The WonderMusic Thread

[Mendalla]

Okay, we've had threads for cover songs and new music and other musical themes. This one is just a place to post whatever music you like. It's our member-programmed Wonder music channel, if you like.

I'm kicking it off with a brilliant singer-songwriter that I have been a fan of for over 30 years. No, not Leonard Cohen or Kate Bush, to whom that description could also apply.

In this case, I'm talking about Chris de Burgh.

 

[Jaebius]

Three good ones that we've watched in class at seminary...

 

[Luce NDs]

Micky Gilly ... eph I sent eros ... a' rose to you ... do chickens pick eM a part?

Tis a recessive gang of thoughts ... sublime? Ode to be humble ...

 

[Mendalla]

Rufus Wainwright, who is even more brilliant than his already amazing musical genes (Kate McGarrigle and Loudon Wainwright III) would suggest, has a wonderful new album out. It's all settings of Shakespeare's famous sonnets written by Wainwright and performed by him and some guest artists. Some pop (including an appearance by Florence Welch of Florence and the Machine), some modernist, some classical (sung beautifully by soprano Anna Prohaska). There are also readings of the sonnets interspersed with the musical versions and done by a variety of actors from heavily decorated British actress Sian Phillips to pop culture icons like Carrie Fisher and William Shatner (no stranger to Shakespeare since he began his acting career at the Stratford Festival). It is not totally new territory for Rufus, who has recorded earlier versions of some of these sonnet settings on other albums, but it is a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts. A sample track:

And while looking for related videos, I found this one of a live performance that has Rufus, his sister Martha, and their half-sister Lucy (from Loudon's relationship with Suzzy Roche of singing group The Roches) teaming up with their father to perform one of his songs.

 

[Northwind]

Ah Chris de Burgh! This is one I got to see live and one my my favourites of his fun songs.

 

[Northwind]

And another favourite from Chris

 

[BetteTheRed]

Well, if we're on a de Burgh streak here, my fav. Probably the most appropriate for a religious discussion forum, lol.

 

[Mendalla]

Actually, Chris writes on religious themes quite a bit. A Spaceman Came Travelling, The Risen Lord, In A Country Churchyard and other songs all touch on Christian themes. Spanish Train is a bit more tongue in cheek than some of them. He seems to be a fairly religious guy, though I've never heard him say it.

However, there is this one that is certainly not appropriate for a religious discussion forum. But this is Pop & Chips, not R&F, and it's a lively, fun little song so here you go:

 

[Northwind]

I heard Chris dB being interviewed once. He spoke of the metaphors in Spaceman and it is often seen as a Christmas song. I don't think he was religious. I think he liked to explore spiritual stories and experiences.

 

[Luce NDs]

What's a light (Christ's) burg (mound)? A place where the a' muse recesses! Perhaps just a dimple in the physical cosmos ... as seen from the other side ...

 

[BetteTheRed]

Actually, Chris writes on religious themes quite a bit. A Spaceman Came Travelling, The Risen Lord, In A Country Churchyard and other songs all touch on Christian themes. Spanish Train is a bit more tongue in cheek than some of them. He seems to be a fairly religious guy, though I've never heard him say it.

However, there is this one that is certainly not appropriate for a religious discussion forum. But this is Pop & Chips, not R&F, and it's a lively, fun little song so here you go:

I know ALL the words to that one!

 

[Mendalla]

The "Sing Along Song of the Day" on Radio 2 Morning today was this:

And I got to thinking about what a damn fine piece of songwriting it is. Powerful, emotional music coupled to lyrics that are easily the equal of anything Dylan or Cohen has ever produced.

In the day we sweat it out on the streets of a runaway American dream
At night we ride through mansions of glory in suicide machines
Sprung from cages on Highway 9, chrome-wheeled, fuel-injected, and stepping out over the line
Whoah baby, this town rips the bones from your back, it's a death trap
It's a suicide rap, we gotta get out while we're young
'Cause tramps like us, baby we were born to run

 

[Carolla]

here's a bit of a departure from Springsteen - I do love that one too Mendalla!

 

[Mendalla]

I love Bocelli up to a point. Love him as a pop tenor but he hasn't quite got the chops for opera so I tend to avoid his opera performances. This is one of my favorite of the songs he's done over the years. He originally recorded it with Italian pop singer Giorgia but here he sings it with Hayley Westenra as accompaniment for a performance by legendary ice dancers Sale and Pelletier.

 

[Mendalla]

And I love Bocelli singing this next song with John Miles. It was originally written by Italian singer Zucchero and performed by him with Luciano Pavarotti. Bocelli and Miles recorded their version in the mid-nineties.

 

[BetteTheRed]

I think of Boccelli as a classical tenor, versus an opera tenor.

 

[Luce NDs]

How does classic compare to presence and presents? You know poly conception, or multiprocessing ...

This leaves one accepting poly Anis (AN's) as AN is an ancient word for concern in a devoid domain, as emotionally driven persona do not fret over much ... and thus devoid of things we should concern ourselves with! Of course that is classic with prophets that were concerned with where humanity was going with emotions all alone ... a hard objective? Some label this A*us and refer that as ace ... fore shortened carding!

Do you suspect that the present world is overly emotional ... especially in the domain of paranoia when fear can cause even the finest dog to bite? Perhaps I am barking up the wrong "etiology" with this audience?

Etiology: a tree of sort, i.e. etiological linguistics? One must know where the dark thing came from as arriving here unknown ... and thus the story is an alien myth! Perhaps why people are scared into crappy paranoia due to what they know not? I'm told I'm not supposed to know thus due to not belonging to one of the baffled, or baffling guilds ... like that once confining powers of mine ... a dark well of wisdom? Tis too unknown for our social good ... and then we have the icon of anti-social behaviour ... no names required ... some wisdom of literary device may be prerequisite ... prescience? Tis odd wended light ... cranked!

 

[BetteTheRed]

Opera is a distinct sub-genre of classical music, but requires a certain 'type' of voice. You'll notice that most operatic stars, of all ranges, trend to having large flexible rib cages, very powerful torsos. It takes a lot of physical strength and stamina to project your voice in a production that lasts in the hours.

 

[Mendalla]

Opera is a distinct sub-genre of classical music, but requires a certain 'type' of voice. You'll notice that most operatic stars, of all ranges, trend to having large flexible rib cages, very powerful torsos. It takes a lot of physical strength and stamina to project your voice in a production that lasts in the hours.

And a lot of control and training to keep it tonally correct throughout a wide octave range. That's where I find Bocelli falls down for me. He lacks the range of a truly great operatic tenor like Pavarotti and tends to get a bit husky in the lower registers of his range. There's a recording of them singing Miserere together at one of the Pavarotti and friends concerts and even though Pav was near the end of his career (and, sadly, life) at that point, he still has both more power and more range than Bocelli.

As for him being a classical tenor, I'm not sure. He's great at pop tenor repertoire like O Sole Mio! and the contemporary pop music he sings, but I've never heard him do classical lieder or religious works. I imagine he's good at it, but I just haven't heard enough of him doing it. I have heard him sing Rudolfo in La Boheme and some arias from other operas which is what led to conclude he isn't really a good operatic singer.

 

[Mendalla]

And since we're discussing the finer points of operatic singing, some opera singing:

(E lucevan le stelle, "And the stars were shining", is one of the greatest songs of any genre ever written in my books, by the way)