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Favorite Trivia – MUSIC
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| Aeolian Harp, a.k.a., wind harp (Aeolus is the Greek goddess of music)—The only strung instrument played solely by the wind.
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| Lord Bernes’ Funeral March for a Rich Aunt—Piano piece in which the left hand plays a sad melody in honor of a deceased aunt, while the right hand plays an upbeat melody in honor of new-found riches.
Remembrance of Things Paris: 60 Years of Writing from Gourmet (ed. Ruth Reichl) |
| “Just as my fingers on these keys make music, so do the selfsame sounds on my spirit make a music, too.”
Peter Quince at the Clavier – Wallace Stevens |
| “When I was in my early teens, I would sit on the street corners and I would play. I’d always start off playing gospel songs, which is what I really wanted to do. People would stop, congregate around me, listen, applaud, come over and pat me on the head, and tell me to keep it up. ‘You’ll be good one day,’ they’d say. But they never tipped. When I started playing blues, though, they always tipped—always. That’s when I knew I wanted to play the blues.”
On Gratitude (ed. Todd Aaron Jensen) – B. B. King |
| “Everybody works but Father And he sits around all day Feet upon the fender Smoking his pipe of clay. Mothers takes in washing So does Sister Ann Everybody works in our house But my old man.” Ditty by Jean Havez |
| When the Beatles appeared at the Prince of Wales theatre [November 4, 1963], watched by the Queen Mother and Princess Margaret, John Lennon said to the audience, “For our last number, I’d like to ask your help. The people in the cheaper seats clap your hands. And the rest of you, if you’d just rattle your jewelry. We’d like to sing a song called ‘Twist and Shout.'”
Ninety-Nine Glimpses of Princess Margaret – Craig Brown |
| “He [Igor Stravinsky, Babitz’s godfather] was tiny and happy and brilliant and drank. He used to slip glasses of scotch to me underneath the coffee table when my mother wasn’t looking when I was 13. At my 16th birthday party, I wore white (very low necked white, of course) and he slipped rose petals down my top when my mother wasn’t looking.”
Eve Babitz – Eve’s Hollywood |
| “When I was 5 my father presented me with my ‘first’ violin (implying there would be more as I got bigger). There was nothing I could do, I was trapped. But I was a resourceful child and have always known there was a way you could get free of torture and quite by accident it turned out that I couldn’t tune the instrument. I couldn’t tell when it was out of tune. I’d practice out of tune. I drove my father crazy (what he was doing to me too), so that was the end of that. I remained culturally deprived of the violin my whole life.”
Eve Babitz – Eve’s Hollywood |
| “Nobody even got mad the time my sister and I got stuck together with bubble gum in the middle of the premiere of a Schoenberg piece, the high point of the Ojai Festival that year. We were taken backstage and detached with alcohol and laughed.”
Eve Babitz – Eve’s Hollywood |
| Johnny’s ‘Blues’ song to me (sent via email):
O, I miss my good-lovin’ woman she’s at work |
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When Life Is Good Again – lyrics by Dolly Parton & Kent Wells (2020)
“When life is good again [post pandemic]
I’ll be a better friend A bigger person when Life is good again More thoughtful than I’ve been I’ll be so different then More in the moment when Life is good again I’ll open up my heart
And let the whole world in I’ll try to make amends When life is good again
We’ve been brought to our knees
We’ve been so ill at ease There are no guarantees But you know life goes on This too shall pass away Bring new and different days We need to change our ways And right our wrongs Let’s open up our hearts
And let the whole world in Let’s try to make amends
When life is good again I’ll open up my doors again
And hear the message in the wind Repent of all my sins (Hallelujah) When life is good again
I’ll try to be someone
On which you can depend A helping hand to lend Let’s open up our eyes And see what’s goin’ on If we’re to move along From where we’ve been Let’s open up our hearts
And let the love shine in (shine in) We’ve all got knees to bend And we’ll just pray ’til then Ask God’s forgiveness when
Life is good again And it’s gonna be good again
(It’s gonna be, it’s gonna be) It’s gonna be good again It’ll be alright (it’ll be alright) God’s the reason for all things
You want rainbows, you get rain We’ll all be forever changed (forever changed)
I’ll sail my boat and fly my kite Walk in the park, go out at night And hold my loved ones extra tight When everything is on the mend I’ll even drink with my old friends Sing and play my mandolin We’ll make it through this long dark night Darkness fades when faced with light But everything’s gonna be alright When life is good again” |