Friday, January 3, 2014

Advanced Attempt At Annual Inventory

Advanced Attempt At Annual Inventory

Full many a gem of purest ray serene,
The dark unfathomed caves of ocean bear:
Full many a flower is born to blush unseen,
And waste its sweetness on the desert air.

XCIII 
Indeed the Idols I have loved so long 
Have done my credit in this World much wrong: 
Have drown'd my Glory in a shallow Cup 
And sold my Reputation for a Song. 
~~Omar Khayyam, The Rubaiyat

Arguably there are physical bases of the modern (both Julian and Gregorian) calendars on the nature and properties of the earth’s orbital around the sun and the moon’s orbital around the earth.  But long before planetary science had established its physical underpinnings, the mundane economic rationale for its implementation was the landlords’ need for taxation to be levied on an harmonic periodicity.  Ergo the demands of collecting taxes promptly made the practice of observing the upkeep of the calendar a matter of necessity.

Thus it came to pass that monthly and annual inventory takings became as much a part of the routine business cycle as keeping track of elapsed time spent at the workplace itself, nay applied against specific projects.

Ad extremum, it has become a tradition, going back a few years, for me to take stock of myself, delve into the inner recesses of my reverie, on the first day of any fresh year.  What better means to look into the disposition of your soul than to get some insights into your thirst and sensibility for music?  Concretely, this has translated into putting together a new crop of playlists on YouTube.  And of course, the attendant endeavor to share them with anybody in cyberspace who could be bothered to listen, and might even enjoy doing so.

This year’s motif for this habitual indulgence is a return to my passions of yore, to some elusive episodes of my Yamato Escapades.  The unwitting “usual suspects” vehicles of this journey are Brenda Lee and Caterina Valente both of whose artistic repertoires have been part of the vocal styles I loved and attempted to emulate over the years.

Brenda Lee is seventy-seven days younger than me.  I am 105 days shy of being thirteen years younger than Caterina Valente.  This trivia which I gleaned from sketches of their respective bio-data was somewhat of a surprise to me.  I got introduced to Brenda in the summer of 1965 and to Caterina three summers later.  I followed both artists religiously since.  I’d never have suspected that Caterina was much older than Brenda.

Aside from these two adorable ladies, I added a third playlist.  This one will serve as the vehicle for my New Year’s resolution which I pledge to keep or exhaust myself trying.  The pledge consists of being able to make a vocal rendition of the piece, by my 70th birthday, without a tearful cracking of my voice at the following touchy verses:

“I'll sail on your smile I'll ride on your touch
I'll worship your eyes that I love so much
But if you go, go on I won't cry
Though the good be gone, from the word goodbye.”
I still have all of 363 days to make good on my pledge.  So wish me luck all you good people out there.  Meanwhile, please enjoy my modest offering.  And please don’t shoot the messenger should it not meet your expectations or tickle your fancy.

{Best of Brenda Lee}


{Caterina Valente Selections}

The more I try to deliver on my resolution, the more I came to realize I might have gotten myself a very tall order.  I’m afraid I’ll have to resort to taking a few showers a day to improve on the odds.  Else I end up invoking the immortal thoughts of the poet, to wit: {C.f., http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/174603 }
I hold it true, whate'er befall;
I feel it, when I sorrow most;
'Tis better to have loved and lost
Than never to have loved at all.
                      ~~ Sir Alfred Lord Tennyson, In Memoriam

To somehow modulate the poignant bite of Rod MacKuen’s original English lyrics I attempted to improvise some unauthorized variations.  Below is the final stanza sample of this endeavor:
If you go away as I know you must
There'll be nothing left in the world to trust
Just an empty room, full of empty space
Like the empty look, I see on your face
I’d have been the shadow, of your sorry plight
If I thought it might, keep me at your sight
Please don’t go away, Huwag mo ko’ng lisanin! [Tagalog],
Ikanai de ne! [Japanese], Ayaw ‘kog biya-i! [Bisaya], Bitte geh nicht fort! [German], Ne me quitte pas! [French], Nie zostawiaj mnie! [Polish].

Revising the verses to my own liking used to work for me before.  My own variation of the verses allows me to immerse myself on the emotion of the song rather than being distracted by trying to remember the words.  But in a song as sentimental as this one being submerged in the song’s emotion may just precisely be the problem I’m trying to overcome.

If this time-tested trick does not work for me this year, I’ll have to seek refuge in the resigned fatalism of uncle Omar and add another item to my long list of defeats over the ages:
XXXIX 
And not a drop that from our Cups we throw 
For Earth to drink of, but may steal below 
To quench the fire of Anguish in some Eye 
There hidden--far beneath, and long ago.
~~Omar Khayyam, The Rubaiyat


3 comments:

  1. Some of the unauthorized variations I had attempted on Brenda Lee's version of the lyrics:
    {Brenda Lee}
    If you go away on this summer day
    Then you might as well take the sun away
    All the birds that flew in the summer sky
    When our love was new and our hearts were high
    When the day was young and the nights were wrong
    And the moon stood still for the night bird’s song
    If you go away, if you go away, if you go away

    But if you stay I'll make you a day
    Like no day has been or will be again
    We'll sail on the sun, we'll ride on the rain
    We'll talk to the trees, and worship the wind
    Then if you go, I'll understand
    Leave me just enough love, for holding my hand
    If you go away, if you go away, if you go away

    If you go away as I know you will
    You can tell the world to stop turning till
    You return again if you ever do
    For what good is love without loving you
    Can I tell you now as you turn to go
    I'll be dying slow till our next hello
    If you go away, if you go away, if you go away

    But if you stay I'll make you a night
    Like no night has been or will be again
    I'll sail on your smile I'll ride on your touch
    I'll worship your eyes that I love so much
    But if you go, go on I won't cry
    Though the good be gone, from the word goodbye
    If you go away, if you go away, if you go away

    If you go away as I know you must
    There'll be nothing left in the world to trust
    Just an empty room, full of empty space
    Like the empty look, I see on your face
    I’d have been the shadow, of your sorry plight
    If I thought it might, keep me at your sight
    Please don’t go away, Huwag mo’ng lisanin! Ikanai de ne! Ayaw ‘kog biya-i!
    Bitte geh nicht fort! Ne me quitte pas! Nie zostawiaj mnie!

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  2. For the German version of the lyrics:
    {Marlene Dietrich}

    Bitte geh nicht fort!
    Was ich auch getan,
    was ich auch gesagt,
    glaube nicht ein Wort!

    Denk nicht mehr daran!
    Oft sagt man im Streit
    Worte, die man dann
    später tief bereut.

    Dabei wollt mein Herz
    ganz dein eigen sein,
    denn ich liebe dich,
    lieb nur dich allein!

    Bitte geh nicht fort!
    Bitte geh nicht fort!
    Bitte geh nicht fort!
    Bitte geh nicht fort!

    Bleibe nah bei mir,
    gib mir deine Hand!
    Ich erzähle dir
    von dem fernen Land,

    wo man keinen Zorn,
    keine Tränen kennt,
    keine Macht der Welt
    Liebende mehr trennt.

    Wo auf weiter Flur
    blüht kein Herzeleid,
    wo ein Treueschwur
    hält für Ewigkeit.

    Bitte geh nicht fort!
    Bitte geh nicht fort!
    Bitte geh nicht fort!
    Bitte geh nicht fort!

    Bitte geh nicht fort!
    Lass mich nicht allein!
    Wenn du mich verlässt,
    stürzt der Himmel ein.

    Lass uns so wie einst
    stumm am Fenster stehn,
    traumverloren sehn
    wie die Nebel drehn.

    Bis am Himmelszelt
    voll der Mond erscheint
    unsre beiden Schatten
    liebevoll vereint.

    Bitte geh nicht fort!
    Bitte geh nicht fort!
    Bitte geh nicht fort!
    Bitte geh nicht fort!

    Glaube mir ich werd'
    deine Sehnsucht stillen,
    werd' dir jeden Wunsch
    dieser Welt erfüllen,

    werde alles tun,
    was ich hab versäumt,
    um die Frau zu sein,
    die du dir erträumt.

    Lass mich nicht allein -
    ich beschwöre dich -
    lass mich nicht allein,
    denn ich liebe dich!

    Bitte geh nicht fort!
    Bitte geh nicht fort!
    Bitte geh nicht fort!
    Bitte geh nicht fort!

    ReplyDelete
  3. And the French version is here:

    {Jacques Brel}
    Ne me quitte pas
    Il faut oublier
    Tout peut s'oublier
    Qui s'enfuit deja
    Oublier le temps
    Des malentendus
    Et le temps perdu
    A savoir comment
    Oublier ces heures
    Qui tuaient parfois
    A coups de pourquoi
    Le coeur du bonheure
    Ne me quitte pas (4 fois)

    Moi je t'offrirai
    Des perles du pluie
    Venues de pays
    Ou il ne pleut pas
    Je creuserai la terre
    Jusqu'apres ma mort
    Pour couvrir ton corps
    D'or et de lumiere
    Je ferai un domaine
    Ou l'amour sera roi
    Ou l'amour sera loi
    Ou tu seras reine
    Ne me quitte pas (4 fois)

    Ne me quitte pas
    Je t'inventerai
    Des mots insensés
    Que tu comprendras
    Je te parlerai
    De ces amants là
    Qui ont vu deux fois
    Leurs coeurs s'embraser
    Je te racont'rai
    L'histoire de ce roi
    Mort de n'avoir pas
    Pu te rencontrer
    Ne me quitte pas (4 fois)

    On a vu souvent
    Rejaillir le feu
    De l'ancien volcan
    Qu'on croyait trop vieux
    Il est paraît-il
    Des terres brûlées
    Donnant plus de blé
    Qu'un meilleur avril
    Et quand vient le soir
    Pour qu'un ciel flamboie
    Le rouge et le noir
    Ne s'épousent-ils pas
    Ne me quitte pas (4 fois)

    Ne me quitte pas
    Je ne veux plus pleurer
    Je ne veux plus parler
    Je me cacherai là
    A te regarder
    Danser et sourire
    Et à t'écouter
    Chanter et puis rire
    Laisse-moi devenir
    L'ombre de ton ombre
    L'ombre de ta main
    L'ombre de ton chien
    Ne me quitte pas (4 fois)

    ReplyDelete