The theme of unreasonable rulers continues with The Shoemaker’s Son (“Animated Tales of the World,” 2004), from Armenia. Don’t miss the twin peaks of Mt. Ararat in the opening shot.
Archive | August, 2019
SciFi SongFest, Songs 95-96
95. David Bowie, “Blackstar” (2015):
“Blackstar” was released shortly (like, two days) before Bowie’s death, and the lyrics seem to reference his impending fate: “Something happened on the day he died …. How many times does an angel fall?” The lyrics don’t mention Major Tom, but the video – with the production of which Bowie was closely involved – begins with an apparently dead astronaut marooned on a distant planet under a black sun, and later we see his skeleton plunging into this black sun – Major Tom’s final farewell to his fans. (We’re not quite done with Bowie yet, though. One more day of Bowie to go.)
Songs can be about more than one thing, of course; and some of the video’s visuals, particularly in connection with the line “On the day of execution, only women kneel and smile” have been interpreted as a reference to ISIS, whose exploits Bowie followed with hostile interest.
The video’s button-eyed Bowie and his button-eyed scarecrows are also reminiscent of Neil Gaiman’s Coraline:
96. Ayreon, “Into the Black Hole” (2000):
Another song about a black sun and impending death ….
Middelboe Chronicles, Part 35: Elijah
The theme of unreasonable rulers continues with Elijah (“Testament: The Bible in Animation,” 1996). The music is from Mendelssohn’s Elijah Oratorio.
The irony of the Jehovah/Ba’al rivalry is that they appear, from most of the historical evidence, to have originally been the same god under different names, like Jupiter and Zeus, or Odin and Woden.
In popular culture, the name “Jezebel” is most associated with Frankie Laine’s song:
Back in the 1970s in San Diego, my grandmother once shared a cab with Frankie Laine. She only vaguely knew who he was, and he of course had no idea that this sweet little old lady was herself “a devil … born / without a pair of horns.” He gave her free tickets to his show, but she didn’t go. (It didn’t occur to her to give the tickets to, say, her daughter and grandson.)
SciFi SongFest, Songs 93-94
Stay away from the future
back away from the light
it’s all deranged
no control ….
I shall live my life on bended knee
if I can’t control my destiny ….I believe I can see the future
’cause I repeat the same routine
I think I used to have a purpose
then again that might have been a dream ….
I just do what I’ve been told
I really don’t want them to come around ….
93. David Bowie, “No Control” (1995):
94. Nine Inch Nails, “Every Day Is Exactly the Same” (2005):
Middelboe Chronicles, Part 34: The Tyrant and the Child
A cruel and unreasonable king, a magic snake trick, and an exile into the desert. No, it’s not yesterday’s story of Moses, it’s The Tyrant and the Child (“Animated Tales of the World,” 2002), from Burkina Faso:
SciFi SongFest, Songs 90-92
90. David Bowie, “The Laughing Gnome” (1967):
Welcome to what may be the most universally hated Bowie song:
It seems only cosmic justice to pair “The Laughing Gnome” with this other unbeloved classic:
91. The Go-Go’s, “I’m Gonna Spend My Christmas With a Dalek” (1964):
No, these are not the Go-Go’s you’re thinking of.
The only good part of this song is the bit that’s swiped from the 1959 Peter Gunn theme:
Plus you can tell these Daleks are inauthentic, because they ask for plum pudding. Everybody knows that what Daleks want is rice pudding and plenty of it:
92. Who Cares?, “Doctor in Distress” (1985):
After “The Laughing Gnome” and “I’m Gonna Spend My Christmas With a Dalek,” this other much-hated Doctor-Who-related song – part of an effort to save the show from cancellation – seems like a masterpiece in comparison. And at least it’s sound on the Dalek question.
“When they were faced with danger, they didn’t run”? Really? Because I’m pretty sure that frantic running (usually down corridors or through rock quarries) has been a staple of the show from the beginning.