Arrr, matey, September 19 is “International Talk Like a Pirate Day.” Now I am not one to jump on a trend, but the holiday gives one a good excuse to watch George Harrison talk like a pirate. And to get a free doughnut at Krispy Kreme stores, which are giving a free doughnut to anyone talking like a pirate on September 19, 2012.
I wish George Harrison were still around to get himself one of those doughnuts. As the former Beatle shows in this 1975 Rutland Weekend Television sketch with Eric Idle, the man knows how to talk pirate.
My favorite part is how Harrison works the famous Monty Python “The Pirate Song” into “My Sweet Lord,” starting at around the 30-second mark. Check it out.
May all you landlubbers and sea dogs have a safe and happy Talk Like a Pirate day. What are you doing for Talk Like a Pirate Day? Leave your two cents in the comments.
With Bob Dylan releasing his 35th album recently, we think of the man as a legend, perhaps walking among the gods of ancient Greece or Rome. So, today we look at two clips of Dylan among the classic structures of Rome and Greece.
Well, actually, the Roman architecture in the video below is just a copy because he is in Las Vegas. Check out Pawn Stars‘ Chumlee tracking down Dylan in Vegas for an autograph on one of his classic albums.
The following clip, though, is set in Athens, Greece. Plus, it includes music. Check out Dylan joining another legend, Van Morrison to play Morrison’s “Crazy Love” as they overlook Athens.
What do you think of Bob Dylan and Van Morrison together? Leave your two cents in the comments.
I have so many songs tucked away on my iPod, sometimes while I listen to the songs shuffle in the background as I do my work, I hear a song mixed among the old friends that I don’t remember or one I did not connect to earlier and I have a new discovery. Today, I found a song by an artist who chooses to no longer make music. Today’s new discovery is Sinéad Lohan’s “Whatever It Takes.”
The song came up on my iPod as part of a collection of acoustic songs from various artists. But here is the video for the original version, which is from Lohan’s No Mermaid (1998) album. I love the odd little dancing marionnette that you see around the 1:08 mark.
Lohan is from Cork, Ireland, and in the 1990s was a rising star on both sides of the ocean. After her 1995 debut album, Who Do You Think I Am?, did well in Ireland, she made her second album, No Mermaid — which contains “Whatever It Takes” — in New Orleans. The title track of No Mermaid was used in the film Message in A Bottle, and Joan Baez covered it. Another creative person put Lohan’s No Mermaid song to scenes from The Little Mermaid even though the song was not used in that film.
Lohan also created an excellent cover of Bob Dylan’s “To Ramona.”
Despite plans for a third album, after Lohan had her second child in 2001, she decided to devote herself full time to motherhood. Last reported, she was living with her husband John, an accountant, and their two children near Leap in County Cork. Around 2005, she made a guest appearance with Phil Coulter in the Opera House in Cork. But that’s it. She no longer even has a website devoted to her music.
Wikipedia reports that Lohan in 2004 began working on a new album, and another website claims that new album was completed in 2007. But such an album has yet to be released.
In 2011, her former manager Pat Egan explained to The Irish Timesthat while touring around 2000, Lohan “suddenly decided she didn’t want to do it any more. She never really liked the music business, and wasn’t that great doing interviews.”
Although it is a loss to the music world that Lohan no longer releases new music, we cannot complain that Lohan chose family over creating more music. We know from another Lohan and another Sinead how fame can un-ground a person.
Perhaps the reason the song “Whatever It Takes” resonates so much is its honesty. In the song, Lohan is perhaps telling us what type of life she would like. She sings that she will do what she needs to be fulfilled without worrying about legacy or fans.
Whatever it takes you to believe it, That’s all right with me; Take this morning in my kitchen, Or whatever that helps you to believe; You will find me down by the river, Getting high on my mortality; I’ll be holding hands with nameless beauty, Or whoever wants to stand next to me.
Whether or not the we ever get to hear new music from Lohan, I hope Sinéad Lohan is somewhere singing for her children, high on mortality holding hands with nameless beauty. Thanks for the music.
Johnny Cash, who passed away in September 2003, recorded a moving duet with his daughter Rosanne Cash on “September When It Comes.”
I plan to crawl outside these walls, Close my eyes and see. And fall into the heart and arms, Of those who wait for me.
The month makes me think of the lovely duet between Johnny Cash and his daughter Rosanne Cash on “September When It Comes.” The song appeared on Rosanne’s excellent album, Rules of Travel (2003), and she wrote it with her husband and producer John Leventhal. The song is a reflection on mortality, and it is given extra gravitas by the voice of the ailing Johnny, who passed away on September 12, 2003, just months after the CD was released.
A video of the song was shown at the Johnny Cash Memorial Tribute concert held in November 2003 at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium. Rosanne Cash’s website explains that many of the photos in the montage came from the family’s private photo collection and had never been seen by the public before this tribute.
The tribute concert is no longer on YouTube, but the following seems to be the same video used at the tribute concert. This official video from Rosanne Cash features amazing family photos.
I particularly love the song’s beautiful lines about aging and remembering one’s youth and recognizing that maybe it was not quite as one remembers it.
I cannot move a mountain now; I can no longer run. I cannot be who I was then: In a way, I never was.
I often do not remember the dates that people died for various reasons. But because of Johnny Cash’s duet on “September When It Comes,” I cannot help remembering that he passed away during the month of September. Of course, September will always be a month that our generation of Americans associate with mortality because of the terrorist attacks that occurred in 2001. So, in honor of Johnny and others who passed away in Septembers past, lets resolve to enjoy these September days because you never know how many more will come.
What is your favorite photo in the montage of the “September When It Comes” tribute? Leave your two cents in the comments.
Chimesfreedom previously examined some of the famous versions of “The Star Spangled Banner” performed at sporting events, and it looks like there is another interesting version to add. Last night at the NFL season opener between the Dallas Cowboys and the New York Giants, Queen Latifah took a jazzy take on the National Anthem, somewhat reminiscent of the famous Marvin Gaye version. Many are divided on whether or not they like it, but I do like it.
Check it out for yourself.
What do you think of Queen Latifah’s take on the National Anthem? Leave your two cents in the comments.
Arrr, matey, September 19 is “International Talk Like a Pirate Day.” Now I am not one to jump on a trend, but the holiday gives one a good excuse to watch George Harrison talk like a pirate. And to get a free doughnut at Krispy Kreme stores, which are giving a free doughnut to anyone talking like a pirate on September 19, 2012.
