Song Lyric Sunday — “The Parting Glass”

Is the glass half-empty or half-full? Helen Vahdati’s musing on that suject resulted in this week’s Song Lyric Sunday theme: Glass. The glass I’ve chosen to write about is neither, as the full glass is drained for a toast.

“The Parting Glass” is a bittersweet farewell to close friends. Having its roots in Scotland, it’s considered to be traditional in both Ireland and Scotland. The lyrics in some form existed in the early 1600s, attributed by Sir Walter Scott to a man who was hanged after penning his farewell, now called “Armstrong’s Goodnight.” Today’s lyrics were first seen on a handbill in the 1770s. As with other traditional songs, the music was also used for other songs, and was first published in Glasgow in 1782 as a fiddle tune called “The Peacock.” The song was popularlized in the 20th century by Irish recordings by The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem and by The Dubliners.

My favorite version of “The Parting Glass” could be considered a poignant farewell from the singer. George Donaldson was one of the original members of, and the only Scot in, Celtic Thunder, a singing group formed in Dublin in 2007. At 39 and the only married member, George was “the old man” to the others who ranged in age from 14 to 30. Well-beloved by cast, crew, and fans, he passed away unexpectedly at 46 from a massive heart attack in March 2014.

Released on his second solo album, “The Parting Glass” video was filmed and released a mere five months before his passing. I’d say “enjoy,” but I truly can’t hear and watch him sing this without choking up.

“The Parting Glass”

Of all the money e’er I had
I’ve spent it in good company
And all the harm e’er I’ve done
Alas it was to none but me
And all I’ve done for want of wit
To memory now I can’t recall
So fill to me the parting glass
Good night and joy be with you all

Of all the comrades e’er I had
They are sorry for my going away
And all the sweethearts that e’er I had
They would wish me one more day to stay
But since it falls unto my lot
That I should rise and you should not
I’ll gently rise and I’ll softly call
Good night and joy be with you all

A man may drink and not be drunk
A man may fight and not be slain
A man may court a pretty girl
And perhaps be welcomed back again
But since it has so ordered been
By a time to rise and a time to fall
Come fill to me the parting glass
Goodnight and joy be with you all
Goodnight and joy be with you all

*edited to add links to The Clancy Brothers and The Dubliners versions

Song Lyric Sunday — “My Favorite Picture of You”

Weekly, Song Lyric Sunday provides two great pleasures: Nostalgia and discovery. This week’s theme, “picture/photograph“, satisfied both pleasures for me. My nostalgic favorite, Jim Croce’s “Photographs and Memories,” has already been posted by Scarlett79. In searching for a second choice, I discovered Guy Clark’s “My Favorite Picture Of You,” his sweet, poignant ode to his late wife. The picture he sings about was taken in 1972, the first of their 40-year marriage. Clark, with his writing partner Gordie Sampson, wrote this song in 2011. Released in 2013, a scant 13 months following Susanna Clark’s passing, it debuted at #12 on Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart.

“My Favorite Picture Of You“

My favorite picture of you
Is the one where you’re staring
Straight into the lens

It’s just a Polaroid shot
Someone took on the spot
No beginning, no end

It’s just a moment in time
You can’t have back
You never left but your bags were packed
Just in case

My favorite picture of you
Is bent and it’s faded
And it’s pinned to my wall

Oh and you were so angry
It’s hard to believe
We were lovers at all

There’s a fire in your eyes
You’ve got your heart on your sleeve
A curse on your lips but all I can see
Is beautiful

My favorite picture of you
Is the one where
Your wings are showing

Oh and your arms are crossed
Your fists are clenched
Not gone but going

Oh a stand up angel
Who won’t back down
Nobody’s fool, nobody’s clown
You were smarter than that

My favorite picture of you
Is the one where
It hasn’t rained yet

Oh and as I recall
That came a winter squall
And we got soaking wet

A thousand words
In the blink of an eye
The camera loves you and so do I
Click

My favorite picture of you
Is the one where you’re staring
Straight into the lens

photo by Senior McGuire

Song Lyric Sunday — “Pink Cadillac” and “Cadillac Ranch”

When I saw this week’s theme is “car/cars“, my head exploded. My favorite group! How can I pick a Cars song? I decided not to and proceeded to waste too many hours searching for an alternative. No can do. Was about to throw in the towel and go with Cars, but then I realized that I’ve featured at least six Cars songs on my blog since May! Was debating what to do, when I had a brainstorm: Bruce Springsteen, singing one of my old favorites “Pink Cadillac!” That, of course, immediately prompted “Cadillac Ranch.” Have you noticed how indecisive I am? So you’re getting two fun songs written and performed by Bruce Springsteen.

“Pink Cadillac” was originally released in 1984 on the B side of his big hit “Dancing in the Dark.” It didn’t make it onto an album until 1998, when it was included on his outtake album, “Tracks.” Sing along:

“Pink Cadillac“

Well now you may think I’m foolish
For the foolish things I do
You may wonder how come I love you
When you get on my nerves like you do
Well baby you know you bug me
There ain’t no secret ’bout that
Well come on over here and hug me
Baby I’ll spill the facts
Well honey it ain’t your money
‘Cause baby I got plenty of that
I love you for your pink Cadillac
Crushed velvet seats
Riding in the back
Oozing down the street
Waving to the girls
Feeling out of sight
Spending all my money
On a Saturday night
Honey I just wonder what you do there in the back
Of your pink Cadillac
Pink Cadillac

Well now way back in the Bible
Temptations always come along
There’s always somebody tempting
Somebody into doing something they know is wrong
Well they tempt you, man, with silver
And they tempt you, sir, with gold
And they tempt you with the pleasure
That the flesh does surely hold
They say Eve tempted Adam with an apple
But man I ain’t going for that
I know it was her pink Cadillac
Crushed velvet seats
Riding in the back
Oozing down the street
Waving to the girls
Feeling out of sight
Spending all my money
On a Saturday night
Honey I just wonder what it feels like in the back
Of your pink Cadillac
Pink Cadillac

Now some folks say it’s too big
And uses too much gas
Some folks say it’s too old
And that it goes too fast
But my love is bigger than a Honda
Yeah, it’s bigger than a Subaru
Hey man there’s only one thing
And one car that will do
Anyway we don’t have to drive it
Honey we can park it out in back
And have a party in your pink Cadillac
Crushed velvet seats
Riding in the back
Oozing down the street
Waving to the girls
Feeling out of sight
Spending all my money on a Saturday night
Honey I just wonder what you do there in the back
Of your pink Cadillac
Pink Cadillac
Pink Cadillac
Pink Cadillac
Pink Cadillac
Pink Cadillac
Pink Cadillac
Pink Cadillac
Pink Cadillac
Pink Cadillac

Cadillac Ranch is a real place near Amarillo, Texas, where 10 cadillacs are buried nose-first. It’s art! (graffiti allowed) I’ve heard he visited but don’t know whether he had aleady written and released the song in 1980. This is a bouncy number with a serious theme: the inevitability of death. Dance to it anyway!

“Cadillac Ranch“

Well, there she sits buddy justa gleaming in the sun
There to greet a working man when his day is done
I’m gonna pack my pa and I’m gonna pack my aunt
I’m gonna take them down to the Cadillac Ranch

Eldorado fins, whitewalls and skirts
Rides just like a little bit of heaven here on earth
Well buddy when I die throw my body in the back
And drive me to the junkyard in my Cadillac

Cadillac, Cadillac
Long and dark, shiny and black
Open up your engines let ’em roar
Tearing up the highway like a big old dinosaur

James Dean in that Mercury ’49
Junior Johnson runnin’ thru the woods of Caroline
Even Burt Reynolds in that black Trans-Am
All gonna meet down at the Cadillac Ranch

Cadillac, Cadillac
Long and dark, shiny and black
Open up them engines let ’em roar
Tearing up the highway just a big old dinosaur

Hey, little girlie in the blue jeans so tight
Drivin’ alone through the Wisconsin night
You’re my last love baby you’re my last chance
Don’t let ’em take me to the Cadillac Ranch

Cadillac, Cadillac
Long and dark, shiny and black
Pulled up to my house today
Came and took my little girl away

Song Lyric Sunday — “The Room Where It Happens”

Well, I thought for sure that Helen Vahdati stumped me this week with the Song Lyric Sunday theme, “plan.” Absolutely nothing came to mind. I couldn’t even figure out where to start looking. To compound my inability to come up with any ideas, I realized that, for several hours after I read “plan,” the back of my brain was singing “The Room Where It Happens” from Hamilton. It was really getting annoying. Why couldn’t my subconscious loop a song related to “plan”? Heeeyyyyy, wait a minute…..

“The Room Where It Happens” begins with Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton discussing how Hamilton was going to get Congress to accept his financial plan. They are interrupted by James Madison, who leaves with Hamilton for dinner. The song refers to the behind-the-scenes story of the Compromise of 1790, which was reached between Virginia’s U.S. Representative Madison and Secretary of the Treasury Hamilton (New Yorker) at a private dinner hosted by Virginian Thomas Jefferson. The dinner ended with an agreement that the new U.S. government would assume the debts of the states (as the Northern legislators wanted) in exchange for establishing the federal capital in the South, rather than either New York or Philadelphia. Coincidentally, Madison and Jefferson also got Hamilton to agree to a lucrative debt adjustment for Virginia. No one, other than those three men, was in the room where the compromise was hammered out.

Burr marvels that the immigrant (Hamilton) came out of the dinner with “unprecedented financial power” while the Virginians got the national capital, both sides getting what they wanted. And no one else was in “the room where it happened.” Burr concludes that in the future, he, too, wants to be in the room where the important negotiations take place.

Lin-Manuel Miranda wrote the music, lyrics, and book for Hamilton, which won multiple awards, including 11 Tony awards, a Grammy, 8 Drama Desk awards, 7 Olivier awards, and a Pulitzer Prize.

“The Room Where It Happens“

[Burr:]
Ah, Mister Secretary[Hamilton:]
Mister Burr, sir[Burr:]
Didja hear the news about good old General Mercer?

[Hamilton:]
No

[Burr:]
You know Clermont Street?

[Hamilton:]
Yeah

[Burr:]
They renamed it after him
The Mercer legacy is secure

[Hamilton:]
Sure

[Burr:]
And all he had to do was die

[Hamilton:]
That’s a lot less work

[Burr:]
We oughta give it a try

[Hamilton:]
Ha

[Burr:]
Now how’re you gonna get your debt plan through?

[Hamilton:]
I guess I’m gonna fin’ly have to listen to you

[Burr:]
Really?

[Hamilton:]
“Talk less. Smile more.”

[Burr:]
Ha ha

[Hamilton:]
Do whatever it takes to get my plan on the Congress floor

[Burr:]
Now, Madison and Jefferson are merciless

[Hamilton:]
Well, hate the sin, love the sinner

[Madison:]
Hamilton!

[Hamilton:]
I’m sorry Burr, I’ve gotta go

[Burr:]
But…

[Hamilton:]
Decisions are happening over dinner

[Burr:]
Two Virginians and an immigrant walk into a room

[Burr and Ensemble:]
Diametric’ly opposed, foes

[Burr:]
They emerge with a compromise, having opened doors that were

[Burr and Ensemble:]
Previously closed

[Ensemble:]
Bros

[Burr:]
The immigrant emerges with unprecedented financial power
A system he can shape however he wants
The Virginians emerge with the nation’s capital
And here’s the pièce de résistance:

[Burr (Ensemble):]
No one else was in
The room where it happened
The room where it happened
The room where it happened
No one else was in
The room where it happened (The room where it happened)
The room where it happened
The room where it happened (The room where it happened)
No one really knows how the game is played (Game is played)
The art of the trade
How the sausage gets made (How the sausage gets made)
We just assume that it happens (Assume that it happens)
But no one else is in
The room where it happens (The room where it happens)

[Burr and Company:]
Thomas claims

[Jefferson:]
Alexander was on Washington’s doorstep one day
In distress ‘n disarray

[Burr and Company:]
Thomas claims

[Jefferson:]
Alexander said

[Hamilton:]
I’ve nowhere else to turn!

[Jefferson:]
And basic’ly begged me to join the fray

[Burr and Company:]
Thomas claims

[Jefferson:]
I approached Madison and said,
“I know you hate ‘im, but let’s hear what he has to say.”

[Burr and Company:]
Thomas claims

[Jefferson:]
Well, I arranged the meeting
I arranged the menu, the venue, the seating

[Burr:]
But!
No one else was in

[Burr and Company:]
The room where it happened
The room where it happened
The room where it happened

[Burr:]
No one else was in

[Burr and Company:]
The room where it happened
The room where it happened
The room where it happened

[Burr (Company):]
No one really knows how the
Parties get to yes (Parties get to yes)
The pieces that are sacrificed in
Ev’ry game of chess (Ev’ry game of chess)
We just assume that it happens (Assume that it happens)
But no one else is in
The room where it happens (The room where it happens)

[Burr and Company:]
Meanwhile

[Burr:]
Madison is grappling with the fact that not ev’ry issue can be settled by committee

[Company:]
Meanwhile

[Burr:]
Congress is fighting over where to put the capital

[*Company screams in chaos*]

[Burr:]
It isn’t pretty
Then Jefferson approaches with a dinner and invite
And Madison responds with Virginian insight:

[Madison:]
Maybe we can solve one problem with another and win a victory for the Southerners, in other words

[Jefferson:]
Oh-ho!

[Madison:]
A quid pro quo

[Jefferson:]
I suppose

[Madison:]
Wouldn’t you like to work a little closer to home?

[Jefferson:]
Actually, I would

[Madison:]
Well, I propose the Potomac

[Jefferson:]
And you’ll provide him his votes?

[Madison:]
Well, we’ll see how it goes

[Jefferson:]
Let’s go

[Burr:]
No!

[Company:]
…one else was in
The room where it happened

[Burr and Company:]
The room where it happened
The room where it happened
No one else was in
The room where it happened
The room where it happened
The room where it happened

[Burr:]
My God!

[Burr and Company:]
In God we trust
But we’ll never really know what got discussed
Click-boom then it happened

[Burr:]
And no one else was in the room where it happened

[Company:]
Alexander Hamilton!

[Burr:]
What did they say to you to get you to sell New York City down the river?

[Company:]
Alexander Hamilton!

[Burr:]
Did Washington know about the dinner?
Was there Presidential pressure to deliver?

[Company:]
Alexander Hamilton!

[Burr:]
Or did you know, even then, it doesn’t matter
Where you put the U.S. Capital?

[Hamilton:]
‘Cause we’ll have the banks
We’re in the same spot

[Burr:]
You got more than you gave

[Hamilton:]
And I wanted what I got
When you got skin in the game, you stay in the game
But you don’t get a win unless you play in the game
Oh, you get love for it
You get hate for it
You get nothing if you…

[Hamilton and Company:]
Wait for it, wait for it, wait!

[Hamilton:]
God help and forgive me
I wanna build something that’s gonna outlive me

[Hamilton/Jefferson/Madison/Washington (Company):]
What do you want, Burr? (What do you want, Burr?)
What do you want, Burr? (What do you want, Burr?)
If you stand for nothing (What do you want, Burr?)
Burr, then what do you fall for? (What do you want?)

[Burr:]
I
I wanna be in the room where it happens
The room where it happens
I
Wanna be in the room where it happens
The room where it happens

[Burr (Company):]
I (I wanna be in the room where it happens)
Wanna be (The room where it happens)
In the room where it happens (The room where it happens)
I (I wanna be in the room where it happens)
I wanna be in the room… (The room where it happens)
Oh (The room where it happens)
Oh (I wanna be in the room where it happens)
I wanna be (Where it happens)
I wanna be (Where it happens)
I’ve got to be, I’ve got to be (I wanna be in the room where it happens)
In that room (The room where it happens)
In that big ol’ room (The room where it happens)

[Company:]
The art of the compromise

[Burr:]
Hold your nose and close your eyes

[Company:]
We want our leaders to save the day

[Burr:]
But we don’t get a say in what they trade away

[Company:]
We dream of a brand new start

[Burr:]
But we dream in the dark for the most part

[Burr and Company:]
Dark as a tomb where it happens

[Burr (Company):]
I’ve got to be in the room… (The room where it happens)
I’ve got to be…
(The room where it happens)
I’ve got to be…
(The room where it happens)
Oh, I’ve got to be in
The room where it happens… (The room where it happens)
I’ve got to be, I’ve gotta be (The room where it happens)
I’ve gotta be
In the room (I wanna be in the room where it happens)
Click-boom! (Click-boom!)

Song Lyric Sunday — “Nosferatu”

To be honest, when Helen Vahdati announced this week’s Song Lyric Sunday theme is “fear,” my first thought was “more cowbell!” I really tried to find some song other than Blue Oyster Cult’s “Don’t Fear the Reaper,” but finally admitting defeat, I went to You Tube to find an appropriate video. Once there, the strangest thing happened. I found another Blue Oyster Cult song I liked better: “Nosferatu,” BOC’s homage to the 1920s German film of the same name. The cool thing was that the best videos paired the song with footage from the film. Here’s one of them:

“Nosferatu”

Deep in the heart of Germany
Lucy clutched her breast in fear
She heard the beat of her lover’s heart
For weeks she raved in dreams he appeared
From far Transylvania

Only a woman can break his spell
Pure in heart who will offer herself
To Nosferatu

This ship pulled in without a sound
The faithful captain long since cold
He kept his log till the bloody end
Last entry read “Rats in the hold.
My crew is dead, I fear the plague”

Only a woman can break his spell
Pure in heart who will offer hefself
To Nosferatu

Mortal terror reigned
Sickness now then horrible death
Only Lucy knew the truth
And at her window
Nosferatu

So chaste so calm, she gave herself
To the pleasure of her dreaded master
He sucked the precious drops of life
Throughout the long and cold dark night

One last goodbye, he was blinded by love
One last goodbye, he was blinded by love
Blinded by love

He screamed with fear, he’d stayed too long in her room
The morning sun had come too soon
The spell was broken with a kiss of doom
He vanished into dust, left her all alone

Only a woman can break his spell
Pure in heart, who will offer herself
To Nosferatu

Writer/s: DICKON JAMES HINCHLIFFE, DAVID LEONARD BOULTER, STUART ASHTON STAPLES, NEIL JOSEPH STEVEN FRASER, MARK ANTHONY STEPHEN COLWILL, ALISTAIR MACAULAY
Publisher: Warner/Chappell Music, Inc., Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

And because I know you want to see it, here’s the Saturday Night Live cowbell skit (almost…couldn’t find the original; see Felicia Denise‘s post in comment section for link to original):