Showing posts with label Ben Folds and Nick Hornby. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ben Folds and Nick Hornby. Show all posts
8/10/2021- 9/14/2021
First, songs:
8/10/2021
"ROCK YOU LIKE A HURRICANE" by The Scorpions. Standard rock anthem of the 80's. Of course it's bound to get stuck in your head at some point.
This is from the 1984 record 'Love at First Sting'
8/17/2021
"WHITE KNUCKLES" by OK Go. These guys are just great. Surprised to have this one stuck in my head but after a thorough listen, man, this is a great song.
8/24/2021
"FULL CIRCLE" by Miley Cyrus. Am I a Miley Cyrus fan? I don't think I am, but she intrigues me. This one is from her first solo album, 'Breakout' from 2008. Surprised to hear this in my head. We bought this album for our oldest daughter back in 2008 when Miley Cyrus was still a little kid. I'm surprised she's still around, and so relevant. Thus, intrigued. Welcome to the blog, Miley.
8/31/2021
"Burning Down the House" by The Talking Heads. It's a classic and you know it. Can you understand what he's saying in the song besides the lyric "burning down the house!?"
9/7/2021
"Waiting on a Song" by Dan Auerbach. Quite unexpected it was playing in my head. Dig it though. This is the title track from Dan Auerbach's 2017 album. Good.
9/14/2021
"A Working Day" by Ben Folds with lyrics by Nick Hornby. Some F-words. A short track, the opening track from Folds' 2010 record LONELY AVENUE. Love this track.
Claire's Ninth
Hola Amiguitos,
Today is a good song by my boyfriend Ben Folds with lyrics by Author Nick Hornby.
This is "Claire's Ninth" which lyrically tells the story of a young girl, named Claire (I've always LOVED that name) celebrating her ninth birthday with her parents who have recently separated. It's a sad song, but it a goodun.
Listen to the lyrics and love the music.
I live in a home with step-children. I've been around them a dang long time, long enough that we are pretty familiar (notice how the word familiar is derived from 'family') but I've been them suffer in deep ways by having divorced parents. It can be ugly- I hope we all deal with it pretty ok, but I know the pain is always there for them.
I know divorce is ultimately the final option for certain people and so I can't condemn it entirely- I know it's hard on kids though. I don't know what I'm getting at- I try to work at it and work through all tough situations with my wife. I think we have a good marriage and I am happy about it. I hope my step-kids love me even though I'm not biological- I know I love them.
Today is a good song by my boyfriend Ben Folds with lyrics by Author Nick Hornby.
This is "Claire's Ninth" which lyrically tells the story of a young girl, named Claire (I've always LOVED that name) celebrating her ninth birthday with her parents who have recently separated. It's a sad song, but it a goodun.
Listen to the lyrics and love the music.
I live in a home with step-children. I've been around them a dang long time, long enough that we are pretty familiar (notice how the word familiar is derived from 'family') but I've been them suffer in deep ways by having divorced parents. It can be ugly- I hope we all deal with it pretty ok, but I know the pain is always there for them.
I know divorce is ultimately the final option for certain people and so I can't condemn it entirely- I know it's hard on kids though. I don't know what I'm getting at- I try to work at it and work through all tough situations with my wife. I think we have a good marriage and I am happy about it. I hope my step-kids love me even though I'm not biological- I know I love them.
Doc Pomus
Doc Pomus was a chart topping songwriter in the 50's and 60's that has written dozens of songs that you'd recognize, even though you wouldn't likely know his name. And he's the unintended subject of my blog post today.
Today's song comes from my man Ben Folds with lyrics by the English author, Nick Hornby and it's a biographical song about Doc Pomus. There's a documentary called "AKA Doc Pomus" that I just finished watching- wow what a life, what a character!
I'll try to be brief, but here are some reasons why this story is such a fascinating story to tell:
Doc Pomus was born in Brooklyn in 1925 to immigrant Jewish Parents.
At the age of 6 he contracted polio and was unable to walk unassisted (crutches, wheelchair) for the rest of his life.
Sometime in his teens he became enamored with the blues.
When he started performing in black-dominated clubs as a blues singer, he changed his name to Doc Pomus to hide his Jewish background.
He ended up writing over 1000 songs in his career for high profile performers like:
Elvis Presley, Ray Charles. BB King, Andy Williams, and many, many more.
As I watched the documentary, I was shocked at how many songs I knew that had been written by Pomus alone, or with various collaborators. His most famous song is "Save the Last Dance for Me."
He died in 1991 of lung cancer and was inducted to the Songwriters hall of fame the following year- he was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame 10 years later.
And I suppose what I find most interesting is how Doc Pomus overcame the odds to find success in music, as a second generation immigrant who was crippled. It's a great story, both sad and lovely, and I recommend watching the documentary if you love music and have the time: "AKA Doc Pomus"
Now to get to the music stuck in my head....
....as you probably know, I'm a huge fan of Ben Folds' music and paired with Nick Hornby's lyrics he's produced some lovely songs. Today's is no exception. I would imagine that Folds was tempted to take a song about Doc Pomus and turn it into a bluesy/rock sort of thing. Knowing his music, I'm certain he's capable of doing such a thing. Instead, what we get with this song is a sort of rolling piano ballad with french horn.
In my short post so far, I've highlighted on some of the successes Pomus had as a writer. This song focuses more on some of the sadder aspects of his life, and has a very somber tone:
He could never be one of those happy cripples
The kind that smile and tell you life's OK
He was mad as hell, frightened, and bitter
He found a way to make his isolation pay.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3WWnpfcYhE
I hope to have educated you in some way about the life of a legendary writer who probably didn't get the public recognition he deserved.
Today's song comes from my man Ben Folds with lyrics by the English author, Nick Hornby and it's a biographical song about Doc Pomus. There's a documentary called "AKA Doc Pomus" that I just finished watching- wow what a life, what a character!
I'll try to be brief, but here are some reasons why this story is such a fascinating story to tell:
Doc Pomus was born in Brooklyn in 1925 to immigrant Jewish Parents.
At the age of 6 he contracted polio and was unable to walk unassisted (crutches, wheelchair) for the rest of his life.
Sometime in his teens he became enamored with the blues.
When he started performing in black-dominated clubs as a blues singer, he changed his name to Doc Pomus to hide his Jewish background.
He ended up writing over 1000 songs in his career for high profile performers like:
Elvis Presley, Ray Charles. BB King, Andy Williams, and many, many more.
As I watched the documentary, I was shocked at how many songs I knew that had been written by Pomus alone, or with various collaborators. His most famous song is "Save the Last Dance for Me."
He died in 1991 of lung cancer and was inducted to the Songwriters hall of fame the following year- he was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame 10 years later.
And I suppose what I find most interesting is how Doc Pomus overcame the odds to find success in music, as a second generation immigrant who was crippled. It's a great story, both sad and lovely, and I recommend watching the documentary if you love music and have the time: "AKA Doc Pomus"
Now to get to the music stuck in my head....
....as you probably know, I'm a huge fan of Ben Folds' music and paired with Nick Hornby's lyrics he's produced some lovely songs. Today's is no exception. I would imagine that Folds was tempted to take a song about Doc Pomus and turn it into a bluesy/rock sort of thing. Knowing his music, I'm certain he's capable of doing such a thing. Instead, what we get with this song is a sort of rolling piano ballad with french horn.
In my short post so far, I've highlighted on some of the successes Pomus had as a writer. This song focuses more on some of the sadder aspects of his life, and has a very somber tone:
He could never be one of those happy cripples
The kind that smile and tell you life's OK
He was mad as hell, frightened, and bitter
He found a way to make his isolation pay.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3WWnpfcYhE
I hope to have educated you in some way about the life of a legendary writer who probably didn't get the public recognition he deserved.
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