FOUR POSTER
It isn’t often that I have more than one inducement to write a post, but today I have four:
1. In the last paragraph of my June 20 post (DO YOU KNOW THE WAY TO SANTA FE?), I mentioned the name of lyricist MACK DAVID and promised “more on him later” [like maybe on his birthday].
2. Wikipedia’s post on Mack David has several errors/muddled statements which call for clarification.
3. Today, July 5, is his birthday.
4. Today is my unbirthday. This, being the most important of the four, calls for a celebration (lyrics by Mack David):
As for the rest, Mack David was born July 5, 1912, in NYC. According to Wikipedia, “in the mid-1940s, David began writing songs for New York’s Tin Pan Alley.” But then Wikipedia lists some of his hit songs, including “Rain, Rain, Go Away” (1932) and “I’m Just a Lucky So-and-So” (1939) — an obvious contradiction (he began writing in the early 1930s). There is also a confusing entry that David wrote lyrics for La Vie en Rose, “a French song with lyrics by Edith Piaf.” In 1950, David wrote English lyrics (not a literal translation) to a mid-1940s French song originally written by Piaf. With David’s lyrics, the song became a hit all over again in America with recordings by Louis Armstrong and others. Her recording was an international best-seller and became her signature song:
That’s all four now.
Joseph Nebus 11:37 pm on July 5, 2015 Permalink |
Ooh, well, hey, happy unbirthday. And thanks for writing this.
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Michaeline Montezinos 1:41 am on July 6, 2015 Permalink |
I wanted to tell you that the angels all sang a sweet lullaby when you were unborn on your unbirthday, mistermuse. Many happy returns and best wishes so that you may enjoy all that you have today and always.
“Sto Lat!” this is a song that most Polish people sing at another’s birthday. Basically it means may you have a long and happy life. And may you live 100 years.
{I am not making this up; it is absolutely true, mistermuse.]
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mistermuse 6:26 am on July 6, 2015 Permalink
Well, I hope it’s absolutely true that I live 100 years, Michaeline….and you do the same!
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arekhill1 6:08 am on July 6, 2015 Permalink |
I’m only having unbirthdays from here on out, myself.
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mistermuse 6:29 am on July 6, 2015 Permalink |
An excellent plan, Ricardo. I’d try it too, but my wife and daughters insist on celebrating my birthday.
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Don Frankel 3:29 pm on July 6, 2015 Permalink |
Happy Unbirthday Muse.
Edith Piaf was the star crossed lover of Marcel Cerdan middle weight champion of the world who lost his title to Jake LaMotta. You can see him lose it in Raging Bull. He later dies in a plane crash and many associate this song with her grief or remembrance of him.
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mistermuse 6:15 pm on July 6, 2015 Permalink |
Don, I remember Marcel Cerdan – I was a big boxing fan as a teenager, and I was 13 when he died in that plane crash. When I was looking up the origin of La Vie en Rose, I found that she had written it in the mid 1940s, before she began her affair with Cerdan in the summer of 1948. However, she did write a song for him titled Hymme a l’amour.
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Mél@nie 9:29 am on July 9, 2015 Permalink |
yes, Sir, all is correct… and Marcel was THE love of her life, even though she had other lovers after his death… j’adore l’hymne à l’amour! ❤
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mistermuse 10:32 am on July 9, 2015 Permalink |
Merci! Edith Piaf sang with such passion – how could anyone not love her artistry?
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Michaeline Montezinos 11:18 pm on July 9, 2015 Permalink |
I recall my Dad signing cards he gave to my Mom. ” Ego Amo Tu.” I think he meant I Love You ” in Latin. He signed it with big flourishes. That was how he showed his passion for his wife.. I have seen a film of Edith Piaf singing. I didn’t care for her performance. Probably because I didn’t know her story. Then I may have thought she was a wonderful vocalist.
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mistermuse 5:57 am on July 10, 2015 Permalink |
It occurs to me that if Piaf had been raised in America and sang those same songs in English, the effect wouldn’t have been the same. Vive la France!
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Michaeline Montezinos 8:21 am on July 10, 2015 Permalink |
I think you are right mistermuse. We wouldn’t appreciate Piaf as much as we do with her singing in French.
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