Music clips

"My impression is, that our wonderfully increased and still increasing facilities of locomotion are destined to bring us round again to the nomadic state.... The past is but a  coarse and sensual prophecy of the present and the future"--The House of the Seven Gables

Time to post some new music clips from Youtube!

Ileana Cortruba singing Antonia's Aria from Jacque Offenbach's Tales of Hoffman. This is one of my favorite operas, with a whole lot of music to choose from:  the Drinking Song, Olympia's aria, the Barcarolle, the Hoffmann-Giulietta duet.  But I chose this song, which goes in English, "Your turtledove has flown away..." (This performance is from a 1981 Royal Opera production.)

Wade Hemsworth, "Blackfly." Another funny National Film Board cartoon of a Wade Hemsworth song. (He composed "The Log Driver's Waltz" too.)

Ewan McColl's "Sweet Thames, Flow Softly." A beautiful little love song, which reminds me that I love London too. (McColl was one socialist who never sold out!)

Tommy Makem and the Clancy Brothers, "The Butcher Boy." They sing this song on an early TV show hosted by the great Pete Seeger.

The Irish Rovers, "The Wind That Shakes the Corn." The folk group at their best with this tragic song about Irish rebellion.

John Allen Cameron, "The Four Marys." Back in my youth I heard Cameron sing this Scottish folk song in concert, based on an (urban?) legend about a lady in waiting to Mary, Queen of Scots who got knocked up by her husband Lord Darnley and got hanged for infanticide.  Cape Bretoners sing it en masse in stadiums and rinks, like "You'll Never Walk Alone" and "God Bless America" in other places.

Ian Dury and the Blockheads, "Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick." My mother didn't care for most new age music, but she liked this song!

Cheryl Barnes singing "Easy to Be Hard," from the Gerome Ragni- James Rado- Galt McDermot hippie musical Hair.  The 1979 movie of Hair, directed by recently-deceased Milos Forman fell between two stools commercially, coming too late for the original '60s enthusiasm and too early for nostalgia.  But I think it's survived pretty well.

Devo, "Speed Racer" from Oh, No!  It's Devo.  I always liked Devo, and this song, from a late album, makes me laugh!

John Anderson, "Agreement," from Kitaro's Dream.  I find this new age song's message profound. ("Making us want more, making us see less...")