Art is the music we make from the bewildered cry of being alive. ~Maria Popova
25 Mar 2025 Leave a comment
in Video of the Week Tags: guitar solo
23 Mar 2025 Leave a comment
in Songs You May Have Missed Tags: haisai ojisan, richard thompson, shoukichi kina
Shoukichi Kina: “Haisai Ojisan (Hey Man!)” (1972)
If there’s one song that instantly puts me in a good mood, this is it.
Admittedly it’s pretty far afield from my usual fare and I think that’s the point. If music can be thought of as a drug, sometimes one develops a tolerance for the lower dose and seeks something that delivers a bigger kick.
I get a kick out of “Haisai Ojisan”
Shoukichi Kina and his band Champloose (the band name is derived from a traditional Okinawan stir-fry dish) were part of the Okinawan folk-rock movement of the 1970’s and 80’s. “Haisai Ojisan”, Kina’s first big hit, was a song he’d written in high school.
Kina and Champloose adding bass, guitars and drums to traditional sanshin music was the Okinawan equivalent to Dylan going electric in America, or Fairport Convention electrifying British folk.
Fittingly, Fairport alumnus Richard Thompson covered “Haisai Ojisan” in 1987 on the same French, Frith, Kaiser, Thompson Live Love, Larf & Loaf album that contains a cover of “Surfin’ U.S.A.” and an assortment of other strange musical bedfellows. Thompson and company’s “Haisai Ojisan” is a remarkably reverent take on the original:
The song has also spawned a group folk dance, or more accurately a variety of group folk dances, none of which seem to resemble the others much:
Shoukichi Kina is probably equally well known as a peace activist and politician, and was elected to the House of Councillors in 2004.
English translation:
Hey, man! Hey, man!
If there’s a drop of sake left in last night’s little bottle
Won’t you give me some?
Hey, boy! Hey, boy!
You think I’m satisfied with a little bottle?
Don’t say there’s none left!
Ok, man! If the little bottle’s not enough, give me a big oneHi, man! Hi, man!
I wanna marry, I’m not a kid anymore
Can I marry your daughter?
Hey, boy! Hey boy!
Marry? No kidding!
You’re still too young to talk about such things
Ok, man! I’ll wait till my hair turns whiteHi, man! Hi, man!
What a big bald spot you have!
Hey, boy! Hey, boy!
Bald men are excellent
My forefathers were really excellent
Ok, man! I’m gonna have cosmetic surgery to add bald spotsHi, man! Hi, man!
Your beard is funny, like the whiskers of an attic mouse
Hey, boy! Hey, boy!
Laugh at my beard, but women love bearded men
Ok, man! I don’t wanna be outdone by you,
Starting tomorrow, I’ll grow a beard that looks like the whiskers of a mouseHi, man! Hi, man!
Last night’s hooker was really pretty, you should go there, too
Hey, boy! Hey, boy!
In Chiji, Nakajima and Watanji,* I’m a big shot
Okay, man! Going around here and there, I’m wasting my money
You’re wasting your money
18 Mar 2025 Leave a comment
in Songs You May Have Missed Tags: 17, bekon
Bekon: “17” (2018)
From the to-date only solo album release by producer Bekon, who’s collaborated with Kendrick Lamar, Eminem, Snoop Dogg and others.
The release of Get With the Times was so low-key, Lamar and not Bekon was the one who broke the news of its release on Twitter.
The tender ballad “17” is a thing of understated beauty with a Nilssonesque arrangement.
18 Mar 2025 Leave a comment
17 Mar 2025 Leave a comment
in Songs You May Have Missed Tags: if time permits, matthew sweet
Matthew Sweet: “If Time Permits” (1999)
It’s all big reverb, big drums and big emotion as Matthew Sweet closes out the 1990’s by acting like they never happened.
Sweet’s 1999 In Reverse album is an homage to all the things that made 60’s pop great: wall of sound production, backward guitars, psychedelia, overwrought lyrical sensibilities and most of all melody.
Oh, and Carol Kaye, the badass Wrecking Crew ace of bass herself, who’s part of that glorious wall of sound here.
It’s clear Sweet finds inspiration from Brian Wilson, the Beatles, Electric Light Orchestra and other purveyors of pop brilliance. But he also has the chops to make something new of it, something his own.
If more talented songwriters thought in reverse, we could all forget the 90’s happened.
See also: https://edcyphers.com/2013/10/11/songs-you-may-have-missed-488/
See also: https://edcyphers.com/2013/06/20/songs-you-may-have-missed-430/
11 Mar 2025 Leave a comment
in General Posts Tags: jesus is a friend of mine, sonseed
Sonseed’s 1982 local TV appearance.
This is essentially the same as the video that has over 15 million views, but this version with improved audio was posted by songwriter Sal Polichetti.
Sal Polichetti discussing “Jesus is a Friend of Mine” and what a long, strange trip it’s been.
A dead-on parody of the TV performance, posted on YouTube by Craig Colson, can be seen here. It prompted the following comment from Polichetti:
“Absolutely loved it! You even nailed the way I looked at the wrong camera in the last verse. The guitar solo was cool also; it was mixed so low on the original recording you can barely hear it. There’s a live version of us playing the song floating around on YouTube (from 1983) if you want to hear what it really was supposed to sound like. Again, well done!”
And here is that live version, from Sonseed’s 1983 farewell concert. “Jesus is a Friend of Mine” followed by the sublime “Wake My Slumbering Soul”.
Oh, and here’s that Glee video Sal mentioned:
Every Moment Has A Song 