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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)

Well, for goodness sake. Mention the word "jazz" and the entire control room goes off the air.

Here's an interesting news item from the classroom:





Teacher Attire Becoming a Touchy Topic By BEN FELLER, AP Education Writer
2 hours, 18 minutes ago



LOS ANGELES - Teachers are expected to bear long days, challenging students and demanding parents. Now, apparently, some teachers are baring too much of themselves. School boards and superintendents increasingly are pursuing dress codes for teachers. At issue is the same kind of questionable attire most often associated with students.


In some districts, teachers can get dressed down for wearing skimpy tops, short skirts, flip flops, jeans, T-shirts, spandex or baseball caps. Spaghetti is fine in the cafeteria, but shirts supported by spaghetti straps are not welcome in the classroom.

District 11 in Colorado Springs, Colo., for example, prohibits sexually provocative items. That includes clothing that exposes "cleavage, private parts, the midriff or undergarments," district rules say.

In Georgia's Miller County, skirts must reach the knee. Elsewhere in the state, hair curlers are disallowed in Harris County and male teachers in Talbot County must wear ties two or three times a week.

"There's an impression that teachers are dressing more and more ?- well, the good term for it would be 'relaxed,'" said Bill Scharffe, director of bylaws and policy services for the Michigan Association of School Boards. "Another term for it would be 'sloppy.'"

Regulating dress is touchy, teachers say.

Teachers may view policies that get too specific as restrictive and demeaning. And what to do about broad policies that are enforced inconsistently? What works for a physics teacher may not fit a kindergarten teacher who sits with students on the floor.

"Because we work with children, and we're trying to relate to them, sometimes we need to have guidelines that say, 'You know folks, here's the line, and you really need to stay on this side of it,'" said Karen Moxley of Grapevine, Texas, who teaches gifted seventh-graders.

But, she added, "I don't know that it needs to go down to what style of outfit you wear."

Moxley spoke during a group interview with The Associated Press at the annual meeting of the National Education Association, which got under way over the weekend.

School administrators say inappropriate dress is most often an issue with younger teachers, whose trendy clothing and casual style can make it hard to distinguish them from their students.

Mark Berntson, who teaches high school band in West Fargo, N.D., wears a tie each day. It's a tradition he began years ago to stand out from his students. He does not wear blue jeans to class often, saving them for occasions such as the first day of baseball season.

"I don't think I'm taken as seriously if I'm dressed down and I don't think I take my job as seriously if I'm dressed down," he said. "When I dress more professionally, I think I teach better, I think I'm received better, and I think I show more respect for my profession."

Schools usually have exceptions, such as allowing gym teachers to wear shorts. But sometimes the trouble is in finding the line ?- literally.

At the Tangipahoa Parish School System in southeastern Louisiana, the dress code was recently updated to let women wear crop pants that stretch almost to the ankle. But the school board still does not allow Capri pants because those stop only around the midcalf.

In Houston, the Aldine Independent School District's policy is cut-and-dried: Male teachers must ensure their hair does not go below the collar. Their sideburns cannot extend beyond the earlobe. Mustaches may not be of the "Fu Man Chu" variety.

This year in Alabama, Birmingham school superintendent Wayne Shiver Jr. tried to ban excessively tight clothing, see-through tops, blouses with revealing necklines and other no-nos.

But city school board members have directed him to scale back his plan in favor of a more generic policy. They do not want their administrators to become the fashion police.

"What's too short? What's too long? What's too provocative? What's too revealing?" said Jacqueline Oglesby, a representative for the Alabama Education Association, which worries about unfair enforcement of a dress code. "Everyone has their own definition. And besides, this is supposed to be about the education of children, not tattoos or holes in your tongue."

On the Hawaiian island of Oahu, where Aaron Paragoso teaches music, neat and casual clothes are the norm. He wears a tie when sixth-graders graduate from his school, telling them: "I'm congratulating you by dressing up in this manner. It shows that I'm very proud of you."

Teachers set the example, said Scharffe, the Michigan official and former director of school personnel. That is why he once sent home a teacher whose belt buckle featured a marijuana leaf.

Schools must balance their right to enforce reasonable rules against the freedom of expression that employees have under the First Amendment, said Lisa Soronen, staff lawyer for the National School Boards Association. School lawyers often determine a dress code "might be a nice idea, but it might not be worth the time and headaches to go through with it and do it."

We need a little serious music here, folks. It 's twilight and the sun for sorrow will not show its head:

How about this one:


"It Had To Be You"
(feat. Michael Brecker)

Why do I do, just as you say
Why must I just, give you your way
Why do I sigh, why don't I try to forget

It must have been something lovers call fate
Kept me saying: "I have to wait"
I saw them all, just couldn't fall 'til we met

It had to be you, it had to be you
I wandered around, and finally found the somebody who
Could make me be true, could make me be blue
And even be glad, just to be sad thinking of you

Some others I've seen, might never be mean
Might never be cross, or try to be boss
But they wouldn't do
For nobody else, gave me a thrill with all your faults, I love you still
It had to be you, wonderful you
It had to be you

Some others I've seen, might never be mean
Might never be cross, or try to be boss
But they wouldn't do
For nobody else, gave me a thrill with all your faults, I love you still
It had to be you
It had to be you
It had to be you, woah wonderful you
It had to be you

Everybody like Rod, right?

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)