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The Organ Man

From an 1894 issue of Puck, here is a charming, romanticized poem and image of an itinerant organ grinder. I have also included a period image which shows how tenement kids really looked, and a shot of a contemporary grinder, showing how spoiled we grinders are today--clean, well fed, and at ease! There are five images, so be patient as they load.


He often comes when I'm lone and sad -
The organ man, with his tunes so old;
And his presence always makes me glad,
Although other surly folk may scold.

I'm very fond of "popular airs,"
But best I like when the children troop
Out from alleys and tenement stairs,
And gather round him, a noisy group.

He makes them sing to the tunes he plays,
And these old, old children dance with glee;
Why, I know they'd forget their childish ways
Were it not for the organ man and me.

For a penny tossed brings a bow profound,
And a sunny smile to his sallow face;
Then he turns the handle faster round,
While the music quivers through the place.

For here downtown, where the factories
Wall in the tenements dark and grim,
And shut out the light, the air, the breeze,
There would be no children but for him.

So he comes to see me every day,
Starting his tunes at my welcoming glance;
And I'm but too glad to be able to pay
The little it costs, while the children dance.

This is in the last link I posted, it has some great pictures.

Listeners, Angelique has just shown us the evolution of the old music box that was the fore runner to the player piano, and even, perhaps, an early computer.

Wow!

Well, listeners. I have spent the better part of the day going back to school.

Here's an interesting fact about certain songs:

Britannia, the pride of the ocean,
The home of the brave and the free,
The shrine of the sailor's devotion,
No land can compare to thee.
Thy mandates make heroes assemble
With Victory's bright laurels in view;
Thy banners make tyranny tremble
When borne by the red, white, and blue. O, Columbia! the gem of the ocean,
The home of the brave and the free,
The shrine of each patriot's devotion,
A world offers homage to thee.
Thy mandates make heroes assemble
When Liberty's form stands in view;
Thy banners make tyranny tremble
When borne by the Red, White and Blue!

Damn. We got everything from the Brits.

Question of the day. From whence came the name AMERICA for the United States?

Well lettybetty, as we sing it out here in the olde west, "Vespucciland, Vespucciland, land of the free. Vespucciland Vespucciland, land of the brave,
Amerigo, Amerigo, we all wanna go
to Vespucciland Vespucciland"

very nice dys

For those interested :

Amerigo Vespucci

I thought it was an Indian name.

Amerigo Vespucci (Italian, born in Florence in 1452), whose name was given to the American continents by Waldsmuller in 1507, worked in Seville (where he died) in the business house which fitted out Columbus' second expedition. Here he gives an account of the first of his own four voyages. If his claims are accurate he reached the mainland of the Americas shortly before Cabot, and  at least 14 months before Columbus.

Okay what's Columbia, than?

Just think...since Vikings led by Eric the Red (?) discovered Greenland before Columbus and visited New England, with different luck you could be living now in Ericland...or Erica.

That's a saving of two letters.

or Redland

More hurdies and gurdies...I can just about remember this, tho' I didn't care much for the artist...Edgar likes him.

HURDY GURDY MAN
Donovan

Thrown like a star in my vast sleep
I open my eyes to take a peep
To find that I was by the sea
Gazing with tranquillity.
'Twas then when the Hurdy Gurdy Man
Came singing songs of love,
Then when the Hurdy Gurdy Man
Came singing songs of love.
Hurdy gurdy, hurdy gurdy, hurdy gurdy, gurdy he sang.
Hurdy gurdy, hurdy gurdy, hurdy gurdy, gurdy he sang.
Hurdy gurdy, hurdy gurdy, hurdy gurdy, gurdy he sang.
Histories of ages past
Unenlightened shadows cast
Down through all eternity
The crying of humanity.
'Tis then when the Hurdy Gurdy Man
Comes singing songs of love,
Then when the Hurdy Gurdy Man
Comes singing songs of love.
Hurdy gurdy, hurdy gurdy, hurdy gurdy, gurdy he sang.
Hurdy gurdy, hurdy gurdy, hurdy gurdy, hurdy gurdy, hurdy gurdy.
Hurdy gurdy, hurdy gurdy, hurdy gurdy, gurdy he sang.
Hurdy gurdy, hurdy gurdy, hurdy gurdy, gurdy he sang.
Here comes the roly poly man and he's singing songs of love,
Roly poly, roly poly, roly poly, poly he sang.
Hurdy gurdy, hurdy gurdy, hurdy gurdy, gurdy he sang,
Hurdy gurdy, hurdy gurdy, hurdy gurdy, gurdy he sang

Well my, goodness. All sorts of answers and responses.

Dys, that's America with a Spanish accent, right? <smile>

Did you bring some of Francis' Italian wine back with you from Europe?

dj, will you please stop encouraging that cowboy? We all know what happens when they mix wine and weed.

You see, Angel and Francis' are trying to be informative, listeners, and the class clowns are acting up. Tsk! tsk! (I think Walter pronounces that onomatopoeia "tss tss")

Now here's that Brit, Mctag, trying to explain to us about Eric and Eskimos.

Well, folks, we are not always serious on the radio, and we don't even have to have a shock jock for effect.

McTag, did you know that in the early days of Hurdy Gurdy, they often played those street urchins NOT to play the things?

In all sincerity, we here in the studio appreciate everyone's input.


I was amazed to find out that the first national anthem (of sorts) was a favorite of George Washington, hence we get "Hail to the Chief" when the president appears.

And, quoting Francis, if anyone is interested:

http://www.answerbag.com/q_view.php/4294

Incidentally, McTag. My Country Tis of Thee and God Save our Nobel Queen are the same, too.

Back later, folks, with more music and history.

speaking of America with a Spanish accent, by way of Stephen Sondheim,

Girls: Puerto Rico, my heart's devotion
Let it slip back in the ocean
Always the hurricanes blowing
Always the population growing
And the money owing
And the sunlight streaming
And the natives steaming
I like the isle of Manhattan
Smoke on your pipe and put that in

I like to be in America
OK by me in America
Everything free in America
Boys: For a small fee in America

G: Buying on credit is so nice
B: One look at us and they charge twice
G: I have a new washing machine
B: What will you have though to keep clean?

G: Skyscrapers bloom in America
G: Cadillacs zoom in America
G: Industrial boom in America
B: Twelve in a room in America

G: Lots of new housing with more space
B: Lots of doors slamming in our face
G: I'll get a terraced apartment
B: Better get rid of your accent

G: Life can be bright in America
B: If you can fight in America
G: Life is all right in America
B: If you're all white in America

G: Here you are free and you have pride
B: Long as you stay on your own side
G: Free to be anything you choose
B: Free to wait tables and shine shoes

B: Everywhere grime in America
B: Organized crime in America
B: Terrible time in America
G: You forget I'm in America

B: I think I go back to San Juan
G: I know a boat you can get on
B: Everyone there will give big cheer
G: Everyone there will have moved here

What a bunch of erudite listeners you have, Letty.

For the weather today--it is SUMMER!! ENJOY!!
=================================

Walt Whitman had a way of describing summer:

Night of the south winds - night of the large few
stars!
Still nodding night - mad naked summer night.
====================================

For those who want to party:

Jimmy Buffett

Nibblin' on sponge cake
Watchin' the sun bake
All of those tourists covered with oil
Strummin' my six-string
On my front porch swing
Smell those shrimp they're beginnin' to boil

Chorus:
Wastin' away again in Margaritaville
Searching for my lost shaker of salt
Some people claim that there's a woman to blame
But I know it's nobody's fault

I don't know the reason
I stayed here all season
Nothin' to show but this brand new tattoo
But it's a real beauty
A Mexican cutie
How it got here I haven't a clue

Chorus:
Wastin' away again in Margaritaville
Searchin' for my lost shaker of salt
Some people claim that there's a woman to blame
Now I think
Hell, it could be my fault

I blew out my flip-flop
Stepped on a pop-top
Cut my heel had to cruise on back home
But there's booze in the blender
And soon it will render
That frozen concoction that helps me hang on

Wastin' away again in Margaritaville
Searching for my lost shaker of salt
Some people claim that there's a woman to blame
But I know it's my own damn fault
Yes and some people claim that there's a woman to blame
And I know it's my own damn fault

Yit, I know the melody to that song. Clever, no? Thanks for reminding us, you dear man.

Yes, Diane, and it pleases me to know that we play and we learn and we joke and we sing here on our radio. Whitman and Emerson, both beloved poets of America/the Republic/Columbia/the United States/terra de rouge/whatever. <smile>

Ah, Jimmy Buffet and those tequila drinks. I love 'em salt and all, even the worm.

I still believe that the only true music of our country is jazz, so I think I'll salute our land with a jazz song dedicated to everyone:

It happened once before,
His eyes were brown like yours,
It happened once before,
His love was sound like yours.

And when I held him in my arms,
His heart felt warm and when
I hold you close to me I feel that same old warmth again.


It happened once before,
His love seemed right like yours,
It happened once before,
His love seemed bright like yours.

If I were only sure you'd love me more and more.
Not less unless the way it happened once before.

(the words have been altered just a bit, folks)

one more for the setting sun

Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me
Elton John

I can't light no more of your darkness
All my pictures seem to fade to black and white
I'm growing tired and time stands still before me
Frozen here on the ladder of my life

Too late to save myself from falling
I took a chance and changed your way of life
But you misread my meaning when I met you
Closed the door and left me blinded by the light

Don't let the sun go down on me
Although I search myself, it's always someone else I see
I'd just allow a fragment of your life to wander free
But losing everything is like the sun going down on me

I can't find, oh the right romantic line
But see me once and see the way I feel
Don't discard me just because you think I mean you harm
But these cuts I have they need love to help them heal

(Tevye)
Is this the little girl I carried?
Is this the little boy at play?

(Golde)
I don't remember growing older
When did they?

(Tevye)
When did she get to be a beauty?
When did he get to be so tall?

(Golde)
Wasn't it yesterday
When they were small?

(Men)
Sunrise, sunset
Sunrise, sunset
Swiftly flow the days
Seedlings turn overnight to sunflowers
Blossoming even as we gaze

(Women)
Sunrise, sunset
Sunrise, sunset
Swiftly fly the years
One season following another
Laden with happiness and tears

(Tevye)
What words of wisdom can I give them?
How can I help to ease their way?

(Tevye)
Now they must learn from one another
Day by day

(Perchik)
They look so natural together

(Hodel)
Just like two newlyweds should be

(Perchik & Hodel)
Is there a canopy in store for me?

(All)
Sunrise, sunset
Sunrise, sunset
Swiftly flow the days
Seedlings turn overnight to sunflowers
Blossoming even as we gaze

Sunrise, sunset
Sunrise, sunset
Swiftly fly the years
One season following another
Laden with happiness and tears

dj, that's a sundowner if I ever heard one. I am rather taken by this stanza:

Don't let the sun go down on me
Although I search myself, it's always someone else I see
I'd just allow a fragment of your life to wander free
But losing everything is like the sun going down on me.

I wonder why it is that so many entertainers write about the sun going down, listeners? I'm a moon maid myself.

not the best pink floyd song ever written, but here's roger waters vision of the apocalypse

Two suns in the sunset
Pink Floyd

In my rear view mirror the sun is going down
Sinking behind bridges in the road
And I think of all the good things
That we have left undone
And I suffer premonitions
Confirm suspicions
Of the holocaust to come.

The rusty wire that holds the cork
That keeps the anger in
Gives way
And suddenly it's day again.
The sun is in the east
Even though the day is done.
Two suns in the sunset
Hmmmmmmmmmm
Could be the human race is run.

Like the moment when the brakes lock
And you slide towards the big truck
"Oh no!"
You stretch the frozen moments with your fear.
[scream]
And you'll never hear their voices
"Daddy, Daddy!"
And you'll never see their faces
You have no recourse to the law anymore.

And as the windshield melts
My tears evaporate
Leaving only charcoal to defend.
Finally I understand the feelings of the few.
Ashes and diamonds
Foe and friend
We were all equal in the end.

"...and now the weather. Tomorrow will be cloudy with scattered showers
spreading from the east ... with an expected high of 4000 degrees
Celsius"

Ah, Beth. Fiddler on the Roof. I've forgotten the connotation of the title. Lovely song, and very meaningful.

Well, listeners, We have two canucks and a 'merican in our studio this evening.

One is playing Sir Elton and the other is playing Russian.

Getting dreamy right now. So I think I'll say goodnight with a different song.



Artist: B4-4
Song: Don't Let The Sun Catch You Crying
Album:


Don't let the sun catch you crying
The night's the time for all your tears
Your heart may be broken tonight
But tomorrow in the morning light
Don't let the sun catch you crying

The nighttime shadows disappear
And with that go all your tears, baby
For the morning will bring joy
For every girl and boy
Don't don't don't don't let the sun catch you crying
Oooo baby

You know that crying's not a bad thing
But stop your crying when the birds sing
Oh no no no

Oh yeah
Oooo oooo

Just don't forget that love's just a game
And it can always come again
So don't let the sun catch you crying
Don't let the sun catch you crying, baby

Tomorrow in the morning light
Everything gonna be all right
Tomorrow in the morning light
Everything gonna be all right
Tomorrow in the morning light
Everything gonna be all right
(repeat until fade)