Isau's Take on LR Music Selection

[Eynhallow 412]

Isau’s Music

 

First I would like to give credit where credit is due.  Thanks to @Bobo and @GrittyIsKing09for the inspiration and motivation to review some of the music I like.  My effort will be somewhat different than what my friends have done, in that I will not review an album, but rather give you an overview of what I like (today).  I say today because my music landscape changes pretty often as does the weather.  

 

Music in one form or another has been around since the time of Neanderthal Man.  We have evidence of bone flutes dating back some 40 000 years.  Now music in its various genres has become part of the warp and weft of our society.  Music is also evocative.  Meaning that we each interpret music differently.  What I like may or may not be what you like. Also, music triggers human emotion, so it is used extensively in advertising.

 

As some of you might know, I am a bit older than many on these forums so I kind of like a lot of retro stuff, but overall my tastes are pretty eclectic..  The tunes that I will review will reflect that I like ballads that have meaning, or remind me of a person or time in my life.  I also like the drive and energy of metal and punk.  So, for your entertainment, I encourage you to take a listen to some of the following.  Listed in no particular order:

 

Drunken Lullabies

 

This punk song is about the violence Ireland and Northern Ireland dealt with in the 1960’s. I think it is about how ridiculous it is for the Catholic and Protestants to continue to use violence against one another. The drunken lullabies are the songs each side sings to itself to justify perpetuating the violence against each other, but they are each singing the same drunken lullaby.  A similar message can be found in Brothers In Arms, a Dire Straits tune that says “Why should we make war on our Brothers in Arms?”

 

Girl From The North Country

 

My rock roots show in this selection.  The Lions cover of this Bob Dylan tune is a departure from the folk song original.  This song is one of my favourites because it reminds me of the love of my life, Nikki (Starr).  Yes, for those of you who have read Moose Tracks, she is the real deal mentioned there.  She is also from the North as am I.  We both still live up here and have no regrets of having spent our lives here thus far.

 

Sultans of Swing (Cover by Leo Moracchioli and Mary Spender)

 

I neglected to mention in my intro that I very much enjoy iconic guitar solos.  Mark Knopfler’s solo in the original version is one of these.  However, I found the solos performed by Leo and Mary equally entertaining as they incorporate an element of Heavy Metal.  Also, watch the dynamic between Leo and Mary in the video…...pretty funny.

 

From Red Deer to Margaree

 

I first heard this tune performed by the Grievous Angels.  I am not sure as to whether I like their version or the one I have linked done by the Skydiggers.  Both are kind of folky and easy listening.  The lyrics remind me of a time in one of the iterations of my life when I was travelling from place to place taking courses, giving presentations and doing contract work for the Ontario Government.  I didn’t think the incessant travelling would ever end.  Nikki was travelling with me and when I heard theses words:

 

As sunlight rises on a distant sky

and says good morning to our tired eyes.

You look to me and I know that its alright.

 

I was right back behind the wheel of my old pickup bangin’ on down the highway.  Like I said if you like the Skydiggers version it would be worth  listening to the original that can be found HERE.

 

Take a Walk With Me

 

A few years ago Nikki and I took a trip to Munising, a small town on the south shore of Lake Superior in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.  We noticed that their mill had become derelict and the town was struggling to develop new commercial enterprises to keep alive.  This was the same thing that was happening in Northern Ontario, small towns falling into disrepair and services being “consolidated”. Meaning that they no longer existed locally.  Scott McClatchy’s folk tune talks of exactly this in how a local firehouse was being closed.  Do we have to walk backwards in order to get ahead ??? 

 

Lullaby For a Soldier

 

Hey, I am no different than anyone else.  We have all lost people we love.  I get kind of melancholy when I think about them.  Maggie Siff helps me get through some of these times.

 

Country Roads

 

Yup, that ditty originally by John Denver.  Hermes House Band, though, has a different take on this old hack.  It is the same song alright, but with a really high production video.The vid actually tells a story that is quite unconnected to the song, jilted lover, barroom brawl and even a gunfight.  Still rockin’.

 

You, Me, and The Bourgeoisie

 

The Submarines recorded this enchanting ballad a few years ago.  I think this song talks about the excesses of the first world.  Mostly that’s us.  And how we should try to transcend that.

 

Plastic bottles, imported water

Cars we drive wherever we want to

Clothes we buy, it's sweatshop labor

Drugs from corporate enablers

We're not living the good life

Unless we're fighting the good fight

You and me just trying to get it right

 

Ironically, Apple used this tune to advertise one of their varieties of IPhones.  I mean, how could Apple use a song that criticizes commercialism when they are one of the planet’s biggest commercial enterprises.  Good tune anyway.

 

Peggy Sue

 

Before you ask, “No, I don’t remember Buddy Holly”.  Buddy Holly was a pioneer of rock and roll.  He died tragically in a plane crash at the age of 22, only two short years after recording his second  major hit Peggy Sue.  I like this modernized version of the iconic tune played by Cobra Starship.  The introduction of a female vocal is a refreshing twist.

 

Anyways, thanks for reading (if ya got this far) and possibly listening to some of my poor taste in music  In retrospect this was an energizing change from my usual stories about Isau or my mini rants about the foibles of the STHS.  So much so that there may be a Part 2 to this at some point.

 

Word Count: 1105

[Eynhallow 412]

Claiming Week 2