3 March 2021 - Lights - Toes

Yes, Scott beat me to Lights.  By nine years.  

But here I am.

And that's the Canadian singer-songwriter's real first name (not by birth, but still).  Which is super convenient when it comes to having a stage name.   

This song was released in 2011 to mostly positive reviews, and, really, it's kind of got an infectious beat and some intelligent lyrics.   Which makes me wonder why I was so late to the party.    

The video was filmed in Lights's hometown of Toronto.  

Lights has been known to do an acoustic version of this song live - and in fact did an acoustic version of the entire Siberia album.  Here she is, performing it live in 2019.  The audience knows the words.  It's a slightly different feel, but still just as heartfelt.

2 March 2021 - Anne Murray - You Needed Me / Shania Twain & Anne Murray - You Needed Me.

Anne Murray hit #1 on the US pop charts for the her first and only time in 1978 with this song - ironically missing the top spot on the Country and Adult Contemporary charts on which she had much more success.  She also won the Grammy for Best Female Pop Vocal for this song, the first time a Canadian had done that.  

In 2007, Murray would rerecord the song as a duet with fellow Canadian Shania Twain.  It's essentially the same song - but just with two people singing it.  

By the way, I know you came here to hear Stewie Griffin sing this.

1 March 2021 - Cœur de Pirate - Undone

I told you she didn't sing EXCLUSIVELY in French.  

Canada is a bilingual country, after all.

This is from her 2015 album Roses, which features songs in French and English.  

In 2018, Béatrice Martin announced she planned to no longer make music under the name Cœur de Pirate, which I guess would mean I'd be able to stop trying to type œ on my English-language keyboard..... but 1) she would continue to make music, which is amazing.....

1 March 2021 - Cœur de Pirate - T'es belle

....2) Cette chanson, de fin 2020, est clairement sortie sous le nom Cœur de Pirate.  

C'est clairement étiqueté

Je ne me soucie pas particulièrement du nom que Béatrice Martin a choisi d'utiliser pour faire de la musique à l'avenir. Tant qu'elle continuera à faire de la musique révolutionnaire qui est intéressante, je vais rester heureuse.

Je ne suis pas canadien, donc je n'ai pas eu à apprendre le français à l'école. En fait, dans mon apprentissage des langues, c'est mon talon d'Achille. Permettez-moi de vous assurer que tout cela est une gracieuseté de Google Translate.  

1 March 2021 - Cœur de Pirate - Comme des enfants

It is refreshing to hear an artist so fresh and not-so-well-known outside their home country like Cœur de Pirate.  However, what is really unusual is that Béatrice Martin has actually had more hits in France than in her native Canada.

You see, she is a francophone from Montreal, and primarily sings in French.  Not exclusively, mind you - but mostly.  And yet, despite having the heart of a pirate (that's what her name translates to, people), the songs are just enchanting.  Without knowing French, you can hear the love and longing in her voice, in the music.  

This song, her debut single, won the 2010 Victoires de la Musique (French-language music) award for Original Song of the Year. 

It almost sounds more soulful live. Check out this performance from Massey Hall in Toronto from 2014.   The acoustics threaten to drown her out, but Cœur de Pirate's full voice wins in the end.

26 February 2021 - Domenico Modugno - Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blu

Modern audiences know this song by another title.

"Volare".  And Bobby Rydell's English language version is better known today.

But Domenico Modugno wrote the song.   And, in 1958, it spent five weeks at #1 in the US, in THIS version, and was the biggest hit of 1958.. all while remaining faithful to its original Italiamn.  To compare, Rydell's version hit #4 in 1960 - this was the bigger hit.  

25 February 2021 - Nena - 99 Luftballons / 99 Red Balloons

Almost certainly the best-known German language song outside of German, this little warning of the apocalypse was a big hit in the 1980s.  Yes, people in the US were singing along to their death from nuclear attack. 

And who would blame them??  This song is damned catchy.

In a bit of an oddity, an English language version of the song - slightly changing the narrative to be even a little darker - was released  THIS VERSION DID NOT CHART, meaning the US audience preferred not to know what they were singing about, I guess.