I’ve been working on and off on accompanying myself to sing “Memory” from Cats with guitar. Here’s a recording of me playing it outside in the shed the other day.
Tag: music
Breast Cancer Rap
I’ve been trying out a new genre…rap! Here I am spinning verses about my recent experience with breast cancer. Lyrics below. What is the Answer? I had a lump in my breast it turned out to be cancer. The doctors said surgery’s the only good answer. Would I lose my whole breast, or only a…
Children, Go Where I Send Thee
This song was a traditional African-American spiritual that later became known as a Christmas carol. I have drawn here from the secularized lyrics by Nick Lowe that I discovered in a Pentatonix recording to create a festive holiday interpretation that brings in some of the activities we enjoy most about the season. Enjoy! Major lyric…
Redemption Song
Here is my latest video, a cover of Bob Marley’s “Redemption Song.” After I started experimenting with playing this song a few months ago, I discovered that Marley had been diagnosed with cancer when he wrote this. His widow, Rita Marley, has remarked that she really hears, within this tune in particular, her husband’s reckoning…
Devolva-Me
I just finished a recording of a Brazilian song I’ve been working on. Written and recorded by Lílian Knapp and Renato Barros in 1966 and famously recorded by Adriana Calcanhotto in 2000,” Devolva-Me” translates to “Give it Back to Me.” In the song, the protagonist asks her partner to return a picture she gave him…
Por Amarte Así
I’ve just recorded a cover of a Latin love song I picked up earlier this year during the equatorial mid-day siesta times on the Galápagos. “Loving You Like This” or “Loving You This Way,” composed by Alejandro Montalbán and Eduardo Reyes and originally performed by Mexican recording artist Cristian Castro. The translation here in the…
New Multi-Character Phone Recs
I’ve been experimenting with overlaying parts onto the Acapella app on my new used iPhone. First, the three-person song I love by Girlyman called “Everything’s Easy,” and then “Play a Simple Melody” by Irving Berlin, which is one I always used to sing with my mom growing up (but without the characters!). My daughter told…
A Christmas Song
Taking a break from GlobeSongs to bring you a holiday tune: “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” which was written by Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane in 1943. I started teaching myself piano during COVID, and this is my first time accompanying myself on the keyboard rather than guitar. Wishing you joyous and cozy holidays…
Algerian storytelling song “Raoui”
Episode 12 of GlobeSongs explores Algerian Berber singer-songwriter Souad Massi’s song “Raoui,” (راوي) or “Storyteller.” Watch to find out the background of this lovely tune and the origin of the word “ghoul.”
Russian folk song “Grushitsa”
Discover the lovely Russian folk song “Grushitsa,” or “Little Pear Tree,” on this week’s episode of GlobeSongs, and see for yourself where it might fit into a categorization of Russian ethnic music as authentic folk music, folkloric music, and “fakeloric” performance.