However, my theme for tonight is Shadows. I wanted to play Jefferson Starship's Shadowlands, but while it is on archive.org, it doesn't appear to be on Youtube.

Pity. With the quip at the beginning about it being about "a female serial killer of Republicans", it would have been a perfect match to recent themes.

Still, I think I've got some good songs lined up:

"Shadow" - Maria Mena

I feel like a shadow
Walking behind who you think I am
Just like my shadow
Wanting to see the sun again
I'm your shadow
And I'm lost
Just like my shadow

This song is by Maria Mena, a Norwegian singer. She got her start by recording songs from her diary, and from the content, it certainly feels like something from someones diary...

Moonlight Shadow - Mike Oldfield (singing by Maggie Reilly)

Sean featured Mike Oldfield a while ago, so it isn't really too surprising I found another of his songs to play.[1] Moonlight Shadow was recorded in 1983.

With my liking murder ballads, my finding this song was probably predestined. He said in an interview, incidentally, that he didn't consciously write this to be about John Lennon, and that it was originally inspired by the film "Houdini".

Shadow of the Moon - Blackmore's Night

This is a pretty example of Renaissance festival style folk rock, by Blackmore's Night. The song and music are good, if the lyrics aren't particularly deep. I haven't listened to much of their music, so I don't know if that's typical.

Given the choice to see either them of Loreena McKennitt, the artist with the nearest look and feel to this band that I can think of, I'd choose Loreena, but then, she's stellar enough that I'd choose her over a lot of artists.

All and all, I'll have to listen to more of their music, and see what I think...

And now that I've already posted this, I belatedly realised I should really add this song:

Loreena McKennitt - Between the Shadows (Persian Shadows)

As I said, Loreena is awesome, even when just instrumental, like here.

[1]Once I got past my fingers inclination to type "Mike Oldfiend" instead.

El Sol els cegava abans que el dia morís. Potser aquesta seria la seva última nit a la Terra... o fins i tot l'última jornada del planeta, qui ho sap. Abans que el cel es tornés violat, ell ja plorava mentre conduïa, camí de l'abisme, afectat per les radiacions. Ella va provar de calmar-lo amb una mica de música. Es podia notar la vibració dels terratrèmols a l'altre hemisferi.

-Moonlight Shadow, de Mike Oldfield; Little Lies, dels Fleetwood Mac... i Words Don't Come Easy, de F.R. David.

-El què? Què dius?

-Que en aquesta ràdio que has posat m'hi jugo el que vulguis que en la pròxima mitja hora posen alguna d'aquestes tres cançons... Porten vint anys fotent la mateixa música, les radiofórmules aquestes!

-Suposo que deuen agradar tothom...

-I una merda! M'estàs dient que tota la cultura musical dels últims 42 anys es pot resumir en un grupet de, posem per cas, 86 cançons que repeteixen sense parar?

-Evidentment que no. Si vols, ja canvio d'emissora...

-No, no vull que la canviïs! Només dic que, de tant en tant, aquesta gent podria canviar de medicació... No sé, crec que es nota massa que tots aquests DJ (per dir-los d'alguna forma) eren adolescents durant els 80...

-Ah, això segur!

-Perquè, a veure... també podrien posar d'altres coses que agraden tothom, no? Jo què sé... Underwear, de Pulp, no mereixeria una mica de publicitat? O què me'n dius de Creep, de Radiohead? Però si és la puta bomba... tot i que avui no és que sigui el millor dia per dir-ho...

-No, no és el millor dia, noi...

-És que fora del seu cànon, aquesta gent només posa els Scorpions, però és clar, ja sabem amb quins temetes... Collons, és que si ja no poden "arriscar-se tant" i fugir una mica de la seva línia "ei, desgraciat enamorat que m'estàs escoltant...", per què cony no programen Yellow, de Coldplay? No ho sé, una mica de varietat, no?

-Ja... però crec que planteges el tema una mica tard... Ara, què importa això?

Res. Ja no importava res. El tsunami els empaitava, els asteroides venien de cap i plagues de pobles morts de gana pretenien rebentar-los les rodes. Vint-i-tres litres de gasoil els separaven de la foscor. 

I stay, I pray, I see you in heaven far away,
I stay, I pray, I see you in heaven one day.

At work we have a computer feature that allows us to type in a word, for example "Japan" or "Japanese," and a list of books will appear (though certainly not fool proof) relating to your topic. Thanks to this and filling many a slow hour at work, I have stumbled across an increasing list of Japanese authors. My most recent addition has been Banana Yoshimoto and her novel Kitchen and her novella Moonlight Shadow.

Yoshimoto's stories are subtle and intriguing, but a complexity exists under the surface that is easy to miss. Kitchen is about comfort, family, and loss. Mikage loses her grandmother at the beginning of the novel and is taken in by Yuichi and his transsexual mother Eriko Tanabe. The three form a peculiar family unit and the reader observes Mikage coping with her situation. Later, once Mikage has moved out, Eriko is killed and the reader now observes Yuichi coping. Intermingled with all of this is the peculiar and delicate relationship between Mikage and Yuichi.

A novella is basically a short novel and though Moonlight Shadow seems a bit of an "extra" to Kitchen, I believe it was my favorite of the two. Moonlight Shadow also explored coping with death but had a wonderful twist of magical realism. Satsuki, at 20, has lost her boyfriend and part of her coping mechanism has been to take up running. One morning she meets Urara, whom startles Satsuki, and a strange magical or dimensional shift occurs. Urara is a weird character and "knows" Satsuki's phone number. Satsuki is invited to witness an occurrence on the bridge that only happens once every hundred years. It's an engaging and short piece, and I found myself flying through it.

Both of Yoshimoto's stories have a philosophical, an existential flavor to them. They deal with death and what life is and how to shape life around ourselves with death. Yoshimoto never becomes heavy handed with this melodramatic course though. Instead, these reflections are made throughout the stories while butting up against, for example, the intoxicating and welcoming influence of a kitchen.

When I first flipped through Kitchen I very much had the mistaken impression that they were fluff books like Cabot, Giffin, or Kinsella. Instead, I found the challenging and complex narratives of Kitchen and Moonlight that are strung so delicately together.

www.yoshimotobanana.com

Mike Oldfield se había dado a conocer anteriormente 10 años antes por obras tan destacadas como Tubular Bells, una excelente composición armónica e instrumental tocando más de 20 instrumentos con la que se hizo mundialmente famosos y llegó a ganar un premio Grammy. Un extracto de esa obra apareció en la película "El Exorcista".

The last that ever she saw him
Carried away by a moonlight shadow
He passed on worried and warning
Carried away by a moonlight shadow.
Lost in a river last saturday night
Far away on the other side.
He was caught in the middle of a desperate fight
And she couldn't find how to push through
The trees that whisper in the evening
Carried away by a moonlight shadow
Sing a song of sorrow and grieving
Carried away by a moonlight shadow
All she saw was a silhouette of a gun
Far away on the other side.
He was shot six times by a man on the run
And she couldn't find how to push through
I stay
I pray
I see you in heaven far away
I stay
I pray
I see you in heaven far away
Four am in the morning
Carried away by a moonlight shadow
I watched your vision forming
Carried away by a moonlight shadow
Star was light in a silvery night
Far away on the other side
Will you come to talk to me this night
But she couldn't find how to push through
I stay
I pray
I see you in heaven far away
I stay
I pray
I see you in heaven far away
Far away on the other side.
Caught in the middle of a hundred and five
The night was heavy but the air was alive
But she couldn't find how to push through
Carried away by a moonlight shadow
Carried away by a moonlight shadow
Far away on the other side.

Una preciosa canción que siempre me emociona, me llena de energía y me transporta a otro mundo de sensaciones con cada nota...
Merece la pena escucharla una y otra vez... es fantástica... pero debo nombrar aquí a The Shadows, merece la pena escuchar esta canción tocada por ellos... Aunque la de Mike Oldfield con Maggie Rilley es maravillosa!