BILLIE HOLIDAY : TRAGEDY AND DEFIANCE By Terry Liddle Ask the man on the street to name a famous woman jazz singer and it’s a fair chance he would name Billie Holiday. Even my 16 year old neighbour, who is into ear-grinding noise of the worst sort, has heard of her. And I’ve just been seen by a nurse in her thirties who loves Billie Holiday’s songs. Looking at Billie Holiday&rsqu...
submitted by
OrganizedRage on 2nd Sep 2010 (via organizedrage.com)
You think of good love songs as songs of high emotion, songs with a certain heart-wrenching or heart-rending or heart-uplifting intensity, right? Not necessarily. They come in many shapes. They can be light and humorous. Today's choice is 'You're The...
submitted by
NormanGeras on 20th Mar 2009 (via normblog.typepad.com)
Mostly in this series the songs of love are clearly distinguishable from the songs of heartbreak. But here's one that mixes it. Overtly, the heartbreak is over and things are on the up: 'The love that we knew is living...
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NormanGeras on 13th May 2009 (via normblog.typepad.com)
Another of the great songs in this category, courtesy of Gram Parsons and Emmylou Harris - 'Love Hurts'. It starts with a suitably quiet statement of the pain love can bring, then (just past the minute mark) the two voices...
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NormanGeras on 3rd Apr 2009 (via normblog.typepad.com)
There's love that declares itself quietly, love that speaks poetically, love that is longing, yearning, desperate, heartbroken. But this, here, is love soaring, triumphant, shouted to the rooftops; it's love that won't be denied. Does she love you? You better...
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NormanGeras on 28th Mar 2009 (via normblog.typepad.com)
Here's the story. There are these two lists, songs of love and songs of heartbreak, and I'm looking to see what's been left out - as ya do. Then, remembering the principle 'Never overlook an opportunity for a new series',...
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NormanGeras on 16th Mar 2009 (via normblog.typepad.com)
There are at least two reasons for today's choice. One is that you need something a bit syrupy somewhere in a series on love songs, and this one is - a bit. The other is personal to me and WotN...
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NormanGeras on 6th Apr 2009 (via normblog.typepad.com)
Themes of popular music reflect the dominant shared values of our society, which are not necessarily the same as the dominant experiences. So while there are innumerable songs about marital infidelity from the point of view of the person being cheated upon, one of the few love songs I can think of of told from the
submitted by
SocialistUnity on 22nd Jun 2010 (via socialistunity.com)
You can't have an acceptable list of great love songs and not have any in French and not have any by Edith Piaf. So I'm putting her up early, with 'L'Hymne à L'Amour'. The whole world can go to Hell...
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NormanGeras on 17th Mar 2009 (via normblog.typepad.com)
If you make a list of top love songs and don't include this one, you have some serious explaining to do. I won't say that your list can't be any good, since I once took the trouble to refute this...
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NormanGeras on 11th May 2009 (via normblog.typepad.com)
To know, know, know him, is to love, love, love him ... I do love that song. And it often pops into my mind when I'm swimming; Zen-like rhythmic splashing is a mental magnet for songs with a hypnotic beat...
submitted by
CentreRight on 4th Jul 2009 (via conservativehome.blogs.com)
