A Month Of... Name Dropping...

Today I give you Rufus Wainwright and "Beauty Mark"...

Links:

Rufus Wainwright
Mark (Meaning)

A Month Of... Keeping Yourself Occupied...

Today the wonderful, talented, gorgeous Rufus Wainwright and "The Art Teacher"...

Wikipedia Links:

Rufus Wainwright
Art Teacher
Teacher

Born To Rock...

Woo-hoo! I've been waiting for today!

July 22nd, 1973 - God (aka Rufus McGarrigle Wainwright) was born...

This is torture, though, because now I've got to decide which song of his I'm going to post (and it's got to be one I've not done before)... So we'll go for... "Cigarettes And Chocolate Milk"...

And a few links you can go off and check out if that's whetted your appetite...

The Maker Makes (from "Brokeback Mountain" - I love this song... just so beautiful...
Dinner At Eight (live on "Letterman")
Crumb By Crumb (live on "The Paul O'Grady Show")
Gay Messiah (live and acoustic on some US programme... I love this song, but must admit there is a lyric in it that makes me wince a bit... you'll know it when you hear it...)

I'll leave it there at the moment, although I could go on posting his videos for hours...

Like A Fine Wine...

Another excuse for me (like I really need one) to post a couple of Rufus Wainwright clips... and, ironically, the two songs I've chosen this time as "classics" are not actually his compositions - just, I think he sings them beautifully, with real emotional depth.

First, a song originally done by his father, Loudon Wainwright III - "One Man Guy"... Oh, and the only version on YouTube where he does the vocals alone (with just his sister, Martha, on backing vocals) is another of those stupid fan videos, so sit back, close your eyes, and just enjoy...

And the other one is the song that started my love affair with Rufus (sadly, only musically) - "Hallelujah"... which I first heard on the soundtrack of "Shrek"...

From what I can work out, this was originally done by Leonard Cohen (but I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong), and has been covered a few times - probably most famously by Rufus and by the late Jeff Buckley.

Whose version do you like best? Just as a matter of interest...

The Musical Interlude...

I could pick just about any song by Rufus Wainwright as a example of fantastic lyrics... and I will post more than just this one, so be warned / excited / whatever, depending on whether you like him or not. Me? I think he's the best!

"Go Or Go Ahead"...

Lyrics Here: A*Z Lyrics: Go Or Go Ahead

Shallow Al

Um, I don't fancy my chances with this one...

Rufus Wainwright

Sigh... why are the best ones always gay?

The Musical Interlude...

Subtitled: A Schoolgirl Crush

I don't think I ever had a crush on any of my teachers - possibly because most of them were about 60 and wore jackets with elbow patches and smoked pipes with weird stuff like yak dung (true... that was my geography teacher in second year!)... Did anyone have better luck than I did? Come on, 'fess up...

The real reason for that subtitle is because I've found one of my favourite cover versions in the world on YouTube at last - The Trash Can Sinatras and "To Sir, With Love"... originally done by Lulu, of course, but I much prefer this version...

I'm feeling really stupid now, because I never realised that The Trash Can Sinatras are Scottish... and the lead singer is (apparently, because I've not actually checked this up) Eddi Reader's brother! (Lupin, you're bound to know this! ;-D)...

And then "The Art Teacher" by Rufus Wainwright...

Something Old, Something New...

Something Old - A song I've loved for a long time, and have never found it on YouTube til now - Michelle Shocked and "Anchorage"...

Something New - and the absolute BEST news I have heard in a long time... In fact, I'm so excited I'm jigging about in my seat like a Mexican bean that's been soaked in Tequila!

Rufus Wainwright is BACK!!! His new album "Release The Stars" is out in a couple of weeks time, and this is the first song off it - "Going To A Town"...