Tag Archives | Can’t Stop the Muzak
The Sign of Two
Sherlock has two theme tunes – the “Main Theme,” which plays over the opening credits, and sounds like this:
– and “Sherlock’s Theme,” which pops up at various points during the show, and sounds like this:
My question is: why on earth do they use the first theme for the opening credits when the second theme is so much cooler?
Random Rambles
Speaking of Burroughs, while I was in San Diego for Libertopia last month I made a point of driving past the house on Coronado where Burroughs lived in 1913, when he was writing The Return of Tarzan and some of the early Barsoom and Pellucidar books. It looks exactly the same today as in this pic.
In other news, the weekend before last I had the opportunity to hear Michelle Shocked live in Auburn; I’ve been a fan of hers since grad school.
Right now I’m in the Florida Keys; heading back to Auburn this weekend.
Entangling Alliances With Nun
Around 1984, my college roommate Paul Fine (my collaborator on the Kant Song) and I wrote, inter alia, a song called “Sister Ann,” which I like best of all our joint compositions. Below are the lyrics; lines in bold are Paul’s and the rest are mine. All the music is Paul’s.
Here’s a version with Paul singing and playing the piano (my favourite); and here’s a fancy studio version with someone else singing. There’s also an instrumental version.
Sister Ann
do you recall
the night we met outside the garden wall
I held your hand
we watched the raindrops fall
we had no need of words at allSister Ann
don’t you recall
you were young and full of life
the raindrops melted on your skin
above our heads the stone cross
spoke of sorrow and of sin
you shivered in its shadow
yet the shadow seemed so small
I didn’t know I’d see you on the wrong side of the wallDid they paint a God on stony throne?
were you his disapproval shown?
I always dreamed you felt as I
and never thought to question why
we felt his velvet breath inside
when we exchanged our ownAre you happy in your garden, Sister Ann?
do your grey eyes ever mourn the passing years?
did you think of our embraces, Sister Ann
as your dark hair fell like rain
beneath the coldness of the shears?Sister Ann
do you find
it’s getting easier to erase me from your mind?
perhaps you can
I ought to be resigned
to being outside and left behindSister Ann
do you weep
or have they taught you how to close
your heart’s mute door upon the time
your body felt the wind’s kiss
and your lips pressed close to mine?
The flesh leads to damnation
so you pray your soul to keep
and hide in stifling robes to keep your memory asleepSilence binds hearts when they are young
a simple glance outspeaks a tongue
but now my words will not suffice
to reach you through that sheet of ice
that binds you to the frozen Christ
and shields you from the sunAre you happy in your garden, Sister Ann?
do your grey eyes ever mourn the passing years?
did you think of our embraces, Sister Ann
as your dark hair fell like rain
beneath the coldness of the shears?I’ll pluck a flower from this spot
in turn each petal will be got
perhaps it’s thus she was entombed
they took the flower just when bloomed
and left behind a heart that’s doomed
I know she loves me not
Scary Singing
David Tennant (who will be David Ownner after the revolution), Catherine Tate, and other Doctor Who cast and crew members commemorate series 1-4 here:
And this next video reminds us just how Hallowe’eny series 5-6 have been:
She Sighed For So Much Melody
Wallace Stevens’ “Peter Quince at the Clavier” and J. R. R. Tolkien’s “Tale of Tinúviel” always remind me of each other – and not just because they both rhyme “quavering” with “wavering.” (Whether Tolkien is likely to have read Stevens I don’t know; I’m not sure how well known he was outside the u.s.)
Tolkien is reading his own poem; I don’t know who’s reading the Stevens. Great voice, but he makes a couple of mistakes (as you’ll notice if you read along).