Source: http://distantpassion.tumblr.com/post/81331711338

Toccata

Everything about this greyscale piano —
from its keys like uneven teeth,
in need of more than brushing
to remove the dust and decay
that years of mistreatment
and neglect have caused —
to the space it occupies,
all bricks and mortar, rough-hewn,
cold and under-used,
bespeak a painful loss.

No music warms the cold places
in that stony room.
No sharps and flats swell round
the empty spaces,
nor wisps of airy tunes
disturb the curled leaves
of the abandoned sheets.
A paradox on legs,
the ancient instrument seems
a statement of fragility and force.

Fortissimo, pianissimo…
no sounds at all
defy the rigid quiet,
or mar the weathered stillness
of this antique…
disregarded, disrespected,
a hushed requiem for a life
lived far too long,
or else too soon discarded…
its death an unvoiced crescendo.

~ KDB

Copyright 2014

Wild at Heart!

Gloriana is a newer country band, and I love their music.  It makes me wanna dance, and the lyrics are great, too!  "I just wanna free fall for a while!"  Add to that the musicianship, the performance, the way the parts go together -- guitars, synthesizer, drums, voice -- delightful!  These kids have that magic "something" that I find very attractive, not to mention they're good-looking!  All of them!  

First, the title tune!  *head bobbing foot stamping, as I type"

*singing*  "You've got me running, baby, wild at heart!  Oh-oh!  All riiiiiiight!"

Next, double entendre to the Nth degree...at least in the title!  Or am I just naughty?  

Well?  "Are you looking for a little more?  How far do you wanna go?  Tell me..."  

He finally got up the courage to ask her out, and of course, he got lucky!  As we knew he would!  The goodnight kiss in this next video, "(Kissed You) Good Night", was a cool foot in the door, eh?  

 

So, he kissed her, and he told her where HE wanted to go!  Hence this next song, "Wanna Take You Home". Sexy lil hip-shaker, complete with boot-scootin' line dancing! Yeehaw!!  Lucky sod!

Black Gospel Part 1

I love The Winans, both the former quartet, now trio -- Ronald, one of the brothers died in 2005 -- and the individuals Bebe (Benjamin) and Cece (Pricilla).  This first song is one I discovered when we watched a videotape (yeah, that's how long ago I've "known" them!) of a concert of theirs.  It's a favorite of mine. (You'll note they are three here, because Ronald has passed away by this point.)

Serendipity...

...is the word for how I come to be posting this video first.  I visited a friend's blog, and listened to the Donnie McClurkin song she had posted.  It sent me to YouTube, where I found another song from that concert, a Jamaican medley which I love, and I posted it on her page.  Remembering that in the concert of which those two songs were a part, Pastor McClurkin had Pastor Marvin Winans of "The Winans" as a guest, I went looking for THAT song, which took me to Whitney Houston's funeral, where he and his siblings had a part, and sang a few songs, and he was the preacher.  From there, it was a small step to this video which I think ends on a most appropriate note, as you will see if you listen to the end.  There are some glitches, but this is a student's work, so be patient.  And enjoy!  

YEAH!

Makes me wanna dance, coz it's a catchy tune with some awesome moves...and the big girl gets the hot guy!! YAY!!!    "I love it when a plan comes together!"

If only life were like this musical, eh?  

Spunky Attitude!

I was gonna title this one "Spunks", remembering what Christophine tried to teach her charge, Antoinette, in WIDE SARGASSO SEA ("Woman mus' have spunks to live in this wicked world!"), but I know how some of you are, and this has NOTHING to do with THAT!  

What a great song...and at the end of the short span of time -- "It isn't too long a stay" -- that is your life, can you hear Sinatra sing "Yes, it was my way!"?  

The Ostrich Syndrome

BEFORE YOU READ:  Don't feel you have to comment, particularly if you have nothing constructive to say, or can't take constructive opposition to your views, or get hot under the collar and forget this is not your page!  I'll delete, without notice, any comment which I find to be offensive to me, and that can run the gamut from trying to belittle me or my opinions to doing the same to anyone who chooses to respond here.  Take the chip OFF your shoulder before you begin to read, please, or else give this one a pass!  Thank you!

You know, every now and again, people make my blood really boil, especially when they spout prejudice while pretending to themselves and others that they are being entirely reasonable and objective. My impulse is to argue with them, to pick apart their "reasonableness", but in the final analysis, what's the point?  Some people choose a side and stick to it no matter what, and I've discovered that the older we get, the less tolerant and the more bigoted we become.  We have just learned how to mask it better and pretend better that we are listening to others and entertaining their point of view. It's a sham, believe me.  None of us older ones is really listening to anyone else, and the only ones who are probably even HALF listening are the young people, whose extremism is NEVER hidden, but who swing more easily from one extreme to another.

Maybe it's the human condition to be that way, eh? We begin life as "out of the closet" bigots/extremists, and evolve into closet ones, to further our agendas, whatever they may be.  I find myself as intolerant of these people's views as they are of mine and others'.  I am more than a little bit tired of them and of their negative energy.  They're a drag, man!  Seriously!

This isn't a rant about racism, per se (though what I've said here may be related to it), but this song is as good as any other for exposing an ugly truth about us human beings.  And there's no plausible deniability ... just a terrible fear in some of us to be exposed as bigots.  To quote from the song, "It's a touchy subject! Bigotry has never been exclusively white!"

Late For Your Life

Mary Chapin Carpenter...a new friend has turned me on to her music!  This one is profound!

Soothing Strings

Listen to...really listen!  Don't the strings settle something essential inside you?  Something that needs soothing, calming, smoothing over, settling down?  I love this!

Love Story

A friend has this in the right rail on his page, and as I watched "Love Story", I remembered it.  In the movie, Jenny dies, and the pain is as bad as the one described at the end of this little reflection.  

“Have you ever been in love? Horrible isn't it? It makes you so vulnerable.  It opens your chest and it opens up your heart and it means that someone can get inside you and mess you up.  You build up all these defenses, you build up a whole suit of armor, so that nothing can hurt you, then one stupid person, no different from any other stupid person, wanders into your stupid life... You give them a piece of you.  They didn't ask for it.  They did something dumb one day, like kiss you or smile at you, and then your life isn't your own anymore.  Love takes hostages.  It gets inside you.  It eats you out and leaves you crying in the darkness, so simple a phrase like 'maybe we should be just friends' turns into a glass splinter working its way into your heart.  It hurts. Not just in the imagination.  Not just in the mind.  It's a soul-hurt, a real gets-inside-you-and-rips-you-apart pain.  But, "Don't hate love.”

I'm all shook up!  I know...I'm a sappy sod!  Here's the instrumental version...

And the song (that I can't sing now for crying)...

From the Heart...

Just posted some sappy love songs over on Kittigory...and here I am doing it again over here.  Different songs here...

There's a hero...

...in everybody's heart!  Beautiful sentiment, beautifully sung by a beautiful child!

May the FUNK be with ya! *boogie DOWN*

Stay Awhile...

I'm a Soppy Sod!

Was just watching the end of this movie, and bawling my eyes out...as always!

Rest in peace, girlie!

Join me in celebrating the life of the divine Whitney...a voice for the ages!  Come here to listen to her music, unfettered by blame and judgment.  Come here to enjoy the beauty that was Whitney!

Answer Me...

...doesn't this voice just make you want to melt?  And what a great song!

Is it me...

...or do these two ladies share a similar sensuality of tone -- a richness, a roundness, a depth (across the spectrum of soprano sound), that makes listening to them sing a sexy, sensual treat?

What friends are for...

I love you all, and appreciate your friendship.  I take being a friend very seriously, and wish those who are mine all did so too.  But I can't let what others do or don't do affect who I am, and how I treat my friends.  

I wish you all a wonderful day!  *hugs*

Beautiful!