By TatankaYotanka
Voices, voices.
Listen my heart, as only saints
have listened: until the gigantic call lifted them
clear off the ground.
Yet they went on, impossibly,
kneeling, completely unawares: so intense was
their listening. Rainer Marie Rilke
I thought this might just be a dancing week and, check ... “one two, one two ... alright, there’s (Cokes/coats/goats/Mars Bars?) being sold over here.”
Saint Vitus – Saint Vitus
Martian Saints – Mary Lou Lord
St Louis Blues – Louis Armstrong
For to articulate sweet sounds together
Is to work harder than all these, and yet
Be thought an idler by the noisy set
Of bankers, schoolmasters, and clergymen
The martyrs call the world. WB Yeats
Let’s hope they reversed the charges at least.
Malcom X - Dennis Brown
Martyr - Depeche Mode
Accidently like a Martyr – Warren Zevon
Me! Come! My dazzled face
In such a shining place!
Me! Hear! My foreign ear
The sounds of welcome near!
The saints shall meet
Our bashful feet.
My holiday shall be
That they remember me;
My paradise, the fame
That they pronounce my name. Emily Dickinson
If you feel I’ve deliberately put the harder-to-pronounce bits next, then I’m disappointed in you, go with the flow:
Allahu Allahu – Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan
Le Di A la Caza Alcance – Estrella Morente (with Michael Nyman)
San Franciscan Nights – The Animals
A thousand martyrs I have made,
All sacrificed to my desire;
A thousand beauties have betrayed,
That languish in resistless fire.
The untamed heart to hand I brought,
And fixed the wild and wandering thought. Aphra Benn
Now then, enough with the pomes, where the Bs suck is not here!
Stigmata Martyr – Bauhaus
Ziggy Stardust – David Bowie
Isn’t That Just The Life – Band of Holy Joy
And wild and wondering we conclude
I’m sat here typing in the nude.
It’s hard you know being Guru
I did it, really, just for you
But if you feel I’ve been a martyr
Next week you’ll get someone smarter.
The A-list playlist:
The B-list playlist:
Calling All Angels – Jane Siberry
St Alphonzo’s Pancake Breakfast – Frank Zappa
Hymn to St Cecilia – Benjamin Britten
Tolpuddle Man – Graham Moore
Remember Thomas a Becket – John’s Children
St Judas – Jackie Leven
Te Recuerdo Amanda - Victor Jara
Tout Dit - Cammille
St Anthony – Sensational Alex Harvey Band
St Pierre – Jacques Brel
St Dominic’s Preview – Van Morrison
Sebastiane – Sex Gang Children
Guru's wildcard pick:
Book of Saints – Veda Hille
They saw Saint Agnes being good
So on the road they went to kill her
One strike of his sword killed that little girl
She cried, I belong to my saviour
I am made of iron, I am maid and bleeder
Keep back, keep back, keep back a hundred metres
I will not martyr, I will not martyr
I will live long and happy on your bread and water
I will not martyr, I will not martyr
I made you monsters, I can make you harder
These playlists were inspired by readers' song nominations from last week's topic – Share: songs about saints and martyrs. The next topic will launch on Thursday at 1pm UK time.
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Fancy a turn behind the pumps at The Song Bar? Care to choose a playlist from songs nominated and write something about it? Then feel free to contact The Song Bar here, or try the usual email address.