Music

I’ve been listening to the Andrew Sisters for years. Their voices are wonderful. In all of those years, I had never actually seen them in film.

Last night, this song showed up in my play list. I was thinking about it, how our culture has changed. “Give me some skin” would get me in trouble today.

In my time, Harlem has always been a dangerous and scary place. There was a time when it was a cultural up end place to go.

Regardless, watching the sisters sing and dance makes me smile.

And another:

And the original, which I like better. I’m the guy that can listen to the same singer singing the same song and hear that they are different. And it drives me bonkers. So the original is the only version that I actually like.

This is part of my SSS series.

And for our friends in the Carolina’s

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTFUyS4At/

@adampopemusic “Five Hundred Year Flood” 🙏 #hurricanehelene #flood #blueridgemountains #appalachia #smokymountainstennessee #folkmusic #folksong #flood ♬ original sound – Adam Pope Music

Go and listen. It’s not available anywhere but TikTok right now because the guy (Adam Pope) wrote it and recorded it there. He had no idea it would take off. It’s *good*. It captures the feeling of what’s going on down there. It really is a song that has faint whispers of Johnny Cash and a whiff of Appalachia.

Ally here, stepping in for Chris for a change. I ran across this on TikTok, and then went and found it on YouTube to get the full effect. I found myself tearing up while watching and listening. I’m impressed. The song itself is amazing. The video is… yeah. I’d love to see Trump walk into an event with this playing. Regardless, I really wanted to share it.

At the end, when they show the iconic moment where Secret Service hustle him off the stage, I saw things I didn’t in the color version. The black and white gives you a look at Trump’s face that you just do not get in color. He’s obviously afraid. And then he stood up and did what he knew he had to, to reassure those who were there. Damn. Never thought I’d hear myself saying the words, but thank you, Trump. I hope you win.

Header image attribution: Office of the President of the United States, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

From the YouTube description:

The following are a series of war correspondence films from the Simba Rebellion in the Congo in 1964/65 set to the tune of “Roland the Thompson Gunner” by Warren Zevon. The film features a platoon of mercenaries from Europe conducting a platoon attack on the town of Boende in the Cong. The mercenaries primarily come from the Netherlands, Belgium, and Germany. Of note, there is an ex-ss officer in the film according to the source, I can’t confirm this, though.

EDIT: The German officer is Siegfried Müller, one of the mercenary captains. He was a Wehrmacht First Lieutenant in World War 2, not an SS officer.

This is the type of war the leftists are pushing for. I fear for my children and grandchildren.

Video editing is from before CGI. An example of early VFX.

There are always songs that stay with us forever.

My first year at University, I was amazed at how many concerts and shows were held on campus. Over the time I was there, I was able to see off Broadway productions of Cat and A Chorus Line.

In addition to plays there were the concerts. And they weren’t little names.

Harry Chapin gave a concert every year.

When my roommate tried to get me to go, I begged off. I was studying for a test or some such thing. That was a mistake.

A few months later, Harry died in a car accident.

Having been introduced to Harry, I purchased many of his albums on CD and nearly wore them out.

I’ve already written about Sniper.

I listened to the following song, and it felt like it was telling a part of my story.

My father was in the Navy, he would deploy for 6+ months every few years. He worked a lot. When I was old enough to actually do things with him, he was CO of the base, which left him little time.

His support was always there.

He and mom delayed moving to their dream home after he retired to allow me to complete high school in the school I started.

They left at the end of the school year, I went to Europe for a trip, came back to the states and spent the summer staying with a friend and working.

From there, it was straight to University. I went “home” for Christmas and the summer break.

That was the last time I lived with my parents. Every other summer, I was at school or working. Or both.

So when I heard this song, it hit me hard. My father has always been there for me. As much as I needed. He was the strength behind mom. He was.

And I was the selfish son who couldn’t make time for him.

https://youtu.be/RWdTWuZAA7A

So I told him this song was so meaningful to me because I wasn’t making time for him and I never had.

He heard the other side and felt like he wasn’t there for me.

I hurt him. I regret telling him about “Cat’s In The Cradle”, but at the same time, I hope he heard that I felt I hadn’t been there for him.

We are watching The Inside Man. They have a version of this which I wish I could find.

Regardless, a powerful message.