(From left, Robert Donat as Richard Hannay and Lucie Mannheim as Annabella Smith in the Alfred Hitchcock movie The 39 Steps).
This story of The 39 Steps is one of the wrong man, Canadian Richard Hannay as portrayed by Robert Donat, suspected of murder getting mixed up with an attractive blonde, Pamela as portrayed by Madeleine Carroll, while hoping to clear his name. The death in play is that of one Annabella Smith, as portrayed by Lucie Mannheim, who turns to Hannay for help before coming to her end after implicating him; Smith introduces to Hannay the notion of an abstract and unexplained phrase The 39 Steps.
(From left, Madeleine Carroll as Pamela and Robert Donat as Richard Hannay in the Alfred Hitchcock movie The 39 Steps).
The opening confusion with Annabella Smith begins in London at a music hall event featuring Mr. Memory; Wylie Watson portrayed Mr. Memory. It’s while Smith fleeing to Hannay’s bedroom and getting murdered that Hannay retrieves a map of the Scottish Highlands held by Smith; that map leads Hannay to a building labeled Alt-na-Shellach in the village of Killin, Scotland. Hannay first meets Pamela aboard the Flying Scotsman, learning at Waverly Station in Edinburgh, Scotland of his being suspected of murdering Smith. Hannay escapes police custody at the Forth Bridge when Pamela aims to support his capture.
(From left, Robert Donat as Richard Hannay, Peggy Ashcroft as Margaret and John Laurie as John in the Alfred Hitchcock movie The 39 Steps).
The police ultimately follow Hannay to the the croft of John and Margaret, where the couple has granted Hannay an evening of respite. Margaret, as portrayed by Peggy Ashcroft, gives Richard the coat of her husband John, as portrayed by John Laurie, to assist Hannay in making an escape. The notion of an extended police chase in cinema gains an expression multiple ways through The 39 Steps, leading for now to Alt-na-Shellach.
(Godfrey Tearle as Professor Jordan in the Alfred Hitchcock movie The 39 Steps).
It is at the home there that Hannay encounters Professor Johnson and his wife; Professor Johnson and Mrs. Louisa Johnson were portrayed by Godfrey Tearle and Helen Haye, respectively. A bullet meant for Hannay at the home of the Johnson’s misses its mark when a hymnal in the coat jacket of John, as presented to him by Margaret, saves Robert Hannay’s life. Pamela, intending to reveal Robert Hannay to police again, leads the pair on a trip with police impersonators aiming to take the pair to Inverary, Scotland.
(Wiley Watson as Mr. Memory in the Alfred Hitchcock movie The 39 Steps).
Cleverness by Hannay helps Robert and Pamela, handcuffed together, escape their captors once again. The pair make their way to the London Palladium, where the movie comes to a satisfying conclusion. The film’s ongoing chase sequences resolve provided an interesting mix of humor and directorial winking. Owing to the overall enjoyment that was experienced, I grant The 39 Steps as directed by Alfred Hitchcock 3.75-stars on a scale of 1-to-5.
(Jean-Pierre Marielle as Jacques Saunière in the Ron Howard movie The Da Vinci Code).
The movie begins with the pursuit if Louvre Museum curator Jacques Saunière, as portrayed by Jean-Pierre Marielle, in the world famous Paris, France art museum by Roman Catholic, albino monk named Silas; Silas was portrayed by Paul Bettany. Saunière, while coming out of the exchange dead, leaves clues amongst the artwork of Leonardo da Vinci, the namesake for the movie, the book, and the clues embedded in the art around the museum that lead the police to summon renowned Harvard University symbologist Robert Langdon to the case.
(From left, Paul Bettany as Silas and Alfred Molina as Bishop Aringarosa in the Ron Howard movie The Da Vinci Code).
Robert Langdon, as portrayed by Tom Hanks, initially is suspected of the murder of Jacques Saunière, by police captain Bezu Fache, as portrayed by Jean Reno. Police cryptologist Sophie Neveu, as portrayed by Audrey Tautou, disagrees that that Langdon should be suspected of her grandfather’s, that is Saunière’s, murder; Neveu and Langdon shake Fache’s pursuit and deduce that Saunière was a grand master of the French founded Priory of Sion.
(From left, Audrey Tautou as Sophie Neveu and Tom Hanks as Robert Langdon near the Louvre Museum in the Ron Howard movie The Da Vinci Code).
Silas, meanwhile, works for an anonymous to him person he calls The Teacher, which has links to the Bishop Aringarosa led Opus Dei. Aringarosa, as portrayed by Alfred Molina. Circumstances send Langdon and Neveu to Sir Leigh Teabing, as portrayed by Ian McKellan.
(Jean Reno as Police Captain Bezu Fache in the Ron Howard movie The Da Vinci Code).
It was Teabing, a purported expert on the Holy Grail, who introduces a theory contrary to accepted religious canon about a relationship between Mary Magdalene and Jesus, which motivated much of the subtextual mystery functioning in the movie. Charlotte Graham portrayed Mary Magdalene in The Da Vinci Code.
(Ian McKellen as Sir Leigh Teabing in the Ron Howard movie The Da Vinci Code).
The thriller aspects of the movie, along with the intrigue underpinning the mysteries animating the story for the movie, largely worked. That the resolution went in the direction it did was a bit provocative for my taste, though that does not mean the fiction did not work. I give The Da Vinci Code as directed by Ron Howard 3.75-stars on a scale of one-to-five.
Released over a course of nine months in the first decade of the twentieth century, The Hound of the Baskervilles was the third of four novels featuring mastermind detective Sherlock Holmes. Written by Arthur Conan Doyle of Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom, the novel features the sudden death of Sir Charles Baskerville. Suspected in the death is an extravagantly large ghostly hound said to have haunted the Baskerville family for generations. Holmes is presented as the detective to answer to this mystery.
(Arthur Conan Doyle, as seen here, wrote four crime novels featuring Sherlock Holmes as the detective).
Location and timing feature in the story, with the supposed curse of a demonic hound haunting Dartmoor, England dating back to the English Civil Wars of 1642-1651. Dr. James Mortimer brings Sherlock Holmes to London to inform him of this haunting, in that Charles Baskerville of Dartmoor had taken the legend seriously prior to his, Baskerville’s, death. While Baskerville’s death ostensibly looks to have been a heart attack, the look of horror on the man’s face coupled with gigantic hound footprints found near the scene of the philanthropist’s death brought forth the question.
(Alternative covers to The Hound of the Baskervilles, which was first released in serial form from August 1901 to April 1902).
Serving as executor to his friend’s estate, Mortimer is concerned over passing the estate over to Charles Baskerville’s nephew, Henry. While Holmes dismisses the notion of the legend as nonsense, seems eager to stay at Baskerville Hall in spite of receiving an anonymous note warning him to stay away. Henry is returning to the Dartmoor region from Canada, standing to inherit a considerable financial sum in addition to the property. Sherlock Holmes has Dr. Watson travel with Henry and Mortimer when Holmes finds that Charles Baskerville’s nephew is being followed.
(Of the crime novels written by Arthur Conan Doyle, shown here, The Hound of the Baskervilles is the third of four to feature Sherlock Holmes as the detective).
An interesting cast of characters are found at the estate upon arrival, with Watson sharing investigation details to Holmes after the larger party recognize strange happenings at the Dartmoor property. Hidden familial relationships among people that Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson encounter give rise to suspicions of guilt among allowing detective Holmes to bait a trap to kill the howling hound while pointing to the guilty party for Inspector Lestrade of Scotland Yard. The truth is revealed in the end with the underlying motivations revealed satisfactorily for all to see.
(Additional covers to The Hound of the Baskerville as written by Arthur Conan Doyle).
The correct interpretation of who had been acting in self-interest to cause the underlying mysteries eluded me, though I was at least on the proper track for the motivations that were in play. These points contributed to my enjoyment of the mystery overall. Thus, I give The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle 4.0-stars on a scale of 1-to-5.
(Cover art for Led Zeppelin‘s fourth studio album. The album, commonly called Led Zeppelin IV, was released November 8th, 1971).
Black Dog is named for a Labrador retriever that wandered the grounds where the song was recorded, per Songfacts as referenced here. The opening idea for the song came from John Paul Jones having “wanted to try “electric blues with a rolling bass part,” and “a riff that would be like a linear journey.”” The 1968 Muddy Waters album Electric Mud proved an inspiration for Black Dog, which charted as high as fifteenth in the United States.
(Black Dog was released as a single and charted in several countries with Misty Mountain Hop as the B-side, though the songs were not released as a single in the United Kingdom).
Ian Stewart contributed piano playing to Rock and Roll, the second song on Led Zeppelin IV. Having charted as high as forty-seventh in the United States, the drum work for this reportedly was inspired by the Little Richard song Keep a Knockin’. John Bonham had become frustrated with “a pretty much unplayable drum pattern” for the recording of Four Sticks, per this background. The inspiration from Keep a Knockin’ became part of the signature sound for Rock and Roll, whose lyrics were written by Robert Plant.
(Rock and Roll by Led Zeppelin was released as a single with Four Sticks as the B-side in February 1972).
Sandy Denny contributed duet vocals on The Battle of Evermore, the third song on the Led Zeppelin IV album. Robert Plant wrote the song’s lyrics, per information found here, “after reading a book on Scottish history. The lyrics are about the everlasting battle between night and day, which can also be interpreted as the battle between good and evil.”
Per this feedback from Songfacts, “[t]he most famous rock song of all time, “Stairway To Heaven” wasn’t a chart hit because it was never released as a single to the general public. Radio stations received promotional singles which quickly became collector’s items.” To the best of my reckoning, the lyrics themselves are rather opaque. Two message are clear. The first is that material wealth makes getting to heaven challenging. The second message is that a wealthy woman got everything she wanted without giving anything back.
Four Sticksreportedly “was named because drummer John Bonham played it with four drumsticks – two in each hand.” Bonham reportedly had difficulty physically playing this song. The song “contains elements of Indian music.”
Jimmy Page and Robert Plant wrote Going to California, reportedly “drawing inspiration from Joni Mitchell, specifically her song “California.” In the Led Zeppelin song, “the guy in the song is looking for a girl just like [Mitchell], one with “love in her eyes and flowers in her hair” who “plays guitar and cries and sings.”
(Cillian Murphy as Jim in the Danny Boyle movie 28 Days Later).
A highly contagious virus studied in a Cambridge, England laboratory of Cambridgeshire county begins the story of 28 Days Later. A group of ecoterrorists free a chimpanzee infected with the aggression-inducing “rage virus” from this laboratory. Almost immediately, one of the terrorists becomes infected by the freed animal, succumbing to the infection and transmitting it to another terrorist. Within days, the virus induces an epidemic resulting in the collapse of society. Twenty-eight days later, we meet bicycle courier Jim at the abandoned St. Thomas’ Hospital in London as he awakens a coma suffered before the initial outbreak of the rage virus. Cillian Murphy portrayed Jim.
(Noah Huntley as Mark in the Danny Boyle movie 28 Days Later).
Jim wanders the streets of London before survivors Selena and Mark rescue him from infected humans that had chase him, Jim, into a church. The group learns that Jim’s parents had committed suicide during the outbreak when getting to the family home in the Deptford part of London. Before even much of an opportunity to process this blow, Selena must kill Mark upon Mark’s infection with the rage virus. Just moments later upon experiencing this at the frenetic pace of a rage infested zombie, Jim and Selena encounter cab driver Frank with his daughter Hannah at Balfron Tower in East London. Noah Huntley, Naomie Harris, Brendan Gleeson and Megan Burns portrayed Mark, Selena, Frank and Hannah, respectively.
(From left, Naomie Harris as Selena, Cillian Murphy as Jim, Brendan Gleeson as Frank and Megan Burns as Hannah in the Danny Boyle movie 28 Days Later).
It is news of supplies and the potential safety of a blockade in Manchester, as brought by Frank, that the previously unfathomable grouping take up a drive to a northwestern section of England. The apparent respite offered by this journey quickly gives way to new realities at the abandoned blockade. The fortified mansion under the command of Major Henry West, as portrayed by Christopher Eccleston, gives way to a new and insidious story of a society that’s died and a fresh hell of intended for Hannah. The subterfuge of the blockade giving way to the true intention of a barricade of sex slavery.
(From left, Christopher Eccleston as Major Henry West and Cillian Murphy as Jim in the Danny Boyle movie 28 Days Later).
The angle of Sergeant Farrell, as portrayed by Stuart McQuarrie, and Jim’s opposition to combat the slavery gives 28 Days Later an adventure and humanity that sets the movie apart from the underpinnings one might expect of other more traditional movies with a zombie angle. The introduction of the Private Mailer character, which offers its own inhumane point-of-view, leads to an odd justice for the blockade to round out this particular storyline. The intrigue that brings the storyline to a close in Cumbria, England within earshot of a Finnish jetfighter flying overhead presents the answer to the question of survival raised from the beginning of the movie that this story has raised and the viewer deserved. Marvin Campbell portrayed Private Mailer.
(From left, Cillian Murphy as Jim and Stuart McQuarrie as Sergeant Farrell in the Danny Boyle movie 28 Days Later).
There’s more done properly in the movie 28 Days Later to overcome what points against the film have been raised by critics, for example, on Rotten Tomatoeshere. I give 28 Days Later as directed by Danny Boyle 4.25-stars on a scale of 1-to-5.
(Shown here is the cover art for the album Teaser and the Firecat, the fifth studio effort released by Cat Stevens).
The Wind opens Teaser and the Firecat seeing Stevens, as quoted on Songfactshere, examining “spirituality and fate, listening to the wind of his soul to find his direction. At the time, he was exploring Eastern philosophy following a life-threatening bout of tuberculosis.” Recorded in London, the song would be used in the Cameron Crowe movie Almost Famous (2000), among others.
If I Laugh meditates on the aftermath of a deeply impactful relationship that has run its course to an unhappy ending. The relationship need only be meaningful and missed, with Stevens making a statement for doing the work for recovery. The meaning here helps me greatly.
The fourth song on the album, Changes IV, as noted on the Playing Cat Stevens bloghere, “was recorded with Gerry Conway playing live drums. Those background claps on the album recording were actually Cat’s ingenious idea.” The song amplifies the message of change being a necessary teacher in life, as raised in the song If I Laugh.
(An image of Cat Stevens, later renamed Yusuf Islam, from 1971).
How Can I Tell You gets into the notion of a writer feeling “something so immense that he can’t think of words to describe how he is feeling[, thus] it becomes difficult to write songs,” as stated here. The song captures the elusiveness of this forthrightly.
Tuesday’s Dead brings an uplifting playfulness to finding the peace of mind and purpose in a life that hasn’t provided the experiences to light the path through the confusion. That the human condition is this kind of messy need not diminish the light; Stevens says to lift the bushel and shine despite what embarrassment or pain you feel to get to peace, allowing the past to remain there once you can.
Morning Has Broken, along with the remainder of the songs on Teaser and the Firecat, were recorded in London. Charting ninth in the United Kingdom and sixth in the United States, as noted here, the song provides a “reworking of a 1931 children’s hymn by Eleanor Farjeon, who also wrote a lot of children’s poetry. The lyric is a reference to the book of Genesis in the Bible, where God creates Earth on the “first morning.””
Bitterblue is a negotiation of sorts in coming to some form of understanding about moving forward with understanding and acceptance. While I can see this living in the context of a human relationship, I see this more expansively within the context of the Teaser and the Firecat album as an effort to reach spiritual understanding with the divine, perhaps existentially. I hear a distinct sense for what Cat Stevens is trying to reject within the dialogue he shares with us in Bitterblue.
(Moonshadow, released as a single in the United Kingdom in 1970 and in the United States a year later, is a part of the Cat Stevens album Teaser and the Firecat).
Moonshadow charted 22nd in the United Kingdom and 30th in the United States, as noted here. This song gets into finding hope in any situation; being present and joyful; seeing life as it is, right now, and not comparing it to others’ lives, or other times in your life. The message is to be present in the current moment rather than worrying about what could be, or what has been, since the richness of life rests in experiencing the present moment.
Peace Train charted as high as seventh in the United States, as indicated here. In the song, Cat Stevens sings of a hopefulness for people coming together, peacefully, to form a unified togetherness of purpose, direction and peace. Stevens is quoted as saying he was “was revisiting a very Greek-sounding riff – the kind of thing you’d hear on a Greek island. The words were attached to that time, my peace anthem. It ended every show that I did and was quite a show stopper. It was a very important song for me because it stated one of the big goals of my life which was heading straight for that peace.”
(Released in the United States after Moonshadow, Peace Train became the first U.S. Top 10 hit for the performer. Stevens would later change his name to Yusuf Islam).
(From left, Annette Bening as Euphemia and Tom Bateman as Bouc in the Kenneth Branagh movie Death on the Nile).
The movie Death on the Nile opens with an explanation for the signature mustache worn by Belgian detective Hercule Poirot. The mustache dates back to Poirot‘s service in World War One. While serving his country in the military, a hidden trap kills many of the men while mutilating Poirot‘s face. Poirot‘s nurse and lover, Katherine as portrayed by Susannah Fielding, suggests the detective grow a mustache to camouflage the scars. While Katherine unfortunately dies in the war, born is Poirot’s signature mustache.
(Kenneth Branagh as Hercule Poirot in the Kenneth Branagh movie Death on the Nile).
It is 1937 that we next encounter our fair detective in a club in London, England, enjoying the singing of blues performer Salome Otterbourne. Poirot witnesses the introduction of Simon Doyle as Jacqueline ‘Jackie’ de Bellefort’s fiancé to de Bellefort’s childhood friend, heiress Linnet ‘Linny’ Ridgeway. Ridgeway agrees to enter into a business arrangement with Doyle that evening. Sophie Okonedo, Armie Hammer, Emma Mackey and Gal Gadot portrayed Otterbourne, Doyle, de Bellefort and Ridgeway, respectively.
(From left, Armie Hammer as Simon Doyle and Gal Gadot as Linnet ‘Linny’ Ridgeway-Doyle in the Kenneth Branagh movie Death on the Nile).
It’s six weeks later that, while traveling in Egypt, Poirot encounters his friend Bouc with Euphemia, Bouc’s mother. Bouc invited Poirot to his hotel to attend the wedding of Linnet and Simon, which naturally comes as a surprise given the introductions witnessed back in London. Bouc and Euphemia were portrayed by Tom Bateman and Annette Bening, respectively.
(From left, Jennifer Saunders as Marie Van Schuyler and Dawn French as Mrs. Bowers in the Kenneth Branagh movie Death on the Nile).
Linnet and Simon are enjoying a honeymoon trip on the Nile River. Linnet’s maid, Louise Bourget, Linnet’s schoolfriend Rosalie, traveling as manager with her aunt, Salome Otterbourne, and Linnet’s godmother, Marie Van Schuyler with her nurse, Mrs. Bowers, all join the trip. Dr. Linus Windlesham, Linnet’s former fiancé who renounced his wealthy background, and Linnet’s cousin and financial manager, Andrew Katchadourian, also have joined the trip. Linnet asks Poirot to protect her from Jacqueline ‘Jackie’ de Bellefort, Simon Doyle’s former fiancé, who has followed the couple to Egypt out of presumed feelings of scorn. Bourget, Rosalie, Van Schuyler, Bowers, Windlesham and Katchadourian were portrayed by Rose Leslie, Letitia Wright, Jennifer Saunders, Dawn French, Russell Brand and Ali Fazal, respectively.
(From left, Rose Leslie as Louise Bourget, Emma Mackey as Jacqueline ‘Jackie’ de Bellefort and Ali Fazal as Andrew Katchadourian in the Kenneth Branagh movie Death on the Nile).
The vacationing party boards a cruise ship, Linnet confides to Poirot that she distrusts her guests, too. During an excursion to Abu Simbel, Egypt, Bouc reveals that he is dating Rosalie, against his mother’s wishes. With additional heat on the lives of Linnet and Simon while on excursion, the new bride feels worse when it is learned that Jackie has boarded the cruise ship. Linnet’s death eventually follows, with the apparent instrument of that death found with an investigation to follow, revealing several avenues for who could have committed the crime. Besides investigating the crime, confronting the death, and the further and final motivations for all revealed, the story of Poirot‘s only thoughts for his own romantic feelings, too, are made known.
(From left, Russell Brand as Dr. Linus Windlesham, Sophie Okonedo as Salome Otterbourne and Letitia Wright as Rosalie ‘Rosie’ Otterbourne in the Kenneth Branagh movie Death on the Nile).
The story that we witness with the movie Death on the Nile harkens back to a top notch book by Agatha Christie. The screenplay by Michael Green served us well in providing an entertaining story. The added production of both Kenneth Branagh and Ridley Scott, among others, likely improved the movie. I grant Death on the Nile as directed by Kenneth Branagh 4.0-stars on a scale of one-to-five.
(The cover for Phil Collins‘ No Jacket Required album, first released in the United Kingdom on this date in 1985).
As quoted here with background drawn from the VH1 program VH1 Storytellers, Sussudio started as a song title that happened in a semi-structured yet unplanned way. Phil Collins said “I started to sing into the microphone, and this word came out.” As the meaningless expression didn’t give way to anything better with the lyrics that were added to a set of chords with an uplifting and dance feel, a hit was born. As mentioned on the www.songfacts.com listing for the song, Sussudiowould peak at #1 in the United States and #12 in the United Kingdom.
(Released as a single in January 1985, Sussudio is the first track on Phil Collins‘ third solo studio album, No Jacket Required).
Only You Know and I Know follows the opening album hit with a heavy drumline mixed with horns. Lyrically aiming for the give-and-take of a relationship whose bonds are being questioned, I hear the song saying that the power to restore the relationship rests in honest communication focused on precisely such an outcome.
Moving to a sharply more meditative direction, Long Long Way to Go feels hurt and afraid in both mood and hopefulness. Taking the song as a metaphor for a romance at risk, the feelings and strength Collins wants as the song’s singer asks for the pain to stop rather than continuing to try. That’s a heavy message indeed.
I Don’t Wanna Know extends a theme of a relationship in peril, though musically upbeat in mood. There’s word getting around that Phil‘s love interest has been spotted romantically in the company of another suitor, which if true is precisely what the singer doesn’t wish to know. As the song progresses lyrically, optimism persists with the hope of picking up romantically where things have been for Phil Collins and his love interest.
One More Night offers a ballad seeking relationship redemption with the attempt to rekindle what has existed between Phil Collins and his romantic love interest. Peaking at #1 in the United States and #4 in the United Kingdom, the notion of pleading “with his lover to give him just one more night to prove his devotion” clearly resonated with many then and likely still now.
(One More Night was the first United States single in and the second United Kingdom single released in support of the No Jacket Required album by Phil Collins).
Don’t Lose My Number brings enthusiasm and a vague sense of storytelling to a seeming romance, budding yet not started or otherwise, with a person named Billy. Whether the number not to be lost is a telephone number never really becomes clear, as doesn’t the relevance to this and whatever follow-up Billy being findable means to imply. As with this song, sometimes a decent hook is all a song needs to stick.
(Peaking at #4 in the United States in September 1985, Don’t Lose My Number was never released as a single in the United Kingdom).
Who Said I Would sure takes an unexpected and unsympathetic turn in the world of romance. That the lady of Phil‘s longing would so readily and clearly reject his feelings lays the groundwork for the relationship’s end like little verbally could. The jarring quality of this message stands in such opposition to the musical statement I hear through most of the song is equally jarring.
(First recorded as a studio recording for No Jacket Required, Who Said I Would was not released as a single until released as a live version Serious Hits…Live! in the United States and Japan six years later).
The heavy opening of drums to begin Doesn’t Anybody Stay Together Anymore feels deliberate and indicative of the feelings I sense Phil Collins having with his song. As indicated in the quotes here, this “song was made in response to everyone around Collins getting a divorce, including his manager, friends and though he was happily married to his second wife, Jill Tavelman [spelling corrected], himself years before.”
I sense a recognition for moving on after a broken relationship ends with the song Inside Out. The inside out references the clear sense for where the end of that love has left him, with a sense of recovery on Phil’s own recovery being the priority. To me, following his own grieving process to recovery makes a lot of sense. This strength of this song musically pleases me.
As quoted here through VH1 Storytellers, Take Me Home‘s “lyrics refer to a patient in a mental institution, and that he was inspired by the novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.” Ken Kesey wrote that novel. The song peaked at #7 in the United States and #19 in the United Kingdom.
(Take Me Home, the tenth song from the No Jacket Required album, was released as a single in the United Kingdom in July 1985 and in the United States in March 1986).
The ballad We Said Hello Goodbye was a bonus track added to the compact disc release of the No Jacket Required album. The sentiment underpinning the song of emotionally moving on from one situation to another, growing and improving with time as the only way is an inspirational take that places this song, lyrically, among the more impressive achievements on this album.
(From left, Uncle Pastuzo as voiced by Michael Gambon and Aunt Lucy as voiced by Imelda Staunton in the Paul King movie Paddington).
We first encounter the origin story of Paddington when a geographer from the United Kingdom meets intelligent bears with a fondness for marmalade in South America. The European geographer names these bears with human qualities and the ability to speak the English language Lucy and Pastuzo, inviting them to visit London at any point that is convenient for them. Tens of years pass without further contact between the geographer and the bears.
(Paddington Bear as voiced by Ben Whishaw in the Paul King movie Paddington).
An orphaned bear comes to live with the Peruvian bears, that is until an earthquake destroys the family home, killing the orphaned bear’s Uncle Pastuzo and forcing a decision upon Aunt Lucy and the young bear. Remembering the inviting to visit London from all those years ago, the young bear arrives at Paddington Railway Station in London by cargo ship, introducing a crucial sequence the delivers our movie.
The young bear encounters Henry and Mary Brown along with their kids Jonathan and Judy at the railway station once arriving there. Seemingly not been granted a name by his aunt and uncle, the Brown family agree to take him in for what first is intended to be a night. Addressing the bear as Paddington after the railway station), it would be upon Henry Brown’s insistence that some form of validation of the story Paddington arrive with needed confirming.
Mary, Judy and Jonathan, along with the family housekeeper, Mrs. Bird, find the cuteness and personality of the bear hard to resist, thus bonding with the young bear. Further impactful bring in Samuel Gruber, Montgomery Clyde and especially Millicent Clyde. Never has the Natural History Museum in London, nor geological expeditions from multiple decades previous, been so important. The ties that bind one to family in the past and present come strongly to the forefront in this family friendly movie.
(From left, Nicole Kidman as Millicent Clyde (as an adult) and Lottie Steer as Millicent Clyde (as a child) in the Paul King movie Paddington).
The charming essence of Paddington Bear remains true to the storybooks I remember from my childhood. I was entertained with this movie, as was Lynn, the other half of the namesake for Matt Lynn Digital. I grant the movie Paddington as directed by Paul King 3.75-stars on a scale of 1-to-5.
(Presented here is the album cover for the album Fragile by Yes).
The opening song for Fragile was Roundabout, which as stated here proved to be a “breakthrough hit and one of their most well-known songs, but the band wasn’t looking for a hit at the time.” The keyboard as played by Rick Wakeman and the acoustic guitar play of Steve Howe to begin the song are both really strong and pronounced with this song.
(Presented here is the cover art for of the Dutch release of the single Roundabout).
The song Cans and Brahms proved a bit of the point above that Yes was looking to establish their sound as a band. The instrumental here experiments quite clearly, with Wakeman having done the arrangement. As quoted here, Wakeman said the music as presented “was dreadful, but contractual hangups prevented me from writing an original solo track.”
(Rick Wakeman of Yes).
We Have Heaven presents multiple vocal layers while seemingly expressing a psychedelic trip with their sound. Jon Anderson wrote the piece. As mentioned here, the lyrics in play were “Tell the moon don’t tell the marcher … He is clear … We have heaven”.
South Side of the Sky included liner notes in a remastered version that are quoted here. “The liner notes to the remastered edition of Fragile [described] the song as about a tragic polar expedition that ends in death.”
The instrumental Five Per Cent for Nothing comes in at 35-seconds long. Drummer Bill Bruford was the driving force for this song, which features his play.
(Bill Bruford of Yes).
Long Distance Runaround was written by Jon Anderson. Anderson was quoted here as saying the song was about “how religion had seemed to confuse me totally. It was such a game that seemed to be played, and I was going around in circles looking for the sound of reality, the sound of God.”
(Jon Anderson of Yes).
Chris Squire wrote Fish (Schindleria Praematurus). “The title comes from Chris Squire‘s nickname: he was dubbed “the fish” because of his tendency to take long baths. He also happens to be a Pisces,” as indicated here.
(Chris Squire of Yes).
Mood for a Day was written by Steve Howe. In discussing the writing of the song here, Howe mentioned that he “had settled down and just started new roots in [his] life and ‘Mood For A Day‘ was supposed to represent a happy mood for a day. I was about 28 when I realized there should be something more in my life than just the guitar.”
(Steve Howe of Yes).
Written by Jon Anderson, Bill Bruford and Chris Squire, Heart of the Sunrise fills approximately half of the second side of the Fragile album. In speaking of the philosophy underpinning this song and the album, Anderson was quoted here as saying that one “of the things that was always important for Yes was to create music for the stage to perform, not to make a record.” It was from that perspective that the lead singer for yes mentioned this song made him proud.
Matt Lynn Digital 