Musitorial – What Was That?

musitorial n a mashup of music, musings and editorials, music and song that evokes thought and commentary.

Years ago I encountered a marvelous exhibit staged in “The Rooms,” that very special arts and culture centre overlooking St. John’s (NL) harbour. The exhibit was titled, Forty-Part Motet,[1] by Canadian artist Janet Cardiff (b. 1957) which consisted of a set of forty stereo speakers standing in a perfect circle in the assigned exhibit space.

Forty-Part Motet is a recording of an 18-minute choral performance of Thomas Tallis’s (1505-1585) 1570 composition, “Spem in Alium” (Latin for "Hope in any other").

When you stand on the centre of the array you hear the piece in its entirety – it’s lovely. Then (if you’re curious), when you walk around the inner circumference of the circle you learn that each speaker stands in for a single performer. Here and there (or is that hear and there), one or more choir members is silent, awaiting their particular part. You can hear (at least I did) each of those “silent” performers in that moment of the piece: here a sniff, there a little cough or an intake of breath. It’s stunning. Really. (Link below)

I was deeply moved by the work (and the music and performance, of course) because of the way it called my attention to the role of silence. Even the sniffing and throat-clearing were part of the whole. Everyone present for the recording of the piece had an important role to play – even momentary silence.

Remember that opening line in “Desiderata,” “Go placidly amid the noise and the haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence” <links below>. Boy, I wish I’d learned that bit of advice in grade school, I might have learned more and had more friends, instead of always trying to be the centre of attention.

ANYway, I’m reminded of the group parlour game I know as, “Gossip.” It’s used in every kind of setting – from grade school to boardroom trust-building exercises. One person whispers something to the next person in a circle, who whispers it to the next and so on. Then, the last person is asked to repeat the secret passage as they know it – with hilarious results caused by mishearing and/or misunderstanding, or even malicious intent. The lesson – an important one – is about the importance of active listening.

It often seems that the more we hear, the less we listen. There’s a difference.

This is somewhat related to essays I wrote a few years ago <links below> in which I made light of my tendency to mishear lyrics, sometimes on purpose for the sake of humour. Sometimes we repeat things that others may not find amusing or appropriate – often things that shouldn’t be repeated without a pause for consideration.

Hearing is easy – no offence to anyone whose hearing is difficult. Listening is more difficult.

The title of today’s musitorial might easily have been, “Faint Hope of Clarity,” a play on the tenet “Faith, Hope and Charity.” Regardless, my music selection for this piece is “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood,” a 1965 song recorded by Nina Simone that has been covered by more contemporary performers than I can count.

Enjoy!

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Link to Wikipedia article on the 1964 song, “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood,” by Bennie Benjamin, Horace Ott and Sol Marcus (Phillips Records): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don%27t_Let_Me_Be_Misunderstood

Link to Wikipedia article on Nina Simone: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nina_Simone

Link to lyrics of the song “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood”: https://tinyurl.com/2s8p9cr5

Link to a YouTube recording of “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RtgJjYvv0dU

Link to Wikipedia article on Janet Cardiff, Winner of the 2001 Millennium Prize: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janet_Cardiff

Link to Wikipedia article on “sound art” and the installation, Forty-Part Motet: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sound_art

Link to Wikipedia article on Thomas Tallis (1505-1585): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Tallis

Link to Wikipedia article on “Spem in Alium” (1570): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spem_in_alium

Link to Wikipedia article on Desiderata: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desiderata

Link to an essay and misunderstanding lyrics: https://mike-r-hunter.blogspot.com/2020/03/music-lessons.html

Link to another essay and misunderstanding lyrics: https://mike-r-hunter.blogspot.com/2023/09/rant-aliens-are-nigh.html

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[1] Janet Cardiff's (b. 1957) "The Forty Part Motet" is an audio installation that reworks Thomas Tallis's 16th-century choral piece, "The installation features 40 separately recorded choir voices played through 40 individual speakers, allowing viewers to walk through the space to hear individual voices or the complete, unified choir. The speakers are arranged in eight groups of five, representing the eight choirs within Tallis's original composition (Google A.I.)

 

Musitorial – Bonfire of Vanity

 

(With apologies to Tom Wolfe)[1]

musitorial n a mashup of music, musings and editorials, music and song that evokes thought and commentary.

I wish I had something clever to say about contemporary Hallowe’en, but it’s likely that everything’s been said. But I’ll keep thinking.

Close on the heels of Hallowe’en and All Saints Day comes No Saints Day, November 4. You may know it as Election Day in the United States, not to be confused with their new holiday “No Kings Day,” observed on October 18, 2025.[2] I will ignore my natural tendency to elaborate, save to note how ironic it is that in a nation founded on rejection (and subsequent revolution against and independence from) its monarchical founding, to now be acting in much the same way. I mean, golden ballroom? C’mon!

Anyway, instead of going on about that, today I’m going to shift a few days into November. I’ve long enjoyed the juxtaposition of November 4, election day in the [formerly united] States, and Guy Fawkes Day, November 5.[3] How fitting that on one day each year citizens celebrate their democracy by casting ballots, and on the next day commemorate a destructive protest against the “Establishment.” I’m taking liberties, I know, but enjoy the juxtaposition, nonetheless.

With the Republican president’s words burned into my brain (I know, he said ‘drill baby, drill,’ but I heard: burn baby, burn’, but that’s just me), today’s musitorial celebrates the cusp of November 5 and 6 with the 1974 song: “Burn,” by Deep Purple.

Warning came, no one cared

Earth was shakin', we stood and stared

When it came, no one was spared

Still I hear, "Burn"

 

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Link to lyrics of “Burn,” by Deep Purple, 1974 album of the same name, songwriters David Coverdale / Glenn William Hughes / Ian Anderson Paice / Jon Lord / Ritchie Blackmore; Sony, https://tinyurl.com/bd3h4crh

Link to Wikipedia article on the film, Bonfire of the Vanities: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bonfire_of_the_Vanities_(film)

Link to https://www.nokings.org/

Link to Wikipedia article on Guy Fawkes Night: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guy_Fawkes_Night

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[1] Bonfire of the Vanities is the title of Tom Wolfe’s 1987 novel, and the eponymous 1990 Warner Bros film directed by Brian De Palma. Link provided above.

[2]  On October 18 [2025], more than 7 million [people] rose up at more than 2,700 events in all 50 states, DC, and cities worldwide to say: America has no kings, and the power belongs to the people. Now, [the] task is to stay vigilant, stay united, and continue to push back. “No Thrones. No Crowns. No Kings.” Link provided above.

[3]  The Wikipedia entry for Guy Faulkes Day: an annual commemoration observed on 5 November, primarily in Great Britain, involving bonfires and fireworks displays. Its history begins with the events of 5 November 1605 O.S., when Guy Fawkes, a member of the Gunpowder Plot, was arrested while guarding explosives the plotters had placed beneath the House of Lords. The Catholic plotters had intended to assassinate Protestant King James I and his parliament. Celebrating that the king had survived, people lit bonfires around London. Months later, the Observance of 5th November Act mandated an annual public day of thanksgiving for the plot's failure. Link provided above.

Musitorial – Sleepwalking Strangers

musitorial n a mashup of music, musings and editorials, music and song that evokes thought and commentary.

Not so recently, I read a then new novel by the prolific Robert Harris called The Second Sleep (2019, Random House Canada) that should have intrigued me more than it actually did at the time. That’s not to say I didn’t like it, because it was okay – just not up to Harris’s enviable standards IMHO.

The premise of The Second Sleep, as I recall it, is inspired by a very real somatic (i.e., of the body) phenomenon experienced by a great many people – perhaps everyone. That is, the tendency to awake for a brief period (sometimes longer) during the night, thus breaking our overall sleep duration. This is not the same as sleepwalking. Some people actually rise during this wakeful period and even perform a task or two before returning to bed for their second sleep.

Harris’s fictional world is governed by a priestly class – some of whom may hold knowledge of clues that the novel present as another of earth’s incarnations. That’s what I remember as the gist of the thing.

But of the circumstances around that society’s demise and rebirth are, frustratingly, left to the reader to imagine. As a reader, I wanted more. Indeed, I rather thought there would be a sequel (or is that prequel?). Apparently, many readers were likewise hungry for more.

As it turns out, my wish has come true, though not in the form of another book. In reality, we may be living the prequel right now, as the world’s major powers (both economic and military) seize upon the implosion of reason, and ramp up ideas and fears of mutually assured destruction.

Today’s musitorial salutes The Five Man Electrical Band (known as The Staccatos from 1963 to 1968) – a Canadian band, at that! From their 1972 album Sweet Paradise comes, “I’m a Stranger Here.” The song hit No. 2 on Canadian playlists and No. 72 on U.S. lists (hmm).

The song’s lyrics speak for themselves (you can link to a recording below), so I’ll highlight just a couple of lines:

Oh, you crazy fools!

Don't you know you had it made?

You were living in paradise

Enjoy.

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Link to lyrics of “I’m a Stranger Here” on Genius.com: https://genius.com/Five-man-electrical-band-im-a-stranger-here-lyrics

For Amazon Music subscribers, the same link gives you access to a recording of “I’m a Stranger Here” on Genius.com., or…

Tinyurl link to YouTube recording of “I’m a Stranger Here”:  https://tinyurl.com/5a74pcjs

Link to Wikipedia entry on the Five Man Electrical Band: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_Man_Electrical_Band

 

Musitorial – The Magic Touch

 

musitorial n a mashup of music, musings and editorials, music and song that evokes thought and commentary.

Today’s musitorial calls attention to a 1964 film in the early Bond (007) franchise: Goldfinger (Eon Productions, Guy Hamilton, director, United Artists).

The eponymous theme song refers to the villainous Auric[1] Goldfinger, a master criminal whose penchant for gold dominated his very being – at the expense of all else, including morals. The theme song, refers to Goldfinger as “the man with the Midas Touch,” a reference to legendary King Midas.[2]

Based on the 1959 novel of the same title by Ian Fleming, the film's plot has Bond investigating the gold magnate Auric Goldfinger, who plans to contaminate the United States Bullion Depository at Fort Knox.[3]

Goldfinger was defeated, of course (dare I say ‘foiled’), and of course 007 (James Bond, played by Sean Connery) got to bed a voluptuous gold-painted beauty – his reward for a job well done, and the audience’s reward for enduring the predictable plot.

As I write this, a portion of the USA’s opulent but functional national treasure, the White House (a national treasure, not a king’s treasure) is being razed to make way for an opulent golden ballroom.

Let us not forget that King Midas, of “Midas Touch” fame, came to hate the gift of his god-given golden touch and convinced the gods to rid him of it (it gets complicated thereafter but it is relevant to this musitorial). And let’s note how close the word bullion is to the word bully.

THIS JUST IN: While writing this, news broke that the US Republican White House has suddenly terminated trade talks with Canada, following some TV ads that resurrect Ronald Reagan’s (1911-2004) cautionary negative reflections on trade tariffs. So, the White House has taken its ball[room] and gone home.

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Link to Wikipedia article on Goldfinger, the film: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goldfinger_(film)

Link to Wikipedia article on the song, “Goldfinger” (composed and arranged by John Barry, lyrics by Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley, performed by Shirley Bassey) including a link to a recording (EMI, London): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goldfinger_(Shirley_Bassey_song)

Link to news article about East Wing demolition and ballroom construction: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/white-house-east-wing-demolished-new-ballroom-rcna239399

Link to CBC news article on USA’s withdrawal from trade talks (October 2025): https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/trump-trade-negotiations-tariffs-ontario-ad-9.6951469

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[1] According to Google AI, the name Auric means "golden" or "of gold," derived from the Latin word "aurum."

[2] Ancient moral mythology says King Midas was favoured by the gods with the gift of turning everything he touched into gold. Hence the saying, “The Midas Touch.” Link to Wikipedia article on King Midas: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midas

 

[3] Link to Wikipedia article on Fort Knox: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Knox

 

Musitorial – Golden Girls Take Flight

 musitorial n a mashup of music, musings and editorials, music and song that evokes thought and commentary.

Today’s musitorial is a nod to a popular family television show called The Flying Nun (1967-1970, Executive Producer Harry Ackerman, ABC Screen Gems), starring the vivacious Sally Fields.

Screened in the days of truly family entertainment, the show was immensely popular. I can’t say whether or not it launched Sally Fields’ screen career, because it seems like she’s been around forever, yet seems forever young. The premise of the show was the naïve serial antics of Sister Bertrille (Sally Fields) and the chagrin of superior nuns. Of course, wholesome naiveté wins the day (doesn’t it always) and the hearts of the entire cast and viewers alike.

Anyway, those sisters are not the focus of this musitorial. Instead, I call your attention to a recent case of some nuns who flew the coup, as we say. In Saltzberg, Austria, three octogenarian sisters who had been retired to a nearby nursing home (against their will, apparently) and who escaped from said home to returned to occupy their former – and now derelict – convent where they had previously lived most of their lives.

Let me repeat, three nuns are occupying their former convent against the wishes of the owners of said premises, their former overseers. Wouldn’t Bea Arthur et al (The Golden Girls be inspired?! Granted, not all the characters on the latter show would qualify to reside in a convent, but the reference is hard to resist.

You go girls!

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Link to Wikipedia article about the show, The Flying Nun: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Flying_Nun

Link to a YouTube clip of the theme music, “Who Needs Wings to Fly?": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Jcx1xWE8qQ

Link to Wikipedia article about Sally Fields: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sally_Field

Link to CNN (c/o CTV) new item on the incident: https://tinyurl.com/4h89k3m6

Link to Wikipedia article about The Golden Girls: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Golden_Girls