“Great” is a great multi-purpose word which can be used in many ways: from prosaically (“Have a great day”), to pompously (Alexander the Great), to — if you follow me — pied piper-ly (“Make America great again!”).*
*pied piper: 1. One who entices others with delusive promises. 2. An appealing but irresponsible leader. –Webster’s New College Dictionary
In my previous post (GREAT EXPECTORATIONS), I used it playfully. I hope the great writer Charles Dickens would have approved (I hold no Great Expectations that he would have). In any case, in this post, I will play it musically. It’s gonna be a Great Day!
If a Great Day isn’t enough, how about a Great Life?
Or, put another way, It’s Great To Be Alive.
Of course, it’s hard to have a great life without great leaders — men like Napoleon, Disraeli, Alexander the Great, The Pied Piper….contenders, all. But who’s the greatest?
Sorry about that, Pied Piper. You promised pie in the sky, but Wintergreen said Let ’em Eat Cake. Looks like Pied will be paying the Piper and eating crow before all is said and done….speaking of which, I am.
Thanks, Don. I didn’t realize this song became the title of a 1989 movie about the life of Jerry Lee Lewis. Obviously I didn’t see it, but I have seen BALL OF FIRE (1941) starring Gary Cooper and Barbara Stanwyck, which was a great BALL OF FIRE.
markscheel1
1:24 pm on January 20, 2018 Permalink
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muse
Hope you meant you’re at the end of the piece, and not that you’re eating crow. But, you never know, don’t be too hard on the old piper–he’s actually got the economy roaring and the market blowing the roof off. Ha. As for the previous post, I didn’t get past the title as it precipitated a coughing fit (yeah, got some kind of bug in the pipes now, but the nurse pract. tested me and said it ain’t the killer flu). Anyway, I’d sing along with some of those “great” songs, if I didn’t fear another coughing fit.
If I’m not mistaken, Mark, the economy was already on the upswing when Obama turned the reins over to The Donald. But all Presidents take credit when the economy is going good and blame their predecessor (or other factors) when the economy is bad, so what else is new? If any President deserves some credit for rescuing the economy, think back to the financial crisis that Obama inherited when he was first elected in 2008.
Sorry about your coughing fit, but don’t blame me — blame Charles Dickens for the title that I merely tinkered with. The Republicans probably had something to do with it too. 😦
Well, my sources (such as John Mauldin, the financial guru) would indicate just the opposite. Bush had begun remedial efforts in the last months of his term when he saw the normal and natural downswing in the economic cycle and when Obama got in he instituted policies that were focused on “social justice,” not economic prosperity, and we thus fell into a full recession and continued to lag behind throughout his two terms. When Trump got in, economic optimism began to prevail and as he removed hamstringing regulations and got the tax cut, things began to really take off. So, pick your poison. Where do we go for actual facts today? The major media has surrendered all credibility. I made friends recently with a distinguished Jewish journalist who is an avid Trump supporter. She has written in detail of the accomplishments of his administration in the first year (in spite of everybody working against him) that are never discussed by the big media outlets. And it’s amazing and most encouraging. We have to distinguish between the man and the agenda. While one may dislike the man, the agenda has many positives, if properly understood (and most liberals refuse to properly understand anything, opting instead to run completely on emotion–IMHO). Of course, if one supports a communist philosophy, one will hate the agenda too. But note where that leads–to wit, the breakdown of the socialized medical system in the UK right now with the flu epidemic.
Yes, the “establishment” Republicans do precipitate fits on my part at times, why not coughing spasms too? LOL Now, do you see why I’m opting to quit writing about politics today on my blog and go back to times and places that make sense? Thanks for sticking with me.
Madame Vintage
3:00 pm on January 22, 2018 Permalink
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I would protest as i am sure many will, that Donald Trump can make anything ‘good’ in America let alone great so let me put that in the shadows of pretence. Moving along this is indeed a great post with a great set of tunes.
Well, Trump is certainly great at turning aside questions about his behavior and trying to divert attention elsewhere. America once suffered through the Great Depression; now we’re going through the Great Diversion.
The use of wordplay in the titles of my last two posts (ROMANCE WASN’T BUILT IN A DAY and ALL’S FARE IN LOVE AND FOUR) doesn’t cancel the reservations I expressed in my 6/1/15 post (SAY WHAT?); i.e., it’s chancy to ‘pun’ old sayings because most people today don’t know them….and if they don’t know the sayings, they won’t get the wordplay.
Now, granted that some party-poopers may have known the actual sayings (ROME WASN’T BUILT IN A DAY and ALL’S FAIR IN LOVE AND WAR) behind those titles, but pooh-poohed the wordplay as hardly worth the strain my brain went through to get the end result. Be that as it may, my purpose here is to be ‘test assured’ that my readers are more familiar with once-familiar old sayings than “most people” in the first place — so, if you’re game, here’s a list of 4 old sayings, 4 song titles, and 4 made-up idioms. If you can pick — out of the dozen — 3 of the 4 old sayings, consider yourself a genius. If you get all four right, I will consider you a genius.
1. FAINT HEART NE’ER WON FAIR LADY
2. A PRETTY GIRL IS LIKE A MELODY
3. DISCRETION IS THE BETTER PART OF VALOR
4. ANY PLACE I HANG MY HAT IS HOME
5. GOOD FECES MAKE GOOD NEIGHBORS
6. FISH AND VISITORS STINK AFTER THREE DAYS
7. ANY TIME’S THE TIME TO FALL IN LOVE
8. DON’T CHANGE CORPSES IN THE MIDDLE OF THE STREAM
9. DON’T THROW COLD WATER ON THE FLAME OF LOVE
10. GO TO BED WITH THE CHICKENS, WAKE UP WITH THE ROOSTERS
11. WHILE THE CAT’S AWAY, THE MICE WILL PRAY*
12. GENIUS IS ONE PERCENT INSPIRATION AND 99 PERCENT PERSPIRATION
*Apparently they’re church mice.
So, how do you think you did? If you can’t stand the suspense, hold on to your pants, because I will keep you in suspenders no longer — the old sayings are #1, #3, #6 and #12. Speaking of #12, if you weren’t right at least 3 times of 4, obviously you don’t perspire enough to be a genius.
As for the other two categories, I made up #5 (“feces” for “fences”), #8 (“corpses” replaces “horses”), #10 and #11 (“pray” is a play on “play”), and the song titles are #2, #4, #7 and #9. What’s that you say — #9 sounds like something I made up, not a song? Well, I hate to throw cold water on your hot tamales, but the proof is in the pudding:
In closing, take pride, ye geniuses who passed the test and could dig the rest; let the record show, The wordplay’s the thing.
I got the four old sayings! The fish and visitors is a rule to live by, and I do. I believe it has been attributed to Ben Franklin. The first two sayings have a Shakespearean ring. As for the songs, I recognized a couple. Especially A Pretty Girl is Like a Melody, from the Ziegfeld Follies. And now… once more unto the beach.
True to my word, I hereby recognize you as A Pretty Girl — I mean, a genius….well, both actually.
The first saying definitely has a Shakespearean ring, which is probably why I remember it as I posted it — although when I Googled it that way, all the sites came up FAINT HEART NEVER instead of FAINT HEART NE’ER….but, since I’m a helluva lot older than Google, I decided to take my word for it rather than Google’s.
Don Frankel
8:23 am on August 15, 2016 Permalink
| Reply
I got all the old sayings as well I’m old. Missed one or two of the songs, especially don’t throw cold water on the flame of love. But I got all the word play because that is where we catch the conscious of The Muse.
I’m delighted to crown another genius, Don — if this keeps up, that should prove I have the most literate followers this side of F. Scott Fitzgerald.
As for the song you missed, that was a tough one (which is why I included the “proof is in the pudding” link).
Well, MisterMuse, I’m guessing it’s being old that allows me to identify those sayings, because I already know I am not a genius. I remember “Faint heart ne’er won fair lady..” from Gilbert and Sullivan’s IOLANTHE, though I doubt it originated there. And “Discretion…etc.” was spoken by Shakespeare’s Fallstaff in HENRY IV. “Inspiration…perspiration” is definitely Thomas Edison, and I always heard that business about fish and visitors came from Ben Franklin.
The songs are all familiar, too…except for the last one, which you were kind enough to provide a video of…
I wonder what Robert Frost would say about your removing the letter “n” from his famous line? Maybe that would make a good sign posted near a dog park as a reminder to pooper scoopers.
And last, but not least, though I realize it has become accepted in popular parlance, I still scream at the TV every time I hear “the proof is in the pudding”…no, no no! It’s “The proof of the pudding is in the eating.”
As it happens, I own a 1941 book edited by Deems Taylor, titled A TREASURY OF GILBERT & SULLIVAN, which includes the music of IOLANTHE. In that book, I find that G & S titled the song FAINT HEART NEVER WON FAIR LADY, so if my memory of NE’ER (rather than NEVER) is correct, it must indeed have originated earlier, as you suggest. Otherwise, my memory is going the way of all flesh, ne’er to be trusted again. 🙂
As for “the proof is in the pudding,” I suspect that’s W. C. Fields’ take on the saying, though whether he spiked the pudding with 100 proof, or whatever, probably depended on what was available. Quoting him: “I cook with wine; sometimes I even add it to the food.”
Well, if that’s the kind of “proof” we’re talking about, I have to say I finally understand “the proof is in the pudding.” Thanks for the enlightenment. 🙂
Calling again on W. C. Fields, one of his films was titled YOU CAN’T CHEAT AN HONEST MAN. I assume that includes not being able to cheat oneself — which, of course, makes you an honest man….which, of course, I already knew. Honest!
#4 and #7 are old song titles, which in many cases had the ring of old sayings. A perfect example is #4, ANY PLACE I HANG MY HAT IS HOME (1946). Johnny Mercer wrote the lyrics and sings it here:
markscheel1, 
Don Frankel 9:02 am on January 19, 2018 Permalink |
Another great one Muse.
Now this one doesn’t belong here musically but goodness, gracious…
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mistermuse 10:56 am on January 19, 2018 Permalink |
Thanks, Don. I didn’t realize this song became the title of a 1989 movie about the life of Jerry Lee Lewis. Obviously I didn’t see it, but I have seen BALL OF FIRE (1941) starring Gary Cooper and Barbara Stanwyck, which was a great BALL OF FIRE.
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arekhill1 12:22 pm on January 19, 2018 Permalink |
Great post.
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markscheel1 1:24 pm on January 20, 2018 Permalink |
muse
Hope you meant you’re at the end of the piece, and not that you’re eating crow. But, you never know, don’t be too hard on the old piper–he’s actually got the economy roaring and the market blowing the roof off. Ha. As for the previous post, I didn’t get past the title as it precipitated a coughing fit (yeah, got some kind of bug in the pipes now, but the nurse pract. tested me and said it ain’t the killer flu). Anyway, I’d sing along with some of those “great” songs, if I didn’t fear another coughing fit.
Mark
LikeLiked by 3 people
mistermuse 8:43 pm on January 20, 2018 Permalink |
If I’m not mistaken, Mark, the economy was already on the upswing when Obama turned the reins over to The Donald. But all Presidents take credit when the economy is going good and blame their predecessor (or other factors) when the economy is bad, so what else is new? If any President deserves some credit for rescuing the economy, think back to the financial crisis that Obama inherited when he was first elected in 2008.
Sorry about your coughing fit, but don’t blame me — blame Charles Dickens for the title that I merely tinkered with. The Republicans probably had something to do with it too. 😦
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markscheel1 1:40 pm on January 23, 2018 Permalink
Hi muse,
Well, my sources (such as John Mauldin, the financial guru) would indicate just the opposite. Bush had begun remedial efforts in the last months of his term when he saw the normal and natural downswing in the economic cycle and when Obama got in he instituted policies that were focused on “social justice,” not economic prosperity, and we thus fell into a full recession and continued to lag behind throughout his two terms. When Trump got in, economic optimism began to prevail and as he removed hamstringing regulations and got the tax cut, things began to really take off. So, pick your poison. Where do we go for actual facts today? The major media has surrendered all credibility. I made friends recently with a distinguished Jewish journalist who is an avid Trump supporter. She has written in detail of the accomplishments of his administration in the first year (in spite of everybody working against him) that are never discussed by the big media outlets. And it’s amazing and most encouraging. We have to distinguish between the man and the agenda. While one may dislike the man, the agenda has many positives, if properly understood (and most liberals refuse to properly understand anything, opting instead to run completely on emotion–IMHO). Of course, if one supports a communist philosophy, one will hate the agenda too. But note where that leads–to wit, the breakdown of the socialized medical system in the UK right now with the flu epidemic.
Yes, the “establishment” Republicans do precipitate fits on my part at times, why not coughing spasms too? LOL Now, do you see why I’m opting to quit writing about politics today on my blog and go back to times and places that make sense? Thanks for sticking with me.
Mark
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Madame Vintage 3:00 pm on January 22, 2018 Permalink |
I would protest as i am sure many will, that Donald Trump can make anything ‘good’ in America let alone great so let me put that in the shadows of pretence. Moving along this is indeed a great post with a great set of tunes.
Sincerely Sonea
LikeLiked by 3 people
mistermuse 4:09 pm on January 22, 2018 Permalink |
Well, Trump is certainly great at turning aside questions about his behavior and trying to divert attention elsewhere. America once suffered through the Great Depression; now we’re going through the Great Diversion.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Silver Screenings 11:08 am on January 23, 2018 Permalink |
A wonderful selection of music! A perfect way to start the day. Thanks!
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mistermuse 3:04 pm on January 23, 2018 Permalink |
My pleasure. May this be a perfect way to continue your day:
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