Music from Films – What's It All About?

Alyson’s Italian Job, Part One – Rome

Well, it was supposed to be The Big One. After a summer of enjoying all sorts of new adventures (stadium concerts, music festivals), trips around the country visiting friends and the usual activities we get up to in our own back yard, our Italian adventure was the one we had invested most into (both financially and in preparedness). We were expecting this:

Or for the younger generation this:

But as tourists before us have discovered, what we see on the screen no longer reflects the reality.

Don’t get me wrong, I know I am privileged to have been able to make this trip but perhaps because we haven’t done much travelling outside the UK for a long time, and certainly not to Mediterranean countries, it was a bit of a shock to the system.

First of all, hats off to my blogging buddies in England who had to endure temperatures in the mid-30s this summer. Luckily we avoided that heatwave in Scotland so it was a bit of a shock to discover that even in September, Italy was still experiencing one. We had four nights in Rome so we pretty much visited all the tourist hotspots, and very impressive they were too, but even making use of the metro system we still found we were racking up 20 thousand steps per day. For a couple of Highlanders that was pretty good going in the heat and humidity. Here are some of my best photos:

The “real” Spanish Steps not quite so attractive as the ones in the films!

When you look back at the photos afterwards you remember the best bits of a trip but of course you can’t see the heat, the queues or the street vendors selling tat. The hotel we stayed in was air-conditioned, and the breakfasts were delicious, but once you venture out, 21st century Rome is very dirty with overflowing bins and graffiti everywhere. The locals are fed up of tourists swamping their city so come across as very rude and unbelievably, the food wasn’t that great. Maybe we chose badly but menus are complicated meaning you have to choose a pasta dish first then a meat dish but both are very plain and nothing to write home about. Even the gelato was no better than our own ice-cream shops at home (ironically set up by Italians). Also, there is no tipping system in Italy as the waiters are paid a decent wage and they know there is a never-ending supply of tourists, so the service was shabby to say the least. We had to change restaurant every night as we thought we’d pissed off the waiter so much the night before with our limited Italian and odd menu choices.

As for music, we didn’t hear any over the duration of our stay in Rome bar for tuning in to Radio 2’s Sounds Of The Sixties on my iPhone, and one of the first songs we heard was, blow me down, Matt Monro singing On Days Like These from The Italian Job. That is one of Mr WIAA’s favourite films and he especially loves this song, Getta Bloomin’ Move On! (The Self Preservation Society), by Don Black and Quincy Jones.

Yes, watching that film as a youngster in the ’60s would have had you yearning for a trip to Italy but things have changed and although I’m glad we did it (as it was one of a few European capitals I’ve not visited), it’s a bit of an endurance test nowadays. I think we’d have enjoyed it better if we’d gone later in the year when the heat had died down and it was less busy, but the negative side to the city would still have been there. I did check out some reviews from fellow travellers about two days into our trip, just to make sure it wasn’t just us, and was pleased to see it wasn’t.

Hope I haven’t put anyone off heading to Rome – hope I’ve just given you all a few pointers on what to expect and how to make it better. I’ve not recounted the tales of how I left my iPhone (with all our tickets) in a gelateria or how I slipped and fell coming out of the shower and was covered in bruises for the rest of the holiday, but maybe a bridge too far. I also seem to have used up all my words so will return next time with the story of our trip down to Sorrento – will be a lot more positive.

One thing is for sure though, I’ll not get Mr WIAA back on a plane in a hurry. He has always been the more adventurous of the two of us but four “travelling days” during an 11 day trip, high temperatures, crowds and being classed as an outsider in the EU of today just isn’t for him any more. I do think he’ll come round in time, especially if snow sports are involved, but for now it’s holidaying in the UK for him for the foreseeable. So much for the big post-retirement bucket-list of adventures.

Until next time… arrivederci.

Getta Bloomin’ Move On! (The Self Preservation Society) Lyrics
(Song by Don Black/Quincy Jones)

This is the self-preservation society,
This is the self-preservation society
Go wash your German bands, your boat race too
Comb your barnet, fair we’ve got alot to do
Put on your dickie dirt and your peckham rye
‘Cause time’s soon hurrying by
Get your skates on mate
Get your skates on mate
No bib around your Gregory Peck today, eh?

Drop your plates of meat right up on the seat
This is the self-preservation society,
This is the self-preservation society
Gotta get a bloomin’ move on
Babadab-babadabadab-bab-ba
Jump in the jam jar gonna get straight
(Babadab-babadabadab-bab-ba)
Hurry up mate, gonna be late
How’s your father?
Tickety boo, tickety boo
Gotta get a bloomin’ move on

The self-preservation society,
This is the self-preservation society
Jump in the jam jar gonna get straight
(Babadab-babadabadab-bab-ba)
Hurry up mate, gonna be late
How’s your father?
Tickety boo, tickety boo
Gotta get a bloomin’ move on
Tickety boo, tickety boo
Gotta get a bloomin’ move on
Tickety boo, tickety boo
Gotta get a bloomin’ move on

The self-preservation society,
This is the self-preservation society
Jump in the jam jar gonna get straight
(Babadab-babadabadab-bab-ba)
Hurry up mate, gonna be late
How’s your father?
Tickety boo, tickety boo

Postscript

I can tell from reading the comments that I have perhaps focused on the negative aspects of my trip to Rome and omitted the good stuff. As you can see from my photos we did a lot and most of it was very, very impressive. Here is a photo of me looking very happy in the Vatican City garden:

And here is a happy couple having their wedding photos taken in front of The Colosseum:

What was good:

The view from the breakfast room on the top floor of the hotel
The breakfasts – yum
The pizza we had the day we arrived and were very hungry
The sightseeing bus tour of the city
The Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel
The walk into St Peter’s Square
The Swiss Guard uniforms
The Palatine Hill where the ruins of ancient Rome still stand
The man at the gelateria keeping my phone for me until I came back
The bruises looking worse than they were – I was lucky

St Peter’s Square

A Significant Non-Birthday, The “Dolly Effect” and The Dulcet Tones Of Matt Monro

Today is quite a big day for me and one I am strangely excited about. It’s not often that you celebrate getting older but when it comes with a monthly remuneration attached, not quite so bad. To be clear, it’s not my birthday, it’s just that anyone born after the 6th of April 1960 is part of the generation that will now miss getting their monthly remuneration at age 66. By 6th April 2028 everyone will have to be 67, but they’re doing it incrementally until then. To celebrate we’re going out for lunch with DD and Mr DD. She will no doubt be telling me all about the new album she purchased yesterday, Like A Virgin, by Madonna. It came out 10 years before she was born but she has a really good knowledge of older (to her) music, so much so that whilst on holiday recently she and Mr DD won the music quiz held one night in their hotel. They were up against teams of up to seven people of all ages. I was very proud!

But what else has been happening this week? We’re getting ready to go on our first big adventure post-“remuneration” (I can’t bring myself to say what it’s really called). Going on holiday used to be simple – just pack the kind of clothes you think you’ll need, some toiletries, money, your passport and you were set. Now everything is booked online so you need many, many apps, but you also need a photoshot of what’s on the app in case you can’t get a signal, and ideally a hard copy in case you run out of charge. Talking of which you need to make sure your phone will work abroad with the correct roaming settings and source an extra powerpack with connectors for the charge issue. Special front-facing, anti-theft bags have to be acquired to thwart sneaky pickpockets and multiple credit cards taken in case the one you usually use doesn’t work! Whatever happened to traveller’s cheques? Where am I going I hear you ask. Well here is a clue featuring one of Mr WIAA’s favourite songs and by the end of this post I’ll fill you in.

On Days Like These by Matt Monro:

Last time I wrote a tribute to Dolly Parton who very sadly passed away at the end of August. There was an awful lot of news coverage about her life and legacy in the days afterwards and it must have had an effect on the great British public as it was looking for a while as if she might finally make it to the No. 1 spot on the UK Singles Chart. But no, that was not to be, although she did reach the No. 5 and the No. 6 spots with 9 To 5 and Jolene respectively. Unbelievably the highest chart positions she ever reached.

So if Dolly isn’t No. 1, what is? After 23 weeks at the top spot, it is no longer Rein Me In by Sam and Olivia, it is this song, Choosin’ Texas, by Ella Langley. I wasn’t surprised as it’s been gradually creeping up the chart since January, but now, perhaps because so many of us have enjoyed hearing an abundance of country music courtesy of Dolly’s sad demise, it’s top dog. The song was written by Ella with help from Miranda Lambert amongst others, and is about the sting of watching someone choose the open road and the Lone Star State, over the relationship. Maybe I’m wrong but it feels like quite a while since someone who performs country music has topped the UK chart. It must have something to do with Dolly as not many of us on this side of the pond will ever have had to drink “jack” all on our own because our Texan, cowboy boyfriend just can’t cope with living in the Smokey Mountains of Tennessee.

But back to my forthcoming trip. As you will probably have guessed, I’m not going to Tennessee or Texas, but somewhere a lot closer to home, relatively speaking. Later on this week I’m heading to Rome for a few days after which we head down to Naples and then on to Sorrento for a more relaxing holiday. Troublingly, the weather there has been at heatwave levels for quite some time but it seems as soon as we arrive, the temperature is going to drop and it will rain for the following 10 days. In some ways that’s great for my fair Scottish skin but I get plenty of rain at home so I did hope for some blue skies. Long-range weather forecasts are notoriously inaccurate though, so cross-fingers we’ll get both the lower temperatures and less rain.

If anyone has been to either of these places, do let me know. You may have some hints and tips we’ve not discovered yet. Our trips to the Vatican and to Pompeii have already been booked and our attempts at picking up basic Italian phrases are going well (although Mr WIAA keeps mixing up his Italian with his Spanish). All being well I shall return here in two weeks with tales of our trip. As I’m not an expert in the pop music of Italy, I’m going to finish off with a clip of a band I had all but forgotten about. Way back in 1983, Roman Holiday had a hit with the song Don’t Try To Stop It. Very upbeat and jaunty – just the thing to listen to whilst getting the suitcases packed.

Until next time…

Choosin’ Texas Lyrics
(Song by Ella Langley/Joybeth Taylor/Luke Dick/Miranda Lambert)

Just when I thought I got him to fall in love with Tennessee
I shoulda known better than to take him back to Abilene
I put him right back into her arms
I wasn’t a match for that kinda spark

She’s from Texas, I can tell by the way
He’s two steppin’ ’round the room
And judgin’ by the smile that’s written on his face
There’s nothin’ I can do
It doesn’t take a crystal ball to see
A cowboy always finds a way to leave
Drinkin’ Jack all by myself
He’s choosin’ Texas, I can tell

Well, I guess he forgot about the Smoky Mountain rain
Them old Hank tunes, the Memphis blues we used to sing
He always loved Amarillo By Morning
I shoulda taken that as a warning

When I’m eastbound and down and I can’t help but cry
‘Cause I-40 gets lonelier with every mile
I’ll know that his mind wasn’t ever gonna change
‘Cause his heart still belongs to the Lone Star State

She’s from Texas, I can tell by the way
He’s two steppin’ ’round the room
And judgin’ by the smile that’s written on his face
There’s nothin’ I can do, nah, yeah
It doesn’t take a crystal ball to see
A cowboy always finds a way to leave
Drinkin’ Jack all by myself
He’s choosing Texas, I can tell, no
Drinkin’ Jack all by myself
He’s choosin’ Texas, I can tell

Come on, baby
Oh, yeah
Just when I thought I got him to fall in love with Tennessee

Big Hair, Big Heart, Big Personality and A Very Big Songbook: RIP Dolly Parton

I’ve now had many days to process this one, but I still can’t quite come to terms with a world that no longer has Dolly Parton in it. We all know that many of the music stars of our youth are now on borrowed time, but when it came to, “Who might be next?” I just didn’t think it would be Dolly. Perhaps it was because she never seemed to age (she was happy to admit the minute anything sagged or drooped, she had it nipped and tucked), but also because she was such a glittering force of nature, it was inconceivable that something mortal, like cancer, could take her away from us. But no more of that, suffice to say I don’t think anyone will ever have the world lit up in pink again when they pass. She truly was one of a kind.

As for this blog, I can’t believe I haven’t yet added a category for Dolly on my sidebar as I have written about her no less than four times. Once this one is published I’ll rectify that glaring omission.

I think we all already know Dolly’s story, and if anyone didn’t they certainly will now after the news coverage her death has generated. Ironically I had just finished re-watching her documentary Here I Am on the BBC iPlayer a few days before she passed. I had the telly to myself for once and perhaps because she had recently issued a message to fans about how she’d had heath issues but was now healin’, it jumped out at me. When the news broke on social media about her death I assumed it was a fake story, used as clickbait, but once I switched on the news at 10pm it became very real.

Dolly in the 1970s and Dolly in the 2020s

What I’ve noticed from the news coverage is how much snobbery and rudeness she had to put up with in the early years of her career. The American broadcaster Barbara Walters, when interviewing her, told her she didn’t have to look like that. It’s a wonder Dolly didn’t sock her one. She was a Nashville country music star and if I’m not mistaken that was very much the look of choice for such stars back then, albeit Dolly possibly took it to extreme lengths with the big ’70s wigs. Dolly came from exceptionally humble beginnings and now was her chance to look glamorous, something she had always aspired to. If people like Barbara associated the look with being a dumb blonde, Dolly soon put them right. As she said at the time, she knew she wasn’t dumb and she also wasn’t blonde. In recent decades, although Dolly always poked fun at her appearance, I think she looked just right for the industry she was in – the make-up was a bit more subtle, the wigs a bit less flamboyant and the clothes less showy (although they still had their fair share of rhinestones). I can’t believe we’ll never see her on a chat show sofa again.

It’s hard to sum up the many talents and achievements of Dolly Parton so I’m not going to try. Instead I’m going to leave it to this lovely lady, Pink, who gave a beautiful speech when she was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2022. Pink also performed Jolene with her, along with many other stars from the world of music (and Simon Le Bon). Dolly at this point was aged 76.

Jolene by Dolly Parton:

Although Dolly enjoyed a remarkable Billboard Chart career spanning almost five decades, she didn’t ever reach the No. 1 spot on either the Official UK Singles Chart or Official UK Albums Chart. What were we thinking? She came closest with the studio album Blue Smoke which was released around the time of her celebrated 2014 Glastonbury appearance. The UK version also included a “Best Of Dolly Parton” bonus disc which probably was the draw. It made the No. 2 spot on the Album Chart. Among her most enduring songs, Jolene was the only one to reach the Top 10 although that may change as both it and 9 To 5 have re-entered the Singles Chart as of yesterday.

Talking of 9 To 5, it came from the 1980 film of the same name and how bizarre that my last post around here was about a bunch of blonde, high-heeled secretaries who turned out to be a lot smarter than their male counterparts gave them credit for. That personal story was from the mid-1980s so maybe Dolly’s character in the film, Doralee, had given us the confidence to take on the men at their own game. To think I shared that a day before the news broke that she had died. Did I have a premonition?

But before I end there will have to be some more music. Over the last few days the songs most associated with her have been shared widely, but there have also been a few I wasn’t aware of before, that have made me smile. Her first single to reach the No. 1 spot on the Billboard Country Chart was Joshua, released in 1970. The song is about an adventurous young girl who dares to visit the little rundown shack of a rural recluse, who has a reputation for being mean and hostile. As it turns out she finds that he is quite the opposite and ends up living in his shack with him. A fun story song written by Dolly.

The next song, Little Sparrow, was the title track from one of the three bluegrass albums she recorded at the turn of the millennium. Dolly had continued to reinvent herself over the years and it made total sense for her to return to the kind of music that was very much part of her upbringing in the Great Smokey Mountains of East Tennessee. It’s a gentle beauty.

So, we are now living PD – post Dolly. I still can’t quite get my head round it. She is leaving behind so much however. All those songs, the films, her theme park, her Imagination Library and the Dollywood Foundation. Managed properly, her humanitarian work will continue for decades to come. Her husband of 60 years died only last year and despite never appearing with her at public events, they sound as if they were a very close couple. Tough to get over something like that and keep your health intact.

Until next time, a fitting picture from Lucy Claire Illustration. Dolly, you will be sorely missed.

Joshua Lyrics
(Song by Dolly Parton)

Well a good ways down the railroad track
There was this little old rundown shack
And in it lived a man I’d never seen
Folks said he was a mean and a vicious man
And you better not set foot on his land
I didn’t think nobody could be that mean

So I took me out walking down the railroad track
I was a-gonna go down to that little old shack
And just find out if all them things I’d heard was true
There was a big black dog laying out in the yard
And it growled at me and I swallowed hard
And I heard somebody say well who are you

Oh and there he stood in the door of that shack
His beard and his hair was long and black
And he was the biggest man I’d ever seen
When he spoke his voice was low and deep
But he just didn’t frighten me
‘Cause somehow I just knew he wasn’t mean

He said what you doing snooping ’round my place
And I saw a smile come across his face
So I smiled back and I told him who I was
He said come on in and pull you up a chair
You might as well since you already here
And he said you can call me Joshua

Joshua Joshua
Whatcha doing living here all alone
Joshua Joshua
Ain’t you got nobody to call your own
No no no no

We talked ’til the sun was clean out of sight
And we still talking when it come daylight
And there was just so much we had to say hey
I’d spent my life in an orphan’s home
And just like him I was all alone
So I said yeah when he asked if I’d stay

Oh we grew closer as time went on
And that little old shack it was a happy home
And we just couldn’t help but fall in love
That big black dog and that little old shack
Sitting down by the railroad track
It’s plenty good enough for me and Joshua

Joshua Joshua
Why you’re just what I’ve been looking for
Joshua Joshua
You ain’t gonna be lonesome anymore
No no

Yodel-a-he-ho

Me and Joshua
Me and Joshua
Me and Joshua yeah yeah
Me and Joshua

The Tartan Army On Tour, A Sad Loss For The Town and Who Is Going To Topple Sam & Olivia?

Well, I was wrong. A few weeks ago I predicted that few members of the famous Tartan Army of Scotland football supporters would be able to afford the extortionate prices being charged to head to the US for the 2026 World Cup. Instead they have first wowed the people of Boston, then the people of Miami, with their ability to party en masse whatever the result of the match they are there to watch. Bars have been drunk dry, bagpipes have been played, friendships have been forged and cones put on the heads of statues.

We Have A Dream by BA Robertson, John Gordon Sinclair and The Scotland World Cup Squad:

At no point has there been any trouble as the good reputation of The Tartan Army is paramount to all involved. They are in effect self-policing and I can only imagine the “talking to” anyone who stepped out of line would get. There is even a prediction that there will be a baby boom in Boston in nine months time – lots of ginger-haired babies being born and named Angus or Hamish.

As for the World Cup itself, I was excited as I’ve watched every one since Mexico in 1970 but this time, although great that Scotland were actually there, our matches have all landed at really unsocial hours due to the time difference, so not easy to stay awake and have friends over. I even have to admit that due to coinciding with our Take That Circus Tour weekend, we ended up sleeping through the match that took place during the night we got back, as we were so tired. Anyway, the party is nearly over as it seems there is now little chance that Scotland will progress beyond the group stage due to a pretty disastrous match against Brazil. Yes, The Tartan Army partied on despite the result, but it was a tad embarrassing to watch. England have already progressed beyond the group stage so the result of tonight’s match is academic, but I will stay up to watch it anyway. Let’s see how far they get this time under the tutelage of new manager Thomas Tuchel.

In other news it’s been a sad few days for our town. I was supposed to be at a fund-raising quiz last night and a whole weekend of events had been planned by a local businessman. On Wednesday we got a call from Mr WIAA’s sister saying the quiz was now off – we weren’t too surprised as it was going to be held outdoors and the forecast was for torrential rain, but then she told us the real reason why. The local businessman, a good friend of my brother-in-law, had died suddenly that day.

We were so shocked and there has been an outpouring of grief in our town as just about everyone knew him. From the age of 20 he first ran the shop at our local park, then he added the boating pond, the crazy golf course and an outdoor coffee shop. Anyone with children, grandchildren or dogs (there was a pup menu) had interacted with him over the years as he was such a jovial, friendly and generous chap. The gates to his premises are now closed and many, many bouquets of flowers have been left on the railings. He was only 54 and had a young family. I am glad that my plan to pack as many bucket-list type things into a year has begun, as… you just never know. Going to the park will never be the same again. Cue Itchycoo Park by the Small Faces from 1967. The song’s name was apparently derived from the nickname for Little Ilford Park, near where the Small Faces’ singer and songwriter Steve Marriott grew up. The “itchycoo” nickname was attributed to the stinging nettles which grew there.

But back to the here and now. I deliberately haven’t updated my followers on what is topping the UK Singles Chart for a few weeks now as I was waiting for the Sam Fender/Olivia Dean collaboration Rein Me In to permanently drop from the No. 1 spot. As it turns out, that hasn’t happened and the new chart released yesterday at 6pm places it back at the top. That’s now 14 weeks at No. 1 and exactly a year since it entered the chart. What a success story for the pair.

In the three weeks Rein Me In dropped down the chart (by one place), two songs took up the mantle. First of all it was Ariana Grande’s, Hate That I Made You Love Me, from her latest album Petal. It feels a bit lacklustre to me but the video is certainly compelling and in the style of a 1950s horror movie.

Another pop princess made the top spot for two of those three weeks – Taylor Swift with I Knew It, I Knew You from the newly released Toy Story 5. This song I like much better. It’s an upbeat country pop ballad written by Taylor after seeing the film. Written from the perspective of Jessie, the lyrics are about the narrator’s unexpected reunion with a loved one. If you don’t know who Jessie is, or any of the Toy Story characters, why not? The first film came out a bit before DD was born but a friend loaned us a copy of the video (remember those?) when she was old enough to watch such fodder.

It was brilliant and the jealousy experienced by the old-fashioned cowboy doll named Woody (voiced by Tom Hanks), for new space cadet action figure Buzz Lightyear (voiced by Tim Allen) leads to some hilarious exchanges. No-one wants to be replaced as a favourite toy but their owner Andy is torn. The character Jessie appears in the second film in the franchise. The best Pixar films of all time, in my humble opinion.

So, “What’s It All About?” – Once the group stage is past, the football matches in the World Cup are at the knock-out stage. If you can stand the stress of penalty shootouts there will no doubt be a few of those. I hope England do well as it extends the excitement.

I have no idea when the facilities at the local park will reopen but it’s certainly going to make for a very different summer for schoolchildren on their holidays. Not easy to do I know, but makes you realise you can’t keep putting things off.

Who knows what will top the UK Singles Chart next Friday but not many artists have ever had such a long run as Sam and Olivia. Well done them.

Until next time…

I Knew It, I Knew You Lyrics
(Song by Taylor Swift)

I knew you
Through the daze of the blades of the grass in summer
Parachutes for the free fall of being younger

I memorized the sound of your bare footsteps running wild
It’s been a long time
Life has ways of leaving those days behind
But seeing you tonight

I remembered I loved you
Came back when it mattered
I saw you, standing there in the light of the window
Wearing that same smile
Man, it’s been a while
But I knew it, I knew you
I knew it, I knew you

I knew you, all your blues like a mood ring changing colors
You did too, there were times we could fight like brothers

I watched you drive around the bend
For what I thought would be the last time I saw my friend
But love has ways of bringing things back to life
All you said was, “Hi”

And I remembered I loved you
Came back when it mattered
I saw you, standing there in the light of the window
Wearing that same smile
Man, it’s been a while
But I knew it, I knew you
I knew it, I knew you
I knew it, I knew you

Oh, the rivers I cried when we said goodbye
Wondering if I’d made it up in my mind
But now you look me in the eye

And you told me I loved you
Came back when it mattered
I saw you, standing there in the light of the window
Wearing that same smile
Yeah, it’s been a while
Oh
Wearing that same smile
Man, it’s been a while
Wearing that same smile
Man, it’s been a while
But I knew it, I knew you

I knew it, I knew you
Wearing that same smile
I knew it, I knew youI knew it, I knew you
I knew it

Postscript:

In case you don’t know the story of why fans have been placing traffic cones on statues out in the US, this is why. Back in the 1980s, late night revellers in Glasgow had been known for playfully placing a traffic cone atop the head of the Duke of Wellington’s large equestrian statue in Queen Street. This carried on for many years, costing the City Council a lot to continually remove it. Following a massive public petition in 2013, the council relented and the cone has been allowed to remain. The monument has become a beloved symbol of Glaswegian irreverence and humour with Banksy even calling it his favourite piece of artwork in the UK.

An “Alfie” Anniversary, Blog Names and Cher Turns 80!

Well, despite you all having experienced a heatwave down south this week, we in the far north have had much more manageable temperatures to deal with for which I’m grateful. I did however look out a summer dress for one of our sunny days, which was nice, but it seems rain is now forecast for the foreseeable, which is a bit disappointing as I’m getting myself ready for another meet up with some blogging buddies, this time in Leeds. I will no doubt share some photos next weekend.

But before I do that I want to share with you a snippet of info I stumbled upon recently. It was apparently 60 years ago this week, that the film Alfie had its general release in the UK. Over ten years later, I’m not entirely sure why I chose the opening line from the song Alfie for the title of this blog – I have always liked the work of Burt Bacharach, especially the songs he created with lyricist Hal David, but there must have been more to it than that.

We all have little family phrases that come out in certain situations and if we are pondering something quite difficult in our house, we invariably say, “What’s it all about?” quickly followed by the word, “Alfie”. Our phrases are usually music led, so if the fridge has a few leftovers we say, “We better use it up,” followed by, “and wear it out.” (From the Odyssey song.) If any of us say, “Well, well…,” it’s immediately followed by, “said the rocking chair.” (A Dean Friedman album.) You get the jist. So, I started off calling this blog, “What’s It All About, Alfie?” but then dropped the Alfie after rewatching the film, as Michael Caine’s character hasn’t aged well and I didn’t want this blog associated with him. To be fair, the character Alfie was thoroughly unlikeable back in 1966, but I didn’t really pick up on that so much when I first watched the film, I was more interested in seeing what London was like back in the Swinging 60s.

But anyway, I have written about the song a few times around here, and found out a lot about it. Burt wasn’t all that keen on making the theme song after watching the film, but he thought it should be lyric led, so sent a copy of the film to his writing partner Hal David over on the East Coast. Hal came up with a beautiful set of lyrics that summed up the behaviour of the self-centred character Alfie, and how without true love we merely exist (spoiler alert – he finds that out for himself in the end).

Cilla Black originally took on the song, to be released to promote the film. Burt flew over to London and after a gruelling session where he made her record the song around 30 times, he eventually picked the third take as being the best version. It became a hit in the UK, Australia and New Zealand but it wasn’t until Cher was persuaded to record the song for the actual film soundtrack that it did well in the US. Here are both versions for a compare and contrast.

Alfie by Cilla Black:

Talking of Cher, did you watch the interview on the BBC with her last Saturday night? I stayed up to do just that and was really glad I did. She has just celebrated her 80th birthday but of course age literally is just a number with Cher as she could easily pass for 40. The interviewer was the ubiquitous Rylan, who was just the right person for such an interview. He was starstruck you could tell, but not much wonder. Having read Part 1 of her biography last year, you could fit 10 lifetimes into what she has been through and as she said herself, a biopic would be impossible as the film would last about 24 hours. If you want to watch the interview it’s on the iPlayer for another 23 days.

So, “What’s It All About?” – I think this blog has been going too long now to change the name, so I’m stuck with it. Still refers to the song but also, in a chummy, cockney way, it explains what I’m doing here – delving into the backstory of a song and of how it fits into my life.

I find it more than ironic that 60 years on from the release of a film about a self-centred, womanising, misogynistic male, we seem to be in the eye of a storm where many young men similarly want to treat women really badly. They call the network of websites, blogs, and online forums promoting masculinity, misogyny, and opposition to feminism The Manosphere. We seem to have come full circle. I am no expert on what is going on, but after watching the excellent, award-winning drama Adolescence and the Louis Theroux documentary, Inside the Manosphere (both on Netflix), I’m beginning to understand it all a bit more.

But enough of all that nastiness, I’m off to get ready for my trip to Leeds, a city I’ve never visited before. All being well, I’ll report back next Saturday and let you all know how it went (and how much rain did actually fall!).

Until next time…

Alfie Lyrics
(Song By Burt Bacharach/Hal David)

What’s it all about, Alfie?
Is it just for the moment we live?
What’s it all about when you sort it out, Alfie?
Are we meant to take more than we give?
Or are we meant to be kind?

And if only fools are kind, Alfie
Then I guess it is wise to be cruel
And if life belongs only to the strong, Alfie
What will you lend on an old golden rule?

As sure as I believe there’s a heaven above, Alfie
I know there’s something much more
Something even non-believers can believe in

I believe in love, Alfie
Without true love we just exist, Alfie
Until you find the love you’ve missed you’re nothing, Alfie
When you walk, let your heart lead the way
And you’ll find love any day, Alfie
Alfie

Three New Films: One Sweary, One About Paul & Linda and One About A “Song Sung Blue”

Well, we’ve had absolutely lovely weather up here in The Highlands this week with mild temperatures and blue skies. I love spring, as a whole new world opens up ready to be explored, compared with the indoorsy, dark days of winter. I love it so much I celebrate it’s arrival three times and have done on these pages over the years. Imbolc falls on the 1st of February and was one of the cornerstones of the Celtic/pagan calendar signifying the coming of spring. The success of the new farming season was of great importance and rituals were performed to ensure a steady supply of food until the harvest six months later. The weather forecasters mention meteorological spring which of course falls on the 1st of March, but an even better date is the Vernal Equinox, astronomical spring, when the number of hours of daylight overtakes those of darkness. That fell this year on Friday, the 20th of March and to celebrate I had a lovely walk with a friend along the river that flows through the centre of our town.

Rockery plants in full bloom, the castle and my kitchen flowers

Yes, it’s a fine time to be alive and I’ve done a lot of gardening this weekend, tidying up after winter and getting some of the garden furniture out. There is still another date to come of course, when we turn our clocks forward an hour to BST, and that’s Sunday the 29th of March. Summer, we’re coming to get you.

It’s been a good week to be full of the joys of spring as Mr WIAA has been off with his brother, leading the life of James Bond (without the licence to kill) on the ski slopes of Switzerland and France. This is the longest we’ve been apart for an awful long time but I have to admit I’ve quite enjoyed it. I have a pretty full calendar nowadays so I’ve been out of the house quite a bit and when I am here life is so simple. Catering for one, tidying up after one and exclusive use of both the car, and the remote. It will be lovely to have him home again but as an experiment I think I’ve coped very well as a singleton.

The term singleton came about to describe those who live in a single-person household, especially those who prefer the lifestyle of living alone. It was popularised by the Bridget Jones novels and films, whose lifestyle mirrored my own when I bought my first flat at age 27. I worked hard and also played hard (if that’s not too naff a thing to say), but all the time my friends and I were “going out” to find that special person to “stay in with”. At this stage in life being a singleton would be very different indeed, but I’d like to think I could cope if god forbid it should ever happen.

But I’m probably going to remember this week as being one of watching a lot of really good films. Last weekend we watched I Swear about Scottish lad, John Davidson, who developed Tourette’s Syndrome at the age of 12. It did really well at the BAFTAs although there was a bit of fallout after the inevitable happened at the actual ceremony. It could have been edited out but I suspect those in charge of televising the show were making a point. Anyway, it was very funny (made that way deliberately) but also heart-warming. The real John has done much to raise societal awareness of the condition so that others don’t have to go through what he did as a youth. It’s going to be one of my favourite films of the year.

Once Mr WIAA had left for his trip, I had full control of the remote so the next film I watched was this one, Man On The Run, a Netflix documentary about the years after the break up of the Beatles when Paul McCartney set out on a whole new journey, ending up fronting a highly successful band that I liked a lot during my teenage years, Wings. Did I enjoy it? There was nothing new to learn from the doc but you did get to see a lot of footage from the farm on the Mull of Kintyre. It wasn’t glamorous at all, just a ramshackle holding with outbuildings and sheep, but the growing family could relax and be at one with nature, which really suited them at the time.

What I did take away from it however was that because Paul didn’t deal with the finances, he lost a lot of good band members by not realising they were only being paid a small retainer for being in this new endeavour of his. At first they were flattered to have been asked, but that wears thin after a while. Also, Paul and Linda literally spent all their time together, with Linda even becoming the first recruited member of the new band. It didn’t come naturally to her and the fans at first were pretty scathing but it meant they could carry on being a family unit, wherever the wind took them, which is why they stayed together until Linda sadly died of cancer, at age 56.

It was however lovely hearing all those Wings songs played throughout the doc and they even show the session where they were photographed for the Band On The Run album cover. A veritable who’s who of mid ’70s stars. Can you still name them all?

Band on the Run by Wings:

I’ve almost run out of words which is a shame as I’ve left the best ’til last. My friend came round on Thursday night for cocktails and a film, and it didn’t take long for us to choose Song Sung Blue starring Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson, which is currently on Prime. For once it’s not a biopic but instead the real-life story of a couple from Milwaukee, Wisconsin who back in the mid ’90s start “interpreting the songs of Neil Diamond” (they refused to call themselves a tribute act). They say real life is stranger than fiction and in the case of these two, that was the case. I won’t say much more about them in case of spoilers but suffice to say they became quite big cheeses in their local area. Like with Paul’s doc, we get to hear all those great songs again and it shows what can happen when a couple spend all their time together. Like the film I Swear, it is both funny and heart-warming. Another one for my list of favourite films of the year.

As the actual song, Song Sung Blue, doesn’t seem to put in an appearance in the trailer (strange omission I would have thought) here is Neil on stage performing it in 1972, the year it was released. It was from Neil’s Moods album, and later appeared on many of his compilation albums. The song was a No. 1 hit in the US for one week and reached No. 14 on the UK Singles Chart.

Song Sung Blue by Neil Diamond:

Until next time…

Song Sung Blue Lyrics
(Song by Neil Diamond)

Song sung blue
Everybody knows one
Song sung blue
Every garden grows one

Me and you are subject to the blues now and then
But when you take the blues and make a song
You sing them out again
Sing ’em out again

Song sung blue
Weeping like a willow
Song sung blue
Sleeping on my pillow

Funny thing, but you can sing it with a cry in your voice
And before you know it, get to feeling good
You simply got no choice

Me and you are subject to the blues now and then
But when you take the blues and make a song
You sing them out again

Song (song) sung (sung) blue (blue)
Weeping like a willow
Song (song) sung (sung) blue (blue)
Sleeping on my pillow

Funny thing, but you can sing it with a cry in your voice
And before you know, it started feeling good
You simply got no choice

Song (song) sung (sung) blue (blue)
Song (song) sung (sung) blue (blue)
Funny thing, but you can sing it with a cry in your voice

Postscript:

In case anyone is is interested, here is a picture of the real-life couple who were the inspiration for the film Song Sung Blue, and a link to the documentary made about their lives is included below.

Song Sung Blue – The Original Documentary (The Full, Real Story)

The Infamous Joni Mitchell Bedroom Scene and Spoiling My Surprise

Hope everyone had a good Christmas and were given some lovely presents. Here is our little collection sitting under the tree. There was a tense moment however on Christmas morning, which looked as if it might lead to an “Emma Thompson moment” for me. In case you’ve never watched the much loved Richard Curtis movie Love Actually, Emma Thompson’s character who is married to Harry, had accidentally found a square-shaped box containing a beautiful gold necklace in his coat pocket, which she fully expects to be given as a surprise Christmas present. Come the hour, she opens this “surprise” gift with expectant glee, only to discover that it’s a Joni Mitchell CD boxset, a great present as she’s a big fan, but in that split second she realises that the gold necklace was for someone else, and she has to quickly extricate herself from the room. An emotional scene then takes place where she has to pull herself together before re-emerging to join the family.

Both Sides Now by Joni Mitchell:

I think this emotional scene has traumatised women of a certain age and we all dread getting that metaphorical boxset one day. This year I thought it had happened to me and this is why. Because I keep a tight control on the finances around WIAA Towers, and because we have a shared bank account and credit card, we tend not to be able to give each other surprise presents, but that’s fine by me – I’d rather be solvent than have a diamond ring. We choose our own presents from each other, then wrap them and put them under the tree. This year, just before Christmas Day, I had printed off the latest credit card statement to check all was shipshape only to find a purchase from a local jeweller right at the bottom. I usually question Mr WIAA about any entries that can’t be explained but this time I let it slide as I thought he might, for the first time ever, be surprising me with a piece of jewellery.

And so it came to Christmas morning and as it was just the two of us we had a cup of tea first, and then leisurely started opening the presents under the tree. I had some from friends so opened them first but then I spotted something new, a rectangular box from “Santa”, that hadn’t been there the night before. Aha I thought, the surprise piece of jewellery. I ripped off the paper only to find some toiletries in nice Christmas packaging. My heart sank so I had to question Mr WIAA about the mysterious purchase on the credit card as I didn’t want to be like Emma and have to extricate myself from the room to listen to sad Joni Mitchell songs. It was at this point he reached for a smaller box hiding behind a bottle bag, also from “Santa”. I had kind of spoiled the surprise but it was indeed a box containing the beautiful heart-shaped earrings I’d casually admired when out shopping the previous weekend. He had apparently felt guilty as he’d had quite a few expensive items of sportswear and equipment this year whereas I had just chosen my perennial favourites, a few books, some pyjamas and some eats.

So, “What’s It All About?” – To all those middle-aged women who are now deeply suspicious of a surprise present from their partners because of that particular scene in Love Actually, try not to be. I spoilt my surprise which should have turned out better than it did. Of course it wouldn’t have been spoilt if we didn’t share bank accounts but I’m not quite ready to surrender control, yet. Maybe by next Christmas?

The song Both Sides Now featured in Love Actually was from Joni’s album of the same name, released in the year 2000, featuring the plaintive sounds of a more mature woman.

Until next time…

Both Sides Now Lyrics
(Song by Joni Mitchell)

Rows and flows of angel hair
And ice cream castles in the air
And feather canyons everywhere,
I’ve looked at clouds that way.

But now they only block the sun,
They rain and they snow on everyone
So many things I would have done,
But clouds got in my way.

I’ve looked at clouds from both sides now
From up and down and still somehow
It’s cloud illusions I recall
I really don’t know clouds at all

Moons and Junes and Ferris wheels,
The dizzy dancing way that you feel
As every fairy tale comes real,
I’ve looked at love that way.

But now it’s just another show,
You leave ’em laughing when you go
And if you care, don’t let them know,
Don’t give yourself away.

I’ve looked at love from both sides now
From give and take and still somehow
It’s love’s illusions I recall
I really don’t know love at all

Tears and fears and feeling proud,
To say “I love you” right out loud
Dreams and schemes and circus crowds,
I’ve looked at life that way.

Oh but now old friends they’re acting strange,
They shake their heads, they say I’ve changed
Well something’s lost, but something’s gained
In living every day.

I’ve looked at life from both sides now
From win and lose and still somehow
It’s life’s illusions I recall
I really don’t know life at all

I’ve looked at life from both sides now
From up and down, and still somehow
It’s life’s illusions I recall
I really don’t know life at all

It’s life’s illusions I recall
I really don’t know life
I really don’t know life at all

RIP Diane Keaton – “You Don’t Own Me” and Parallel Lives

My jury duty is now over, so back to my routine of posting something new weekly. Little did I think last time, that I would be writing a tribute for one of my favourite actresses of all time, Diane Keaton. With Robert Redford I didn’t really get a shock when I heard of his death, but with Diane Keaton I most certainly did. First of all I hadn’t realised she was as old as she was (79 when she died), as we have kind of grown up together with her film roles often reflecting what my life was like at the time. Also, although she did have more lines on her face as the years went by (as do I), she always seemed to be smiling which gave her a really youthful appearance.

The first film you think of when reflecting on Diane Keaton’s legacy is Annie Hall, the film made in 1977 that was written specifically for her, and in which she starred with Woody Allen. Diane had frequently collaborated with Woody prior to this and had also played Kay Adams in the Godfather films, but I don’t think I had actually seen them at this point so Annie Hall was my first introduction to her, and what an impact she made.

I had gone to see the film in Aberdeen’s Capitol Theatre one Saturday afternoon in 1978 with my best friend of the time. We had recently left school for University, and as we now lived in the big city, we were able to enjoy all that it had to offer. After watching Diane Keaton in Annie Hall we trawled the very few charity and vintage shops that were available at the time, and kitted ourselves out in baggy trousers, shirts and waistcoats. Such apparel would have looked ridiculous in rural Aberdeenshire but now that we were students it fitted our new personas perfectly. Also, despite looking outwardly quite quirky and different, if an older student or lecturer had entered into conversation with me, I would have become a gibbering wreck, not having yet acquired the confidence needed for such encounters. Inside, I was still that girl from a country school. Like Annie, I would have probably gone down the La-di-da, La-di-da route before making an embarrassing exit.

After watching the clip above last Sunday I kept having the song line, “La-di-da-di-da”, swirling around in my head. I couldn’t remember for a start what the song was, and it certainly wasn’t from the film, but it didn’t take long to work out it was Why, a song from 1982 written by Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards and performed by Carly Simon.

But back to Diane Keaton. Throughout the rest of the 70s, the 80s and beyond she appeared in many, many films, some with Woody Allen, but as time went by, mostly not. She could tackle the serious roles (Reds) just as easily as the romantic comedy ones (Baby Boom), and I loved her in everything she did. In terms of her style, the clothes had changed in the films she made, as did my style as serious jobs and motherhood had entered my life. And this is when a really special moment happened in my life. In around 2010, DD’s good friend Jamie who was a frequent visitor to our house, sent her a film clip with this message: “Omg, I’ve just been watching this film, and one of the actresses looks just like your mum”. Yes, DD’s friend had likened me to Diane Keaton! Although I knew she was a lot prettier than me, I was very flattered, as she had always been the actress I most wanted to be like in real life.

This was that clip from the 1996 film The First Wives Club. I did wear my glasses a lot more around that time, and my hair was of a similar style and colour, so I can see how he thought of me, but I don’t think he ever realised just how big a compliment he had just paid me.

You Don’t Own Me by The Blow Monkeys:

You Don’t Own Me was a pop song recorded by Lesley Gore in 1963, when she was just 17 years old. The song was her second most successful recording and her last top-ten single. It expressed emancipation, as the singer tells a lover she doesn’t want to be held to his hypocritical gender standards, such as not being able to see other men, when he sees other women. The song’s lyrics became an inspiration for younger women and are sometimes cited as a factor in the development of the second wave feminist movement. I don’t have the Lesley Gore version of this song in my library, but I do have this interesting version by The Blow Monkeys, recorded for the film Dirty Dancing which was set in 1963.

My final “Alyson/Diane lead parallel lives” story came about after I watched her in the 2003 film Something’s Gotta Give, with Jack Nicholson. Diane played Erica Barry, a successful writer who lives in a beautiful beach house overlooking the ocean. Although we don’t earn anything from this blogging hobby of ours, I have always been a frustrated writer so it’s a great outlet, also, my dream house would be one by the coast, overlooking the sea. But the big parallel between myself and Erica’s character is that she always wears polo-necks, or turtle-necks as they call them in North America. It’s a standing joke throughout the film, as it is with most of my friends who know that between the months of September and May I only wear cream or black polo-neck jumpers. Between June and August I change into striped T-shirts and shirts, but I never show much flesh.

Having read a lot about Diane since she died last Saturday, it seems her propensity for wearing polo-necks and hats with her quirky outfits in real life, was because she had suffered from recurring bouts of skin cancer, as have I. Not for us the sundresses and skimpy tops of our naturally darker skinned friends, and come September, when I become alabaster white again, I have to add a bit of artificial colour to my face. Having a tanned face but a white neck looks ridiculous, thus the polo-necks. I’ve even managed to source polo-necked evening dresses in the past for posh events!

So, “What’s It All About?” – I am beyond sad that Diane has left us and I hope I have explained in this post just why. She was the actress I most admired and felt close to because of the similarities between us. She will never pop up in anything new again but at least we still have all those great films to revisit time and time again.

RIP Diane Keaton xx

Until next time…

You Don’t Own Me Lyrics
(Song by John Madara/Dave White)

You don’t own me
I’m not just one of your many toys
You don’t own me
Don’t say I can’t go with other boys

And don’t tell me what to do
Don’t tell me what to say
And please, when I go out with you
Don’t put me on display ’cause

You don’t own me
Don’t try to change me in any way
You don’t own me
Don’t tie me down ’cause I’d never stay

I don’t tell you what to say
I don’t tell you what to do
So just let me be myself
That’s all I ask of you

I’m young, and I love to be young
I’m free, and I love to be free
To live my life the way I want
To say and do whatever I please

And don’t tell me what to do
Oh, don’t tell me what to say
And please, when I go out with you
Don’t put me on display

I don’t tell you what to say
Oh, don’t tell you what to do
So just let me be myself
That’s all I ask of you

I’m young, and I love to be young
I’m free and I love to be free
To live my life the way I want
To say and do whatever I please

More Robert Redford Mem’ries and Hubbell Relationships

Last time I wrote about the death of Robert Redford and of how I had been a big fan during my late teenage years. I even shared an old photo of the large poster I had of him on my bedroom wall. The time before that, I wrote about having spent a lot of time this summer reconnecting with very old friends, and of how it had been such a joy reminiscing about those things that made us friends in the first place. This week I discovered the sequel series to one of my favourite ever shows on telly, Sex and the City, featuring Carrie Bradshaw and her pals, and all three subjects have somehow converged to create this post.

The day I heard Robert Redford had died I was due to visit a friend for the evening as her husband was away and she had the house to herself. A film, a few snacks and a couple of supermarket cocktails is how we usually roll (we’re cheap dates), but this time I made the special request to watch The Way We Were, my favourite Robert Redford weepie. It also starred Barbra Streisand and covered the period from when their characters, Hubbell Gardiner and Katie Morosky, first met at college right through to the years they lived together in a beach house in Malibu, him writing for the Hollywood film industry and her primarily a housewife, albeit one with very strong political views.

Barbra Streisand doesn’t sing in that one but she did record the theme song of the same name, The Way We Were, where the lyrics detail the troubled relationship her character had with with the aforementioned Hubbell Gardiner.

The Way We Were by Barbra Streisand:

The very final scene of the film, however, jumps forward many years to New York [spoiler alert: they are no longer together] where Katie and Hubbell meet by chance in front of the Plaza Hotel – Katie is campaigning to Ban the Bomb. It’s a difficult encounter (“Your girl is lovely, Hubbell.”) as they have so much history and still probably love each other, but they both have new lives and partners, and have to ultimately part with a tender, bittersweet farewell. This scene always makes me break down in tears but because of the meds I’ve been on since being ill, I have lost the ability to cry – I had to make do with just being really sad instead. Here is a clip of that scene:

That emotional final scene

Ironically I had never watched The Way We Were all the way through until it was referenced in an episode from the original series of Sex and the City. It became one of my favourite scenes when Carrie finally realises that her failed relationship with Big (the nickname her ex-boyfriend was given because he was supposed to be The Big One, the one she married) was down to the same reason that it didn’t work out for Robert Redford and Barbra Streisand in The Way We Were. The world is made up of “complicated girls” with wild curly hair (Carrie and Barbra) and “simple girls”, the ones with tame straight hair. Big and Hubbell chose the simple girls.

The Hubbell Moment

Even before Redford’s death, I had already been thinking about Hubbell Relationships ahead of my recent trip to The Granite City, my old stomping ground. My trip was purely to meet up with as many old friends as I could and it was really successful – even after more than 45 years apart, the meet-ups I had with old school friends were joyous affairs, with so much to reminisce about.

One person I would have loved to meet up with is mentioned around here often as he is kind of “My Hubbell”. We shared a love for ’70s/’80s music so he pops up in my posts as the s/bf (school boyfriend), again as the s/bf (student boyfriend) and sometimes the BOTT (the boyfriend of the time), when we were in our 20s. Many of us have a Hubbell, and there is no-one from those days I would have more to reminisce about with, but it just isn’t possible. We didn’t particularly part on bad terms, but it became obvious, again like with Hubbell and Katie, that we weren’t “going to make it”. I’m not particularly complicated and certainly don’t have wild curly hair like Carrie Bradshaw but the situation at the end was quite complicated, so there has been very little communication in nearly 40 years. I know Mr WIAA would get on well with him, as they are very alike, but bar bumping into each other outside the New York Plaza, probably not going to happen.

Do you have a Hubbell or a Katie, someone you shared so much with but then never saw again, or did you stay “friends”? I would love to hear about it in the comments boxes.

There have been lots of film clips in this post and not much music, but just the way it’s turned out. I feel I have to add the lyrics to The Way We Were despite them being a tad oversentimental (you don’t say!). The song was written by Alan Bergman, Marilyn Bergman, and Marvin Hamlisch, and it won two Academy Awards. The single was also a commercial success becoming 1974’s most successful recording in the United States placed at number one on the Billboard Year-End Hot 100. In the UK we are probably all more familiar with the Gladys Knight & The Pips version, also from 1974, where she did a bit of a mash-up with the song Try To Remember.

Try To Remember/The Way We Were by Gladys Knight & The Pips

Until next time…

The Way We Were Lyrics
(Song by Alan Bergman, Marilyn Bergman/Marvin Hamlisch)

Mem’ries light the corners of my mind
Misty water-colored memories of the way we were
Scattered pictures of the smiles we left behind
Smiles we gave to one another for the way we were

Can it be that it was all so simple then
Or has time re-written every line?
If we had the chance to do it all again
Tell me, would we? Could we?

Mem’ries may be beautiful and yet
What’s too painful to remember
We simply choose to forget

So it’s the laughter we will remember
Whenever we remember the way we were
The way we were

RIP Robert Redford – Songs from Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

One of the last great actors from Hollywood’s Golden Age left us last week and I’ve had a really enjoyable time reading all the tributes that have been written about him since. He lived to the grand old age of 89 and had achieved so much in his life so it wasn’t one of those really tragic deaths but the natural conclusion to a life well-lived. By all accounts he was a Prince Among Men – a man with great integrity who just happened to be blessed with golden good looks and the skills to be a talented actor and director. He was an environmentalist and a great supporter of independent cinema, setting up the Sundance Institute and the Sundance Film Festival, helping to foster a new generation of filmmakers.

I became a big fan of both Paul Newman and Robert Redford after watching them in the film Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. I wrote about songs from the film in my first year of blogging and looking back it doesn’t seem to have ever been read by anyone, so I’m going to share it again. I have another Redford film to write about that’s also featured around here, but I’ll leave that one until next time.

First published 28th August 2016

When is a song not a song? Why of course when it’s one of those pad a dap a dapadda, doob be doobee doop, pum… pum… pum… padadappada type numbers performed by vocal harmony groups. I read a review this week for the 1969 film Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and immediately had those scenes in my head where Butch and Sundance are being chased down by the posse, led by white-hatted Lefors (“Who are those guys?”). It becomes clear they have to flee, and so they head to Bolivia with Sundance’s schoolteacher lover, in search of a more successful criminal career. Throughout the movie we are treated to Burt Bacharach’s amazing soundtrack, and when they hit Bolivia, it is the perfect cue for South American Getaway.

South American Getaway by Burt Bacharach:

Now I had always thought that this part of the soundtrack was by The Swingle Singers, that a cappella group that seemed to pop up with great regularity on Saturday night telly in the 1970s, but no, South American Getaway was by the Ron Hicklin Singers, a group of Los Angeles-based studio singers. They are most famously known as being the real backing singers behind The Partridge Family recordings but also worked on The Good, the Bad and the Ugly theme, MacArthur Park and Suicide Is Painless (the theme to the film M*A*S*H). They were the vocal equivalent of (and often worked with) The Wrecking Crew, that bunch of top session musicians who played on many ’60s and ’70s records. They were the house band for Phil Spector but also worked with Sonny & Cher, The Beach Boys, The Mamas & the Papas, Frank Sinatra and even Elvis. Getting back to the Ron Hicklin Singers, Ron himself was lead tenor but there was also an alto, a soprano, a bass and a couple of brothers called Bahler, who performed tenor harmonies on South American Getaway.

I was too young to have seen Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid at the cinema in 1969 so would only have seen it a few years later on television, but what an impact it made. The two lead actors, Paul Newman and Robert Redford had amazing on-screen chemistry, and for me, it marked the start of a major crush on both of them. In 1974 Paul Newman starred in The Towering Inferno, one of the many disaster movies around at that time and fortunately I was now old enough to see it at the cinema. The blue-eyed Mr Newman was actually five years older than my dad by that time which seems kind of creepy now but with film stars the whole age thing never seems to matter and even today stars like Brad Pitt and Johnny Depp, who are positively middle-aged, are adored by legions of young female fans around the world.

Around this time it was deemed that my childhood bedroom was in need of redecoration and I was given carte blanche on what the new scheme should be. (Bear with me here, there is a reason for this bit of sidestepping.) Down came the ’60s style wallpaper and the posters of Donny Osmond, David Cassidy and Bjorn Borg, and up went woodchip wallpaper, which could be painted any colour I wanted. After pouring over paint charts for some time I went for an attractive mustard colour which would, I thought, look good with my new brown and orange curtains. Of course paint charts can be notoriously misleading and once my dad had finished the room it was most definitely a khaki green colour as opposed to mustard but hey, I was happy, it being so modern with the woodchip an’ all.

One of the house rules for this newly decorated bedroom was that there were to be fewer posters and certainly none attached with drawing pins – Instead I could use that new-fangled stuff called blu-tack. And so it came to pass that a giant poster of Paul Newman was purchased and a slightly smaller one of Robert Redford to feature on the newly painted khaki green walls. I honestly think they remained there until I left home about four years later so I obviously stayed true to this pair for a sizeable chunk of my teenage years.

Because I usually end a post with lyrics, which is not really possible with South American Getaway, I will also include a clip of the most familiar piece of music from that film’s soundtrack, Raindrops Keep Fallin’ On My Head. Again this was a Bacharach composition and I always knew that the person singing it in the film was BJ Thomas but of course in the UK at the start of 1970, it was that dashing Frenchman Sacha Distel who got to No. 10 in the UK Singles Chart with the song.

Raindrops Keep Fallin’ On My Head by BJ Thomas:

It’s a bizarre kind of song to have inserted into a film about The Wild West but somehow it just works. This was a film all about the relationship between Butch, Sundance and Katharine Ross’s character Etta Place. Despite the desperately sad ending, there were just so many comedic moments and the scene on the bicycle kind of summed it up for me. Over the years I have tried to put together the recipe for a “perfect day” and a lot of the ingredients are contained within the video for this song:

It’s got to be a sunny day and if dappled sunlight is present (like here) even better.
Got to be with good friends you can truly relax with and be yourself.
Got to be wearing possibly quirky, but definitely comfortable, casual clothes.
Important that there is no timetable or agenda for the day so that you can just go with the flow.
Not got to be a costly day but to be full of simple pleasures.
Get to go home to your own bed at night!

Not for everyone I know but works for me and watching the scene from the film again, I just love how Butch and Etta have that easy relaxed friendship, riding around in dappled sunlight, picking apples from the tree. Very late ’60s indeed and oh to have been Miss Ross on that very special day. Stepford was still many years in the future so for the time-being, until the going got a bit tough down Bolivia-way, she could enjoy being part of one of the most famous trios in film history.

Raindrops Keep Fallin’ On My Head Lyrics
(Song by Burt Bacharach/Hal David)

Raindrops are falling on my head
And just like the guy whose feet
Are too big for his bed
Nothing seems to fit
Those raindrops
Are falling on my head
They keep falling

So I just did me some
Talking to the sun
And I said I didn’t like the way
He got things done
Sleeping on the job
Those raindrops
Are falling on my head
They keep fallin’

But there’s one thing I know
The blues they send to meet me
Won’t defeat me, it won’t be long
Till happiness
Steps up to greet me

Raindrops keep falling on my head
But that doesn’t mean my eyes
Will soon be turning red
Crying’s not for me ’cause,
I’m never gonna stop the rain
By complaining,
Because I’m free
Nothing’s worrying me

It won’t be long
Till happiness
Steps up to greet me

Raindrops keep falling on my head
But that doesn’t mean my eyes
Will soon be turning red
Crying’s not for me cause,
I’m never gonna stop the rain
By complaining,
Because I’m free, ’cause nothing’s worrying me

Postscript:

As luck would have it I’ve just found a photo of my teenage bedroom and I think I made a mistake – Robert Redford was the large poster and Paul Newman the smaller one. Shows off the mustard/khaki walls too (and Sandra the doll!).

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