More songs I love that (somehow) fit this time of corona
[link to all my pandemic playlists]
5. "Baby Laughing Hysterically at Ripping Paper"
A duet, really, (though not technically a song) between parent and child. When I'm down about what fuck-ups we humans are, sometimes I watch this.
(Related: Baby alternates between terror and hilarity when its mother blows her nose:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WT4kmbYODYc )
6. "Orphan Girl" Gillian Welch (written by Welch, performed w/ David Rawlings)
I listened to this song a thousand times the year after my mother died. I'm still not tired of it.
"I am an orphan on God's highway
But I'll share my troubles if you go my way..."
7. Beaker performs Beethoven's "Ode to Joy"
Split screen, pre-Zoom (2008). Beaker is my favorite Muppet because, like Peter, he always gets it a little wrong...
A two-fer "Best of The Humans": grandeur + humor
8. The Beatles - "I'm Down" (1965, Live at Shea Stadium)
(for bink) What a fun live version!
"How can you laugh when you know I'm WAAAAAAAAAAAAAA...!!!!!"
9. "Move Upstairs", Della Daniels and Ester Mae Smith
(acapella)
Singing about life and death as a movement between rooms is especially fitting for me this morning:
I've decided to spend more time in my room because HouseMate's son who's living here temporarily is not very conscientious about social distancing.
I'm actually happier in my room anyway, with my books, toys, sewing, and electronics, away from the rub.
Lyrics: "Once I was satisfied within life’s basement, Lord, to dwell,
I didn’t know I was a prisoner, in a cell...
I'm packing up (I'm getting ready)/ Lord, to move in my room upstairs "
[link to all my pandemic playlists]
5. "Baby Laughing Hysterically at Ripping Paper"
A duet, really, (though not technically a song) between parent and child. When I'm down about what fuck-ups we humans are, sometimes I watch this.
(Related: Baby alternates between terror and hilarity when its mother blows her nose:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WT4kmbYODYc )
6. "Orphan Girl" Gillian Welch (written by Welch, performed w/ David Rawlings)
I listened to this song a thousand times the year after my mother died. I'm still not tired of it.
"I am an orphan on God's highway
But I'll share my troubles if you go my way..."
7. Beaker performs Beethoven's "Ode to Joy"
Split screen, pre-Zoom (2008). Beaker is my favorite Muppet because, like Peter, he always gets it a little wrong...
A two-fer "Best of The Humans": grandeur + humor
8. The Beatles - "I'm Down" (1965, Live at Shea Stadium)
(for bink) What a fun live version!
"How can you laugh when you know I'm WAAAAAAAAAAAAAA...!!!!!"
9. "Move Upstairs", Della Daniels and Ester Mae Smith
(acapella)
Singing about life and death as a movement between rooms is especially fitting for me this morning:
I've decided to spend more time in my room because HouseMate's son who's living here temporarily is not very conscientious about social distancing.
I'm actually happier in my room anyway, with my books, toys, sewing, and electronics, away from the rub.
Lyrics: "Once I was satisfied within life’s basement, Lord, to dwell,
I didn’t know I was a prisoner, in a cell...
I'm packing up (I'm getting ready)/ Lord, to move in my room upstairs "
That baby!
ReplyDeleteI remember reading a claim that this performance of “I’m Down” marked some kind of breakdown for John. But as you point out, it’s fun. John is being Jerry Lee Lewis, and the Beatles are having fun.
OMG, that Beatles video is priceless. I don't even know that song, but the best thing about it is how much fun they seem to be having. I only ever heard their subsequent complaints about that concert -- that the audience was so loud they couldn't hear themselves sing -- so it's nice to see that they were giving it their all anyway. (And the audience is plainly loving it.)
ReplyDeleteHi, Michael,
ReplyDeleteSome baby!
I couldn't find a reference to John breaking down; I hope it wasn't too bad. Anyway, he seems like he's having real fun, playing with George, if possibly, um. . . giddier than usual?
STEVE: Oh, your comment came in as I was replying to Michael--
ReplyDeletethanks, I love this performance too.
My friend bink had a hard childhood and found solace in this song when she was a kid, so I know it through her but had never seen this live version.
It's a treat! And I like the ambiguity---that's in a lot of creative work--the joy of creation pushes back against the glumness of the content.