Recent current events have put me in a bit of a mood and I got it in my head to learn this song today. I must admit, it was quite cathartic to do this number. It took about an hour to get it right and now I am feeling legitimately like this character, minus the vodka.

https://share.singsnap.com/play/11346837

Maybe later... Actually, last night, my mood wasn't unlike this. My poor husband had to listen to me go off for a bit, thanks to news overload. And then, when I write about it, I get comments from dullards from California who think I'm "stupid" and take a moment to tell me so. So... I dedicate this song to every other frustrated, middle-aged lady who lunches... or doesn't get invited to lunches due to being a lush. ;)

What about the dullards from other places? Or does only California have those?

I think a lot of us feel that way. It's not just the ladies who lunch who are disturbing, but for me they represent all the other birdbrains which are plentiful in the world now. Those with iPhone tunnel vision for example. Those who shop non stop. Those who think they deserve EVERYTHING just because they exist, those so self absorbed they post selfies and tidbits about themselves non stop, and worse those who follow them as a surrogate life---while more accomplished people aren't really concerned with having it all, but doing it all with no thought of notoriety.

The new ladies who lunch for me are like the girl who wrote to an advice column saying what I wonderful job she had that paid well but she felt like she needed a better work/life balance which is the latest on the lips of so many who want to be "ladies who lunch"-- or do what they please when they please and still get paid a ton. The person responding said, "If you want a 40 hour paycheck, that takes a 40 hour job." Amen, Sister.

The "Ladies who lunch" are everywhere now and many are guys with top knots. Hard to escape them. I don't waste my time with them. I don't hire them. And I don't "follow" anybody at all.

The song always seems to be a jaded malaise from someone who's clarity is serving little purpose. Does that make me a dullard from California? Okay by me. The only thing worse are those whiney songs all the guys are singing these days.

No… there are definitely dullards everywhere. But the one who inspired me to learn this song was from Los Angeles. For that, I guess I can be grateful. ;)

You do a beautiful job with the song and your voice is right for it--nice depth. The phrases loaded. I saw a revival of the show decades ago and hated it, the lead so whiney and lame, but that song, that song was the one great pleasure of the show which is an odd way to describe it. It's a song for the outsiders who see from a distance, all.

Of course, try to find any one at all who doesn't consider themselves an outsider today. Good luck. Even the most popular and pampered will tell you their sad stories. Now where did I put my martini and microphone . . .?

Thanks for the compliment!

I actually have never seen the show. The first time I ever heard that song was when I was taking voice lessons in my 20s. The lady who had the hour ahead of mine was singing it. She was middle aged. Our teacher was telling her she needed to be “bitchier”.

I forgot all about “Ladies Who Lunch” until several years later, when I downloaded the movie Camp on a whim. It’s a number in the movie, which is about theater gang kids at a musical theater camp. Anna Kendrick plays a back-stabbing and overly ambitious conniver who literally steals this song from another high maintenance singer. It was so funny!

https://youtu.be/W8y9pNqjtb0

But I still never thought to try it myself until I realized that I am now the right age, and lately, I have had the right attitude. I am just so over everything in the news… all the whining and meanness and people just being jerks. So when I got an insult from a lover of a certain former president, it made me feel like channeling my angst somewhere besides the written word.

I am still working on guitar, but I can’t yet jam with conviction.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/18/2021 10:58AM by knotheadusc.

I've seen Company once - I think it was the production at Signature Theatre in Arlington - and I distinctly remember not liking it, but I love this song and you do a fantastic job with it.


Tyson

Thanks Tyson! I remember meeting you when we lived in NoVA!

I watched Camp again today. For some reason, it almost always makes me choke up. An added benefit is Sasha Allen in the cast. She was singing with The Rolling Stones when we saw them in 2018. She has got some serious pipes!

That movie is loaded with talent. Sounds like Company is not as well regarded!

I went through my email - and it was actually Follies at the Kennedy Center. I couldn't remember whom I had seen it with, but once I found the email, it all made sense.

I think however I saw the version of Company from 2011 with Neil Patrick Harris as Robert, filmed live from Avery Fisher Hall. It was the same timeframe, so that would explain my confusing the two.

And yes, I remember us meeting, but I don't remember where it was.

Tyson

Back in the summer of 2004, a bunch of exmos got together in Alexandria at some pub. I remember you were there, telling us about your mission in France and your college years. But I don’t think anyone else who was at that gathering still posts.

As it was, I had only been posting for a couple of years, and it wasn’t very often because I was kind of intimidated by some of the posters at the time. It seemed like there was more hostility.

I do remember there was one lady at that meeting who brought her husband. She was leaving the church, but he was still active. He was visibly miserable on several levels. I remember she went by Truth Dancer. And there was a guy who called himself Huckleberry Hinckley. I think the organizer’s name was Ryan.

Can’t believe I’m still hanging around here so many years later!

Either of the shows you mentioned sound great right now. I miss live entertainment.

I was in a theater drought even before the pandemic.

I think the last live theater we saw before moving from DC was the 2015 pre-Broadway run of "Dear Evan Hansen" at Arena Stage. At the time, seeing the who's-who in the lobby at intermission was better than the show.

Since we moved, we saw "Tenderly" in what I guess was Sam Lloyd's last stage role.


In very early 2020 before the shutdowns, my husband and I also took in a couple of local a cappella competitions, and they were unremittingly depressing. I learned from one of the organizers, that a group had won one of these competitions a few years before with a set composed solely of extremely dark material, and so that edginess become all the rage.

I don't want to go to an a cappella show where every song is about guns, stalking, hunger, depression, rage, alcoholism, rape, assault, abuse, suicide, etc., and where almost all the kids wore gray or black outfits (including trenchcoats!). Even the cheery-looking Old Navy clad bunch from a famous college not-to-be-named only sang songs about mental health issues.

And for these kids, this is "normal" - and after the fiasco of the last few years, I don't think that's about to change.

Give me at least some songs of aspiration and climbing and joy any day over that nonstop lugubriousness.

Tyson



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/19/2021 03:20PM by Tyson Dunn.

The last theater production I saw was a British production of Avenue Q back in 2016. We had just done a Scottish cruise and stopped in Stoke on Trent on our way to Mildenhall to see where I lived when I was very young. I didn't discover Avenue Q until after we saw The Book of Mormon Musical in Texas. I loved Avenue Q, even though I got noro on the cruise as wasn’t feeling very well when we saw the show.

We've been to a bunch of concerts, but not since 2019. I do have tickets for Keb' Mo' and James Taylor next year. The Keb' Mo' show was supposed to happen on our anniversary in November 2020. I'm glad to be in Germany for these weird times... I have a feeling we could be safer.

That acapella show sounds positively horrifying. But then, so are these weird times.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 08/20/2021 01:02AM by knotheadusc.

But in the end, it was vice versa. Life shaped you for the song.

Now that you mention it, I think you’re right.

Besides, I wasn’t yet born when that song was written.

"Dullards"--judging by your screen name, they should be from UCLA. :-)

But to the song, every time I hear it I think of the "optical art" puzzles we got one Christmas in the 1960's for my mom (who loved puzzles)--they were nearly impossible because of the nature of optical art...

Actually, that USC refers to the University of South Carolina. At the time I came up with my handle, it was still called USC. I was in grad school there when I came up with my screen name. “knothead” was usually taken, so I added the “usc” to the end. Voila, an Internet identity was born. They recently started calling it U of SC to avoid confusion with the newer school in Southern California.

Washington State is the only state out west with which I have any experience.

Knotheadusc,

It's about time someone with your voice and weighted phrasing sang "Both Sides Now" the same way that "Ladies Who Lunch" is performed. Bitchy, sad, wise, and stuck with it all. Just an idea if you are looking for a new arrangement . . .


That song needs that treatment. Needs some grit.


Your fan,
D&D

Which version? Judy’s or Joni’s?

Meh... I tried both. I think Joni's is better for wistful depression.

https://www.singsnap.com/#/d/listen/11454721

But Judy's lends itself to aggression and hostility. I had to be careful on hers, because the sound cuts out if I get too shrill.

https://www.singsnap.com/#/d/listen/11454730

I probably ought to do more of this. It's good for the soul.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/19/2021 11:31AM by knotheadusc.

Lovely song, lovely version. D&D's right, your voice is perfect for this one. Bravo!

Thanks Tom!

She could actually sing; there are some videos of her doing USO tours that are really great.


Keep practicing that guitar, get a loop pedal and learn to jam with yourself.

I haven’t figured out pedals yet. But I have gotten to the point at which I can play along with some simple songs. Barre chords are getting better, too. Working on fingerpicking. Guitar is the gift COVID lockdowns gave me. ;)

A simple loop pedal lets you record chords or percussive noises ( or counter melodies, or whatever) to a song and then you can play lead or sing over it, and record multiple layers of sound. It's a fantastic way to practice changing chords quickly and making real music. A Ditto looper sells for about 75 to 90 bucks in US. Boss makes some slightly more expensive ones with more features. It's great for learning, especially when playing with others is difficult right now.

Cool! I will look into it!

I'm giving some thought to learning bass at some point, too.

Wow Nicely done! I had not heard that song before. You have a talent for music for sure.

I use a Boss VE20 for looping as well. I forget the price but I believe it was around $300. It has excellent vocal effects if you wish to use them.

Thanks for listening!

I will have to look into the pedals. I can’t believe how much GAS I have had since taking up the guitar. We have five of them now, because my husband is also learning to play. He’s more interested in electric, while I prefer acoustic.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/21/2021 11:34AM by knotheadusc.

Music can become quite an addiction. I now have 4 clarinets and 4 saxophones along with gear for gigs. You have a ways to catch up :-).

Up until last year, my music addiction was mostly satisfied through drunken downloads.