Season 507:Bitter/sweet

Freedom is a wonderful feel

Well, there's one thing you can't lose
It's that feel
Your pants, your shirt, your shoes
But not that feel
You can throw it out in the rain
You can whip it like a dog
You can chop it down like an old dead tree
You can always see it
When you're coming into town
Once you hang it on the wall
You can never take it down

But there's one thing you can't lose
And it's that feel
You can pawn your watch and chain
But not that feel
It always comes and finds you
It will always hear you cry
I cross my wooden leg
And I swear on my glass eye
It will never leave you high and dry
Never leave you loose
It's harder to get rid of than tattoos

But there's one thing you can't do
Is lose that feel
You can throw it off a bridge
You can lose it in a fire
You can leave it at the altar
But it will make you out a liar
You can fall down in the street
You can leave it in the lurch
Well you say that it's gospel
But I know that it's only church

And there's one thing you can't lose
And it's that feel
It's that feel
 
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My first contribution this week. I have an idea for another one, if I get time (my daughter arrives tonight from Paris for a short visit and my son and grandson are coming later in the week).

My narrator reflects back on a relationship that is now dead, but he wishes it wasn't.

Hope you enjoy:

 


Inspired by MythInformed's cover from SOTU 506...I decided to tackle this classic as an instrumental. I kept it pretty straightforward for the first verse and the chorus, but decided to improvise a little on the 2nd verse. I need to work on my note choices on this one (and maybe learn more theory to be more efficient at improvisation).

EDIT - This song is definitely bittersweet. It's filled with such longing despite singing about great love. Apparently it was written about a guy in prison separated from his lover. And of course, the other interpretation from Ghost is that one is in the afterlife waiting for their beloved.
 


Inspired by MythInformed's cover from SOTU 506...I decided to tackle this classic as an instrumental. I kept it pretty straightforward for the first verse and the chorus, but decided to improvise a little on the 2nd verse. I need to work on my note choices on this one (and maybe learn more theory to be more efficient at improvisation).

EDIT - This song is definitely bittersweet. It's filled with such longing despite singing about great love. Apparently it was written about a guy in prison separated from his lover. And of course, the other interpretation from Ghost is that one is in the afterlife waiting for their beloved.

It's the theme to the movie 'Unchained' - an otherwise unremarkable prison drama from 1955: https://www.prisonmovies.net/unchained-1955-usa
Unchained.jpg
 
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Hi Chris and thank you for hosting! I started doing some reading today about the Bittersweet Vine here in the USA. Apparently there are two varieties, American Bittersweet Vine, which is indigenous to this continent and not problematic, and Oriental Bittersweet Vine, which is not native, and which will take over a whole forest if left unattended, forming a monoculture. Both will bring trees down with their weight, however, so the first variety must be trained on a trellis and not allowed to grow on a tree. Here is the song that came out of that. It is very loosely based on my maternal grandparents' marriage.

The Gold And The Red
Liz Brinker, 2021


The Gold And The Red
Liz Brinker, 2021

It was growing late in autumn, the year was 1931
They had married in a whirlwind, their lives had just begun
She was all that he could see and on the day that they were wed
The Bittersweet Vine shone with the gold and the red, and the red

He was taller that a Bur Oak and he spread his branches wide
With a face so broad and open there was nothing he could hide
And he loved her how he loved her, he meant every word he said
As the Bittersweet Vine shone with the gold and the red, and the red

She was smaller that a nuthatch and up to his tree she flew
Her dark eyes grew more solemn as her discontentment grew
She spread the seeds of sorrow as her heart was growing cold
Still, the Bittersweet Vine shone with the red and the gold, and the gold

Well, a mighty oak is rooted firmly in the fertile ground
But it can’t withstand the weight of many vines that twine around
They will choke the life out of the tree until at last it’s dead
While the Bittersweet Vine shines with the gold and the red, and the red
 
Hi Chris and thank you for hosting! I started doing some reading today about the Bittersweet Vine here in the USA. Apparently there are two varieties, American Bittersweet Vine, which is indigenous to this continent and not problematic, and Oriental Bittersweet Vine, which is not native, and which will take over a whole forest if left unattended, forming a monoculture. Both will bring trees down with their weight, however, so the first variety must be trained on a trellis and not allowed to grow on a tree. Here is the song that came out of that. It is very loosely based on my maternal grandparents' marriage.

The Gold And The Red
Liz Brinker, 2021


The Gold And The Red
Liz Brinker, 2021

It was growing late in autumn, the year was 1931
They had married in a whirlwind, their lives had just begun
She was all that he could see and on the day that they were wed
The Bittersweet Vine shone with the gold and the red, and the red

He was taller that a Bur Oak and he spread his branches wide
With a face so broad and open there was nothing he could hide
And he loved her how he loved her, he meant every word he said
As the Bittersweet Vine shone with the gold and the red, and the red

She was smaller that a nuthatch and up to his tree she flew
Her dark eyes grew more solemn as her discontentment grew
She spread the seeds of sorrow as her heart was growing cold
Still, the Bittersweet Vine shone with the red and the gold, and the gold

Well, a mighty oak is rooted firmly in the fertile ground
But it can’t withstand the weight of many vines that twine around
They will choke the life out of the tree until at last it’s dead
While the Bittersweet Vine shines with the gold and the red, and the red

OMG this is so beautiful I may go have a heart attack and die from listening to it

Seriously well done
 
This is possibly more bitter than sweet, but I have added a bit of a bounce to the beat, to cheer it up a bit. One from Elvis Costello's "Blood & Chocolate" album.

 
Taylor Swift is sweet but this song is pretty bitter. So I think it fits here.
Hi Chris and thank you for hosting! I started doing some reading today about the Bittersweet Vine here in the USA. Apparently there are two varieties, American Bittersweet Vine, which is indigenous to this continent and not problematic, and Oriental Bittersweet Vine, which is not native, and which will take over a whole forest if left unattended, forming a monoculture. Both will bring trees down with their weight, however, so the first variety must be trained on a trellis and not allowed to grow on a tree. Here is the song that came out of that. It is very loosely based on my maternal grandparents' marriage.

The Gold And The Red
Liz Brinker, 2021


The Gold And The Red
Liz Brinker, 2021

It was growing late in autumn, the year was 1931
They had married in a whirlwind, their lives had just begun
She was all that he could see and on the day that they were wed
The Bittersweet Vine shone with the gold and the red, and the red

He was taller that a Bur Oak and he spread his branches wide
With a face so broad and open there was nothing he could hide
And he loved her how he loved her, he meant every word he said
As the Bittersweet Vine shone with the gold and the red, and the red

She was smaller that a nuthatch and up to his tree she flew
Her dark eyes grew more solemn as her discontentment grew
She spread the seeds of sorrow as her heart was growing cold
Still, the Bittersweet Vine shone with the red and the gold, and the gold

Well, a mighty oak is rooted firmly in the fertile ground
But it can’t withstand the weight of many vines that twine around
They will choke the life out of the tree until at last it’s dead
While the Bittersweet Vine shines with the gold and the red, and the red

Wow. Just wow.
 
Hi Chris - thanks for hosting! :)
Here’s a song a song I wrote well over a year ago for Season 437. I‘ve re-done the uke part on electric baritone for this season (was originally on acoustic tenor), and invited my friend and occasional collaborator, Mel Meow, to replace me on lead vocal. It‘s loosely based on a past relationship, and contains the line “…why it tastes so bitter when it should be sweet”.

 
Hello again, Chris! This is a song from 1939, which, to me, is the epitome of wistfulness ... a memorable encounter, never to be forgotten, at a time of great uncertainty, right at the beginning of the Second World War. Would they be able to pursue their dreams?

 

The boys stood on the platform in 1917
Waiting for a train to Salisbury Plain
They were only in their teens.
A lad to his mother said dinnae fret
We'll be home by Christmas day
And the piper played Scotland the Brave
As they waved the boys away
Calling doon the line
Calling doon the line
And they rallied roond to the pipers tune
(That was) Calling doon the line
The Sgt Major pushed them hard
They were trained in only days
For to bear the brunt of the Western front
They would soon be on their way
So off they marched, rifles shoulder high
And all at once they sang
For we're no awa, tae bide awa
Tae the pipers in the band
Calling doon the line
Calling doon the line
And they rallied roond to the pipers tune
(That was) Calling doon the line
The thunder echoed through the trench
As the shells abin them rained
And the generals spent a thousand men
For every inch they gained
And the brave young men faced their battle dawn
So proud to do their jobs
And the piper stood in the line of fire
And played them ower the top
Calling doon the line
Calling doon the line
And they rallied roond to the pipers tune
(That was) Calling doon the line
When no man's land fell silent
And they counted all the dead
The victory claimed would disguise the shame
And nothing more was said
And the fallen brave on a foreign field
They gave their very best
And the piper played a sad lament
As they laid the boys to rest
Calling doon the line
Calling doon the line
And they rallied roond to the pipers tune
(That was) Calling doon the line
Calling doon the line
Calling doon the line
And they rallied roond to the pipers tune
(That was) Calling doon the line
And they rallied roond to the pipers tune
(That was) Calling doon the line
(Piper)
 
I thought I wouldn't have time for another song this week due to my daughter visiting us from Paris. But she has not slept a single night with us yet. She's been with friends and we have only seen her for a grand total of 2 hours in the last 48.... So it goes....

Anyway the positive thing to come out of this is that we managed to finish watching the series "Click Bait" (pretty good - though we did spot a couple of obvious plot holes once the truth was revealed)... And my not needing to play host this morning meant I could write this song, which has been percolating in my head for the last few days.

So, I hope you like:

 
To say I was hugely impressed with Liz Brinker’s original song for the season, The Gold And The Red, is something of an understatement. As I listened to it for the third or fourth time, I started hearing some instrumental additions in my head that I really wanted to try out on it, and Liz very kindly allowed me to do just that - thank you soooo much Liz! I kept it minimal - I didn’t want to swamp or overwhelm the beauty of the original piece. Here it is:

 
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