Gravity Of Love by Enigma from their album The Screen Behind the Mirror.  I love Engima’s music — it blends easy listening, sexual rhythms, Gregorian chants, lounge remixes, Vedic chants, and electronic / dance beats.  The lyrics are a combination of English and French, with the occasional Latin thrown in, as in this song (it includes the fantastic O Fortuna, part of Carmina Burana).  Enigma is not a band but a music project created by Michael Cretu, and the music pretty much covers all bases: it’s upbeat, it’s mellow, it’s moving, it’s calming, and it’s incredibly sexy.  Depending on your mood, there’s probably an Enigma song to cover it.  Gravity of Love is one of my particular favorites, because it combines several of the elements — it has a very sensual rhythm alternated with an energetic beat, plus the powerful Latin chant.  Lots of fun to dance to, getting the sensual and darker, more dramatic movements involved.

[latin]
O fortuna, velut luna.
O fortuna, velut luna.

Turn around and smell what you don't see,
close your eyes, it's so clear.
Here's a mirror, behind there is a screen,
on both ways you can get in.
Don't think twice before you listen to your heart,
follow the trace for a new start.

What you mean and everything you feel,
is just a question of the deal.

In the eye of storm you'll see a lonely dove!
The experience of survival is the key,
to the gravity of love.

[latin]
O fortuna, velut luna.

The path of excess leads to the tower of wisdom...
The path of excess leads to the tower of wisdom...

Try to think about it,
that's the chance to live your life and discover,
what it is, what's the gravity of love.

[latin]
O fortuna, velut luna.

Look around just people, can you hear their voice?
Find the one who'll guide you,
to the limits of your choice.

But if you're in the eye of storm,
just think of the lonely dove,
the experience of survival is the key,
to the gravity of love.

[latin]
O fortuna, velut luna.

I probably mentioned that I had an interview at the Field Library in Peekskill a couple weeks back. I’m still waiting to hear back from them, but that should be happeneing some time over the next week or two. I have continued applying for jobs, of course, and as many as can be found that I’m even remotely qualified for. One of the many problems with this is that as many jobs as there are that fit my skill set, there are waaaay more that I’m either over- or under-qualified for. There are also a lot of part-time jobs that I could do, but I don’t know that I’m willing to move across state lines for less than 30 hours/week or $30k/year. I’ve just got to keep plugging, and hopefully something will come through soon. I might have to start listening to O Fortuna while I fill out applications – one of my friends says she was doing that, and she got a job that started a couple weeks ago. I’ve got a classical version as well as the Trans-Siberian Orchestra cut from their recent album Night Castle. Classic music with electric guitars – perfect!

I’ve also been trying to get some good reading done. My current reading material includes Living Dead in Dallas from Charlaine Harris’s Sookie Stackhouse series (the basis of HBO’s True Blood show), Ariana Franklin’s The Mistress of the Art of Death (think the Bones show set in medieval England), and Sister Time by John Ringo and Julie Cochrane. The Ringo book lives up to his usual standard of great mil-sf (military sci-fi) and the rest of the Posleen series. I might be able to finish the Prince Roger series (co-authored by Ringo and David Weber) this year, but it will depend on how my other reading projects are going. OK … signing off with the tought that the Oh, John Ringo, N0! t-shirt seems to have disappeared from CafePress …

Just beautiful.

O Fortuna
velut luna
statu variabilis,
semper crescis
aut decrescis

“O Fortuna” is the first part of the movement of Carl Orff’s “Carmina Burana”, though the bits of the rest of the “Carmina Burana” I have heard are hardly as intense. The lyrics are actually a medieval Latin poem and if you read the full translation to English, the song is actually quite profound in its review of “Fate”. Here is one part:

Fate
-monstrous and empty,
you whirling wheel,
stand malevolent,
well-being is vain
and always fades to nothing

With such weight and darkness I am adding it to my Halloween playlist.

Really the song is so powerful it is a pity it has been grossly overused and abused by commercial media and popular culture. Gatorade? Really? Boo! I say. Boo!!!

Now Carlton Draught beer … maybe I’ll cut you some slack. But only because the men are all in medieval style gowns in a giant valley, and it appears as though there might actually be a battle. However part of me is disappointed about the lyrics. It just cheapens the original, though I suppose it is funny. Ok, I forgive you, but only because I like beer!

Song Recommendations

If you like this song, I also suggest:

• Bruno Coulais – “Coraline Soundtrack”
• Steve Sharples – “Bolero (Closing Credits to Moulin Rouge)”
• Leopold Stokowski – “Night on Bald Mountain”

I also suggest the music genre:

• Classical

Click here for more info on Carl Orff – Carmina Burana – Fortuna Imperatrix Mundi – “O Fortuna”.

The MP3 (of the version by Leonard Slatkin with Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, which I believe is the same one as above) may be purchased here:

Carl Orff - Carmina Burana

Anche io come Fables non avevo mai visto questa azione del 2007, tra l’altro molto bella. Quindi eccola

E già che ci sono segnalo anche il video linkato da Arnald nei commenti, che mostra un vecchio spot del 2006 realizzato per la birra Carlton Draught sulle note di ”O fortuna” di Karl Orff.. è ispirato dalla stessa creatività e merita di essere visto

The opportunity to ‘discover-decide’ on why your soul is bleeding allows a person to make sense of the situation.

In this ‘discovering-deciding’, do we lead, as in creating a meaning, or do we follow as in discovering a meaning? Both are a posteriori; events have already occurred. Now it is a matter of who gets to say why things have happened; I or destiny?

Which of the two paths to peace we take is of no functional importance in assisted mental metabolism or therapy; psychology does not reach out to the soul, it is about helping a mind in anguish.

When you carry a burden, meaning is helpful, whether you make it up or find it.

I usually tell myself:  “I found it”

—————————————————-

“O Fortune, like the moon

you are changeable,

ever waxing

and waning;

hateful life

first oppresses

and then soothes

as fancy takes it”

FROM: O Fortuna – Carmina Burana – by Carl Orff

Today’s the day I’ve been waiting for with mixed feelings. First day at the University of Oslo. I’m at the humanities faculty, and I’m doing history.  To feed you with some information directly from Wikipedia: The University of Oslo (Norwegian: Universitetet i Oslo, Latin: Universitas Osloensis) was founded in 1811, and it is the oldest, largest and most prestigious university in Norway, situated in the Norwegian capital of Oslo. It is considered the only Norwegian world-class research university.

So, with this being a huge, huge university with just below 30 000 students, I was naturally quite worried and anxious. Would I find the right places? Would any of the people be any interesting? Would I know what to choose and what to do about the actual subjects I’m doing? I was instructed to go to the faculty of law, where we would all meet and find our “buddies” (the buddy system is to help us find our way around and get into the social aspects quickly). I didn’t get much sleep last night due to a storm that kept waking me up – and also due to nerves. Got up though, and found the meeting area okay. As I stood there looking confused, another confused girl walked up to me and asked me if this was the “brown area” – which it was. We ended up talking for quite some time, as we were both early. She wasn’t on my program, but it was good to talk to someone who was as nervous as me. As the ceremony was about to begin, I found my buddy group alright. Ended up standing next to a girl who I tried to think of something clever to say to, to start the conversation. The oportunity presented itself when we started moving, and it got rather chaotic and difficult to keep up with the rest of the group. I made a comment on that to her, and voila.

The ceremony itself was traditional. And with traditional comes slightly tideous and boring. But also good. As we stood there, they played Carl Orff’s “O, Fortuna” – which is a pretty powerful song. Very dramatic. There were many long speaches, and our legs were already tired from standing there several hours already. But it got to an end, eventually. Then we were off to campus, for a tour. Me and this girl lost the rest of the buddy group – I must say the “buddies” aren’t the best they could have been – but we knew where to go, roughly. As we started talking though, we realised that not only do we share a passion for Sigur Rós, Iceland, the same colours, the same categories of books and so much more, but we’re also neighbours. What is the chances of that? There was about 5000 people in that place, and I end up next to a girl who actually is pretty much the same as me. It was odd. Very odd.

Good to have someone else though, it’s difficult to be alone in these situations. As we were given the tour (which included walking up 10 floors of stairs. I thought I was gonna die when we reached 8), I felt a bit more calm, knowing where to go and what’s going on where (roughly anyways). At about 14.30, they wanted to have a beer – and that doesn’t interest me, or Ida, the girl who reminds me of me. We went home, and then we came back for the other ceremony at 18.00.. That was a charming ceremony, with a nice “pub-choir” who were full of energy. After that the idea was to go with the buddy group to Chateau Neuf, the “home” of the Norwegian Student Society. But neither of us felt up for standing in line for half an hour just to go inside and have a beer (I don’t even like beer…) – so we went to a coffee place instead. Much nicer. Talked for a bit there, but decided to go home after about 1.5 hours.

Now I’m here, feeling a bit at ease – but still fairly stressed out about choosing the right subjects etc. My first thingy starts at about 9 tomorrow morning, and the day’s pretty much fully booked until 1600. There will be a pub-to-pub round at night, but I won’t be going. At least I doubt I will. Not my thing at all. It’s Ida’s birthday tomorrow though, apparently. Mine’s on friday. Odd eh?!

I love to drive while playing music at seriously dangerous levels. This list has been kicking around in my head for a little while. Some will be obvious, but some may be unique to my annoyingly polyphonic musical tastes. Here it is, in order ::

11 –> Red Barchetta … Rush … This song is literally ABOUT the freedom of driving. “Wind in my hair, shifting and drifting.” One of my fave songs from my fave band after all of these years.

10 –> 99 Problems … Jay-Z … Two words, Rick Rubin. Just badass rock-n-rap. Pure love at HIGH volumes.

9 –> Traveling Without Moving … Jamiroquai … What could be better for this list than a song that starts with the sound of Jay Kay’s Lamborghini SE30 Jota. Acid jazz, FTW.

8 –> Waiting on Vassar … David Grisman Quintet … Not all great driving songs are about exploding your head. This classic “newgrass” jam embodies the freedom of a windows down, warm breeze, pedal to the floor Saturday trip.

7 –> Pink Floyd … One of These Days … Perfect for night driving. Those double-tracked bass guitars cut right through me.

6 –> Radar Love … Golden Earring … How could a song with that pulse-driving beat and lyrics like “I’ve been drivin’ all night, my hands wet on the wheel” NOT make this list?

5 –> Ghost Riders in the Sky … The Outlaws … I’m thinking of the album version here. Stan Jones’ 1948 story of a group of spectral cowboys has never lost it’s sense of cool.

4 –> Thieves … Ministry … Driving industrial perfection. 20 years after its release (I know, depressing, right?), this song still sounds fresh to me. It never fails to make my blood pump and my heel heavy.

3 –> O Fortuna (from Carmina Burana) … Carl Orff … Many will remember the classic scene from the 1981 Arthurian masterpiece Excalibur featuring the Knights of the Round Table riding out to battle through a bloom blown grove. This is an amazing piece. It gives me chills every time.

2 –> Kick Start My Heart … Mötley Crüe … I have always been a huge fan of the Crüe. I love ‘em. This is flawless for driving from start to finish. From the opening guitar licks to Neil’s sailing vocals to the ridiculously over the top lyrics, this one is a shot of PURE adrenaline.

1 –> Immigrant Song … Led Zeppelin … Holy. Crap. This. Is. Sweet. I know we’ve all heard it a MILLION times or more, but it remains at the top for me. Hammer of the Gods. ‘Nuff Said.

There are SO MANY more I could have included, but this was the TOP 11. What makes your list?

- - – – – – – – – - - – – – – – – – – - - – – – – – – – – - - – – – -

http://ihatemusic1943.blogspot.com/2009/07/orff-imperator-mundi.html

Even though I am a big fan of Indian classical music (at least one kind), I cannot say the same about western classical music. I do recognize the greatness of the composers thanks to some well-informed colleagues – that they could “imagine” how a full-ensemble would be and sort of experience it “in their minds” while composing pieces on their own is mind boggling. But I hardy listen to any – it does not appeal to me that highly (yet).

However, there is one western classical piece that has always enamored me with the sheer, raw power it has. It gripped me the very first time I heard it – and that was to an very old Old Spice commercial, the one showing a surfer. After a long time, one of my friends told me it was called O Fortuna (Fortuna Imperatrix Mundi) , and was part of Carmina Burana by Carl Orff . I ordered a CD and as soon as I received it, I must have listened to it like a hundred times – and each time the energy of the piece just blew me away. Even though I know that the lyrics do not imply it, the music of the song just only cried war, battle, doom and destruction to me! Of course, I am not alone in that interpretation, as you do see this piece being “mixed” into battle scenes. In general the music in itself is highly suggestive of that imagery.

However my imagery for this song has always been more specific. I have always imagined that an army advancement, particularly in medieval/ancient times, involving cavalry is the perfect situation to match the music of the song (btw, I think horses are the most majestic of all animals – perfect beasts) . This associative of imagery with Fortuna Imperatrix Mundi has been with me for a very lo……ng time.

Fast forward to a few years ago, when I was absolutely exhilarated watching the cavalry charge as part of that Ride of the Rohirrim, the Lord of the Rings (Return of the King). I have watched that scene (by itself) many, many, many times and it always gives me goose bumps. I think this is the greatest battle scene ever! At times, I would imagine being part of that charge in real life, in an earlier life, with Fortuna Imperatrix Mundi somehow being the musical backdrop for it (yes, in real-life). Fantasies upon a fantasy indeed!

Well, having seen many mixes of such kinds on YouTube and being impressed by it (e.g. Sheep by Pink Floyd to the first battlescene of Saving Private Ryan), I decided to do my “dream mix”. I mixed Fortuna Imperatrix Mundi’s music to the Ride of the Rohirrim, It actually took surprisingly short time – I guess that itself tells that the two were a natural fit. There was some editing out of scenes, but mostly ones where the bad guys landed a few punches. I was happy to remove them !

Here it is. Watch it! I hope you find it as exhilarating as I do. Play the video in full screen mode, and have the sound through (a good) headphones for maximum effect:

Not to toot my horn, but I think every part fits the mood of the song. The preparations for the charge, the fear in Eowyn and Merry’s eyes, the resolve in Theoden’s eyes, they all seem to perfectly match the mood of the first half of the song. Of and btw, in case you feel it be loud, yes, I purposely made the sound louder – because my next-to-ultimate (i.e. besides actually living it ) dream is to see it on the biggest screen powered by the biggest, baddest sound system.

It made me sick to my stomach to see Rob this morning. At first I thought his collar was popped up, but then I remembered he just doesn’t have a neck. There’s still grease & crumbs falling out of his jowls from this morning’s Jalapeño Popper run, & he’s making no effort to tidy up that unsightly mug of his.

That’s when I first noticed it, a slight pain in my abdominal region. At first I shrugged it off as a natural reaction to seeing Rob, but it just wouldn’t go away. That’s when I knew… I had the bubble gut…

You know what bubble gut is, it’s caused by the questionable potato salad, that extra slice of key lime, a genetic intolerance to dairy. Any number of things can cause it, but there’s only one solution… I had to fart.

The symptoms were coming on slow today, a pain, followed by a small gurgling sound. Right now it’s 11:30, I only have a little while longer until lunch, I could make it! Unfortunately my digestive system had other plans. I considered letting one slip, hoping that between my seat cushion muffling the sound & working among mature adults, I could get away with this very natural bodily function. That’s when I looked over & noticed that Rob isn’t coordinated enough to get Jalapeño Poppers in his mouth on the first try… I’m doomed.

It’s 11:40, & the abdominal pain is coming in waves now. I put my headphones on & start rocking in my chair to subdue the pain, I just hope that people think I’m listening to music. WAIT, Rob will ask if I’m rocking out to White Snake or Winger, STOP YOU FOOL!!!

11:45, I have a plan. If I can make it to Rob no one would dare blame me for farting! Hell, he does it every involuntarily every ten minutes anyway! AAAaaHAHAhaha!! I have you now!!! As I slowly get up from my seat a wave of pain hits me & I immediately clench my stomach, but in doing so I face plant into my desk & let out one of my now famous yelps (thanks a lot for telling the whole office about that Biblical Dave, who the hell invited you to that party anyway?!?).

11:48, now everyone is staring at me… great… With my face still on the desk I watch as my boss walks over to confront me on my abnormal behavior… someone please kill me now…

Boss “Child, what is going on in here!?”

“Spiders, *gasp*, big spiders, *gasp*, had to kill them, *gasp*, epic fight.”

GURGLE!!!

“Tee hee, I must be ready for lunch.*gasp*”

Boss “Son, you are not right in the head…”

11:50, Problem adverted, ten minutes left. I can make it, I can make it, I can make it… I CAN’T MAKE IT!
I make a mad dash for the door, but trip over my own shoes, inadvertently dodging the rubber bands a rabid Redneck Barry is shooting. I scramble for the door, I have to make it out side! I have to make to the smoking area, where no one will be able to smell the evil I’m about to unleash on the world! In the hall I run past Wendy Slacks-A-Lot.

Wendy “Whoa, where’re you headed?”

“Smoking area, *gasp* BIG *gasp* LEAGUE *gasp* CHEEEEEEEWWWW!”

Wendy “Cool, I’m headed out there to meet up with some people.”

‘NOOOOOOooOOO!!!”

I nock Wendy over as I rush back through the hall! My only hope now is to make it to the bathroom!

I kick open the door to the men’s bathroom & make sure the coast is clear. What I do next in that stall can only be described as the most ungodly act of flatulence EVER! O’ Fortuna would have been an excellent musical score for it. After a moment to catch my breath & regain my composure the door opened.

“Ew, dude, that’s sick.”

“…Fuck off Rob..”

Film-film ini memiliki kesamaan dalam penggunaan musik klasik sebagai salah satu soundtracknya.

“Carmina Burana–O Fortuna”, dikomposisi oleh Carl Orff, seorang komposer asal Jerman yang sangat terkenal dengan karya-karyanya didalam pendidikan musik, khususnya eksplorasi Carl Orff pada hubungan-hubungan yang terjadi antara musik dan gerakan, dan tertanam didalam gaya komposisinya, dengan pengulangan pola-pola not juga tekanan pada ritme yang kuat.

Carmina Burana yang dikomposisikan oleh Carl Orff pada tahun 1936 dapat dinikmati melalui pertunjukan-pertunjukan, layar televisi dan layar perak diseluruh antero dunia. Syair Carmina Burana ditemukan pada tahun 1803 di Biara Benediktbeuren dekat Munich. Sebagai bagian dari koleksi puisi Latin yang ditulis oleh para pendeta pada abad ke-12. Penulisan secara eksklusif yang digunakan untuk pertunjukan membawa Carmina Burana menghadapi isu yang sama dengan isu-isu yang kita hadapi saat ini : percintaan, kehidupan sex, perjudian, takdir dan nasib. Karena kepentingan penggunaannya, syair tersebut dituliskan kedalam bahasa Latin, bahasa Perancis dan bahsa Jerman sehingga mudah dimengerti dan dipahami. Ketika mengkomposisikan Carmina Burana, Carls Orff menyeleksi 24 buah puisi dan menyusunnya berdasarkan tema : Fortuna, Imperatrix Mundi (Fortune, Empress of the World), Primo vere (Springtime), In taberna (In the tavern), and Cours d’amour (The Court of Love).

Memang tidak diragukan; O Fortuna (O Fortune) merupakan karya yang sangat terkenal dan dikenal oleh jutaan orang diseluruh dunia. Dengan cerdas Carl Orff menciptakan makna dan arti mengenai roda kehidupan (Wheel of Fortune). Diawali dengan dentuman timpani dan mega koor, para pendengar diperkenalkan pada  daya magnet roda kehidupan (Wheel of Fortune) dengan iringan orkestra yang berulang-ulang tanpa henti dihiasi syair dan melodi yang mengalir diatasnya secara bersamaan pada putaran yang tepat.

———

Sitting in the car this afternoon, on the way back from work, listening to Tomoyasu Hotopei’s ‘Battle Without Honor or Humanity –Part One’, as featured on the soundtrack to Kill Bill. Two things spring to mind:

1. It’s still a fucking great tune.

2. It turns up absolutely everywhere. Over-exposure was so great, in fact, that it was once in danger of losing all sense of appeal to me.

I’m feeling lazy tonight, so here’s a recycled diary entry that deals with this very topic. The time-check, for anyone who is interested, is October 2005…

———

A couple of months ago, I wrote an entry that supplied new lyrics to ‘Fix You’, detailing a trip to the vet. Almost as an aside (albeit one that lasted for the best part of an entire paragraph), I predicted that the song would almost certainly be used in the next Comic Relief, as backing music for dying African children running in slow motion towards Billy Connolly. “Please give as much as you can. Together, we can make a difference.”

It’s only October, but already it seems like my worst fears are being realised. Only last week they used the song on The X-Factor (of all things), as the would-be pop stars (embodying as a collective the very essence of Warhol’s fifteen minutes of fame concept) made their way home after the final ‘closed’ auditions before the winners are unleashed on an all-too-suspecting public. Cue numerous slow-motion montages of each contestant making their way into the house to break the news to awaiting families that they were in or out. Each category was given a different song as backing – Simon Cowell’s groups had to make do with Mariah Carey, while Louis Walsh’s 16-24 year olds were at least graced with the presence of vintage Elton John. But it was Sharon’s group who arguably enjoyed the most successful pairing of audio with visuals: some clever editing ensured that lines like “Tears stream down your face” were used to maximum (if not a little manipulative) effect.

And despite this admittedly satisfying payoff, I can’t help feeling uneasy. It’s not enough that the song gets aired on the radio almost as much as James Blunt’s worthy-but-dull ‘You’re Beautiful’ (Steve Wright, for example, seems to add it to his Sunday morning playlist pretty much every week). We’re still a few weeks away from Children In Need and you don’t need a Masters to work out what’s going to be in the CD player when they’re fixing up soft-focus appeal videos in the editing suite. It’s a good choice, because it is an encompassing, uplifting piece that fits perfectly to a great many situations, musically and lyrically – if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. At the same time, the puritan in me is worried that over-exposure is going to kill the song’s appeal.

More than this – am I the only one who holds the opinion that excessive use of Coldplay (for example), while it may have its desired effect, is at best just plain lazy and at worst a shameless piece of bandwagon jumping? Maybe I’m getting cynical in my old age, but it strikes me that using popular music like this is akin to Tony Blair namedropping Oasis and Blur in the open letter to his daughter all those years ago – or, indeed, the Labour party’s use of popular song for their campaign videos. It’s hardly a new thing, and it can have great effect when it catches a public mood (although the potential to backfire is tremendous, as we witnessed in the Reagan administration’s irony-free use of ‘Born In The USA’ – a song that criticised pretty much everything the Republicans stood for). It’s just that to use a song like ‘Fix You’ to hammer home an emotional point doesn’t make me think about giving money to charity – it makes me wonder how many times they screened the video with alternative soundtracks before deciding that was the most hip and relevant option.

Even if we give the publicists the benefit of the doubt, it doesn’t alter the fact that there is a great deal of lesser-known music out there that’s getting ignored for the sake of what sells. In the same way that the back catalogues of wonderful singer-songwriters are more or less abandoned for the sake of yet another Nick Drake compilation, there’s a wealth of material suitable for montages and publicity campaigns that can be found merely by digging a little deeper than last year’s top forty albums. I don’t care that “it’s popular and people like it” – if you use something else that works better, even if it’s obscure, doesn’t that make for a greater impact? The producers of Banzai!, for example, are to be commended for their use of the most unlikely music to accompany the on-screen sadomasochism. Likewise, Dom Joly deserves a knighthood for pairing up Gordon Lightfoot’s seldom-heard ‘If You Could Read My Mind’ with a man in a dog costume begging at the side of the road. There’s plenty of room for innovation if you do your homework.

And even if after a little research you find that ‘Fix You’ really is the best choice for the video, there’s another factor to take into account: a lot of material is just plain inappropriate on the grounds that someone else got there first. It was Tarantino who pointed this out in an interview printed in Empire magazine way back in 1995, when he suggested that certain songs called to mind certain images that were so powerful that the constant re-use of the songs did nothing to shake this first, overwhelming memory. The most obvious example of this is ‘Perfect Day’ – no matter who’s singing it, whether it’s Lou Reed himself, Kirsty MacColl, or Tom Jones in that memorable (if overplayed) BBC recording, nothing will erase my memory of Ewan MacGregor sinking into the floor halfway through Trainspotting. (Actually, Trainspotting holds a monopoly on more than one standard – but more on that in a moment.)

Occasionally, overexposure can be funny – Radiohead’s ‘Exit Music (For a Film)’ used to generate gut-wrenching pathos in Romeo and Juliet, and then to get a laugh (through the creation of misery) in Father Ted. Sadly, such occurrences are few and far between, and most of the time what you’re left with is a world-weary sense of deja-vu, and the feeling you’ve been cheated. All of this set me thinking this morning, and I started to make a list of other songs / pieces that have been used too much in the wrong contexts:

‘Lust For Life’ (Iggy Pop)
Trainspotting was blessed with arguably the finest film soundtrack of the decade (certainly in the top ten), and its influences stretch beyond that of Reed’s “Is it about heroin?” anthem. ‘Lust For Life’ may have been used before it accompanied Ewan MacGregor’s done-to-death opening monologue, but to be fair, the hold that the film exerts on the song reaches farther than the first five minutes: references to Iggy Pop saturate the film, and the song is even name-checked in the middle of a funeral. Nonetheless, it’s this powerhouse opening that we remember – an opening that’s been parodied and imitated so often that it’s no longer particularly interesting. You would think that this would deter music consultants from using it in every single episode of Wife Swap since the programme was launched (give or take), but sadly that doesn’t seem to be the case. “Choose life. Choose a TV. Chose a channel. Choose anything but that fucking song again…”

‘O Fortuna’ (Carl Orff)
Two things irritate me. First of all it’s the fact that everyone gets this mixed up with The Omen when it has absolutely nothing to do with it: the music you’re looking for is Jerry Goldsmith’s ‘Ave Satani’. The Orff chorus is a clear influence, but a completely different piece: it’s like saying that ‘Never Gonna Give You Up’ and ‘I Should Be So Lucky’ are the same record. So that’s rant one. Rant two is the fact that this is used in everything. I’m not exaggerating. I could just about live with the Old Spice thing, and it actually works pretty well on a literary level in Excalibur if you examine the libretto. But it’s been subsequently featured in adverts for Nescafe (intense orchestration…intense flavouring? Hmmm, tenuous), and trailers for any action film that’s due to be screened on BBC1 (or at least the ones that don’t feature Verdi’s ‘Dies Irae’, but let’s not go there). Then there was the introductory video for Michael Jackson’s live show (a montage of screaming fans, heavy security and crotch-grabbing antics from the former clown prince of pop, entitled ‘Brace Yourself’). Exciting, sure, and the musical equivalent of an orgasm…but next time Lethal Weapon is on, find something new to advertise it!

‘Porcelain’ (Moby)
‘Porcelain’ was one of those songs that was already starting to wear out its welcome before it was accompanied by the sight of Leonardo Di Caprio jumping off a cliff (and sadly avoiding a grizzly death on the jagged rocks below). Actually I’m of the conviction that the use of the song in The Beach wasn’t its defining moment, but even if we leave that aside, the fact remains that it’s been grossly overused in documentaries and dramas ever since its original release. Such is the seemingly endless appeal of Moby: the truth is that the entire Play album has been used extensively in advertising everything from Galaxy chocolate to Nissan Cars, from Intel to…Maxwell House. Even some of the hippy vegan’s earlier work hasn’t escaped the work of the advertising board, with the quite wonderful ‘God Moving Over The Face Of The Waters’ making an incongruous appearance in a trailer for the BBC’s Bronte Sisters before being extensively used in a recent installment of The X-Factor, as well as finding time to advertise Rover – and all this when everyone knows that it was implemented most successfully at the end of Heat. The price you pay for making nondescript instrumental music, but Moby doesn’t seem to mind. Who can blame him, given the size of his royalty cheque?

‘Adagio For Strings’ (Barber)
And here’s another one. Yes, it was perfect in The Elephant Man, particularly over that final “Nothing ever dies…” monologue. It was even pretty good in Platoon (miserable piece of music + miserable film = Prozac manufacturer’s heaven). By the time we’d reached Red Dwarf VIII, however, things were getting a bit silly. The fact that this is the only piece of Barber you ever hear anywhere outside of Radio 3 or the occasional lunchtime recital says less about the composer’s abilities (he really was very talented with a remarkable gift for harmony) and more about the fact that people just aren’t willing to delve any further into poor Samuel’s back catalogue. So out comes Barber’s ‘Adagio’ again – nix the “for strings” part; it’ll mean we can assume a false air of familiarity. Never mind the fact that there are better, more moving pieces out there that can be uplifting as well as heart-rending – instead of just horribly depressing. And as for playing it on the Last Night of the Proms for all the September 11 victims…honestly, what the hell was that about?

‘Battle Without Honor Or Humanity – Part One’ (Tomoyasu Hotopei)
While Hotopei-San’s guitar-driven industrial jam might not have been written for Kill Bill, few could argue that it was Tarantino’s most recent work that sealed its reputation. One of those pieces that most people recognise but relatively few can actually name, ‘Battle…Part One’ provided a perfect accompaniment to Lucy Liu’s slow-motion walk through her swanky club. Here, you realised in the midst of gigantic power chords and ear-thumping drum machines, was a figure of menace – a woman who could look good as well as kick some serious butt, who moonlighted as a child prostitute to avenge her father’s killer, who thinks nothing of beheading sharp-suited executives in the middle of board meetings, and who only narrowly loses a fight to the death with Uma Thurman. The Japanese connection between setting and composer only served to intensify the relationship: it was an electrifying moment, and it’s therefore very sad to see that the piece is now used with alarming regularity in most fly-on-the-wall documentaries to announce the slow-motion arrival of…a child care specialist. Or a decorating team. Or even (hold your breath, folks) a Life Coach. Excuse me while I snigger a bit.

John – who sits diagonally opposite – says that half the problem is the BBC. He used to work there and I suspect that a lot of it is bitterness (he can’t stand Robert Winston or Jeremy Vine) but he has a point: the bulk of this does seem to be down to a simple lack of imagination or any sense of adventure. The safe, reliable option is the one that sells. It’s not exclusively a BBC problem, but I can’t help feeling it’s at its worst on Her Majesty’s network. We shouldn’t be surprised – the lack of musical imagination reflects the lack of imagination when it comes to the programming schedules, and the irony is that there is less innovation than ever (Doctor Who aside) at a time when they’re about to hike up the license fee again. It’s enough to have you weeping into your pillow at night. Well, almost.

What can make a Botch cover of Carl Orff’s “O Fortuna” even better?  Using it to make a montage of roughnecks.  I need to find some place to download this, but I refuse to use torrents or anything illegal.

This is a Carlton Draught Beer Advertisement. Have a look how they have transformed the good old “O Fortuna”. Have fun!

When I was about 9 the school choir I was in was nominated to participate in Carmina Burana at the Cape Town City Hall.  Was quite a big thing back then and the whole experience stuck with me through out the years.

All the practicing, the raw eggs (eeew), watching the adults get ready and being made to recheck my hair for the thousandth time.

Carmina Burana was probably one of the first pieces of music I really heard, I knew Beethoven, Mozart and Chopin from listening to the LP’s my father left behind but this one had words.  Although I didn’t understand them I felt them and I felt them deeply and found myself floating off on a cloud as the voices rose and fell.  This piece was my little bit of escape in my little chaotic world.

I don’t know why, perhaps deep down I knew why I related to that song so much, perhaps a part of me suspected the meaning of the words sung so beautifully, but I never looked for any translation. Not till now.

I was shocked by the words and saddened at the same time, ironic that that song was my theme song that I hummed during rough times.  Yet this song filled me with a fight and a need to pull it together, to lift my head and rise again.  Perhaps because those lyrics were so unknowingly doom filled my stubbornness said to hell with it I can do this!

So today of all days I listen to the full Carmina Burana feeling once again the inner fight rise with each word sung even though its a doom song, for me it remains as it was. 

A song that gives me strength when I need it most, energy to my spirit and soul.

Oh, Four Tuna. Bring more tuna.
We had to sing this in theatre school. Which, incidentally, totally rocked. I wish we’d learned this English version, though.
For the Goths and Latin nerds among you, the real lyrics are here.