Greg Lake – I Believe in Father Christmas (1975)

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Video, Lyrics and Making Of for one of the best Christmas Songs ever.

Quick bit of trivia – the instrumental “chorus” between verses is called “Troika” from Prokoviev’s Lieutenant Kijé Suite. Another part  of the  same Suite (“Romance”) also ended up in Sting’s Russians.

Hope you enjoy it and Merry Christmas from the Exit blog!!

They said there’d be snow at Christmas

They said there’d be peace on Earth

But instead, it just kept on raining

A veil of tears for the Virgin birth

 

I remember one Christmas morning

A winter’s light and a distant choir

And the peal of a bell

And that Christmas tree smell

And their eyes full of tinsel and fire

 

They sold me a dream of Christmas

They sold me a Silent Night

And they told me a fairy story

Till I believed in the Israelite

 

And I believed in Father Christmas

And I looked to the sky with excited eyes

Then I woke with a yawn

In the first light of dawn

And I saw him and through his disguise

 

I wish you a hopeful Christmas

I wish you a brave New Year

All anguish pain and sadness

Leave your heart and let your road be clear

They said there’d be snow at Christmas

They said there’d be peace on Earth

Hallelujah, Noel, be it Heaven or Hell

The Christmas we get, we deserve

Strange Random Santa Quote:

Christmas at my house is always at least six or seven times more pleasant than anywhere else. We start drinking early. And while everyone else is seeing only one Santa Claus, we’ll be seeing six or seven. – W.C. Fields, The Mammoth Book of Zingers, Quips & One-Liners

Related articles

• The Meaning of Christmas (savesavesave.blogspot.com)
• Cif readers on … Christmas hits (guardian.co.uk)
• Christmas Bells (marybiever.wordpress.com)
• The five worst Christmas songs of all time (telegraph.co.uk)
• The 10 Most Annoying Christmas Songs [Video] (gawker.com)
• The story of Seattle’s big 1921 Christmas Eve broadcast (seattlepi.com)

Celebrate the World Before Columbus!

 

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Well, officially it’s Columbus Day in most of the world, but here it’s Armed Forces Day (no mention of Colón – don’t forget the accent, by the way).

So we thought we’d post a couple of ideas for Columbus-related material on the web, with particular emphasis on what happened before the man came along and stumbled across the “New World“.

First of all, the Digital History site maintained by the University of Houston has a comprehensive section on The World Before 1492,  including articles and tests on Chinese admiral and great explorer Zheng He, who made seven major expeditions between 1405 and 1433, several decades before Columbus.

Secondly, if you’ve ever wanted to know how the world might have been experienced before 1492, consider the thoughts of singer Suzanne Vega, who temporarily lost her sight in one eye and suddenly had a different (flatter) view of the world. She wrote the song “World Before Columbus” both with this in mind and as a love song for her young daughter.

World Before Columbus

CD “Nine Objects of Desire” – 1997

If your love were taken from me
Every color would be black and white
It would be as flat as the world before Columbus
That’s the day that I lose half my sight

If your life were taken from me
All the trees would freeze in this cold ground
It would be as cruel as the world before Columbus
Sail to the edge and I’d be there looking down

Those men who lust for land
And for riches strange and new
Who love those trinkets of desire
Oh they never will have you
And they’ll never know the gold
Or the copper in your hair
How could they weigh
the worth of you so rare

If your love were taken from me
Every light that’s bright would soon go dim
It would be as dark as the world before Columbus
Down the waterfall and I’d swim over the brim

Those men who lust for land
And for riches strange and new
Who love those trinkets of desire
Oh they will never have you
And they’ll never know the gold
Or the copper in your hair
How could they weigh
the worth of you so rare

Strange Random Columbus Quote:

I also hate those holidays that fall on a Monday where you don’t get mail, those fake holidays like Columbus Day.  What did Christopher Columbus do, discover America?  If he hadn’t, somebody else would have and we’d still be here.  Big deal.   -  John Waters

Related articles

• in 1492… (dixonschwabl.com)
• Columbus Day Parade 2010 In New York (PHOTOS) (huffingtonpost.com)
• Different Feelings On Columbus Around The World (npr.org)
• Columbus Day 2010: 5 Books That Expose The Scandals, Violence And Dubious Tactics Of America’s Discoverer (PHOTOS) (huffingtonpost.com)
• “New York – Columbus Holiday Today: Alt. Side Parking Suspended” and related posts (vosizneias.com)
• Reconsider Columbus Day (alternet.org)
• Columbus Day Goodies! All the Answers You Need (manolith.com)

BBC News – Eurovision 2010: How to write the winning lyric

The Official Website

What’s the main ingredient of a winning Eurovision lyric? The answer is “love”.If you look back at every winner of the annual song contest since it started in 1956, the most common lyrical theme is affairs of the heart.”Love” accounts for an impressive 2% – or one in 50 – of the 12,299 words that have been sung from the winner’s podium discounting common words like “I” or “and”.

via BBC News – Eurovision 2010: How to write the winning lyric.

Here are the lyrics of all the winners from 1956-2009, fed into the Wordle website and showing the frequency of each one – translations into English have been used where necessary. Click on the graphic to see the full-size picture.

Favourite lyrics from this year’s batch:

ARMENIA

Artist: Eva Rivas

Song: Apricot Stone

I began to cry a lot

And she gave me apricots

LATVIA

Artist: Aisha

Song: What for?

What for are we living?

What for are we dreaming?

What for are we loosing? [sic]

Only Mr God knows why

(But) His phone today is out of range

FRANCE

Artist: Jesse Matador

Song: Allez! Ola! Ole!

Allez, allez, allez, allez

You need to dance

Everybody dance with me! Badamdam

It’s the sound of the year

Danbadam badamdam

Everybody, danbadam badamdam

It doesn’t get much better than this. Enjoy!

Strange Random Eurovision Quote:

“I am of the opinion that it’s OK to watch and even possibly enjoy Eurovision as long as you don’t take it too seriously.”

Eurovision observer Mike Taylor.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Tom Ewing | Why Britain should go for broke at Eurovision (guardian.co.uk)
• Eurovision website goes titsup, upsets handful of fans (go.theregister.com)
• Eurovision bubble goes pop as nations quit due to financial differences (guardian.co.uk)
• Economic downturn hits Eurovision (news.bbc.co.uk)
• World Cup 2010: Eurovision left trailing as England’s songs hit new low (telegraph.co.uk)
• Niamh Kavanagh makes it into the Eurovision final (unrealityshout.com)

Video & Lyrics – theme from Friends

Cover of Friends: The Official Trivia Guide

Today we have another favourite series of many people from the last decade or so. Apart from being responsible for the making and later breaking of the careers of most of the actors involved (with a couple of exceptions), the series’ catchy theme song did more or less the same for a fine band called The Rembrandts – here they are with the cast having a bit of fun in the studio.

By the way, come back tomorrow for a free album download by the Rembrandts’ lead singer Danny Wilde.

I’ll Be There For You
The Rembrandts

So no one told you life was gonna’ be this way
Your job’s a joke, you’re broke, your love life’s DOA

It’s like you’re always stuck in second gear
When it hasn’t been your day, your week, your month, or even your year

but..

I’ll be there for you
When the rain starts to pour
I’ll be there for you
Like I’ve been there before
I’ll be there for you
‘Cause you’re there for me too…

You’re still in bed at ten and work began at eight
You’ve burned your breakfast so far… things are goin’ great

Your mother warned you there’d be days like these
Oh but she didn’t tell you when the world has brought
You down to your knees that…

I’ll be there for you
When the rain starts to pour
I’ll be there for you
Like I’ve been there before
I’ll be there for you
‘Cause you’re there for me too…

No one could ever know me
No one could ever see me
Seems you’re the only one who knows
What it’s like to be me
Someone to face the day with
Make it through all the rest with
Someone I’ll always laugh with
Even at my worst I’m best with you, yeah

It’s like you’re always stuck in second gear
When it hasn’t been your day, your week, your month or even your year…

I’ll be there for you
When the rain starts to pour
I’ll be there for you
Like I’ve been there before
I’ll be there for you
‘Cause you’re there for me too…

I’ll be there for you
I’ll be there for you
I’ll be there for you
‘Cause you’re there for me too…

———————

alternative version by Richard Cheese and Lounge Against the Machine

Strange Random Friends(hip) Quote:

“True friends stab you in the front.” Oscar Wilde

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• 9 reviews of I’ll Be There For You- The Rembrandts (rateitall.com)

Blackbird, by The Beatles – Video and lyrics

Blackbird fly, into the light of the dark black night.

From the legendary White album, one of the lesser-known and played Beatles songs, but a personal favourite

Remember that you can request a particular video  and lyrics by leaving us a message under this post.

THE BEATLES – Blackbird (Lennon/McCartney)

Album Name: White Album

Blackbird singing in the dead of night

Take these broken wings and learn to fly

All your life

You were only waiting for this moment to arise.

Blackbird singing in the dead of night

Take these sunken eyes and learn to see

All your life

You were only waiting for this moment to be free.

Blackbird fly Blackbird fly

Into the light of the dark black night.

Blackbird fly Blackbird fly

Into the light of the dark black night.

Blackbird singing in the dead of night

Take these broken wings and learn to fly

All your life

You were only waiting for this moment to arise

———————

Strange Random Beatles Quote:

That guitar is okay but you’ll never make a living with it – John’s Aunt Mimi