Yep, E.M. That was mine 'cause I'm one of a kind.
Oh, yes, my dear. Sang jazz, mostly, but it depended on the gig. I can't tell you how many songs that I had to learn to meet the public's demand. That was, at one time, 50% of my income. Great money, but eventually one must also pay the piper.
Wow Letty...man man man now your really talkin to me man
Pay the piper? you noir teaser, this is heps here!
surely you know you can't end with a cryptic sentence like that and get away with it?
what does "paying the piper" entail? (of course only share what you wish...)
Well, Extra Medium, it's a reference to The Pied Piper of Hamelin, and also that naughty goat footed man , the pipes of pan.
Wish I could give you and everyone a reference, but I can't seem to find that particularly mythological creature.
hmmm...
ok well maybe you'll tell us later...
There's a good reference to Pan here in
The Wind in the Willows, chapter 7
Quote:`This is the place of my song-dream, the place the music played to me,' whispered the Rat, as if in a trance. `Here, in this holy place, here if anywhere, surely we shall find Him!'
Then suddenly the Mole felt a great Awe fall upon him, an awe that turned his muscles to water, bowed his head, and rooted his feet to the ground. It was no panic terror--indeed he felt wonderfully at peace and happy--but it was an awe that smote and held him and, without seeing, he knew it could only mean that some august Presence was very, very near. With difficulty he turned to look for his friend. and saw him at his side cowed, stricken, and trembling violently. And still there was utter silence in the populous bird-haunted branches around them; and still the light grew and grew.
Perhaps he would never have dared to raise his eyes, but that, though the piping was now hushed, the call and the summons seemed still dominant and imperious. He might not refuse, were Death himself waiting to strike him instantly, once he had looked with mortal eye on things rightly kept hidden. Trembling he obeyed, and raised his humble head; and then, in that utter clearness of the imminent dawn, while Nature, flushed with fulness of incredible colour, seemed to hold her breath for the event, he looked in the very eyes of the Friend and Helper; saw the backward sweep of the curved horns, gleaming in the growing daylight; saw the stern, hooked nose between the kindly eyes that were looking down on them humourously, while the bearded mouth broke into a half-smile at the corners; saw the rippling muscles on the arm that lay across the broad chest, the long supple hand still holding the pan-pipes only just fallen away from the parted lips; saw the splendid curves of the shaggy limbs disposed in majestic ease on the sward; saw, last of all, nestling between his very hooves, sleeping soundly in entire peace and contentment, the little, round, podgy, childish form of the baby otter. All this he saw, for one moment breathless and intense, vivid on the morning sky; and still, as he looked, he lived; and still, as he lived, he wondered.
Pan (Greek Παν, genitive Πανος) is the Greek god who watches over shepherds and their flocks. ...
Piffka, E.M, and all. This was my original reference:
http://monsters.monstrous.com/satyrs.htm
May I say that I enjoy these discussions, be they satyrs or no.
whoa. Thanks Letty & Piffka.
Letty, what form did "paying the piper" take in your life?
Mine has been, after having mis-spent part of my youth, I must buckle down and work harder longer intensely to sort of makeup a bit, if thats what I wish....
And yours? Whats the piper you must pay?
(of course you can always "pass"--I'm just asking--with a smile & wink and all that)
The part of the piper that I paid was the return from every gig, and the morning after. There was also the "laying on of hands" and I don't mean that spiritually, E.M.
The last time that I sang was at a piano bar. I felt good about it, but didn't like the mike.
hmmm....oblique and mysterious...just like a real woman.
the mike was not good?
E.M., one must know how to work a microphone, but if that mike is no good to begin with, it doesn't matter. Often the best sound systems in the world are poorly designed. A vocalist must be able to hear herself sing, or the intonation may be poor.
I'll try and explain later.
got it.
no you don't have to explain all that unless you really feel like it
i have some experience with sound systems and all that--i know what you mean.
very expensive sound systems can sound like crap if the person setting it up and adjusting it all isn't really good
on the other hand, some sound wizards are able to get some great sound out of not-so-good equipment, they know how to doctor it all up just right, and shazam....kind of like some great guitarists can get great sounds out of a $500 guitar, give another lesser player a $15000 guitar and it sounds not as good...i know what you mean...
setting up a sound system is as much art as science, and you definitely need more than just good equipment.
add the fact you want to support a live singer with sound system, and it gets that much more difficult--
yep the person setting it up and adjusting it all to the specific singer has to be very good and take time and work their art, they are artists too...
Art is in all of us, E.M. as well as the unborn song.
I must say goodnight; this songbird's taking flight to her nest that is soft and downy.
blowing all a kiss..........................................................
and a kiss to you and all and we love these stories and thanks and keep em coming everyone...
and now...
and now...?
I plopped down in my easy chair and turned on Channel 2
A bad gunslinger called Salty Sam was chasin' poor Sweet Sue
He trapped her in the old sawmill and said with an evil laugh,
"If you don't give me the deed to your ranch
I'll saw you all in half!"
And then he grabbed her (and then)
He tied her up (and then)
He turned on the bandsaw (and then, and then...!)
And then along came Jones
Tall thin Jones
Slow-walkin' Jones
Slow-talkin' Jones
Along came long, lean, lanky Jones
Commercial came on, so I got up to get myself a snack
You should've seen what was goin' on by the time that I got back
Down in the old abandoned mine, Sweet Sue was havin' fits
That villain said, "Give me the deed to your ranch
Or I'll blow you all to bits!"
And then he grabbed her (and then)
He tied her up (and then)
He lit the fuse to the dynamite (and then, and then...!)
I got so bugged I turned it off and turned on another show
But there was the same old shoot-'em-up and the same old rodeo
Salty Sam was tryin' to stuff Sweet Sue in a burlap sack
He said, "If you don't give me the deed to your ranch
I'm gonna throw you on the railroad tracks!"
And then he grabbed her (and then)
He tied her up (and then)
He threw her on the railroad tracks (and then)
A train started comin' (and then, and then...!)
