Can I Play a Rhapsody?

A few days ago, I posted my selections of theme music for my friends’ blogs.

Friends?

Well, strangely, yeah. I tell non-blogging friends and neighbours about my blogfriends. I tell my computerless mum about my blogfriends. I discuss Goodbear’s plans for a Border Collie, Alyson’s “Jack Russell cross” pup that has turned out to be mostly Irish Wolfhound, Bobbie’s tale of Brutus the Barracuda, and Livingisdetail’s neighbour’s lemon tree with my partner, E.g., as if they were fellow parishioners. I have never been so consistently happy in my life. Neither have I ever written so consistently.

 I know I have readers here in Ontario, over in Saskatchewan, down in various corners of the States, wa-ay down in eastern Australia, apparently at least one in the Netherlands, possibly one or two in England (hi, Catherine!), and maybe one in New Zealand (good day, Chris!).

It’s not like I could knock on any of your doors to borrow a cup of sugar.

But here you all are, and all I have to do is write. What’s not to like?

So the other day, when I tooled around YouTube looking for fellow bloggers’ theme songs, of course I reflected on what my own would be. And I came up with one. Do I love it? Yes. Is it Canadian? Yes. Does it say something about my writing style or subject matter? Yes. Is it on YouTube? I said, Is it on YouTube? Aw, nuts.

But I’ll tell you about it anyway.

The song is called “I Will Play a Rhapsody.” It’s by Winnipeg-born Burton Cummings, who hasn’t stopped making music since he cut his first record in 1965 (or maybe even since he cut his first tooth). Cummings teamed with Randy Bachmann to lead the Guess Who for a decade, before going solo in 1976. The piece I’ve selected was on his 1978 album, Dream of a Child.

“Rhapsody” is well played, well sung, and not too fast. It has a delicious little harmony line on the last chorus. These facts would describe a lot of pop songs, though; why do I want “Rhapsody” for my blog?

It’s the lyrics. They describe what every good musician — and every good writer — wants to do: take the stale and make it fresh, take the old and make it new, take the shabby and make it shimmer:

I will play a rhapsody

Cleverly disguise it, so it’s not been heard before

 The artist doesn’t need to have met his hearers in order to have a personal relationship with them, but it is they who must decide by judging his work:

How will you know

If I am for you?

You won’t know me to see me,

But you’ll know by what I do

And what does the artist do? He plays love songs. Love of one’s partner (”Timeless Love”), of one’s blood relatives (”Break it to Them Gently”), of one’s neighbours (”Share the Land”), of one’s God (”I’m Scared”), of one’s fellow musicians (”Gordon Lightfoot Does Maggie May”), of one’s listening pleasures (”Clap For the Wolfman”). Maybe one or two of you have a memory similar to mine, that of being glued to the radio as a teenager, letting the music and the dj’s friendly voice wash over me like soothing balm.

I will play a lullaby

I’ll let you know I’m near you through the night to keep you warm.

I want my writing to have the same kind of effect on my readers as Burton Cumming’s music has on me. I have no higher aspiration.

A Musical Interlude

Hi everybody, and Happy Laundry Day!

Some of you had fun adding extra bits — bumper stickers, theme songs, URLs — to your Famous Dead Person Blog Contest entries. And I was reflecting this morning that I already hear a particular pop song in my head for two of your real-life blogs. So I thought, wouldn’t it be fun to play around on YouTube and discover other theme songs?

I had three criteria: I really like the song; it has to come from the country where the blogger lives; and it can be located on YouTube.

Today’s list, then, is:

Theme Songs for My Blogroll

1. Checkers’ World. Checkers knows how to relax and have fun, to lie in the sunshine or walk barefoot in the park. My theme song for him is the Lovin’ Spoonful’s What a Day for a Daydream. I’m sorry this video leaves Fido at home, but the stop action is kinda funny.

2. Cody Bear’s Friends. I started with the Captain Kangaroo TV show opener, and soon found Dolly Parton singing the perfect song on his show! Someone else has posted a much better, non-Captain version. Here’s Cracker Jack, goin’ out to Goodbear!

3. Dog Daily Photo is all about the Beautiful Pupple, as seen by the puparazzi. I chose Steely Dan’s richly-layered song, Peg, for this dog blog.

4. Drawing the Motmot. When I think of New England, I think of Robert Frost. I found a slide-show video with Frost’s Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening set to music by a guy named Dan Sample.

5. Laugh in the Sun. This one is dedicated to Alyson and her husband and kids and chickens and horse and garden and canning and writing and housework and… Anyway, here’s the Little River Band’s Help Is On Its Way.

6. One Little Detail. Livingisdetail’s selected theme song is already a theme song, for an Australian television series on their goldrush days. I don’t quite remember what the show was called; the German who posted the video on YouTube shows German credits, with the title meaning “A Handful of Gold.” The song is Golden Pennies.

7. The Aged Cat. I couldn’t think of a better choice than The Byrds singing Pete Seeger’s Turn, Turn, Turn.

8. Themarvelousinnature. Again, there was one obvious choice: Gordon Lightfoot and Pussywillows, Cattails. I read somewhere a long time ago that he wrote this song for his grandmother. The guy who posted this one, thomasj157, has lots of nice slideshow presentations using Lightfoot’s music.

9. The Right Blue. Three times lucky! Here’s John Denver singing Calypso. (No, he’s not imitating Harry Belafonte; Calypso was the name of Jacques Cousteau’s ship.)

10. The Unwound Road. Eyegillian writes about current issues with a slight philosophical slant — and once in a while, allows a peek into how she really feels. I’ve chosen Bruce Cockburn’s Wondering Where the Lions Are because it employs the same deception, using a bouncy rhythm and cheery tune to half-conceal some pretty deep lyrics.

11. Urban Observation. This one, along with Checkers’ World, are the two blogs for which I already had theme songs. Boy, was I surprised to learn that both songs are by the same group! Here once again is the Lovin’ Spoonful, with Summer in the City.

12. Yasashiikuma.  Shelley can rhyme off all the dogs who ever played in the Canadian TV series The Littlest Hobo. Youtube has the original version from 1963, and the one from the 70s. Travelin’ around from town to town…

I hope you’ve enjoyed today’s concert. Thanks for listening!

The Little Trip That Grew

The tickets are here. Five of them. The best seats. Durufle’s Requiem. At the St-Denis basilica, where most of the French kings are buried. On the final night before we fly back to Ontario.

Five tickets?

Well, my partner was a bit disgruntled over the local photography course offerings. So find a course elsewhere, I said. Some weekend seminar or something, a Saturday workshop in a provincial park maybe.

In no time at all, my partner was examining a web site offering a six-day course  in Tuscany. Yes, the Italian one. Eventually, however, we figured out that we could both go if there was no tuition to pay. I don’t remember how we decided on France instead of Italy, but we did. A week to ten days in Paris sounded like a real treat.

A few days later I was chatting with my friend, the mother of the boy I babysit. I told her about the Paris plans. Certainly, my friend joked, Jack and I would love to go!

Now, Jack is our “almost son”; I’ve been caring for him for five years. He happens to be the best-behaved child in the universe, and we enjoy rewarding his goodness, for instance bringing him on a summer camping trip for the past two years. His mum is warm, funny, unflappable, and can speak French. I consulted with my partner. Sure, she said. We can all share an apartment together. That’d be fun.

My complete son is 25 and francophone, but he’s currently busy with full-time studies. There was one more person, though… I consulted with my partner. Sure, she said. That’d be fun.

I dialed the long-distance number. Hi, Mum, would you be interested in ten days in Paris?

Would she! She’s never been off North American soil.

The tickets are here. I saved my babysitting money and sent the money order myself. My mother and partner, both Pisceans, are each getting a ticket for their birthdays. My Aries friend is getting two.