Memorial Day
The vacation period begins today with the annual Memorial Day observances. I will be resting after two exhausting weeks. Enjoy the day and remember the men whose journey on earth was brutally cut short. This year too is the tenth anniversary of September 11. At least we got Bin Laden, though we didn't seem to know what to do with the body or the photographs. But we do not have the most patriotic or knowledgeable men in power right now.
The vintage postcard above, which I've used before, is still one of my favorites.
I don't know if our armed forces today know the song Home on the Range, but at one time many a homesick soldier felt comforted listening to it. It's an old cowboy song, and can be ruined with excessive sentimentality, but here American baritone John Charles Thomas does it justice. Thomas, who sang opera and operetta, was very popular in the first half of the 20th century. Bing Crosby also has a fine recording.
Labels: Memorial Day, Music
posted by tiberge @ 5:32 AM
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Wishing you a good Memorial Day, Tiberge, and remembering in particular all the American soldiers who fought and died to help liberate France. We will be eternally grateful to the "boys".
http://youtu.be/EZJANhWizUY
Note: That is Kathleen Byron as the older Ryan's wife, who was so brilliant in "Black Narcissus".
@ dauphin
Thank you. I think as long as there are people who do remember, even just a few, all is not lost.
I have an old video of Black Narcissus. It is a very strange film, open to so many interpretations. When it first came out it was a "cause celebre" because of the association of nuns with sensuousness, but mostly because of the color photography which was different from anything done before. The same men that made it also did "The Red Shoes", a great movie about a ballerina.
@ tiberge
You are welcome, and yes it is important to pass on the remembrance, even if some or many have forgotten.
I love the films of Michael Powell and Eric Pressburger, made when England was still England. Beautiful use of technicolor, some say because of the slightly diffused light in England, at least for the exteriors, but the brilliant costume and set design had a lot to do with it too. Red Shoes is definitely a classic that will survive the centuries, unlike most films today I think. Tales of Hoffman and Col. Blimp are some other favorites.
Thank you for this song ; right back in 1976, it takes me...I got records about the bicentennial of the Declaration of Independence, and studied some of the songs with my students ; they (and I) loved "home on the range" more than the others, because "ça sonne vrai" as a boy put it...
Have a good Memorial Day!
@ zazie
I'm glad you like it. I didn't really know if French people or Europeans in general knew of the song. The best recording I've heard is by American baritone Theodore Uppman, who died a few years ago. But John Charles Thomas is great too.
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