“Books are like seeds. They can lie dormant for centuries and then flower in the most unpromising soil.” (Carl Sagan); “Nothing ever dies on the Internet.” (anon.); “This is not your father’s Oldsmobile.” (Madison Ave. [m]adman). My posts amalgamate these three philosophical elements into one novel experience; they champion critical thinking, human dignity / equality, levelheaded / even-handed / liberty-based governance and solid environmental stewardship. C’mon in!
Preface: Bold font denotes paraphrased and quoted lyrical passages.
Susanne Scherer and Thomas Kolbin front MoonSun; which they describe as a Symphonic Power Metal Band.
Their usage of stunning orchestration and visuals further dramatize the dark, creeping, lyrical visions planted by Paul Simon within his composition, Sound of Silence; originally released back on 09/12/1965.
Simon emphasized / MoonSun reemphasizes how little good can ever come of a society when human rights (among them, freedom of speech) get sickened by a cancerous silence; when the people have “bowed and prayed to the neon god they made”; especially when that neon is a garish ORANGE!
Stay Publicly Masked!
Stay Safe at Home!
Stay Healthy!
Our featured clip, a Hazy Shade of Winter, is a nod (my begrudging nod) to the Northern Hemisphere having slipped into its winter solstice mode (mere hours ago). While we are linked to both Simon and Garfunkel’s original acoustic rendition and the Bangle’s rocked up cover… well…
It’s when Kirsten Knick presents her own synthed interpretation, above, that this ode to wintertime becomes her stunningly dramatic work of performance art
Time again for another of our monthly musical get-togethers. This time around the video selections will reflect a melancholy mood. That’s about the most one could expect considering the recent, mere week apart incidents of domestic terrorism. More specifically…
• An anti-Semitic domestic terrorist, armed with Glock .357 handguns and a Colt AR-15 rifle, went on a rampage at Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life Synagogue (my heartfelt hopes that the 6 wounded folks recover as much as is humanly / medically possible. My wholehearted condolences to the families and friends of the 11 who perished).
∗ The USPS became the unwitting deliverers of a mindless, hate-mongering domestic terrorist’s pipe bombs… approximately one dozen IEDs designed to intimidate anyone who does not mindlessly march in lockstep with the mindless, hate-mongering, fake prez. Fortunately… none of these devices exploded.
In both cases that alleged prez refuses to own the violence which his willful hate-mongering has spawned amongst his devotees.
Considering how 11 gunshot victims have been silenced and factoring in how there have been multiple attempts to silence the Freedom of Speech of the liberally minded… well… the following imagery enhanced, somber selections are quite apropos…
Ernesto Cortazar ~ Piano Cover of Beethoven’s “Silence”
The Fall of 2018? The Downfall of America?
Shakira Elizabeth ~ Flute Cover of Simon & Garfunkel’s “Sound of Silence”
“Silence like a Cancer grows!” We mustn’t let the rightwing media noise machine drown us out!
Luca Valenti’s Cover of Simon & Garfunkel’s “Sound of Silence”
Never allow anyone to gag your mouth / silence your liberal views!
I thank you for your listenership and cordially invite you to click back here for my next monthly BlogCast… slated to hit the www during the first week of December 2018.
FYI, my past musical presentations are archived within my BlogCast and music categories.
CommonSenseTom
5:15 am on September 17, 2016 Tags: Alice In Chains, Alice In Chains - Don't Follow, Paul Simon ( 3 ), Paul Simon - The Sound Of Silence, Paul Simon 9/11 10th Anniversary, Sha Na Na, Sha Na Na - Only One Song, simon and garfunkel, Simon and Garfunkel - The Sound of Silence, The Who ( 4 ), Videographer Juliana Pulsinelli, Who - The Song Is Over ( 2 )
Welcome to my Internet Blogcast. This week, my show’s four-tracked, musical theme reflects “The End” to my show’s planned 13-week run. While I’ve barely scratched the surface regarding ideas for future programming, past shows’ low ratings simply don’t warrant my continuing on a regular basis.
My special thanks go out to all of the recording artists who have so graciously allowed us YouTube access… permitted us to ear-witness their studio performances and eyewitness them, live, on stage. I want them to know that I am not a freeloader… a very high percentage of the music I’ve featured in my Blogcasts is material I’ve purchased in the vinyl and/or compact disc formats. In fact, some of their music, which I’ve heard online, has even inspired me to go out and purchase what I hadn’t previously included in my vast library.
I also thank the talented YouTube videographers and performers who’ve greatly enhanced all we’ve seen and heard, here.
On a personal note, I thank my sister who… oh so long ago… had encouraged me to have big ears / be musically adventurous.
Last but not least, I thank each and everyone who has listened to, liked, and commented on the twelve previous installments of Four-Play.
Turning now to the routine Blogcast housekeeping duties…
Even though this program comes to an end this week, for as long as WordPress remains on the www, my previous shows will remain neatly archived in my music category. Who knows… since it’s oft been said that “Nothing ever dies on the Internet”, what I’ve created, here, might even outlive both WordPress and me.
If you’ve enjoyed what you’ve heard, this day, click that “Like” Star. Of course, comments, as always, are welcome, too!
Thanks again for listening… I hope… in some small way… that my Blogcasts have made a difference in your lives. Take care!
My blog experiment to feature a four track long musical set per week per post continues… this being Week 2 of my projected 13 week run. If you missed last week’s post, it’s archived in my “music” category.
As for today’s post, I’ve segued some music specifically themed to celebrate this Independence Day here in America.
Oh… btw… I had a rough time deciding which YouTube clip to choose from for Neil Diamond’s track… so… if you’d like to view the alternative version’s imagery, my typed in artist/song title headline, below, is also a clickable link.
Don’t expect any in depth musical analysis because I present the selections you hear, here, purely for the enjoyment of great music.
I do realize that tapping into my vast musical library can involve genres, which cannot possibly please all the people all the time. So… if today’s selections are not your “cup of tea”… do click back again… you never can tell what you’ll be listening to next week.
Blog response will act as my Arbitron / Nielsen “radio ratings”… so… if you’ve enjoyed my “show”, click that “Like” Star. Of course, comments are always welcome, too!
Chuck Berry / Linda Ronstadt / Keith Richards ~ Back In The USA
Just as James Taylor sings about going to “Carolina In My Mind”, I now find myself blogging in a similar state of mind. The differences beyond the fact that J.T. is famous and I am not? Well… the state I’m longing for is California AND I’ll be blogging my words, not playing musical notes, to tell you just how homesick I am for the Golden State… but wait a moment…
Maybe it is possible to set my blog to music. After all… I did train to be a DJ. Folks, we’ll get those tunes spinning… after this brief message…
Here’s the backstory to my homesickness. It’s been ten+ years since I last set foot in La La Land to attend a family reunion for two… yes… essentially… my sister and I represent our entire family census… not counting distant relatives (who I could walk right past on any city street on any given day… and never know it).
By now I can hear you ask, “Ten+ years? Why wait any longer? Why not simply book a flight, pack up your bags and board the next westward bound jet?” Long sigh…
Well… since my last trip to the Left Coast… so much has happened… and not all those events would get entered into the plus column of my Life’s Ledger. To CliffsNotes it… there’s been a reversal of my good fortune… both money-wise and otherwise.
Naturally, I am thankful for reasonably good health, the roof over my head and the bare essential furnishings, devices and supplies under that roof… but… nonetheless… another long sigh… I do miss California. And I don’t feel it odd for this lifelong Michiganian to consider the greater Los Angeles area to be my home away from home.
Now… I do have one regret re my past visits… that I had only done my en route sightseeing from my widow seat at an altitude of 38,000 feet… instead of through my car’s windshield while traveling America’s highways and byways. But… what’s done is done.
And so… I’ll just have to settle for going to California in my mind ~ To be sure, no trip would be complete without first producing a “mix tape” featuring great road songs. To that end… I recently produced two C-90 cassettes to enhance my imaginary western journey… and at this time… there’s also a third project in the works (Volume 3 to feature a more hard driving rock genre).
As for this blog… I’ll be sharing my Volume 1 soundscape with you. Whether or not a similar posting for Volume 2 and 3 will occur is highly dependent on the number of hits and comments this blog receives.
A brief heads up… since this music is all courtesy of YouTube… from time to time there are bound to be interruptions of musical service.
For starters… these videos do frequently get deleted due to artist objections / copyright issues. Lastly… there are all of those commercials, which YouTubers tack on. But… what the H… “To dance to the music we must pay the piper”… right?
BESIDES… would not these gaps also enhance the realism of the road trip? Imagine this as if your car radio has temporarily lost a drifting, low wattage AM signal… something easily remedied by switching stations… i.e., clicking onto the next link. Also consider each commercial interruption as being akin to what we hear on AM top-40 formatted stations… as we all know… they’re oft forced to overbook advertisers… simply to pay for the electricity to stay on the air.
On a more positive note… since some of these YouTube videographers have poured a vast ocean’s worth of their talent into the visual aspects of their productions… it’s easy to trip out while viewing these scenes… thus making our going to Carolina OR California in our minds all the better… OR for that matter, anywhere else our l’il ol’ hearts may desire.
Replicated below is my liner notes printout, which I cut out and inserted into my “Volume 1” cassette’s case.
Well, that about covers the preliminaries… Without any further ado… everyone pack your bags, lock up your home sweet homes, kick the tires, adjust your rear view mirrors and car seats, buckle up, turn the key in your ignitions, get ‘er in gear and KICK OUT THE JAMS!!! We’ll soon find out if the Moody Blues gents got it right… that “Thinking is the best way to travel.”
To now paraphrase a Lennon/McCartney sentiment… let’s listen to the music playing in my head… and… hopefully… in yours, too!
CommonSenseTom 