Just another music thread.

Cat Stevens ... Father and Son..:

Same song, same singer, but years & years later ...
Yusuf Islam ... Father and Son:

Rather a quiet A2K night, so I've been indulging in a bit of YouTubing ...
I've been trying to find some good Paul Kelly clips, but unfortunately there aren't all that many of reasonable quality. (Would have loved to find a few more from my favourite PK CD, Comedy .. but no success.)
Anyway, these aren't too bad.
(For those of you who mightn't know, Paul Kelly is just about the best known (& held in great affection) singer songwriter in Oz. He's been around for ages.):

Paul Kelly with Kev Carmody.
A song (written by Paul) about aboriginal land rights struggle.:




Vincent Lingiarri & Gough Whitlam

From little things big things Grow..

Gather round people let me tell you a story
An eight year long story of power and pride
British Lord Vestey and Vincent Lingiarri
Were opposite men on opposite sides

Vestey was fat with money and muscle
Beef was his business, broad was his door
Vincent was lean and spoke very little
He had no bank balance, hard dirt was his floor

From little things big things grow
From little things big things grow

Gurindji were working for nothing but rations
Where once they had gathered the wealth of the land
Daily the pressure got tighter and tighter
Gurindju decided they must make a stand

They picked up their swags and started off walking
At Wattie Creek they sat themselves down
Now it don't sound like much but it sure got tongues talking
Back at the homestead and then in the town

From little things big things grow
From little things big things grow

Vestey man said I'll double your wages
Seven quid a week you'll have in your hand
Vincent said uhuh we're not talking about wages
We're sitting right here till we get our land
Vestey man roared and Vestey man thundered
You don't stand the chance of a cinder in snow
Vince said if we fall others are rising

From little things big things grow
From little things big things grow

Then Vincent Lingiarri boarded an aeroplane
Landed in Sydney, big city of lights
And daily he went round softly speaking his story
To all kinds of men from all walks of life

And Vincent sat down with big politicians
This affair they told him is a matter of state
Let us sort it out, your people are hungry
Vincent said no thanks, we know how to wait

From little things big things grow
From little things big things grow

Then Vincent Lingiarri returned in an aeroplane
Back to his country once more to sit down
And he told his people let the stars keep on turning
We have friends in the south, in the cities and towns

Eight years went by, eight long years of waiting
Till one day a tall stranger appeared in the land
And he came with lawyers and he came with great ceremony
And through Vincent's fingers poured a handful of sand

From little things big things grow
From little things big things grow

That was the story of Vincent Lingairri
But this is the story of something much more
How power and privilege can not move a people
Who know where they stand and stand in the law

From little things big things grow
From little things big things grow
From little things big things grow
From little things big things grow


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/From_Little_Things_Big_Things_Grow

i know a bit about paul kelley, i was more of a hunters and collectors and weddings, parties, anything fan for the most part

(Excellent taste! ) Yes, I was rather partial to Hunters & Collectors and Weddings, Parities, Everything, too, dj.
But Paul holds a very special place in Oz music. He's a bit of a living treasure.
It's really a shame about the poor quality of the PK clips available on YouTube. Especially from his earlier albums. I've searched & searched & can't find any that really do him credit. Frustrating.

But I should have said so much more about why Paul Kelly is so important to Oz music ...
It's because he was such an important influential writer/musician about our own culture, our own country.
It was not at all unusual, prior to the 1960s, the 1970s +, for just about all Oz popular musicians to sound rather like musicians from the west coast of the USA.
And that sold records, sure.

But it took musicians like Paul to teach us to accept ourselves, be ourselves, accept our own culture & delight in it...
Including writing beautiful songs about Adelaide, St Kilda, Sydney, aboriginal land rights struggles, cricket, political situations .... heaps of subjects which are only applicable, can only be fully appreciated if you are Australian.

Furthermore, he sang with an Australian accent. (You'd be amazed the numbers of performers who hadn't.)

Believe it or not, this was a pretty amazing breakthrough. And it was only achieved, I think, because he was so brilliant at his own craft.

So, if I can put it this way, Paul has been a chronicler of our own uniquely Australian experience. And he has written some wonderful songs in the process of doing that. And he has let the way for so many other musicians to do the same thing ... in their own particulars ways, of course.

OK, enough said.

Next time I post here it will be music.
By the way, you can post your own music favourites here, too. (Just thought I'd remind you. )

I just happen to love, love this one:

Well that was very romantic, intimate & quite sultry, Francis.

Facts of life, msolga...

Enjoy then, Francis.

Isn't it amazing how Leonard Cohen seems to be getting better with age. His gigs these days are brilliant, you can really see he's enjoying it too.

Here's a nice bit of W.B. Yeats poetry sung by Christy Moore.

It is quite amazing.
Leonard is a marvel.
What I love about his more recent music (compared to the late 60s & 70s) is his sense of humour, that he doesn't mind having a small joke at his own expense. And he does it with such panache!

How nice.
Thank you for posting that.
I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I have a big soft spot for the Irish .. & Irish folk music. (Say nothing of the writers, the poets!)
The result of being dragged by a good friend to Dan O'Connell's Irish pub in Carlton, Saturday afternoon after Saturday afternoon, years ago.
I loved the the music & I loved the the audience participation.
Good stuff!

So here's my little tribute to Irish folk music
Please feel free to post as much as you'd like! .:

Enjoy. The Fureys.

And a bit more of Christy.

And finally a bit more Fureys. Luv this.

Thank you, euro.

I did "enjoy", if that is the right response for sharing the pain of the sheer hideousness of war ...

Very moving.

I don't know how far back in this thread you investigated, but that song was written by one of our (Oz) dearly treasured immigrants, Eric Bogle. Along with the Band Played Waltzing Matilda ...etc, etc, etc ...

And so many more utterly beautiful, haunting songs (some of which have caused me to weep, they are so moving.)

Now he is an adopted national treasure!
But then, so many of our national treasures are!
We are a country of immigrants. (Including me!)

I have to admit I'd never heard of Eric, but I'll be putting my ear to his music now. I know all war is brutal but WW1 was particular brutal and pointless. My Granddad fought in it, thankfully he came home, I still have and cherish his medals. Songs like this make sure we never forget the many who never made it home. Bless them.

[qyoutube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUzQ6Am-bbc[/youtube]