Category: music

i feel the snow, i feel the cold, i feel the air…

i feel the snow, i feel the cold, i feel the air…

to the person (s?) out there who want to know what the hell the song “nothing” is about, the lyrics will follow. for me, it is a song that i live my life by 😉

Nothing
[DIANA]
I’m so excited because I’m gonna go
to the High School of Performing Arts!
I mean, I was dying to be a serious actress.
Anyway, it’s the first day acting class-
and we’re in the auditorium and the teacher,
Mr. Karp… Oh, Mr. Karp…
Anyway, he puts us up on the stage with
our legs around each other,
one in back of the other and he says:
“Okay… we’re going to do improvisations.
Now, you’re on a bobsled. It’s snowing out.
And it’s cold…Okay…GO!”

Ev’ry day for a week we would try to
Feel the motion, feel the motion
Down the hill.

Ev’ry day for a week we would try to
Hear the wind rush, hear the wind rush,
Feel the chill.

And I dug right down to the bottom of my soul
To see what I had inside.
Yes, I dug right down to the bottom of my soul
And I tried, I tried.

[Spoken]
And everybody’s goin’ “Whooooosh, whooooosh …
I feel the snow… I feel the cold… I feel the air.”
And Mr. Karp turns to me and he says,
“Okay, Morales. What did you feel?”

[sings]
And I said…”Nothing,
I’m feeling nothing,”
And he says “Nothing
Could get a girl transferred.”

They all felt something,
But I felt nothing
Except the feeling
That this bullshit was absurd!

[Spoken]
But I said to myself, “Hey, it’s only the first week.
Maybe it’s genetic.
They don’t have bobsleds in San Juan!”

[sings]
Second week, more advanced, and we had to
Be a table, be a sportscar…
Ice-cream cone.

Mister Karp, he would say,”Very good,
except Morales. Try, Morales,
All alone.”

And I dug right down to the bottom of my soul
To see how an ice cream felt.
Yes, I dug right down to the bottom of my soul
And I tried to melt.

The kids yelled, “Nothing!”
They called me “Nothing”
And Karp allowed it,
Which really makes me burn.

The were so helpful.
They called me “Hopeless”,
Until I really didn’t know
Where else to turn.

[Spoken]
And Karp kept saying,
“Morales, I think you should transfer to Girl’s High,
You’ll never be an actress, Never!” Jesus Christ!

Went to church, praying, “Santa Maria,
Send me guidance, send me guidance,”
On my knees.

Went to church, praying, “Santa Maria,
Help me feel it, help me feel it.
Pretty please!”

And a voice from down at the bottom of my soul
Came up to the top of my head.
And the voice from down at the bottom of my soul,
Here is what it said:

“This man is nothing!
This course is nothing!
If you want something,
Go find another class.

And when you find one
You’ll be an actress.”
And I assure you that’s what
Fin’lly came to pass.

Six months later I heard that Karp had died.
And I dug right down to the bottom of my soul…
And cried.
‘Cause I felt… nothing.

feelin' groovy

feelin' groovy

i have probably made the weirdest mix CD to date, as i pointed out to the other day. among the wackiness co-existing on this little disc: ella fitzgerald, the cowboy junkies, sarah brightman singing a wonderful breakup song by andrew lloyd-webber, the rolling stones, nat king cole, yvonne elliman, “nothing,” one of the funniest broadway songs ever recorded, from “A chorus line,” the eagles, foreigner, arlo guthrie, woody guthrie, johnny nash, and of course, a wonderful song from the broadway show “hair.” it’s a mellow CD, to be sure.

it reminds me how much i love the Broadway musical “hair.” i HATEDHATEDHATED the film with Treat Williams. it was so strangely contrived. better to see it on stage. i did, in 3rd grade, on Broadway. i went with my parents and a whole bunch of teachers who taught with my mom at my elementary school. i think the crowning moment was the end of the first act, where every cast member strips nekkid on stage. one of the teachers, shocked because i was present, whispered to my mom that is was not so good that i was there. my mom replied that i was staring at the floor, too embarrassed to look at anyone, so no worries.

my parents were always cool that way. i mean, i used to lovelovelove singing along with the record “hair” — and one song i loved to sing was called “sodomy.” the rest of the words are even more shocking. however, i sang it at the top of my lungs regularly as a child. i asked my mom later – why did you let me run around singing words like that? she said, once again correctly, that when i was old enough, i would learn what those words meant and would probably decide then whether it was a good idea to run around singing that song. she was right 🙂

geez, i love that hippie shit. cos i’m a genius, genius. i believe in G-d. and i believe that G-d believes in claude — that’s me.

Manchester England

Manchester England England
Across the Atlantic Sea
And I’m a genius genius
I believe in God
And I believe that God
Believes in Claude
That’s me that’s me

Claude Hooper Bukowski
Finds that it’s groovy
To hide in a movie
Pretends he’s Fellini
And Antonioni
And also his countryman Roman Polanski
All rolled into one
One Claude Hooper Bukowski

Now that I’ve dropped out
Why is life dreary dreary
Answer my weary query
Timothy Leary dearie

Oh Manchester England England
Across the Atlantic Sea
And I’m a genius genius
I believe in God
And I believe that God
Believes in Claude
That’s me (that’s he)
That’s me (that’s he)
That’s me (that’s he)
That’s me

Good Night

Good Night

BC loves this one song called “Good Night” by The Roches. she makes me press the repeat button and she literally falls asleep to it every night. when she was a baby, i used to sing it to her – its where i got the term “friendly princess” from, as she is our friendly princess. whenever we would get to that line in the song, i would tap her on her nose, and she would stare at me, cross-eyed, like a little buzzing bee in the headlights. my heart melted last night as we sang it together – the “i love you from faraway” part.

in listening to it last night, i think it might have a little bit to do with my life as well. i also think that i might need some sleep.

Good Night
-The Roches

once upon a time there was a very friendly princess
who was captured
by a big, grumpy, invisible wizard. he locked her in
the tippy top of his
tower and late at night when she was very tired,
getting ready to fall
asleep on her bed of stones, she would look out the
window, up into
the sky, and twiddle her thumbs and sing a song that
she just made
up. she didn’t know why. it was just about a feeling
that she had. and it
sounded something like this…

i love you from far away
like i love the moon
you are the brightest star
in my cartoon

someday i’ll find you
whoever you are
i know you are out there
but where?
you couldn’t be far

now this princess got very very smart after years of
thinking in the tower
and it began to dawn on her that perhaps the
invisible wizard wasn’t
even there! so, she approached the gigantic door
that kept her locked

into the tower and she OPENED it! then tiptoed
carefully down the
stairs to the bottom where lo and behold she walked
into a clearing in
the woods and she was free! and you’ll never
believe it but there was
an entire village of forest animals and people
dancing and singing. they had been
waiting for her all these years! they sang together…

i love you from far away
like i love the moon
you are the brightest star
in my cartoon

someday i’ll find you
whoever you are
i know you are out there
but where?
you couldn’t be far

well, that’s the end of the story
i’m getting kind of tired
i think i’ll go to sleep now, goodnight!

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Cape Town, South Africa