Dear Linda, You’ll already have a card and physical iteration of one of the musical compilations (below), but I thought you might want a more portable version (via Spotify), and I didn’t make CD mixes of the other two – though I can, if you would like them. I also thought that others might enjoy the
As we celebrate our one-year quaranniversaries, I invite you to sing! When I began this series last March, I titled the first post after this song… even though the song I performed was Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive.” By the third Plague Song, I began using a lyric from each song as the title. But,
Surf rock in the middle of winter? And how is “Walk, Don’t Run” a plague song? Excellent questions. To answer the second one first, I might say that its title evokes the slow pace of the vaccine roll-out. I want speed, but instead must endure this andante stumble. Or I might point out that the
This song is a personal favorite of mine, and one I’ve long considered recording for this Plague Songs series. However, in an effort to keep the mood more upbeat, I have – up until now – chosen more uptempo selections. But, as coronavirus deaths in the U.S. surpass 350,000 (and 1.85 million worldwide), it’s time for
“Dynamite” is cheerful, bright, and contagious – but in a good way. That’s one reason I decided to record a version of it. We could all use a little joy, and this song is full of joy. I also like the ESL poetry of the lyrics – a series of common English-language phrases, many of them encouraging
This week’s plague song goes out to that long-tongued liar, his regime, and all who have enabled it over these past four years – whether actively or via silent complicity. The earliest recording of the song is from the Golden Gate Quartet in 1946, but it’s been recorded in many genres, by many artists, and under
This one’s for U.S. Election Day 2020, in which we address two key questions. Will the U.S. continue down the path of autocracy? Or will it commit to the work of rebuilding democracy? When 21-year-old Stephen Stills wrote (and his band, the Buffalo Springfield recorded) “For What It’s Worth” in 1966, America was in tumult.
I am posting to inspire those fighting for democracy in the United States, and anywhere else where liberty is in peril. It has two parts: Part I: This Mix Kills Fascists Part II: 3 Quotations to Keep You Fighting Part I: This Mix Kills Fascists Here is my annual “RESIST!” mix, featuring many genres of
Bringing you the words of Buddy DeSylva and the music of Jerome Kern to – as the song says – “banish sadness and strife.” Written in 1919, this is the earliest in my Plague Songs series and the last regular weekly Plague Song. Appropriately, perhaps, this song dates to the pandemic of a century ago. Written for
The balloons are not red, and there is no toy shop. The narrator doesn’t dream of red balloons either. But, like its English-language counterpart (“99 Red Balloons”) Nena’s “99 Luftballons” (1983) is about an accidental, apocalyptic war triggered by 99 balloons. Luft means air, and ballon means balloon. So, literally, a luftballon is an air
