"Meadowlands"

Nelson Mandela, one of the most influential political figures of the last century, died at 95. His prison-to-president path alone earned him a place in history. But that was only some of his story. National Public Radio compiled the musical portion of his story, told in text and YouTube videos like the one above for the song "Meadowlands" by the African Jazz Pioneers with Dolly Rathebe.

"Symphony of Sorrowful Songs" (Symphony No. 3, Op. 36)

via Yahoo.com

Funerals began today for children murdered in the mass slaughter incident at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Connecticut.

Henryk Gorecki composed "Symphony of Sorrowful Songs" (Symphony No. 3, Op. 36)

Although the themes are about loss through war, pegged upon the Holocaust, it is a poignant piece for the day:

The first and third movements are written from the perspective of a parent who has lost a child, and the second movement from that of a child separated from a parent.

PREVIOUSLY: "Devil's Right Hand"

"Ballad of Bilbo Baggins"

Leonard Nimoy was once willing to do anything. He's been an actor, director, poet, photographer and, apropos of our purposes here, a singer. On the occasion of the opening of "The Hobbit" movie (Think of it as "Lord of the Rings IV, The Prequel" or "Middle Earth, Chapter One"), here's the most inane thing you may see today. The fidelity of video is pitiful, so here is the audio to "Ballad Of Bilbo Baggins", but the video is a true gem, in that it will be a regretful way of spending 2 minutes, but it's shareable for it's utter ridiculous charm.

"Prashanti"

via KidsBritannica.com

Ravi Shankar:  April 7, 1920 – December 11, 2012

The sitar master performed in 10 decades (his last show was Nov. 4 in Long Beach) and he was among the most interesting things that ever happened to the Beatles; he played with symphonies and Yehudi Menuhin; collaborated with drum n' bass popster Talvin Singh; he played at Woodstock and the White House in the Ford Administration.

"Prashanti" comes from Shankar's '90 "Passages," a groundbreakingly weird collaboration with minimalist orchestral composer Phillip Glass, no stranger to boundary-busting himself.

And to some, he's Norah Jones' dad.

"Amarga Navidad" (Bitter Christmas)

via NY Daily News

Banda superstar Jenni Rivera died in plane crash today. Her song,  "Amarga Navidad", translates to "Bitter Christmas."
From Billboard:

Fully comfortable in English and Spanish, Rivera was at the height of her career. A force to be reckoned within multiple media platforms, she had two albums "Joyas Prestadas: Pop" and "Joyas Prestadas: Banda" -- currently coexisting on Billboard's Top Latin Albums chart; her own reality show "I Love Jenni" on bilingual cable network mun2; she had recently inked a deal to star in a comedy on ABC to be simply titled "Jenni"; she hosted a syndicated weekly radio program and had launched both clothing and cosmetics lines; she was a coach on "The Voice Mexico" and had had a role in her first feature film, "Philly Brown." Rivera also launched her own foundation to help victims of domestic abuse.

"(Farewell) Jingle Bells"

Dave Brubeck (December 6, 1920 – December 5, 2012)

via Wikipedia

"(Farewell) Jingle Bells" comes from his "A Dave Brubeck Christmas" which is as much a title as a description.

"Writes of Winter"

via Wikipedia.com

Members of Led Zepplin were bestowed with Kennedy Center Honors for contributions to the arts -- a recognition that undoubtedly irked some traditionalists. The band that began heavy metal sharing an award with Isaac Stern ('84) and Eugene Ormandy ('82) can be marked in a denotative shift of terms: a "classic" radio station is playing rock not orchestral music, and a century ago "long-hair music" meant Beethoven and now it's "Starirway to Heaven."

In keeping with the topical mission of this blog -- including seasonal songs -- here's "Writes of Winter" by guitarist Jimmy Page, one of the most influential instrumentalists in the history of anything.

"Little Saint Nick"

via AndrewGold.com

 ❄  In honor of today being St. Andrew's Day -- a fete of Scottish nationalism -- here's Andrew Gold (not Scottish but from the San Fernando Valley), with "Little St. Nick", yet another Beach Boys ode to a car but with a Christmas flavor. The Brian Wilson charmer gifted the oeuvre with the over-obvious lyric:

"Christmas comes this time each year"

and performed with more guts here by L.A. Guns.

Gold has a great pedigree, son to an Oscar-winning composer (for Exodus") and the top dubbed-in singing voice in movies (Marni Nixon).

"Natal"

via OurWorld.com

In honor of: Cesaria Evora has passed away; here she's singing about (presumably, it's in Portuguese) Christmas birth on "Natal" from the Special Olympic's awesome benefit album "World Christmas."

on Spotify.com

"God's Song (Why I Love Mankind)"

In honor of Etta James, who was great at singing great songs; it was announced today that she has terminal leukemia.
   "God's Song (That's Why I Love Mankind)" is a Randy Newman-penned song takes a particularly harsh view of God and the suffering of people, which seems especially potent in light of today's news.

They said "Lord the plague is on the world

Lord no man is free

The temples that we built to you

Have tumbled into the sea

Lord, if you won't take care of us

Won't you please please let us be?"

And the Lord said

And the Lord said

"I burn down your cities--how blind you must be

I take from you your children and you say how blessed are we

You must all be crazy to put your faith in me

That's why I love mankind

You really need me

That's why I love mankind"

And since this blog is preoccupied with Christmas songs, it would be remiss to bypass a mention of her superb "12 Songs of Christmas" with this great but little-heard ballad "This Time Of Year"

both on Spotify.com