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Uplifting Thoughts for the Isolated and Depressed in Times of Plague

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In 1960, Leonard Cohen was on vacation on the Greek island of Hydra. There he met and befriended Marianne Jensen, born Ihlen. Her husband, the Norwegian writer Axel Jensen, had left her and their six-month-old son alone on the island. The two hit it off, and Cohen took her from Hydra back to her home in Oslo, Norway. He later invited her and her son to live with him in Montreal. The two lived together throughout the 1960s. He often called her his muse. On his debut album in 1967, he included this song. Here is the song with snapshots of the two young lovers.
 
Chuck Berry's original lyrics
It was a teenage wedding, and the old folks wished them well
You could see that Pierre did truly love the mademoiselle
And now the young monsieur and madame have rung the chapel bell
"C'est la vie", say the old folks, it goes to show you never can tell

They furnished off an apartment with a two room Roebuck sale
The coolerator was crammed with TV dinners and ginger ale
But when Pierre found work, the little money comin' worked out well
"C'est la vie", say the old folks, it goes to show you never can tell

They had a hi-fi phono, boy, did they let it blast
Seven hundred little records, all rock, rhythm and jazz
But when the sun went down, the rapid tempo of the music fell
"C'est la vie", say the old folks, it goes to show you never can tell

They bought a souped-up jitney, 'twas a cherry red '53
They drove it down to Orleans to celebrate the anniversary
It was there that Pierre was married to the lovely mademoiselle
"C'est la vie", say the old folks, it goes to show you never can tell

Roebuck Sale - Sears and Roebuck catalog sold almost everything from whole room sets to build it yourself houses!

Coolerator - The Coolerator Company manufactured refrigerators and sold them in every state and 74 foreign nations. It began in 1908 as the Duluth Showcase Company, a manufacturer of store fixtures in Downtown Duluth. The company ceased operations in June 1954.

TV dinners - The new cultural phenomenon of the 1950s, a meal in front of the television, led to that gourmet advance, the frozen TV dinner. Developed in 1953 by C.A. Swanson & Sons, the name in full was TV Brand Frozen Dinner. The original TV Dinner came in an aluminum tray and was heated in an oven.

Ginger Ale - only the best-imported stuff from Canada Dry!

Hi-Fi phono/little records - turntable for 45 RPM records; Tube amplifier.

Souped-up jitney - modified for speed, hot-rod, not a bus.

Orleans - Not France, sorry @messaline ; but New Orleans Louisiana.
 
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Many regard the late Leonard Bernstein leading the New York Philharmonic as the definite presenter of the work of Gustav Mahler. Here is the fourth movement of the Symphony #4. The movement, indeed the whole symphony is built around the song, "Das himmlische Leben" a child's vision of heaven.

Wir genießen die himmlischen Freuden,
D'rum tun wir das Irdische meiden.
Kein weltlich' Getümmel
Hört man nicht im Himmel!
Lebt alles in sanftester Ruh'.
Wir führen ein englisches Leben,
Sind dennoch ganz lustig daneben;
Wir tanzen und springen,
Wir hüpfen und singen,
Sankt Peter im Himmel sieht zu.

Johannes das Lämmlein auslasset,
Der Metzger Herodes d'rauf passet.
Wir führen ein geduldig's,
Unschuldig's, geduldig's,
Ein liebliches Lämmlein zu Tod.
Sankt Lucas den Ochsen tät schlachten
Ohn' einig's Bedenken und Achten.
Der Wein kost' kein Heller
Im himmlischen Keller;
Die Englein, die backen das Brot.

Gut' Kräuter von allerhand Arten,
Die wachsen im himmlischen Garten,
Gut' Spargel, Fisolen
Und was wir nur wollen.
Ganze Schüsseln voll sind uns bereit!
Gut' Äpfel, gut' Birn' und gut' Trauben;
Die Gärtner, die alles erlauben.
Willst Rehbock, willst Hasen,
Auf offener Straßen
Sie laufen herbei!
Sollt' ein Fasttag etwa kommen,
Alle Fische gleich mit Freuden angeschwommen!
Dort läuft schon Sankt Peter
Mit Netz und mit Köder
Zum himmlischen Weiher hinein.[note 1]
Sankt Martha die Köchin muß sein.

Kein' Musik ist ja nicht auf Erden,
Die unsrer verglichen kann werden.
Elftausend Jungfrauen
Zu tanzen sich trauen.
Sankt Ursula selbst dazu lacht.
Kein' Musik ist ja nicht auf Erden,
Die unsrer verglichen kann werden.
Cäcilia mit ihren Verwandten
Sind treffliche Hofmusikanten!
Die englischen Stimmen
Ermuntern die Sinnen,
Daß alles für Freuden erwacht.

We enjoy heavenly pleasures
and therefore avoid the earthly stuff.
No worldly tumult
is to be heard in heaven.
All live in greatest peace.
We lead angelic lives,
yet have a merry time of it besides.
We dance and we spring,
We skip and we sing.
Saint Peter in heaven looks on.

John lets the lambkin out,
and Herod the Butcher lies in wait for it.
We lead a patient,
an innocent, patient,
dear little lamb to its death.
Saint Luke slaughters the ox
without any thought or concern.
Wine doesn't cost a penny
in the heavenly cellars;
The angels bake the bread.

Good greens of every sort
grow in the heavenly vegetable patch,
good asparagus, string beans,
and whatever we want.
Whole dishfuls are set for us!
Good apples, good pears and good grapes,
and gardeners who allow everything!
If you want roebuck or hare,
on the public streets
they come running right up.
Should a fast day come along,
all the fishes at once come swimming with joy.
There goes Saint Peter running
with his net and his bait
to the heavenly pond.
Saint Martha must be the cook.

There is just no music on earth
that can compare to ours.
Even the eleven thousand virgins
venture to dance,
and Saint Ursula herself has to laugh.
There is just no music on earth
that can compare to ours.
Cecilia and all her relations
make excellent court musicians.
The angelic voices
gladden our senses,
so that all awaken for joy.
 
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John Sebastian (né Pugliese), was a noted classical harmonica player who graduated from the same college as I did, His son, John Sebastian dropped out of New York University to be a musician. He was one of the seminal founders of the "Jug Band" style. The music owed much to the Appalacian music of the "hillbillies." With their often extreme poverty, they would improvise lost cost instruments such as a washboard or a whiskey jug. Sebastian's group, The Lovin' Spoonful, was famous for "feel good" music.
Right now, I'm very much in need of uplifting and I know nothing better than

Yeah, believe in the magic of a young girl's soul​
I do, since meeting a special girl, here!
 
I will never really understand how and why the human memory is working with some strange connections about persons and circumstance in our memory.
Last week, an aunt of mine, a 4 years younger sister of my mother passed away unexpectedly alone in her kitchen in Romania. She seemed to have had a sudden heart attack because of a weak heart as a doctor said 60 years ago and he told her, she possibly would not become old. Mhm, she was 84 and so much for reliable doctor's predictions.
In any case, I had some of my earliest memories with her and some pictures and music in my brain - and I think, this can hardly be true because I must have been 3 or 4 years old for these memories. First, I remember her at a day when there were everywhere national flags with black ribbons in my German home town and I asked her why there are these many flags which I have never seen before and never after and she answered: "It is because the old German ex-chancellor Adenauer died yesterday." This was in April 1967 and I must have been 4 years old. The next memory of around the same time is this song from the radio which I found wonderful already as a small child and even today, I must say, I simply have had - and still have - a really very good taste for music (and these three things belong together in my memory although they have nothing in common but the same time for me: my aunt, the German nationals flags with additional black ribbons and this music):

 
Silent_Water said:
I will never really understand how and why the human memory is working with some strange connections about persons and circumstance in our memory.
Last week, an aunt of mine, a 4 years younger sister of my mother passed away unexpectedly alone in her kitchen in Romania. She seemed to have had a sudden heart attack because of a weak heart as a doctor said 60 years ago and he told her, she possibly would not become old. Mhm, she was 84 and so much for reliable doctor's predictions.
In any case, I had some of my earliest memories with her and some pictures and music in my brain - and I think, this can hardly be true because I must have been 3 or 4 years old for these memories. First, I remember her at a day when there were everywhere national flags with black ribbons in my German home town and I asked her why there are these many flags which I have never seen before and never after and she answered: "It is because the old German ex-chancellor Adenauer died yesterday." This was in April 1967 and I must have been 4 years old. The next memory of around the same time is this song from the radio which I found wonderful already as a small child and even today, I must say, I simply have had - and still have - a really very good taste for music (and these three things belong together in my memory although they have nothing in common but the same time for me: my aunt, the German nationals flags with additional black ribbons and this music):

Click to expand...
I have similar memories of my grandmother as she played the paino. Its my only memory of her and I was young, my head barley reached the keyboard!
And there is nothing wrong with Judith Durham of the Seekers!
You won't understand it but it will reach into your soul, the Fijian Farewell.


 
Concerning the origins of melodies and songs, I think, some time or only a hundred years in the future, it will be difficult for many people to find out where some melodies were played for the first time, because listening to good music is a human wish and necessity all over the world and I would not really be surprised to find some of the best human tunes and melodies on the other side of our globe or in a more natural sound sung by some indigenous people.
Especially Polynesia seems to have had some wonderful choir songs and for many of the first European sailors who came there, the societies there must have looked like a real paradise on Earth. Sometimes, even I feel sorry and pity the Polynesians that the Europeans got so far with their ships.
In any case, in 1971, there was a party hit in Germany which was heard in the original version by a rich German music manager on his holiday in Papeete, Tahiti in 1970. This hit made it around the globe again and as far as I know, the English version sung by the German singer was then also a success in Australia although it would have been easier for the Australians to listen to their Polynesian neighbours than taking this song from the German singer "Tony Marshall":





The Original sound from Polynesia and Tahiti:





And I just found by accident a version of the song of "The Seekers" which looks a bit more Polynesian:

 
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I have heard this song is played more often now in German hospitals and old people's homes in order to remember the personnel there to look for and control the regular breathing of the patients more often because Covid-19 can suddenly stop the automatic breathing system in human bodies - especially of older persons.
I think, when they also could play this video, the people there would automatically breath more often than before:

 
In 1968, B. J. Thomas wrote and recorded this fun love song - "Girl you keep me thirsty for another cup of wine." (sounds like @Barbaria1 doesn't it)

Then in 1973, the Swedish Band, Blue Swede, covered it. Showing the remarkable ability with lyrics of the Swedish, they added the classic opening lines:
Ooga-Chaka Ooga-Ooga
Ooga-Chaka Ooga-Ooga
Ooga-Chaka Ooga-Ooga
Ooga-Chaka Ooga-Ooga
Ooga-Chaka Ooga-Ooga
 
Another case of reinterpreting a song:
The Supremes had a hit in 1966 with "You Keep Me Hanging On". It was a bouncy Motown number. a dancable break-up song.
Then, about a year later, Vanilla Fudge gave it the acid rock treatment. They slowed it down and, IMHO, Mark Steins vocals make it seem more like a break-up song.
Then, in 1986, Kim Wilde gave it a disco treatment.
Frankly, the result is the best possible display of Wilde's limited talent and makes you appreciate the earlier versions.
 
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