ici-bas 腳踏實地?

也許你聽不懂這歌的歌詞，還希望在立秋後北風凜凜的日子為你心靈帶來一點溫暖。j’espère que cette chanson est guérissant pour vous, ceux qui sont pas heureux ou ceux qui ont des défis à surmontrer.

le mal de terre en los tiempos de la corona

 

疫情之中，經朋友又發現一可以抽水的影片。吸引我是多人戴口罩的一幕。

話說歌曲唱的是環境問題、市民參與等等，但若果把covid-19放遠點跟愛滋病毒hiv、伊波拉ebola比較，人類愈來愈大的足跡，跨進少接觸動物嘅生態環境，是否一次又一次生化危機的幕後黑手？

a seemingly unrelated song on citizen engagement and environmental pollution, but the snapshot of everyone in masks caught my attention and brought us back to the current covid-19 crisis. are our footprints too big that the present and further problems are unavoidable?

if you leave, omd

If you leave
, a number plays its visits from time to time in the airwaves resembling a not-so-distant relative. Whether it’s from the radio or boombox, in the car or at a fast food joint, I always allowed its melody in to my unsuspecting ears.   The music of the electronic 80s never falls out of favour,  I wonder if it has anything to do with the above PG-13 but not risqué at all lyrics.  Two other lame reasons for the song to occupy my brain space in me. Firstly, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD) has a Merseyside origin, and Liverpool was where I lived away from home for a long period of time (just over a year) the very first time. Secondly, although I have never watched “Pretty in Pink” from the beginning till the end, Molly Ringwald, Andrew McCarthy and Jon Cryer do appear various other works, “Brat Pack” or not, that I like.

 

from capitalistic middle and uppper class hipster sh*t to civil disobedience rage.

So this has been a weekend loaded with activities I attended haphazrdly. The Kowloon City Bookfair, which is running its 6th annual leg, finally fit into my junky, over-the-head, boisterous music-by-the-habourfront weekend. Organised by young literary connoisseurs, back by a creativity-oriented high school, a think tank, etc., the bookfair is a mélange of talks, roundtables, flea market, mini-bookfair and a mini-concert. Free of charge to everybody, coarse but ever-evolving, it’s what this overcrowded and over-developped city needs if Hong Kong were to slow down and smell some roses, or fresh air!

Thanks to a random gift of kindness, I set foot in West Kowloon waterfront for Clockenflap, probably the last time in a while by the West Kowloon waterfront since constructions will be swung into actions in the coming years.

My previous impression of this “music festival” has been some gweilos replicating rock concerts spiced with burning man. Upon entering I was upset with the overfloated plastic recycle bin with all types of trash. A day later however, a politically charged performance by “my little airport” sort of eased my displeasure. Well, in a non-perfect world, room for improvement is the key!

ole ola, mas nenhuma força

ole ola….

The dust has long settled after the World Cup 2014 in Brazil. Football aside, the theme song and its video really sounded and looked heavily American, albeit international production. So much for Brazil’s backbone of photographing and fingerprinting Americans visitors knocking on their doors on arrival, when it comes to big money, multinationals still dictate how events are run or sponsored. This couldn’t be truer weird and somewhat vulgar and definitely violent (towards the end) parody which par hasard caught my attention today:

So the Brazilians spent all that money, threw in some false pride, garnished with cultural absence and misrepresentations and topped off with some posh infrastructures, et Voilà! Who eventually would benefit? Wait, Rio will host the Olympics in less than 48 months and the story keeps on fermenting itself.

and here’s the NFL or Miami-like original jingle.

cloning music – musical cloning

What is WRONG with this picture?

girls generation

The next generation of Korean songstresses? Freshly or not freshly under-the-knife delivery from some plastic surgeon in Seoul? Well I hope I am not getting some calls from their lawyers any time soon. And I certainly hope this is / they are NOT a mutation of “The Shape of Things”, in cinema or on stage! Ouch!

if you leave – Pretty in Pink

if you leave (80s)

if you leave

came from the movie “Pretty in Pink”

fore more clips

or a soundtrack without video? some typed up lyrics plus still photos…

___________________________

if you leave, a number plays its visits from time to time in the airwaves resembling a not-so-distant relative. Whether it’s from the radio or boombox, in the car or at a fast food joint, I always allowed its melody in to my unsuspecting ears. Although I have never watched “Pretty in Pink“, the electronic 80s never fall out of favour. I wonder if it has anything to do with the above PG-13 but not risqué at all lyrics.

Coming of age, Cult, Classic 80s, words that thrown around to discribe the film, don’t really matter to me. My simple weakness for replaying the song or turned up the radio whenever it was on, was hinged upon the melody, and maybe the lyrics.

這首英文歌是其中一首我聽過很多次以後才打聽叫甚麼名字的歌曲。相關的電影在英文台播放了不止一次，到沒有從頭到尾的看一篇。不要緊的，雖然美國流行文化認為這是成長於八十年代的年輕人之神劇，用中文思想的我沒什麼認同感，只不過旋律搭夠因此誠意推薦！

Sénégal Fast Food, défi «slow» pour les gourmands

Une chanson pas du tout aisément «politiquement correct» pour l’apprentissage du français, quand même que je l’ai découverte, par hasard, dans un site américain pour un cours de français en ligne. S’agit-il d’un exemple de plus facile à révéler les défauts les autres!

Il est minuit à Tokyo
Il est cinq heures au Mali
Quelle heure est-il au Paradis ?
Il est minuit à Tokyo
Il est cinq heures au Mali
Quelle heure est-il au Paradis ?

Les rimes apparaîtraient joyeuses, si l’on néglige les paroles non-français, en une des langues au Mali que je ne peux pas surnormmer exactement, qui composent le refrain:

Nous qui quittons nos pays
Il ne faut pas que les enfants du pays nous oublient
Nous qui sommes dans cette chose
Chose là aucun de nous ne saurait la nommer
Nous qui sommes dans des pays lointains
Il ne faut pas que les enfants du pays nous oublient

«le visa au consulat», «au paradis», «ascenseur pour le ghetto», jumellent avec les images dans la vidéo font une perturbation émotionnelle. Tant pis pour vous qui lisez jusqu’à ici, ou ceux qui connaissez la langue française, cette chanson pourrait être consumé de façon différente comme «Sénégal Fast Food» sans pilule de mondialisation, décolonisation et toutes les «tions».

Cette oeuvre de Amadou & Mariam et Manu Chao engendre une indigestion plus forte que là-bas, une chanson de Jean-Jacques Goldman qui touche sur l’immigration aussi, mais parallèlement m’incite la curiosité de explorer la musique africaine francophone.

Klô Pelgag, the warm current from Québec

認識Klô Pelgag 是源於每年三月份的法語節. 某些地區只是一天的journee de la francophonie, 但中國地區有大半個月的活動。今年代表加拿大來表演音樂的Klô Pelgag 只有主音和大提琴手兩人，但那是有很溫暖感覺的表演。

self-inflicted wound, and…?

un climat frigide
une chanteuse excentrique
une voix riche
des chansons tières
et
ensemble un équilibre bien attribué

Even if you dunno French, you can feel the warm of Klô Pelgag‘s music. Snuggling up your loved one, enveloped in a blanket, the aroma of coffee nearby… THAT kinda feeling.
for more of their music:
http://klopelgag.bandcamp.com/album/ep

ces bottes sont faites pour marcher

en regardant le prémier ‘European Union Film Festival Online’ (in China), la mélodie d’ouverture de ‘Les bien-aimés’ a plié mon attention. Visuellement, rien semblait risqué.
En écoutant prudamment les paroles, les images ne correspondent exactement pas les mots car les hauts talons au lieu des bottes, parcourent l’écran

Je ne savais pas la chanson était une 2ème version d’une intépretation originale en anglais:

Chose certaine, la version anglaise la plus récente par Jessica Simpson, même si le duo avec le légendaire Willie Nelson garnit dedans, n’est capable effaçer la saleté si présente!

Newbies aren’t necessarily better than the oldies. I had no idea that Nancy Sinatra had this number in the Sixties that looks so seductive after almost half a century, even though she looked way more matured than what I digged up about the record producer had in mind. Nevertheless, one CAN’T show more legs if the girls are at least clothed. Something so racy got tuned down or even sounded light-heartedly innocent in the French version, if you neglect the lyrics. The Jessica Simpson version, which I learnt about only thru google and youtube, could help psychology students to research on modernity, (de/over)-sensitisation, and perhaps, perversion in our days! The boots must not be working that well!