Prog In The Real World

Awwwwwwww.....(hack)....(cough)

Do you play guitar when you sing? Acopella...(shiver)

Actually, singing ELP isn't too odd. My dad would play "Stairway to Heaven," and John Denver's "Country Roads" and, uh, let's see...that one song with the lyric "and the wino and I know the joy of the ocean..." etc. Yeah. And, um, The Beatle's "Blackbird".

And that, my friends, is why I am a prog fan. You start with Led Zeppelin and classic rock in general as a young kid with a dad that plays guitar, then you listen to that, and then in your teens you take music into your own hands and build on the solid classic rock foundation: you go to prog rock, the logical extensin of The Beatles and Led Zepellin.

Sleep-hypnotherapy in the form of a classic rock lullaby. "prognosis".

Maybe your daughter will be joining us soon...

One of us! One of us! Gooble gobble gooble gobble...

By the way, pfontaine, I am 15 years old and from Oklahoma. What state are you from?

Penguin.. if you haven't heard "Watching Over You"... its not your average ELP song.  Its a very lovely lullaby written by Greg for his daughter since he was never home when she was growing up.  I also sang it to my son a lot when he was a child... and it plays in this house all the time now since its on Greg's Retrospective cd..

Thats very lovely Pierre... 

Oh no, I wasn't knocking the ELP song. I haven't heard it, so I can't, really. I was just using average teenage humor, and um, a lot of you aren't teenagers. I guess I forgot where I was.

But then I said that my Dad would sing some classic rock songs to me while I was sleeping, so singing someone to sleep is okay.

Actually, if you're talking about ELP and things to sing to a child, try Lake's "Father Christmas," one of the most wonderfully soothing songs, and, for my money, one of the two best "rock" Christmas songs of all time (the other being "Happy Xmas (War is Over)" by Lennon/Ono).

Peace.

threefates wrote: Yep, Maani.. its great to listen too, and a really beautiful piece, but perhaps a little cynical on the lyrics for kids... I don't know.. just MO.

It is pretty cynical, lyrically, I agree. I grew up with that as one of my favourite Xmas songs. I just found the music very pleasant, festive and strangely moving. It wasn't until I was about 17 I took any notice of the lyrics. I liked the contrast between the cynicism of the words, and the gentle music. It was an unusal twist for an Xmas record to take.

You're right, though. Not really lullaby material.

penguindf12 wrote: And that, my friends, is why I am a prog fan. You start with Led Zeppelin and classic rock in general as a young kid with a dad that plays guitar, then you listen to that, and then in your teens you take music into your own hands and build on the solid classic rock foundation: you go to prog rock, the logical extensin of The Beatles and Led Zepellin.

Exactly right. Did you read my "how to indoctrinate your kids" thread? I bought my daughter "Zep IV" and "Revolver" for her 4th birthday. 

I wish you a hopeful Christmas
I wish you a brave New Year

Can we want anything more?

GL spoke true and we should expect nothing less.

I wanted to repond to this thread earlier, but it took a turn.

 My wife and I took in a child, the mother in prison (her fault) and my wife sang beautifully, as she rocked the child to sleep. It's a transendant experience, prog or not. I was touched and amazed. Song, of any genre (maybe not rap), has a calming effect that transends other modes.

I will always be touched by this.

I agree with many of the above comments.

"Father Christmas" is a beautifully written (lyrically and musically) song and from a production point of view, is beautifully done.  It never fails to send chills down my spine when the choir and orchestra come in.  It's a classic of the holiday season.

I have deep religious convictions (I'm a very active Catholic and am in fact teaching 7th grade catachism one night a week) and love ELP's music dearly.  I have never had a problem with their sometimes cynical view of religion.  I have often found that listening to other points of view ("Father Christmas" and "The Only Way" come to mind) challenge my beliefs and ultimately reinforce my beliefs at the same time. 

"Jerusalem" is the flip side to that coin, a remarkably respectful rendition of the Anglican hymn, done I'm certain because of the love of it's shear "Britishness".  I'm certain these two sides of ELP reflect both their Anglican upbringings, as well as the cynicism of the early, Vietnam era, 1970's.

Like pfontaine2 (and threefates, by the sound of it), I don't have a problem with the aforementioned ELP songs. I think they're good musically - and interesting lyrically - whatever one's faith.

threefates wrote: "I Believe in Father Christmas isn't about religion as much as it is the selling of a religious holiday." Well, I think it's about both; when Sinfield says: "And they told me a fairy story 'Till I believed in the Israelite" he appears to be making a comment not just on Christmas but on Christianity itself. (But I'm not losing sleep over it!)

By the way, my local supermarket started stocking Christmas items over a week ago.

Chris De Burgh was indeed a rare talent when he first came on the scene Jim. I came across him when he supported Supertramp on their "Crime of the century" tour. It was just him and his guitar, his current album being "Spanish Train". He won over the audience at Glasgow City halls straight away (not easy for a support act!). Pity he had that damn hit, and was lost to decent music forever.

I never really understood though why "A spaceman.." was considered a Christmas song. Yes it has religious connotations, but not expressly Christmas ones.

I'd take "Happy Christmas" by John Lennon as my favourite.