“I think that the best thing we can do for our children is to allow them to do things for themselves, allow them to be strong, allow them to experience life on their own terms, allow them to take the subway … let them be better people, let them believe more in themselves.”
Events have come together these past days that have brought it to my mind’s forefront.
I’ll never hear it again without the associated memory of Kate McKinnon playing it on Saturday Night Live as the somber way to end the skits about Hillary Clinton’s run for the presidency.
Here you have a cover by Pentatonix.
Angelika, my oldest grand-daughter, made me aware of this cover today.
Nothing about Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” – the original version of the song Cohen recorded for his 1984 album “Various Positions” – leads you to conclude that it would go on to become one of pop music’s most durable compositions.
Not the rinky-dink keyboard tone. Not the singer’s low, dry croak. And certainly not the lyric full of stark biblical imagery.
Yet in the years leading up to Cohen’s death this week at age 82, “Hallelujah” attained the kind of pop-cultural saturation we more commonly associate with songs by the likes of Justin Timberlake, to name one star who quickly mourned Cohen’s passing on social media.
“A spirit and soul beyond compare,” Timberlake tweeted.
A cappella group Pentatonix has dropped the music video for its powerful cover of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah,” which is featured on the vocal quintet’s new album, A Pentatonix Christmas.
Pentatonix chooses a subtle desert scene for the moving delivery of “Hallelujah.” The song is one of 11 tracks on the group’s latest LP, which was released on October 21.
Kubo and the Two Strings is a 2016 American 3D stop-motion fantasy action adventure film, directed by Travis Knight, written by Marc Haimes and Chris Butler, and produced by Laika.
The film features the voices of Art Parkinson, Charlize Theron, Matthew McConaughey, Ralph Fiennes, Rooney Mara and George Takei.
~PLOT~
In ancient Japan, Kubo (Art Parkinson) is a young boy who lives with his ill mother, Sariatu (Charlize Theron), in a cave on top of a mountain. Every day he goes out to a nearby village to tell stories by manipulating pieces of paper that form into origami that moves under music played from Kubo’s shamisen.
He tells tales of great warriors seeking revenge while battling monsters, primarily of a samurai warrior named Hanzo, who is Kubo’s missing father. Every day he quickly returns to his mother when the town bell chimes signaling sunset. She instructs him not to stay outside after dark or her Sisters (his aunts) and his grandfather, the Moon King, will come to take his remaining eye, as they took the other when he was a baby.
One day, Kubo learns of a ceremony where family members communicate with deceased loved ones (Obon). He arrives at a cemetery and tries to speak to his father, but he leaves in anger when his father does not respond to him. Because Kubo has stayed outside after sundown, his mother’s Sisters (Rooney Mara) find him and try to take his eye. After they destroy the village, his mother arrives to fend off her Sisters.
His mother sends Kubo away by touching a beetle crest on his robe which gives him wings, forcing him to fly away from his mother. She tells him to find his father’s armor in order to protect Kubo from his grandfather’s evil spirits. He takes a piece of her hair before she is seemingly killed by her Sisters.
Upon his return to the village, he is able to reclaim the helmet and puts it on. He is greeted by Raiden (Ralph Fiennes), the ghost that appeared to Kubo in his dream. Raiden is revealed to be his grandfather, the Moon King. The Moon King, who needs Kubo’s eye to rid Kubo of all his powers and memories, transforms into the “Moon Beast” and fights Kubo. Kubo is defeated and tossed into the cemetery where the Moon King corners him as well as the surviving villagers.
Kubo retaliates by taking off the armor and repairs his shamisen using the hair of his mother, his father’s bowstring, and one of his own hairs. He uses its magic to recruit the spirits of the villagers’ deceased, showing that memories are the strongest form of magic and can never be destroyed. The Moon King is defeated and becomes mortal, and in his human form has no recollection of who or what he was.
The villagers make him believe that he is a good man. After the villagers set their lanterns near a lake, Kubo is able to speak with his parents and make peace with them, saying that he is happy he was able to go on a journey with them.
They then appear beside him in the form of spirits.
“IOTD” is image of the day, a concept I came up with. I teach visual meditative therapy – or in easy terms – a mini mental holiday. For some people it is very difficult for them to get their image right. I post an image a day for people to use in their mini mental vacay. Some are serious, some are silly, and some are just beautiful!”
To go along with the release of the new animated Disney movie Zootopia, Shakira shared a music video for “Try Everything,” in which she stars.
Shakira voices Gazelle, a singer in the city of Zootopia.
Shakira told People,
“The one thing they took as a suggestion was that she was a little too skinny for me. So I asked them to give her a little — to give her bigger hips.”
The “Try Everything” video alternates between clips of Shakira in the studio and footage from Zootopia, including performance shots of Shakira’s animated character singing in an arena-sized venue – not too far off from the Colombian pop star’s real life.
Not really in the real world (my real love is safe and sound).
In my music world!
I first became aware of Adele’s giant musical presence when my oldest grand-daughter, Angelika, was belting out her own version of “Someone Like You“.
It was a matter of time for me to start looking into this amazing voice.
I bought the “21” CD and knew that this was going to be and everlasting musical affair. Like many, I’ve waited for the next production. Not that long ago it appeared in the form of the recently released, totally successful and record braking “25” Album.
There was no disappointment.
The new musical production is simply amazing.
I’m now exploring her first album, “19“.
A friend posted a link to her YouTube video for this song ….
“Make You Feel My Love” is a song written by Bob Dylan that appeared on his 1997 album Time Out of Mind.
It was first released commercially by Billy Joel, under the title “To Make You Feel My Love”, before Dylan’s version appeared later that same year. It has since been covered by numerous performers and has proved to be a commercial success for recording artists such as Adele, Garth Brooks, Bryan Ferry and Kelly Clarkson.
Two covers of the song (one by Garth Brooks and one by Trisha Yearwood) were featured on the soundtrack of the 1998 film Hope Floats.
Dylan eventually released the song as a single.
In 2008, English recording artist Adele recorded “Make You Feel My Love” for her debut studio album 19 (2008). It was released as the album’s fifth and final single on October 27, 2008, both on CD and vinyl, peaking at number 4 on the UK Singles Chart. The largest sales of her recording, however, came during 2010–2011.
After the song was performed on the seventh series of The X Factor, it re-entered the UK charts at number 24. The song then surged to number four after a second performance. Following a third X Factor performance and heavy use in the Comic Relief 2010 telethon, it spent three more non-consecutive weeks in the UK top 10. In early 2011 the song returned to the top 40 again, at number 34, after it appeared in the 2011 series of Britain’s Got Talent. In all the cover spent a total of 55 weeks on the official UK Top 75, making it the joint 16th longest runner of all time.
Adele’s version features in the soundtrack of the 2010 romantic comedy film When in Rome. Her cover version was also featured in the compilation album for the benefit of those affected by Supertyphoon Haiyan in the Philippines entitled Songs for the Philippines
Pentatonix Covers Daft Punk Hits in Stunning A Cappella Medley
Pentatonix, the a cappella group that recently brought us a beautiful rendering of Beyonce’s greatest hits, has set its sights on the French electronic duo Daft Punk.
In a little over four minutes, Pentatonix’ new medley covers an impressive array of Daft Punk hits, including “Get Lucky,” Celebrate,” “Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger” and “One More Time.”
Angelika, is my oldest grand-daughter, you may have seen her here a few times. She just turned 10 years old this month.
She loves music, as much as I do. She’s been keeping me up to date with some of the new songs that are coming out. She knows the songs but doesn’t know the performer most of the time. I’ve trying to teach her it’s important to also know who is singing. Very frequently, we use the “Shazam” app to identify the singer/band.
Last night, we were looking at a YouTube video by Pentatonix that she had found on her own. Her music teacher at school showed the class another one of their videos. And we went searching!
As we were browsing and trolling through YouTube, we found this one. Both of us were enthralled by the presentation, the colors, the talent.
The five singers of Pentatonix — Scott Hoying, Kirstin Maldonado, Mitch Grassi, Avi Kaplan and Kevin Olusola — have won the third season of NBC’s “The Sing-Off,” and have released several medley covers of popular songs since.
This latest single, titled simply “Daft Punk,” coincides with the release of their new album, PTX, Vol. 2.
Pentatonix (often abbreviated as PTX) is an American a cappella group of five vocalists originating from Arlington, Texas. Their work, which is mostly in the pop music style, consists of covers of existing songs, sometimes in the form of medleys, along with some original material. Their music is defined by their own arrangement style, a strong presence of low bass vocals, and a diverse range of vocal percussion.
It Is What It Is 