Xander ,'First Date'
There's a lady plays her fav'rite records/On the jukebox ev'ry day/All day long she plays the same old songs/And she believes the things that they say/She sings along with all the saddest songs/And she believes the stories are real/She lets the music dictate the way that she feels.
I've been listening to John Williams' "Exsultate Justi" from Empire of the Sun on an almost endless loop the past few days. Reminds me of how much I love this type of exuberant orchestral church-style music. The cheerful, triumphant pieces, as opposed to the Masses or dirges.
Now, I just need to find more in modo di.
Bernstein's got some crazy faux-church stuff. You might try "Chichester Psalms" and his "Mass", which is probably one of the few classical(ish) masses in existence with some lyrics by Paul Simon.
And if you're feeling very adventurous, I like his "Kaddish Symphony."
I love Bernstein's Mass!
Ooooh... Bernstein's Mass-- can't BELIEVE I almost forgot about that. I actually remember first hearing it when the Garfield Cadets Drum and Bugle Corps played it as their field show in '83. Gorgeous stuff.
I was actually just listening to the recording of Beethoven's 9th from when the Berlin Wall fell-- damn, but Lenny could conduct Ludwig like no one's business and on that occasion? Wow.
Totally whiplash day musically speaking, but seriously, is there any way to remain feeling crappy while listening to "Try a Little Tenderness" ala Otis and Booker T and the MGs?
Nah. Didn't think so.
I have a hard time maintaining gloom when I play "Better Not Look Down" by BB King.
"I'm pretty fast myself!"
Good time for a quick poll, then.
What songs turn your mood around?
Which way? Or was that deliberately open-ended?
Which way? Or was that deliberately open-ended?
It's a trap to find the people who like to turn their mood from gleeful to melancholy. Then I sneak into their homes, and remove all the Townes Van Zandt and Nick Drake from their iTunes and replace it with one song: "Just Got Lucky" by the Joboxers.
But sometimes I just have to embrace the sad clown pose! Right now, though, I think I'm too distracted by life to have my mood turned either way by any music.