Shower Songs: Sue Sings "Crazy"

Spent the first part of the my work-at-home lunch hour singing to the pets and realized I could share it with you. This is my first adventure with GarageBand and it could probably be better with some autotune, correct timing, a different singer, etc. Yes, I'm trying to say it sucks but in the spirit of the modern age I'm sharing it anyway.

Crazy

You can also get the far superior Patsy Cline version (MP3 download).

I own this album. And I love it. Don't judge me.

Lyrics for "The First Mate is a Monkey" from Disney's Swashbuckling Sea Songs!

http://cmdrsue.blogspot.com/2010/05/first-mate-is-monkey.htmlApparently I'm not the only person who loves this song from Swashbuckling Sea Songs because every few days someone comes by searching for the lyrics. Since no one else has posted them let me perform that public service. You can thank me in the comments.

5/20/10 Update: Posted the song from YouTube.

Quick link to get someone back here? tinyurl.com/firstmatemonkey

The First Mate Is A Monkey (mp3 on Amazon)

The first mate is a monkey
The leader of the crew
He was born to pirate the seas
He'd rather sail on the wild ocean blue
Than to swing in the coconut trees
Oh how that monkey climbs
Up in record time
So we call him Prime Mate

The ship's cook is a parrot
What a chatty bird
He's always fast with a quip
Each morning he'd ask him,
"Monkey what's the word?"
Oh they had the greatest friendship
He made banana stew
For the Cap n' crew
I think you'd like a taste, too

[Chorus]
The first mate is a monkey
Say "aye, aye sir!"
He was born in the jungle
With big ears and a long, long tail

The first mate is a monkey
Tell you why, sir
The monkey is a pirate
Who was made to live on the seas
And always sail

Well, we docked down in Rio on a windy day
The monkey was keeping an eye
Parrot said, "Monkey, there's nothing more to say
So it's time for this parrot to fly."
The monkey shed a tear for his old buccaneer
And said, "Let's sail out of here."

[Chorus]
The first mate is a monkey
Say "aye, aye sir!"
He was born in the jungle
With big ears and a long, long tail

The first mate is a monkey
Tell you why, sir
The monkey is a pirate
Who was made to live on the seas
And always sail

SQUEE!

Destiny just handed me U2 tickets! Entertainingly, I am posting this from my Blackberry (sponsor of the tour).

Get Your Groove On

I'm From Outer Space

Music from the Police

Anagramtastic

I was reading about Joe Sumner's band Fiction Plane on Wiki and they mentioned "Fiction Plane is an anagram of 'Infant Police', although Joe Sumner maintains that this is a coincidence." And I was like, "Oh, right, like he'd sit there working through all the... Wait a second. This is the age of the internet. How long could it take to find an Anagram Creator? Google yielded BlackDog in a split second. I put in "Infant Police" to see how many options I would get. It didn't auto count but it's... a lot. Most of them are utter nonsense, but let me share some of the options that sounded like other fun band names. I mean Sting's got five kids, Stewart has four and I think Andy has two. Someone else might need one of these.

First hit? Infantile cop. Funny.
Fiction Penal
Finance Pilot
Tinfoil Pecan
Action Elf Pin
Catnip Felon I (you know, in case the cat decides to launch a rap career)
Infant Pile Co.
Polite Fan Inc.
Ain't Elfin Cop
.... I give up. Out of hundreds it does look like Fiction Plane was the best choice.

I also tried "The Police" for the purists. And got better results, I thought.
Chile Poet (especially if another member is a somehow related to the Red Hot Chile Peppers)
Epoch Lite
Ethic Pole
Hotel Epic (could also serve as an Eagles reference)
Optic Heel (teaming up with a relative of Little Feet? this is your best best bet)
Celt Pie Ho (now that's just funny....)

The Police - Update

I found a review on ThePolice.com for the show last night. Although they have some points, some things require comment.

"When The Police last toured in 1984, the Internet was a foreign concept, gas cost $1.21 a gallon, yet Sting looked the same as he does today." Uh, no he doesn't. We just all aged at the same rate. As I said to my sister at his 2000 concert, "You know what shows our age? The fact that we still think he looks good." Yes, he's still a good looking guy. But an older good looking guy. He's bordering on distinguished, but he still has enough of a puckish glint in his eye - especially when he's NOT on stage - to let you know that in some ways he will stay a young rock star forever.

"...theirs is a show of cool professionalism - expertly delivered, filled with phenomenal musicianship but not much warmth." Really? I agree on the professionalism, but I was warmed down to my little toes. It could be because I'm such a huge fan. Or because I was back there soaking up Stewart's vibe.

"Copeland, a native Virginian, appeared to enjoy himself the most. Looking like a long-distance bicyclist in his sweatband and white gloves, Copeland showed off an athleticism behind his drum kit that is rarely seen - even holding his drumsticks the proper way (left wrist upward)." Native? Yes, born here. In Alexandria, just like me. But he grew up overseas from a very young age and went to college in California, so I'm not sure how "native" he would really be. I only grew up in in the Deep South and I feel like it affected my Virginianity. As Reese Witherspoon said in "Sweet Home Alabama," you should need a passport to go down there. I loved it, but it's different. I imagine the Middle East would be differenter. And as for the rest of it - that was typical, vintage Stewart. When I heard they were touring I wondered if his enthusiastic, athletic playing would have slowed down with age. Somehow, someway the answer is NO. And, yes, he's always been noted for holding his drumsticks "properly." Part of that serious musical background, I should think.

The Police

How was it? Well before the concert got started I had Sting under me... Heh-heh. No, really. We were seated at exit stage left, over a lower entrance to the 'backstage' of the arena, and he walked right underneath us while the warm-up band FictionPlane was playing. He paused to wave up at us. My sister had just stood up to step outside and almost got pushed off the balcony by the enthusiastic groupie behind us. "That could have worked," she said later. "I could have landed on top of him and have it not be my fault!" Alas, her natural dexterity worked against her and she kept her feet.

The best part of the show last night for me was that it was obviously for real Police fans. They skipped some radio favorites like "Spirits in the Material World" and played deeper cuts like "Invisible Sun," "One World is Enough," and my personal favoritest favorite "Driven to Tears." The only one that they skipped that I wish they had played was "Bring on the Night." I wasn't sure if they did that because Sting had pretty much commandeered it for his solo work in the late 80s.

In the years since they broke up the band Sting has certainly been the biggest pop sensation and easiest to follow, and I am admittedly a huge Sting fan. But I have also kept tabs on Andy and Stewart as well. It intrigued me that I was more glad to see Andy and Stewart in concert, I am assuming at least partially because I hadn't had the privilege before. I didn't "get into" The Police until the Synchronicity album and was about 13 when they broke up. (I didn't go to a concert at all until I was 30, a birthday gift from my husband for the 2000 Sting tour.) Once I was "into" them, though, I was very, very seriously into them. All of the albums, tons of bios and articles and picture books. I read Jung and Koestler. I considered buying the Klark Kent album... In the fun kitsch department I have a Synchronicity beach towel and black satin jacket.

At first I wasn't sure that our seats were going to be satisfying (the prices were outrageous for a "good" seat). But first we had the up close Sting sighting. Then it became obvious that our seats gave us an intimate sort of "back stage" (or at least side stage) view of the band. From a proximity perspective this was the closest I've ever been to the stage and we could actually see what Stewart was doing (including the two times he bonked the cameraman).

Further entertainment happened today when the alarm went off and the morning DJs were talking about the concert. One of them, who is also something of a local musician, was marveling at their vintage guitars and the fact that they could actually, like, PLAY. That Andy Summers can wail, baby, yeah. I'm sure that I had the typical Police fan smirk when I said to the radio, "If you didn't know that, you weren't paying attention all these years." The sound that they constructed for The Police - spare, precise, unique in rhythm (who had heard of reggae punk before that?) - was built on theory and a desire to do something different. Their musical roots ran mostly from jazz as well as various aspects of rock, and each is a virtuoso musician in their own right. And, as Sting said in the tour program, "The songs have to evolve. Twenty-odd years later we have to be better musicians than we were. So we've slowed it all down, looked at where we are, and how the songs are now happening by listening to ourselves play them."

In short, I just love these guys. I could go on for hours about the history of the band and what they've all been doing individually in the intervening years between breakup and reunion. If you haven't been paying attention, now would be a great time to start. Before the tour is over.
Stewart Copeland Official Website
Andy Summers Official Website
Sting Official Website
The Police Official Website

The Police Tour 2007

I just got back from seeing The Police in concert and wanted to share
that I thought it was great. This is an "emailed" post to meet my
NaBloPoMo requirements for the day. More details later.

But Stewart, if you heard someone on your left scream "the theme song
for Dead Like Me was awesome!" that was probably me...