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