When I sing spontaneously I more often sing "Ding Dong Merrily on High"
than anything else. Meanwhile, my favorite pop song is "Starlight" by
Muse, of which I've collected about 20 covers. I just -- it fills my heart
with light. I stumbled upon it in a commercial of all things, and fell in
love.
I had actually never heard "Ding Dong Merrily On High" - so I found it on YouTube and listened. The extended melisma on the first syllable of "gloria" reminded me immediately of the chorus to "Angels We Have Heard On High". According to Wikipedia, the lyrics to "Ding Dong" were first published somewhat before "Angels", so it's reasonable to assume that "Ding Dong" came first, and inspired "Angels". (Of course, now my perverse brain has dredged up Van Morrison's "G-L-O-R-I-A"...)
There seems to be somewhat of a trend in modern music for songs I call "cheerfully emo" - my first awareness of it came from "Carry On", by fun (they spell it with a lower-case f). "Starlight" seems to be in the same general mood - up-tempo rocking tune with emotionally ambivalent lyrics.
Edited (I hit "reply" too soon) Date: 2017-05-02 09:53 am (UTC)
Yeah, the melisma on "Ding Dong Merrily on High" often reminds people of
"Angels We Have Heard on High" but as you found, DDMOH probably came
first, and I like its melisma better because of its waterfall-like
downward flow.
CHEERFUL EMO that describes me so it makes sense that it describes so much
of the the music I love!
If I get a chance I will sing both of them for you someday soon.
Actually, it seems that the melisma from "Angels We Have Heard On High" is the first half of the melisma from "Ding Dong Merrily On High" - when listening to the latter, halfway through the cascading notes my brain wants to hear "In excelsis Deo" (and all the bad "Day-O!" jokes).
When I first heard "Carry On", and described it as "cheerfully emo", my son said, "Yeah, a lot of contemporary songs are like that. We Gen-Y'ers and Millennials are okay with emotional ambiguity."
I'd love to hear you sing "Starlight", "Ding Dong Merrily On High", or anything else you'd like to sing for me. I'd also like to sing harmony with you; I'm a very low alto, and I love singing harmony, but I almost never get the chance. I have no problem singing duets over the phone, though! (And a lot of the time I can fake an alto part to a simple melody.)
I come from the city of Boston, the home of the bean and the cod, where
the Cabots speak only to Lowells, and the Lowells speak only to God.
I don't come from Boston, but I do live here now. The Brahmins do, whose
families have been here since 1615, but so do many other groups, including
Irish Americans, Portugese Americans, many Latino Americans, and a growing
Muslim American population, all united by their desire to drive as
insanely as possible.
Boston would look pretty new to you, I think, but it passes for old in the
US, being one of the first British settlements. I was really attracted to
that sense of history when I first got here, and still enjoy it.
At that time I don't think he meant it that way-- I think he was just going "Connecticut is an early colony that isn't Massachusetts-- Quaint Colonial Things."
I have no earthly idea! Every time I try to plan the other people in my
life wildcard all over my plans. I don't know. I have to take it one day
at a time.
It's very sensible for you to think about this, though, when both you and
your children are at a pivotal moment in time.
...Oh good. I thought I was about to have to go do something. To
elaborate, I love making cake, decorating cake (I favor decorated cakes
rather than sculptures odf other objects made of cake), giving cakes,
eating cakes. I like cake.
I really love that DW lets me reply by email. beams
There is a magic to thickening custards, but I don't always feel in the
mood to eat them. I think my favorites, at 2 ends of the range, are
cheesecakes and citrus curds.
I love their grace. Even though they do the people-arranged-in-rows motifs
of the Ancient Near East, they have a grace to their art that's striking
when compared with Mesopotamian and Egyptian art.
I love the high standard of living most of the population sincerely seem
to have had. Once archaeologists got past the "the poor have always been
downstodden" idea and started doing nutritional analyses on bones, etc,
they found a pretty well fed and healthy population throughtout most of
the social strata.
I love their fierceness. Leaping unarmed over bulls! Hunting lions! human
sacrifice! The power and might with which Classical Greece recalls them!
Their sometimes delicate seeming beauty has a fierce edge.
Lately I keep thinking of 20th-century English writers like Richard Hoggart writing about how discernible the class of an Englishman was, due the strong links between income and childhood diet. :(
Three who come to mind right off the top of the bat are Rudyard Kipling,
Mary Renault, and Octavia Butler, all in part for doing something I really
value: getting into the psychology of people from another milieu.
A year later, looking something up, I saw this and realized I never replied!
Goodness. Favorite artists. I really love Kevin Wada's style, and my friend ilthit, but I tend to love time periods more than individuals. Egyptian Middle Kingdom, for instance.
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malionette
no subject
Date: 2017-05-01 07:14 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-05-01 09:29 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-05-01 10:25 pm (UTC)When I sing spontaneously I more often sing "Ding Dong Merrily on High" than anything else. Meanwhile, my favorite pop song is "Starlight" by Muse, of which I've collected about 20 covers. I just -- it fills my heart with light. I stumbled upon it in a commercial of all things, and fell in love.
no subject
Date: 2017-05-02 09:50 am (UTC)There seems to be somewhat of a trend in modern music for songs I call "cheerfully emo" - my first awareness of it came from "Carry On", by fun (they spell it with a lower-case f). "Starlight" seems to be in the same general mood - up-tempo rocking tune with emotionally ambivalent lyrics.
no subject
Date: 2017-05-02 08:45 pm (UTC)Yeah, the melisma on "Ding Dong Merrily on High" often reminds people of "Angels We Have Heard on High" but as you found, DDMOH probably came first, and I like its melisma better because of its waterfall-like downward flow.
CHEERFUL EMO that describes me so it makes sense that it describes so much of the the music I love!
If I get a chance I will sing both of them for you someday soon.
no subject
Date: 2017-05-03 01:04 pm (UTC)When I first heard "Carry On", and described it as "cheerfully emo", my son said, "Yeah, a lot of contemporary songs are like that. We Gen-Y'ers and Millennials are okay with emotional ambiguity."
I'd love to hear you sing "Starlight", "Ding Dong Merrily On High", or anything else you'd like to sing for me. I'd also like to sing harmony with you; I'm a very low alto, and I love singing harmony, but I almost never get the chance. I have no problem singing duets over the phone, though! (And a lot of the time I can fake an alto part to a simple melody.)
*wanders away, singing...*
no subject
Date: 2017-05-05 12:09 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-05-05 11:27 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-05-01 10:35 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-05-01 10:22 pm (UTC)I come from the city of Boston, the home of the bean and the cod, where the Cabots speak only to Lowells, and the Lowells speak only to God.
I don't come from Boston, but I do live here now. The Brahmins do, whose families have been here since 1615, but so do many other groups, including Irish Americans, Portugese Americans, many Latino Americans, and a growing Muslim American population, all united by their desire to drive as insanely as possible.
Boston would look pretty new to you, I think, but it passes for old in the US, being one of the first British settlements. I was really attracted to that sense of history when I first got here, and still enjoy it.
no subject
Date: 2017-05-01 10:24 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-05-03 04:20 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-05-03 05:30 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-05-05 12:10 am (UTC)Either way: Yes indeed, we have our reputation for a reason.
no subject
Date: 2017-05-01 01:07 pm (UTC)This question is very much on my mind as my kids are about to graduate from HS.
no subject
Date: 2017-05-01 10:18 pm (UTC)I have no earthly idea! Every time I try to plan the other people in my life wildcard all over my plans. I don't know. I have to take it one day at a time.
It's very sensible for you to think about this, though, when both you and your children are at a pivotal moment in time.
no subject
Date: 2017-05-01 02:13 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-05-01 10:16 pm (UTC)I like cake!
...Oh good. I thought I was about to have to go do something. To elaborate, I love making cake, decorating cake (I favor decorated cakes rather than sculptures odf other objects made of cake), giving cakes, eating cakes. I like cake.
no subject
Date: 2017-05-01 10:23 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-05-01 10:26 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-05-02 12:26 am (UTC)I really love that DW lets me reply by email. beams
There is a magic to thickening custards, but I don't always feel in the mood to eat them. I think my favorites, at 2 ends of the range, are cheesecakes and citrus curds.
no subject
Date: 2017-05-01 02:48 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-05-01 10:13 pm (UTC)Right now I would make a luscious looking seafood salad:
http://www.seriouseats.com/2016/03/how-to-make-italian-seafood-salad.html
I've ben craving it since I read the recipe. It's lemon, olive oil, parsley, and treif. It looks SO GOOD.
Also, I really want to make some edible gifts, but that's really a matter of time and energy rather than anything else.
no subject
Date: 2017-05-01 05:11 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-05-01 10:08 pm (UTC)I love their grace. Even though they do the people-arranged-in-rows motifs of the Ancient Near East, they have a grace to their art that's striking when compared with Mesopotamian and Egyptian art.
I love the high standard of living most of the population sincerely seem to have had. Once archaeologists got past the "the poor have always been downstodden" idea and started doing nutritional analyses on bones, etc, they found a pretty well fed and healthy population throughtout most of the social strata.
I love their fierceness. Leaping unarmed over bulls! Hunting lions! human sacrifice! The power and might with which Classical Greece recalls them! Their sometimes delicate seeming beauty has a fierce edge.
no subject
Date: 2017-05-01 10:27 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-05-01 10:29 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-05-03 04:21 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-05-03 08:15 pm (UTC)Three who come to mind right off the top of the bat are Rudyard Kipling, Mary Renault, and Octavia Butler, all in part for doing something I really value: getting into the psychology of people from another milieu.
no subject
Date: 2017-05-04 05:36 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-10-15 08:42 pm (UTC)Goodness. Favorite artists. I really love Kevin Wada's style, and my friend
no subject
Date: 2018-10-16 07:26 am (UTC)