A Window Above: Royals

Song: "Royals"
Writers: Ella Yelich-O'Connor and Joel Little
Original Release: June 3, 2013
Original Performer: Lorde
Album: The Love Club EP



"Royals" is one of the best-selling singles of all time: 10 million copies worldwide.  It topped the US charts for nine consecutive weeks.  It is, for my money, the best pop song of the current decade, a triumph of minimalism in an age of sensory overload.  Not bad for an artist's debut release.

Supposedly, Lorde wrote the lyrics in half an hour - ill-making, really.  The title was inspired by a National Geographic photo of George Brett, of all people.  Why a New Zealand teenager would be drawn to a photo of a long-retired American baseball player is a bit of a mystery but whatever works, right?

via National Geographic

"Royals" is one of those songs that was begging for an acapella cover from the get-go.  I threw an arrangement together for my students when we did Macbeth.  They sang it at King Duncan's entrance - worked perfectly.  Wish I'd recorded it but, alas, no.  Fortunately, others have been wiser in preserving their interpretations.

Pentatonix, so good:



Is there anything cooler than Bruce Springsteen covering your song? live? in your hometown?



"Foil" by Weird Al:



Want to hear all of the songs I have featured in a convenient playlist?

Enjoy: A Window Above

What are you listening to these days?

Squid Mixes: Dark 'n' Stormy

A dark 'n' stormy is comprised of dark rum, lime juice and ginger beer.  I got my recipe from 3-Ingredient Cocktails by Robert Simonson.  I forgot to take a photo until a few sips in.

Simonson is exactly the sort of writer I should pay more attention to as I embark upon the next phase of my hobby (see here).  He puts a great deal of thought into the specifics of his ingredients.  The drink has its origins in Bermuda and, partly because of this, Simonson recommends Goslings rum, a Berumda product (I used Myers's, from Jamaica). 

For me, the drink worked pretty well.  It smelled amazing - not surprising given the components.  Rum brings more to the table than vodka or gin but less than whiskey.  The ginger predominates, per usual.  In mixing, it is the ultimate flavor heavyweight.  Ginger beer exploration is likely to be important for me going forward.  Both wife and daughter love the stuff and it's a primary element in a highball, one of my wife's favorite drinks (see here).  She likes her ginger beer spicy.  I used Fever-Tree this time, plenty potent.

On the Coffee Table: Po Bronson

Title: What Should I Do with My Life?: The True Story of People Who Answered the Ultimate Question
Author: Po Bronson

via Amazon

Novelist Po Bronson, partly out of a need to make sense of his own journey, compiled a list of true stories confronting the question of what to do with their lives.  As one might expect, there are plenty of tales of those leaving conventional jobs in the corporate world to lead a non-profit or become a professional gardener or an inventor or what have you.  Some found new meaning in the work they were already doing.  Some were still working on the answers by the time Bronson left their stories.  In all cases, the answers came through effort and risk, not by sitting on the couch waiting for an epiphany.  His basic message is neatly summarized near the end of the book: "Bring what you do in alignment with who you are."

This book, unplanned, has come to me at an interesting time.  I like my job (music teacher) - much of the time.  I believe in the meaning of what I do - much of the time.  I'm not always sure it's what I'm meant to be doing.  I'm very good at parts of the gig and consistently struggle with others.  Sometimes I wonder if the strongest skills I bring to work would be put to better use in another context and with fewer or more tolerable struggles.  Bronson's book reminds me that such wonders are not unusual.  He hasn't given me any answers but I do have new ideas for how to approach the question.

It's always worth remembering the things I value.  I love music and sharing that love with others is always gratifying.  Students, even middle school students, can bring tremendous inspiration if you let them.  I enjoy the trust and respect from my colleagues that my long tenure in the district have brought me.  Perhaps most of all, I am grateful for one of the underappreciated privileges of teaching: the frequent opportunities to hit the reset button.  Each new school year, new term, new concert cycle, new day, new class period, new student brings an opportunity to reinvent if I need it.  Even if I do eventually find a new path, there are rich possibilities for the one I'm on.  It's good to remember that.

Also good to remember that a job can just be a job.  It need not define me.  I work to live and not the other way around.  I wouldn't want anything to change that.

One slight tangent: as I have written in previous posts (like this one), I love trees.  I have made big life choices, like living in Vermont and choosing a house to buy, based in part on my love for trees.  On page 301, Bronson offers this lovely thought: "Trees are like books - they have an intangible psychic significance far beyond their utility."

A Window Above: You'll Be Back

Song: "You'll Be Back"
Composer and Lyricist: Lin-Manuel Miranda
Musical: Hamilton: An American Musical
Premier: January 20, 2015, New York



I don't really need to explain about Hamilton, do I?  The Broadway musical about the founding father, Alexander Hamilton, based on the biography by Ron Chernow?  It feels almost as silly as trying to summarize Hamlet a few months back (see here).  Crazy comparison?  I don't think so.  The broad cultural impact of Hamilton far exceeds that of anything to come out of the theater world in 30 years, maybe longer.  We're talking Beatles/Star Wars/Harry Potter-level. Will people still be talking about this show in 400 years?  Yes.

I first learned about Hamilton from my wife.  That alone is an indicator.  My drama teacher colleague going on about a Broadway show would not be noteworthy.  But my wife?  As a rule, she hates musicals.  Not only had she heard about it but she was listening to the cast album on near-endless repeat.  It was first shared with me on our road trip to Nova Scotia a few years ago (see here), by which time she and our daughter both knew the show by heart.

King George's big number, reprised twice (you get all three songs in the video above - you're welcome), is admittedly out of step with the rest of the show.  While most of the music is based on hip-hop, R&B and soul, "You'll Be Back" is based on Lin-Manuel Miranda's other great love: British Invasion rock.  Appropriate to the story, right?  Is it any wonder that the song I fell hardest for is the one closer to my beloved Beatles?  Besides, it's hilarious.

Want to hear all of the songs I have featured in a convenient playlist?

Enjoy: A Window Above

What are you listening to these days?

On the Coffee Table: Aya: Love in the City

Title: Aya: Love in the City
Author: Marguerite Abouet
Artist: Clément Oubrerie

via Amazon

I had my introduction to the Aya series four years ago (reflection here).  Aya: Love in the City collects the last three of six bande dessinée, originally published in French.  Aya is a young woman struggling along with her friends to figure out her place in late-'70s Ivory Coast.  Aya's academic career is jeopardized when she spurns the advances of a lecherous professor.  Her own story revolves around plotting her revenge against him.  In another thread, a friend tries to make his way as a gay African man in France.  We see the conflicts between city Africa and village Africa, between the European concept of Africa and reality. 

The book is enjoyable though the switches between one storyline and another are frequent and abrupt.  I was grateful for the diagram at the beginning of the book outlining the relationships between all of the characters.

I have now read books 1, 4, 5 and 6.  I definitely missed a few details in between so I may well seek out the others, collected with #1 in Aya: Life in Yop City.

Squid Mixes: Bronx Cocktail

A Bronx Cocktail combines gin, orange juice, dry vermouth and sweet vermouth.  I got my recipe from Eric Felten's How's Your Drink?  It might be better with fresh OJ but otherwise it's fine, though uninteresting.  It tastes like orange juice with some stuff in it.  The booze brings a little bitterness.  While I enjoy Felten's book immensely, he tends to leave the garnish out of the list of ingredients, in this case an orange slice.  I didn't have an orange so we went without.

I find my personal tastes are starting to take focus.  That's not to say I won't continue to experiment but at this point, I feel I have a pretty good handle on how the major players among both liquors and mixers function.  And I know what I like.  I'm a whiskey person, particularly rye, though scotch is certainly nice when drinking it straight.  I prefer gin as a mixer to vodka.  Tequila is intriguing.  I like lime and I like bitters.  Manhattan is still my favorite. 

More importantly, I can now look at a list of ingredients and have a pretty good idea of how the combination is going to taste.  As such, I feel I've reached a new stage in the hobby, one that might require an altered approach.  Stay tuned.

A Window Above: Babyface

Song: "Babyface"
Writers: U2
Original Release: July 5, 1993
Band: U2
Album: Zooropa



Given the lyrical content, I rather doubt that this song is about drummer Larry Mullen, Jr. though his nickname is, in fact, Babyface.  However, I do think it's appropriate that the unofficial video above is essentially a tribute to Mullen.  As I wrote in my last U2 post, I believe the drums are the secret of the band's success and this track, in particular, makes excellent use of percussion.

Want to hear all of the songs I have featured in a convenient playlist?

Enjoy: A Window Above

What are you listening to these days?