Month's Heading: May, the Celts are on fire while a god is born

May is the month in which life is in full blossom, the paralysis of winter is only a vague memory and the fires of summer start to insinuate themselves. Still, the abundant rains feed life’s vibrant flames of green, that constantly rise with their multi-coloured flowery sparkles (yes, I write these things on purpose xD). No, seriously, May is the last month to be well within spring, and it’s one of the most enjoyable parts of the year. The weather is simply wonderful, everything’s green, the air is humid and you just have to feel young! I wish it could be spring half of the year, and then it’d be autumn and everything would be just perfect! (God, I really think I should moderate my alcohol intake – I’m rambling incoherently… Oh wait, it’s not like that’s something strange for me, is it? ;-) ).



In theory, the word may comes from the Greek goddess Maia, a very minor divinity who was deliberately pushed to the background in Hesiod’s registry of the artificial unifying religion, the Theogony. She was one of the seven Pleiades, daughters of the gigantic Titan Atlas and the matronly divinity Pleione – some of the most prominent member’s of Artemis’s terrifying court of evasive nymphs and vengeful virgin hunters. Maia, who was the most beautiful, intelligent and virtuous of the seven sisters, was raped by Zeus in mount Cyllene, which oversees the city of Thesaly. She soon gave birth to a baby while hiding in a grotto, and when to sleep. As soon as she closed her eyes, the baby became a grown man and went on a stealing rampage, but he soon got bored, so he invented the lyre! Thus Hermes, the god of diplomacy, business, politics and thieves (I know what you’re all thinking and no, it’s not irony: it’s only the truth) came to be.



The Romans shaped her into Ops, Maia Maiestas, an earth/spring goddess in whose honour a festival was celebrated on the 1st of May. However, not everyone celebrated fertility in the same way. For the Celts, Bealtaine was a festivity of utmost importance, marking the beginning of the last quarter of the year and the pastoral summer. Since the Celtic calendar was a mixture of solar and lunar references, it’s possible that the date was so important because it marks the exact mid-point between the vernal equinox and the summer solstice: a time when the stars announced that the doors of the Otherworld had opened, and change could take place! The significance of these events has been endlessly celebrated in fairy tales, culminating in Rimskij-Korsakov’s
opus Night On Bald Mountain, the negative and mysterious nature of which attests to the pagan origins of the ritual.



Since I want to do something a bit different this time, I’m going to leave you with the first two movements of Carl Orff’s spectacular music monument to Medieval poetry, Carmina Burana/Songs Of Beuern. It’s impossible not to be marvelled by this music, which is both astonishing and terrifying in its sheer strength and explosive beauty – it also presents the beginning of a special month that will mostly be devoted to artists who have made some sort of work with folk music. Welcome to May! Enjoy the time! :-)

O Fortuna!/Oh, Fortune!

Fortunae Plango Vulnera/I Grieve Because Of The Blows Of Fortune

Special Songs Pt 3

This month’s special songs are two versions of one of the algid points in songwriter Michel Berger’s and legendary Quebecois lyricist Luc Plamondon’s 1976 spectacular opera rock Starmania. Even though the project was meant to be a stage show, strangely enough it was released as a recording in 1978, almost a year and a half before débuting in Paris’ Palais Des Congrès to enormous acclaim. In fact, the show became so popular that many of its songs have become classics, and made of exceptionally talented singer Daniel Balavoine a superstar. It also contributed to give new impulse to whiny-voiced sixties’ starlet France Gall’s career, who also happens to be Michel Berger’s muse :-S.



The plot of the story is nothing short of amazing, blending an innate sense of teenage rebelliousness with a detailed analysis of social phenomena such as totalitarianism, terrorism as a social response to economical, sexual and political discrimination, as well as the evils of industrialization. It also has plenty of intrigue, with unrequited love being the catalyst for the musical’s many tragedies! Needless to say, it’s awesome! :-)



But well, we were talking about songs! In 1992, an English version of the show was produced in collaboration with Tim Rice, and was released in the album Tycoon. The original cast of this English version couldn’t be better! La Grande Dion, the awesome Cyndi Lauper and the unique Nina Hagen all together in one recording! Sadly, the project never really took off and it has only been sporadically staged in Paris as a curiosity for those who have already seen the show a million times - which is downright criminal, because not only are the songs superb, but Tim Rice’s lyrics are unbelievably accomplished and adhere perfectly to traditional canons of poetry while still being accessible to all publics. I would go so far as to say that they are far superior to Plamondon’s, but then again that’s not difficult.



The song in question, Le Monde Est Stone/The World Is Stone, is considered by many of the Plamondon’s greatest lyrical accomplishments, combining his trademark robust simplicity with what is, surprisingly, an absolute sense of hopelessness that’s as universal as it is personal; simply put, the song manages to draw the listener in with the representation of a person’s despaired wandering through a hostile world that systematically preys on those who are vulnerable, and unites everyone in experiencing the feeling of perpetual and anguishing defenselessness that they convey. Tim Rice’s version, however, is much more complex, building successive layers of personal experience, vibrant agony, resentment and a mild form of social criticism (or maybe an accurate picture of the human condition) with impressive fluidity, turning the song into a true anthem.



In 1991, Céline Dion released her version of the song in the moderate hit album Dion Chante Plamondon, which was mainly composed of songs from Starmania. Cyndi’s version would not appear until a whole year later, as part of the failed project Tycoon. Personally, I have to say that I enjoy the English version much more (strangely enough - I never thought I'd be able to say this!), mainly because of the lyrics, but also because of the far better production and more passionate delivery. So finally, here you have both versions! I hope you enjoy them :-). but before we finish, remember to go to buy either the single or albums at Amazon.

Céline Dion – Le Monde Est Stone

Cyndi Lauper – The World Is Stone

Month's Heading: March, the Stormy Time of the Britons

The unstable month of March, time of violent storms, melting snows and incipient, fragile blossoms (this looks SO much like one of those essays one had to write for English class at Secondary school - I'm awful, I know! :-D) is a time of transition that seems to forcibly push the silent slumber of Winter to the furious explosion of life that takes place during the Spring. Its crazy weather is the reason behind the saying that claims that March 'comes like a lion and goes like a lamb', and is probably the reason why the Britons called it hyld-monath, the Loud Month!. And it's true! After the Spring equinox, the storms are more infrequent (theoretically, ahem :-S) and things mellow out.



Originally the first month of the year, March was named after Mars, who originally had nothing to do at all with war and destruction, but was an Etruscan deity of life, fertility and vegetation. From there, he went on to become a protector of fields and crops. Thanks to that, he became associated with Ares, the Greek god of brutal war (with a lot of imagination, I guess). However, Mars, unlike Ares in Greece, had a very prominent role in the pantheon, since he was seen as the 'divine' defense against military enemies and the supplier of grains and vegetables, the staples of Roman diet. Food and war - isn't that the most perfect combination you've ever heard of? ;-P However, this god's importance is attested by the fact that six festivals were held in his honour throughout the year - four of them taking place in yep, you guessed it, March!



As said above, March was the first month of the year even after Numa Pompilius added January and February to the calendar - in fact, it kept its prominent role for 250 years, until the time of the decemvirs, when the State decided to stick completely to the Solar calendar (451 BC). Still, many parts of the world weren't so willing to change things, and some countries stubbornly refused to adopt this arrangement. In Russia, the new year began in March 1st up to the 15th century, and England and its colonies kept things in the same way up to 1752! Wow, talk about being pig-headed! (I'm only joking ;-)).



Well, here's when I stop boring you! I am presenting you with one of my favourite songs, sung by my favourite singer ever, legendary Italian diva Mina Mazzini!!!! I Giardini Di Marzo is an exceptionally beautiful ballad that talks about a young man's feeling of estrangement and desolation during the first days of Spring, when he realizes that he's immersed in a disfunctional relationship and doesn't enjoy his life at all... A bit depressing, but then again, its songwriters Lucio Battisti and Mogol (the greatest songwriting team in Italy in the 20th century) had a penchant for creating sad songs. It was a MASSIVE hit in Italy during the Spring of 1974, and has become one of those 'indispensable' timeless classics that every singer worth their salt has to cover at one time or another.

I Giardini Di Marzo/The Gardens of March

Enjoy the arrival of Spring!!!!! :-D

Special Songs Pt 2

Well, just three days before the end of February we come to the last post of the month! I hope you all have had fun here during these few days, reading the little musings that I drop here and there (as if - I know I'm a disaster, you don't need to say it!). Anyway, to accompany the ever shorter and gradually less obscure and mysterious nights of late February, and give you hope in the future, I have uploaded two songs I simply love: Black's understated masterpiece Wonderful Life and the 2000 hit Shackles (Praise You), from the awesome Gospel duo Mary Mary!



Both songs are meant to be desperate cries for help that express the need of a better life and the willingness to do whatever necessary to achieve it. Only, the ways in which each song does it are very different. Black's cold, alluring atmosphere is built upon the constant repetition of the same chord and light, airy layers of synthesizer effects that manage to express exactly the opposite: a secret warmth that lies hidden to a hostile world, but requires close human contact and emotional reciprocity to keep existing. It was written in 1985 by a then saddened and impoverished unknown songwriter called Colin Vearncombe, who had recently been dropped by his record company due to the dismal reception of his work, and believed that he had no professional prospects. Ironically, what was some sort of ‘cathartic’ musical exercise to express his hopelessness, got him signed to A&M Records just two months later, and would provide him (who was the only real member of Black – the rest were session musicians who were hired when need for their services arose) three platinum-selling albums between 1987 and 1991, as well as turning his reposed, seemingly distant delivery into a classic that exemplifies the true depths that emotional restraint can hide.



Fortunately, Vearncombe has kept recording and touring as front man of Black and a soloist, and has quite a faithful public in the UK and the Netherlands.



Mary Mary (named in honour of the Virgin and Magdalene), is composed of singing and songwriting sisters Erica and Trecina Campbell/Atkins, and was a work in progress that provided an endless source of material to the likes of Shirley Caesar and Yolanda Adams. In 1998, they finally decided to take a chance and record their own songs, and with the intercession of the Holy Ghost (;-P) they finally released their debut in 2000. It was a huge hit for a Gospel album, and managed to sell 3 million copies worldwide. The group has followed with two other very successful albums, but the song I’m posting today is the one that has immortalized them as icons of contemporary religious music. In reality a sorrowful prayer set to a cheerful funk beat and a wonderful melody, this song is highlighted by the Campbell sisters’ spectacular voices and very delicate vocoder distortions, which manage to make the essence of the song even more poignant in its sugar-coated ornamentation. Like a flame imprisoned in a glass, what the lyrics represent seems to be magnified by the frivolous beauty of its exterior, and I think that this is what makes the song so special (at least in my eyes! ;-) ).



Without further ado, I present you both songs. I hope you like them! :-). But before you listen to any of both songs, please go to buy Black's or Mar Mary's albums to Amazon or HMV.

Wonderful Life

Praise You (Shackles)

Month's Heading: February, Roman Time of Purification

The first day of every month I will make an introductory ‘article’ (please, forgive my pretentiousness) about that particular time of the year, which will basically be a collection of facts that I find peculiar written in my rather chaotic style ;-). Obviously, that introduction will have some songs to illustrate the feelings that such month evokes in me, and hopefully will in you. Needless to say, not all these songs will be pop music and many of them won’t be danceable, but then again, not all the musicians I will post about will sing pop in the strictest sense of the word. Or some in any sense, let’s be honest. :-)

Something peculiar about the month of February is that it is the most recent addition to the Roman calendar, and thus to ours. Originally, the Romans considered the cold winter season as month-less, and only Numa Pompilius’ exasperation with the inadequate lunar calendar, which kept moving back and forth through the seasons, gave January and February their rightful place in the beginning of the solar year.



February received its name from the Roman ritual of februum (Purification), which was celebrated in the 15 th day of the month. Given the, let’s say 'peculiar nature' of Roman religion, I don’t want to imagine in what did that ‘purification’ consist, but I guess that it was an important ritual, gory displays of brutality and all, and thanks to it February became the 28 day month that we know and love… When it’s not snowing and we can see the sun for more than half an hour every day. Oh, English weather…



Still, things weren’t that well and the months seemed to have a love for wandering across the seasons, the tramps, and several measures had to be implemented: a Mensis Intercalaris originally covered the days missing to keep things in their place, and during the Middle Ages February was given two more days by celebrated English mathematician, astronomer and literate Johannes de Sacro Bosco (whose name translates to the rather tacky John of Hollywood), who taught everything imaginable at the University of Paris – just imagine having him as your supervisor… ugh!



Well, anyway, the Gregorian Reform changed all these patchy adjustments so that we could have Easter right at the vernal equinox, and not anywhere else in the year. Apparently, when the reform was implemented, which forced all official calendars to be advanced ten days, angry mobs revolted against this measure because it took 10 days away from their lives, which is a bit strange, given the fact that most of these people were peasants and life for them was perpetual torture…

But enough of my droning! Here you have two songs: Loreena McKennitt’s folk marvels Snow and Seeds Of Love, from the gorgeous EP ‘A Winter Garden’ (I know it's a Christmas album, but what the heck, it's wintery music ;-P). If you like what you hear, buy any of her wondrous records here.

Special Songs Pt 1

Every month I am going to post three songs for which I have a particular liking. Obviously, being the annoying drone that I am, a *little* (ha!) introductory paragraph will accompany each song - so you pop music quiz fanatics have a little time to enjoy yourselves reading my silly musings over facts that absolutely everyone knows! :-D Now isn't that something?! I thought so, too ;-)

However, in this case, and just because it's the first time, I am going to post only one track... That lasts as long as three songs put together! :-) The song in question is (cheesy drum-rolling)... The classic No More Tears (Enough Is Enough) by the incomparable Barbra Streisand and God... I mean, THE Donna Summer!!!!!! AAARRRGGHHHH!!!!! Before you faint of sheer extasis, let me prevent you about something - the file is a bit large. But 11:42 minutes of sublime disco fabulousness are well worth it. Of course! :-D



The single was released during what was arguably the commercial peak of Summer and the beginning of the short-lived creative one for Streisand.



Donna's albums always were rollercoasters of epic proportions that included as many glorious heights as they contained disastrous descents into laughable kitsch (there is such a thing, and you know it is SAD), but the outstanding quality of her thunderous mezzo and the conviction with which she delivered disco anthems, bizarre ballads and what were to become the beginnings of electronic music allowed her to elevate every moment to the rank of Musical History - yes, with capital letters. Soon after the release of her greatest hits, which contained the overdubbed 12" version of this song - the one I'm posting! - Donna's career started its slow and often not very glorious downwards journey into vaudeville status and general kitschy awkwardness.

Negatively affected by allegations of Christian-motivated homophobia (which she has always denied) and less than sterling material, her career stalled soon enough, being briefly revived by a few incursions into rock in the mid-eighties, and her spectacular collaboration with disposable pop wizards Stock, Aitken and Waterman in 1989, Another Place And Time. Still, she has acquired and kept her legendary status over the last twenty years just by deploying her exceptional talent in endless concerts around the world.



La Streisand is one of the most versatile and unique voices in the story of pop; a perfect musical instrument the sheer beauty and power of which are yet to be matched. While her occasional dealings with rock music during the late 60's/early 70's were apparently horrendous (I have never been enough of a fan to try and find out for myself), she managed to maintain relevance by venturing into folk rock with her fantastic album Stoney End, and more or less adapting changing fashions in popular music to her highly refined, yet often affected and soulless, style of ballad-singing - as well as promoting the soundtracks of her often misguided, contrived and soporific films.

Disco music, however, seemed to bring out the best in Streisand, and her offerings from 1976 to the glorious pinnacle of her career, her Bee Gees collaboration Guilty in 1981 (which she has never been able to surpass) are some of the best music of the Disco Era. Or popular music for that matter. Even though she managed to remain relevant until the mid-eighties, the truth is that Barbra's albums have become increasingly lacking in quality as time went by, with a concomitant decline in sales. Still, her legendary status is undeniable, and unlike Summer, she is publically adored everywhere.



Well, I hope that I didn't bore you too much, and here's the song No More Tears (Enough Is Enough).

Oh, before I forget - you can buy Donna's On the Radio - Greatest Hits and Barbra Streisand's Wet at Amazon.

Oh, and here's the superb live performance that Donna and the awesome Tina Arena gave in New York in 1999!

Or else, and I'm only including it for its comical value, watch this video of Juggernaut Donna crushing those annoying whiny-voiced attempts at mediocre pseudo-crooners, Westlife.

Enjoy!