if i was ever approached by a magic genie and offered a couple of wishes, one of them surely would be to be able to sing. at the age of about 11 i remember being humiliated by nasty mrs van ordt, our choir mistress at school. she did one of those "someone is off-key" numbers and proceeded to make everyone sing a couple of lines on their own. being the tall one in the middle of the back row she eventually got to me, the evil offender, and threw me out of the class. since that day i have never been able to sing in front of people (unless after a few tequilas on a friday night kareoke at stokers pub in newlands in the '80's). however, i love singing on my own and personally think that my rendition of the bangles "eternal flame" is up there with the best. i also have the ability to remember lyrics, and if i lived in the usa i would be brilliant at that tv game "lock in those lyrics". for some reason i can still remember all the words of "knock three times" by the delians, "the times they are a-changing" by bob dylan, all pete starstedt's songs....for what? wasted knowledge taking up valuable space in my little brain that could be used for something else.
michael loves to sing, he can sing but is useless at lyrics. his taste in music is also a bit suspect and he was devastated the other morning when i agreed with the dj on the radio that "ebony and ivory" is one of the worst songs of all time. the beatles were amazing, their melodies, voices and timing are legendary but the lyrics?? oh my word - just take a look at this:-
Love, love me do
You know I love you
I'll always be true
So please love me do
Wo ho love me do
Love, love me do
You know I love you
I'll always be true
So please love me do
Wo ho love me do
Someone to love
Somebody new
Someone to love
Someone like you
Love,love me do
You know I love you
I'll always be true
So please love me do
Wo ho love me do
to this:-
In the chilly hours and minutes,
Of uncertainty, I want to be,
In the warm hold of your loving mind.
To feel you all around me,
And to take your hand, along the sand,
Ah, but I may as well try and catch the wind.
When sundown pales the sky,
I wanna hide a while, behind your smile,
And everywhere I'd look, your eyes I'd find.
For me to love you now,
Would be the sweetest thing, 'twould make me sing,
Ah, but I may as well, try and catch the wind.
When rain has hung the leaves with tears,
I want you near, to kill my fears
To help me to leave all my blues behind.
For standin' in your heart,
Is where I want to be, and I long to be,
Ah, but I may as well, try and catch the wind.
also simplistic but it says something. the busiest brother used to sing in the chamber choir at rondebosch, he has a great voice but is continually ripped off by my boys because he once commented "a song is not a song unless it has a chorus".
don't get me wrong. the beatles were the best place to begin to learn to love music. the boys still have an old fashioned cassette tape that francois delivered to them early one morning when we did pre-school lift club "beatles for the okes". this must have been the "most played" cassette ever. i love the fact that they love and still listen to cat stevens and bob dylan. we have seen counting crows, ub40 and u2 together. they have introduced me to mason jennings, ryan adams and arcade fire. they don't enjoy damien rice and adele. i am trying very hard to appreciate sigur ross. this is what makes us all different.
are you a lyrics or melody person? does it really matter? did mrs van ordt damage me forever or was that moment of terrible embarrassment only a moment that would save me a lifetime of further embarrassment?does that make sense?
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