Season 454 - Epiphany (or a sudden great change) + J.M.

You said any song a JM wrote is fair game.

This was co-written by Johnny Marr and it's his best work in my opinion. This is my loose interpretation of it.

 
I had a minor and a major epiphany thanks to a DNA test I did last year. This first song tells of the surprise I got from amongst my ethnic roots when the results came in.

Hope you enjoy:

 
Hello, Berni ... and thank you for the week! I'm glad there is an alternative to the idea for the original. (According to my husband, I never learn anything from my experiences, so I doubt very much whether I have ever had an epiphany; time permitting, I will try to come up with something, though!) This song comes from Jeff Mangum, frontman and songwriter for "The Neutral Milk Hotel" and is from their second - and last - studio album "In the Aeroplane Over the Sea," released in 1998. The original is loud, fast and "fuzzy". My version is slower, but I have added some "fuzziness" with a background air raid siren, which fits with the anti-war theme of the song. (The song - and, in fact, the whole album - has references to Anne Frank.)

 
Johnny Mercer one of my favorite lyricists composed the tune as well
 
Ahoy
I am searching for a strange J.M that I can try and cover, until then I tried out People are Strange by The Doors (written by Jim Morrison and Robby Krieger)
 
For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.



I have opened a holy book and took a look randomly
I read a the first words I saw quite unexpectedly
And wonder of wonder of wonder of wonders
The words came alive and spoke to me

I turned on the radio expecting to hear a song
That would give me directions tell me where I belong
And wonder of wonder of wonder of wonders
The music came alive and took away my misery

I stood in the forest and listened to the trees moan
And the earth and all creation began to groan
And wonder of wonder of wonder of wonders
A spark of life began to grow in me.
 
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2019 was one of the most amazing years in my life. A recording studio heard a couple of my songs and wanted to make an album of my stuff and promote me as a songwriter. We recorded that album, which I love, but the project is currently in stasis thanks to bloody COVID!

In addition I did my DNA test and found out the interesting things I outlined in "The DNA (Part One). Now here is part two which explains the BIG news I had that year.

Hope you enjoy it:

 
"Dream," written by Johnny Mercer (Moon River, Autumn Leaves) in 1944. Recorded lots of times, most notably by Roy Orbison. Thanks to Kevin once again for his contribution and Ukester Brown for his arrangement.

 
My favourite Joni Mitchell song - in fact one of my favourite songs of all time. Paul Young does a wonderful cover version of this. Performed here on my new Caramel baritone uke - in fact within an hour of unboxing it! My first baritone uke and I love it already!

Thanks for hosting, Berni! :)

 
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a man who is blind to his own faults, but quick to judge others, finally sees the error of his ways. (i suspect this sort of thing happens more in fiction and song, than in real life, but hey ho - it's nice to dream!)

bringing this on a tenor guitar masquerading as a big old steel string bari uke - hope that is ok!

i'm sorry the vid is such poor quality - i filmed it late afternoon, it was light, but then the biggest, darkest cloud appeared and the room was plunged into darkness - you can just about hear when the heavens opened and the rain poured down, right at the end of the vid!

"mirror"



when you held the mirror to my eyes
i saw myself, i saw that i was not so wise
i saw myself as others see me
i saw myself as others see me
i saw myself as others see me
yeah
yeah

i used to think i had the right to judge my fellow man
but then one day you put the mirror in my hand
i saw myself as others see me
i saw myself as others see me
i saw myself as others see me
yeah
yeah

and now i feel shame
the mirror shows me all the times i caused my brother pain
and i will do everything i can to be free
of the man i used to be
i see myself as others see me
i see myself as others see me
i see myself as others see me
yeah
yeah
 
Thanks for hosting Bernie. My schedule this week doesn't likely include enough time to write a new song, but I look forward to see what others bring. I've recently been exploring the music of Julie Miller, who I discovered through my appreciation of her husband's (Buddy Miller) work. This one is called "Broken Things"

 
My favourite Joni Mitchell song - in fact one of my favourite songs of all time. Paul Young does a wonderful cover version of this. Performed here on my new Caramel baritone uke - in fact within an hour of unboxing it! My first baritone uke and I love it already!

Thanks for hosting, Berni! :)



That's a beautiful rendition, DelGriff! Great playing and even better singing.
 
A bit of a cop-out this, Berni! I had fully intended to attempt to write an epiphany-related song (if I could remember ever having HAD an epiphany!), but life has got in the way ... mainly in the form of an Income Tax Return, which I've suddenly realised should have been sent in by the end of this month. Anyway, Stan and Marc pointed me in the way of Johnny Mercer and this is very relevant at the moment, as we are surrounded by trees (I took the photo in the vid just down the road from us) and "autumn leaves" are all over the place!

 
I recently learned a new term "whisker fatigue" and thought that it would be a good title for a song. So, thanks to Berni's Season, I wrote one. The narrator may be a cat. Or maybe not.

Whisker fatigue is an over-stimulation of the sensory system of the whiskers. Some of the most common symptoms of whisker fatigue include: refusal to eat or drink from their usual dishes. Pacing in front of the food bowls and meowing like something is wrong.
 
Greetings,

Inspired by the theme I recorded an original “ I’m burning up Christmas“. The Epiphany was listening to the news and knowing my family and friends are freaked out about life,COVID,politics, and you name it. Have no idea what the holidays will be so I’m burning up Christmas. I am in control....of myself. We all are.

Ciao

 
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