Friday 7 November 2014

PerfectlyWriteFamilyTales: ‘When Wee Willie Winked’

PerfectlyWriteFamilyTales: ‘When Wee Willie Winked’: ‘ Only connect’ – E M Forster   Wee Willie winked as he  shoved Ann away. What a thrill; such joy: the stabbing, the plunging in the ...

Monday 3 November 2014

‘And the Rains Came’

There’s so much musical talent in the the Galilee, you may think that it  positively pours from the mountain tops and into the laps of the musicians below!

We’re all twice blessed!

Larry.MindyNow cue folksters Larry and Mindy who delight local audiences with their renditions of famous songs from the sixties and seventies and who have promoted their autumn season  – also the start of Israel’s rainy season - with a clip of Jose Feliciano’s original 1969 version of – what else? – Rain!

Jose.Feliciano

“Rain

“Listen to the pouring rain
Listen to it pour,
And with every drop of rain
You know I love you more

“Let it rain all night long,
Let my love for you go strong,
As long as we're together
Who cares about the weather?

“Listen to the falling rain,
Listen to it fall,
And with every drop of rain,
I can hear you call,
Call my name right out loud,
I can here above the clouds
And I'm here among the puddles,
You and I together huddle.

“Listen to the falling rain,
Listen to it fall.

“It's raining,
It's pouring,
The old man is snoring,
Went to bed
And bumped his head,
He couldn't get up in the morning,

“Listen to the falling rain,
Listen to the rain”.

© Natalie Wood (03 November 2014)

Strangers and Friends

I must have first heard Acker ('really ‘Bernard Stanley) Bilk’s Stranger on the Shore when watching the BBC TV children’s series, Stranger on the Shore and Stranger in the City during the early 60s.

No matter how often I hear Acker (Somerset dialect for ‘mate’) play his marvellous piece, it evokes that feeling of drifting and semi-isolation we all experience wherever and whenever  we are away from familiar surroundings.

Acker.BilkThis happened to me during  several changes of city and therefore school and friends as a kid and of course as an olah – émigrée to Israel in March 2010.

Bilk wrote his famous work as an instrumental piece and it’s a great setting for his skill as a jazz clarinettist.

I’m not sure if I entirely like the lyrics written by Robert Mellin but as this site’s all about poetry I post them here as part of a tribute to a wonderful musician whose work helped to form the backdrop to my growing up.

“Stranger on the Shore

“Here I stand, watching the tide go out
So all alone and blue
Just dreaming dreams of you

“I watched your ship
As it sailed out to sea
Taking all my dreams
And taking all of me

“The sighing of the waves
The wailing of the wind
The tears in my eyes burn
Pleading, "My love, return"

“Why, oh, why must I go on like this?
Shall I just be a lonely
Stranger on the Shore?

“The sighing of the waves
The wailing of the wind
The tears in my eyes burn
Pleading, "My love, return"
Why, oh, why must I go on like this?
Shall I just be a lonely
Stranger on the shore?”


© Natalie Wood (03 November 2014)