Oh, how I am enjoying 3 yr old Greg’s first introductions to REAL music….By this I mean, both my kids are not exposed to any form of music that far too many kids hear via Radio One, MTV etc. Call me selfish, call it brainwashing – but I feel strongly that if the one TV in our house is going to be monopolised entirely by CBeebies, CBBC,Tiny Pops and other such kiddy stuff – the least I can do is enjoy decent music the rest of the time, and encourage them to learn some proper melodies and talented musicians. Both of them already know Elvis
Presley, Johnny Cash and the Beatles stuff song after song and off by heart.
Friends and family have already heard that the riff from ‘Smoke on the Water’ by Deep Purple has dominated Greg’s life – all of our lives – for the last 3 months. After only hearing it twice on a CD in the car, my husband happened to noticed him singing a wee tune, a rhythm, to himself – over his cereal. So from 6 am, every morning we now hear ‘Ur Ur Urrrr Ur Ur UR-URRR, Ur Ur Urrr – UR-URRRRR’from his room. Thankfully we all adore that song, but we have figured out that we now hear that particular riff at least 80 times a day. Which is enough for anyone really…. Still, playing the damned thing has a magical effect on Greg if he is having a paddy. Instant quiet and Deep Worship.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BbXlFjTTqtk
WHICH GROUP NEXT? THE GODSQUAD?
Speaking of Worship – Ruby still adores her Christian kid’s songs. Part of African and Afrikaans society – part of my late childhood really and something the women in this family always enjoy – no matter how others scoff at us. Greg doesn’t mind them, but his preferences were made clear the other day when (probably just to annoy Ian) Ruby was about to launch into a christian chorus which began with ‘All the Children…’. She managed to only sing the
word ‘ALLLLL’ and Greg decided to finish it off for her, bringing out from nowhere:
‘ALLLLL the People – Oh so Many People! They ALLLL join hand in hand, hand in hand through their ………….PARK LIFE….dar – dar – dar da-dah….. (Know Wot ah Mean?)’. Both of us were quite impressed bythat.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIEsmGzo2UE
OASIS OR BLUR?
We also wondered whether Greg, as a budding metal fan would prefer Oasis to Blur. My husband likes to say that I (the Common One from ‘Manchestoh’ am the natural Oasis fan . Scary and Gobby and full of crap. He likes to think that he, from Birmingham is (cough, splutter) the more Cerebral One and therefore the Blur fan. Not so my love – I actually prefer Blur, but there is something about the Gallagher snarl that I certainly relate to. And I simply cannot listen to ‘Cigarettes and Alcohol’ without prompting a 23 year old’s craving for a pack of 20 Embassy No1. Disgusting, I know.
But I have to concede that Blur are the more talented song writers. And Greg? Well – let him speak for himself. After hearing the first few lines of ‘Wonderwall’ – ‘Today’s, gonna be the day that they’re gonna through it back to
you. By now, you should’ve realised what you’ve got to do’ – he piped up;
‘Huh! This is just like ‘Spiderman’!’.
He then proceeded to sing over the entire track of ‘Wonderwall’ – in time and in perfect key – with ‘Spiderman, Spiderman – does whatever a spider can…’
I have to say I was a bit gobsmacked. I had never noticed the similarities between the two songs – exactly the same minor key AND the same rhythm. Listen to the first one then try and sing along a wee bit slower – to Oasis….
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4o29VoxtsFk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hzrDeceEKc
Shouldn’t someone contact Damon Albarn about this and we can resurrect the Blur vs Oasis war?
MOTORBIKES AND METAL
Motorhead’s very own ‘Motorhead’ track isn’t always liked by everyone – even the biggest fans of ‘Ace of Spades’ don’t often get it. So I was tickled to see Greg standing frozen to the spot at the motorbike engine intro. And then as if he had been doing it since he was born….commenced with headbanging along. Another one to add to the ‘alternative lullaby’ list.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B53qMo5KXkc&playnext=1&list=PL68A9C61F9C964F5A
MORRISEY AND INNAPPROPRIATE LYRICS
I always HATED The Smiths as a teenager. Mostly because my older brother, was into them. I was 13, I was a Duranie – I thought that The Smiths were a bunch of moaning minnies, pretentiously prancing about with daffodils in cemetries, wearing black and worrying about vegetable’s rights. I only came to appreciate how bloody clever and talented they are when I was a bit older. My husband sadly, was attracted to them as a direct result of the Pepe jeans ad and ‘How Soon is Now’
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_U5HpeA_WSo
And I assumed that Greg wouldn’t like Morrisey’s monotone complaining. But no. Johnny Marr captured his affection instantly with ‘Panic’.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DyJdiE0l23c
So now I have to contend with Greg, singing in the aisles at Morrisons ‘Bigmouth Strikes Again’ ‘”SweetnessSweetness I was only jokinwhen I sed by WITES You should be BLUDGENDIN Yourbed”…..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EYLmptz_r_o
Not sure if this any more acceptable than 50’s Johnny Cash’s comment parroted in 3 year old lisp;
‘I can’t forget the day I shot that Badgerbitch down!’
‘What’s a Badgerbitch mummy?’
NB this link is Joaquim Pheonix in ‘Walk the Line’. I couldn’t resist Joaquim covering this
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jix3xOKJKs4
Can’t wait until the day Gregory’s first school report arrives:
‘*Gregory’s rendition of ‘Stairway to Heaven’ was certainly heartfelt but we felt that his attempt to get his classmates
to recreate the Satanic backtracking using their new recorder skills was somewhat innappropriate’*
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugxFcmZXDyc – (Ah bliss, Led Zep’s original)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mMJvzZq4hA (Mm yes – my infamous education at a rather unusual, Independent Christian school in South East Manchester, back in the 80s was rather different, to say the least. I actually undertook lessons teaching me how utterly dangerous The Zep, Queen and yes – even ELO were. I found it hillarious at the time and I still find it highly amusing. Didn’t put me off Da Metal for a minute. Hope Gregory grows up to sort such wheat from such chaff…)
NB – STOP PRESS – Excellent Christian metal here – have a listen, whether you are a fan of God or not – this is superb – Audioslave ‘Show Me How To Live’.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NeNRVDIYIlY