If You Like Leaving

Back when Boeing 747 was the largest aircraft, a Swedish band composed a song titled 747. Its lyrics had nothing to do with aeroplanes.

In the late '90s, the song was number 1 in the NU107 radio countdown for weeks. Though the song debuted in English, I always preferred the Swedish version over the English one because of a slight difference in the latter's sound arrangement. Read the English translation of the lyrics below.


747

Silence, like a whisper
Maybe tomorrow it won't be here
So tomorrow we could teach them
Some new styles
You're such a killer
So shoot me down again
It won't hurt when the killing is done by a friend

Silence, like a whisper
So this is all we need
The fully air conditioned sound of speed
A violent whisper
And this time it's for real
So this day I made plans for us to leave

Silence, why won't you listen?
Maybe it's just me
But sometimes it's impossible to breathe
A violent whisper
Maybe this time it won't heal
Maybe this time it will bleed until I'm free

****

Listen to the original version below.

Don't just sit there.

Have you found love? Did you find love again?

As the Sparrow

To give life you must take life,
and as our grief falls flat and hollow
upon the billion-blooded sea
I pass upon serious inward-breaking shoals rimmed
with white-legged, white-bellied rotting creatures
lengthily dead and rioting against surrounding scenes.
Dear child, I only did to you what the sparrow
did to you; I am old when it is fashionable to be
young; I cry when it is fashionable to laugh.
I hated you when it would have taken less courage
to love.

-- Charles Bukowski

Covers as good as (or perhaps even better than?) the original

Well, fine. That would still depend on your taste. It's one thing to sing a karaoke version of a great song, and it's an entirely different thing for musicians to make a refreshing version without listeners thinking 1) they're creatively drained, 2) they have absolutely zero talent, 3) and they're just riding on a legendary musician's popularity. 

After listening to these covers, I hope you agree they did justice to the original hits. And here is where I have to say kudos to artists who still manage to serve us something unexpected in the golden age of formulaic pop and unprecedented piracy. 

DISCLAIMER: I'm a bit of a new wave junkie, so pardon me if some of the songs here may be a decade older than you. Listen and enjoy. :) 

1) The Ghost In You

The Psychedelic Furs to Duncan Sheik

Listen to the original song here

The Ghost In You is one of my favorite new wave tracks so I never thought any cover would be good enough; it always had to be The Psychedelic Furs for me. Written by Richard and Tim Butler, the song earned spots in the U.S. and U.K. pop charts in 1984. By the '90s, the Counting Crows covered the song in grungy acoustic fashion for the film Clueless (1995) which brought Alicia Silverstone, then an unknown teenage actress, international success. Almost a decade later, singer/producer Mark McGrath of Sugar Ray made a version with arrangement and vocals heavily enhanced by I-don't-know-what-you-call-em (technology that makes that buzzing sound) for the comedy film 50 First Dates (2004) which starred Adam Sandler as the love-struck marine biologist in desperate pursuit of Drew Barrymore, an art teacher inflicted with anterograde amnesia (yes, I had to Google that). Another Ghost In You rendition was recorded by a lad named Matthew Puckett (good lord, I wouldn't have heard this version if I didn't do all this surfing!); his haunting vocals and raw acoustic guitar matched the theme for the North American TV horror series Being Human (2011). 

Needless to say, a lot of covers have been made and it's only a matter of time until somebody finally records a version that throws old and new listeners off their seats. And yes, I believe the best version was recorded by Duncan Sheik (and I have to say that Puckett guy gets 2nd place for his eerie cover). 

Released in 2009, The Ghost In You is the last track in the album Whisper House. Though the album did not receive as much acclaim as other Sheik albums, the cover is most definitely an unexpected gem out of 10 tracks. This song is quiet as a windy summer afternoon by a still lake, a pond, (or a stagnant creek, will you?). It's the kind of sound you hear when you look out the classroom window to daydream about that someone. Hear the whispering vocals, the piano’s rhythm delicate as glass crystals, and the guitar's gentle acoustic strums as it stirs lives "inside you", whilst "the time moves..." as if you knew what Duncan Sheik meant by "ghosts" and why they won't fade.

Listen here

For my old man on his 30th wedding anniversary

For his woman.

Today is supposed to be my parents' 30th wedding anniversary. I'm sure my mom has always looked forward to it. Three years ago I even thought about planning a simple wedding celebration for them.

It's been almost two years since my dad passed away. To get my mom out of her widow (anniversary) blues, we decided to go out and have a swanky family dinner at Buenisimo.

Things are a lot different without my old man around. We miss him every day. I'm just glad to be spending this day with my family. 

seafood pasta & lengua

lechugas, anyone? chorizo & smoked salmon salad

with mom and bro

Simply the best lengua I had in years

yours truly with mi mudra

liver pate

chill place

Buenisimo by Cafe Ysabel is located at #24-C Scout Tuazon corner Scout Lozano Streets in Quezon City. Check out their menu at http://www.ilovebuenisimo.com/ Yes, this is shameless plug, but I am in no way related to the owner of this restaurant, nor am I paid to write this entry. ;)

The Burning Place

These godless hours remain
the mind’s faithful partner.
And from the only body I’ll have,

I watch your motion, I watch you let me in.

Sontag recognized love is about submission.
Like giving yourself to be flayed and knowing
that any moment the other person can walk off

with your skin, she wrote.
If red is what I wear to dinner with you
to protect the skin I should give up.

If I say what you refuse to feel

and gladly take you to the burning place.
Where there is no you or I
and our veins, like graves, are opening

for what will open in us.
We start and finish one another with a kiss,
a look. We do it ruthlessly and all the time.


-- Alex Dimitrov

Zzz

We found a place to which we drive
and I offer you the time
to sleep, to dream
to wake up when we arrive