This edition of The Week That Was is brought to you by Kellogg’s Froot Loops cereal, or as they say in Toucan Talk, Oot-fray Oops-lay.
Almost everyone within the sound of my voice recognizes Toucan Talk as Pig Latin. Compared to Double Dutch, Pig Latin was a breeze.
Occasionally I get into a “Scotland” mood. Hearing the theme “river/stream/brook” did it this time.
“Song of the Clyde” was written by R. Y. Bell and Ian Gourley as “an affectionate tribute to the River Clyde in Scotland, name-checking the majority of towns and villages on its banks. Although its opening verse includes the line From Glasgow to Greenock with towns on each side, the song includes references to Lanark so fair on the river’s upper reaches and Arran on the Firth of Clyde’s southernmost outflow,” according to The Blogger’s Best Friend ™. The Scottish tenor Kenneth McKellar (from Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland, which straddles the White Cart Water, a tributary of the Clyde) is most famous for singing it.
Even though the lyrics are in the video, I’ll add them here, from ElectricScotland.com:
I’ll sing of a river I’m happy beside
The song that I sing is a song of the Clyde
Of all Scottish rivers it’s dearest to me
It flows from Leadhills all the way to the sea
It borders the orchards of Lanark so fair
Meanders through meadows with sheep grazing there
But from Glasgow to Greenock, in towns on each side
The hammers’ “ding-dong” is the song of the Clyde
Oh the River Clyde, the wonderful Clyde
The name of it thrills me and fills me with pride
And I’m satisfied whate’er may betide
The sweetest of songs is the song of the Clyde
Imagine we’ve left Craigendoran behind
And wind-happy yachts by Kilcreggan we find
At Kirn and Dunoon and Innellan we stay
Then Scotland’s Madeira that’s Rothesay, they say
Or maybe by Fairlie or Largs we will go
Or over to Millport that thrills people so
Maybe journey to Arran it can’t be denied
Those scenes all belong to the song of the Clyde
Oh the River Clyde, the wonderful Clyde
The name of it thrills me and fills me with pride
And I’m satisfied whate’er may betide
The sweetest of songs is the song of the Clyde
There’s Paw an’ Maw doon at the Broomielaw
They’re goin’ “doon the water” for “The Fair”
There’s Bob an’ Mary on the Govan Ferry
Wishin’ jet propulsion could be there
There’s steamers cruisin’ and there’s “buddies” snoozin’
And there’s laddies fishin’ frae the pier
An’ Paw’s perspirin’ very near expirin’
As he rows a boat frae there to here
With eyes a-flashin’, it is voted “smashin”
To be walkin’ daily on the prom
And May and Ev’lyn are in seventh heaven
As thy stroll along with Dick and Tom
And Dumbarton Rock to ev’ry Jean and Jock
Extends a welcome that is high and wide
Seems to know that they are on their homeward way
To hear the song of the Clyde
Oh the River Clyde, the wonderful Clyde
The name of it thrills me and fills me with pride
And I’m satisfied whate’er may betide
The sweetest of songs is the song of the Clyde
The sweetest of songs is the song of the Clyde
And that’s Song Lyric Sunday for February 10, 2019.
“Tenderly” is a 1946 pop standard by Walter Lloyd Gross with lyrics by Jack Lawrence. From 1952, here’s the lovely Rosemary Clooney.
You just knew I was going to do something like that, didn’t you? Here’s another: “Softly, As In A Morning Sunrise,” from the 1928 operetta The New Moon, was written by Sigmund Romberg with lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II. It’s become a jazz standard over the years. Here’s the Nat Shilkret and the Victor Orchestra with Franklyn Baur doing the vocal, from 1929.
Adverbs generally end in -ly (like generally right there) and modify verbs or adjectives. English teachers, and especially writing teachers, tell you not to use adverbs, which is hard (maybe even impossible) to do, because they’re pervasive and useful words. It’s true, you can usually find a verb or adjective that does a better job of expressing what you’re trying to say with the verb/adjective and adverb. Consider the sentence “The very pretty girl walked quickly through the lobby.” You cxan replace “very pretty” with “gorgeous” and “walked quickly” with “hustled,” yielding “The gorgeous girl hustled through the lobby.” But you already knew that, didn’t you? I weren’t no English major, so I’ll leave that up to you. Gladly.
Stream of Consciousness Saturday is brought to you each week by Linda Hill and this station. Now a word about AC Fire-Ring spark plugs.
I’ve mentioned before that the reason I do this is to play songs that were big hits on some radio station’s weekly survey that have somehow fallen through the cracks and are no longer heard. I found this survey yesterday for a station in Alabama, WDNG AM 1450 in Anniston, and there were songs on it that I never heard. I figure if I haven’t, you probably haven’t either, so here we go.
WDNG-AM has adopted a news-talk format, while WDNG-FM (“My 95”) plays an adult contemporary format, as does its sister station WFHK.
And that’s The Friday 5×2 for February 8, 2019.
My last battle was between two Ladies of the Blues, Koko Taylor and Janiva Magness, to see who did a better rendition of Magic Sam’s “That’s Why I’m Cryin’.” After all the votes have been counted, we have a tie!
Koko Taylor: 5
Janiva Magness: 5
As has become my custom, rather than casting a vote, I’ll let the result stand rather than casting a tie-breaking vote. Besides, I wouldn’t know who to give it to: both versions are superb, as are both singers. I might be tempted to give it to Koko, since I have fond memories of her, but Janiva is just too good. So, congratulations to both ladies.
I have next Friday’s battle sitting in the queue, so be sure and join us then!
