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"A 31 de dezembro de 1968, cerca de 150 católicos entraram na igreja de S. Domingos, em Lisboa, e nela permaneceram durante a noite, depois de o papa Paulo VI ter decidido, no mesmo mês, que 1 de janeiro passaria a ser assinalado pela Igreja como Dia Mundial da Paz.
A iniciativa contra a guerra colonial, e de oposição ao regime ditatorial de então, foi vigiada pela polícia política, tendo terminado sem incidentes. Sophia de Mello Breyner escreveu propositadamente para essa vigília a "Cantata da Paz", que ficou conhecida pelos primeiros versos, «Vemos, ouvimos e lemos/ Não podemos ignorar». Quatro anos depois, nos últimos dias de 1972, ocorreu na Capela do Rato nova vigília de protesto contra o regime, que acabou com a invasão do templo por parte da polícia. Os participantes foram levados para a esquadra e a maioria foi presa.» Cantata da paz, de Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen (poema) e Francisco Fernandes (música), por Francisco Fanhais – cantata gravada em 1970 pelo então padre Francisco Fanhais, foi uma das canções de intervenção que mais se cantaram em Portugal a partir desse ano e até 1974, ano da implantação da democracia."
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"Melody is the soundtrack album for the film Melody (or S.W.A.L.K., the name it was initially marketed under in the U.K.). It was released in 1971 and is performed by the Bee Gees, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, and Barry Howard (aka Al Barry) of The Aces, Desmond Dekker's backing group. It reached No. 1 on the Japanese charts. "In the Morning" was first recorded in 1965 by The Bee Gees, and was re-recorded in 1970 for the film; its title was changed to "Morning of My Life", though the song is credited under its original title on the album. The songs "Melody Fair", "First of May", and "Give Your Best" were originally released on The Bee Gees' 1969 album Odessa."
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"The synth-pop legends will release new album ‘Nonetheless’ on April 26th, revisiting their classic relationship with Parlophone in the process. New single ‘Dancing Star’ is out now, and it’s typically sublime – Pet Shop Boys have never let us down, but equally their current work contains much to adore. Infused with those decades of experience, there’s also a sense of shimmering light, and supple nuance. ‘Dancing Star’ twitches with energy and hope, the lyrics prompted by the life of the ballet dancer, Rudolf Nureyev. A true artist, the ballet icon defected from the Soviet Union, embracing freedom in both his life and practise to become a global icon. The song has a theatrical feel, with Pet Shop Boys yearning for the stage, for the rush of body movement."
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"The Only Thing is undoubtedly the most important song in my life. It’s not the most listened to but its meaning surpasses any other method of quantifying music. All throughout secondary school I had bouts of deep, deep depression. Skipping the details, simply put I couldn’t imagine a better future. Nothing else really gave me hope except for the smaller things. Maybe cliché, but sunsets, a beautiful painting, a mom laughing with her toddler on the bus, an adorable dog by the grocery store, reading in a bookstore, a kind smile exchanged with a stranger — small things would move me to tears but kindle that impossible to describe bittersweet hope and longing somewhere deep inside me. By God the world is beautiful, I would think. We are all so small but so significant to each other. It’s all so temporary and sorrowful, but full of wonder."
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"Jeremy Gordon stated that, " 'Should Have Known Better' takes us back to the beginning he remembers, where Carrie leaves him in a video store at the age of 'three, maybe four.' In a hushed voice, he sings like he's clinging onto a blanket for warmth as he fixates on the black shroud that enveloped him in the wake of her absence, muting his ability to transparently express himself." Gordon continues, "But halfway through, an uplifting electric keyboard line kicks in; a subtle percussive note steadily taps out a reminder to keep going; his voice shakes off the ice and forms a chorus with itself, flowering into something hopeful. Sufjan flips the melody from the black shroud into a tender lyric about shoving aside his fear, discovering an oasis of perspective when he looks to his brother's newborn daughter and sees his mother in her face. When he sings 'nothing can be changed,' he doesn't sound resigned, but ready to look forward. It's the dawn at the end of a long night, a prayer that past traumas might be healed by a beautiful present."
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"Scarborough Fair" (Roud 12, Child 2) is a traditional English ballad. The song lists a number of impossible tasks given to a former lover who lives in Scarborough, North Yorkshire. The "Scarborough/Whittingham Fair" variant was most common in Yorkshire and Northumbria, where it was sung to various melodies, often using Dorian mode, with refrains resembling "parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme" and "Then she'll be a true love of mine." It appears in Traditional Tunes by Frank Kidson published in 1891, who claims to have collected it from Whitby. The famous melody was collected from Mark Anderson (1874–1953), a retired lead miner from Middleton-in-Teesdale, County Durham, England, by Ewan MacColl in 1947. This version was recorded by a number of musicians in the 20th century, including the most iconic version by the 1960s folk rock duo Simon & Garfunkel, who learned it from Martin Carthy. However, a slightly different version (referred to as "The Cambric Shirt", or "Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme") was recorded by John Lomax decades earlier in 1939 in the United States."
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"Disappointed" is the fourth single released by English alternative dance group Electronic. Like their first single "Getting Away with It", it features Neil Tennant of the Pet Shop Boys as well as founding members Johnny Marr and Bernard Sumner. It was released on 22 June 1992 on Parlophone soon after the demise of Factory Records. The single was assigned the Factory catalogue number FAC 348, and the logo of the label remained on the artwork. Upon the song's release, it reached the top 20 in Germany, Greece, Ireland, Portugal, Sweden, and the United Kingdom, and it peaked within the top 10 on three US Billboard charts. In July 1992, the song was featured in the soundtrack of the live-action/animation hybrid mystery movie Cool World; its inclusion both in the film and on its soundtrack album was advertised on the US single release."
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"Archie, Marry Me" is a song by Canadian indie pop band Alvvays. It was released on April 6, 2013, as the lead single from the band's eponymous debut album (2014). "Archie, Marry Me" examines modern romance and traditional marriage, and touches on themes of commitment and financial stability. It was written by vocalist and guitarist Molly Rankin with guitarist Alec O'Hanley as a critique of the standard societal expectation that one is to marry upon entering adulthood. Rankin and O'Hanley were romantically linked, and had been collaborating for some time creatively. Then in their mid-twenties, they observed with derision friends quickly being wed. "Archie" was first developed during a period in which they lived on Prince Edward Island in a remote farmhouse. The song and accompanying album were produced by Chad VanGaalen, and recorded at his studio, Yoko Eno, in Calgary, Alberta. The song's lo-fi music video, filmed on a Super 8 camera, pictures Rankin at a wedding reception and sailing on the sea. "Archie" was the first song the band released; it debuted digitally via the band's website before the band was signed to a label. It was later released on Royal Mountain Records, in their home country. In the U.S. and Europe, it was distributed through Polyvinyl and Transgressive Records, respectively. Though it did not chart, "Archie" was considered the band's breakthrough hit; it grew in popularity in the mid-2010s on streaming services. Critical reviews of the track were very positive, praising its bittersweet tone and lyrical content. It was ranked on several best-of lists in 2014, and has been called a "indie-pop classic."
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"After listening to Carrie and Lowell dozens of times now, I've determined that the song John My Beloved perplexes me more than any other. Some people say it's about his lover, others say it's about his mother. I don't think it's about either. The song is full of biblical references and I think the song is about Sufjan's struggle to maintain his relationship with Jesus after his mother's death. "Beloved of John" is clearly addressing Jesus, since John was one of Jesus's favorite and most devoted disciples. Sufjan is saying that he made a mistake for reading the bible only as "some kind of poem." Later in the verse he asks if the "fossils" he finds have any life on their own. I think he is asking if the people who have passed away in his life still have any life of if they are just fossils. In the first chorus, he asks Jesus to "pretend" to listen to his "greedy demands" and then realized that he is dead without Jesus. In the second verse, he continues to struggle with the rejection of Jesus and trying to deal with things on his own. The story of Icarus is referenced, and correct me if I'm wrong but I believe this is the story where the boy flies to close to the sun and melts his wings thus falling to his death. He asks, "lord hear my prayer" but immediately follows this request with a line that communicates he feels he has wasted his time doing so. He then asks "can we be friends" in the following chorus saying that the world is just broken and lonely. The "tongue on your chest" line has always thrown me for a loop and I'm interested to hear some of your thoughts on it, but I think it means that he is trying to taste the love of Jesus, but frozen and holding his breath at the same time. "Kiss on my cheek" sounds like a reference to the way Judas betrayed Jesus, symbolizing the fact that Sufjan too betrayed him at times. But now in his life there only remains a mark reminding him of what he did. At the end of that verse he says "my fossil is bright in the sun" showing that he is still saved by the light of Jesus. Finally he "contends" that he needs Jesus in the last chorus saying that even though he feels dead God is there to save him when "fossils fall on his head." The death of his mother certainly hit him hard but he knows that the love and light of Jesus is still there to protect him."
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"Living in Extraordinary Times has been described as an indie rock release, incorporating elements of the music of U2, Underworld, Interpol, the Killers, the Courteeners, and Keane. All of the songs on the album were credited to Booth, Glennie, Davies and Hunter, with the exception of "Coming Home (Pt.2)", which was credited to the four of them and former member Larry Gott. A few years previously, Glennie started playing what Booth called "sexy" grooves, which made their way into new material. Encouraged by Booth's love of grooves during a song, drummer David Baynton-Power incorporated them into the songs. The grooves were aided by a collaboration with Andrew and Giles, both of whom were drummers and suggested a number of rhythmic ideas."
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"This live performance of John Prine's "Hello in There" is a must-see if you're a fan of Prine, Michael Stipe, Natalie Merchant, or Billy Bragg. I happen to be a huge fan of all of them, so seeing Stipe, Merchant, and Bragg performing one of my favorite Prine songs is a great pleasure—I hope you enjoy it too! According to Natalie Merchant's YouTube site, which uploaded the video, it was recorded in 1990, in Glasgow, Scotland – "a first concert stop before heading to the former Soviet Bloc just after the collapse of the Berlin Wall."
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"The track opens with jaunty piano as if he were channeling Elton John or Ben Folds in a tribute to pop music. Twin trumpets pick up the theme and bolster it with a robust confidence as if revisiting adolescence has filled Condon with a renewed swagger. But when his vocal finally enters after the 37-second intro, it’s anything but self-assured. “Left a bag of bones, a trail of stones for to find my way home,” the rootless traveler laments, later adding, “I am lost and not found.” Both the trumpet melody and the vocal melody bear the composer’s stamp, “something personal,” but they create very different emotional effects, as if reflecting an internal dialogue between optimism and doubt. “It’s almost as if the trumpet is the character I want to be, and the voice is the character I am,” Condon confesses. “The vocal is like the shy kid at the party who wants to be the center of attention; you can try to do something about it but that something is not really who you are.”
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"Powderfinger" opens the second side of Neil Young's classic Rust Never Sleeps album, heralding the record's shift from the delicate and elegiac acoustic approach of the first half to the desperate, corrosive sound of Crazy Horse in full electric stride; it's a sudden, almost blindsiding metamorphosis, which is entirely the point -- it's the shot you never saw coming. As the centerpiece of Young's epic meditation on history, mortality, and violence, "Powderfinger" is, like so many of the album's songs, an epitaph. Set in the Old West, it tells the story of a young man left virtually alone to defend his family and frontier settlement against attack, sacrificing his life not in a blaze of glory but in the paralyzed grip of indecision and fear. Although "Powderfinger"'s vividly poetic first-person narrative evokes traditional folk storytelling, Crazy Horse's performance is pure, incendiary rock & roll, with Young's riveting guitar solos expanding to mythic proportions as the song builds toward its harrowing climax. "Just think of me as one you never figured/Would fade away so young/With so much left undone," the fallen hero sings from beyond the grave, echoing Rust Never Sleeps' central and oft-quoted maxim that "It's better to burn out than to fade away"; of course, for better or worse, rock & roll guarantees your immortality either way."
