I was listening to All Things Considered (NPR) the other night, when I heard a band from Winnipeg (The Duhks) play a song with these lyrics:
These dance hall girls, they don't treat you kind
They give you their bodies, but you never reach their minds
Well, they fill you up with lipstick lies
When they put you down some, don't ya be surprised
Is this the way it always is, here in Baltimore?
Well, I saw her mountains, and I kissed her plains
I held her sunshine, and I drank her rains
Well, I went so far, that I broke too fast
Thought I had me a winner picked, but I came in last again
Is this the way it always is, here in Baltimore?
(Chorus)
I must have chosen the wrong season to come down
I never realized they called this sacred ground
My sense of time, hell, I'm a week behind
I sent me a letter home but this all takes time
Gonna get some cash, gonna go back home
These dance hall girls really know how to make a man feel alone
Is this the way it always is, here in Baltimore?
(Chorus)
My sense of time, hell, I'm a week behind
I sent me a letter home but this all takes time
Gonna get some cash, gonna blow this town
These dance hall girls really know how to drag a poor boy down
Is this the way it always is, here in Baltimore?
Is this the way it always is, here in Baltimore?
(You can hear the performance if you scroll down the NPR website --- www.npr.org)
=- =- =- =- =-
The Duhk’s singer introduced the song as having been written by a Canadian from Toronto in the 70’s. That made me wonder: why would a Canadian write about Bawlmer wimmin?. So I did a lil’ googlin’… and I found out that the song (Them Dance Hall Girls) was written by Allan Fraser of the folk duo Fraser & DeBolt. The song appeared on their first album, released 1971.
(You can hear this original version in its entirety at http://fraserdebolt.com/audio.html)
…but I still couldn’t find any explanation of song’s background. Until I do, I’ll favor the notion that Fraser chose the word ‘Baltimore’ because it had the right amount of syllables.
(But I wonder if he was referring to clip joints in The Block, although dance halls seems to conjure up a much earlier era. In fact, one account I found, “Baltimore’s Bawdy ‘Block’”, suggests that a harborfront area of sinful carousing goes back to the latter 18th century.)
=- =- =- =- =-
I suppose if you wanted to indulge in the modern (neo-modern? Neo-postmodern?) –day version of dance hall girls, (at least the respectable kind) you’d have to wait till the Miss USA Pageant comes to town (Hippodrome Theater) in April.
...Or if you couldn't help but revert to the risque', you could wait just little while longer to catch the visiting pulchritude of Tera Patrick at Fantasies.
It's been a while, since I last posted...
I've mainly been preoccupied with my car, getting it ready to pass emissions inspection. I've been plagued by a pesky CEL (Check Engine Light). That involved replacing my spark plugs and an O2 sensor.
Took my car to the VEIP station in Hickory last Saturday and passed. Yay!!
I've also been reading a few books from the library. Been looking at Where you're at: notes from the frontline of a hip-hop planet and Sean Penn: his life and times.
Haven't been watching much tv. Listen to the radio all the time.
Last Sunday, was listening to Prime Minister's Questions on C-SPAN (90.1 FM)... and this MP (member of Parliament) complains about some unfair extradition treaty with the U.S. and how the U.K. has become "America's poodle".
I'm afraid the MP has been living under a bridge for too long. I think most people on both sides of the pond recognize that the U.K. has been playing 2nd fiddle to the U.S. since WWII.
I don't understand why the MP would be complaining. There are many countries that would want to be "America's poodle". :-)
And to borrow the sentiments of the "Princess Warrior" Sec'y of State expressed last week: Get over it. Quit whining.
Comings and goings:
RIP Pat Okura (d. Jan 30)
New Lunar Year -- Year of the Rooster 4702
People I wanna see:
Jeff Chang is on the East Coast this week and will be talking up his hip hop book at Karibu bks. (The Mall, Hyattsville) Friday night (6:30pm)
MacArthur prize winner, Bright Sheng, will be playing piano with the St. Petersburg Quartet at the Meyer auditorium in DC, Saturday night.
Article in the Wash. Post sez that WETA (90.9 FM) management is thinking of switching to public affairs format (news, talk, public affairs) and dropping classical music.
While I think this is unfortunate, I'll admit to tuning into WETA often for the public affairs programming that they carry. Much of it is similar to WAMU (88.5 FM). Programs like "On the Media", "Studio 360" and "Fresh Air Weekend".
If WETA does go public affairs whole hog, then I'd hope they'd do some local-oriented programming. Maybe they could resurrect the local arts show, "Around Town" (or whatever it was called).
There're some interesting Baltimore angles to the story. For example, the new program director came from WEAA (88.9 FM), the Morgan St. station. What's noteworthy, perhaps, is that he has little background in classical music.
The Post article says that if WETA drops classical, that would leave WGMS (103.5 FM) as the only DC classical station (and a commercial one, at that).
Actually, Baltimore's noncommercial, classical music WBJC (91.5 FM) reaches down into the DC area, and I'd expect them to pick up WETA's classical listeners, if they don't already.