Monday, July 7, 2008

I've Been Tagged!

Stevyn has kindly bestowed a meme upon me! Here’s how it
goes…List seven songs you are into right now. No matter what
the genre, whether they have words, or even if they’re not any
good, but they must be songs you’re really enjoying now, shaping
your summer. Post these instructions in your blog along with
your seven songs. Then tag seven other people to see what
they’re listening to. So, without further adieu, here are my seven
songs. They are a random, odd mix, and probably not exactly
what you would call "summer songs", but these are the ones I've
been enjoying, in no particular order, that are currently rattling
around in my head.

1. Take This Waltz, Leonard Cohen. I just got The Essential
Leonard Cohen two disc set and this one has been stuck in my
head for two solid weeks. Its haunting waltz rhythm, combined
with Cohen's deep voice has me completely mesmerized.
He is addicting.

2. j'ai perdu mon Eurydice, Gluck. This is another hauntingly
beautiful song, only toh-ta-wee different from the first. Maria
Callas does a nice job singing it, but I much prefer my daughter's
lovely rich mezzo voice. Gorgeous, absolutely
gorgeous. I can listen to this over and over and over.

3. Skylark, k.d. lang. I love her voice..."sad as a gypsy
serenading the moon"...smooth and touching....ahhh.

4. Three Shakespeare Songs op. 6, Roger Quilter. Bryn
Terfel sings these on his Silent Noon album. Melting, powerful
baritone voice. Okay, you are realizing by now that I am in
the "hauntingly beautiful" mode.

5. Goldberg Variations, J.S. Bach. My recording is of Glenn
Gould playing this, which I think is best. But Anthony
Hopkins does a great, creepy job playing it himself in
Hannibal.

6. Laura, Kevin Mahogany. Even more haunting with a twinge
of melancholy. Perfect for my particular summer mode.

7. Moon River, Audrey Hepburn. One of the few recordings of
her actually singing herself. Yep. Sad and slow. Love it.

And... 8. A song that is in my head, totally against my will,
because WT has watched The Producers twice, is Keep it Gay.
Someone help me, please!!!
~~Now, I am off into the Bloggyhood to play some tag...

28 comments:

  1. Willow.....I would say your selection is quite diversified....I haven't heard Audrey Hepburn sing Moon River in a long while...Perhaps some of your favorites today may show up on my playlist :) Best wishes...Dee Dee

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  2. Hauntingly beautiful melodies...I must look some of these up! :) Anything would be better than The Chipmunks singing On Top of Old Smokie...which Spencer is into this summer....and plays at least 3 hours of every day...no joke....please, someone feel sorry for me! ;)

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  3. I feel sorry. You better not sound like a chipmunk on the phone next time we talk...and if you ever break out into Old Smokie in the chipmunk voice, I'll be right over with the professionals. :D

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  4. LOVE both Leonard and KD ... nice choices .. alas I cant help you with the Producers earworm .. but I highly recommend Steve Tyrell or Diana Krall to help get rid of it ...

    :-Daryl

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  5. I love K.D. Land and I love love love Skylark. It's the opening song for Midnight in the garden of good and evil. I love Moon River too. Breakfast at Tiffany's is one of my favorites, and I love it when Audrey Hepburn sings that song with her guitar.

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  6. Willow, I love your choices, 1-7 that is! As always, you're a class act.

    Betsy... I feel sorry for you!

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  7. Willow - Thanks for asking me to play along, but to be honest, I am not listening to anything at the moment. I'm pretty boring when it comes to music. I listen mostly to movie sound tracks....no words....and to the 60's and 70's XM radio network.

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  8. "Take This Waltz" is one of my absolute favorites, also. I was fortunate enought to hear Mr. Cohen in concert, twice, and have never forgotten those performances. He's truly wonderful!

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  9. Oh, I agree about Audrey--she doesn't have a strong or trained voice, but the melancholy she communicated in that song was wonderful--I always felt sad they dubbed her over in My Fair Lady, as I wondered how she'd have done in her own voice...

    I'll have to check out some of your selections. I love Leonard Cohen, and a few of the others I know. I'd love to hear your daughter!

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  10. I love an eclectic musical list! You're awesome!

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  11. Thanks Willow for tagging me. I will get my list together and post it soon. You have some interesting choices there. I wish there was some way for each of us to add a playlist and have our choices on it so everyone could hear them.....alas, I just don't have the time to figure it out.

    ps, I love haunting melodies.

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  12. Stevie, thanks for being a good sport and playing! You know, I thought the same thing about the playlist when I posted these songs. But I agree, it would take me an entire afternoon to figure it out! :P

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  13. I too have the Glen Gould recording of the Goldberg variations ...if you listen carefully you can hear him humming along as he plays..

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  14. Good choices.

    and, you know, you are some popular blogger--always getting tagged. how do you keep up?! Speaking of keeping up, it looks like I've got a fair share of blogs to read through as time permits!

    Ah, I'm going to have Moon river in my mind now as I trot off to bed.

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  15. Wow, I have just been doing some memory lane blogs for birthday week and remembering all the Beatles songs I loved. "When I'm 64" was a favourite. Now I am nearly 64!!! Yes, you would be my special Guest of Honour if you could make the lunch on Friday. But we'll just have to birthday over cyberspace for now. Oh, and I thought you would like Vita. Your blog about the willow cabin made me think of Yeats' Isle of Innisfree. I will post it in a sidebar just for you. Have a good week! Eleanor

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  16. willow, what fun! your mix of songs is very eclectic. thanks for tagging me. i'll get mine posted tonight!!

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  17. Tumbleweed, okay, now I've got to listen for his humming. You know, I think I just might have heard it before and thought it was my imagination.

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  18. Eleanor, thank you! I'll be over at your blog on Friday with best birthday wishes! I love the Beatles, too. Some days, I'll get a craving and have a complete Beatles day. Yes, I love, love, love Vita. She's my new friend! I'll be watching for the Yeats'.

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  19. Thanks for playing, Julie! I'll be looking forward to seeing your list.

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  20. Bill, thanks for playing! :) I'm heading over to check out your list...

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  21. I love your entire selection of music...some of which I am familiar with, and some of which I shall have to investigate.

    I have an "Arte y Pico" award on my blog today for you, Willow!
    Congratulations!

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  22. Thanks for the tag...This was fun!

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  23. Thanks Pat! I am honored!!! I'll be right over...

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  24. Rebecca, thanks so much for playing...I thought it was tons of fun, too! ;)

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  25. Oh wow! Take this waltz is probably my favourite Leonard Cohen song (next to The Stranger Song). I love the imagery in it, the haunting, deep-digging, soul-searching beat. It fills me with that intrinsic sensation, you know when you realize how amazing music and art can be, but at the same time you're aware that you'll never find the time to experience it all? Or is that just me?

    Kat

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  26. Bach, Shakespeare, and the like are unreachable now.

    But I fondly recall being invited to Johnny Mercer’s home along the river in Savannah renamed for his musical Breakfast at Tiffany’s. Johnny gave us so many songs. I also hosted Henry Mancini’s daughter, Monica, at a concert.

    I will merge the likes of k d lang and Leonard Cohen in that great song Halleluiah. According to a friend of mine, he was there in the audience applauding her rendition which may be found on youtube.

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  27. What wonderful taste you have! They are all wonderful songs, I'm currently listening to Don Byas with "Laura". That is the name of a very dear friend of mine and I always think of her when I hear it, and of course, the wonderful movie.

    There is something about "J'ai perdu mon Eurydice" that always makes me cry - words are so powerful, and when added to equally powerful and expressive music... well, that's all it takes for me to melt.

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Inject a few raisins of conversation into the tasteless dough of existence.
― O. Henry (and me)