For those who are interested, you can find all of the songs from July in one playlist on deezer.com:
http://www.deezer.com/#music/playlist/10011208/1302677
...hope that works. It's been hurting my monkey brain a tad. ...but, I think a 'TobytheTeacher album' could be in the offing ;)
And onto today... British music like all aspects of British culture suffers from that double-edged sword of speaking the same language as the Americans. Our language is not our own. It is the way it is, because of another country.
It would seem to me that Italian language and culture very much belongs to the Italians. Their music, thankfully, therefore also belongs to them (I joke, I joke because I love). British music does not always do this.
The Beatles, for example, are not a particularly British band. Their music began heavily influenced by American music and their cultural references throughout their career are, for the most part, generic. The song 'Penny Lane' is, in my opinion, a fairly glib attempt at observing British culture.
Don't get me wrong. This is no bad thing, but it did lead certain bands to willfully move in the opposite direction. To be, almost stubbornly, British.
I know before I do this, that a lot of this music could leave people cold... it is of its island. That rainy crappy island of green fields and bad food, of street sirens and hot dog stench, of hard curbs and polite queues, of stability through apathy, of fighting for fighting's sake, of being mad bad and dangerous to know, of island monkeys, of being the oldest of European democracies and yet a monarchy, of compromise, of bloody mindedness, of tyranny but a sense of fair play, of class but ashamed of wealth, of inventing revolution but preferring evolution, of Britain - whatever the hell that might be?!
Madness. Hardly a surprise, coming from Britain. 'Our House':
http://www.deezer.com/track/16553
There a few more British bands than The Kinks. Unlike The Beatles who were massively popular in America, The Kinks failed to break America. This lead them to write distinctively British songs. 'Sunny Afternoon':
http://www.deezer.com/track/6715
....'the taxman's taken all my dough', that he has, that he has. Still, I'm sitting here with my ice cold beer.... so things are none too bad.
This should be the national anthem here in Luxembourg. The Specials with 'Rat Race', indeed it is:
http://www.deezer.com/track/35714
And finally, The Jam. 'That's Entertainment', I love the different images of inner city England in this one:
http://www.deezer.com/track/32430
That be that. If you have any suggestions for songs you'd like to see featured here, then please send them on a postcard to 'TobytheTeacher Rocks! 12 Bofferding Street, Ober-Nieder-Dange, Luxembourg.'
Toodle-Pip!
'Our House'
Father wears his sunday best
Mother's tired she needs a rest
The kids are playing up downstairs
Sister's sighing in her sleep
Brother's got a date to keep
He can't hang around
Our house, in the middle of our street
Our house, in the middle of our
Our house it has a crowd
There's always something happening
And it's usually quite loud
Our mum she's so house-proud
Nothing ever slows her down
And a mess is not allowed
Our house, in the middle of our street
Our house, in the middle of our
Our house, in the middle of our street
Our house, in the middle of our
...Something tells you that you've got to get away from it
Father gets up late for work
Mother has to iron his shirt
Then she sends the kids to school
Sees them off with a small kiss
She's the one they're going to miss
In lots of ways
Our house, in the middle of our street
Our house, in the middle of our
...I remember way back then when everything was true and when
We would have such a very good time such a fine time
Such a happy time
And I remember how we'd play simply waste the day away
Then we'd say nothing would come between us two dreamers
Father wears his sunday best
Mother's tired she needs a rest
The kids are playing up downstairs
Sister's sighing in her sleep
Brother's got a date to keep
He can't hang around
Our house, in the middle of our street
Our house, in the middle of our street
Our house, in the middle of our street
Our house, in the middle of our
...Our house, was our castle and our keep
Our house, in the middle of our street
Our house, that was where we used to sleep
Our house, in the middle of our street
Our house, in the middle of our street
'Sunny Afternoon'
The tax man's taken all my dough,
And left me in my stately home,
Lazing on a sunny afternoon.
And I can't sail my yacht,
He's taken everything I've got,
All I've gots this sunny afternoon.
Save me, save me, save me from this squeeze.
I got a big fat mama trying to break me.
And I love to live so pleasantly,
Live this life of luxury,
Lazing on a sunny afternoon.
In the summertime
In the summertime
In the summertime
My girlfriend's run off with my car,
And gone back to her ma and pa,
Telling tales of drunkenness and cruelty.
Now I'm sitting here,
Sipping at my ice cold beer,
Lazing on a sunny afternoon.
Help me, help me, help me sail away,
Well give me two good reasons why I oughta stay.
'cause I love to live so pleasantly,
Live this life of luxury,
Lazing on a sunny afternoon.
In the summertime
In the summertime
In the summertime
Ah, save me, save me, save me from this squeeze.
I got a big fat mama trying to break me.
And I love to live so pleasantly,
Live this life of luxury,
Lazing on a sunny afternoon.
In the summertime
In the summertime
In the summertime
'Rat Race'
You're working at your leisure to learn the things you'll need
The promises you make tomorrow carry no guarantee
I've seen your qualifications, you got a Ph.D.
I've got one art O-level, it did nothing for me
Working for the rat race
You know you're wasting your time
Working for the rat race
You're no friend of mine
You plan your conversation to impress the college bar
Just talking about your mother and daddy's Jaguar
Wear your political T-shirt and sacred college scarf
Discussing the world situation, but just for a laugh
You'll be working for the rat race
You know you're wasting your time
Working for the rat race
You're no friend of mine
Working for the rat race
You know you're wasting your time
Working for the rat race
You're no friend of mine
Just working at your leisure to learn the things you don't need
The promises you make tomorrow carry no guarantee
I've seen your qualifications, you got a Ph.D.
I've got one art O-level, it did nothing for me
Working for the rat race
You know you're wasting your time
You're working for the rat race
You're no friend of mine
'That's Entertainment'
A police car and a screaming siren
A pneumatic drill and ripped up concrete
A baby wailing and stray dog howling
The screech of brakes and lamp light blinking
That's Entertainment.
A smash of glass and a rumble of boots
An electric train and a ripped up 'phone booth
Paint splattered walls and the cry of a tomcat
Lights going out and a kick in the balls
That's Entertainment.
Days of speed and slow time Mondays
Pissing down with rain on a boring Wednesday
Watching the news and not eating your tea
A freezing cold flat and damp on the walls
That's Entertainment.
Waking up at 6 a.m. on a cool warm morning
Opening the windows and breathing in petrol
An amateur band rehearsing in a nearby yard
Watching the tele and thinking about your holidays
That's Entertainment.
Waking up from bad dreams and smoking cigarettes
Cuddling a warm girl and smelling stale perfume
A hot summer's day and sticky black tarmac
Feeding ducks in the park and wishing you were far away
That's Entertainment.
Two lovers kissing amongst the scream of midnight
Two lovers missing the tranquility of solitude
Getting a cab and travelling on buses
Reading the graffiti about slashed seat affairs
That's Entertainment.
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