Tag Archives: song

Song of the Day: Theme From The French Connection by Don Ellis

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

On Monday, when I watched The Seven-Ups with Jeff, Leonard, Bradley, and his wife Sierra (as well as one of our favorite TSL commenters, Dougie Cooper), I was struck by the fact that the film’s score sounded a lot like the score for The French Connection.  At first, I figured that it was just a sign of how influential The French Connection was but later, I learned both score were composed by the same man, Don Ellis.

I’ve been thinking about The French Connection a lot since I first heard that Gene Hackman had passed away.  A few years ago, I was lucky enough to attend a secret showing of The French Connection at the Alamo Drafthouse.  The film worked wonderfully on the big screen, with that car chase leaving me totally breathless.  Gene Hackman’s performance as Popeye Doyle was undeniably powerful, his hyperactive and self-destructive pursuit of Charnier filling the entire theater with both dread and excitement.  Even though we knew how the film would end, those of us in the audience still couldn’t look away.

Anyway, this is all my rambling way to brag about going to a secret screening of The French …. no wait, wait.  Actually, this is my rambling way of introducing today’s song of the day.  Here is Don Ellis’s Theme From The French Connection.

Song of the Day: Folsom Prison Blues by Johnny Cash

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Arkansas’s own Johnny Cash would have been 93 years old today so it seems appropriate that his voice should also be featured in our song of the day.  Here is Folsom Prison Blues, a song that Johnny actually sang while performing at the prison for people who very may have shot a man in Reno just to watch him die.

Really, that’s what makes Johnny Cash such an American icon.  On the one hand, he was a religious country boy who wrote songs about his spiritual troubles and his everlasting faith.  On the other, he could make you cheer at the idea of shooting a man in Reno just to watch him die.

That’s talent.

I hear the train a comin’
It’s rolling round the bend
And I ain’t seen the sunshine since I don’t know when
I’m stuck in Folsom prison, and time keeps draggin’ on
But that train keeps a rollin’ on down to San Antone

When I was just a baby my mama told me
“Son, always be a good boy, don’t ever play with guns”
But I shot a man in Reno just to watch him die
When I hear that whistle blowing, I hang my head and cry

I bet there’s rich folks eating in a fancy dining car
They’re probably drinkin’ coffee and smoking big cigars
Well I know I had it coming, I know I can’t be free
But those people keep a movin’
And that’s what tortures me

Well if they freed me from this prison
If that railroad train was mine
I bet I’d move it on a little farther down the line
Far from Folsom prison, that’s where I want to stay
And I’d let that lonesome whistle blow my blues away

Song of the Day: All Things Must Pass by George Harrison

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Today’s song of the day comes to us from George Harrison, who would have been 82 on this day.

All Things Must Pass is a song that Harrison originally wrote for the Beatles.  While the song didn’t make it into Abbey Road, it did later serve as the title track for Harrison’s first post-Beatles album.

Sunrise doesn’t last all morning
A cloudburst doesn’t last all day
Seems my love is up
And has left you with no warning
It’s not always gonna be this grey

All things must pass
All things must pass away

Sunset doesn’t last all evening
A mind can blow those clouds away
After all this my love is up
And must be leaving
But it’s not always going
To be this grey

All things must pass
All things must pass away

All things must pass
None of life’s strings can last
So I must be on my way
And face another day

Now the darkness only stays at night time
In the morning it will fade away
Daylight is good
At arriving at the right time
But it’s not always going
To be this grey

All things must pass
All things must pass away
All things must pass
All things must pass away

Lyrics by George Harrison

Song of the Day: Killing Me Softly by Roberta Flack

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Roberta Flack, RIP.

Strumming my pain with his fingers
Singing my life with his words
Killing me softly with his song
Killing me softly with his song
Telling my whole life with his words
Killing me softly
With his song

I heard he sang a good song
I heard he had a style
And so I came to see him, to listen for a while
And there he was, this young boy
A stranger to my eyes

Strumming my pain with his fingers
Singing my life with his words
Killing me softly with his song
Killing me softly with his song
Telling my whole life with his words
Killing me softly
With his song

I felt all flushed with fever
Embarrassed by the crowd
I felt he found my letters and read each one out loud
I prayed that he would finish
But he just kept right on

Strumming my pain with his fingers
Singing my life with his words
Killing me softly with his song
Killing me softly with his song
Telling my whole life with his words
Killing me softly
With his song

He sang as if he knew me
In all my dark despair
And then he looked right through me as if I wasn’t there
And he just kept on singing
Singing clear and strong

Strumming my pain with his fingers
Singing my life with his words
Killing me softly with his song
Killing me softly with his song
Telling my whole life with his words
Killing me softly
With his song

Strumming my pain with his fingers
Singing my life with his words
Killing me softly with his song
Killing me softly with his song
Telling my whole life with his words
Killing me

He was strumming my pain
Yeah, he was singing my life
Killing me softly with his song
Killing me softly with his song
Telling my whole life with his words
Killing me softly with his song

Songwriters: Norman Gimbel / Charles Fox