Miss Kelly

Tommy Dorsey's Song of india

I've had this song written by Rimsky-Korsakov on my brain lately.  Here's the Tommy Dorsey version. Very WWII big band swing-y, it entirely lacks the yearning and melancholy of the original version though. 

These are the lyrics of Song of India:

And still the snowy Himalayas rise
In ancient majesty before our eyes,
Beyond the plains, above the pines,
While through the ever, never changing land
As silently as any native band
That moves at night, the Ganges Shines

Then I hear the song that only India can sing,
Softer than the plumage on a black raven's wing;

Jussi Björling Sings "Song of India"

Apropos of nothing, here's Swedish tenor Jussi Björling singing "Song of India" from Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's opera Sadko.

I suppose this is considered to be a schmaltzy song, but I find its quite moving and evocative.  Makes me yearn for something, I don't know what.  As Wiki says about Jussi's voice: "his beautiful timbre and soft tone - always with a sublime kernel of melancholy." Roger that.

"Jihad Will Never Stop" / "Jihad Jihad Burka Burka Burka"

There's a funny scene in "Team America" where the terrorist are muttering "Jihad, jihad, dirka-dirka, burka-burka."  But that's not really what the terrorist are saying!  Thanks to MEMRI, here's what real terrorists are singing, this from a Jamah ud Dawah conference in Lahore, Pakistan, including founder "Professor" Hafiz Saaed*:

"Jihad will continue till the Day of Judgement; jihad will never stop.

(Jihad jari rahega ta qayamat
Jihad hargiz naheen rukega)

It has forced oppressor's head to bow; it will end oppression and torture.

(Is se zalim ka sar jhuka hai
Is se zulm-o-sitam mitega)

Jihad is the order of Allah; jihad is the path of the Prophet.

(Jihad farman hai Khuda ka
Jihad rasta hai Mustafa ka)

Jihad is the assurance of loyalty; every true Muslim will be loyal.

(Jihad paiman hai wafa ka
Her ek momin wafa karega)

Jihad is mentioned in the Koran; jihad is the eternity of faith.

(Jihad Qur'an mein likha hai
Jihad Eiman ki baqaa hai)

"Amazing Grace" Re-Write

There I was sitting in Mass today, very much looking forward to singing "Amazing Grace" while the collection was taken up.  A beautiful song, solemn and inspiring, and fairly easy to sing (even for those of us who are shy about singing in public). "Amazing Grace, how sweet though the sound that saved a wretch like me...."   It's a song about the power of divine grace, available to anybody, even the most wretched of wretches.

Alas, the music director piped in just before we started "We will use the alternate text, instead of singing "a wretch like me," please sing "and set me free."  After a pause, everyone sang: "Amazing Grace, how sweet though the sound that saved and set me free...."   Ughhh!!  This is not an improvement over the original, neither in the phrasing nor the meaning.  What exactly makes it necessary in 2006 to rewrite the lyrics of a song written in 1790?  The song's author, John New­ton of London (pictured left), was a slave trad­er be­fore com­ing to Christ (and apparently for a while after too).  He knows what he's talking about when he calls himself a "wretch."  I prefer his profoundly inspired words over a 21st century happy-face rewrite. 

Last Christmas, the principal at a Newton, MA middle school out caught some flack for a similar rewrite of an old song.  At a Holiday Concert (which had both religious and secular songs), the lyrics to "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" were changed to "We Wish You a Swinging Holiday."   Again, ughh!  "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" is a song that dates back to 16th century England.  How convinced of your own superiority do you have to be to think it needs revision now? 

Write whatever new songs you wish, but please leave the old songs alone!