Head-dibs

When I was a child, I discovered "The Highwayman" by Alfred Noyes (1906) in a collection of poems. Imagine my joy when I discovered a musical arrangement!

Bruce Springsteen ("I'm On Fire") surprised me with this little tune drawn from John Steinbeck's "Grapes of Wrath" (not to be confused with the first autobiography written by a drunk, "The Wrath of Grapes"). 

Iron Maiden turns out to be a fairly well-read bunch of dudes! This won't be the last we hear from them in this series. 

"El Dorado" by Edgar Allan Poe was one of the first poems I memorized and I still enjoy reciting it from time to time. Enjoy Iron Maiden's arrangement!

Miguel de Cervantes published Don Quixote in two parts, first in 1605 then in 1615. Talk about focus! Then 1972 came along. One of my favorite songs!

 Edgar Allan Poe gave us the story.  The Alan Parsons Project ("Eye In The Sky") gave us the song.

Here is a well known story by a well known artist singing a not-very well known song. Here is Jimmy Buffet, inspired by Mark Twain's "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" 

I'm not an Elton John fan, but this is a wonderful arrangement of the 1929 novel by Erich Maria Remarque. 

Rush (the greatest band of all time ever) gets us started with a month of "Literature to Music" posts. Here is 2112, based on Ayn Rand's short book, "Anthem" (published 1937).  Turn it up!

Have you ever noticed that you feel compelled to do something when you hear or read a good story? You can’t quite put your finger on it but there is this knowledge that you want to take some kind of action, like be a better person. Sure, we like to read or listen to something for entertainment, but what remains when we are finished? Warm fuzzies that ultimately dissipate and get lost in the shuffle of the day. It’s nearly impossible to recall that feeling once it’s gone. But there are some elements we encounter that leave a lasting impression because we are impelled take some kind of action. Remember those tomes of literature we used in high school and college. Did you ever notice how many discussions were had over those stories? If you still have one, crack it open and notice the questions at the end of each contribution. How many imparted some kind of moral lesson or set an example to be followed? Perhaps you did not notice your conscience responding to what you read or heard yet you...

What the heart of the young man said to the psalmist Tell me not, in mournful numbers, Life is but an empty dream! — For the soul is dead that slumbers, And things are not what they seem. Life is real! Life is earnest! And the grave is not its goal; Dust thou art, to dust returnest, Was not spoken of the soul. Not enjoyment, and not sorrow, Is our destined end or way; But to act, that each to-morrow Find us farther than to-day. Art is long, and Time is fleeting, And our hearts, though stout and brave, Still, like muffled drums, are beating Funeral marches to the grave. In the world’s broad field of battle, In the bivouac of Life, Be not like dumb, driven cattle! Be a hero in the strife! Trust no Future, howe’er pleasant! Let the dead Past bury its dead! Act,— act in the living Present! Heart within, and God o’erhead! Lives of great men all remind us We can make our lives sublime, And, departing, leave behind us Footprints on the sands of time; Foo...

"Alas, poor cupcake. I knew him Horatio! A fellow of infinite jest, of most excellent fancy." The Bard was born April 23, 1564 and died April 23, 1616. He wrote, “With mirth and laughter let old wrinkles come.” ("Merchant of Venice," Act 1, Scene 1). Guildenstern ponders, "The only beginning is birth and the only end is death – if you can't count on that, what can you count on?" (Tom Stoppard)

Not too long ago as I read Homer’s Odyssey (once again), a thought came to mind. If Homer’s Iliad serves as a kind of record of the siege of Troy (a debated issue due to the activity of the so-called gods as mentioned in the story--strip away the supernatural and the event still stands) and history and archaeology affirm the event as well as many historical figures involved, would it be possible that the Odyssey is a true account of one of the Iliad’s prominent personalities? The possibility is very high. Any fairly-well read person knows of many events found in the Odyssey: who has not heard of Cyclops or Lotus-eaters or of the deadly Sirens? Hades has been known for thousands of years as a place for the dead. A well-read person knows that when Troy fell, the Greeks returned home only Odysseus was delayed in his return, as the story goes. But what was the reason for his delay? Was it monsters and an offended deity? Or was there another reason?  Aeschylus records in his pla...

I’m on the edge of my seat reading this in Homer's  The Odyssey , Book VIII, “How They Held Games and Sports in Phaiacia” (translated by Samuel Butler): [Alcinous said,] "Aldermen and town councillors of the Phaeacians, we have had enough now, both of the feast, and of the minstrelsy that is its due accompaniment; let us proceed therefore to the athletic sports, so that [Odysseus] our guest on his return home may be able to tell his friends how much we surpass all other nations as boxers, wrestlers, jumpers, and runners. . . . The foot races came first. The course was set out for them from the starting post, and they raised a dust upon the plain as they all flew forward at the same moment. Clytoneus came in first by a long way; he left every one else behind him by the length of the furrow that a couple of mules can plough in a fallow field. They then turned to the painful art of wrestling, and here Euryalus proved to be the best man. Amphialus excelled all the others ...

Reading a historical account concerning whaling in the 1800’s, I came across a peculiar practice among Nantucketers that sparked a thought. The thought, I admit, involves a level of imaginative stretching so my caveat at the outset is to admit my conclusion is more interesting (to me, at least) than definitive or conclusive. Permit me to spare all the details and give a general overview, the seed of my thought. One particular captain lost his ship and spend a number of months adrift at sea with two other boats. Survival reached the point of desperation that led to cannibalism (an unspoken yet acceptable practice when necessary among early sea-men). Few men survived and were eventually rescued. Once back home, the captain returned to sea in a matter of months and in nearly the same waters as the loss of his first ship, the second was run aground and he once again returned home. The Nantucket whaling community responded to the first tragedy with great compassion, but following ...

The Gilgamesh Epic is considered to be one of the first hero stories of antiquity. Any studious reader will find the story connected to one of the earliest documented world civilizations in early Mesopotamia, the kingdom of Sumer namely. Copies of the story have been found all over the Middle East written on clay tablets, which may indicate the story has a longer oral tradition. The epic as we have it today is the result of translation work from various pieces, some of which are still missing. Scholars admit the story’s development is traceable, so the form in which we have today represents the work of collected fragments. One curious note is that some ancient recorders seem to favor some stories over others, giving greater attention to details others completely ignore. Perhaps the greatest “claim to fame” of the Gilgamesh epic is the story of a great flood that seems to parallel that of the great flood recorded in the Bible. Some suggest in an attempt to discredit the Bible that the...

“I know not all that may be coming, but be it what it will, I'll go to it laughing.” ― Herman Melville (Moby Dick)

"A work that aspires, however humbly, to the condition of art should carry its justification in every line. And art itself may be defined as a single-minded attempt to render the highest kind of justice to the visible universe, by bringing to light the truth, manifold and one, underlying its every aspect. It is an attempt to find in its forms, in its colours, in its light, in its shadows, in the aspects of matter and in the facts of life, what of each is fundamental, what is enduring and essential--their one illuminating and convincing quality--the very truth of their existence. The artist, then, like the thinker, or the scientist, seeks the truth and makes his appeal." (Joseph Conrad's Preface to "The Nigger Of The 'Narcissus'", originally published 1897 )

I was 15 when I heard Samuel Barber’s “Adagio for Strings” for the very first time. My orchestra teacher mixed me a couple of cassette tapes of her favorite music for my listening pleasure over the summer. There, nestled among Dvorak and Elgar’s Cello Concertos, Smetna’s “Moldau” and Gershwin’s Greatest Hits lay this musical tour of pure emotion, from deepest despair to highest ecstasy. Just what a 15 year-old needs to hear. I put on my headphones and clicked “play” on the walkman. Into hiss of the lead came what sounded to me like what the first breath of Adam must have sounded like. I could imagine the sound of dying at the end. All of life is lived in the middle, the highest point of ecstasy and fullness. Samuel Barber’s famous piece is not that old (1936) and is probably one of the most recognizable pieces today by any audience. His masterwork has appeared in more than 30 film or TV scores (The Elephant Man and Platoon, to name a couple--the perfect choice for the first film and a...

Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader has a contender! Just found a book I am going to review it before I actually read it. Judy Jones and William Wilson (there’s an education in that name--calling to mind Edgar Allan Poe--which hints as to why a book like this can be fun) published this third edition in 2009 with Ballantine. The book covers highlights in twelve subject areas that we either forgot or slept through in school: American Studies, Art History, Economic, Film, Literature, Music, Philosophy, Political Science, Psychology, Religion, Science and World History. Browsing the book, one notes witty writing in short articles. Even the Lexicon presents itself to be a readable 13th chapter. 10,000 years in only 700 pages. I expect plenty of springboards for future blogs to be found within!