By ajostu
"Question ten: Why does Stallinger recite poetry all the time? Answer: Because a poem is language given form that lives on in time. Stallinger recites poetry because he is afraid of death." – Hansjorg Schneider, Hunkeler macht Sachen, (translated as The Basel Killings)
A lot of music nominated this week, and a lot of poetry in the lyrics. The A-list was chosen from a longlist of songs that moved or provoked me. The B-list was chosen from a (largely overlapping) longlist of songs that gave me a buzz from listening to them. My modus: A-list for the mind, B-list for the car.
The Rheinigans Sisters sing of The Yellow of the Flowers sitting on a window sill, looking out at the world, a silent reminder of a world removed from the imposed rhythms of modern life. My reason for choosing this (apart from "I loved it") was somewhat oblique: it reminded me of the short story Direction of the Road, by Ursula le Guin, told from the perspective of a tree: "Eternity is none of my business. I am an oak, no more no less." (Alaricmc)
"All the things you leave behind without end, without beginning." These New Puritans have decided lyrical obliqueness in Organ Eternal is one way of confronting eternity. The message is as much in the music as the words. (megadom)
For the Penguin Cafe Orchestra, the music is definitely the message in Perpetuum Mobile, one of those pieces people either know or don't know that they know. (Traktor Albatrost)
Bill Fay, on the other hand, is lyrically open hearted in Never Ending Happening. It can be disconcerting and maybe even dispiriting being an infinitesimal speck in the eternity of space and time, but Bill is thankful just to witness his small corner of the universe. (Uncleben)
It's always been tough for musicians to make a living. Historically, one of the best (if not readily available) ways of getting ahead was to suck up to royalty. So the story (in Wikipedia) goes, G.F. Handel landed himself a 200-pound-a-year pension by writing a secular cantata to celebrate the birthday of Queen Anne, part of which is excerpted here (the piece, not Queen Anne). Even – especially? – royalty thinks it's worth looking up to the sky and asking your deity of choice, in this case addressed as Eternal Source of the Light Divine, to be nice to you. (Suzi)
Is heaven just a place on earth? Or a metaphor for a place we can only ever dream of reaching? For the Divine Comedy, they have the melancholy hope that, if only they keep sailing, they might find Foreverland. (megadom)
In Jim Croce's classic song, he dreams that the eternal might be reduced to the contained. Maybe a desire all of sometimes have in those moments when we feel we worked out life a little too late. Modern technology can slow atoms to a crawl, but there is still no way to store Time In A Bottle. (Marconius7)
Human lives are finite: the average mammalian heart is good for typically two billion beats. But hope springs eternal that love may spring eternal. for Wilco in Everlasting Everything, "everlasting love is all you have." However, the song hides its thoughts on what exactly that love might be. (swawilg)
Similarly Björk maintains that while "we're just momentary vessels," there is a Future Forever, permeated with love and empathy. (George Boyland)
While we cannot capture the infinite and the eternal, we can represent it; for at least a thousand years the cavernous spaces of large churches and cathedrals, and their long drawn-out reverberations, have suggested Eternity. Released under the aegis of producer Emily Hall, the (translated) words of poet Arthur Rimbaud, sung by Olivia Chaney, linger in the air for longer than we expect. (severin)
Returning to the oblique, the lyrics of Jon Anderson And Yes are one way of confronting the endless permutations of eternity in Perpetual Change. "Inside out, outside in", an unintentional lyrical mobius strip? (amylee)
Aeons A-List Playlist:
The Rheingans Sisters: The Yellow of the Flowers
These New Puritans: Organ Eternal
Penguin Cafe Orchestra: Perpetuum Mobile
Bill Fay: Never Ending Happening
Handel: Eternal Source of the Light Divine
The Divine Comedy: Foreverland
Jim Croce: Time in a Bottle
Wilco: Everlasting Everything
Björk: Future Forever
Emily Hall: Eternity
Yes: Perpetual Change
Boundless B-List Playlist:
Roy Wood: Forever – Such an infectiously exuberant track. It made me smile. (ShivSideCar)
Paul Simon: Love Is Eternal Sacred Light – peerless lyrics, he can flip from the eternal to the everyday in an instant. (magicman)
Moloko: Forever More – great song, great vocals, but hooked me with the synth bass line (swawilg)
Half Japanese: It Never Stops – grabbed me my by the throat and held my attention. Sometimes a seven note monotonal bass riff is all you need. (vanwolf2)
Linda Lewis: Sideway Shuffle – killer groove, lovely little instrumental fills throughout, and of course her voice. (pejepeine)
New Order - Dreams Never End – a band that were masters of giving a song drive and propulsion (megadom)
Shoukichi Kina & Champloose: Eternally Ecstasy – I loved the way the melody of this weaved around, skipped beats and generally went where it wanted. (Nicko)
The Mystic Revealers: Space & Time – the whole groove is great, but it's little synth flute riffs that catch the ear. (George Boyland)
Sergio Mendes feat. India Arie: Timeless - love the voice, and behind the effortless sound is an intricate piece of songwriting and arranging. (Fred Erickson)
The Black Keys: Everlasting Light - solid thumping track. Distortion. Saturation. Magic. (Nicko)
Pom Pom Squad: Forever - I'm a sucker for great string parts. Real, synth, mellotron, all good. Love the smooshy background here. (vanwolf2)
Super Furry Animals: Slow Life - I'm always tempted by a song with big flangey phasey sounds in it, and this delivers. (happyclapper)
Massive Attack: Sly - Great sonics, great vocals, evocative and mysterious. (severin)
Anne Dudley and Jaz Coleman: Endless Festival - "It could just go on forever." A perfect way to finish. (Daysinscotland)
Guru’s Wildcard Picks:
So I popped out to the Guru Garage and ferreted through all the shoehorns for the biggest crowbar I could find. Three songs: one new to me and immediately affecting, two old favourites.
Thanks to there being ten million streaming platforms, I'm totally out of touch with TV, but apparently A Moment Forever Ago is a song from an animated TV show made by the people who made that other animated TV show. I discovered it thanks to a cover version by Eri Sasaki that popped up on Saturday while I was waiting for fish and chips at lunch. In the show, the song is sung by one of the characters, and Eri's cover is lovely but I've chosen the sublime, peerless demo version by co-writer Elyssa Samsel.
"Is there such a thing as love that asks forever", asks Sakamoto Maaya in Blind Summer Fish. Two lovers come together knowing that, while they wish for the eternal, they must go their separate ways. Not quite sure what the fish have got to do with it.
Finally, a track from a pop-prog epic by vocaloid producer cosmo@bouso-P. This concept album has gone through a few iterations, of which 2010's The Disappearance of Hatsune Miku and 2015's reworked Real And Repeat are both worth a listen. This track, Infinity, hails from the latter. Our protagonist Miku is a singing AI that becomes self-aware, and realises she is scheduled for deletion. Will her music last forever? Here the final word on eternity goes to Woody Allen: "I don't want to achieve immortality through my work. I want to achieve it by not dying."
These playlists were inspired by readers' song nominations from last week's topic: For the permanent collection: songs about eternity. The next topic will launch on Thursday at 1pm UK time.
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