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Middelboe Chronicles, Part 35: Elijah

By on August 14, 2019 0

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

By on August 14, 2019 0

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):

SciFi SongFest, Songs 90-92

By on August 13, 2019 0

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.

Middelboe Chronicles, Part 33: Moses

By on August 12, 2019 0

As with yesterday’s The Magic Paintbrush, so with today’s Moses (“Testament: The Bible in Animation,” 1996), a cruel and unreasonable ruler receives a magical comeuppance:

I mentioned last week that Ben Kingsley had played Potiphar. He has also played Moses. In this clip, Moses has dragged the Israelites to a concert by Hotblack Desiato’s Disaster Area but they are not as into it as he is:

SciFi SongFest, Songs 88-89

By on August 12, 2019 0

88. David Bowie, “New Killer Star” (2003):

Bowie’s song for today seems to reference 9/11 –

See the great white scar
over Battery Park ….
all the corners of the buildings
who but we remember these?

– though as usual with Bowie lyrics it seems to be about other things as well, given the multiple possible meanings of “new killer / nuclear” and “star.”

89. Angie Aparo, “Spaceship” (2000):

No particular thematic linkage between today’s two songs, I’m afraid, apart from the use of sci-fi tropes to comment on contemporary society:

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