WA2K Radio is now on the air

Well, listeners. We have a very determined dys, do we not?

Hmmmm, what, exactly, can we do to deter the man from his appointed task?

How about a little Childe Harold's Pilgrimage?

"Roll on thou deep and dark blue dys, roll.
Ten thousand fleets sweep over thee in vane."

words altered to protect Lord Byron. <smile>

Come on, folks, we know that we can't bash him or trash him. Any suggestions?

Beautiful Dreamer in my opinion is one of the best songs ever composed. I remember hearing it used not only as a song but without lyrics as background music for countless films including a mass of old westerns. One film which featured it was Mighty Joe Young. In the gorilla's first stage appearance Terry Moore was spotlighted playing it on a darkened stage. During the song mysteriously the piano rose with her still playing. The lights came on suddenly to reveal the giant gorilla holding piano and player over his head. Very effective scene.

traditional

De colores, de colores se visten los campos en la primavera
De colores, de colores son los pajaritos que vienen de afuera
De colores, de colores es el arco iris que vemos lucir

Chorus (2X):
Y por eso los grandes amores de muchos colores me gustan a mi

Canta el gallo, canta el gallo con su quiri (5x)
La gallina la gallina con su cara (5x)
Los polluelos, los polluelos con su pio (4x) pi

Chorus

(you know, I think you can sing this with us...)

In colors, in colors the Fields bloom in spring
In colors, in colors the little birds fly from afar
In colors, in colors the rainbow arcs so clearly
And for this reason, these great loves of many colors, please be so

De colores, de colores se visten los campos en la primavera
De colores de colores son los pajaritos que vienen de afuera
De colores, de colores es el arco iris que vemos lucir

Chorus (4x)

My word, folks. How many giant monkey movies have been made, I wonder, and now we are going to have King Kong again.

Bob, It seems to me, I've heard that song before--somewhere. It has a special meaning for me, above and beyond the mighty, the Joe, and the young. <smile>

edgar, that's an unusual song. What is it about color that swells the heart when some of our most lovely moments are in black and white?

Taking a moment to reflect..................................................

George M. Cohan
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.


George Michael Cohan (July 1878-November 5, 1942) was a United States entertainer, songwriter, actor, singer, and dancer.

Cohan was born in Providence, Rhode Island. His baptismal certificate says that he was born on July 3, but Cohan himself always said the day was July 4, U.S. Independence Day. George's family were traveling Vaudeville performers, and he joined them on stage while still an infant, at first as a prop, later learing to dance and sing soon after he could walk and talk. With his parents and sister, he toured as a member of The Four Cohans.

Cohan became known as one of Vaudeville's best male dancers, and also started writing original skits and songs for the family act. Soon he was writing professionally, selling his first songs to a national publisher in 1893. Cohan had his first big Broadway hit in 1904 with the show Little Johnny Jones, which introduced his tunes "Give My Regards To Broadway" and "The Yankee Doodle Boy."

Cohan became one of the leading Tin Pan Alley songwriters, publishing several hundered original songs, noted for their catchy melodies and clever lyrics. His other major hit songs included "You're a Grand Old Flag," "The Warmest Baby In The Bunch," "Life's A Funny Proposition After All," "I Want to Hear a Yankee Doodle Tune," "You Won't Do Any Business If You Haven't Got A Band," "Mary's a Grand Old Name," "The Small Town Gal," "I'm Mighty Glad I'm Living, That's All," "That Haunting Melody," and "Over There."

He wrote numerous other Broadway plays, in addition to contributing material to shows written by others. Some of the notable Broadway shows he starred in included Forty-five Minutes from Broadway (1905), The Talk of New York (1907), Broadway Jones (1912), The Song and Dance Man (1923), American Born (1925), Ah, Wilderness! (1933), and I'd Rather Be Right (1937).

In 1925, Cohan published his autobiography, Twenty Years on Broadway and the Years It Took to Get There.

In 1932, Cohan starred in the Hollywood film The Phantom President.

In 1942, a musical film biography of Cohan, "Yankee Doodle Dandy," was released, with James Cagney playing the role of Cohan. Cohan enjoyed attending a screening of the film a few weeks before his death. George M. Cohan died of cancer in New York City and was buried in Woodlawn Cemetery.

Cohan was awarded a congressional medal in recognition of his contibution to the war effort (1917-18) through his songs "You're a Grand Old Flag" and "Over There." In the 1960s, a statue of Cohan was erected at Broadway and 47th Street in Manhattan.

He married first in 1899 to Ethel Levey, who bore him a daughter, Georgette, in 1900. George and Ethel divorced in 1907. He married for a second time in 1907 to Agnes Mary Nolan, who was his wife until his death. They had a daughter, Helen Mary (1910-1996), and a son, George M. Cohan, Jr.

"The Yankee Doodle Boy" is a patriotic song from the Broadway musical Little Johnny Jones written by George M. Cohan. The play opened at the Liberty Theater on November 7, 1904.
[edit]

Lyrics

Verse

I'm the kid that's all the candy,
I'm a Yankee Doodle Dandy,
I'm glad I am,
(So's Uncle Sam.)
I'm a real live Yankee Doodle,
Made my name and fame and boodle,
Just like Mister Doodle did, by riding on a pony.
I love to listen to the Dixie strain,
"I long to see the girl I left behind me;"
And that ain't a josh,
She's a Yankee, by gosh.
(Oh, say can you see,
Anything about a Yankee that's a phony?)

Chorus

I'm a Yankee Doodle Dandy,
A Yankee Doodle, do or die;
A real live nephew of my Uncle Sam's,
Born on the Fourth of July.
I've got a Yankee Doodle sweetheart,
She's my Yankee Doodle joy.
Yankee Doodle came to London,
Just to ride the ponies;
I am the Yankee Doodle Boy.

Verse

Father's name was Hezikiah,
Mother's name was Ann Maria,
Yanks through and through.
(Red, White and Blue.)
Father was so Yankee-hearted,
When the Spanish war was started,
He slipped on his uniform and hopped upon a pony.
My mother's mother was a Yankee true,
My father's father was a Yankee too:
And that's going some,
For the Yankees, by gum.
(Oh, say can you see
Anything about my pedigree that's phony?)

Funny Bob mentioned that about Beautiful Dreamer because I was going to post that Beautiful Dreamer was played during the intermission of Gone with the Wind and was the song played in the background in the scenes with Lillian Gish in Duel in the Sun. But, I'd have to watch those movies to be absolutely sure - so I didn't post.

You're a Grand Old Flag
by George M. Cohan


You're a grand old flag,
You're a high flying flag
And forever in peace may you wave.
You're the emblem of
The land I love.
The home of the free and the brave.
Ev'ry heart beats true
'neath the Red, White and Blue,
Where there's never a boast or brag.
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
Keep your eye on the grand old flag.

You're a grand old flag,
You're a high flying flag
And forever in peace may you wave.
You're the emblem of
The land I love.
The home of the free and the brave.
Ev'ry heart beats true
'neath the Red, White and Blue,
Where there's never a boast or brag.
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
Keep your eye on the grand old flag.

Clint Walker, of all people, sang Beautiful Dreamer in his Cheyenne television series.

Another Clint Walker trivia:
He made his film debut in The Ten Commandments. At first, he had a few speaking lines, but DeMille recognized that he took the viewer's interest away from the stars, so Walker ended up being in scenes in costume, silently.

Bob has certainly been busy on WA2K today. First a dreamer, then Lewis, then George M, and his flag men.<smile>

Thanks, Boston. Quite frankly, I was amazed at all the allusions to Lewis C. Incidentally, thanks for telling our listeners about the Deep Impact success. Maybe NASA is not totally wrong all the time.

Oh my, listeners. I just recalled how much my mother loved "It's a Grand Old Flag."

edgar, I had no idea that Clint sang or hummed or whatever Beautiful Dreamer, nor did I remember about in in GWTW, Raggedy.

My sister sent me this, and I think it's a good tribute for today:



To Kill an American

You probably missed it in the rush of news last week, but there was actually a report that someone in Pakistan had published in a newspaper an offer of a reward to anyone who killed an American, any American.

So an Australian dentist wrote the following to let everyone know what an American is... so they would know when they found one. (Good on ya, mate!!!!)

An American is English, or French, or Italian, Irish, German, Spanish, Polish, Russian or Greek.

An American may also be Canadian, Mexican, African, Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Australian, Iranian, Asian, or Arab, or Pakistani, or Afghan.

An American may also be a Cherokee, Osage, Blackfoot, Navaho, Apache, Seminole or one of the many other tribes known as native Americans.

An American is Christian, or he could be Jewish, or Buddhist, or Muslim.

In fact, there are more Muslims in America than in Afghanistan. The only difference is that in America they are free to worship as each of them chooses.

An American is also free to believe in no religion. For that he will answer only to God, not to the government, or to armed thugs claiming to speak for the government and for God.

An American lives in the most prosperous land in the history of the world.

The root of that prosperity can be found in the Declaration of Independence, which recognizes the God given right of each person to the pursuit of happiness.

An American is generous. Americans have helped out just about every other nation in the world in their time of need.

When the Soviet army overran Afghanistan 20 years ago, Americans came with arms and supplies to enable the people to win back their country!

As of the morning of September 11, Americans had given more than any other nation to the poor in Afghanistan.

Americans welcome the best, the best products, the best books, the best music, the best food, the best athletes. But they also welcome the least.

The national symbol of America, The Statue of Liberty, welcomes your tired and your poor, the wretched refuse of your teeming shores, the homeless, tempest tossed. These in fact are the people who built America.

Some of them were working in the Twin Towers the morning of September 11, 2001 earning a better life for their families. I've been told that the World Trade Center victims were from at least 30 other countries, cultures, and first languages, including those that aided and abetted the terrorists.

So you can try to kill an American if you must.

Hitler did.

So did General Tojo, and Stalin, and Mao Tse-Tung, and every bloodthirsty tyrant in the history of the world.

But, in doing so you would just be killing yourself. Because Americans are not a particular people from a particular place. They are the embodiment of the human spirit of freedom. Everyone who holds to that spirit, everywhere, is an American.

Author unknown

To correlate the previous:

Applause, Francis. What a perfect message. The statue in front and the tragedy that makes us all one, which is the diadem of tomorrow.



With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.

My eyes just became misty, folks.

words and music by Arlo Guthrie

If all the doors were closed in heaven
Where would all the angels go
Would they just fly around forever
Or would they come down here below

If the pearly gates were closed this morning
Would there be angels here tonight
And would they live their lives among us
And share the darkness with their light

If all the doors were close in heaven
They'd have to close the road to hell
We'd all be stuck here with each other
There would be nowhere else to dwell

If the pearly gates were closed this morning
And everyone there had to leave
And death was nothing but a moment
Beyond the breaths you took to breathe

If all the doors were closed in heaven
Who would dare abuse a child
Or let a little kid go hungry
Or not return a simple smile

If the pearly gates were closed this morning
And the host of heaven was on the street
I wonder if they'd look much different
From the likes of you and me

So I hope they close the doors to heaven
And all the angels up above
Come and build a home among us
Remind us what it is to love

If the pearly gates were closed this morning
Would there be angels here tonight
And would they live their lives among us
And share the darkness with their light

Ah, listeners, Setanta induced a riot on his thread about the French national Anthem.

Perhaps we ought to rectify it here one the radio.

France

Way down in the south of France all the ladies love to dance
kick their heels up in the air snap their fingers for romance

While the gentlemen compare blonde or black or auburn hair
check the motion and the style Oh, you know they take their while

Hey, to make the motion more complete, yeah, to make it more a treat
Club D'Jour is where to go come on down and see the show

When the rhythm's really right you can burn it down tonight
when the singing's really fine sweet as Spanish sherry wine

When the club can't contain the beat it just rolls out in the street
spills on down the avenue bringing dancers to their feet.

When it's good as it can be it gets better wait and see
oh, these folks don't ever sleep till they're passed out in the street

Way down in the south of France all the ladies love to dance
clap their hands and walk on air, yeah, the feeling's really there
won't you take a little taste raise it to your charming face?

When the rhythm's really right you can burn it down tonight
when the singing's really fine sweet as Spanish sherry wine

Go on take a chance, the ladies do love to dance.

It's raining, folks. There will be no fireworks tonight here in my corner of the world.

I have the irresistible urge just to walk in the rain and get totally soaked.

Goodnight. The day has not been right.

from Letty with love.

Letty, I hope tomorrow is better for you.

WHEN SUNNY GETS BLUE

When Sunny gets blue, her eyes get gray and cloudy,
Then the rain begins to fall, pitter-patter, pitter-patter,
Love is gone, what can matter,
No sweet lover man comes to call.

When Sunny gets blue, she breaths a sigh of sadness,
Like the wind that stirs the trees,
Wind that sets the leaves to swaying
Like some violin is playing strange and haunting melodies.

Bridge:

*People used to love to hear her laugh, see her smile,
That's how she got her name.
Since that sad affair, she lost her smile, changed her style,
Somehow she's not the same.

When Sunny gets blue, pretty dreams will rise up
Where her other dreams fell through,
Hurry new love, hurry here, to kiss away each lonely tear,
And hold her near when Sunny gets blue.

Goodnight, sweet dreams.