"There's a time in life for Hoagy Carmichael. There's a time in life for Claude Debussy. There's a time in life for Jerry Lee Lewis. There's a time in life for Destiny's Child. All these things have their moment." ~Elvis Costello
Silvana Estrada (with Daniel, Me Estás Matando): “Tenías Que Ser Tú” (2018)
Mexican singer and songwriter Silvana Estrada, winner of the Best New Artist Latin Grammy Award, was born to parents who were both luthiers. She plays a Venezuelan cuato onstage that was built by her father.
Silvana was singing as soon as she could talk and was writing songs and playing a variety of instruments by the time she was in high school.
“Tenías Que Ser Tú” (“It Had to be You”) is from her acclaimed 2018 Primeras Canciones EP and is recorded with duo Daniel, Me Estás Matando (Daniel, You Are Killing Me) who specialize in romantic ballads and bolero.
The chorus:
Ay, ay, ay, it had to be you For better or for worse, it had to be you
Keola Beamer is a fifth-generation musician and master of the Hawaiian slack key guitar style. He’s also the composer of “Honolulu City Lights”, one of Hawaii’s biggest-selling songs of all time.
Moe’uhane Kika: Tales from the Dream Guitar was produced by George Winston and distributed by Windham Hill subsidiary Dancing Cat Records, so it might be mistaken for New Age music.
But the album is mostly comprised of tranquil instrumental versions of familiar Hawaiian songs–or songs that would be familiar to Hawaiians.
This isn’t New Age, but it is World Music. It isn’t wimpy, but it is serene. It isn’t steel guitar and ukulele, but it is music with deep Hawaiian roots.
The title track from Julieta Venegas’ 2022 Tu Historia (“Your Story”) is an exhortation to own your mistakes and carry them forward as part of your life’s journey.
By this time the Latin music icon had moved on a bit from the irresistible Mexican indie pop of her early career to a more measured, mature, reflective style.
Some fans clamored for a return to the early, poppier sound.
This song found the middle ground: sung from a wizened perspective, but a catchy little earworm of a tune too.
Julieta’s real-life friend Maria Yzabal appears in the video with her.
Lyric translation:
You tell me that you don’t feel like thinking about him again His memory hurts so much and how sad it was to lose I tell you: “Friend, wait, breathe, time will do you good You have learned something and you will take it with you, you will see” Let your past be part of you Carry your mistakes with pride
Don’t let the past ever be forgotten, never ignore it Take with you what you were and hold it well Don’t let your story ever be forgotten, tell it again From the first day to the end it’s part of you
There’s nothing wrong with losing, the important thing is to rescue What you’ve learned and you’ll carry it with you until eternity If your uneasiness runs out of a name, you won’t understand You need to know it so you don’t stumble anymore Let your past be part of you Carry your mistakes with pride
Don’t let the past ever be forgotten, never ignore it Take with you what you were and hold it well Don’t let your story ever be forgotten, tell it again From the first day to the end it’s part of you
You tell me you don’t feel like thinking about it again Its memory hurts so much and how sad it was to lose I tell you: “Friend, wait, breathe, time will do you good You have learned something and you will take it with you, you will see” Let your past be part of you Carry your mistakes with pride
Don’t let the past ever be forgotten, never ignore it Take with you what you were and hold it well Don’t let your story ever be forgotten, tell it again From the first day to the end it’s part of you
There’s nothing wrong with losing, the important thing is to rescue What you’ve learned and you’ll carry it with you until eternity If your uneasiness runs out of a name, you won’t understand You need to know it so you don’t stumble anymore Let your past be part of you Carry your mistakes with pride
Don’t let the past ever be forgotten, never ignore it Take with you what you were and hold it well Don’t let your story ever be forgotten, tell it again From the first day to the end it’s part of you
Joe Dolce’s “Shaddap You Face” spent Mothers’ Day on the charts in 1981 and will serve as our tribute to moms today.
Though it missed the top 40 in the US (peaking at #53) the song’s popularity elsewhere is astounding. It went to number 1 in 12 countries and was Australia’s top-selling record of all time up to that time.
Inspired by phrases Dolce heard his Italian grandparents and extended family use, the song has hundreds of cover versions in over 50 languages.
The Brits seemingly had diverging opinions about the fact that “Shaddap You Face” kept Ultravox’ “Vienna” from reaching number one, as did the members of Ultravox themselves:
‘That man and his song have plagued us around the world.’ Midge Ure, Ultravox, 1981
“It was one of those occasions when the public’s taste just decided to defy logic. I’ve never met Joe Dolce and don’t intend to. But nowadays ‘Vienna’ regularly appears in polls of the hundred greatest singles ever and I’m still around. Where is he now?” Midge Ure, Ultravox, 2009
‘That was a good song. I wish I’d written it.’ Billy Currie, keyboard player, Ultravox, 1996
It annoyed Midge Ure at the time. This is going to sound terrible, but I quite like that song, I think it’s funny.’ Ultravox bassist, Chris Cross, Mojo Magazine, 2009.
How deep did Midge Ure’s annoyance go? When he co-wrote ‘Do they Know It’s Christmas‘ with Bob Geldof, he insisted that charities had to sign the following legal declaration: “We (insert name of charity here), without let and hindrance do here forth admit that ‘Vienna‘ was a more worthy and better song than ‘Shaddap You Face‘ which is a fond thing vainly invented, and grounded upon no warranty of Scripture; but rather repugnant to the word of God”, and no charity that refused would receive a penny in aid from the project.
Then there’s this: ‘What’s sa matta you, Hey? Hell yes, I know your song – It’s kept us from the Number One spot in England and Australia.’ Sting, The Police, 1981.
And in answer to Midge Ure’s “where is he now?” I’ll submit the following from Dolce’s Wiki page:
(Partner Lin) Van Hek and Dolce co-wrote “Intimacy” for the soundtrack of the 1984 film The Terminator, now part of the US Library of Congress collection. He was a featured lead actor in the Australian film Blowing Hot and Cold (1988). He has continued to perform solo and with Van Hek as part of their music-literary cabaret Difficult Women.
In 2010, two of his photos were selected for publication in the US journal Tupelo Quarterly.
Since 2009, he has been a prolifically published poet in Australia. In 2010, he won the 25th Launceston Poetry Cup at the Tasmanian Poetry Festival His poems were selected for Best Australian Poems 2014 & 2015.He was the winner of the 2017 University of Canberra Vice-Chancellor’s Health Poetry Prize, for a choral libretto, longlisted in the same year for the University of Canberra Vice-Chancellor’s Poetry Prize and included in the Irises anthology He longlisted for the 2018 University of Canberra Vice-Chancellor’s Poetry Prize and was included in the Silence anthology. He was Highly Commended for the 2020 ACU Poetry Prize and included in the Generosity anthology. He was selected as the August 2020 City of Melbourne Poet Laureate.
Every Moment Has A Song 