#SongoftheDay Hilli Ya Sanabel (Canadian Arabic Orchestra)

By
Yesterday I mentioned Cris Derksen’s choral work Maada’ookii Songlines, which I witnessed at Luminato in June. One of the musical ensembles participating in this concert was the Canadian Arabic Orchestra, and they made an impression--to say the least.

Prior to the performance of Maada’ookii Songlines, all of the many choirs participating in the main event had the opportunity to showcase their skills independently. I heard a bunch of people having a great time, and gravitated toward the crowd. Turned out I was listening to the Canadian Arabic Orchestra.

The crowd really got into it--a dad bouncing his kid on his shoulders, the women next to me ululating between licks at their melting ice cream cones, people dancing even though there was no space to move--but when they got to their final number, everybody seemed to know the words. I wish I could tell you what song it was, but I didn't catch the name in all the chaos of the choral event.

Everyone was clapping--even me, and I never clap--and singing along and moving and ululating and laughing. Everyone was so happy.

I burst into tears.

Music does this to me. It moves me to tears. Even in public. Especially in public? This shared experience, especially around music I'd never have otherwise known about, was so filled to the brim with emotion.

Music is energy. It has impact. Huge impact, on me. Maybe on you, too.  Maybe that's why you're here.



If you're wondering how you can support me in bringing you songs and visits every day, the easiest thing you can do is tell your friends about the site. Tell anyone you know--particularly people who are isolated and enjoy music.

Readers of adult fiction can also buy my books or check them out from your local library. Supporting my AudioErotica endeavour on Patreon would also help me hugely!

But you don't HAVE to do any of that. I'm very happy to get a daily visit from you, so just keep coming back.

Oh, and I also recommend hitting the "Subscribe" button at the top of the page so you won't miss a song!

See you tomorrow!
Giselle

Popular posts from this blog

What is this? Where am I? What's it all about?

By
Image
All good questions. Let me explain. My name is Giselle and I'm your new best friend. Well, maybe not "best friend." A best friend usually listens in addition to talking, but that's not me. What I will do is be here every day, starting June 1 2019, to share with you whichever song pops into my head. Why?  What's the point? Well, here's the thing: I'm a writer. It's a pretty lonely job. Over the years, I've become increasingly socially isolated and you know what? It sucks. It sucks bad. The truth of the matter is that a lot of us are socially isolated, these days. And not just older people--younger ones, too.  There are "friendly visitor" programs for seniors, but those of us under 65 are kind of lost at sea. I speak from experience. Let me be your friendly visitor! If you need a no-pressure visit every day, let me be your visitor. I'll bring a song--whichever song pops into my head, gets stuck in my head, or seems relevant...
Read More! »

#SongoftheDay 1984 (Tina Turner)

By
Image
I was watching a murder mystery the other day, and the detective found a clue in the victim's journal: it was an ancient sepia photograph of the woman when she was a child. The photograph was dated... 1984. 1984? Okay, speaking as someone who was also a child in 1984, I can tell you that none of my childhood photos are sepia-toned! I do have quite a few black-and-white pictures of my sister and myself, but that's just because my father was kind of artsy with his camera and he would sometimes buy black-and-white film. But the vast majority of photos taken in 1984 were in full colour. Definitely not sepia! I wondered how old the prop person on that TV show was, and if they thought photography in 1984 was basically the same as photography in 1884. This is a cover of a Bowie song, by the way. If you're wondering how you can support me in bringing you songs and anecdotes, the easiest thing you can do is buy my books (most are for adults only!) or check them out from your...
Read More! »

#SongoftheDay Hair (The Cowsills)

By
Image
My partner and I took a night walk last week.  As usual, we checked out Saturn and Jupiter, which were bright in the night sky.  I told him we were on the cusp of the Age of Aquarius, as those planets will be entering Aquarius in December.  He doesn't believe in astrology, but he asked me about it nonetheless.   I'm no expert in astrology. Being an Aquarius, I'm mostly interested in what makes Aquarians tick. I told my partner that we Aquarians have a reputation for being self-involved. Strangely, we're also considered the humanitarians of the zodiac. We'll fight for human rights on a global scale, but we're not so interested in actual individual humans.  When my partner heard that, he started quoting from the song Easy to be Hard, which has previously been a song of the day here on the blog.  That song is about "people" (Aquarians?) who care about strangers and social injustice, but aren't there for their friends and let down their loved ones.  Af...
Read More! »

#SongoftheDay I'm Getting Sentimental Over You (Tommy Dorsey and His Orchestra)

By
Image
I've been feeling so sick the past few days that I've barely had the energy to watch TV--and that's saying something. Watching TV isn't exactly a gruelling task. But one of my meds has been making me sick to my stomach, and after days of this I am just so weak. It's times like this when I realize how much my partner does to take care of me and to take care of our surroundings when I'm unwell. I'm noticing how much he does because he's not here. He's at his house; I'm at my place. And my place is a mess because I don't have the energy to clean it properly. Now I'm realizing that usually, when I'm sick, he does the dishes, he dries them and puts them away so we don't have a kitchen full of dirty dishes. Normally when I'm sick to my stomach, he runs to the bathroom with me and holds my hair. If my hair is pulled back, he pets my head because he says he doesn't know what else to do. But clearly he does know what to do, beca...
Read More! »

#SongoftheDay Watermelon Man (Herbie Hancock)

By
Image
I've been meaning to tell you this story for months. I promised to tell it to you weeks ago. So here we are, finally: the watermelon story. So, I'd just finished shopping at the little grocery store near my building. I was using a walker that day. I can wedge the shopping basket between the metal bars on either side while I shop, then pile my bags on the seat to get them home. That works unless I'm carrying anything really heavy. One time my partner tried using my walker to bring home three cases (36 cans) of Ensure, and he ended up slicing open his finger. Blood everywhere. But that's not the watermelon story. I interrupted myself. Let's start again. So, I'd just finished my shopping and I was coming out of the little grocery store with my bags piled up on my walker when I noticed that there was an older woman trying to fish a watermelon out of one of those huge cardboard containers they keep watermelon in outside the store. With zero luck. She, like me,...
Read More! »

#SongoftheDay I Want A New Drug (Huey Lewis And The News)

By
Image
I brought a huge stack of CDs along to the cottage, for those stretches of highway where no radio stations come in too well. On the way home, I asked my brother what he wanted to listen to. He was like, "Huey Lewis And The News!" Perfect, because I'd had "I Want A New Drug" in my head for days. When I said so, my mom was like, " I Want To Do Drugs ? What kind of music do you listen to?" My mom is so cute. Anyway, I'm having a really bad depression+anxiety day and I DO want to do drugs, but instead I'm telling you this story and listening to music from the 80s. If you're wondering how you can support me in bringing you songs and visits every day, the easiest thing you can do is tell your friends about the site. Tell anyone you know--particularly people who are isolated and enjoy music. Readers of adult fiction can also buy my books or check them out from your local library. Supporting my  AudioErotica  endeavour on  Patreon  w...
Read More! »

#SongoftheDay The Leader of the Laundromat (The Detergents)

By
Image
I've got another story about my ring flying off my finger, but this time it was in public.  The last time this happened, at least it was in the privacy of our own home. This time, it happened in the laundry room of my apartment building. My partner carried the laundry for me, because I no longer have the strength to do many household tasks on my own. Once the laundry basket was set before the washing machine, I assured him I could load it by myself, and I went to task. As I was loading the machine, a young guy came into the laundry room and started doing the same a few machines down the line. The laundry room in my building is really large and bright and welcoming--they renovated it a couple years ago, and I must say they did a great job. So, anyway, I finished loading the washer, stood up, and realized there was a whole bunch of lint all over my sweatshirt. I started brushing it off, and as I did so, my ring flew off my finger. Since I was brushing in a downward motion, it hit th...
Read More! »

#SongoftheDay Day After Day (Badfinger)

By
Image
I'll be honest with you: I didn't know Badfinger was a band until I googled musicians from Wales. I was familiar with this song, but I never knew who it was by. Now I actually understand the joke that mentions them in the Rifftrax riff of Psycho II (yes, that's an actual movie).  (edit: the riff I was thinking of is actually from Amityville 4, which is another lousy sequel.)   If you're wondering how you can support me in bringing you songs and anecdotes, the easiest thing you can do is buy my books (most are for adults only!) or check them out from your local library.  Supporting my  AudioErotica  endeavour on  Patreon  would also help me hugely. I'm also an  Amazon Influencer,  so hopefully I can make a little pocket change when you buy stuff by clicking through  my affiliate links . I also recommend subscribing to my newsletter. I generally e-mail subscribers with a weekly update, and I would LOVE to have you on the list.  C...
Read More! »

#SongoftheDay I Dreamt We Spoke Again (Death Cab for Cutie)

By
Image
Last winter, I listened to this Death Cab for Cutie album ( Thank You for Today ) on repeat. I'd probably heard it 20 or 30 times before I clued in to the fact that it was a break-up album, and maybe I was listening to it so much because, last fall, I went through a break-up and never really dealt with it. If you've known me for a while, you've heard me talk about my girlfriend, Sweet. What you don't know is that she isn't my girlfriend anymore. We broke up while my grandmother was dying, which is a stupid time to break up with someone, but the relationship had run its course, we were in very different places emotionally, and it was time to say goodbye. Actually, I lost a 10-year relationship and my beloved grandmother in the space of 4 days. I mourned the loss of my grandmother, and I let that take over. I pushed the relationship loss to the side. I didn't want to think about it. I haven't even told the internet until now. So when I talk about my p...
Read More! »

#SongoftheDay Cheers Theme: Where Everybody Knows Your Name (Gary Portnoy)

By
Image
A lot has changed since I first created this blog. Even more changes happened while the blog was on hiatus. Most notably, my partner was diagnosed with cancer. He is currently receiving treatments, the side effects of which make every day incredibly arduous. When you become a caregiver, everybody tells you that you have to take care of yourself first--the whole oxygen mask thing. Even my partner tells me I need to take care of myself first, particularly because I have chronic health conditions that make it almost impossible to function some days. It feels kind of ridiculous sometimes, the two of us trying to take care of each other when we're both sick. We need so much help, and right now we have nothing. All we've got is each other. Every time someone tells me to take care of myself first, I wonder how I'm supposed to do that when my partner's needs are so immediate and life-or-death. He is not a demanding person. Cancer is demanding. It takes over your entire life...
Read More! »