New York, New York

Elvis Presley – Pieces Of His Life

Elvis is the greatest cultural force in the twentieth century. He introduced the beat to everything, music, language, clothes, it’s a whole new social revolution — the 60’s comes from it. (Leonard Bernstein)

Elvis was an instinctive actor…He was quite bright…he was very intelligent…He was not a punk. He was very elegant, sedate, and refined, and sophisticated. (Walter Matthau)

Fuck those people of the Scientology Church! There’s no way I’ll ever get involved with that son-of-a-bitchin’ group. All they want is my name and my money. (Elvis Aaron Presley)

Lyrics

(words & music by Troy Seals)

A water glass full of whiskey
And women that I never knew too well
Lord, the things I’ve seen and done
Most of which I’d be ashamed to tell

I don’t know how it started
But that’s what makes a man a man, I guess
Now I’m holdin’ on to nothing’
Tryin’ to forget the rest

I’m lookin’ back on my life
To see if I can find the pieces
I know that some were stolen
And some just blew away
Well, I’ve found the bad parts
Found all the sad parts
But I guess I threw the best parts away
Lord away, away

Playing the bars, playing like a star
Anything to get a name
Carryin’ on, living on songs
My friends wrote to me to sing

I’m lookin’ back on my life
To see if I can find the pieces
I know that some were stolen
And some just blew away
Well, I’ve found the bad parts
Found all the sad parts
But I guess I threw the best parts away
Away, away

Lord, the pieces of my life
They’re everywhere, they’re everywhere
And the one I miss most of all
Is you and you know who

Lookin’ back on my life, Lord
To see if I can find the pieces
Lookin’ back on my life, today
To see if I can find the pieces
Lookin’ back on my life
God help me find the pieces

Elvis Presley – Kentucky Rain 1969

Kentucky Rain is a song written by American-Irish country music songwriter Edward Thomas Rabbitt (1941-1998).

The song went gold and became a hit in June of 1969 when the cultural icon and Artist of the Century (commonly known as “Elvis”, and  sometimes referred to as “The King of Rock ‘n’ Roll” or “The King”) Elvis Aaron Presley (1935-1977) recorded it in his album From Elvis in Memphis. Piano on this song was played by then unknown Ronnie Milsap (born 1944).

Lyrics

Seven lonely days
And a dozen towns ago
I reached out one night
And you were gone
Dont know why youd run,
What youre running to or from
All I know is I want to bring you home

So Im walking in the rain,
Thumbing for a ride
On this lonely kentucky backroad
Ive loved you much too long
And my loves too strong
To let you go, never knowing
What went wrong

Kentucky rain keeps pouring down
And up aheads another town
That Ill go walking thru
With the rain in my shoes,
Searchin for you
In the cold kentucky rain,
In the cold kentucky rain

Showed your photograph
To some old gray bearded man
Sitting on a bench
Outside a genral store
They said yes, shes been here
But their memory wasnt clear
Was it yesterday,
No, wait the day before

So I finly got a ride
With a preacher man who asked
Where you bound on such a dark afternoon?
As we drove on thru the rain
As he listened I explained
And he left me with a prayer
That Id find you

Joining Hands with the Pope in Nazareth

Rabbi David Rosen, American Jewish Committee (AJC) international director of interreligious affairs, joined with Pope Benedict XVI and a group of Christian, Jewish, Muslim and Druze religious leaders in Nazareth, Israel, for an oecumenical meeting and to sing a song of peace.

“It illustrated dramatically that religion does not have to be the problem but the solution and that it is up to politicians to engage religious leaders in the search for peace,” Rabbi David Rosen said.

Israel Independence Day 2009

Greetings from President Shimon Peres to the Jewish Communities around the world on the occasion of Israel’s 61st Anniversary

Jerusalem, April 27th, 2009

On the eve of Israel’s 61st Independence Day, alongside the celebrations, it is time for reflection and prayers for the well-being of the Jewish people, here in Israel and around the world. It is also a time to consolidate and strengthen the bonds that link the State of Israel and the Jewish Communities abroad, for we are one people with a common heritage, united in times of joy and united in darker hours.

The past year has witnessed Operation Cast Lead, launched by Israel in self-defense with the sole purpose of putting an end to the vicious and unjustifiable missile and rocket attacks on its citizens - innocent men, women and children - wreaking havoc and pain for the last eight years. Iran has continued to call for Israel’s annihilation, as it is set on developing nuclear weapons that threaten Israel’s very existence. The heavy clouds of the economic crisis that engulfed the world has also cast a long shadow over Israel’s skies, and affected thousands of households across the country. Anti-Semitism in the form of anti-Israel manifestations is on the rise and Gilad Schalit is still being held captive.

Since its inception Israel has had to grapple with complex issues and has always prevailed. Also today Israel will prevail. Its human resources abound and its creativity flourishes. Our vision of a bright and hopeful tomorrow for the Jewish people has not faltered. To that end, we must intensively invest in the future generations today through education - from the cradle to adulthood. We must continue to excel, and play a leadership role in the field of advanced science and technology, medicine and renewable sources of energy. It is essential that the mounting water shortage is surmounted by appropriate desalination projects, the desert greened and food secured. Job opportunities must be created and social gaps closed. Any divide in our society has to be bridged and our quest for peace must go on.  

This is our mission. From the ashes we have risen, and as we move into the seventh decade of the establishment of the State of Israel, there is much for which to be grateful and much for which to be proud.

Let us celebrate together Israel’s 61st anniversary, a Jewish people united and with unflagging hope in our hearts.

Yom Atzmaut Sameach!
Shimon Peres

Le Grand Meaulnes

Stefan Zweig aurait pu appeler cet univers enchanteur le monde d’hier (Die Welt von gestern), qui n’était pas seulement celui de l’écrivain bref et tragique d’avant-guerre Alain-Fournier (en réalité Henri-Alban Fournier), auteur légendaire du Grand Meaulnes, mais aussi et surtout de toute une génération d’écoliers rompus aux âpres du devoir et de la droiture…à une époque où l’amitié demeurait une valeur indefectible.

Chapitre premier: Le Pensionnaire.

“Il arriva chez nous un dimanche de novembre 189…

Je continue à dire «chez nous», bien que la maison ne nous appartienne plus. Nous avons quitté le pays depuis bientôt quinze ans et nous n’y reviendrons certainement jamais.

Nous habitions les bâtiments du Cours Supérieur de Sainte-Agathe. Mon père, que j’appelais M. Seurel, comme les autres élèves, y dirigeait à la fois le Cours supérieur, où l’on préparait le brevet d’instituteur, et le Cours moyen. Ma mère faisait la petite classe.

Une longue maison rouge, avec cinq portes vitrées, sous des vignes vierges, à l’extrémité du bourg ; une cour immense avec préaux et buanderie, qui ouvrait en avant sur le village par un grand portail ; sur le côté nord, la route où donnait une petite grille et qui menait vers La Gare, à trois kilomètres ; au sud et par derrière, des champs, des jardins et des prés qui rejoignaient les faubourgs… tel est le plan sommaire de cette demeure où s’écoulèrent les jours les plus tourmentés et les plus chers de ma vie – demeure d’où partirent et où revinrent se briser, comme des vagues sur un rocher désert, nos aventures.

Le hasard des «changements», une décision d’inspecteur ou de préfet nous avaient conduits là. Vers la fin des vacances, il y a bien longtemps, une voiture de paysan, qui précédait notre ménage, nous avait déposés, ma mère et moi, devant la petite grille rouillée. Des gamins qui volaient des pêches dans le jardin s’étaient enfuis silencieusement par les trous de la haie… Ma mère, que nous appelions Millie, et qui était bien la ménagère la plus méthodique que j’aie jamais connue, était entrée aussitôt dans les pièces remplies de paille poussiéreuse, et tout de suite elle avait constaté avec désespoir, comme à chaque «déplacement», que nos meubles ne tiendraient jamais dans une maison si mal construite… Elle était sortie pour me confier sa détresse. Tout en me parlant, elle avait essuyé doucement avec son mouchoir ma figure d’enfant noircie par le voyage. Puis elle était rentrée faire le compte de toutes les ouvertures qu’il allait falloir condamner pour rendre le logement habitable… Quant à moi, coiffé d’un grand chapeau de paille à rubans, j’étais resté là, sur le gravier de cette cour étrangère, à attendre, à fureter petitement autour du puits et sous le hangar.

C’est ainsi, du moins, que j’imagine aujourd’hui notre arrivée.

Car aussitôt que je veux retrouver le lointain souvenir de cette première soirée d’attente dans notre cour de Sainte-Agathe, déjà ce sont d’autres attentes que je me rappelle; déjà, les deux mains appuyées aux barreaux du portail, je me vois épiant avec anxiété quelqu’un qui va descendre la grand’rue. Et si j’essaie d’imaginer la première nuit que je dus passer dans ma mansarde, au milieu des greniers du premier étage, déjà ce sont d’autres nuits que je me rappelle; je ne suis plus seul dans cette chambre; une grande ombre inquiète et amie passe le long des murs et se promène.

Tout ce paysage paisible – l’école, le champ du père Martin, avec ses trois noyers, le jardin dès quatre heures envahi chaque jour par des femmes en visite – est à jamais, dans ma mémoire, agité, transformé par la présence de celui qui bouleversa toute notre adolescence et dont la fuite même ne nous a pas laissé de repos.

Nous étions pourtant depuis dix ans dans ce pays lorsque Meaulnes arriva.”

Lire la suite.

Les Métamorphoses de Jacques Dutronc, enfant terrible de la chanson française

Il faut plaisanter sur tout. Il n’y a que les concierges qui disent: “La plaisanterie a des limites”. (Jacques Dutronc, Pensées et répliques)

Nanti d’un regard malicieux, revêche et ironique, auteur et interprète de chansons au vitriol mais néanmoins fantasmagoriques et tendres, flanqué d’un style maintes fois imité mais jamais égalé, Jacques Dutronc demeure, en dépit de ses presque 66 ans, qu’il fêtera le 28 avril prochain, l’archétype même de l’anarchiste de droite, mais aussi et surtout le maître incontesté de l’humour iconoclaste et intelligent de la scène musicale française des quatre dernières décennies. Bravo l’artiste!

Happy Passover 2009

Read here the editorial of Rabbi Benjamin Blech on Passover 2009: Passover 2009 & four questions for a financial crisis.

Jean Ferrat – La Montagne (1966)

Jean Ferrat, alias Jean Tennenbaum, interprète en 1966 La Montagne, une admirable chanson citoyenne et d’avant-garde à l’époque, avant que les faux-culs et arrivistes écologistes s’emparent du thème pour le monopoliser, et ce faisant s’agripper plus tard aux strapontins ministériels…

Paroles

Ils quittent un à un le pays
Pour s’en aller gagner leur vie
Loin de la terre où ils sont nés
Depuis longtemps ils en rêvaient
De la ville et de ses secrets
Du formica et du ciné
Les vieux ça n’était pas original
Quand ils s’essuyaient machinal
D’un revers de manche les lèvres
Mais ils savaient tous à propos
Tuer la caille ou le perdreau
Et manger la tomme de chèvre

Pourtant que la montagne est belle
Comment peut-on s’imaginer
En voyant un vol d’hirondelles
Que l’automne vient d’arriver?

Avec leurs mains dessus leurs têtes
Ils avaient monté des murettes
Jusqu’au sommet de la colline
Qu’importent les jours les années
Ils avaient tous l’âme bien née
Noueuse comme un pied de vigne
Les vignes elles courent dans la forêt
Le vin ne sera plus tiré
C’était une horrible piquette
Mais il faisait des centenaires
A ne plus que savoir en faire
S’il ne vous tournait pas la tête

Pourtant que la montagne est belle
Comment peut-on s’imaginer
En voyant un vol d’hirondelles
Que l’automne vient d’arriver?

Deux chèvres et puis quelques moutons
Une année bonne et l’autre non
Et sans vacances et sans sorties
Les filles veulent aller au bal
Il n’y a rien de plus normal
Que de vouloir vivre sa vie
Leur vie ils seront flics ou fonctionnaires
De quoi attendre sans s’en faire
Que l’heure de la retraite sonne
Il faut savoir ce que l’on aime
Et rentrer dans son H.L.M.
Manger du poulet aux hormones

Pourtant que la montagne est belle
Comment peut-on s’imaginer
En voyant un vol d’hirondelles
Que l’automne vient d’arriver?

Das Versagen der Eliten

Nicht wer zuerst nach den Waffen greift, verursacht einen Aufruhr, sondern wer die Ursache dafür geschaffen hat. (Niccolò Machiavelli)

Demokratien suchen sich Vorbilder, die immer wieder zu wünschen übrig lassen…

Das Versagen der Eliten wiegt inzwischen vermutlich sehr viel schwerer als die Leistungen, die sie erbringen: man denke nur an das miserable Krisenmanagement bei der Bewältigung der Finanzkrise, die unvermeidbar einen Bürgerkrieg hervorrufen wird. Schlechter Führungsstil gekoppelt mit Arroganz und Ignoranz wird am Ende immer bestraft: alte Lektion des Florentiner Meisters der Politik, Niccolò Machiavelli.

Aus gegebenem Anlass: Ein musikalisches Pamphlet im Dreierpack (”Entrez, m’sieur dans l’humanité”, “Qui se soucie de nous?”, “Face à la merde”) von Frankreichs Galionsfigur der geschmackvollen Satire, Jacques Dutronc.

USA For Africa 1984: We are (were) the world

A great and well done PR campaign for a great cause: Africa

Nevertheless: 25 years later, no change. Look at the current situation in Congo and Zimbabwe…

Lyrics

There comes a time when we heed a certain call (Lionel Richie)

When the world must come together as one (Lionel Richie & Stevie Wonder)

There are people dying (Stevie Wonder)

Oh, and it’s time to lend a hand to life (Paul Simon)

The greatest gift of all (Paul Simon/Kenny Rogers)

We can’t go on pretending day by day (Kenny Rogers)

That someone, somehow will soon make a change (James Ingram)

We’re all a part of God’s great big family (Tina Turner)

And the truth (Billy Joel)

You know love is all we need (Tina Turner/Billy Joel)

CHORUS
We are the world, we are the children

We are the ones who make a brighter day so let’s start giving (Michael Jackson)

There’s a choice we’re making we’re saving our own lives (Diana Ross)

It’s true we’ll make a better day just you and me (Michael Jackson/Diana Ross)

Well, send’em you your heart so they know that someone cares (Dionne Warwick)

And their lives will be stronger and free (Dionne Warwick/Willie Nelson)

As God has shown us by turning stone to bread (Willie Nelson)

And so we all must lend a helping hand (Al Jurreau)

REPEAT CHORUS
We are the world, we are the children (Bruce Springsteen)

We are the ones who make a brighter day so let’s start giving (Kenny Loggins)

There’s a choice we’re making we’re saving our own lives (Steve Perry)

It’s true we’ll make a better day just you and me (Daryl Hall)

When you’re down and out there seems no hope at all (Michael Jackson)

But if you just believe there’s no way we can fall (Huey Lewis)

Well, well, well, let’s realize that a change can only come (Cyndi Lauper)

When we (Kim Carnes)

stand together as one (Kim Carnes/Cyndi Lauper/Huey Lewis)

REPEAT CHORUS AND FADE

Additional ad-lib vox by Bob Dylan, Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder, Bruce Springsteen, James Ingram

Elvis Presley Rhythm & Blues

Lyrics

I’ve got a Thing About you Baby

I’ve got something to tell you
That I think you ought to know
That my eyes are on you baby
Since a long time ago
And now I fin’ly got the nerve
And I’m gonna make my move
Now don’t you try to turn me off
Cause it’s gonna be hard to do

I’ve got a thing about you baby
Ain’t nothing I can do
I’ve got a thing about you baby
A thing about lovin’ you

Ain’t it just like a woman
When she knows she’s got a man
She’ll wring you out and turn you ’bout
In the palm of her hand
And then she starts to thinkin’
Then maybe she’s put you in a blind
She’ll give you just a little lovin’
It’ll drive you out of your mind

I’ve got a thing about you baby
Ain’t nothing you can do
I’ve got a thing about you baby
A thing about lovin’ you

Elvis Presley – The world’s greatest entertainer ever

Elvis Presley – His Last Farewell

Among numerous cover versions of the popular wartime ballade The Last Farewell is one by Elvis Presley on his last album From Elvis Presley Boulevard, Memphis, Tennessee. This exquisite song is well suited to reflect the tragic and beautiful life of such a great nice man like Elvis Aaron Presley.

Words & music by Roger Whittaker – R.A. Webster

There’s a ship lies rigged and ready in the harbor
Tomorrow for old England she sails
Far away from your land of endless sunshine
To my land full of rainy skies and gales
And I shall be aboard that ship tomorrow
Though my heart is full of tears at this farewell

For you are beautiful, I have loved you dearly
More dearly than the spoken word can tell
For you are beautiful, I have loved you dearly
More dearly than the spoken word can tell

I’ve heard there’s a wicked war a-blazing
And the taste of war I know so very well
Even now I see the foreign flag a-raising
Their guns on fire as we sail into hell
I have no fear of death, it brings no sorrow
But how bitter will be this last farewell

For you are beautiful, I have loved you dearly
More dearly than the spoken word can tell
For you are beautiful, I have loved you dearly
More dearly than the spoken word can tell

Though death and darkness gather all about me
My ship be torn apart upon the seas
I shall smell again the fragrance of these islands
And the heaving waves that brought me once to thee
And should I return home safe again to England
I shall watch the English mist roll through the dale

For you are beautiful, I have loved you dearly
More dearly than the spoken word can tell
For you are beautiful, I have loved you dearly
More dearly than the spoken word can tell

Mike Brant – French-Israeli Poet and Singer of the (second) lost generation

When I attempt to find a simple formula for the period in which I grew up, prior to the First World War, I hope that I convey its fullness by calling it the Golden Age of Security. (Stefan Zweig, The World of Yesterday – Die Welt von Gestern)

The first lost generation experimented the culture of death and nihilism subsequent of the First World War. The second lost generation did never get over the tragic experience of the Holocaust. One of those people was Mike Brant, son of a Auschwitz deportee, a nice guy with a nice voice and good manners (in a word: a gentleman), a popstar in France and Israel, who unfortunately committed suicide with 28. Who cares about the children of Holocaust survivors? Who cares about the children of genocide all over the world?

Shall we, the third (let’s hope not lost) generation, endure and accept the suffers of terrorism, fanatism, and death of liberty, without resistance? No, Niet, Non, Nein. Never! Pas de liberté pour les ennemis de la liberté / No Freedom for the Enemy of the Liberty, as the French revolutionary leader Antoine de Saint-Just once said.

A tribute to Mike Brant (born Moshe Brand, Hebrew: משה ברנד‎) (February 1, 1947 in Cyprus – April 25, 1975, in Paris)

Biography (source: Wikipedia)

Mike Brant was born on February 1, 1947 in a Jewish refugee camp on Cyprus. His parents were Polish Jews, and his mother was a survivor of Auschwitz. He did not begin to speak until the age of five. On November 1947, the family immigrated to the British Mandate of Palestine and settled in Haifa, where they lived in a modest two-room apartment.

Brant arrived on July 9, 1969 in Paris with a hundred dollar bill in his pocket, determined to make an international name for himself. It took him ten days to find Vartan, but they eventually met, and she introduced him to the French producer Jean Renard, who had turned Johnny Halliday into a star. Under Renard’s guidance, he changed the spelling of his family name from Brand to Brant, and recorded his biggest all-time hit, “Laisse-moi t’aimer” (”Let Me Love You”). The song was a huge success at the Midem music festival in January 1970, and was played on the radio all over France. “Laisse-moi t’aimer” sold 50,000 copies within the first two weeks.

Success
A million and half copies of “Laisse-moi t’aimer” were snatched up over the next few months. Brant represented France in a radio contest broadcast all over Europe and also aired in Israel. His song in the contest, sponsored by Radio Luxembourg, was “Mais dans la lumiere” (”But Inside the Light”). Brant took first place. He continued to release new hits: “Qui saura” (”Who Knows”), “Un grand bonheur” (”Great Happiness”) and “Parce que je t’aime plus que moi” (”Because I Love You More Than Myself). His wildly successful first album, “Disque d’Or” (”Gold Record”) sold millions of copies. Brant took a song that was written and composed in English by his good friend Mike Tchaban/Tashban “Why do i love you? Why do i need you?” but French radio would not air this song because it was in English. Brant, saddened,returned home to give concerts and concentrate on the rest of Europe. Brant’s concerts attracted enormous crowds. Wherever he went, he was surrounded by adoring fans, especially girls and women, who screamed and fainted at his performances. His tours took him all over Europe.

In February 1971, Brant was injured in a road accident. That year, at the peak of his success, he returned home to give several concerts in Israel. During the Yom Kippur War in 1973, he performed in Israel before front-line soldiers.

Suicide
After switching managers, Brant found himself performing at an insane pace. By 1973, he was giving 250 concerts a year, some before audiences of 6,000-10,000 people. This went on for two years. He spent those years madly dodging female admirers. Despite all this adulation, Brant suffered from depression and loneliness. On November 22, 1974, he attempted suicide, jumping out the window of his manager’s hotel room in Geneva. He suffered broken bones, but survived. He recovered and began to appear again, but cut down the number of performances and concentrated on putting out another album, Dis-lui (”Tell Her”).

On April 25, 1975, on the day his new album was scheduled for release on live television, Brant leapt to his death from the balcony of an apartment in Paris. He was 28 years old.

Mike Brant was buried in Haifa, Israel, and his grave became a pilgrimage site for grieving fans.

Aus gegebenem Anlass (09.11.1938): Udo Jürgens, der bessere Österreicher

Die zwei Psychopathen aus Österreich, Adolf Hitler und Jörg Haider, sind Gott sei Dank längst tot. Das Beste was Österreich bieten kann, heisst Udo Jürgens. Böse Menschen haben bekanntlich keine Lieder…

AUF NACH IBIZA ZUM BILDZEITUNG LESEN

Urlaub im Süden

Raus aus dem Trott
Anschnallen bitte!
Autobahn links,
ab durch die Mitte!

Morgens schon stauen
wir uns auf dem Brenner:
Nörgelnde Kinder
und fluchende Männer.

Richtung Athen
oder Sizilien,
ein Wiederseh’n
mit den Nachbarsfamilien.

Letztes Jahr Nizza,
nichts los gewesen;
auf nach Ibiza
zum Bildzeitung lesen;
im Autoradio “ein bißchen Frieden”:
URLAUB IM SÜDEN – URLAUB IM SÜDEN!

Rund um die Uhr
in froher Runde.
Nachts in der Bar
Ententanzstunde.
Knoblaucharoma,
Pizza, Spaghetti.
Karte an Oma:
Alles paletti!

Einbalsamiert
wie Olsardinen,
Sandstrandpaniert
zwischen Abfall-Lawinen.
Großstadtgetriebe
in winzigen Nestern.

Ewige Liebe
haltbar bis gestern,
mit Papagallos, die niemals ermüden:
URLAUB IM SÜDEN – URLAUB IM SÜDEN!

Ohne Gepäck,
heimwärts per pedes.
Alles im Heck
des geklauten Mercedes.

Ankunft verschoben,
Tramper geworden:
daumen nach oben,
hoch in den Norden,
um dort sofort neue Pläme zu schmieden, für den
URLAUB IM SÜDEN – URLAUB IM SÜDEN!

Stau-Stau-Stau – Panne – Campingplatz.
Zoll-Zoll-Zoll – Schlauchboot – Hannelore!
Tschau-tschau-tschau – Stohhut – Sonnenbrand.
Papiere, Geld, Francesco weg -
finito l’amore!
URLAUB IM SÜDEN…

Louis de Funès: grand seigneur de la comédie française

In memoriam: Louis de Funès (1914-1983)

Mon plus grand désir d’acteur? C’est de faire des films destinés à faire rire les enfants et les parents à la fois dans ce monde trop triste! (Louis de Funès)

Der grüne Verrat

If I listen to your lies would you say
I’m a man without conviction
I’m a man who doesn’t know
How to sell a contradiction

(Britischer Sänger Boy George, aus dem Lied Karma Camaleon)

Jörg Haiders Double Life: Fascist & Homosexual

I hate nobody except Hitler — and that is professional. (Winston Churchill)

Jörg Haider, the former leader of the Austrian racist and anti-Semitic movement was homosexual

According to the German newspaper taz (March 2000): “These days he prefers to meet with boys from nearby Slovakia” (where the age of consent is 15). The paper also refers to Mr Haider’s alleged cocaine habit.

Hosi, or Homosexual Initiative, the biggest gay lobby in Austria, said: “We’ve known about Haider’s homosexuality for about 10 years. On the one hand we think it’s positive that the rumours are no longer capable of ruining a political career, on the other hand an earlier outing of Haider would have been justified.”

Source: The Guardian

Jörg Haider – Requiem pour un con

Quel plus bel hommage au leader raciste et antisémite Jörg Haider que de lui dédier en tout humilité la belle ballade de Serge Gainsbourg, Requiem pour un con, pour l’immense bonheur qu’il nous a prodigué de quitter définitivement la scène politique? Merci Jörg, ça commençait à (re)puer en Autriche, après ta récente victoire électorale.

“Remets ton épée à sa place, car tous ceux qui se serviront de l’épée mourront par l’épée. ” [Matthieu: 26-52]

Requiem pour un con, par Serge Gainsbourg

Écoute les orgues
Elles jouent pour toi
Il est terrible cet air-là
J’espère que tu aimes
C’est assez beau non
C’est le requiem pour un con

Je l’ai composé spécialement pour toi
À ta mémoire de scélérat
C’est un joli thème,
Tu ne trouves pas, non
Semblable à toi-même
Pauvre con

Voici les orgues
Qui remettent ça
Faut qu’t'apprennes par cœur cet air-là
Que tu n’aies pas même
Une hésitation
Sur le requiem pour un con

Quoi tu me regardes
Tu n’apprécies pas
Mais qu’est-ce qu’y a là-dedans
Qui t’plaît pas
Pour moi c’est idem
Que ça t’plaise ou non
J’te l’rejoue quand même
Pauvre con

Écoute les orgues
Elles jouent pour toi
Il est terrible cet air-là
J’espère que tu aimes
C’est assez beau non
C’est le requiem pour un con
Je l’ai composé spécialement pour toi
À ta mémoire de scélérat
Sur ta figure blême
Aux murs des prisons
J’inscrirai moi-même: « Pauvre con »

Serge Lama, le libertin oublié

C’est toujours comme ça la première fois

Une chanson remarquable du troubadour incomparable, car excentrique, un brin je-m’en-foutiste et franc-tireur, Serge Lama, interprétée sur les abords de Deauville; une ballade intemporelle et joviale qui manie avec brio et enjouement les libertinages de la langue de Molière ou de Rabelais…un tour de force poétique et musical, malheureusement méconnu.

Paroles: Serge Lama. Musique: Y. Gilbert
© 1970 Éditions Plein soleil

Ne t’en fais pas, non ne t’en fais pas
C’est toujours comme ça la première fois
D’abord on dit rien puis on se dit tout
On a peur des chiens et on a peur du loup
Et tout là-haut tout comme un drapeau
Flottait ta chemise, ta jupe et tes bas
Ne t’en fais pas, c’est toujours comme ça la première fois

Comme on était fatigué on s’est allongé
Comme on était allongé je t’ai enlacée
Et comme je t’enlaçais tu t’es indignée
Et comme tu t’indignais je t’ai expliquée

Pendant toute la journée je t’ai expliquée
Je t’ai appris à compter cinq à six péchés
Tu avais si bien compris que quand vint la nuit
Comme je tombais épuisé ben tu m’as expliqué

Ne t’en fais pas, non ne t’en fais pas
C’est toujours comme ça la première fois
D’abord on se croit plus fort que le loup
Puis les bras en croix on ne tient plus debout
Et tout là-haut tout comme un drapeau
Flottait ta chemise, ta jupe et tes bas
Ne t’en fais pas c’est toujours comme ça la première fois

Ne t’en fais pas, non ne t’en fais pas
C’est toujours comme ça la première fois
D’abord on se croit plus fort que le loup
Puis les bras en croix on ne tient plus debout
Et tout là-haut tout comme un drapeau
Flottait ta chemise, ta jupe et tes bas
Ne t’en fais pas c’est toujours comme ça la première fois
Ne t’en fais pas c’est toujours comme ça la première… fois

Elvis Presley Unreleased Gospel

I wasn’t just a fan, I was his brother. He said I was good and I said he was good; we never argued about that. Elvis was a hard worker, dedicated, and God loved him. Last time I saw him was at Graceland. We sang Old Blind Barnabus together, a gospel song. I love him and hope to see him in heaven. There’ll never be another like that soul brother. (James Brown)

Fuck those people of the Scientology Church! There’s no way I’ll ever get involved with that son-of-a-bitchin’ group. All they want is my name and my money. (Elvis Aaron Presley)

Elvis Presley was born and raised in the ‘Bible Belt’ of the USA. He read the Bible and prayed regularly and was very knowledgeable about spiritual matters. In the seventies he started to include more Gospel songs in his repertoire and had the Gospel groups, the Imperials, the Sweet Inspirations and later, J.D. Sumner and the Stamps as his backing singers. He was also known to read passages from the Bible during his concerts. The most beautiful Gospel song Elvis Presley sang is probably Where did they go, Lord?

Where did they go, Lord?

70ème anniversaire d’Enrico Macias

Enrico pour ses 70 ans, le 11 décembre prochain… Juif, Français, d’origine kabyle, tunisienne, espagnole, Enrico Macias ou Gaston Ghrenassian, c’est pareil dit-il, est d’abord un homme qui chante la vie, sa vie, et l’histoire qu’il a traversée en témoin et spectateur engagé.

Wall Street Blues: How Can You Lose What You Never Had?

(Words & music by Weisman-Wayne; Interpret: Elvis Presley)

How can you lose what you never had?
I tell myself when I’m feeling sad

You don’t have the right to cry
You believed your own lie
It’s your fault because
You thought that she was yours
Think it over once, think it over twice
I wish I could take my own advice
I know I should be glad, why does it hurt so bad
How can you lose what you never had?

August 16, 1977: The King has left the planet

]

Elvis is the greatest cultural force in the twentieth century. He introduced the beat to everything, music, language, clothes, it’s a whole new social revolution. (Leonard Bernstein)

The King, Elvis Aaron Presley, in his own words:

I’m so lucky to be in the position to give. It’s really a gift to give.

When I was a child, ladies and gentlemen, I was a dreamer. I read comic books, and I was the hero of the comic book. I saw movies, and I was the hero in the movie. So every dream I ever dreamed has come true a hundred times…I learned very early in life that: ‘Without a song, the day would never end; without a song, a man ain’t got a friend; without a song, the road would never bend – without a song.’ So I keep singing a song. Goodnight. Thank you!

Fuck those people of the Scientology Church! There’s no way I’ll ever get involved with that son-of-a-bitchin’ group. All they want is my name and my money.

Ecce Homo

Here is the man…

Elvis Presley’s voice was remarkable in the sense that, through it, he touched people in a way only great artists can do. In fact, the people he touched are as diverse as humanity itself and, because of that his popularity has transcended race, class, national boundaries, and culture. There is no simple answer about why that is so, all I can say is he had that magic. When Elvis Presley was first popular, many people said that he did not have a good voice. Almost everyone, today, knows that he did, but more people today should see him not simply as a performer, but as an artist with a great soul. (Dr. John Bakke Will, professor of the University of Memphis, in an interview with the US State Department, on the legacy of Elvis Presley)

I wasn’t just a fan, I was his brother. He said I was good and I said he was good; we never argued about that. Elvis was a hard worker, dedicated, and God loved him. Last time I saw him was at Graceland. We sang Old Blind Barnabus together, a gospel song. I love him and hope to see him in heaven. There’ll never be another like that soul brother. (James Brown aka the Godfather of Soul)

When I first heard Elvis’ voice, I just knew that I wasn’t going to work for anybody, and nobody was going to be my boss. He is the deity supreme of rock and roll religion as it exists in today’s form. Hearing him for the first time was like busting out of jail. I thank God for Elvis Presley. (Bob Dylan)

The man of knowledge must be able not only to love his enemies, but also to hate his friends. (Friedrich Nietzsche, Ecce Homo)

Elvis Presley Yiddishe Mama

Great Master Elvis Presley pays tribute to his Jewish mother, Gladys Smith, the only and most important woman in his life.