Bruce Springsteen and "an immigrant song"!

Having recently received my Green Card, I particularly enjoyed this song. At long last, I got to see Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band in Washington, DC last Monday. "We'll make our home in the American Land"!

Enjoy!

Empire State of Mind: New Jay-Z and Alicia Keys!

PS22 Chorus "RUN THIS TOWN" Jay-Z Rihanna & Kanye West

Dear England, check out the kids from Public School 22, in NYC!

"Yeah, the new group is really starting to come together! Here is the hip hop anthem "Run This Town" performed by the new PS22 Chorus of 2010! Thanks to the Mr. Eberle for the acoustic guitar-work. And serious props to Karinna, who does the fantastic leading, and to Alyssa, who really gets down on the rap.

Rewritten rap lyrics:

We are
Yeah I said it, we are
We will be the leaders
Look at us. We're fearless
Don'tcha wanna be us?
P.S. We're the chorus

22 is poppin'
Don't believe that we are stoppin'
Cuz the music that we're droppin'
You can see that we are rockin'
Out the stage and we ain't frontin'
Lemme tell ya little something
22's gon be runnin'
Running this town tonight"
--
To see more of the songs of PS22, check out their blog here!

The Ballad of Paul Morphy!

Check out the video below, the Ballad of Paul Morphy, a strange and haunting tribute to the famous chess player!

"This video is a tribute to the great chess genius Paul Morphy (1837-1884). The accompanying song is in the style of the old parlor songs of the Stephen Foster era and is delivered by Anchor Méjans. Some images are taken from "public domain" films at Prelinger Archive."

I discovered this video on YouTube and was struck by the uncanny similarities - especially the lines "retreating into dreams was his release." Yes, we're definitely dealing with the same Morphy!
Here are the lyrics:

Paul Morphy lived his life in black and white
For him there was no gray
No wrong nor right
Just strategy
Nights and days -
Confined by notes in squares upon a page

No friends to adore
Only royals and pawns
And there was no way out of his sad fate
No there was no way out of his sad fate
Alas alas alas for him -
checkmate

Paul Morphy wanted peace
But peace was scarce
Retreating into dreams was his release
Paul Morphy lived his life in black and white
For him there was no gray
No wrong nor right

No friends to adore
Only royals and pawns
And there was no way out of his sad fate
No there was no way out of his sad fate
Alas alas alas for him -
checkmate

Sing along!

Faith Will Be Rewarded!

The Boss, back in the early days!

Looks like he strayed out of Asbury Park into the Big Apple. Hope he finds his way home!

The Japanese Beatles!

Okay, The Killers concert I saw at the Patriot Center, Virginia, was strangely supported by no less than the Japanese Beatles, The Silver Beats! England, you've not nothing to cover this band of the 4 mop-tops from Liverpool. These lads - I believe John's real name being "Eric" - have got it made. Check out http://www.silverbeats.com/english/index.html for the full-Beatles experience, and I'm not talking the American college stadium the Beatles played speeded-up in the 60s - they couldn't hear their own music because of the screaming! The Silver Beats dressed in the classic Beatles white shirts and black waistcaots and sounded sublime. Ringo, Ringo, come down off the ceiling! Would those of you in the cheaper seats clap your hands. And the rest of you, if you'll just rattle your jewelry!

We embark on a triangle of cultural experience, England, when you see The Beatles in America played by 4 Japanese lads and The Killers and the strange world of US college tour music! You're not in Kansas Toto! You're back in the USSR with Tokyo always your ma-ma-ma-maaaa-minddd!!

Lounge Bar Patriots!

We hope you enjoy your stay
Outside the sun is shining
It seems like heaven ain't far away

It's good to have you with us
Even if it's just for the day!

Good afternoon England! The 80s revisionist Duran Duran pop synth rock band The Killers played the Patriot Center, Virgina, last night, and were...kinda good! My expectations were high after two albums of infectious pop woven for lost souls of the road - and college girls - but I was out of my seat (yes, seat) and captivated by the all-American light show, sad-to-say giant video screen and merry antics of the band! Clearly Brandon Flowers is a weekend Mormon British church-goer. But The Killers were clearly playing for the Promised Land of the lost American highway only trapped in a Tony Bennett themed Las Vagas bar-room. But you'd have to be a communist and 100% straight not to be a little seduced by the crimson glory of their disaffected heatstrung ballads, songs of crushed teenage angst and bored mayhem. Fun was had! I can always listen to Megadeth another time (but why would I want to?)

We danced, we queued for $7 Miller Lite, we got the wrist band for the drinks, got the ID checked, got the police directions, got told okay for alcohol from the interior staff (depsite my tender 30 years) and got the wrist band checked for more drinks, got moved from the dance floor (the security no doubt enhanced after Virginia Tech) and still enjoyed the spectacle. Did I ever say I love this country, England! For two hours I bowed to a much-loved British band (from the Nevada desert) as only a lost Anglophile can! I still have the Queen's head on my passport!

I've been down across a road or two
But now I've found the velvet sun

That shines on me and you!

Not to be confused with the Ernest Hemingway - filmed with Burt Lancaster and Ava Gardner - short story The Killers!

International News, Britney Does A Sinéad

Yes, Englanders. Britney Spears has shaved her head. It was the moment I've been awaiting after four years in America. Not that I've been petitioning the White House, or her fan club. Only that American Culture was awaiting its first meltdown before rising from the ashes Phoenix-like, or however long it takes Britney to grow her hair up. Clearly there are more important questions, o transatlantic friends. But I'm struck by a random memory that if Sinéad O'Connor - according to nothing more glamorous than a rumor lounging in my own dubious skull - hadn't shaved her head in the mid-80s she "could have been bigger than Madonna." Now let's not be grumpy in our clearly holier than thou envious way, Britain: Madonna is big, and she's American so more free-spirited (well, aristocratic Cockney). God I'm confused. But Sinéad's moment wasn't just a snip, as it were: she's made a career of weird (and wonderful). Britney however, might go Vanity Fair for her third celebrity baby with a thin veneer of brunette (on her head) to match her latest production, no? We'll have to see. And I'm not saying she's pregnant, just a bit bald. Discuss. And this won't be on the test.