Music
I seldom listen to music: generally it is imposed on me by others. But sometimes I browse some on YouTube, and I do have some childhood favorites from when I listened to records while home sick.
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Ode to Joy
Now the anthem of the European Union.
I don't know why I love this one so much: it is metronomic, and I can't understand the original lyrics in German. Perhaps just as well: the lyrics are elliptical, allegorical, romantic, metaphorical, and not nearly sensible enough to satisfy me. But the triumphant harmonies, changes in pace and variability of the music meets some aesthetic of mine and leave me thrilled. And I'm not alone. :-)
Lately I've noticed a large number of riffs on this music. Here are a few that I love.
- Ode to Joy with lyrics in German and English
- An original long version in German.
- Ode To Joy | Muppet Music Video | The Muppets
- I've always had a fondness for the Muppets.
- Rowan Atkinson (Mr. Bean) European Anthem - 'Beethoven's 9th Symphony'
- He accidentally loses the lyrics and has to ad lib.
- Beethoven Chased by Rossini ยท Garrison Keillor and Frederica Von Stade
- Beethoven's Ode to Joy brilliantly layered on top of Rossini's William Tell Overture; the story of an old cat disturbed by a dog. From Songs of the Cat.
- Pete Seeger: Ode to Joy
- Banjo solo with new lyrics by Don West. Much better than the original lyrics.
Build the road of peace before us, build it wide and deep and long. Speed the slow, remind the eager, help the weak, and guide the strong. None shall push aside another, none shall let another fall. Work beside me sisters and brothers, all for one and one for all.
- Flashmob Flash Mob - Ode an die Freude ( Ode to Joy ) Beethoven Symphony No.9 classical music
- Unbelievably beautiful. Including the audience reaction.
- Clockwork Orange (1971): Aversion Therapy
- One of Kubrik's greatest films, shocking and hard to watch, yet essential to learning cynicism properly.
Mr. Sandman
- The Original, by the Chordettes.
- Amazing harmony.
- Mr. Biden, Bring My Vaccine.
- One of Randy Rainbow's finest works. Hysterically funny.
- CRISPR-Cas9 ("Mr. Sandman" Parody), A Capella Science
- One of the most amazing solo a capella performances ever, with spot-on science and significant variation of the repetitions in the original music to add drama.
La Marseillaise
- La Marseillaise, sung by Mireille Mathieu. American English subtitles.
- The French national anthem; very stirring and a bit bloodthirsty.
Yodeling
The closest I have to ancestral music: my father was Austrian. Though he was raised in Vienna and only spent summers in the countryside.
- Franzl Lang - Happy Yodeling (25mins long mix)
- Give it a try. Some of the most amazing yodeling ever.
Gilbert and Sullivan
'Nuff said.
- I Am the Very Model of a Modern Major-General
- From The Pirates of Penzance".
- I'm the Monarch of the Sea
- When I Was a Lad
- From HMS Pinafore.
- A More Humane Mikado Never in Japan Exist (My Object All Sublime.)
- From The Mikado.
- Nightmare Song
- From Iolanthe.
Humorous Songs
- Daffy's Rhapsody
- Based on Hungarian Rhapsody.
- National Lampoon - Deteriorata
- A fitting mockery of the pompous and vapid Desiderata.
- Dr. Demento Theme
- Unbelievably cool.
- Galaxy Song
- From Monty Python's The Meaning of Life.
Weird Al Yankovic
- White & Nerdy.
- My personal theme song. Also used as the name for a daylily: White And Nerdy.
- Perform this way.
- Word Crimes.
Flanders and Swann
Of course you could listen to The Complete Flanders & Swann. But some of my favorites are:
- The Reluctant Cannibal
- A great parody of parental arguments with vegetarian children.
- In The Bath
- Misalliance
- A botanical song of ill-fated love.
- The Wompom
- Botanical whimsey at its best! Also used as the name of a daylily: Wompom Song
- Hippopotamus Song
- I used to sing my kids to sleep with this one.
- Hippo Encore
- The Gnu Song
- Have Some Madeira M'Dear?
- This song has not aged well, as it is about rape culture's protection of date rape. But the wordplay is extraordinary.
Tom Lehrer
You could also listen to the [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tyu7dstANgo&list=PL520FA475863B4C0C All of Tom Lehrer playlist, but these are my favorites:
- The Elements
- Wernher von Braun
- So Long Mom
- My favorite bit of cynicism when I was young.
- Pollution
- Silent E
- His contribution to Sesame Street!
- The Hunting Song
- The Wild West Is Where I Want To Be
- Fight Fiercely Harvard
A Capella Science
Randy Rainbow
Miscellaneous
- Keep calm do fuck all.
- The British response to pandemic lockdowns.
