Who doesn't have some painting, statue or whatever hanging on their walls? We love some form of art whether it is classic, nature, modern etc...we love to hang something on our walls that make us feel good. I thought, why not talk about songs that were inspired by art so here we go.
1. VINCENT BY DON MCLEAN-1971
Of course this has to be recognized since it is one of the best pieces of music about art. Don McLean was inspired when he read about the life on Vincent Van Gogh.
2. MONA LISA SUNG BY NAT KING COLE-1950
This is one of the best known song renditions of this famous song written by Ray Evans and Jon Livingston for the movie Captain Carey U.S.A. and won the Oscar that year as well. Nat King Cole made it into a huge hit.
3. SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE SUNG BY BERNADETTE PETERS AND MANDY PATINKON-1985
This is a famous musical, by the legendary Stephen Sondheim, about George Seurat and his very famous painting, "Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte". It is a fictionalized account about the pointillist painter Seurat and his affair with Dot, his long time mistress At the heart is his master work, "Sunday in the Park" that takes on a life of its own. One day I will see this musical that actually won a Pulitzer.
What art song can you think of?
Clever Idea. I've seen the second two choices in their museums, but have never gone to MoMA to see your first, though I have visited the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam.
ReplyDeleteI have seen the last 2 as well but, when I visited the Moma, the Van Gogh art piece was on Loan!
DeleteJust found out there will be a Van Gogh exhibit in Detroit this fall. Maybe it will be here?
DeleteHi, Birgit!
ReplyDeleteI'll have you know that I own the world's largest collection of velvet Elvises. They line the walls, ceiling and floor of my massive mancave.
I know the first two songs and agree that they are excellent choices for this inspired topic. Mrs. Shady has Vincent van Gogh's "The Starry Night" artwork on one of her travel bags. Did you read about the guy who tried to deface the Mona Lisa a couple of weeks ago? He rolled into the Paris museum in a wheelchair disguised as an old lady, wearing a wig, lipstick and granny dress. At the exhibit, he jumped out of the chair, hopped over the rope and smeared cake and icing all over the world's most famous painting. Fortunately the surface of the priceless work of art is protected by bulletproof glass and it was not damaged in the attack. This was the 5th assault the Mona Lisa has endured in the past 60 years.
The third song, "George," is also a great choice, although I was not familiar with it. It's a cute, funny song, and I enjoyed Bernadette's performance and Mandy's frantic sketching. As an actress, Bernadette played a judge on a May 2007 episode of Boston Legal. I highly recommend Mandy in the TV series Chicago Hope, Dead Like Me and Criminal Minds.
The first song that immediately popped into my less classically trained noggin is "White Bird" by the San Francisco psychedelic folk rock band It's A Beautiful Day. More accurately, it is the artwork on the band's 1969 debut self-titled album which contains that hit song. Wiki sez: "The cover, designed by George Hunter and painted by Kent Hollister, was based on the 1912 painting Woman on the Top of a Mountain by Charles Courtney Curran. The album cover is number 24 on Rolling Stone's list of 100 greatest album covers:"
https://images.genius.com/28e642019fe1cff1d931ce577ee78af4.1000x1000x1.jpg
Wiki adds: "The Girl can also be seen in the background on the cover of Happy Trails by Quicksilver Messenger Service."
Of course, I recently posted another good example, the album art used for the Tom Rapp's 1967 Pearls Before Swine album One Nation Underground showing the Hell panel of the triptych oil painting The Garden of Earthly Delights produced by Dutch master Hieronymus Bosch between 1490 and 1510:
https://kennywilsonmusic.files.wordpress.com/2018/02/585411900.jpg
I enjoyed your song picks, dear friend BB. Have a good day and I'll be waiting for you tamale in the balcony-- "At The Movies!"
I'm glad you like my choices although the last one is not one you can hum to. I actually find that one a bit irritating.
DeleteI love that first album cover and knew immediately where they grabbed that famous pose from.
I love...love Bosch and know that album cover well. I hope you are having a great day andi am loving my doggie
Can’t think of anything other than the first two you mentioned. I started to listen to the third one, but got a bit bored quite quickly. Not very catchy!
ReplyDeleteYes, agree with you. It’s not catchy at all and a bit irritating but I picked it because it’s about Seurat.
DeleteHow about Cole Porter's "You're The Top"? Lyrics here.
ReplyDeleteThat’s a great choice! I wish I would have remembered it
DeleteDon McLean knocked it out of the ball park with that song, didn't he?
ReplyDeleteHave a great one.
This is one of my favourite songs
DeleteInteresting topic! I LOVE Vincent, both the painting and the song. My family and I visited the Louvre way back in 1966 and saw the Mona Lisa there. Nat King Cole had such a velvety tone. I wasn't at all familiar with your 3rd one, other than the title.
ReplyDeleteI love that song so much but missed seeing the painting because it was on loan. I am so thankful that the Mona Lisa is behind glass now considering that jerk throwing a pie on on to glass.
DeleteHi Birgit - interesting post ... I loved the Vincent song ... amazing ... Mona Lisa - yes I know; but the Seurat one is fun ... exploring Pointillism via the music ... cheers Hilary
ReplyDeleteI get the song but I’m not a fan of it even though I love Seurat.
Deletelovely paintings all. my favorite has to be the vincent.
ReplyDeleteEi love that song very much
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