A song for Memorial Day
I’ve posted this song before, but I think it bears repeating, especially on Memorial Day weekend. It’s Tim McGraw’s extraordinarily moving song “If You’re Reading This:”
Continue reading →Category Archives: Music
More child singers channeling older ones
The other day I wrote about a child singer from Norway who invokes the memory of Billie Holiday. Here’s a British kid with a different old-fashioned style: The original: I’d never heard the full song in the original version before … Continue reading →
A child singer with a difference
We’ve become familiar with those “Fill-In-the-Blank-Country’s Got Talent” videos that feature an unlikely person—shy, young, fat, or weird, or sometimes several of those characteristics—belting out a song. The style is usually either diva-esque, operatic, or rock. The judges look stunned … Continue reading →
When I grow too old
Linda Ronstadt’s still alive and kicking. But at the age of 67 she can’t sing anymore due to Parkinson’s. But nothing can still her voice on YouTube. You can find tons of her appearances and recordings there, almost countless songs … Continue reading →
Baffled By the Lyrics
Surely you remember the Manfred Mann mid-70s hit “Blinded By the Light.” It’s a pretty nifty song, with an earworm-inducing hook. But the rest of the lyrics are unintelligible. It doesn’t really matter, because it’s so catchy. But no, that … Continue reading →
The boy she loves is a Romeo
Want a break from politics? Let’s take a look at that 1965 song “Back in My Arms Again,” one of my favorites by the Supremes. Note how subtle and classy the sexuality of their performance is compared to today’s pop … Continue reading →
New math
Ace writes about Common Core math pedagogy: Common Core needlessly complicates the simple. They complicate the simple, supposedly, to impart “number sense” to kids, to get them to understand not just that 9 +3 = 12, but why 9 + … Continue reading →
A trip back in time: Joe and Eddie
I was having trouble with my iPod the other day, and while trying to troubleshoot it (it’s fixed now) I came across an entry in my iTunes library that was part of a reel-to-reel tape I had originally made in … Continue reading →
Blindfold violin test reveals a surprise
I can’t tell a Stradivarius from a Curtin. But neither, it seems, could a bunch of professional concert violinists: There were 12 instruments, six old and six new, with new ones “antiqued” to appear older. The violinists, 10 professional soloists, … Continue reading →
Don’t worry, folks
I noticed that, for whatever reason, a “worry” theme has emerged today in my posts (see also this). Which gave me the idea for a musical interlude from one of my very favorite groups: And as a bonus:
Continue reading →The dawn of humans: Adam and Eve
A comment of mine from the churchgoing thread: I have never really understood the interpretation of the Adam and Eve story as having to do with sex primarily, or even really at all. Ever since reaching adulthood, I have seen … Continue reading →
Finding someone like you
I was listening to this song on my iPod yesterday. The video’s got almost 350 million pageviews on YouTube, which is an astounding number, although I do think it’s an excellent song. One of the curious things (at least to … Continue reading →