Mack The Knife by Bobby Darin

Not all lyrics are created equal.

Some lyrics are trite and are just there to serve the melody, other times lyrics play an equal importance in the song and with artist like Bob Dylan, the lyrics are the most important expressive and artistic aspect of a song.

Regardless of the level of the lyrical artistry, I like knowing the lyrics and what they are about. Often when I’m talking to friends and they a mention and I casually mention what they lyrics are about they are often shocked especially when the lyrics seems to say express something different then the words. One of the most striking examples of this is “Mack The Knife” from The Threepenny Opera

Between World War I and World War II, life for Germans was so bad that all artist could do was make jokes about life’s misfortune. This type of “black humor” was the only way people could cope with life. Two of the most important artists of this time in Germany who used dark humor to comment on life were the composer Kurt Weill and the playwright Bertolt Brecht. In 1928, these two legendary artist combined forces to compose the musical The Threepenny Opera.

The Threepenny Opera is the story of Macheath. He falls in love with a girl named Polly and wants to marry her against her father’s wishes. The father, Jonathan Jeremiah Peachum, who controls the beggars in London, successfully gets Macheath arrested and sentenced to death. Luckily Macheath is pardoned right before he is executed. Our hero is released and we are made to feel happy that Macheath has escaped such an unjust and cruel fate.

Before this story begins, we are told about this person, our hero, Macheath, otherwise known as “Mack the Knife.” The musical opens with a “moritat” a story of murder performed strolling musician. The moritat singer bookends the show singing about hos exploits.

Macheath is bad man even though it’s not clear what exactly he has done. The police have arrested him numerous times for crimes but Macheath always gets released because he served in the military with the Chief of Police. Even though Macheath has done some horrible things, we cheer him on in this story as he fights for his love and freedom, with the warnings of “Mack the Knife” echoing in our memory.

What people originally heard was not a big band arrangement with a swinging jazz vocalist out front, instead they heard this:



This recording of Brecht singing “Mack the Knife” in German is kind of creepy isn’t it? Listening to this song feels like I’m wearing a shirt that doesn’t quite fit right but I just can’t get it off. . ick.

That’s the original “Mack the Knife.” It’s eerie and just a tad disturbing. It’s like someone telling a group of people a joke about a girl being raped and laughing at his own joke while everyone else in the room is just sickened.

When Bobby Darin told his management that he wanted to record “Mack the Knife,” after he had just scored with the hits “Splish Splah” and “Dream Lover,” they argued against it. Darin recorded it anyways and it became his biggest hit. Many people recorded this song after Darin brought it into our cultural consciousness. My personal favorite is this Robbie William’s cover.



The song opens talking about a shark as a metaphor for Macheath. The “scarlet billows” is blood flowing while Macheath’s fancy gloves never show “a trace of red.” The next verse talks about a body “oozing life” as the singer wonders if he just saw Macheath around the corner. The singers takes us down by the river, where a cement bag is weighing someone down to the bottom of the river which the singers sees as a sign that Macheath is back in town. The last part of the song lists off people who Macheath killed. It’s kind of odd how this is the part of the song when it kicks into a joyful shout chorus.

I’ve always loved “Mack the Knife” but ever since I found out the history behind the song and what the lyrics are about, I feel a little guilty enjoying hearing about this sadistic man, Macheath. The thing is, I like the song even more knowing what it’s about, and the feeling that I shouldn’t is what makes it all the more fun.

Landslide by Fleetwood Mac

I didn’t really fit in when I was in high school. I spent most of my time practicing piano and violin and composing music preparing to be a music major in college. I was perfectly happy staying in on Saturday night watching a movie or reading a book. I think I only went to one party during high school. I never had a group of friends I hung out with but I did have a couple close friends who I would hang out with.

I guess the main reason I didn't fit in with the people in high school was that I didn’t understand them. People would talk about being on sports teams or the crazy things they did on the weekend and I just didn’t get why these things were so important. This probably would not have bothered me as much if I felt that more people understood me better. Only a few people seemed to understand my love of music and how I viewed the world. For some reason, I just didn’t see things the same way that my peers did in high school.

When I graduated Mercer Island High School, there was a tradition of interspersing music performances within the graduation exercises. We had a pretty musical class with a lot of people who wanted to perform at graduation so what the administration decided was that some people would perform during graduation and others would perform during the senior assembly.

I auditioned and performed a couple times in graduation. I opened the ceremony with an arrangement that I made of “The Star-Spangled Banner” on piano (which has a story attached to it for later post), I accompanied some girls from choir singing “In My Life” by the Beatles, accompanied a flute player and I got together a band to play “Ants Marching” by Dave Matthews Band.

One of the people who auditioned was a girl I knew from orchestra. She wanted to perform “Landslide” by Fleetwood Mac at graduation. When I heard this, I scoffed at the idea because it didn’t make much sense to me why that song would be appropriate for a graduation ceremony unlike the musical performances I was involved in. In retrospect, “Ants Marching” doesn’t seem to make a lot of sense in a graduation ceremony either but who knows what was really going on in my head back then. The administration did not choose her to perform at graduation but instead she performed at the senior assembly.

I’ve listened to “Landslide” periodically over the years but it’s never brought me back to that performance at the senior assembly until a couple days ago when I heard this song playing in the background at a store. The night before I heard the song at the store my wife and I were talking about our lives and it hit me how much change was in our futures. I know life isn’t really a life worth living if there is not some kind of change that is constantly happening, but knowing that doesn’t make change any less scary.

Stevie sings that she’s afraid of change because what she’s built her life around is changing as well. Though Stevie is reflective and a little sad hearing Stevie sing about her feelings is comforting. "Landslide" reminds me that there is someone out who shares my fears. This doesn’t make my feelings go away, but it makes me feel less alone.

I guess this is what she was singing about at the senior assembly. Just because I wasn’t feeling that at the time doesn’t mean that she wasn't and that our peers weren’t feeling this as well. Even though I may not have understood how what this meant to you at the time I get it now. At least in this small way I understand a little better the people I went to high school with and that means a lot.

The weird thing is, while I don’t remember any of the musical performances from the graduation ceremony but I can clearly remember how her voice sounded singing “Landslide,” vulnerable and pure, a little sad, but mostly happy, fighting back tears through a smile that shined like the stars.

Shingles

I have shingles.

No, not the stuff you put on your roof, rather the adult form of chicken pox.

God has a weird sense of humor. I got through a whole year of working in an elementary school full of children who see daily hand washing as optional. In addition, my school had at least one confirmed case of the H1N1 flu, otherwise known as “swine flu” but hilariously known as “Hamthrax.”

Here’s the deal with shingles:



When you have the chicken pox or any other virus, the virus doesn’t completely leave the body. For one reason or another (probably for me the stress of the last couple days of school) the chicken pox virus comes raging back in the form of shingles otherwise known (well only to doctors) as the “varicella zoster virus.”

So, I technically didn’t “get” shingles from anyone. Everyone who has had the chicken pox or the chicken pox vaccine has the virus inside of them laying dormant. In my body, the virus got bored and decided to have a party. I can’t give anyone else shingles unless they haven’t had chicken pox. So if you are an adult who hasn’t had chicken pox steer clear away from me (not that you need another excuse to avoid me) and go get yourself a chicken pox vaccine.

According to shingles.com over 90% of American over the age of 15 have had the chicken pox. The chances of someone who has had chicken pox getting shingles is 1% for people age 80 to 90 years old, .5% for people age 50 to 60 years and .25% for people ages 20 to 50 years old.

WOAH. .25%?!? Are you kidding? 1 out of 400 people, and I was the lucky winner!?!?

This wouldn’t frustrate me so much except for the fact that I NEVER beat the odds when it comes to playing games, gambling or in general living life (I’m kidding. I’ve actually been incredible lucky throughout my life, that’s just the shingles talking).

Those are pretty slim chances. What’s even weirder is that my brother had shingles a couple years ago and one of his best friends is working through shingles right now. The chances of me not only having shingles but also knowing two other people who have had shingles at my age is . . . um. . . . I think I just multiple the chance of getting shingles by the chances of me knowing someone who has shingles twice. . . ok so that’s 1/64,000,000. Either I can’t do math at all (which is a possibility) or those chances are pretty slim.

So there is good news. I did catch the shingles early, so my outbreak is mild. We live in the day and age where we actually have effective anti-viral medications so my doctor put me on Valtrex. Ok. . . time for the Valtrex jokes. . . If you don’t’ know what I’m talking about watch this commercial. . .



From the prescription information: This medicine [Valtrex] is an antiviral used for treating shingles, cold sores, and treating, suppressing or reducing the transmission of genital herpes in patients with normal immune systems. It is also used to treat chickenpox in children and teenagers. It is also used to suppress genital herpes in patients with HIV infection.

Note how shingles is the first use for Valtrex and genital herpes is the last one listed. Don’t you love how herpes is more marketable in our society then shingles?

Not that I feel the need to defend my um. . . “cleanliness,” but NO Kathleen, when I found out I had shingles I didn’t just up my prescription of Valtrex. Seriously Kathleen, YOU’RE A DOCTOR, let’s be a little bit more sensitive here. Well, your comment was not nearly as bad as the reaction I got from Elizabeth, who is a med students . Immediately after I told her she retreated about six feet away from me like she just realized I had leprosy.

I guess that’s why Elizabeth is still in medical school.

I’m not really in that much pain, I just really crotchety. My left chest and back feel sore and there’s pain that comes in waves, enough to make my twinge but not enough to debilitate me. I can sleep just fine especially after taking a couple Advil’s. I’m kind of tired, which makes sense as my body tries to fight this thing off but not so bad that I can’t do stuff, I’m just moving at a slower speed.

To my knowledge songs about shingles. If there is, I don’t want really want to hear them. So let’s just chill out, relax, and enjoy, a little “You Sexy Thing” by Hot Chocolate.



Nothing says “You Sexy Thing” like a suit with black and white vertical stripes.

Hope y’all are having a great shingle-free start to your summers.

Summer Nights (from Grease) by John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John

In 2007, NBC produced the reality television series, “Grease: You’re The One That I Want” to pick the two leads of a Broadway revival of Grease. The show a moderate success and a incredible promotion tool for the revival which had enormous ticket sales. Now, I actually never watched this show, but I’ll never forget this music video that was produced to promote the show.



This “medley” of songs from Grease stared Device van Outen one of the co-host of the NBC show. When I first saw this video on television, it just left me speechless. The medley is put together in a rather unorthodox way splicing different songs together, leading off with “Sandra Dee” one of the less well-known songs from the show. However, what most people were thinking about when they watched this video were the girls in black lingerie doing a not-so-subtle striptease dance.

After I saw this video on television I went to the official show website where it was posted and sent the link to a couple of friends. A couple days I noticed that the video was no longer on the website. Apparently, people complained and thought that this was an inappropriate way to promote a family-orientated television show about casting a family-orientated Broadway show.

I got to agree here, some of the moves on the chairs are a little racy and if NBC really wanted “Grease: You’re The One That I Want” to be a family show, this was a little much. The ironic thing is that the originators of Grease never intended to be a family show.

Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey’s 1972 musical, Grease was a show filled with expletives including a line when Sandy says “f--- it” to Danny when he asks if she is still mad at him. The original show more openly dealt the issues of teenage sexuality including Sandy’s abstinence, Rizzo’s promiscuity and the differences between the way that males and females view sexuality.

Then in 1978, Randal Kleiser directed the film version of the musical, which cleaned up the language in the musical and dealt with the sexuality of the show in a more subtle and light-hearted way. The film, which is the highest grossing musical of all time has become so popular that revivals of the Broadway show take more after the film then the original stage production. Like most people, the film version of Grease is the one that I know and love.

What makes Grease great goes beyond whether or not there are swear words used in the musical or even the way that sexuality the story deals with sexuality. Grease displays synergy between the music and plot that develops the characters and expresses the emotions in a real and convincing way.

And honestly who doesn’t love “Summer Nights.”

What a way to start a musical. Let’s have the two main characters reminisces about their summer romance but at the same time set across the school from each other. A lesser musical would have had the Sandy and Danny sing separate songs but in Grease they sing about their romance as a duet juxtaposing not only their own perspectives on the romance but the viewpoint of their friends.

The song starts out as Danny responds to his friend questions about his summer romance. Danny boasts while Sandy sheepishly recalls how it felt. The first verse builds to a chorus as Danny and Sandy innocently sing “summer days drifting away to oh, oh those summer nights.”

I clearly remember laughing out loud the first time I watched this film when I was a kid when the boys abruptly enter prodding for details. What’s even better is how the girls are just as nosy as the boys are. This song plays to the stereotypes that guys are more interested in things like “Did you get very far?” while the girls are interested in the romance, “Was it love at first site?” “Summer Nights” doesn’t so much perpetuate stereotypes as much as the song provides insight by comparing the ideas we have about the way girls and boys view sexually.

The form of “Summer Nights” is very simple, the duet builds to a chorus and then the response from the back-ground singers. This is repeated four times without a bridge. You don’t really notice the repetitive nature of the from because of the evolving background vocals which are a throw back to the doo-wop music of the late 1950s.

As the song builds Danny and Sandy provide more details because of the prodding of their friends. Danny gets more explicit, “well she was good, you know what I mean” while Sandy swoons “He got friendly, holdin’ my hand.” Danny’s bragging comes off more as funny then chauvinistic because he’s singing the same melody with Sandy in the same joyful musical space.

In researching “Summer Nights” I found this parody title “Ghetto Nights.”

What struck me about this version is that is still has the same warm-fuzzy teenage romance feeling at the end of the song.

There is something pure and joyful about Grease. The original Broadway show had it, the film had it, the over-sexualized promotion video had and the ghettoized version had it. It’s that feeling of summer nights, falling in love and a simpler time in our lives which is why we keep coming back to Grease.

Girls In Their Summer Clothes by Bruce Springsteen

"Girls In Their Summer Clothes" music video
"Girls In Their Summer Clothes" live performance

“Girls In Their Summer Clothes” is one of the reasons I love music. Springsteen brings together in a single song nostalgia, pain, hope and most of all beauty. The single most important quality of music is how it makes us feels. You know that quiet smile to yourself as you remember happy memory from your childhood? That is how “Girls In Their Summer Clothes” feels.

After seven albums with the E Street Band that cemented Springsteen as one of the most important forces in rock music he decided to disband the band and do some solo work. Critics had good things to say about Springsteen’s solo work but never reached the popularity of his work with the E Street Band.

Then came the attack on the World Trade Centers on September 11th, 2001. In response to this tragedy, Springsteen recorded his first album with the E Street Band in 18 years, The Rising. One of the few albums in popular music to directly respond to the 9/11. After two successful tours, the E Street Band disbanded again, until their triumphant return in 2007 with Magic, While The Rising received good reviews, critics and fans viewed Magic as an even greater musical accomplishment and “Girls In Their Summer Clothes” is one of the best reasons why.

“Girls In Their Summer Clothes” is symphony of color and light. Springsteen and producer Brenda O’Brien emulated the Phil Spector’s “wall of sound” production techniques featured in “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’” creating a depth in the sound that surrounds the listeners. Within this world of sound Springsteen takes the listener on a journey through a summer night and into the hopes of the brokenhearted.

“Girls in their Summer Clothes” begins with a sentimental reflection on a small town during a summer night. The narrator has a certain sense of peace and reflection as he watches girls walk by. There is wonder and glory in the simple beauty of life that continues in the second verse. Springsteen does refer to economic struggle with money being “tight” which is a common theme in his music but this is followed by the hope: “but I know their gonna turn my way.”

The bridge tells a vignette of a small town diner on the edge of town. Springsteen builds the intensity as the waitress, Shaniqua questions what is on Bill’s mind. Like a musical time warp, we enter the bridge as an observer and exit with Bill answering Shaniqua’s concerns.

In the last verse Bill recounts a lost love to Shaniqua “she went away, she cut me like a knife” but is quick to comment how Shaniqua’s presence makes him, “Hello beautiful thing, maybe you could save my life.” In these words, we can feel Shaniqua smiling back to Bill as he explains: “Love's a fool's dance I ain't got much sense but I still got my feet.”

Springsteen adds fascinating musical illustrations throughout this song. In the beginning of the song in the line “well, the street lights shine. . . ” a guitar enders on the word “shine” reverberating like light shining through the darkness. In the second verse the drums enter leading up to a drum hit on the word “smack” supporting the line “A kid’s rubber ball smacks.” Small touches like these though not all always noticed add a level of depth to the song as Springsteen utilizes every musical opportunity to add meaning to the song.

Part of the wonder of the song is in its simplicity. Each phrase of the melody gently rises and falls while the harmony progressing without any surprises. It’s not the complexity of the music but how the simple pieces are arranged that capture the feeling of a summer night.

I can’t really explain why “Girls In Their Summer Clothes” takes me away like it does and that is why I love music so much. I can explain every lyric and note in a song but at the end of every analysis you are left with the way the song makes you feel, which is something that can never be completely understood. Like faith and love, the fact that music is something that we cannot completely explain is why music is so personal, so meaningful, and so magical.

Summer of ‘69 by Bryan Adams

“Summer of ‘69” Music Video

“Summer of ‘69” live performance

Once upon a time there was no such thing as summer vacation.

Before the Civil War there were two school calendars, one for students in rural communities that gave time off in the spring to help plant crops and in the fall to harvest and one for urban students who had as many as 48 weeks of school a year (compared to the average of 36 weeks students currently have).

In the 1840s education reformers wanted make sure that rural children got more schooling. People also thought that the urban school schedule was too long as medical theories of the times warned that over-stimulation of young minds would lead to nervous disorders and insanity. The compromise extended the rural calendar, while the urban calendar was cut down. The break that was settled on was during the summer. Having time off in the summer allowed children to help with crops and got students out of the classroom during the hottest time of the year.

Summer vacation has come into question with many schools trying out year-round schedules. Since most children do not help out on farms and because of the glory of air conditioning the original reasons to keep children out of the classroom for summer vacation are no longer valid. With the worth of summer vacation coming into the question, I can’t help but wonder if there is something intangible about the days of summer that are worth preserving?

When I think about summer the first song that I think of is Bryan Adam’s 1984 hit, “Summer of ’69.” Throughout his career Adams produced non-offensive pop rock music and one of his biggest hits was his ode to one special summer. What is powerful about this song is that it captures how it felt during that summer while providing perspective that doesn’t over-romanticize the events in the song.

The song starts talking about starting a band. They try hard with dreams of becoming a great rock band but it falls apart. Even though it doesn’t go anywhere, Adams reflects in the chorus that those were the best days in his life. Sometimes things fall apart, but that doesn’t mean that they weren’t great when they lasted.

One of the major themes in “Summer of ‘69” the feeling that things last forever. In the chorus Adams, states that the “summer seemed to last forever.” In later choruses, his love interest says that she would wait forever and that “it’d [there love] last forever.” One of the things about being younger is that you think that things truly do last forever and one of the hard things about adulthood is realizing how finite everything is in life.

When Adams thinks back on all of these events, he knows that they have sad endings but he maintains a sense of nostalgia, which is perfectly captured in the chord progression in the song. The verses stay feature primarily major chords but then the first chords of the chorus is a minor chord which adds a darker color to the song before resolving back to a major chord in the end of the chorus.

I worry sometimes that children these days are too busy to have the kinds of memories that Adams sings about to look back on. Maybe it’s not about summer vacation but about our attitude about childhood. Is it important that children have time in their lives where they believe against reality that dreams can happen and that things can last forever? There’s growing pains in which we learn the truth about life but maybe we should spare children that pain and give them reality earlier on.

That's not right.

We have it backwards, we think that learning the realities of life means that things that we believed as children need to be shattered. Instead, these beliefs need to evolve. Our dreams can become reality if we realize the emotional center of our dreams and not material trappings that we so often wish for. Sometimes things do last forever, people die, memories are forgotten but humanity that we all share truly does last forever.

Summer vacation is worth preserving. It's as American as baseball, it's an integral part of growing up and it's reminds us all of the spirit of childhood that lies deep within our hearts.

Suite: Judy Blue Eyes by Crosby, Stills & Nash

“Suite: Judy Blue Eyes” live performance at Woodstock

When I was in elementary school and “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes” would come on the radio I eager anticipate the “doodoodoodoo DOOT! Doot doot doo Doodoodoo” at the end. I could always recognize this song because of the incredible harmonies, beautiful melodies and poetic lyrics, but I just wanted to get to the end section. Part of what I annoyed me back then was that I couldn’t really predict when that section was going to come. I’d expect it after a certain phrase, but I would be mistaken. After being mistaken a couple times, I woudl become more impatient with the song. When the ending finally came, I felt like I had been through an ordeal like the way Peter from “Family Guy” felt after watching the extended version of the “Maude” theme song.

Actually, this's EXACTLY how I felt.

What I didn’t appreciate back then is also one of the most amazing things about Crosby, Stills & Nash’s most famous song. “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes” takes the classical form of the suite into popular music creating a set of four related songs to create a singular music experience.

“Form” in music is a used to describe how the different sections in a piece of music and how the composer arranges these sections. Form is a musical device like melody, harmony and lyrics, which add to the overall expression of a song. The way a composer arranges different sections and the overall length of a song have a significant effect on the way that we understand music.

Crosby Stills and & Nash is one most and enduring supergroup in Rock. The collaboration of these three musicians has been so successful that many know them more for their work as a supergroup than their previous work that made them famous.

David Crosby as a founding member of the Byrds helped create the sound of the 1960s, contributing his songwriting skills and adding vocal harmony to songs like, “Turn! Turn! Turn!” Stephen Stills along with Neil Young formed Buffalo Springfield, a band responsible for one of the most important protest song "For What It's Worth."

Graham Nash as a member of The Hollies was part of the “British Invasion,” a movement of British band onto the American popular music scene started by the Beatles. Nash, contributed to many of The Hollies hits helping create their unique vocal harmony heard in their hits like “Bus Stop.”

The Byrds, Buffalo Springfield and The Hollies may not seem like a big deal to us now, but they were important bands of the 1960s and it truly was a momentous thing to for the strongest creative forces of these three bands to come together.

In classical music, a suite is a piece of music that consists of several shorter pieces. During the baroque era, suite usually contained dance music. As classical music developed, the suite form expanded to included different kinds of music.

Crosby, Stills & Nash stick to this classical definition of suite including four shorter pieces that all have a dance feel to them. Each of these sections contrast but also work together to create a unique musical journey.

The first section feels like a standard 1960s mid-tempo rock song. It has some folk flavor to it and predictably follows a verse-chorus song form. This up-beat song contemplates the difficulties in the relationship but is also reaffirming in the challenges. This section is like the beginning of a movie setting up the status-quo with hints of the journey to come.

The second section starts with “Friday evening, Sunday in the afternoon, what have you got to lose?” This section is slower and more contemplative reflecting on suffering and despair in the lyrics. He thinks about leaving concluding “what have I got to lose?” while still wondering if she will come see him after he ahs left.

After the second section slows down the song, the energy in the song seems to dissipate like train coming to rest. However, right when song feels like it’s about to end the song starts up with a Indian influenced raga-like section. The rising voices look outwards in contrast to the second section pondering the beauty in nature. The rising melodies conclude with one of the most beautiful uses of alliteration in popular music “lacy, lilting, leery, losing love, lamenting, change my life, make it right, be my baby.” This conclusion leads directly into the last section a pure expression of joy.

The ending of this song used to feel like a pay-off to me because it finally came, but now that I’m older I enjoy the journey leading up more. Sometimes it takes more effort to focus on the journey and not rush ahead to the ending. There are times when I read a book quickly just to get to the ending, but I’m always left feeling a little hollow. The journey is what makes the ending more meaningful.

It’s not the fact that Peter finally hears “and then there’s Maude” that makes the joke so funny, it’s the fact that we see his smile slowly fade as the song continues to string him along transforming his anticipation into rage.