Category: Music

Video of the Day: George Harrison’s “What Is Life”

What Is Life Video

One of my favorite songs is George Harrison’s “What Is Life.” I love the way it sounds and the way it makes me feel, even without even delving into the lyrics. So I was happy to learn that Harrison’s estate held a contest for a new “official” video of the song.

For the contest, Georgie Harrison’s wife and son (Olivia and Dhani Harrison) — along with Genero.tv — asked fans to create videos to go with “What is Life.” The 2014 contest was timed to coincide with the release of The Apple Years 1968-1975 box set.  The set includes the album that introduced the world to the song, All Things Must Pass.

The winner of the contest was Brandon Moore.  His video features a woman dancing in different settings to “What Is Life,” including around a cemetery. Eventually, she meets a young man, and they dance together.

Olivia and Dhani Harrison selected the video as their favorite.  They noted, “The dancer really expressed unbounded joy, and managed to capture the spirit of “What is Life” through movement, which the director captured beautifully.”

Check out the winning video for George Harrison’s “What Is Life.”

What is your favorite George Harrison song? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    I Love Trash

    Steven Tyler Trash As a kid, one of my jobs was taking out the trash at our house. After I moved away, though, I lived in apartments for most of my life.  So taking out the trash just meant putting my garbage in a common receptacle. It was convenient when I lived in a New York City apartment and could walk down the hall and put my garbage in a chute at my leisure.  But there was something I missed about having “trash night” when you have to gather all the garbage to put out by the curb for the morning pickup.

    Through the years, I would return to my hometown and stay with my family.  And I would once again find myself helping with trash night if I happened to be there on that night of the week.

    A few years ago, I bought a house and re-encountered “trash night” with my own house, where I had to gather the trash (and recyclables) to put it by the curb for the morning pickup. And once again, it is my household job to take out the trash. While it is an extra chore, perhaps because we had not lived in a house for so long, I find something nostalgic every time I take out the trash, standing by the curb at night.

    It may seem odd to find a connection with the garbage.  But the chore reminds me of my childhood and gives me a connection to those days and the family who shared the chores who are no longer around.  I enjoy the moment and how something so common can give one a connection to the past.

    I Love Trash

    Perhaps, not surprisingly, there are not a lot of songs about garbage, something that plays such a big role in our lives in various ways. Maybe the most famous song is “I Love Trash” by Oscar the Grouch.  For many, the song itself reminds one of childhood and watching Sesame Street.

    Below is Oscar the Grouch singing the song that he first sang during the first season of Sesame Street. Oscar is voiced by Caroll Spinney. It makes me laugh that on YouTube around one thousand people have taken the time to give this performance a thumbs down. How can you not love this song?

    I’ve a clock that won’t work,
    And an old telephone,
    A broken umbrella, a rusty trombone;
    And I am delighted to call them my own!
    I love them because they’re trash.

    In 1998, Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler covered Oscar’s song for the Elmopalooza! album of Sesame Street covers by pop stars. The recording sounds like an Aerosmith hit, complete with Tyler’s great screaming.

    Steven Tyler is not the only popular artist to sing “I Love Trash.” On a 1989 episode of The Jim Henson Hour, singer k.d. lang used her wonderful voice to join a group of Muppets on “I Love Trash.” (Unfortunately, the video is no longer on YouTube.)

    Who’s Gonna Take the Garbage Out

    Despite Oscar’s popularity, perhaps the song about trash that did the best on the charts is “Who’s Gonna Take the Garbage Out.” The song written by Johnny Tillotson and Teddy Wilburn and originally recorded by Loretta Lynn and Ernest Tubb was a Top Twenty hit on the Billboard Hot Country Chart in 1969.

    The duet by Lynn and Tubb appeared on their album If We Put Our Heads Together (1969). The song is in the tradition of many great country duets, with the couple going back and forth about whether or not the man is cheating. The woman is throwing him out of the house, but the man asks the question of the song’s title about how the garbage will be taken out after he is gone. The song perfectly captures the part that a household chore plays in our lives, and sometimes in our relationships.

    More recently, John Prine covered “Who’s Gonna Take the Garbage Out” with Iris DeMent on his 2016 album For Better, or Worse.

    However you discard of your trash and recyclables this week, may you find some joy in your weekly chores.

    What is your favorite song about garbage? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    ATM Money, It’s a Gas

    Money SongsOn September 2, 1969, the first public Automatic Teller Machine (ATM) began giving out money to customers at Chemical Bank in Rockville Center, New York. This first ATM could give out cash, but it could not do anything else.  Two years later in 1971, ATMs were introduced that could do other functions we associate with such machines today.  Today, there are more than three million ATMs in the world.

    A number of people worked on developing the ATM.  But most credit Don Wetzel as coming up with the idea for the ATM while he was waiting in line at a bank.  Wetzel worked as an executive at Docutel, a company that developed baggage-handling machines.

    After the first machines appeared at banks, engineers continued to work on and improve the machines, which became more popular and common by the 1980s.  I first remember using an ATM at a bank around 1984.  It amazed me that I could access what little money I had in the bank so easily.  Today, I cannot imagine not having them, even as technology keeps changing.  The last time I deposited a check was the first time I did it through my cell phone.

    Money Sings

    There are a number of good songs about money or that reference money directly or indirectly.  Dire Straits had “Money for Nothing.”  The Beatles sang about not being able to buy love.  50 Cent reports, “I Get Money.”  The Steve Miller Band advises us just to “Take the Money and Run.”  And in “Price Tag,” Jesse J reminds us “it’s not about the money, money, money.”  Yet, as Cyndi Lauper notes, “Money Changes Everything.”

    But the first song about money that comes to my mind is Pink Floyd’s “Money.”  From the opening cash register sound of coins, it is one of the most recognizable openings in music.

    Roger Waters wrote the song, which features lead vocals by David Gilmour.  In the Pink Floyd song, the way Gilmour exclaims “Money!” and some of the lines like “Money is a gas” lead listeners to believe the song is in praise of currency.  But if one examines the lyrics closely, one sees the song is really about problems caused by money.

    Money, it’s a crime;
    Share it fairly but don’t take a slice of my pie;
    Money, so they say,
    Is the root of all evil today;
    But if you ask for a raise it’s no surprise that they’re
    Giving none away, away, away.

    “Money” was the opening track on the album Dark Side of the Moon, which was released on March 1 of that year. The song, which also uses unusual time signature changes and is one of only two songs on the album to feature a saxophone, was the first U.S. hit for Pink Floyd.
    “Money” was released as a single on May 7, 1973, less than four years after that first ATM appeared.  But money had been causing problems long before ATMs came along.  And it will continue to do so no matter what technology we use for the transfer of cash.
    What is your favorite song about money? Leave your two cents in the comments.
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    Jim Boggia Has a Ukulele and He’s Learned How to Make It Talk

    Springsteen UkuleleSinger-songwriter Jim Boggia has three studio albums and several recordings of his own, and he has worked with many other artists during his music career over the last few decades. But currently, he is focusing on the songs of Bruce Springsteen, reinterpreting the Boss’s songs on his ukulele.

    After putting his version of “Thunder Road” on YouTube and receiving positive responses, Boggia decided to create a complete show of Springsteen’s music. So currently he is bringing his ukulele and voice to “Bruce Off Broadway” as a tribute to Springsteen’s music.

    There are a lot of covers of Springsteen’s songs out there. But Boggia’s wonderful voice and skill at playing the ukulele make the classic Springsteen songs sound new and refreshing. Watch his interpretation of “Thunder Road” below.

    NJArts has described Boggia as a “dynamic performer” who does different things with the ukulele at his Springsteen tribute. For more on Boggia’s “Bruce Off Broadway” shows around the country, check out his website.

    And, finally, here is Boggia’s moving version of “Born in the U.S.A.”

    Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    Performance of the Day: Aretha Franklin Live at Fillmore West 1971

    Aretha Franklin Live

    One of the greatest singers of all time (if not the greatest), Aretha Franklin, passed away on Thursday, August 16, 2018.  The singer of songs such as “Respect,” “(You Make Me Feel) Like a Natural Woman,” and “Think” leaves a lasting impact on anyone who loves music.

    Below is a full performance from March 7, 1971, where the Queen of Soul performs at Fillmore West.  Check it out and bask in the joy she brought to the world.



    What is your favorite song by Aretha? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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