Plaisir d'Amour
74
Attachment for a song ~ Plaisir d' Amour
This song has deep and long-lived memories for me. I heard it in a pop English version, My Love Loves Me, when I was in my mid-teens. It went straight to my heart, but I knew it only in that version, not by its original name and composer, though I suspected it had classical roots.
It was an era reviving beautiful classical melodies for pop songs and movie themes.
Seeing the lyrics and hearing the melody of this special song which I heard and loved then, it's easy to see why a starry-eyed teenage girl would be smitten, especially during the epitome of "our love" with my childhood soulmate, with all its passion and excruciating restraint!
But then it, like that moment of young love, disappeared from the spotlight and for years I tried to relocate it. I even sang and recorded what I remembered of the words myself (mostly the last stanza) - just to try to not lose it totally, hummed it and asked musicians if they recognized it. To no avail.
These are those lyrics with which I first fell in love as a teenager ~
"My love loves me
Oh look what wonders I see
An angel smiles in my window
My love loves me.
"Your eyes kissed mine
I saw your love in their shine
You showed me heaven right then
When your eyes kissed mine.
"My world is aglow and you make it so
With your tender touch
This love will grow
My darling I know, for we have so much.
"My love loves me
How else could such beauty be?
For daytime, night time, for all time
My love loves me"
But indeed, it has classic heritage ~
Recently, elation! I found several versions, instrumental and many vocalists.
Best, I discovered its classical history:
"Plaisir d'amour" ("The pleasure of love") is a classical French love song written in 1780 by Jean Paul Egldé Martini. Hector Berlioz arranged it for orchestra. Since then, it has been arranged and performed in various pop and folk music settings.
(Of course, these lyrics are bittersweet, at best, not the message I heard earlier.)
I've long loved Nana Mouskouri's voice; perfect for the gorgeous French rendition:
Original French
"Plaisir d'amour ne dure qu'un moment.
chagrin d'amour dure toute la vie.J'ai tout quitté pour l'ingrate Sylvie.
Elle me quitte et prend un autre amant.Plaisir d'amour ne dure qu'un moment.
chagrin d'amour dure toute la vie.Tant que cette eau coulera doucement
vers ce ruisseau qui borde la prairie,Je t'aimerai me répétait Sylvie.
L'eau coule encore. Elle a changé pourtant.Plaisir d'amour ne dure qu'un moment.
chagrin d'amour dure toute la vie."
English Translation
(I would have disbelieved the message of these lyrics if I'd heard them then!)
"The pleasure of love lasts only a moment
I gave up everything for ungrateful Sylvia,
She is leaving me for another lover.
The pleasure of love lasts only a moment,
The pain of love lasts a lifetime.
"As long as this water will run gently
Towards this brook which borders the meadow,
I will love you", Sylvia told me repeatedly.
The water still runs, but she has changed.
The pleasure of love lasts only a moment,
The pain of love lasts a lifetime."
How idealistic was I ~
This is a poem I wrote shortly before my 18th birthday:
(or what I can remember of that poem, which was longer)
Love is like an ember
That eternally burns.
Love, that is, that's real,
That lives, and grows, and learns.
Love is like a stick
That drives to higher deeds.
Love, that is, that's great,
That knows our wants and needs.
______© Nellieanna H. Hay
Later ~
How absurd
My private little rituals.
Do I really think they matter?
Surely not.
______© Nellieanna H. Hay
The layers of time and space contain
The face of you I'm loving.
It penetrates the curtains
Separating hearts and souls
And reappears before my view -
My always - you,
Who's always new.
I know you'll come again.
______© Nellieanna H. Hay
Apple Halves ~
Wherever you may be right now
My thoughts converge on you.
I know not why.
Perhaps the apple halves
Seek reuniting.
My dreamless nights
Were filled with dreams of you
Continuing through until the dawn,
Forgotten memories crowding in
In muted shades reflecting age.
Could we but meet again,
They could refresh.
______© Nellieanna H. Hay
But ~
Apple halves deteriorate,
Turn brown and shrivel,
Too long exposed to air,
Sliced surfaces, no longer smooth,
Fit less together.
Whether it matters,
I know not.
Perhaps the ragged edges
Permit more room for light,
Perhaps aging brings more depth.
______© Nellieanna H. Hay
Let the moat and wall be empty,
Let the light and life come through.
Let me reflect without distortion,
Let nothing be untrue.
Loosen all resistance,
Withhold no openness.
Let me be an instrument
For playing you - and -you- and you.
Flow in and out,
Oh, life, Oh, light.
Flow through the wall,
As though transparency.
Let it be the all in all,
When time is right
Be one heart, one soul -
Where there's no me, no you.
______© Nellieanna H. Hay
If I overshadow you, reclining,
So I dare not stand
Upright and tall
(or risk it all);
If eyes to eyes
Are not aligning,
Then "we" shouldn't
BE at all.
If heart speak not
To heart directly,
If thoughts don't intermingle,
If soul does not commune with soul ~
It's better staying single.
______© Nellieanna H. Hay
A good relationship with life
Is like a love affair.
______© Nellieanna H. Hay
As music is the process
Of relationship
In sound, -
So is everything
A process
Of relationship.
I know you come unbidden.
You will respond - or not -
With your own honest truth,
'Else be hidden from my view.
If will and wants and needs propel us,
Impulse to trap grows strong.
But when love's the guiding light,
We'll fit where we belong!
______© Nellieanna H. Hay
Oh Love, my love!
Forgive my scheming mind,
Throwing nets and snares
To try to catch you!
I know better.
Friend,
You will do your thing,
And do it well.
Then after that,
What will you do?
I don't know why
But I still feel
That we are friends.
And I still like
The looks of you.
______© Nellieanna H. Hay
If today
You saw a rainbow,
If you felt
The sand
Between your toes,
The sun upon your cheek.
If this day
You smelled
A summer shower
Approaching,
Held a flower
In your hand,
Then know,
That you’ve known
Heaven,
Immortality.
______© Nellieanna H. Hay
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Flora! I am delighted and humbled that you visited my hub and left your knowledge of this song and impression of my presentation. I didn't know you before, so I went and read your profile, and I must say that I can't wait to probe your works! Thank you for coming and being my first visitor for this, The English version you knew is much truer to the French than mine. I suppose "My Love Loves Me" is actually almost a total re-write for the tune. No wonder I could not locate it once it had passed its prime. But it has haunted me ever since and I feel warmer toward it than the actual lyrics.
I am no singer but I can see that the bridge section would be difficult timing with any accompaniment, really.
I can smell your attachment with the song-Plaisir d' Amour,i liked the way you have compared the love with the apples,i will be listening to the song shortly,i loved the line-Be one heart, one soul -
Where there's no me, no you
,other lines are also equally beautiful,i liked your height of feeling in the poem.You are a wonderful poet.
Thank you! Yes - both the song and the apple connection were very dear to me at that time of my life. That young love did feel like finding the other matching apple half and it haunted me in just that way for many years.
I appreciate your visit and lovely comments. Just went and read one of your poems, too!
Good Moring Nellie,
What a beautiful hub! The songs are so sweet and calming..Your poetry is always a healing balm that goes straight to the heart. Thank you.
Sunnie
Thank you, dear Sunnie! It was quite soothing to me, too. I'm so pleased you enjoyed it! Hugs!
Isn't it strange and a little absurd, Nellieanna, that the version of the song you grew up with and loved is 360 degress different than its original French version? That's life, isn't it. Unpredicatable.
But your poetic talent, my dear, is predictable - always sincere and praiseworthy. Voted up.
If music b the food of love, play on;
Give me excess of it, that, surfeiting,
The appetite may sicken, and so die.
The bard...Twelfth Night, 1
DRBJ - It's so vivid! I am connected to the version I knew. Intellectually I appreciate the other one but it is this which warms my heart and what I've been singing to myself all these years:
"My love loves me
How else could such beauty be?
For daytime, night time, for all time
My love loves me"
There's no confusion in my heart about the song. :-) The "real" one is a "new" one. Of course, I'm glad to know of it, but it is not the same song. I guess that is unpredictable.
Makes me think about how much of a hurdle it must be for adopted kids who didn't know they were, and then found out that they weren't who they always thought themselves to be. I just experienced a small taste of it.
Thank you, dear friend.
TAB! Hello!! Oh, I do hope my excess doesn't sicken! :-) But if so, at least let me wish that playing on is beseeched! Hugs. Would one really want the appetite for music to sicken and die? Of all guys, Willy Shakespeare was a fine one to talk of excesses of cultural delights!
Why aren't YOU writing? You'd enjoy it here! I've mentioned you to a few folks. Hugs.
The song reminds me of ‘I Can’t Help Falling in Love.” I don’t know if it was the music, or your poems, Nellieanna, that made me so sure of the fact that love can be so terribly sad when it is not perfect. Perhaps love is merely a flower, like a rose, growing out of our souls. If the soul, like soil, is infected with pests, or perhaps not properly fertilized, the rose will die and rot while it is still a bud, or perhaps it will open and expose an army of lice. Even if it opens perfectly, it does wilt, but it could be dried and preserved, it could become potpourri with an everlasting sweet fragrance.
Thanks for sharing your beautiful poems and thoughts :)))
Wow...you're in a romantic mood.I know this song well. I used to sing it in French. Nice renditions by both Carter and Mouskouri. Enjoyed the poetry too.Beautiful hub...thank you
Martie - ah yes - sometimes it seems that the promise of love is waylaid along the way. I understand with long living that expectations and delusions are the culprits. We perceive what we want to see and expect it to materialize. Even if it can be nearly that way, there are variations in living which bring forth the imperfections, or, shall we say, "imperfections" as measured against impeccable expectations. People are just not all so one way or the other.
I've felt that ethereal aura around someone for almost 73 years and still think of him that way, in spite of ample facts to the contrary. Just his name has trumpets and angels' wings around it! :-) In my "rational" mind, he'd have been more perfect if we'd been together. (wink) - Both our families assured us we'd probably have killed each other. haha. But do I ever think of him in that light? Not even now, and he's been dead 27 years and died from other causes - (I think!)
So yes - it's sad - or bittersweet. We can't help but see through rose-colored glasses, but we are wise to also bear in mind that how the person really IS should be what we most love about him. All living things do deteriorate, too - not necessarily just physically.
The very nature of 'romance' is less realistic than the nature of LIFE. But it is life for which we live and which we must serve with our best.
Thank you, dear heart. I love your similes and metaphors. So accurate! Your sensitivity is powerful and palatable.
Hugs.
Nancy - thank you. I've always written a mixture of feelings and a myriad of thoughts, though I've tended to shun sharing the more personal ones, actually. I've shared few of any type till the last year or so, but I really haven't felt the feeling ones had as much literary value, not to mention less philosophical merit. haha.
Well, so what? Since I never shared hardly ANY of them anyway all the years. And perhaps it is the feeling ones with the greatest value. Doesn't matter. They all poured forth naturally.
But when I've compiled my blank books of selections for more ready reference or to give someone occasionally, there were few of the more "feeling" ones included. It's not unlike the sense of the music featured here except in an opposite sense, - that my own greatest familiarity with my poetry has been with my less romantic poetry and I've sort of regarded the more specifically personal ones as 'filler". haha
Had you ever heard the Carter version? It sounds just like the one I remember hearing back then. It could have been hers or Fran Warren's. Oh well. I like Anita's very much. Her voice betrays her Carter family heritage, but she set off on her own musical pursuit of a folk singer.
I'm so excited about your memoirs in the making!
Nellie, you are amazing. I cannot imagine how you manage to invent, top channel, to bring forth so much beauty.
I almost drown in your words at times. I feel like (please take this the right way) like an seventeenth century romantic heroine opening a letter from a lover and almost "swoonign" with the lushness, the breathtaking simplicity and love in your words.
Please don't think i am trying to gild the lily, but I love this song too, but the earlier versions, and have been revelling in finding these few.
The Jose van Dam, I thought was astounding. but the others also:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IjBNp07_qok
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5CBbi3o8k7I&feature
Ian - Such beautiful compliments! You do turn a lovely phrase - and apt to turn a girl's head, as well!. Thank you! Hugs.
And there is something about this music which stirs feelings of a past lushness, for sure. I'm deeply pleased that you enjoyed this. I was thrilled when I wandered down this path, myself. I've loved the music and it seemed perfect for the message churning around in my head. Did you notice the Battenberg lace parasol in the opening photo? :-) It almost looks good enough to eat, though not as tempting as Battenberg cake!
And - yes - the Jose van Dam rendition is just beautiful. I hadn't heard it performed by a man before - but it really should be, considering that the lover bemoaning being jilted by the elusive Silvie is a man in the original musical story! When I got to those u-tube pages, also - I was amazed at how many classical versions there are!
I watched "Madame Bovary" for the umpteenth time the other night. So you can see what a state I was in. I think of it as a wintry story, for some reason; but decided I wanted to watch it, as well as "Dangerous Liaisons". I didn't get to watch "Dil Se . ." as planned and haven't yet. So I have that in store. I'll need to be hands-free to read the subtitles when I do, and lately, I've only half-watched and listened to movies while busily writing. Can do that when I'm familiar with them and they're in my native tongue. So I must set aside the time for watching "Dil Se . ." exclusively. I was even typing while watching "Big Fish" with John that night I'd intended to watch it. (Well he was folding and stamping church bulletins!) Turned out I'd seen "Big Fish" before too. It was quite a story, by the way! Very imaginative.
Between madly writing and falling asleep sitting here in seconds and sleeping for hours, I am really doing the 'dog days of August' sincerely!
Nellie, we really do have the same taste in so many things.
I think "Dangerous Liaisons' is a magnificent film.
I also have 'Big Fish' and like it, although it is not one of my favourite Tim Burtons.
As you like 'Dangerous Liaisons' I suggest you watch (unless you haven't seen it already, 'Valmont'. Same story; different slant.It is wonderful, and another from that historical era, 'Ridicule'. Every bit as lush as the other two.
Yes, I thought the parasol and the artwork around it were exquisite... I could almost imagine Madame de Torvel twirling it in her fingers when she was walking with Valmont in his Aunt's garden.
Dear Ian, it does seem we have much taste in common, though you're so sophisticated and I'm such a bumpkin. :-)
I do have "Valmont" and when I'm on that tack, I alternate watching the two of them. :-) I adore Colin Firth, for one thing. Yes, the parasol would be perfect for the virtuous Mme de Torvel. Perhaps Valmont could sing "Plaisir d' Amour" to her. No, no - that would be too trite for him in his seduction scheme.
Of course, "Pride and Prejudice" with Colin Firth -(and all of Jane Austen''s works).
I like "Camille" with the very young Colin Firth in it, along with many other outstanding actors. Our Denholm Elliott (RWAV) has a bit more glamourous part in it, as one of Camille's benefactors. I named my cat Camille and her brother was Toulouse Le Khat. (Their dad, Ali Khat)
Others for that semi-debauchery and/or lovely and/or mystical settings I love are "Age of Innocence", "The Picture of Dorian Grey", "Rebecca" - for several. "Damage" and "The Lover" for full debauchery. But "Jane Eyre" to redeem me and "Thorn Birds" to keep me human.
Perhaps these wintry movies make the heat more bearable. ;->
"Big Fish" has merit, but it didn't make it to my DVD collection.
I loved Garbo's 'Camille', and i have watched'Grand Hotel' so many times.
by the way, I don't know if you are getting any coverage of the London riots.
Yesterday Brixton had looting and burning, then Streatham. Norbury (where I live0 is next in line, and out biggest town (Soon to be a city perhaps), Croydon is like a war zone. Right now we are surrounded, on three sides. Balham tonight. Three nights of rioting, burning and looting and it started in North London, now it's South of the River.
I really wish they would bring in the Army. The police can't cope.
All because the police shot and killed a suspect... in the last eight or more years there have only been nine fatal shooting by the police in London. They (the thugs, drug dealers etc.) shoot and stab each other to death on a regular basis.
But they don't riot about that!
I am very worried.
Ian - I was just about to try to contact you about the riots over there. I haven't seen it on news but am looking for it. I just read about it on christopheranton's hub, though. It is happening in his London vicinity too. You might want to read his discussion:
http://christopheranton.hubpages.com/hub/The-riots
I'm so horrified, and more so that I can't find news of it on any of the several news channels I am able to access!
I've just read that hub and commented. Thanks for putting me onto it.
Pray for me, please.
Yes, my dear Ian - I am. I can hardly think of anything else.
By the way - I didn't reply to your comments about Greta Garbo. I know it's a silly subject for such a serious time, but perhaps it helps to keep your mind occupied.
What I would have said is that I didn't see the Greta Garbo "Camille". The one I know about has Greta Scacchi in the lead role. It was a Hallmark Hall of Fame show in 1984. Quite a cast - along with Colin Firth, there was John Gielgud, Denholm Elliott, Ben Kingsley & others. I didn't see "Grand Hotel", either, though I've been looking at videos about it. It was made the year I was born, by the way. Joan Crawford was in it too - it may have been one of her first roles.
Hi, Nellieanna, I love your hubs, they make me laugh and they make me cry, but most of all they make me feel, wonderful stuff, don't know how you do it! lol nell
Nell - Thank you, dear lady. I am happy to see you here! Hugs.
There have been many versions of that song over the years, all of them beautiful.
But I am glad to say that the sentiments expressed in the lyrics are not universally true.
Sometimes love can last a lifetime. There are joys as well as pains.
Thanks Nellieanna for another lovely hub.
I wonder where Nana Mouskouri is now. She was a brilliant singer, and very famous when I was growing up.
I have the Grand Hotel DVD. I have watched it several times. Crawford is amazing in it. If you like Greta Scacchi, try to see 'Good Morning Babylon'. It is not available on DVD here on Region 2 (our version) even Region 1 (your region), but I can highly recommend it. I have it on VHS, but the colour is not as crisp as I would like.
It's a stunning movie, Nellie. Stunning!
Oh, yes, Christopher - there are many versions out there, much to my delight when I discovered them! I admit I was chagrined to discover that those original lyrics were negative. Even when romance is negative, it's surely not the ideal to be proclaimed that way. A lot of how it turns out is what's put into it, for one thing, as well as judgement going into it. But if one looks at the history of love songs, "poor me" messages seem to dominate, with the next most prominent being those touting the very things which end up poorly in a real life situation! I think of Peggy Lee warbling "And if he told me that I should lie, I guess at least I would have to try - - what more can a woman do-o-o-o." But practical advice doesn't go over well in romantic songs, does it? hehe
I was curious too so I looked up some information about Nana Mouskouri (who is a little younger than I, by the way) -
"Mouskouri lives in Switzerland and, until her final performance in 2008, performed hundreds of concerts every year throughout her career. In 2006 she announced her plans to retire. From 2005 until 2008, she conducted a farewell concert tour & on July 23 and 24, 2008, Mouskouri gave her two final 'Farewell Concert' performances at the ancient Herodes Atticus Theatre, in Athens, Greece, before a packed stadium, including Greece's Prime Minister and Athens mayor, plus the mayors of Berlin, Paris and Luxembourg, along with fans from around the world and thousands of her Athenian admirers.
In 2010, in response to the financial situation in Greece caused by excessive deficit, Mouskouri announced that she would forgo her pension to contribute to the country's recovery. She commented: 'Everywhere I see stories about my country going bankrupt. And people are aggressive about it. It's frightening. And it's painful for me. Nobody wants their country to be treated badly. It's frustrating and very sad.' "
They're excerpts from Wikipedia.
Ian - - I think I should get "Grand Hotel". With your high recommendation - and it's such a classic and has inspired many other stories about great sites where many people come, such as "Weekend At the Waldorf". I've wondered if there were any connection with "Somewhere In Time" which is supposed to be set at the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island. sigh
By the way - this morning, our national NBC news did cover the London rioting. It may have been covered previously - I just hadn't watched much news, other than the weather.
I hope you'll be OK. Ghastly. I think of the phrase "generation of vipers". They've had no grounding in decency.
Well I have to leave momentarily for my yearly medical checkup. The doctor will find nothing wrong and will bill Medicare and my insurance hundreds of dollars. What a racket. Grrrrr. Oh well.
Such beautiful poems from such a beautiful lady. I loved this hub. and every word you wrote. :)
Nikki! Thank you, sweetie! I'm delighted that you like it! Hugs!
GOOD LUCK WITH YOUR CHECK-UP.
Thanks for the words concerning the nest of vipers. At least vipers attack when they are frightened, or have no chance of escape... these are more like an animal I really dislike, the African Hunting Dog.
i think baby vipers most probably come home for their dinner when their mummies say so, and go to bed when they are told. And I may be wrong, but I have never known a viper to go out and steal a 50" flat screen TV. They are more likely to curl up with a good book.
At the doctor's, they all look at me with disbelief. My doctor has to double-check on my age. I told him I was sorry to be so disappointing - nothing wrong with me. hehe. He smiled. But he's set me up for bone density tests especially after I told him I no longer take the estrogen which is supposed to help ward off osteo. I show no signs of it, but I have to humor him. I read the side effects of the estrogen and decided it was riskier than osteo.
You're right, I shouldn't have compared these human violators with any other creatures. They're the standard of reprehensible, top of the heirarchy. Wild things attack for sustenance or self protection and are not equipped with morals and decency, yet often show more than human monsters.
Just this morning I had a discussion with a young woman on love and it ways. My words to here was that she could search the earth and all its corners and never find love but there is no place on earth that she could hide where love would not find her. That gave her pause for thought and since she has not experienced it from that perspective, I doubt that shee believes me...but someday she will. Your verses brought all of that thought back; all the aspects of love with its simplicity and complexity in our loves yet we can hardly live the good life very long without it. Thanks much for sharing all of this wonder verse. WB
Wayne, you're a wise man. It's so often true that young folks think they can hunt down and capture love somehow. They try, but what you say is true - one can't FIND it, - one must let it finds oneself. Whatever they capture by hunting it down is not the real thing or if it might have been, the whole act of chasing it - changes it. But eventually we can all learn.
Thanks for the visit and wonderful comments, Wayne!
One always falls in love. It is not something that one walks into or jumps into.
Falling is an accident... Ah the English language, How well it expresses so many things,
Oh yes, Ian. Even if it's just a wonderful stumble from which one recovers, it is wonderful while it lasts. :-) I feel so sorry for folks who bemoan it if it passes. To experience it is like a crystal among the basic stuff. And isn't it fantastic, the way English does that? "Fall" manages to describe the delightful sensation of it - and in other ways, it describes the catastrophe of it! ;-> And - the way it upturns everything as one thought it "belonged" and takes one by surprise.
:-)
I love your "- and in other ways, it describes the catastrophe of it! "
But remember. that wonderful "'tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all"
EXACTLY! That was my point with "… it is wonderful while it lasts …" It may sometimes be better that way! Is it natural to try to sync two totally different subjective universes all the time? Well - George was one in a million. It was wonderful together but we didn't bug each other!
Yay! he cried, and double Yay.
After months... nay, years of looking for it, I have just found a copy of 'Farinelli' on DVD. It only cost £12.60 with p&p. There have been copies for sale at £39.99 plus p&p so I am really happy.
I had a copy on VHS and loaned it to my friend Judi as she wanted to see it. When she had watched it, I said that she could keep it as I was sure I could get one on DVD, but they hadn't released it. She gave it to a charity shop... Poor dear has never learned how to use a DVD player.
Wish me luck that this isn't a poor "copy at home" item. it should be OK, I bought it on Amazon,
I am thrilled for you finding it, Ian. I do hope it will be a great copy!
Actually I saw a DVD formatted for Region 2 (yours) on Amazon for a more reasonable price. Now I see the stock is changing as I write. But I'll be going to lunch and a musical with my friend Val Saturday, - and with my Amazon "Prime Time" free shipping, it would arrive then if I ordered one today. There is a rash of thefts of deliveries. People actually follow the UPS and FedEx trucks around and pick up the packages. If they don't want the contents, they just chuck it. Ugh. Where has decency gone?
Anyway, I'm going to keep my fingers crossed and wait. I can't see $126 for it, tempted as I am. And I'd really want the lavish color to be intact, which might not be so on VHS. Even Amazon's pay-to-view it on the computer offers go for $14.95. But if I'm going to invest in it at all, - I want to OWN it! But it surely must be enjoying quite a surge in demand, - though apparently it's been a big ticket money-maker since it was first released as a film.
By the way - we are due a 'cold front' - only about 102 for highs. (yuk, yuk, yuk, she chuckles facetiously.)
I am very much the same, Nellie. If I like a movie, I really have to own it. Strange, isn't it.
I must send you a list of all my DVDs and you can peruse them and see how much we agree on. it would be amusing.
Oh please do. That would be most interesting to see your list!
Yes - and I like to see movies I like again and again. I always get something new from them each time. Just seeing them once wouldn't "milk" their stories nearly enough. I'm a bit obsessive at times.
I just clicked on "Age of Innocence". Haven't watched it in awhile - I felt the need to. The setting in 1870s New York among the aristocrats is rather interesting. The book is by Edith Wharton. It was her time and place. Martin Scorsese directs it. Daniel Day-Lewis, Michelle Pfeiffer, Winona Ryder, Alexis Smith, Miriam Margolyes and Geraldine Chaplin star, plus others. It's a delightful period piece and ravishing romance triangle with scandal barking at its heels. Has lovely classical music, from Strauss waltzes to opera, when the characters go to the opera. The special extra, I think, is that Joanne Woodward narrates when the actors aren't speaking, especially early in the movie while the setting is being detailed. Her voice is perfect for it.
It would be interesting to see if and how our DVDs overlap. How do you keep yours organized? Mine are alphabetized so I can lay hands on them. hehe - Well, that is, except for special groups, such as musicals, war movies (some I bought for George about WWII in the South Pacific where he served) and documentaries; - and now that my acquisitions are outgrowing the three DVD stands, some are getting stacked on the TV stand. But those I keep wanting to see again and again sometimes stay there awhile anyway. I still have quite a few VHSs too - some movies I've never been able to find on DVD. Some I've replaced with DVDs.
One movie in particular haunted me for years till I located it on VHS. "Moment To Moment" starring Jean Seberg. Haunting theme and story. It used to be shown late at night on the Louisville local station and captured my imagination, but I somehow thought the actress in it was Martha Hyer, which didn't help in my tracking it down! In any case, it was difficult to find. Now it's considered a "rare film". Sometimes I feel like a rare filmgoer - such a long career at it! haha!
I had all mine in alphabetical order, in a couple of shelves in a room (a tiny little room which contains a freezer and a tumble dryer and enough cammed foods and so forth to last if there is a minor catastrophe - Uh Oh! Like now) but there wasn't enough room and I had to double stack, so there was no room or reason (as opposed to rhyme and reason). IKEA (my home from home) has plenty of DVD shelves but they would look so out of place in a house that was built in the very last days of the nineteenth century... so I must wait until I can find something.
There are about 360 0f them I shall send a list... This could be so interesting.
By the way, I am on a roll and keep on finding arias on YouTube that I would like to share, but I know what I am like. I am so obsessional that people will be starting to write to Hub Pages asking them to tell me to (as Tom Mould says) "Bugger Off!"
I love this: "It's a delightful period piece and ravishing romance triangle with scandal barking at its heels."
If I had any integrity, I would just admire your lovely use of words. but I don't have a single smidgin of integrity, so I think I shall use it in something I write, and claim it for myself.
Ha ha ha!
It will come back to haunt you if you do. Don't make me pity you, please! :-) Integrity would serve better. Besides, you make the more enviable phrases, anyway - and one's own seem to suit one the best!
Your musical selections are certainly worthy of sharing! I must admit that the aria for Juan Diego Flores ran into another one with grungy soldiers strewn about the stage and his words being sung having NO relations whatsoever to the German subtitles on it. It almost seemed that he was just making up language, it was so "other". I don't think you intended for the second selection to proceed, but it did. And I was not sure what to do, so I listened to it to the bitter end. Fortunately, while doing so, I saw that he had a rendition of "Granada" - one of my all time favorites and one I knew he would knock out of the ballpark - as he did. Now I am so sold on him. And - my gosh - he's handsome, too! :-) Look out, Pavarotti! hehe
As for the shelves for my DVDs - They are not things of beauty, but they work. Actually one of them isn't bad. I ordered it from Amazon and had to assemble it, along with some other bookshelves I got for the burgeoning book collection between the two of us, plus a stand with big shelves for all my music books. I was quite the busy bee. The other two DVD (or CD) shelves are very ho-hum but tall and skinny so they sort of fade into the walls. Actually there are two of those full of CDs, as well. I have large rooms but they're a bit overstuffed with furniture, so - - - sigh. What happened was that when George & I married, this house (his and his deceased wife's) was already furnished in Danish modern and I had mostly antiques in mine, and some wicker and a little Chinese looking cabinet. So we just combined them. I've replaced some things, but it's quite a conglomeration. You've heard of eclectic? As one of our first visitors, a girlfriend of one of his friends, said in a rather insulting tone, "Maybe it will work." She wasn't invited back, by the way. tee hee
I like the idea of eclectic. I think I prefer fusion rather than trying to have a completely exact copy of an era. I know what you mean about the Juan Diego Flores and the grungy soldiers... Maybe I didn't listen to it properly. I have that DVD and it is really splendid... Actually has Dawn French of 'Absolutely Fabulous' in a cameo part... lovely.
I would hate to put anyone off because I had shown them a below standard version.
The bastard is so good looking, I agree. he married a very willowy, German Australian girl and have recently had their first child. She's pretty, but I should imagine the children will be stunning.
It took me almost a lifetime to recognize, accept and like what it is I "do": ME, including interior decoration. hehe
The grungy soldiers sang well. It was just an overall impression at that hour of night and in the context, I think. I sent you some other utubes of the music via email. Some I liked better than that one, but it's no reflection on the singer or the staging in that one you sent. - It just didn't appeal to me then; especially following the other lovely selection you sent which opened the video, which made me more aware of it. You can tell that I am NOT put off! I am a fan forever.
Yes - Florez is good looking and not surprising that he is happily married and raising a family. His own background is well-ground in family value, from what I can tell. As you say - their children should be gorgeous and probably talented too.
I have reappraised the videos I looked at, and I think you will like the eventual choice.
You may like to know that EVERY time I open this hub I look at the Battenberg lace parasol and love it that little bit more. The contrast with the red brick and the white writing over it are just perfect.
Ah - I look forward to seeing them. I hope I didn't come off sounding like some kind of critic. I'm a know-nothing, except about my own responses and that was a very personal response of the moment. I like your choices almost universally and recognize the superior knowledge in them!
That is so gratifying, your response to the Battenberg lace parasol. Your appraisal is so much like the way I feel about it! In addition to the contrast between the purity of the lace and roughness of the brick, I also love the red pots along the walk which almost vanishes into the distance. The whole thing is rather allegorical for the word superiimposed on it.
Sound like some kind of a critic if you wish, Nellie. I can take it from you because I respect your taste, and the whole purpose of the hub was a sharing experience; a sharing experience with friends.
Your input is vital. I am an obsessional, remember, but also a teacher (once a pedagogue, always a pedagogue), and I don;t want to be seen as bulldozing my likes onto a captive audience, because that is one thing they are now. If my other friends, who I also respect, because taste, is personal, want to vote with their feet, i would be a fool to hasten the process, by push unattractive sounds and my own personal tastes their way.
Ian - you wouldn't come across as bulldozing your likes onto a friendly captive audience! First of all, that's not possible. People just won't follow where they don't want to go. Really. Second of all - writing (all creativity) is about offering what one has to say, so it's, of course, unique - one's personal opinions and tastes. Those attract the people who are likeminded or susceptible and those who aren't - won't be.
But of course, as you point out, we want to make our stuff as attractive as possible and certainly want not to deliberately and foolishly show no regard, of course; but it must be without betraying its integrity if we are to have anything worthwhile to say at all! if it comes to a choice, we're better off & wise going with our own authenticity and letting the cookie crumble. It is our treasure, after all. If we become too good at "salesmanship" of it, it loses something vital and real.
As a teacher, one is more obligated to teach from a less personal perspective and less personal set of ideas; but even there - one's character and authenticity matter, I think. Maybe it's a bit like someone said, that creativity is fine but they wouldn't want too creative a surgeon operating on their vitals! hehe. We must weigh the issues involved. But sharing our tastes and ideas stands on its own merit. We do have a responsibility along with the main thing we bring to our writing & that's part of the creativity which stands up to the tests. You are so good at knowing that and doing it.
There is a factor involved, perhaps, and that is whether you felt sure your presentation really did express your experience of the music as well as it might. It occurs to me that maybe that is what concerned you. In that area, of course, if there is a better example, you'd want to use it. But even so, one can't fret excessively about how it will be received. That is totally as varied as there are others reading your presentation. The only opinion you can be sure of is yours - and if there is a doubt about that in the area of best choice of examples, you can and should fix it.
When are you going to publish your book: 'The Philosophies and Thoughts of Nellie Anna' and then go on your lecture tour of the whole English speaking world. I promise to be in the front row of some of your "intimate talks to the many", and clap and shout, "Brava!".
I have never heard or known of anyone who has such wonderful and clear and sensible, but also beautifully expressed thoughts.
Your poetry as usual is breathless and exquisite. You personify love Nellieanna in all your scribes. You have been given a magical gift to enter peoples hearts and leave them full and wanting more of you. I am ever so impressed with your arsenal of talent.
It's interesting that this song should stay with you all these years as a song that was so endearing to you when you were a younger lady.
I love Nana Mouskouri and her rendition and I agree with Martie it smacks of I can't help falling in love with you and of course by my biggest Idol the King who brought all the ladies to fainting posture when he sang it.
I love that song to. Yes the French version is also so beautiful, it's all good Nellieanna and with your added bonus of brilliant scribes and verse what more can a man or woman want, it's simply LOVE in it's best form.
Dear, dear Ian. I'm blushing. Hugs.
Ken, thank you. You do me great honor and I am deeply touched.
I must admit that wouldn't have associated "My Love Loves Me" with "Can't Help Falling In Love With You" but it is probably timing. I loved the first for at least ten years before Elvis even began singing. I like his "Can't Help Falling In Love With You" but it would never have occurred to me that it was a similar message to the song I'd loved so long and intimately. His song was of another era, almost, and most definitely was a different era of my own life and associations. For you and for Martie - Elvis' was probably an era more like mine was when I loved "My Love Loves Me". :-)
By the way, I've had a most interesting experience today. Went with my friend, Val, to a live performance of a musical , "The Night the Music Died" - commemorating several of the earliest and most influential rock-and-rollers, a trio who died in a plane crash the day after performing in Iowa on my birthday in 1959. They were Buddy Holly, Ricky Valens and J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson.
The musicians who played the three were so outstandingly good, it was amazing. It was all music. Other than props identifying the performance at THE SURF BALLROOM, where they performed for the last time and a brief recount of the crash circumstances toward the end, it was all purely the music.
Everyone sang and danced, including all members of the little band. They sang an amazing selection of the songs these people made well-known and the players all looked and sounded their parts. The Ricky Valens character sang "La Bamba" so well - one would think it really was Ricky Valens. The little band was excellent and 3 very talented girls - singers and dancers - never rested the entire time, dancing R&R in their full skirts with crinoline petticoats, singing so well. The guys all danced too.
The band Buddy Holly put together at the time included Waylon Jennings! He called them "The Crickets" - and that name inspired the Beatles' choice of their name!
This performance was like a slice of musical history. The Wikipedia writeup on Buddy Holly is fascinating.
Of course these singers in real life were influenced by Elvis, and, in fact, opened a show for him in Lubbock in 1955. All the famous early R&R stars were mutually interwoven in ways. Even though I wasn't a rock and roller - sort of missed out on that step as a newly-wed and new mom, - I vividly remember that awful crash which shocked everyone, taking these talented young lives in their prime. Today was a bit like reliving a slice of my own history.
Hello, Nellieanna, thank you again for bringing always so much love and sunshine into my day and live. You are just so wonderful.
Hello, hello - thank you, dear friend. You bring considerable love and sunshine into mine, too. Hugs.
Nellieanna, you have given us another beautiful, awesome, thumbs up collection of poetry!!! The following verse captures the essence of true love, a love that refuses to burn out by becoming static, yet flickers with an eternal glow, dynamically. Regards, Robert
"Love is like an ember
That eternally burns.
Love, that is, that's real,
That lives, and grows, and learns."
Thank you, Robert. That one was written when I was pretty young and quite idealistic - it was the way I saw love to be, with that purity I mentioned in another reply to one of your gracious comments about the mixture of pain and ecstasy which seems so much a part of love. But love IS ideal. Sometimes human nature puts some dents in it, but I still believe in the pure thing.
Shadows can't deny the light. Perhaps they're interlocked, but light is not limited, just our ability to perceive it without the contrast of the shadows. hehe.
Where Oh where do you find these lovely words, Nellie.
Every one a gem.
Oh, my, Ian. My only reply is that I don't. They seem to find me. I have to race to a paper and pencil to capture them before they fly off. Literally.
I may have some vague idea in mind (or not) and, if so, it may attract some words, - but - I don't belabor it. If I did, you'd be ashamed to admit you even know me! :-)
Thank you, dear friend.
I enjoyed reading what you've written even though what you write is often short the words you use convey a lot.
Thank you, Kannabal© and welcome to Hubpages.
I suppose we each choose the words to put together in the manner and the amount it takes to convey our thought &/or feeling - else, why would we do it at all?
Mine were all written at the time just for myself, -- to remember and be able to easily refer back to my thoughts and feelings when they were being strenuously blocked and diminished so I'd forget me and be more pliable. The poetry saved my life as a whole person.
well I'm glad you decided to share it with the world =]
Sometimes for me I don't think when I write it almost becomes an autonomous action because I am so in tune with how I am feeling at that moment. I think anything someone chooses to write down is very special and should be regarded as such so as I've said I respect you and your work and am glad you've decided to share
Ah - I don't think when I write poetry either. In fact, if I do happen to think (ie:-try) the results are totally pathetic. That only happens if I'm foolish enough to respond when someone requests a poem 'about something' or if I get such an idea of my own. No, I normally just run and scribble down what I'm feeling, what 'comes to me'. It's not always directly about my problems or challenges or even my loves and hates, it's often just what arises from somewhere deep inside, a sense of 'what it's all about, Alfie' kind of thing. But it's not 'thought out' in any manner. It's more like 'poured out', if you know what I mean, and perhaps you do!
Maybe because I needed so much to preserve who I am, I didn't reflect the chaos around me which was interfering with that when I wrote. It was coming from another place, sometimes deeper than even I knew or suspected. But after that horrid time ended, when I was 40, didn't drink OR drive! - I found myself more whole and emerged more inwardly balanced and serene than I'd ever been and I had nothing else to account for it other than writing and much reading during it - and being determined to not let it convert me to its kind of attitudes & hateful ways, partly maybe out of cowardice, but MOSTLY out of a kind of courage I have learned to value about all other kinds.
I write lengthy, thoughty prose at times, but very little lengthy poetry.
But whatever others write is their odyssey & I am fully in your corner about writing what you're feeling in the moment and that IS what is valuable, first to the person writing it - but also to any privileged to share it with the person, even if it's overwhelming or underwhelming, (even if it's full of grammar errors) - so long as it is not trite. That it is authentic and tells from the innards is what matters, at least to me - and obviously to you as well! Thank you. I am definitely a fan! I'm going right over there and sign up! Hugs.
I can relate to that myself there are often times I wish I could just sit down and write for whatever reason that may be at the moment but when I take that approach I am too detached to create something I feel enough apart of to enjoy. I am my own toughest critic as I'm sure many writers, artists, musicians, etc. can understand so even when my writing stems from the very depths of my being I still look at it critically and it just isn't the same when it doesn't just as you say "pour out".
It sounds like you've endured a lot of trials in your life perhaps less or more than some others and it is good that you stayed strong and let your writing act as a release for some of those trials and the feelings they gave you and present them for others to relate to and enjoy.
Thank you for following me and I look forward to reading more from you soon
Exactly the kind of thing which makes us all different in our approaches to things.
But I seldom 'just sit down to write' anyway. It's more like I must run to sit down & grab it while it's pouring out before I miss it. I'm unaware of whether or not I'm detached right then, which may mean I'm attached. I definitely do feel a part of it once it's written. That was my impetus for writing so much of it - to hang on to myself under duress.
Later I may do some critical editing, though I must confess that it usually results in a different work, a whole other poem, born of another moment.
I am very critical of my non-poetic writing and even the arranging and putting together of poetry, as here on hubs. I'm a terrible perfectionist in that, fine-tuning and making sure each detail balances and "sings". I finally just have to say to myself, "self, it's fine - punch the publish button!" Otherwise I'd haggle it out of existence. It's just in the inspiration phase of writing poetry that I hardly give it a second glance except to notice whether or not it sings. I do find that when I have given a process my fine-tuned thing, it becomes nearly automatic. My mind never stops, sizing things up, seeing anomalies and relationships. But that's another part of me. I'm almost balanced right and left brained so it switches quite dramatically sometimes. You?
FloraBreenRobison 9 months ago
I've never heard the English lyrics you knew originally. I only know the literal translation which you've given here and then the translation reworded slightly to fit the rhythm of the tune.
the way I've heard it sung in English is :
The joys of love, ere swiftly do depart.
The pain of love lasts for a lifetime.
I gave up all for ungrateful Slyvie
But soon she left me for another love.
The joys of love ere swiftly do depart
The pains of love last for a lifetime
long flows the water softly onward
Towards the stream that follows along the shore.
I'll always love you repeated Sylvie
Still, the water flows on. But she has changed now.
The joys of love ere swiftly do depart
The pains of love last for a lifetime.
I've sung it in French and English. The bridge section is extremly difficult fortiming with your accompanist.
Beautiful.