SINGAPORE 60's: ANDY's POP MUSIC INFLUENCE IS A PERSONAL MUSIC, MEMORY TRAIL. BLOGGER DOES NOT OWN THE RIGHTS TO VIDEOS, AUDIO TRACKS AND IMAGES. THEY ARE UPLOADED FOR FUN, EDUCATIONAL, ILLUSTRATIVE PURPOSES AND HAVE BEEN CREDITED. BLOG IS NOT SPONSORED NOR ADVERTORIAL IN ANY WAY WHATSOEVER. INFORM BLOGGER OF COPYRIGHT ISSUES AND POST WILL BE DELETED IMMEDIATELY. DO NOT COPY THE POSTS; GET PERMISSION N CREDIT ME IF YOU DO. ANDY LIM LA (NOVEMBER, 2008) -
(新加坡六十年代安迪的流行音乐影响力), SUDI MAMPIR !
I have always loved the above song from the Walt Disney movie and until recently, captured the above version again on YouTube video. This time around the words jumped out from the page and I realized that the lyrics sounded more meaningful.
"You think you own whatever land you land on/ The Earth is just a dead thing you can claim/ But I know every rock, and tree, and creature/ Has a life, has a spirit, has a name."
If we are aware of the tumultuous goings~on in the world around us today, the lines above are definitely familiar. News from today's headlines? Surely.
"You think the only people who are people/ Are the people who look and think like you/ But if you walk the footsteps of a stranger/ You'll learn things, you never knew, you never knew."
Christine Allado, a Filipino-British and current singing star and actress. Check her out on the many websites available that discuss her achievements and awards she holds.
I'm not much into politics and don't want to step on anyone's toes, especially the animals' mentioned in the lyrics, so I turned to AI and the answer came easily:
Yes, the lyrics of 'Colors of the Wind' from Disney's 'Pocahontas' can be, and have been, associated with modern conflicts, bombings, and environmental destruction by acting as a counter-narrative to violence, exploitation, and dehumanization.
While originally written in 1992 to reflect the perspectives of Native Americans against colonization, the song's themes are frequently re-interpreted today as a protest against the "conqueror" mindset.
"The rainstorm and the river are my brothers."
Here is how the lyrics associate with modern bombing and conflict:
* Critique of Disregard for Life ("You think you own whatever land you land on / The Earth is just a dead thing you can claim"): This lyric is interpreted as a critique of colonial or modern military efforts that treat landscapes and inhabited areas as mere territory to be claimed, bombed, or destroyed, disregarding the life, spirit, and communities that exist there.
* Dehumanization of Others ("You think the only people who are people / Are the people who look and think like you"): This line is used to comment on conflict, racism, and the tendency of groups to dehumanize their opponents in war, reducing them to "savages" rather than recognizing them as fellow humans.
* Interconnectedness ("We are all connected to each other / In a circle, in a hoop that never ends"): This directly contrasts with the destructive impact of bombing, emphasizing that the destruction of people or the environment in one place affects everyone.
"How high does the sycamore grow? / If you cut it down, then you'll never know."
"Come run the hidden pine trails of the forest/ Come taste the sun-sweet berries of the earth/ Come roll in all the riches all around you/And for once never wonder what they're worth..."
* A Call for Empathy ("But if you walk the footsteps of a stranger / You'll learn things you never knew"): This calls for understanding and dialogue, opposing the violence that creates refugees and destruction.
*According to reports in 2025, people have used the song on social media to comment on conflicts in the Middle East and other environmental issues, finding the lyrics to be a "generational rallying cry" against violence and destruction.
(This article is an AI generated reply.)
"Have you ever heard the wolf cry to the blue corn moon? Or asked the grinning bobcat why he grinned?"
"The rainstorm and the river are my brothers/ The heron and the otter are my friends/ And we are all connected to each other/ In a circle, in a hoop that never ends..."
"Can you sing with all the voices of the mountains/ Can you paint with all the colors of the wind..."
Judy Kuhn [left], the original singer and Vanessa Williams both sang, "Colors of the Wind."
As April leaves us and May approaches, we observe that June is waiting to mark the middle of twenty twenty-six. That's half-way through the year and 3 flowers are blooming...
The following comments are extracts taken from previous blog sites:
From the late Dave Loggins, composer: Uploaded on Jan 2, 2009.
"I would like to thank everyone for their kind thoughts on "Pieces." I wrote it at a very special time of my life. Special, because I met the "love of my life" and had recently lost her. By chance, we were together for three consecutive Aprils and then she left me for good. Today, I don't know where she is or how her life turned out.
May is symbolic of the present, April was and still remains a sweet yesterday. I have never really gotten over "April" and the "pieces" still remain. Those sweet Aprils... It's my favorite song, too."
Tomas Rodriguez, blog reader, says:
It is a really beautiful song, but it is very sad. I also think that the memory that he has of the woman is really an illusion. What he is really attached to is the feeling of sadness and longing that is evoked by his memory of the relationship. At the end of the day she did abandon him [and ladies he did abandon you] so why honor her/him for that? Love God, love life and love yourself first...
Suituapui, blogger was in Singapore, 1973, says:
Ooooo...one of my all-time favourite songs. 3 Dog Night's ‘Pieces of April’ - 1973. I was in Singapore that year, Stamford College, Waterloo Street. Those were the days. I saw Heather and the Thunderbirds - Lost Horizon, Shangri La...and also another place, Malaysia Hotel...can't remember the name now. I saw a very young Anita Sarawak too - Top of the Hilton. Oooo...what memories. [Suituapui means 'Beautiful Fat Guy'].
Maggie May: Rod Stewart. With Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. YouTube Video by: Rod Stewart.
Poppa Madison, blog reader, says:
Pity so many young women of today don't merit this kind of romantic approach. I feel sorry for the young guys of recent generations who want to give their hearts to a lovely fair maiden, but more often than not come face to face with a gaggle of boozed up, foul mouthed, violent, out of their mind female juvenile delinquents when they go out try and find one they can give their all to.
50 years ago, I can vouch that we actually had real ladies and gentlemen with good manners and a sense of socially interactive behaviour that many of today's young lot could not even begin to be able to get close to understanding let alone emulate.
Wot a shame! 😱
[But don't forget guys, if April has left you, there's always May and June waiting...]
Rainy Day In June: Kinks. YouTube Video by: 1966 Stereo In.
Always an experience to listen to worthwhile pop covers, especially from our own Asian musicians. Repeated originals can be boring, especially for so many years since the 50s. Just my take...
Yesterday:
SWAY is an old hit by the late Dean Martin in 1954. Then Michael Bublé revived it in 2003 followed by the Pussycat Dolls in 2005. There are about a dozen versions that include pop singers like, Cliff Richard, Rosemary Clooney, Bobby Rydell and Julie London.
The song was originally called QUIEN SERA and composed by Mexicans Luis Demetrio and Pablo Luiz. With English lyrics and recorded by Dean Martin it became an international hit at number 5five.
Now, a pretty young lady from Korea covers it [video above] in the best style ever to suit her generation. *Gyubin revitalises the song with her own charisma and a cute Korean accent but with that gentle swing of oomph, fresh subtlety and scat.
Today, if the singer doesn't make it within the thr3ee minute life-span of a young person's patience and listening endurance on the smart phone... that's it!
But GYUBIN did! One million hits within 2two years on YouTube. And she's only 17 with a long career ahead. Wow!
Congratulations Gyubin. I hope the Seniors who read this blog will love your version as much as I do and add more viewers to your tally.
[축하해요 규빈님. 이 블로그를 읽는 선배들이 나만큼 귀하의 버전을 좋아하고 귀하의 집계에 더 많은 시청자를 추가하기를 바랍니다.]
Sway has been sung by Dean Martin [top],
Michael Buble [centre], Pussycat Dolls [last]
Gyubin
Original Songs:
Satellite - Single. Satellite - Single. 2024.
Special - Single. Special - Single. 2024.
Really Like You (Spring Version) - Single.
Really Like You (Spring Version) - Single. 2024.
Really Like You - Single. Really Like You - Single. 2024.
Start To Shine (feat. Gaeko) - Single.
Scribble - Single. Scribble - Single.
Now in more pensive mood, it's flying to the moon...
Robert Gay writes with soul when he uses 50s songs and movies as milestones for his teenage journey. Detailed and heartfelt... Thanks Robert for taking time off to pen this very touching story of yours.
Becoming a Teenager:
It was no coincidence that the music of the fifties and sixties targeted the teenage market! This was the period when the post war babies became teenagers! The social culture was teenage based and created a huge unprecedented market! There were dozens of songs centered on age sixteen!
Sixteen Candles, the Platters and the Crests,
Only Sixteen, Craig Douglas,
Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen, Neil Sedaka,
You’re Sixteen, Johnny Burnette,
Sweet Little Sixteen, Chuck Berry etc.
One of my favourite songs by Lonnie Donegan starts, “Sweet sixteen goes to church just to see the boys... Putting on the Style!"Teenagers were falling in and out of love! Moodiness, loneliness, violence, recklessness were all part of the makeup of a teenager! The film Rebel Without a Cause said it all! James Dean became a superstar and, “Chicken“ became a dangerous game on the roads!
Cliff Richard, Pat Boon, Elvis, Ricky Nelson and many others were conferred the title! Several of the new Artistes were teenagers! Paul Anka sang Diana which was one of the biggest hits ever! Ricky Nelson sang, Poor Little Fool and My Rifle, Pony and Me with Dean Martin in, “Rio Bravo." We identified with them and learnt to sing these songs with guitar accompaniment!
I was thirteen in 1957!
Author, Traveller: Robert Gay in the Galapagos.
A Teenage Crush:
I was still catching spiders, fighting fish and flying kites and fishing! Girls never featured in my activities! I was mystified by a couple of our group who raved about this girl and that girl! Then one day the inevitable happened, I was returning from fishing in the sea off Siglap when a girl on a bicycle stopped by me, smiled at me and said “How many fish did you catch Robert?”. I was kind of speechless and just held up the string of fish that I was bringing home. She smiled again and said, “That’s a good catch “ and cycled off!
I stood there just stunned ! It didn’t help that she was just prettiest girl I had ever seen and I’d never seen her before! I thought she might have been one of my sisters’ friends! But they didn’t know her. However, a couple of the guys knew instantly who she was and even where she lived! Next day, I persuaded my new classmate Lesley from ACS to come with me to see where she lived. Somewhere in Dunbar walk!
What a Borgward 60s looks like. Usually chauffeur
driven and owned by the rich in Singapore 50s/60s.
We were just outside her house when a chauffeur driven Borgward stopped at her gate! And out she came. She saw us and came to us asking what we were doing! I had cunningly dropped a few coins on the grass verge and we were pretending to look for them. “Let me help you” she said and proceeded to look around with us! We collected my coins then she kindly invited us in for a drink (orange juice)! She got us our drinks and had one for herself.
We chatted for a while and then she said, “ Excuse me I have to do my homework, just wait for me.”
She got out her homework and we just sat and listened to Guy Mitchell, “Singing the Blues” on the LP she had put on for us!
I noticed after a while that she looked perturbed about her homework so I walked over to see what she was trying to do, She had CV Durell's, “General Mathematics Vol. 4” in front of her. I had only just finished Vol. 4 at Presbyterian Boys' School. However, I looked at the problem she was trying to solve and surprisingly saw how to do it immediately! So I showed her how it was done and I got another of those beautiful smiles. Homework was done in no time and we got to chat and got to know each other better.
Singapore students use this text book
for Mathematics practice in the 1950's.
Teenage Socials:
This became a kind of usual pattern and a few of us used to gather regularly at her place. We brought our guitars and sang the hits by Pat Boon, Elvis, Harry Belafonte, Ricky Nelson, Fats Domino and others.
She taught us how to dance; the cha cha, jive and the waltz! We also went out as a group to the places like the Botanical Gardens for a picnic where she packed a lunch. The highlight of our get-togethers was a trip to Johore Bahru one day where again she packed a lunch and drinks for us! Our main group consisted of Philip and Dennis (our Everly Brothers Champions), myself and Leslie. All this was good innocent fun and it was happy days for me.
Surprisingly she usually went to school by bus! She would walk all the way from Dunbar walk, through Frankel Avenue to the bus stop on Geylang Road where she took a bus to Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus, passing my house on the way! I used to wait to wave to her and have a few words.
I remember those mornings where I would have a Billy Vaughan LP on while waiting. “A Summer Place” and “Sail along Silvery Moon” were my favourite songs on this LP. The twin saxophones blended so beautifully! However. As all good things this would not last forever.! We were always mindful that she was a little older than us. She was fifteen and we were about thirteen.
'Singing The Blues' Guy Mitchell.
YouTube Video from: The Ed Sullivan Show.
[Song is usually sung on stage by Blogger Andy.]
“I’m so young and your so old”, Paul Anka's, Diana was about two years older than Paul too. We had over a year of this wonderful companionship but we always new she had older male friends who had more serious intentions.
Teenage Blush:
One day we visited as usual but she had gone. We came again the next day and were met by her older cousin waving a large screwdriver.
“Don’t come here again!” he said, in a most unfriendly manner.
We left quite shocked and we never saw her again till many years later!
“One day she left without a word she took away the sun...” Lemon Tree, Peter Paul and Mary.
So this is how I got initiated into the teenage world! All the songs we sang were becoming true!
The sweetest young couple today. Makes for a promising and lovely new world, where a relationship knows no bounds. Congratulations! A Tongue In Cheek Song Trail: The wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle on Saturday 19 May 2018 @ St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, would encourage BRF (British Royal Family) fans to think of songs the two young lovers would dance to for their first ballroom embrace as a married couple. I can only think of three popular songs. They are, The Wedding March by Mendelssohn, the pop hit, The Wedding by Julie Rogers and the everlasting: Here comes the bride, Here comes the bride Here comes the bride, With the big backside... (Or the original: All dressed in white.) So I was surprised when told that it is customary for western weddings to have a special piece of music for the bride and bridegroom's first dance. Have you heard of this practice? Not in the east.
Karen Gibson and the Kingdom Choir
perform Stand By Me (Ben E. King)
When Prince Harry's elder brother William was betrothed to Kate Middleton they chose an Elton John big hit, Your Song. SirElton is always around the Royals, once re-composing a Marilyn Monroe number into, Candle In The Wind for Princess Diana. According to website articles, They Say It's Wonderful by Irving Berlin, I've Got You Under My Skin by Ole Blue Eyes (Frank Sinatra) and Stand By Me by Ben King had been chosen by other royalties as their first dance song. And with a song in mind, the couple glided to the floor. Maybe they rock and roll or shimmy in their wedding finery. There are websites after websites of these songs available so I'll just provide my personal ones because Singaporeans are not familiar with this custom.
Elton John's hit, Your Song, sung by Lady Gaga, a hot favourite for many weddings. Think lyrics when you read the titles: Genuinely Sweet Ones All of Me - Frank Sinatra Can't Take My Eyes Off You - Andy Williams You're The Right One - Dean Martin Young and Beautiful - Elvis Presley Sweetheart Tree - Johnny Mathis Your Song - Elton John
The big car runaway for Harry and Meg
Love Me Tender - Elvis Presley You Are My Theme For A Dream - Cliff Richard Sway - Michael Buble Fascination - Nat King Cole Teach Me Tonight - Nat King Cole Only You - The Platters That's my lot, short indeed. So what's their song gonna be my dear readers? Make a guess?
Here's a Classic by Dean Martin, You're The Right One. Great for dancing too. Now for this other lot. If you want your life partner to stay away from the dance floor because you don't know the difference between a waltz and a fox-trot, then play one of the following. Perhaps you realise you've made a mistake and wish to back out asap.😛 Genuinely Sour Ones: How Can I Tell Her - Lobo Your Cheating Heart - Ray Charles Mean Woman Blues - Elvis Presley A Place In The Sun - Engelbert Humperdinck Please Release Me - Engelbert Humperdinck Another One Bites The Dust - Queen You've Lost That Loving Feeling - Righteous Brothers Don't Go Breaking My Heart - Elton John Do You Really Wanna Hurt Me - Culture Club
Joan Jett and the Heartbreakers sing: I Hate Myself For Loving You. Not a choice for sure, unless you want to run away from the wedding.
Mrs Robinson - Simon and Garfunkel I Hate Myself For Loving You - Joan Jet/Blackhearts. A Dear John Letter - Skeeter Davis/Bobby Bear Here's one which should never ever be played for dance music. Somebody Bad Stole The Wedding Bell. Sent by Stephen Han, this song is a disaster!
St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle, England, UK. where Prince Harry will wed Ms Markle.
Seriously though, let's wish the royal couple, Prince Harry and Ms Meghan Markle the happiest wedding ever and may they be blessed with many beautiful children.
Comment ladies and gents?
Images: Google. Videos: YouTube. Thanking all video contributors. Names shall be installed later. Thanks.
I Wanna Dance With Somebody: Whitney Houston. Was this the dance song for the couple? ⇊ Who's coming to the wedding? Photos all the way. ⇊
