quote:March 12, 2002 -- In great works of literature, the words are often said to flow like music. So it's no surprise that the spirit of those words sometimes inspire songwriters.
Rock 'n' Roll icon Bruce Springsteen wrote a song about Tom Joad, the hero of John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath. Suzanne Vega sings about Homer's Odyssey. Now those songs and others are united on one CD: Songs Inspired by Literature, a benefit project to promote literacy.
And you were the first person I thought of when I heard this Mr. System. Posted by TSN (Member # 31) on :
"Ramble On" and "The Battle of Evermore" were the first two songs I looked for on there. But Simon's alrerady beaten me to commenting on their lack of being there. Damn you, sir!
Oh, and I'm going to have to admit to being more partial to Rage against the Machine's rendition of "The Ghost of Tom Joad", rather than the original...
[ March 14, 2002, 20:31: Message edited by: TSN ]
Posted by Jay the Obscure (Member # 19) on :
I too thought of Rage in context of this project.
It appears to me that part of the project was a song writing competition.
Posted by Nim Pim (Member # 205) on :
What kind of artists are that??? Elevator music? I recognized two names, Vega and the Boss. They must've been the main drawing cards. Posted by TSN (Member # 31) on :
I only recognize Springsteen and Grace Slick (former vocalist of Jefferson [Airplane | Starship]).
Posted by Sol System (Member # 30) on :
Aimee Mann is fairly well known these days. I think she won a Grammy this year.
So did TMBG.
Who also won a Grammy.
TMBG.
Grammy.
On my planet time flows sideways now.
Posted by Ultra Taco Magnus (Member # 239) on :
TGMB ONLY WWON TEH AWRaRD FOR TEH BEST THEAM SONG!11!! "YOU US NOT TEH BEST OF MEE NOW!11"
TAHT IS QUALATY MUSIC IF I EVER HEARD IT! MISTAR!1
ONLY BECAUS E TAHT DOOEY KID IS ON TEH SOHW WIHT TEH SMRYT KID NAMED TEH MALCUM!1!!
MALCUM IS IN TEH MIDDOL!! OF A NUCKAL SANDWICH FROM MY HANDS!!1 AR HAR
!1
NO I AM DONE!
NO WAIT I AM NOT!
FANCY LAD FAMOUS ROCK STAR MEN AER HEAR!!11
[ March 15, 2002, 20:35: Message edited by: Ultra Taco Magnus ]
Posted by Sol System (Member # 30) on :
w00t!
If I wasn't so attached to my current status line I would so be Fancy Lad Famous Rock Star Man right now.
Posted by The_Tom (Member # 38) on :
The "Finnegan's Wake" cover by the Dropkick Murphies, would, admittedly, be a bit out of place on that album. But if there ever was an award for replicating the, um, sound of Joyce, that's where it should go.
[ March 15, 2002, 21:26: Message edited by: The_Tom ]
Posted by Vice-Admiral Michael T. Colorge (Member # 144) on :
At least no one will make John Donne's The Flea into a song.
Posted by Sol System (Member # 30) on :
Huh?
Posted by Nim Pim (Member # 205) on :
Dum-di-dum di when you're a little spanish flea!
Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass, now that's prime muzak if I ever heard it. Mmmm, I'm looking for an elevator right now.
Posted by Grokca (Member # 722) on :
I thought all Springsteen did was elevator music.
Posted by AndrewR (Member # 44) on :
OK, so no Loreena McKennitt hey!?! She actually uses verse from some of the 'greats'... Shakespeare, Tennyson, Yeats etc.
There is also Enya's "Lothlorien" from her Shepherd Moons album.
Posted by First of Two (Member # 16) on :
"Pal, you just named two of my favorites."
What about people who reference Authors in songs? Then we could include Tori Amos.
And other artists...? "Vincent" by Don MacLean
Several Metallica songs reference H.P. Lovecraft, especially "The Thing that Should Not Be"
Many songs reference comic book literature, from Donovan's "Sunshine Superman" to Five for Fighting's version, to songs about Wolverine, Spiderman, and Judge Dredd (He is the Law -- Anthrax)
Posted by The_Tom (Member # 38) on :
The other day I was attempting to count how many well-known songs from recent years reference Superman. It's become quite common lately. Crash Test Dummies, REM, Three Doors Down, Five for Fighting...
Posted by The_Tom (Member # 38) on :
And, while we're sliding into pop culture, there's always Semisonic's rather deft allusion to "Spock's Brain" from three years back or so.
Posted by First of Two (Member # 16) on :
Not including 'novelty songs' (Star Trekkin')
There was another Star Trek reference in a song I heard a couple times, tho I can't remember who it was by: "Pure Energy." It was a sample of Nimoy saying 'Pure energy' from the Organian episode.
There's a line: "everyone's a Captain Kirk" in "99 Red Balloons"
"T'Pau," of course, was an 80's band.
Posted by CaptainMike (Member # 709) on :
Please tell me everyone here is familiar with Star Pilot on Channel K (S.P.O.C.K for short).. convention band made good, sold CDs..
'Never Trust a Klingon' is a great song.. so is 'Mr. Spock's Brain'
Posted by The_Tom (Member # 38) on :
Interesting that you raise that, First... because in at least the version of 99 Red Balloons I have, the refrain that's meant to contain the Captain Kirk reference is substituted for the German one.
Posted by First of Two (Member # 16) on :
What does it say in the German version?
Posted by Grokca (Member # 722) on :
And what about "The Ballad of Bilbo Baggins" by Leonard Nimoy
Posted by The_Tom (Member # 38) on :
<nimoy>Fascinating</nimoy>
OK... It turns out that the original Nena version and the Goldfinger cover have slightly different lyrics
The version I've got my hands on is a cover by Goldfinger, which follows Nena's English version, but throws in a German verse from the original in place of the Captain Kirk verse. http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/goldfinger/99redballoons.html
[ March 18, 2002, 17:50: Message edited by: The_Tom ]
Posted by CaptainMike (Member # 709) on :
German:
quote:Nena -- 99 Luftballons lyrics: (Words by Carlo Karges/Music by J. U. Fahrenkrog-Petersen)
Hast du etwas Zeit fuer mich Dann singe ich ein Lied fuer dich Von 99 Luftballons Auf ihrem Weg zum Horizont Denkst du vielleicht g'rad an mich Dann singe ich ein Lied fuer dich Von 99 Luftballons Und dass sowas von sowas kommt
99 Luftballons Auf ihrem Weg zum Horizont Hielt man fuer Ufos aus dem All Darum schickte ein General 'ne Fliegerstaffel hinterher Alarm zu geben, wenn's (sie?) war Dabei war'n da am Horizont Nur 99 Luftballons
99 Duesenjager Jeder war ein grosser Krieger Hielten sich fuer Captain Kirk Das gab ein grosses Feuerwerk Die Nachbarn haben nichts gerafft Und fuehlten sich gleich angemacht Dabei schoss man am Horizont Auf 99 Luftballons
99 Kriegsminister Streichholz und Benzinkanister Hielten sich fuer schlaue Leute Witterten schon fette Beute Riefen: Kring und wollten Macht Mann, wer hatte das gedacht Dass es einmal soweit kommt Wegen 99 Luftballons
99 Jahre Krieg Liessen keine Platz fuer Sieger Kriegsminister gibt's nicht mehr Und auch keine Duesenflieger Heute zieh ich meine Runden Seh' die Welt in Truemmern liegen Hab' 'nen Luftballon gefunden Denk' an dich und lass' ihn fliegen
English:
quote:Nena -- 99 Red Balloons lyrics: You and I in a little toy shop buy a bag of balloons with the money we've got Set them free at the break of dawn 'Til one by one, they were gone Back at base, bugs in the software Flash the message, "Something's out there" Floating in the summer sky 99 red balloons go by.
99 red balloons floating in the summer sky Panic bells, it's red alert There's something here from somewhere else The war machine springs to life Opens up one eager eye Focusing it on the sky Where 99 red balloons go by.
99 Decision Street, 99 ministers meet To worry, worry, super-scurry Call the troops out in a hurry This is what we've waited for This is it boys, this is war The president is on the line As 99 red balloons go by.
99 Knights of the air ride super-high-tech jet fighters Everyone's a Silverhero Everyone's a Captain Kirk With orders to identify To clarify and classify Scramble in the summer sky As 99 red balloons go by.
As 99 red balloons go by.
99 dreams I have had In every one a red balloon It's all over and I'm standin' pretty In this dust that was a city If I could find a souvenier Just to prove the world was here... And here is a red balloon I think of you and let it go.
And since I'm bored here's 'Never Trust a Klingon' by S.P.O.C.K:
quote:The Klingon bastards fly around always ready for some war They don't care about any rules at all as long as they can kill some more Evil barbarians without discipline unpredictable death machine
With their cloaking device they remain invisible until the time has come to appear right ahead of us and obliterate everyone If you ever would give them a helping hand you can be sure they'll chop off the arm
Chorus: Never, ever, never trust a Klingon you will always regret it Never, ever, never trust a Klingon you will never forget it
Hey! dont post at the same time as me!
[ March 18, 2002, 17:49: Message edited by: CaptainMike ]
Posted by TSN (Member # 31) on :
Just so no-one gets confused, whoever "translated" it made up the "red" part. "Luftballoon" just means "balloon" (literally "air-balloon"). "Red balloon" would be "rot Luftballoon".
Actually, I guess it was probably the original group that did the English version, too, eh? So they'd be allowed to make it up. But still, just so there's no confusion... :-)
[ March 19, 2002, 00:29: Message edited by: TSN ]
Posted by Jernau Morat Gurgeh (Member # 318) on :
There's a song by The Divine Comedy (from Northern Ireland) called "The Booklovers". He lists various authors and comments on each. Lyrics of the song are here.
Posted by AndrewR (Member # 44) on :
quote:"Pal, you just named two of my favorites."
What about people who reference Authors in songs? Then we could include Tori Amos.
Ohh - cool! Similar faves! I *ADORE* Ms. Amos!
Yeah - Tori's always slipping in a Neil (Gaiman) reference.
On Star Trek in Songs - 'thread':
I remember there was some 'popular song' a few years ago which had the lyrics that went something like "Like Captain Jean-Luc Picard in the United Federation of Planets"...
And one night on JJJ (A 'youth' national radiostation) here in Australia on Saturday nights they have 'mix-up' - basically DJ's play their stuff... and someone sampled Picard saying from Unification "Let me go and remove my ears"! LOL! Out of context, it's quite funny (of course he's talking about the Romulan prostheses).
Andrew
Posted by First of Two (Member # 16) on :
I KNOW that song! (Although I don't know its title, I think it's either "stupid people" or "mission at midnight":
"Show your ID card to the border guard, and your alias says you're Captain Jean-Luc Picard Of the United Federation of Planets, 'Cause he won't speak english anyway...
Everybody knows that the world is full of stupid people, So meet me at the mission at midnight, we'll divvy up there, Everybody knows that the world is full of stupid people, But I've got the pistols, so I'll keep the pesos... Yeah, that seems fair."
Posted by The_Tom (Member # 38) on :
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