Music for My Movie Meme

Here's a fun exercise that Sisterfilms put on her blog FilmAching. Let's see how it goes. Like SF, I am going to keep the Christmas music out of it, since I have so much that this would become either a Christmas movie or something too, too ironic for words.

So, here's how it works:

1. Open your library (iTunes, Winamp, Media Player, iPod, etc). 

2. Put it on shuffle.

3. Press play.

4. For every question, type the song that's playing.

5. When you go to a new question, press the next button.

6. Don't lie and try to pretend you're cool...

Opening Credits:

Hang Down Your Head, Tom Dooley by Lonnie Donegan

Waking Up:

Missing by The Roches

First Day of School:

Sufferin' by Gordon Bok

Falling in Love:

Tuba mirum from Mozart Requiem in D Minor, Berlin Philharmonic, von Karajan, soloists

Fight Song:

Paint me, Redoute by June Tabor

Breaking Up:

Waltz Down the Aisle from Anything Goes

Prom:

Mending Wall by Robert Frost, read by the poet

Life's Just OK:

The Lady is a Tramp by Frank Sinatra

Mental Breakdown:

I'll Take My Sorrow Straight by Iris DeMent

Driving:

I'm Walking Behind You by Frank Sinatra [this is really funny since I don't drive!]

Flashback:

Safe at Anchor by Kate Wolf

Getting Back Together:

The Sun Whose Rays Are All Ablaze from The Mikado by Gilbert and Sullivan (D'Oyly Carte Opera Co.)

Birth of Child:

The Homestead on the Farm by The Carter Family

Wedding:

Bill Morgan and His Gal by Priscilla Herdman, Anne Hills and Cindy Mangsen 

Final Battle:

World in Union by the South Wales Burma Star Male Voice Choir

Death Scene:

Walk Down by the Water by Bill Staines

Funeral Song:

The Me I Used to Be by the Austin Lounge Lizards

End Credits:

The Twa Sisters by Dorothy Fourbister, collected for The English and Scottish Popular Ballads (i.e. the Child Ballads)

Well, what this proves is that I have a fairly eclectic music collection. I have to say this probably doesn't work as well with Windows Media Player as it would if I had an iPod. I ended up just pressing the "next" button a random number of times without looking. Let me know in comments if you play and where.

I've Been Tagged for the Meme of Tears

     Kaye Barley, who joins my blogroll today, has tagged me for the Meme of Tears. Kaye is a fellow DorothyLer, like me a reader of mystery stories, and lives in North Carolina. Later this year, I'll be a guest blogger on her blog, which is a scary thought given some of the other guests she's lined up. Here's the meme:

What's hit you on an emotional level and made you cry? An event, a book, a movie, a TV show - any or all of these?

     It's not really that hard to move me to tears. My father, in one of his more printable salty sayings, used to tell me, "Your bladder is too close to your eyeballs."  My daughters tease me about my propensity to choke up at movies, at church, or while reading or telling a story. Sometimes I can't even fully explain what it is that touches me, though I hope it has something to do with empathy.

     I'm surprised that the list of examples didn't include music, the surest way to make me cry.  It can be just the sound, or something in the words of a song, or the memories the song evokes, that trigger the tear ducts. I'm a sucker for cherub choirs, bands playing patriotic music (a severe handicap when I was in the Women's Army Corps!), and a lot of other music. Most recently, I was moved to tears (virtually outright sobbing!) when I heard a recording of my daughter Sisterfilms singing Koppången.  I've blogged about this song before [December 4, 2007] and it's definitely a favorite, but normally I can hear it sung without crying. Sisterfilms had sung it in church on the first Sunday of Advent (while I was still 1500 miles away) and with one thing and another I didn't get to hear the recording till after Christmas. Sisterfilms' voice ranges from tenor to mezzo-soprano, but she sang this squarely in the alto voice. I happen to feel that the alto and baritone voices carry more emotion than the soprano and tenor, and perhaps that's why I prefer them. Sisterfilms is also particularly good at conveying emotion in her singing, and she really outdid herself with this one.  If I had been present for the live performance, I don't think I would have wept as much or even at all, since I would have been nervous for her, but I heard that several people in church were also moved to tears that day.

Books often move me.  Even after many readings both silent and aloud, I cannot read the two episodes of the death of Jack the bulldog in the Laura Ingalls Wilder books without crying. (The first time they only think he is dead; his return turns on the waterworks too). The book that most recently choked me up is Naomi Novik's His Majesty's Dragon (or Temeraire in some editions).  The first in the Temeraire series, it's set during the Napoleonic Wars, much like Patrick O'Brian's sea stories, except that in this world, there are dragons who have been domesticated and form Aerial Corps for the warring countries. The dragons can speak, and form close attachments with their handlers/captains, and usually vice versa. But the hero, Will, and his dragon, Temeraire, discover one dragon who is sadly neglected by his unworthy handler. The scene of the neglected dragon's death, when Will forces the handler to visit his dying dragon, and the depiction of the dragon's pitiful gladness at some attention from the handler whom he loves despite all, had me reaching for my handkerchief. (One cannot use tissues whilst reading this type of book).

I'll stop there, although I could certainly come up with a movie, an event, or even a TV show that has caused me to weep. If you would like to reflect on this meme, consider yourself tagged, and let me know in comments if you play. And don't forget to check out Meanderings and Muses!

Songs to Celebrate Winter

So, I skipped a few Tuneful Tuesdays, I was too busy having fun with Sisterknits and others. Next week I'll try to have a few ideas for Epiphany season music, but today in keeping with the previous post here are a few songs for celebrating winter (or daydreaming about it, if you live in a place with no snow).

1. A-Roving on a Winter's Night -- Anne Hills, Cindy Mangsen, Priscilla Herdman -- Voices of Winter.
This is the most mournful of the songs, but it's so pretty. And winter does give us time to reflect and remember. It's by Doc Watson, but owes a lot to Robert Burns's My Luve Is Like a Red, Red Rose.

2. Bleak Midwinter Polka -- Trailer Trash -- Hell, It's X-Mas.
Trailer Trash is a Minneapolis bar band that I've never heard in person. In this song, written by their fiddle player "Razz" Russell, they have a good suggestion for what to do if and when winter gets you down (as it sometimes does in Minneapolis, that's why they say the polka "makes living in this hell worthwhile.")

3. Walkin' in My Winter Underwear -- Trailer Trash -- Hell, It's X-Mas.
Trailer Trash's almost unintelligible version of the song made famous by Yogi Yorgesson, Stan and Doug, and Casey the Railroad Engineer (a favorite of Twin Cities children's TV). I caught something about Lake Street and got the idea that the singer is quite positive about his winter underwear, unlike the earlier singers, who had the old, scratchy version. For one of the original versions by Casey,

4. Snow Day -- Trout Fishing in America -- Merry Fishes to All.
The duo Trout Fishing in America has a childlike point of view with some very grown-up abilities at songwriting. This song is about the joy of waking up to a snow day, with all normal activities put on hold and an unexpected chance to play.

5. Frosty the Snowman -- The Roches -- We Three Kings.
This classic is given a fresh interpretation by the three New Jersey sisters and some of their young relatives. It's lots of fun. Frosty was written by Walter "Jack" Rollins and Steve Nelson, who also wrote Peter Cottontail; and Jack Rollins wrote Smokey the Bear. It was, of course, first recorded by Gene Autry (when I was little, I wanted to marry him. I'd be a lot richer if I had!)

6. Bob and Bob -- Trout Fishing in America -- Merry Fishes to All.
The conceit in this song is that there are identical twin snowflakes named Bob and Bob, when of course we all know that no two snowflakes are alike. There's also some interesting information about snow here and there.

7. Hot Buttered Rum -- Anne Hills, Cindy Mangsen, Priscilla Herdman -- Voices of Winter.
A winter love song, with a somewhat jaundiced view of winter redeemed by the presence of a loved one. It was written by the late Tommy Thompson, founding member of the Red Clay Ramblers. You can go here to see some great illustrations of the song done by kids.

8. Winter Weather/I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm -- Tony Bennett -- Snowfall.
There are several other great winter songs on this album, too. These two, sung in a medley, both speak to the joys of snuggling in the cold weather. Winter Weather was written by Tin Pan Alley songwriter Ted Shapiro, who was active in the 1920s and wrote a lot of songs for Sophie Tucker, the Red Hot Mama. I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm was introduced in the film On the Avenue in 1937 and was written by Irving Berlin. Tony Bennett is a national treasure.

9. The Frozen Logger/Proper Cup of Coffee -- Anne Hills, Cindy Mangsen, Priscilla Herdman -- Voices of Winter.
The Frozen Logger was written in the 1920s by Jim Stevens, who also wrote (or wrote down) a lot of the Paul Bunyan stories. The Weavers found it and had a hit with it in 1951, and it's been recorded by Odetta and several others. Proper Cup of Coffee was originally (as far as I can tell) recorded by the Andrews Sisters (also from Minneapolis!) in the late 1950s, and has also been recorded by Trout Fishing in America. Although written by Emanuele Pellegrini and Aaron Gershunoff, it has become somewhat of a folk song with different singers coming up with new verses, as Hills, Mangsen and Herdman have done here. The tune is slightly different now too, or at least jazzed up quite a bit.

You may have noticed that three out of the nine tracks above are from the same album -- I highly recommend Voices of Winter as well as all the other discs these three women have recorded both together and individually.

A quick report on the Jazz Concert

This evening OHP, the Herbalist and I went all the way to Our State's Capital to hear a Jazz Concert in which my Sisteroutlaw*, The Fiddler, was performing. She is getting a degree in Jazz Performance (I think) at the University there, while also holding down a full-time job. What a great concert! The first part was two young men and one somewhat older one (joined in a couple of numbers by one more young man) and was billed as Jazz Vocals. It was a wonderful mixture of different types of songs tinged just enough with jazz sounds to be really fun to listen to. They started with two Christmas songs, Gaudete and Riu, Riu Chiu -- both of which, I think, have a bit of a jazz feel even when they're done by Authentic Period Performers. Then a Ghanaian Alleluia, two barbershop quartet numbers, Seven Bridges Road (introduced as an Eagles song. Who knew? Evidently, all but me and OHP, who both remembered it as a Dolly Parton song. The Eagles fall into that no-man's-land of popular music for me that lasts from about 1973 to 1988 or so -- in other words from when I stopped living in college dorms and barracks to when SonShineIn became a teenager). A Mel Tormé song, Born to be Blue, that I liked a lot. Mack the Knife and It Don't Mean a Thing. Good stuff! The Fiddler sat in on Riu, Riu Chiu and added a really funky sound to it.
After a short intermission came the Latin Jazz Ensemble which played great Cuban dance tunes. Also the bass from the vocal group was in this group and sang Besame Mucho -- a tune I recall hearing on the clock radio I told about a few days ago. Some of the songs were identified with Tito Puente which made me think about going to Little Tijuana in City of Lakes (it's a restaurant) -- there's a mural on the wall there showing a theater marquee advertising an appearance by Tito Puente. The Fiddler fiddled, drummers drummed, pianist played, guitarists, people blowing on things, even a gourd. Good stuff and some of the younger folks were dancing behind us.
The concert reminded OHP and me of the days when Sisterknits was at Rudy Perpich's Good Idea High School. They, also, had concerts at the end of the semester and, like these musicians, they were not only putting on a great show but showing what they had learned. The level of musicianship was often as high as tonight's, the youthful energy likewise (although some of the "youth" tonight were in their 50s, but I think playing music must keep you young). And, the slight tension because, even if you aren't being specifically graded on the evening's performance, it is sort of like a final exam. The Latin Jazz Ensemble was composed of people who are just completing a one-semester course in Latin Jazz. Most of them had not played in this musical idiom before and we were told that the drummers were not primarily percussionists and had only begun learning the drums they played a few months ago. All in all it was well worth the drive. Is there a college or even high school concert nearby that you could attend?

*I have two sisters-in-law, and I also have three sisters-outlaw, one for each brother. This one used to be married to Brother #2. He and their son also attended the concert so it was nice to see them as well.

Some thoughts on Ave Maria

While preparing for a future Tuneful Tuesday, I counted at least 21 versions of Ave Maria in my collection of music. Most of them were either set to the music of Bach/Gounod or that of Schubert. The odd thing at first glance seemed to be that the Schubert settings far outstripped the Bach/Gounod in number. Now, I've always had a little trouble keeping the two straight in my musical memory, and I also wanted to listen to each and decide which I liked best. I downloaded the sheet music for both settings (along with the German words to the Schubert, about which more later) -- although I can't sight-sing or "really" read music, I can watch the notes go up and down. Then I hit "Play" and started to follow along. What a surprise! Several of the versions that Windows Media Player had informed me were by Schubert were, in fact, the Bach/Gounod setting. From an initial count of 3, Bach/Gounod went to 9, with 7 renditions of the Schubert (the others were by Bruckner and others). So, when I used the "Find Album Info" feature on Windows Media Player, I was often getting not only the occasional typo I had noticed, but sometimes attribution to the wrong composer.

For anyone who has had the same trouble as I in instantly telling the two settings apart, here are my three no-fail tips:
1. If the words are in German, it is doubtless the Schubert. And in fact, it then isn't really Ave Maria, but Ellens Gesang, an incidental song for a play based on Sir Walter Scott's The Lady of the Lake. (In my grandmother's bookcase there was a copy of this in a very pretty white and gold binding; I always intended to read it but never did.) In this song, Ellen, who is fleeing, prays to the Virgin to keep her safe, as one maiden to another, and at greater length than the original prayer.
2. If, after the first "gratia plena," the singer starts repeating himself, it is the Schubert. This is because the Latin words of the Ave Maria had to be stretched (some say, unmercifully) to fit the music composed for a poem in German.
3. If the song ends with "Amen, Amen" it is the Bach/Gounod. If it ends with "Ave Maria" (as if the singer had been set an extensive penance!) it is the Schubert.

Maybe I'm the only one who needs these tips? I think I've got it straight now, especially after watching and listening to these two wonderful things on YouTube. First, Bobby McFerrin does the accompaniment (the Bach part, from Prelude No. 1, The Well-Tempered Clavier) while his audience sings the Gounod Ave Maria.

This reminds me of seeing and hearing McFerrin a few years ago at a choral concert series at Da U in City of Lakes. He did a similar thing with us. If you're still holding "Don't Worry, Be Happy" against him, get over it. He's an amazing musician.

Then, another one that may bring a tear or two -- Luciano Pavarotti singing the Schubert Ave Maria.


Being a Trinitarian Universalist, I believe that Pavarotti is now singing this for Schubert; or maybe he and John McCormack are doing duets on Danny Boy.

Why is a Protestant girl listening to Ave Maria anyway? Well, although we still balk at asking her to intercede for us, we descendants of the Puritans are gaining a new appreciation for Mary as the Mother of God and an example of trust in God. Especially during Advent, we even sing songs about Mary in church; and I have heard the Ave Maria sung in a Congregational church, and the roof didn’t fall in.

Leave a comment if you will.

Tunes for November, Part III, and something special at the end

Here we go again...

25. All People That On Earth Do Dwell -- The Choir of Trinity College, Cambridge -- A Vaughan Williams Hymnal. This verse and tune for Psalm 100 (hence its name "Old Hundredth") may well have been sung by the Pilgrims at Plymouth Colony. (Although not in this arrangement by Ralph Vaughan Williams, with organ music!) William Kethe, to whom the words are attributed, was a Scots clergyman who lived in Geneva, Switzerland and helped translate the Geneva Bible, the Bible used by the Pilgrims (Separatists). The Anglo-Genevan Psalter of 1561 includes 20 of his hymns. The tune, by Louis Bourgeois, is often used for "THE" Doxology, the song many Protestants sing upon the receipt of the offering. Of course a Doxology is "a short hymn of praise to God" and can take many forms. In my current church we sing one to the tune Duke Street. But if someone says "Let's sing the Doxology" (as we often did as a grace before meals in Onkel Hankie Pants' parents' home) this is the tune they will be thinking of.

26. Better Than Blessed -- Louise Davis -- Malaco's Greatest Gospel Hits, Vol. 1. Well, when you've got a good sermon illustration, it's hard to use it just once. This song also references the "no shoes/no feet" story alluded to in Just Look at the Blessings. The singer says, "Many times I had to learn my lessons, For I did not always appreciate my blessings." I can relate to that.

27. Bless This House -- Bryn Terfel -- Simple Gifts and Perry Como -- Christmas Songs. I'm not sure if I'm remembering this correctly, but I think I remember my late mother-in-law telling me that a cousin sang this song at her and my father-in-law's wedding. It certainly could have been, since it was written in 1927; the only thing that raises a doubt in my mind is that their wedding was conducted in Danish. Perry Como was one of Mom's favorite singers, and this song is very much associated with him; I think he sang it every year around this time on his TV shows and specials. I'll have to include his version as well, but I just can't resist Bryn Terfel. (You can probably tell that I like baritones better than tenors, though I can appreciate tenors. I like mezzos and contraltos better than sopranos, too.)

28. Dayenu (Diana) -- Michael S. McCown and the New England Conservatory Chorus -- A Taste of Passover. Passover? But I thought that was in springtime? I hear you asking. But Dayenu, one of the songs traditionally sung at the Passover Seder, is definitely an anthem of gratitude. "Dayenu" means "It would have been enough" and the song traditionally goes on for 15 stanzas starting with "If he had brought us out of Egypt...it would have been enough" and ending with the gifts of Shabbat, Mount Sinai, the Torah, the Land of Israel, and the Temple. It's a statement of God's extravagant love if ever there was one. In this recording, Paul Anka's tune Diana ("I'm so young and you're so old, This my darling I've been told") is used, with a little bit of Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow thrown in for good measure. It's a delicious bit of reverent irreverence. It reminds me to be thankful for my years at A Host at Last University, where I may not have made the most of all my opportunities, but where I did learn a respect and love for the culture and ethics of the Jewish people.

29. It Is Well With My Soul -- Antrim Mennonite Choir -- Amazing Grace. This is one of those hymns that was written after the hymnodist experienced a horrific loss. You can read the story here. It also brings to mind a very good book that you should read if you haven't, Peace Like a River by Leif Enger. The title of the book comes from this hymn, and not from the church camp song I've Got Peace Like a River (though that is a fine song too, in its way.) Since I grumbled about the New Century Hymnal a couple of days ago, I should in all fairness praise it for including many more of this type of hymn (Sweet Hour of Prayer would be another example) than we had in the Pilgrim Hymnal. And finally I should tell a little story about how I got this recording. When Cordeliaknits was in college, preparing for seminary, working as a chapel intern, one day she was out shopping in Women's College Town with a Chocolate Shop on Every Block, when she was approached by some missionaries (presumably Mennonite, but I'm not sure). They pressed upon her a copy of the Gospel of John and this very nice CD of hymns. I got the CD for Christmas. I hope neither of us will burn in hell for taking it under false pretenses. College students do what they gotta do; one year when I was in college, my family all got books for Christmas, review copies I had scored as an editor of the student newspaper. Things don't change much.

30. The Harvest Home Suite: Autumn (Thanksgiving Hymn) -- Jay Ungar -- Harvest Home. Taking off from We Gather Together, Jay Ungar of Ashokan Farewell fame crafts a beautiful piece of music. The lower line evokes a melancholy autumnal feel, while the higher one expresses joy in the harvest. At least that's what I think. You may have noticed that I mostly talk about lyrics. That's because I don't really have a vocabulary to talk about the music, not because I don't appreciate it (I'm just not a trained appreciator!)

31. Danish Table Grace/I Jesu Navn Går Vi Til Bord -- Grand View College Singers -- Songs of Denmark: Songs to Live By. This was probably the table grace used most often in my in-laws' home, at least during the years I was privileged to visit there. The English words we used were not a direct translation, but are:
In Jesus' name we come, O Lord,
Again to this, our humble board,
Accept our thanks, in word and deed,
For daily bread and all we need. Amen.
The tune is (to my ears at least) the same as the Danish Christmas carol, Det Kimer Nu til Julefest (The Happy Christmas Comes Once More.) It reminds me of how thankful I am that, through marriage, I was able to "culturally appropriate" the richness of the Danish Grundtvigian tradition of my husband's family and their extended community, and that this community welcomed me so warmly and continues to be an important part of our lives and those of our children. It's a lot more than just æbleskiver and frikadeller!

32. Count Your Blessings (Instead of Sheep) -- Rosemary Clooney -- White Christmas. Also by The Mormon Tabernacle Choir, Peace Like a River, and Diana Krall, Christmas Songs. This song by Irving Berlin doesn't really say anything about Christmas, but since it was written for the movie White Christmas, it is featured on a number of Christmas albums. Rosemary Clooney was also part of the soundtrack of my childhood in the 1950s. There's also a fine old gospel hymn called Count Your Blessings -- if you don't know it, you can read the words and hear a MIDI rendition of the tune here. Oddly enough, in church today we heard a sermon with some of my own ambivalence about counting blessings as mentioned in a previous post. I still like the songs, though.

33. De Colores -- Baldemar Velasquez and Aguila Negra -- Classic Labor Songs from Smithsonian Folkways. De Colores, a Mexican folksong said by some to have been brought from Spain as early as the 16th century, is a song that has been used as an anthem by Cursillo and other Christian retreats, is in the New Century Hymnal, and which I first heard as a children's song on a Raffi album when my children were small. But I chose this version for inclusion here because of its association as the unofficial anthem of the United Farm Workers (UFW), César Chavez' organization, as well as for its beautiful words and music. The United Farm Workers and their grape boycott, for many in my generation, were probably one of the first promptings to us to think about the food we eat and where it comes from. Sure, we had sung the Woody Guthrie songs and read Doris Gates' Blue Willow as children or Steinbeck's Grapes of Wrath a bit later. I suspect many of us in urban or suburban settings thought that was all in the past, and then Chavez opened our eyes. Many years later, we are thinking about eating locally, buying fair-trade, shade-grown, bird-friendly coffee, and otherwise interesting ourselves in a more sustainable lifestyle. This Thanksgiving, let's honor those who grow our food, those who harvest our food, and those who transport our food.

And now for two songs that I don't have in a recorded format -- in fact to the best of my knowledge they don't exist in recorded form. That's because they were both written (the lyrics) by Onkel Hankie Pants. The first is a Thanksgiving hymn he wrote to be used in church some years ago.

Join Hands, You Fearful Pilgrims

Psalm 46 Aurelia 76.76 D (“The Church’s One Foundation”)

Join hands you fearful pilgrims,
Embarking on this ship;
We face a roaring ocean,
A spirit-testing trip.
May Jacob’s God protect us
On this deep, troubled sea
That swells against the mountains
Of faith and piety.

We go to build God’s city
Amid the wilderness;
Through it will flow a river
With streams of righteousness.
And we will know each morning
The comfort of God’s might,
Which guards us like a rampart
From tempters in the night.

We go to found a new world;
Old kingdoms melt before
God’s holy flame, advancing
To burn the tools of war.
The sinful earth will tremble
At God’s consuming voice;
And in the peace that follows
God’s Saints will all rejoice.

Be steady, then, you pilgrims,
The Lord of Hosts is here;
God is our lofty tower,
Our refuge when we fear
The raging storms around us,
The tempests deep inside,
For God is God, exalted -
In God we will abide.

Copyright H. C. Strandskov

Anyone reading this who has authority to choose hymns for a church service may use this freely provided the copyright notice is printed and you let us know when and where it was used.

The second is a newer song written just last year as a Thanksgiving grace to be sung at our table; it can be used any time of the year. As Onkel Hankie Pants wrote on the Hymn Society website, the tune is a familiar one: Silver Bells by Livingston and Evans, from the movie The Lemon-Drop Kid. (My Christmas music collection has 20 renditions of this song, so I'm sure you know it.) Here it is:

FOOD ABUNDANT (a sung table grace for festal meals)

Text: H. C. Strandskov, 2006

Tune: Silver Bells

(Here�s a table grace to sing for Thanksgiving dinner, the Christmas Eve meal, or Christmas dinner. Everyone should know the tune, but it would be especially fun if someone can accompany on a piano or keyboard. If you try it, send me an email and let me know how it went and what the occasion was.)

Food abundant, festive table, fellowship's healing warmth:
Here we gather to savor God's goodness.
Bless the sunlight, bless the rainfall, bless this bountiful earth -
And for this joyous feast we will sing:

'We give thanks, thanks for food,
Thanks for our families and friendships;
We give thanks, thanks to God,
Thanks for the gifts of our world.'

I'm thankful to have a poet in the house, and for poets and songwriters everywhere and in every time.

Tunes for November, Part II

Now begins the section of the Thanksgiving playlist that has some hymns, but also some songs you probably won't hear in church.

13. Turning Toward the Morning -- Gordon Bok, Ed Trickett, Ann Mayo Muir -- Keepers 2 and The First Fifteen Years. This is a good song for November, when the world seems to be getting darker each day, especially here on the eastern edge of the Eastern Time Zone. Hunker down, get through the winter because "The world is always turning toward the morning."

14. The Thanksgiving Song -- Fred Holstein -- A Tribute to Steve Goodman. The song was written by Bob Franke as Thanksgiving Eve and has been recorded by him and possibly others. "What can you do with each moment of your life, But love till you've loved it away."

15. Thanksgiving -- George Winston -- Thanksgiving. Another nice instrumental for a little meditation time.

16. Day by Day -- The Joslin Grove Choral Society -- 100 Best Loved Hymns. No, this is not the one from Godspell. Not being Swedish, I only heard it for the first time a few years ago when I worked at an erstwhile-Swedish Lutheran church. It was written in the 19th century by Lina Sandell Berg, a Swedish pietist hymnwriter perhaps best known for Children of the Heavenly Father. (And if you aren't from the Midwest or Scandinavian, you may not even know that one.) There is a very good retranslation by Gracia Grindal in one of the newer Lutheran hymnals. Berg's point is that we should be grateful for what seems bad in our lives as well as what seems good, that God gives us toil, pain and sorrow as well as rest, peace and joy, and it is all for our good. It reminds me of a poem I learned in German class in high school, by Eduard Mörike (he was born in Ludwigsburg, where that particular one of my three high schools was located). You can read the poem and a translation here.

17. Thank God for Mama -- Fantastic Violinaires -- Malaco's Greatest Gospel Hits, Vol. 1.

Here's mine, in her garden in 1982. She's been gone for 20 years now and I still miss her. I know some people have or had much more complicated relationships with their mothers, and maybe this song would not resonate the same way for everyone. I'm thankful that I had this mother, and as the song says, "I hope that I'll see her in heaven some sweet day."

18. Bringing in the Sheaves -- Mountain Singers Male Quartet -- How Can I Keep From Singing? Vol. 1.
At my old church in City of Lakes, we had an informal service on Thanksgiving morning. We always sang this song (which is not in either of our hymnals). Nobody around here has a service on Thanksgiving morning, so I'll have to sing along with these guys. There's lots of good harvest imagery. This is another one that I need two versions of -- the other is by Tennessee Ernie Ford. Ol' Ern' was a big star in my childhood; I think he had a TV show and always signed off "Bless your little pea-pickin' hearts." And Amen to that!

19. Now Be Thankful -- Fairport Convention -- Meet on the Ledge: The Classic Years (1967-1975). Although I had certainly been aware of Fairport Convention back in the day, I wasn't a huge fan at the time. I bought this album for their recording of Matty Groves when I was reading Deborah Grabien's wonderful "woo-woo" mystery of the same name, based on the Child ballad. I was really pleased to discover this song, which expresses thankfulness in a more modern idiom -- "for the rose, the red rose blooms for all to know."

20. Magnificat (Canon) -- Taizé Community -- Alleluia! You may think this is looking ahead a week or so after Thanksgiving to Advent, since it is the song of Mary at the Annunciation. But when you look at the words, it is definitely a song of thanksgiving and also one that has lessons for us at this time -- "He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent empty away." Don't forget to donate to your local food shelf or soup kitchen! I love the great canon singing by this community, too.

21. Look at the Blessings -- Willie Banks and the Messengers -- Malaco's Greatest Gospel Hits, Vol. 1.
From 4th through 7th grade, I attended a little Sunday school in the local fire station in Milford, Connecticut. An elderly couple had made this their mission, and with the help of a few other volunteer teachers and a student from nearby Yale Divinity School, they provided a Protestant religious education for kids on the outskirts of a town where all the churches were still downtown. We'd have a little service first (I even got to sing in the choir!) and then separate into classes. Sometimes the old gentleman preached the little homily, and one of his favorite sayings was "I wept because I had no shoes until I met a man who had no feet." (My kids have heard that one more times than they want to count -- usually as we were passing some expensive shoe store!) Now, I don't think this is really the greatest theology. Yes, we are grateful for what we have, but do we have to compare our fortunes to those who have less? And who is to say that the man with no feet isn't feeling sorry for us, that we are placing so much emphasis on inessentials? (But maybe that's what was meant? This exegesis is rough stuff!) Anyway, this Great Gospel Hit seems to reference that very same story. I also have a soft spot for that sort of song where the singer stops and talks for part of the time (the Ink Spots did that a lot).

22. How Can I Keep from Singing? -- Gordon Bok, Ed Trickett, Ann Mayo Muir -- The First Fifteen Years, Vol. 1. I first heard this song when I was in college, sung by Pete Seeger, I believe. In recent years it's gone back to its roots in the church and appears in several hymnals. It's been sung at at least one funeral I've attended. It's hard to listen to without singing along and feeling uplifted.

23. Uncle Dave's Grace -- Anne Hills, Cindy Mangsen, and Priscilla Herdman -- At the Turning of the Year. A little comic relief -- or is it? "Thanksgiving Day Uncle Dave was our guest, He reads The Progressive which makes him depressed." Uncle Dave points out all the unsustainable features of our Thanksgiving feast, from the mahogany table to the turkey to the very clothes on our backs. What to do? Well, we can try to buy locally or fair-traded food, clothing and furnishings, and recycle a lot. Still, it's a pretty funny song. Written by Lou and Peter Berryman, of Madison, WI.

24. Great Is Thy Faithfulness -- St. Olaf Choir -- Great Hymns of Faith. This has been one of my favorite hymns for a while now. The line "Morning by morning new mercies I see" says it perfectly (of course, the Psalmist said it first.) All we have to do is look! Although Onkel Hankie Pants went to the Other College in Northfield, Minnesota, I think even he would agree that the St. Olaf Choir (or choirs, to be exact) is a national treasure. My first years in Minnesota we lived in the southern part of the state and our public radio station was the late, lamented WCAL out of St. Olaf. I'd never heard of St. Olaf before I arrived in Minnesota but quickly grew to appreciate their contributions to choral music. If your public radio station carries it (or if it's broadcast on PBS) don't miss their annual Christmas concert.

So, more tomorrow....

Tunes for November

One of the nice things about the month of November is Thanksgiving. (BULLETIN! They've got 6 inches of snow in Dixville Notch! None here though.) One of the things I like to do with my computer is to put all my music on it and then make playlists for various occasions, feelings, etc. Here is some of my annotated playlist for Thanksgiving. In most cases I have the whole album, but I've recently discovered Amazon's Digital Download service. For some reason it seems easier for me to use than iTunes (maybe because I don't have an iPod?)

1. Many and Great, O Lord, Are Your Works - The University of Notre Dame Folk Choir -- Crossroads of Praise. This is one translation of The Dakota Hymn (Wakantanka taku nitawa tankaya qaota) -- Dakota words and tune translated by Joseph Renville, a Minnesota missionary. This hymn is said to have been sung by the 38 Dakota executed on December 26, 1862 in Mankato, Minnesota after the "Sioux Uprising" earlier that year. In the last 20 years, there has been a lot of effort at healing relationships between white Minnesotans and the Dakota (as well as the Ojibwe) and this hymn is often sung at gatherings promoting such healing. It's good to remember the American Indian at this time of year. I like this hymn so much that it is on my playlist twice, the second time in a recording by the Holy Trinity Bach Choir from Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in New York City called With One Voice: Joining Hearts and Voices and available from Augsburg Fortress Press. Not to take away from the musicianship of either group, but I'm not quite satisfied with their renditions. I'd like to hear it sung by a small congregation accompanied only on drum.

2. For the Beauty of the Earth - Bread for the Journey -- Global Songs, Local Voices. The familiar hymn (I swear we sang it once a month in my former church) to a different, Asian tune, sung by a Twin Cities-based group who do a lot of great multicultural, peace and justice-themed music. One of many songs in this list that is itself a list of things to be thankful for.

3. Come, Ye Thankful People, Come -- Joyfull Strings -- Celtic Hymns. A hammer dulcimer duo from Nevada City, CA plays the Thanksgiving hymn I've got to have every year. I like the imagery of the soul as grain: "First the grain and then the ear, Then the full corn doth appear, Oh, Our Father, grant that we Wholesome grain and pure may be." A choral version is also on my list, performed by the Festival Chorus and Hosanna Singers on a disc called 50 Church Classics.

4. All Things Bright and Beautiful -- The Mormon Tabernacle Choir -- Peace Like a River. Another one of those "list" songs, and it's by Frances Alexander (who also wrote Once in Royal David's City). This is not the tune that's in most hymnals, but a newer one by John Rutter. (And, will someone who knows something about music tell me why I can instantly recognize something by John Rutter even if I haven't heard it before?)

5. Over the River and Through the Woods -- 52 Key French Gasparini Carousel Organ -- Gypsy Queen. Now, you've got to have this on any Thanksgiving playlist, but it's hard to find one that's not (a) sung by a bunch of reedy little children's voices and (b) changes "For it is Thanksgiving Day" to "For it is Christmas Day." Back in 1844 when Lydia Maria Child wrote the words, it was still Thanksgiving, not Christmas, that was the big winter holiday in New England. The carousel organ is a lot of fun to listen to, and you can find the words here.

6. This Is My Father's World -- The Mormon Tabernacle Choir -- Peace Like a River. In the New Century Hymnal there are more inclusive words to this, but I can't seem to remember them. My wish is that there will come a time when we can sing some of these old songs, and some new songs about God the Mother, and everyone will be OK with all of them. This may not happen in my lifetime. The thing I do object to is that the new version took out "the music of the spheres." Yes, I know the earth is more or less elliptical and that the stars, being made of burning gas, are not exactly spheres. But the image of the stars, moons and planets all singing and making music together is a powerful one that should not be lost to scientific correctness. (End of rant.)

7. Simple Gifts -- The Armstrong Family -- The Wheel of the Year. A good reminder from the Shakers that not all gifts (things to be thankful for) are tangible. Apparently, the Armstrongs often sang on Studs Terkel's radio show in Chicago, and as far as I can discern, this is their only recording. I wish there were more.

8. What a Wonderful World -- Louis "Satchmo" Armstrong -- All-Time Greatest Hits. I've heard a story that Armstrong really didn't want to record this -- it was one of those "B-sides" that becomes a bigger hit than anyone could imagine. The line "I hear babies cry, I watch them grow, They'll learn much more Than I'll ever know" has a special resonance as we have just welcomed another grand-nephew into the family. What will his world be like 60 years from now? I hope the things he'll learn will be good ones.

9. Now Thank We All Our God -- Huddersfield Choral Society -- The Hymns Album. Love those British choral societies! This is a classic hymn of thanksgiving that is sung all year round, whenever the person choosing the hymns feels we have something to be especially thankful for. It's a good rousing recessional. May we soon have "blessed peace to cheer us."

10. Blessings -- Liz Story -- Thanksgiving. Yes folks, my eclectic tastes extend even unto New Age instrumental arrangements and meditations. This one is good for letting the words inside speak for themselves -- a useful corrective for me as I tend to get too caught up in the felicitous phrasing of others.

11. Wondrous Love -- Chanticleer -- Wondrous Love: A World Folk Song Collection. Love is a wondrous thing, and something we should all be thankful for, no matter whence it comes. If you are not of the Trinitarian Christian persuasion, there is a version in the Unitarian Universalist hymnal, Singing the Living Tradition, without the Fall-Redemption theology.

12. We Gather Together -- The Dale Warland Singers -- Harvest Home. Despite the warlike and triumphalist words, this hymn means Thanksgiving to a lot of people. I'm more used to singing an updated version of "We Praise Thee, O God, Our Redeemer, Creator." I think the most important words in this hymn are the first three. For many people, Thanksgiving is a favorite holiday because it is largely about gathering together with those we love.

More tomorrow!