From: les@jmdl.com (onlyJMDL Digest) To: onlyjoni-digest@smoe.org Subject: onlyJMDL Digest V2005 #149 Reply-To: joni@smoe.org Sender: les@jmdl.com Errors-To: les@jmdl.com Precedence: bulk Archives: http://www.smoe.org/lists/onlyjoni Websites: http://www.jmdl.com http://www.jonimitchell.com Unsubscribe: mailto:onlyjoni-digest-request@smoe.org?body=unsubscribe onlyJMDL Digest Monday, May 23 2005 Volume 2005 : Number 149 ========== TOPICS and authors in this Digest: -------- Re: least profound Joni verse ["ron" ] Renee and Joni ["Gerald A. Notaro" ] Re: least profound Joni verse [LCStanley7@aol.com] Re: Lady Mondegreen and llamas [Bill Dollinger ] Re: Renee and Joni [Joseph Palis ] Re: least profound Joni verse [djp ] Re: least profound Joni verse [jrmco1@aol.com] least profound Joni verse ["David Henderson" ] Re: Crash - the Movie ["Lama, Jim L'Hommedieu" ] Re: Photo of Joni with the New York Metro interview ["Sherelle Smith" ] Re: RE: Star Wars, was [hell ] Re: Lady Mondegreen and llamas [Bob Muller ] Re: New York magazine interview [Michael Paz ] Re: New York magazine interview [jrmco1@aol.com] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 22 May 2005 10:27:18 +0200 From: "ron" Subject: Re: least profound Joni verse hi the cadillac/just ice/justice line just makes me cringe............ ron ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 22 May 2005 08:01:00 -0400 (EDT) From: "Gerald A. Notaro" Subject: Renee and Joni May 21, 2005 Rolling Her Classical Voice Around Pop Songs By STEPHEN HOLDEN When Renie Fleming met her idol Joni Mitchell for the first time not long ago, she was faced with two choices. "I could fall at her feet and grovel, sobbing hysterically, or I could say, 'How nice to meet you,' " she recalled from the stage of Joe's Pub on Thursday evening. She ended up making the demure choice. But to hear her plunge fearlessly into the turbulent rapids of Ms. Mitchell's song "River" at the first of two shows on Thursday evening was the concert equivalent of observing a great classical singer worship abjectly at the feet of a pop composer. Refusing to put a safe distance between herself and the song (from Ms. Mitchell's album "Blue"), she held nothing back; her operatic intensity was matched by an emotional immodesty that was the furthest thing from demure. As she sobbed, "I made my baby cry," Ms. Fleming and the song became one. "River" is one of several remarkable cuts on Ms. Fleming's recently released album, "Haunted Heart" (Decca), in which she sings a mostly pop program, accompanied by Fred Hersch on piano and Bill Frisell on guitar. At Joe's Pub, at the Public Theater, where she performed as a benefit for the club, she was joined only by Mr. Hersch, a jazz piano master who shares both her classical roots and her passion for serious songs that might be called high pop. Together Ms. Fleming and Mr. Hersch made a persuasive case that the best popular songs, whether by Cole Porter or Ms. Mitchell, can be negotiated by a classically trained singer with the right adjustment of technique and point of view. The first rule must be to avoid any suggestion of condescension; hauteur is out. There is plenty of latitude. Dawn Upshaw succeeds with a light approach, Ms. Fleming with a heavy one. A provocative illustration of the proximity of genres was the segueing of an instrumental excerpt from Berg's opera "Wozzeck," played by Mr. Hersch, into the song "Midnight Sun." As one slid into the other, Ms. Fleming rolled her voice around Johnny Mercer's lyrics with an intoxicated delight that recalled Sarah Vaughan's voluptuous romp through the same words (minus Vaughan's inner swing). Best of all were the Dietz-Schwartz ballad "Haunted Heart," which Mr. Hersch's lingering arrangement and Ms. Fleming's anguished vocal took to a very dark place, and "You've Changed" (lyrics by Bill Carey and music by Carl Fischer), another torch song, which the singer cited as her personal favorite. But the chemistry between Ms. Fleming and her material was far from infallible. "My Cherie Amour," performed without a studio arrangement and without the vocal lilt of the young Stevie Wonder to lift it, came across as fluff. At the opposite pole, the Beatles' "In My Life," attenuated into a lugubrious illustration of "an 11 o'clock number," as Ms. Fleming called it, sank under the weight. Like so many pop songs, "In My Life" must be allowed to catch you off guard, its sadness permitted to sneak through a veneer of charm. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 22 May 2005 09:05:58 EDT From: LCStanley7@aol.com Subject: Re: least profound Joni verse Julius wrote: Then there's the anti-profundity of these two words of verse, repeated ad infinitum: "dancin' clown...dancin' clown...he's a....dancin'...dancin' clown..." Just shoot me. So much for eliminating the negative and accentuating the positive, eh? I'd better make it up to you. :-) Hi Julius! I see "least profound" as having a place and not necessarily negative to accentuate or discuss. I don't think everything must be deep to be positive. Joni uses the superficial and the deep like a tapestry or an orchestra. I like the song Dancing Clown. And I agree, it isn't a profound phrase. As for shooting... the repetition in the song is like verbal shooting to wake people up to the way they are dancing clowns sometimes. If it was profound, it wouldn't be so effective as a confrontation. Love, Laura ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 22 May 2005 09:47:47 -0400 From: Bill Dollinger Subject: Re: Lady Mondegreen and llamas from Carey: Mantel of the moon. Bill On May 21, 2005, at 9:18 PM, jrmco1@aol.com wrote: > What's yours? I used to sing "there'll be puka shells to bring to > school tomorrow" instead of "crocuses." Oh, but I was so much older > then, I'm younger than that now... > > -Julius > > The Last Word on Song Lyrics > http://www.bangkokpost.com/en/Outlook/22May2005_out62.php > > It's not very often that Crutch receives a "special request" but there > have been a number concerning the topic of aural malapropism, which > initially appeared in PostScript seven years ago. This is not some > weird medical condition, but the art of getting the lyrics of a song > wrong, otherwise known as a "mondegreen'". For those who are > unfamiliar how the term "mondegreen'' surfaced, a brief explanation is > required. > > The word was originally coined by a lady who was fond of an old > Scottish ballad The Bonnie Earl of Murray. To her ears, one verse went > like this: > > "Ye highlands and ye lowlands, > Oh where have you been, > Thou have slain the Earl of Murray, > And Lady Mondegreen." > > > It was only after years of feeling deep sorrow about the fate of Lady > Mondegreen that she discovered the last line was actually "and laid > him on the green.'' > > It's probably true to say most of us can't remember more than a few > lines of a song and even then we get the words wrong. As a kid for > years I wondered why Dusty Springfield sang "You don't have to say you > love me, just because I'm mad.'" It didn't seem very romantic at all. > It was only a few years later that the puzzle was answered when I came > across the lyrics which read "just be close at hand". > > For years a friend thought a Billy Joel number went: "you made the > rice, I made the gravy'" which is perhaps more entertaining than the > original "you may be right, I may be crazy''. Another thought the Pink > Floyd lyrics for The Wall went: "the dogs suck acid in the > classroom,'" which admittedly sounds a bit Pink Floyd-ish. Alas the > lyrics were actually: "No dark sarcasm in the classroom.'" > > Some mondegreens have already become kind of folk law. Many thought > the Jimi Hendrix song Purple Haze featured the line: "`Scuze me while > I kiss this guy'" when Hendrix was actually kissing "the sky". It's > even the title of a book. Apparently it all began with the refrain of > Bob Dylan's Blowin' in the Wind which we all know goes: "The ants are > my friend ...'' > > Sweet lettuce and peanuts > > When this column first discussed mondegreens in 1998, readers came up > with a fine assortment of their own aural malapropisms. It seemed > nearly everyone had their own special cocked-up version of popular > song lyrics. > > One reader, who must be nearly as old as Crutch, recalled he thought > the lyrics to the Kinks classic You Really Got Me went `"You got me so > I can't see Batman,'" rather than "can't sleep at night''. A Beatles > fan said for years she thought that in Hey Jude, Paul McCartney was > singing "remember sweet lettuce under your skin,'" rather than > "remember to let her under your skin'". Another thought a line in the > Four Seasons song Hang On went: "Got a lot of lovely peanuts,'' as > opposed to the original "got a lot of love between us'". > > Former colleague Denis Segaller tells me his Thai wife, who loves the > song Your Cheatin' Heart insists on singing "you walk the fool'" > instead of "walk the floor'". > > Elton John songs seemed to have caused considerable confusion over the > years. Someone thought that in Goodbye Yellow Brick Road Elton was > singing: "You can't help meeting your pen pal,'' rather than "you > can't plant me in your penthouse'', while another reader had Elton > singing: "Rocket man, burning all the trees off every lawn,'' when in > fact the rocket man was "burning up his face up here alone''. > > And someone who definitely needed her ears examined was the lady who > thought Joni Mitchell's classic Big Yellow Taxi features: "a gay pair > of guys put up a parking lot,'" and not the original "they paved > paradise and put up a parking lot." > > Cheese and bagels > > Some mondegreens which readers sent in were a considerable improvement > on the original lyrics. I bet the Eurythmics wished they had written > "Sweet dreams are made of cheese,'" rather than "this'', while > Madonna's La Isla Bonita would have sounded better with "Last night I > dreamed of some bagels,'' which is a bit more creative than "San > Pedro''. > > David Bowie would probably be interested to learn that some fans > thought the lyrics to Space Oddity went: "Clown control to Mao > Tse-tung,'' rather than "Ground control to Major Tom,'' while someone > thought in Beast of Burden the Rolling Stones sang: "I'll never be > your pizza burger.'' > > Top marks, however, went to the reader who thought the Deep Purple > classic: "Smoke on the water, fire in the sky,'' was actually "Slow > walking Walter, the fire engine guy.'' But perhaps the most inspired > rogue lyrics received was prompted by the Police song with the > thought-provoking title, De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da. The original lyrics > are typical Sting: "When their eloquence escapes me, their logic ties > me up and rapes me.'' That of course doesn't make any sense at all. No > wonder one listener came up with a far more sensible version: "When my > elephant escapes me, a llama ties me up and rapes me.'' Try it next > time you hear the song. > > There are millions more, of course. If nothing else, this might have > got you humming a few songs over breakfast, or God forbid, even a few > dodgy lyrics. Maybe some readers have got their own personal > offerings? ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 22 May 2005 16:15:26 +0200 (CEST) From: Joseph Palis Subject: Re: Renee and Joni Great review. Nice to hear that an operatic diva long accustomed to have shouts of bravissimo and long standing ovations in concert halls entertained thoughts of grovelling and sobbing hysterically in front of Joni. Joni seems to bring that out in people. I wonder what I'll do if we are in the same hall, room or sharing the same elevator -- joy! I read somewhere a few years ago that one of Renee Fleming's desert island CDs is "Hejira" while Dawn Upshaw admitted she liked "Court and Spark". And maybe there are other sopranos and mezzos and altos out there whose velvety voices will someday sing the Joni Mitchell-iana songbook. I wonder when Anne Sofie von Otter or Denyce Graves will record a Joni song. Joseph in Chapel Hill np: Nancy Marano - "A Flower Is A Lovesome Thing" from If You Could See Us Now "Gerald A. Notaro" a icrit : May 21, 2005 Rolling Her Classical Voice Around Pop Songs By STEPHEN HOLDEN When Renie Fleming met her idol Joni Mitchell for the first time not long ago, she was faced with two choices. "I could fall at her feet and grovel, sobbing hysterically, or I could say, 'How nice to meet you,' " she recalled from the stage of Joe's Pub on Thursday evening. She ended up making the demure choice. But to hear her plunge fearlessly into the turbulent rapids of Ms. Mitchell's song "River" at the first of two shows on Thursday evening was the concert equivalent of observing a great classical singer worship abjectly at the feet of a pop composer. Refusing to put a safe distance between herself and the song (from Ms. Mitchell's album "Blue"), she held nothing back; her operatic intensity was matched by an emotional immodesty that was the furthest thing from demure. As she sobbed, "I made my baby cry," Ms. Fleming and the song became one. "River" is one of several remarkable cuts on Ms. Fleming's recently released album, "Haunted Heart" (Decca), in which she sings a mostly pop program, accompanied by Fred Hersch on piano and Bill Frisell on guitar. At Joe's Pub, at the Public Theater, where she performed as a benefit for the club, she was joined only by Mr. Hersch, a jazz piano master who shares both her classical roots and her passion for serious songs that might be called high pop. Together Ms. Fleming and Mr. Hersch made a persuasive case that the best popular songs, whether by Cole Porter or Ms. Mitchell, can be negotiated by a classically trained singer with the right adjustment of technique and point of view. The first rule must be to avoid any suggestion of condescension; hauteur is out. There is plenty of latitude. Dawn Upshaw succeeds with a light approach, Ms. Fleming with a heavy one. A provocative illustration of the proximity of genres was the segueing of an instrumental excerpt from Berg's opera "Wozzeck," played by Mr. Hersch, into the song "Midnight Sun." As one slid into the other, Ms. Fleming rolled her voice around Johnny Mercer's lyrics with an intoxicated delight that recalled Sarah Vaughan's voluptuous romp through the same words (minus Vaughan's inner swing). Best of all were the Dietz-Schwartz ballad "Haunted Heart," which Mr. Hersch's lingering arrangement and Ms. Fleming's anguished vocal took to a very dark place, and "You've Changed" (lyrics by Bill Carey and music by Carl Fischer), another torch song, which the singer cited as her personal favorite. But the chemistry between Ms. Fleming and her material was far from infallible. "My Cherie Amour," performed without a studio arrangement and without the vocal lilt of the young Stevie Wonder to lift it, came across as fluff. At the opposite pole, the Beatles' "In My Life," attenuated into a lugubrious illustration of "an 11 o'clock number," as Ms. Fleming called it, sank under the weight. Like so many pop songs, "In My Life" must be allowed to catch you off guard, its sadness permitted to sneak through a veneer of charm. - --------------------------------- Dicouvrez le nouveau Yahoo! Mail : 1 Go d'espace de stockage pour vos mails, photos et vidios ! Criez votre Yahoo! Mail ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 22 May 2005 09:15:39 -0500 From: djp Subject: Re: least profound Joni verse "He said 'You think you're a lady, but i know you're a woman, and we are as young as the night'" djp ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 22 May 2005 11:59:51 -0400 From: jrmco1@aol.com Subject: Re: least profound Joni verse Hi there, Laura, Your point is well taken. I got a little too cute with the text of my reply below. I was sorta paraphrasing the lyrics (non-profound ones, at that) to a show tune from, like, "Annie," I think. An unresponsive and unfunny antic on my part. I'm sorry. Now, as to "least profound" having a place. Well, of course it does. So does bat guano. But hopefully that place is on the floor of some remote cave, or on some farmer's failing crops. Not in my ears. I do not like "Dancing Clown." The repetition, to me, is the lyrical equivalent of the infamous Chinese water torture. The "music" sucks, too. If there are people out there who are really such vapid "dancing clowns," I want them to go ahead and sleep through it! Do it for the sake of all the rest of us, who are merely white-faced and standing still. With love to Laura, Julius - -----Original Message----- From: LCStanley7@aol.com To: joni@smoe.org Cc: JRMCo1@aol.com Sent: Sun, 22 May 2005 09:05:58 EDT Subject: Re: least profound Joni verse Hi Julius! I see "least profound" as having a place and not necessarily negative to accentuate or discuss. I don't think everything must be deep to be positive. Joni uses the superficial and the deep like a tapestry or an orchestra. I like the song Dancing Clown. And I agree, it isn't a profound phrase. As for shooting... the repetition in the song is like verbal shooting to wake people up to the way they are dancing clowns sometimes. If it was profound, it wouldn't be so effective as a confrontation. Love, Laura Julius wrote: Then there's the anti-profundity of these two words of verse, repeated ad infinitum: "dancin' clown...dancin' clown...he's a....dancin'...dancin' clown..." Just shoot me. So much for eliminating the negative and accentuating the positive, eh? I'd better make it up to you. :-) ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 22 May 2005 11:52:15 -0400 From: "David Henderson" Subject: least profound Joni verse LES SAID: > Anybody else have a least profound > Joni verse that comes to mind? >Since I lost you >I can't get through the day >Without at least one big boo-hoo >Yuck. My submission is not a verse but a whole song, Electricity - a verse to recall: The masking tape tangles It's sticky and black And the copper Proud headed Queen Lizzie Conducts little charges That don't get charged back Well the technical manual's busy She's not going to fix it up too easy CRINGE . . . it's creative writing for seventh graders . . . 'class, write a poem and humanize an electrical outlet (or a cup holder or a Veg-O-Matic, or write a song and pretend you're a marble or a wedding ring). I took a creative writing class in the 10th grade, and we had a similar assignment. I wrote something about how my feeling blue over a break-up was something like being a loaf of bread ready to be baked - in a broken oven. (Jeez, at 44, I wonder what I was thinking subconsciously at 15!) I don't really remember it, but I do remember thinking I was very clever in using the word crusty to mean cranky or gruff. I think this was about the same time in my life when my favorite TV show was a Gunsmoke spin-off called Dirty Sally about a crusty old woman in the old west. She made her mule wear a straw hat with flowers, and she named him Worthless. I thought that was the funniest thing in the whole world. Ah, youth. David NP Kaiser Chiefs (!!!) ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 22 May 2005 14:16:55 -0400 From: "Lama, Jim L'Hommedieu" Subject: Re: Crash - the Movie I'm ready to discuss this worthy topic. I think the scene where the "traumatized woman" meets her "abuser" again (in different circumstance) was flat-out brilliant. (Catherine, I didn't give anything away that time!) Every actor was required to be very naturalistic because each character was chocked full of paradox. (I hope that doesn't give away too much.) Bring it on. Jim ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 22 May 2005 19:34:55 +0000 From: "Sherelle Smith" Subject: Re: Photo of Joni with the New York Metro interview Hi Julius!!! Thank you so much for including William Claxton's website! All of his pictures are fantastic and it makes me feel so good to see such a beautiful picture of "Lady J" there too! I also love the pictures of Sarah Vaughn an Dinah Washington!!!! Love, Sherelle Julius wrote: Yes, it's a beauty. William Claxton is the greatest jazz photographer ever to look through a lens, if you ask me. Check out his stunning portfolio: http://www.williamclaxton.com/movie.html - - -Julius ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 22 May 2005 13:47:02 -0700 From: "Kate Bennett" Subject: Re: Lady Mondegreen and llamas >from Carey: Mantel of the moon. Bill< That is mine too... never stopped to even wonder what a mantel of a moon actually was... ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 22 May 2005 13:58:02 -0700 (PDT) From: hell Subject: Re: RE: Star Wars, was Bob wrote: > Or even quicker...the lounge character that Murray played > on SNL sang the Star Wars theme, with these words: > > "Star Wars, > Those near and far wars > Aliens in bar wars > Take me away" > > Or something sorta like it. And if I'd ever seen SNL (which I assume is Saturday Night Live?) I might have come up with that answer, but not every US TV show makes it to our screens..... Hell ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 22 May 2005 19:08:42 -0700 (PDT) From: Bob Muller Subject: Re: Lady Mondegreen and llamas Well, it's nothing that Joni ever wrote about, Kate - her lyric is "beneath the MATALLA moon" as in Matalla, Crete where she was with Carey. The overwhelming majority of Carey covers sing "mantle of the moon" as well. I suppose that if you're talking about the core of a planet or moon, it is a legitimate term but it doesn't make a lot of sense in the context of Carey. Bob NP: Belle & Sebastian - If She Wants Me - --------------------------------- Yahoo! Mail Stay connected, organized, and protected. Take the tour ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 23 May 2005 00:37:19 -0500 From: Michael Paz Subject: Re: New York magazine interview Met her several times and even danced with her to Neville Brothers music after she had sat in with Jimmy Buffets band at a benefit show. Paz > jrmco1@aol.com wrote: > Well, Joan sorely needs to meet Smurf, Paz, Randy, Lama, Bob, Les R., > Jimmy, Joseph, Bob, Richard, Vince....etc., etc., etc... > > Add yourself to that list sweet Julius. And Joan HAS had the pleasure of > meeting YOU. : ) > > Oh, and Les I. Gotta add Les I. > > Jenny > Yahoo! Mail - Find what you need with new enhanced search. Learn more. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 23 May 2005 02:37:39 -0400 From: jrmco1@aol.com Subject: Re: New York magazine interview Haha!!! Gotcha, Paz!!! You're way behind on your Joni-mail, dude. And I read you like a book! Now, who's your Daddy? Huh? Who? - -Julius - -----Original Message----- From: Michael Paz To: Jenny Goodspeed ; Julius Mills ; Joni Digest Sent: Mon, 23 May 2005 00:37:19 -0500 Subject: Re: New York magazine interview Met her several times and even danced with her to Neville Brothers music after she had sat in with Jimmy Buffets band at a benefit show. Paz - ----Original Message----- From: JRMCo1 To: jrgoodspeed@yahoo.com; joni@smoe.org Sent: Thu, 19 May 2005 11:08:36 -0400 Subject: Re: New York magazine interview Thanks, Jenny. I went ahead and penciled myself in, sweetness. :-) Oh, and Michael Paz would be quick to add that he danced with Joni one yellow-mooned New Orleans night! (Close and slow, but not quite 'goat,' right Mike?) Except he's too busy remodeling his abode to post and crow. That's when I strike. Hahaha! - -Julius - -----Original Message----- From: Jenny Goodspeed To: jrmco1@aol.com; joni@smoe.org Sent: Thu, 19 May 2005 07:32:16 -0700 (PDT) Subject: Re: New York magazine interview jrmco1@aol.com wrote: Well, Joan sorely needs to meet Smurf, Paz, Randy, Lama, Bob, Les R., Jimmy, Joseph, Bob, Richard, Vince....etc., etc., etc... Add yourself to that list sweet Julius. And Joan HAS had the pleasure of meeting YOU. : ) Oh, and Les I. Gotta add Les I. Jenny Yahoo! Mail - Find what you need with new enhanced search. Learn more. > jrmco1@aol.com wrote: > Well, Joan sorely needs to meet Smurf, Paz, Randy, Lama, Bob, Les R., > Jimmy, Joseph, Bob, Richard, Vince....etc., etc., etc... > > Add yourself to that list sweet Julius. And Joan HAS had the pleasure of > meeting YOU. : ) > > Oh, and Les I. Gotta add Les I. > > Jenny > Yahoo! Mail - Find what you need with new enhanced search. Learn more. ------------------------------ End of onlyJMDL Digest V2005 #149 ********************************* ------- Post messages to the list by clicking here: mailto:joni@smoe.org Unsubscribe by clicking here: mailto:onlyjoni-digest-request@smoe.org?body=unsubscribe ------- Siquomb, isn't she? (http://www.siquomb.com/siquomb.cfm)