For anyone who wants to join in, simply choose five pieces of music and post them for other bloggers to enjoy. Then check out the set posted by the other 5 on Friday blogger -- you can sign in over at Golch Central's Rambling Stuff.
This weekend is all about giving thanks here in The Great White North.
To all of my readers, friends and family -- I wish you many blessings on this Thanksgiving.
Travis at Trav's Thoughts invites everyone to lay down a short set of music that takes their fancies for his 5 on Friday meme.
Merry Almost Christmas, everyone! And here on Canada's east coast, we've got magical Christmas snow today - a BIG dumping. To celebrate the arrival of the white stuff, here are five snowy songs.
1 - It Snowed - Meaghan Smith
2 - Snow - Carolyne Mas
This is one of my husband's favorite singers. I'm glad he introduced me to this lovely song.
3 - Let it Snow - Dianna Krall
So fine.
4 - Snow - Loreena McKennitt
Truly magical.
5 - Snow - Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney and Vera Ellen
My sister, my mom and I started up a new tradition a few years ago - I think actually it was in the wake of my gram's departure from this life into the next. We decided to shake up Christmas a little bit, and we began to watch White Christmas every year. This is now a big favorite of mine.
Blue skies Smiling at me Nothing but blue skies Do I see
Bluebirds Singing a song Nothing but bluebirds All day long
- Irving Berlin
3 - A Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight - 1927 - Bessie Smith
Please, oh please Oh, do not let me fall You're all mine And I love you best of all And you must be my man Or I'll have no man at all There'll be a hot time in the old town tonight
When you hear Them bells go ding-a-ling All join 'round And sweetly you must sing When the verse is through In the chorus all join in There'll be a hot time in the old town tonight
My sister has been staying with us for the past week while she's had her allergy needle from the clinic in Fall River. This is not your ordinary needle or allergy treatment. The allergy shots require her to keep everything in her environment as allergen-free as possible, which used to mean a week spent by herself at her house, eating a very restricted diet, not reading newspapers or magazines, no contact with animals, etc., etc.
But she sold her house since her last needle, and needed a place to crash during this treatment, so home again, home again, jiggety jig she came. It's been fun. Especially tonight, when we watched White Christmas with Mom in front of the newly-put-up Christmas tree.
This is one of those films I'd never seen until tonight.
Believe it.
It was so much fun to watch it with my mom and sister. We love musicals. We loved the costumes by Edith Head, loved the music by Irving Berlin, loved the dancing, loved Danny Kaye (a big favorite of my mom) and loved Bing's lovely voice.
If you haven't seen it before, why not take a breather from all the hubbub and watch this 1954 Hollywood musical? And if you've enjoyed it before, here's a reminder to rent it or pull it off your DVD shelf and settle in.
Ailurophile says Great to see that you enjoyed the film. Hoping also that your sister's allergy remains subsided.
Akelamalu says That's one of my all time favourite films!
Wylie Kinson says I used to watch it with my mom every year.
It's the last few hours of NaNoWriMo. For me personally this has been a gruelling, challenging marathon that did everything it was supposed to do: take me well past my comfort zone, make me question my sanity, make me rearrange every priority in my daily schedule in order to write, make me take chances creatively that I would never do at a less crushing pace.
I still have 8800 words to write before I collapse exhausted over that finish line. So I'll ask Bing Crosby and songwriter Meredith Willson to help me out today on the Poetry Train. The pictures were taken today at my writers' group Christmas Potluck at Cathryn Fox's house.
It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas
It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas Ev'rywhere you go Take a look in the five and ten Glistening once again With candy canes and silver lanes aglow It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas Toys in ev'ry store But the prettiest sight to see Is the holly that will be On your own front door
A pair of hopalong boots and a pistol that shoots Is the wish of Barney and Ben Dolls that will talk and will go for a walk Is the hope of Janice and Jen And Mom and Dad can hardly wait For school to start again
It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas Ev'rywhere you go There's a tree in the Grand Hotel One in the park as well The sturdy kind that doesn't mind the snow
It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas Soon the bells will start And the thing that will make them ring Is the carol that you sing Right within your heart
1 - Sing, Sing, Sing, written by Louis Prima, 1936
Performed here by the Louis Prima Orchestra and danced by the Floogees, a Dutch Lindy Hop group. This is my favorite wartime music, no comparison. When I was 18, I performed in The Royal Nova Scotia International Tattoo as a civilian dancer, and one of the two pieces we danced was a 40's medley which started with Sing, Sing, Sing. Unfortunately I broke a bone in my foot before the show, so I had to drop out of the 40's piece, which had a lot of hopping moves. I did manage the Rockettes piece, though, which was mostly kick-stepping.
Meanwhile...who knew the Dutch could groove like that?!?
This has got to be the most ferocious swing dance sequence you'll ever see. Performed by Whitey's Lindy Hoppers in a sequence from the film Hellzapoppin, a group of domestic employees puts on an impromptu jam session and explodes into dance backstage. To me, this scene foreshadows the coming breakout of African Americans from their pre-war social roles. Once again, their wartime travels to Europe exposed African American culture to a worldwide audience.
3 - Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy, written by Don Raye and Hughie Prince, 1941
Performed by the Andrews Sisters. I can't separate wartime music from the sound of the Andrews Sisters - and this song is the quintessential WWII song for me.
They made him blow a bugle for his Uncle Sam It really brought him down, because he couldn't jam The Captain seemed to understand Because the next day the Cap' went out and drafted a band And now the company jumps when he plays reveille He's the boogie-woogie bugle boy of Company B
This tune appeared on the album For Our Armed Forces Overseas, one of a series of recordings by V-Disc, a wartime collaboration between the US government and private record labels. Meant to 'motivate soldiers and improve morale,'(Wikipedia) Strip Polka was on the 1942 Hit Parade for the Andrews Sisters.
There's a burlesque theatre where the gang loves to go To see Queenie the cutie of the burlesque show And the thrill of the evening is when out Queenie skips And the band plays the polka while she strips
"Take it off", "Take it off" cries a voice from the rear "Take it off", Take it off" Soon it's all you can hear But she's always a lady even in pantomime So she stops! And always just in time
5 - I Don't Want to Set the World on Fire, written by Eddie Seile, Sol Marcu, Bennie Benjamin, Eddie Durham, 1941
The Ink Spots were a highly influential quartet whose rich vocal style led to the doo-wop groups of the 1950's. Their song currently appears on the trailer for Fallout 3, an action role-playing game just released Tuesday.
I don't want to set the world on fire I just want to start A flame in your heart In my heart I have but one desire And that one is you No other will do
I've lost all ambition for worldly acclaim I just want to be the one you love And with your admission that you feel the same I'll have reached the goal I'm dreaming of
Believe me! I don't want to set the world on fire I just want to start A flame in your heart
6 - Moonlight Serenade, written by Glenn Miller, 1939
Performed by the Glenn Miller Orchestra, the clip is from the 1954 film The Glenn Miller Story starring James Stewart in the title role. Moonlight Serenade typified the Miller Sound, which features a clarinet lead for the saxophone section.
The photo above was taken by Doktor Jazz and shows Django Reinhardt standing in front of La Cigale in Paris with a Nazi officer, four African-American musicians and a Jew. So much for Nazi ideology. Swing, baby, swing!
8 - When You're Smilin', written by Mark Fisher, Joe Goodwin and Larry Shay, 1929
Performed by Bing Crosby, a towering presence in music, film and television. By the war years, he was a top star in radio and film, with 18 films released between 1939 - 1945, including Road to Morocco, Holiday Inn and Going My Way.
The clip features Hollywood's efforts to boost morale through USO shows. USO stands for United Service Organizations.
When you're smiling When you're smiling The whole world smiles with you
When you're laughing When you're laughing The sun comes shining through
But when you're crying You bring on the rain So stop your sighing Be happy again
Keep on smiling Cause when you're smiling The whole world smiles with you
9 - I'll Be Seeing You, written by Sammy Fain and Irving Kahal, 1938
Holiday was a big band vocalist during the war years, fronting for Artie Shaw among others. This made Billie Holiday the first black woman to work with a major white orchestra.
The clip features scenes from The Notebook.
I'll be seeing you In all the old familiar places That this heart of mine embraces All day through.
I'll be seeing you In every lovely summer's day; In every thing that's light and gay. I'll always think of you that way.
I'll find you In the morning sun And when the night is new. I'll be looking at the moon, But I'll be seeing you.
10 - You'll Never Know, written by Harry Warren and Mack Gordon, with lyrics based on a poem by war-bride Dorothy Fern Norris, 1943
Performed by Michael Buble, a modern-day crooner originally from British Columbia, on the west coast of Canada.
You'll never know just how much I miss you You'll never know just how much I care And if I tried, I still couldn't hide my love for you You ought to know, for haven't I told you so A million or more times?
You went away and my heart went with you I speak your name in my every prayer If there is some other way to prove that I love you I swear I don't know how You'll never know if you dont know now
11 - It Had to be You, written by Isham Jones and Gus Kahn, 1924
Performed by Harry Connick, Jr., another modern-day big band leader from New Orleans, Louisiana. The clip is from the 1989 film When Harry Met Sally, a film about opposite-sex friends who discover they actually love each other, which I went to see about a month before my 2-year friendship with Brad turned into love. Ask me if I found it excruciating to sit through...especially the awkward New Year's Eve kiss that's in the clip!
It had to be you It had to be you I wandered around And finally found The somebody who
Could make me be true Could make me be blue Or even be glad Just to be sad Just thinking of you
Some others I've seen Might never be mean Might never be cross Or try to be boss But they wouldn't do For nobody else gave me the thrill With all your faults I love you still
It had to be you It had to be you It had to be you
Performed by Frank Sinatra, this is one of my favorite songs sung by one of my favorite singers. The women in this clip wear a fabulous array of 40's hairstyles and glamorous dresses.
Night and day, you are the one Only you beneath the moon or under the sun Whether near to me, or far It's no matter darling where you are I think of you Day and night
Night and day, why is it so? That this longing for you follows wherever I go In the roaring traffic's boom In the silence of my lonely room I think of you Day and night
Night and day Under the hide of me There's an oh such a hungry yearning Burning inside of me And this torment won't be through Til you let me spend my life making love to you Day and night Night and day
13 - We'll Meet Again, written by Ross Parker and Hughie Charles, 1939
Performed by Vera Lynn, an English singer known as The Forces' Sweetheart. Singing for several dance bands, including Bert Ambrose and his Orchestra, Vera Lynn's radio series Sincerely Yours sent a taste of home to British forces overseas.
Possibly the most well-known and touching of any song from the war years, this song bravely states that the singer and listener will meet again - hopefully in this life, but most definitely in the next.
We'll meet again Don't know where Don't know when But I know we'll meet again some sunny day
Keep smilin' through Just like you always do Till the blue skies drive the dark clouds far away
So will you please say hello To the folks that I know Tell them I won't be long They'll be happy to know That as you saw me go I was singing this song
We'll meet again Don't know where Don't know when But I know we'll meet again some sunny day
I hope you enjoyed this look back at the songs and music of World War II. Join me next week for another special Thursday Thirteen in time for Remembrance Day.
Champion of the Arts - I write historical and paranormal fiction, as well as poetry. I love to showcase creative works by artists of all stripes. Blogging from Nova Scotia, Canada
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