince & A Microphone 1983 will contain a 1983 home studio recording made on a cassette tape of Prince playing on his piano.
“This raw, intimate recording – which took place at the start of Prince’s career right before he achieved international stardom – is similar in format to the Piano & A Microphone Tour that he ended his career with in 2016,” Troy Carter, entertainment adviser for the Prince Estate, said.
Prince released his first album in 1978 and became a global superstar in the 1980s, with albums such as 1999, Purple Rain and Sign ‘O’ The Times.
Early versions of some of his most popular songs are on the new album.
It will be released in collaboration with Warner Brothers Records and is available to pre-order now.
Arriving Minneapolis for the first time: it was John Denver rising;
Leaving Minneapolis for the last time: it was Prince rising.
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I suffered through that. It was kind of amusing but made me think of crazed zombies.
I am acquainted with Yoyoy Villame but not with Revillame.
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A bit crazy.. I wouldn’t be able to tell them from drug addicts. One reason to be anti-EJK.
Willy Revillame is the host of Wowowee, who made a crying child dance lasciviously. Usually Wowowee made fun of the poor and women. Duterte is a kind of Revillame..
Some of the gyrations of the young women at the end of the video remind me of a much older Internet comment, during the heyday of Viva Hotbabes around 15+ years ago, where a mother mentioned seeing girls (children!) dancing lewdly to “Bumubuka ang Bulaklak”.
Of course Viva Hotbabes and their songs like “Bumubuka ang Bulaklak” and “Batuta ng Pulis” (na ang laki-laki at ang haba-haba at ang kinis-kinis.. I think napakatigas as well) were for the Noughties what “Haring Solomon” was for the 1980s, but..
creeping loss of the old, strict values of the 1950s, hypocritical as they may have sometimes been with the real hide and seek of those times – and no new values to replace them at all? could be a reason for the ANOMIE in today’s Philippines, a kind of moral ANEMIA..
Contrast that with this beautiful song by Ryan Cayabyab..
It is about attraction but the feel is completely different.
a more recent interpretation by MYMP who do excellent stuff..
and another MYMP interpretation – of Nakapagtataka from Apo Hiking Society
also MYMP..
There is no Visayan subculture. Nor a Luzonian or Mindanaoan one.
That is why I put quotation marks (“). It is an excuse of Duterte – for behaving badly.
At least Yoyoy Villame’s Barok was a self-ironic portrayal of what some Tagalogs then and maybe less now thought/think of Visayans, while Duterte has no real sense of humor.
There is the story that Yoyoy Villame became a comedian because when he joined singing contests in Manila, he never won, but people started laughing because of his accent. Ok, that is better than the Bicolano newbie who got beaten up for calling fish in Manila “sirâ”.
And don’t forget the same Bicolano who called a drunk burat.
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Arguably, there are Filipino geographical subcultures. There are the Igorot and Muslim subcultures. But island-wise — i.e., the island habitus (© Irineo) — I would say the Mindanao subculture is hard (as represented by Duterte, Alvarez, Calida, and the Muslim rebel groups); the Visayan is soft (as represented by presidents Osmeña and Roxas, and singer Yoyoy Villame; and the Luzon… is aspirational (as represented by presidents Quezon and Marcos, the leaders of the Philippine Revolution, and the People Power movements).
Aspirational can be good (Quezon) or bad (Marcos). Ilocanos are known to be pioneering migrants.
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Nice distinction. Seems to fit from what I can observe.
That’s a great one.
Please check this out, a comedy act.
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Ahaha! Poor King Kong!
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This I listen to when I want everything to be ok in the world.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CTE08SS8fNk (36:30 mins)
Among classics, I like Dvorak’s 9th.. this (slow, for better appreciation) version with Celibidache conducting the Munich symphony orchestra is magnificent. A lot of movie music was influenced by the “New World Symphony” which was written after Dvorak visited the USA – there are influences of both Native American tunes and even more African-American spirituals in it..Something to be savored on a long evening.. there are parts where one is tempted to imagine oneself as the Marlboro cowboy, watching the sunset with your horse..
Will try this one for size, PiE.
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Second movement — majestic.
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This is the song I sang at my wedding
Bretton Wood – Gimme a little sign.
🙂 an old-time favorite of mine, chempo.
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Love it!
How can any woman resist this impassioned plea?!
Yeah, gimme!
(P.S. The audio/video qualities in YouTube varies. In some, both qualities are muddy. In others, just one is muddy. With my hearing impairment, I go for sonic quality. Thus, I search for the best sonic quality. This is usually indicated by the number of views, but not always. When both qualities are present (HD quality), the hem of heaven is within reach.)
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Listening to this composition brings me first to the Himalayan mountain range, Everest, K2 and the rest of the peaks at the roof of the world. Then the crescendoes launch one to other parts of the galaxy to a myriad of stellar spectacles yet unseen in breath-taking successions.
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Concertos are some of my “go to” pieces, mainly violin and piano.
Speaking of Dvorak, my “go to” piece in vocal music at the moment is Frederica Von Stade’s rendition of “Rusalka.”
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Ah, classical music … not natural to me; I backed into the classical world via the pop back door: Jerry Vale pop ballads to Borodin and Saint-Saens, Eddy Duchin bio-pic to Chopin, Frank Sinatra standards to Rachmaninoff and Tchaikovsky, and closer to home, my son & sis-in-law, both pianists. Am loving the ride thoroughly. 🙂
I always request my son to play this piano piece by Chopin when he visits:
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Aha! Opus 27 No. 2! Another coincidence!
There are 3 animated versions of this nocturne my Smalin. One is 2D (604K views) and the other two are 3D (5.7M and 80K views).
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For the “fingering technique” see and listen to Valentina Lisitsa (1.05 views). Read also her comment.
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I will. TY, edgar.
If this piece hits another chord, we better look for another word for coincidence. 🙂
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Sorry, Sonny.
Am not familiar with this work. Only with the Hungarian Rhapsodies and the Liebestraum.
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Definite yes to H.R. 2 (Lisitsa) and Liebestraum. Quite on familiar territory.
Rythms of Mindanao – The Tboli of Lake Sebu.. from 6:47 and 11:38 onwards..
News flash: Anthony Bourdain, RIP.
Yes, a break on our talk on rhymes and music, a talk of food and its great storyteller: Anthony Bourdain, dead at 61.
Here is a CNN article written in appreciation and memory of Bourdain:
https://edition.cnn.com/2018/06/08/us/anthony-bourdain-obit/index.html
(My wife and I are fans who followed Bourdain’s food and stories odyssey.)
The wife and I, also. Bourdain had a warm spot for Filipinos, I felt.
Interesting that music and food relates to the five traditional senses: sight, hearing, taste, smell and touch.
Now if we can only parlay Filipino’s love for music and food into something that unites us in the traditional feel-good core values — to a better future. “Make music and food, not war.”
Sorry, for the rat-tat-tat on this thread. Bourdain died at an age about 20 years my junior. How is it that men/ women of great talents die at a relatively young age? Now, although that is good news (?) for me, not so good news for the country populated by the likes of our politicians. Please do not ask me to name at least one in the PH Senate.
Duterte’s drugs, Bourdain’s foods, TSOH’s music, Will’s dogs, running and loving, Mary Grace’s prayers, Cha’s writing, JoeAm’s prose, Edgar’s depth, Ireneo’s takes, NH’s fatherhood, all have something in common. What is it? Endorphins. Feel good enzymes. Although drugs is addiction of the prohibited kind, Fentanyl being world’s number one.
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But are endorphins the cause or the result?
Do we feel good because (a) we were moved or (b) because we moved?
Music is (a). The rest are (b)?
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Thanks for the most welcome change in atmosphere.
Sharing a song I wrote.
Yes. Cool, really cool …
Listening w/o translating: the melancholic melody line + vowel-rich Malay words + voice quality transport + Visayan regional inflection = sadness. Beautiful.
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Thanks. I don’t understand Cebuano but from the words and the graphics, I understand it is a song of a lost love. Of a love betrayed, in fact. The last 7 lines go:
“Pasayloon’s tanan
Palanggaon sa kasubo
Hangtud sa katapusan
Higugmaon’s mahilayo
Hangtud sa kahangturan
Sa ulahing ginhawa ko
Hangtud sa kahangturan”
Google translates this as:
“All forgiveness
Sadness of sadness
Until the end
Love’s going away
Until the end”
Last time I was comforted
Until the end”
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A plausible variation of the translation:
Please forgive all [hurts]
You are endeared even in sadness
Until the end
I love you though you’re far away
Forever
… From my last breath
Forever
I grew up on this old love song:
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Crikey! I haven’t heard this song in ages!
I’m trying to remember whether it is the English version or the Tagalog version that we used to sing. It must be English though. I remember these two specific clauses: “From break of dawn til end of day” and “In the still of the night my poor heart keeps saying…”
There are Tagalog and Ilongo versions of “Walay Angay.” Somehow, I like the latter. But the Tagalog version floored me with this caveat at the beginning: “especially for filipino seniors only.” What cheek!
Ah, brings back memories!
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Memories indeed, edgar! My Song of Love by Cora Delfino filled the Manila airwaves then. I had to discover Walay Angay much later on. With no love-object to attach this to, one just had to fall in love with love, like so with this other pop-classic of the time:
Sonny: Jo Stafford’s “No Other Love” strikes a nice chord in me, too.
Ah yes, NH. Such pleasure to remember those halcyon days of yore. 🙂 (Ms. Stafford has passed on 2008.)
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NHerrera, thanks. I see what you did there.
You have personalized the lyrics by adding pronouns — you, I, and my.
Therefore, your variation is not only more plausible but also more pronoun-ced.
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My pronoun cement, however, ruins the poetic or lyrical rendition — aside from word economy typical of poetry. Yours is poetry, my rendition is prose. Emotions are stirred more by poetry than its prose equivalent. It is said Russians among others are great lovers of poetry.
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No, no, yours is poetry… because you add the beloved.
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The classic by Miriam Makeba (that makes you feel like jumping) should be here also:
Yes, also.Images of the graceful Masai playing and swaying and fighting. (from ’50s movie KING SOLOMON’S MINES). I like.
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I encountered Miriam Makeba through the song “Jikele Maweni” which was covered by Esther Satterfield.
I discovered Esther through an impulse buy of her vinyl records, “Once I Loved (1974)” and “The Need to Be (1976)” at Shoe Mart (SM) in Makati. “Jikele Maweni” is in the first album.
Several tracks on these albums are magic.
o Love Is Stronger Far Than We
o Summertime
o The Summer Knows
o For Once In My Life
Not in these albums are”Soft” and “Land Of Make Believe” with Chuck Mangione.
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This is like connecting one dot to another one that’s light years away. But the reality is there about human beings of a certain uncommon kind. The beat and rhythm is good background inspiring bouncy noise for exercise so needed by young once.
More pa? Peksman, huli na po ito.
Music has also started revolutions. Just past midnight on April 25, 1974, the rousing song “Grandola, Vila Morena” was played twice on Portuguese radio.
The Carnation Revolution started. Parts of the army defected and were joined by the people even before dawn.
one of the tensest moments of that day is shown in this scene of the movie Capitaes de Abril (April Captains)..
Another song, Zombie by the Cranberries, practically ended the conflict in Northern Ireland – somehow miraculously making both sides aware of its senselessness..