Music Monday 12 December: Sinatra's Birthday

It's 12 December - and it was the birthday of Sinatra! I have idolised Frank Sinatra since the 1960s. Appreciation of his singing was possibly the only thing I took from my first short and disastrous marriage to an Italian guy. Fortunately, both of my subsequent long-term partners have shared my love of Sinatra's music. It wasn't a prerequisite, it just seemed to happen that way - and it worked out well both times!

Sinatra turns every song he performs into a work of art. I use the present tense advisedly. For me, he will never die. The wonderful lyrics of Sammy Cahn, Johnny Mercer, Cole Porter and their ilk come instantly to life sung by Sinatra. His magic embellishes less classic offerings with quality they perhaps do not deserve. He is able to take modern classics by Lennon and McCartney, George Harrison, Neil Diamond, Kris Kristofferson, etc. and turn them golden in a different way.

Frank Sinatra, in my eyes, could do no wrong. I am not interested in the scandals. What he did and does for his audience, while singing or acting (he was no slouch as an actor too, by the way) is all that matters.

"That old black magic" has me in its spell again and again whenever I watch a DVD of his shows or listen to one of his albums.

I have a theory that people are attracted to entertainers, writers, musicians, actors, well-known figures whose charts contain some correlation with their own. By some peculiar means we are able to "sense" the connection, even via screen, audio, or literature. I've found in my own experience that the clearest and longest lasting attractions involve the closest astrological connections.





My theory holds good in Sinatra's case. His Sun was at 19.13* Sagittarius conjoins my Venus at 19.59* Sagittarius ! His Mercury is at 17* Sagittarius too. His Moon at 5.07 Pisces conjoins my natal Jupiter at 6.03 Pisces.

"It's such an ancient pitch, But one I wouldn't switch, 'Cos there's no nicer witch than.........."

I could wax lyrical all day about favourite Sinatra renditions. I'll post a couple of possibly lesser known songs, I never tire of hearing these (or anything by The Guv'nor):

There Used To Be a Ballpark (written by Joe Raposo)~~~

"And the sky has got so cloudy, when it used to be so clear"...........

....."For the old team isn't playing
and the new team hardly tries"~ (Don't get me started!!!!)

The song literally refers to a sports stadium, but it's also a metaphor, for all good things from the past, things we can no longer see.

Wave (composed by Antonio Carlos Jobim)

Late addition - a winter-appropriate favourite I forgot to include:

THE IDOL PACK sing THE RAT PACK

If what I've read is correct, American Idol this week has a theme which pleases me no end: "standards made famous by members of the original Rat Pack".

Adam Lambert, Danny Gokey, Kris Allen, Allison Iraheta and Matt Giraud will take us on a nostalgic journey through what could be some of the best ballads ever written - or then again, their choices might turn out to be surprisingly inappropriate.

This is my own favourite genre - "the standard" sung, or swung, with either a jazzy swagger, or deeply felt wrenching emotion - especially as it was portrayed by my all-time greatest idol, Frank Sinatra. Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Junior, other singing Rat Pack members, also have their own repertoire of great songs from which the contestants could choose.

It's interesting that we have three contestants with Sun in Taurus in the final five. (Taurus is ruled by Venus, planet of music and the arts). I'm still rooting strongly for Adam and his quirky Aquarian styling - he is unique! Susan Boyle - eat your heart out!!


Let's see now - Adam Lambert, my favourite of the Idol Pack: early Aquarian with Moon in Aries (me too!) What would suit him this week, a slow moody ballad or a swingin' swaggerin' song? He has done a couple of slower, moody heart-wrenching songs in recent shows, it's probably time for something more up-tempo. I'd love to hear him sing "I'm a Fool To Want You" - he won't, it's another slow one. He could work up "Witchcraft" into something special with his own brand of pizzazz though - or "I Get a Kick Out of You", "I've got you Under My Skin" - all would bend to Adam's quirky styling. Or how about the ubiquitous "My Way" - very Aquarian! Or Sammy Davis's "I've Gotta Be Me"?

Danny Gokey: Sun in Taurus, Moon in either late Leo or early Virgo - my second favourite. He has the voice and attitude to do justice to almost any Sinatra song. I hope he chooses Sinatra. So many lovely songs : "It Was A Very Good Year", "September Song", "Laura", the list is endless for a singer like Danny.




Kris Allen, Gemini/Cancer cusp, is fairly light, middle-of-the road-ish, can sing well, though is not often breath-takingly good. He could manage either moody ballad or swaggering style: "Fly Me To The Moon", "Summer Wind", "Girl From Ipanema" - would all be good choices. Dean Martin's "Arriverderci Roma" would be something a bit different for him - though hardly a "standard" in the true sense.

Allison Iraheta, another Taurus Sun, but this Taurus has attitude! She reminds me of a young Janis Joplin. Difficult choice here - "Ain't that a Kick In the Head" springs immediately to mind - it was sung by all 3 of the Rat Pack, at different times I think; I like Sammy's version best. "Somethin' Stupid" might work for her, I guess, or even "My Way". I can't imagine Allison singing a ballad, but she could suprise us - she should, to display her versatility. What if she comes up with a really smoky version of "It's quarter to 3, noone in the place 'cept you and me....." (One For My Baby and One For The Road) - but that would hardly be suitable for her tender 16 years!

And so finally, to Matt Giraud, the third Taurus Sun, with Moon more than likely in Aquarius. He has already worn a hat, almost Sinatra-style, for his performances on several occasions. He's quite capable of doing a creditable version of any swinging song made famous by the Rat Pack Members: "Baby Won't you Please Come Home" (Dean Martin), Chicago (Sinatra), "I've Got To Be Me" (Davis), alternatively he's capable of something slower and moodier - "My Funny Valentine", "Drinking Again", "All My Tomorrows"......sigh!

I really don't care what they choose to sing - it's all good, and they're all good enough to do justice to some of the best songs ever written!

This, I shall enjoy!


UPDATE

What they sang, in this order, and my marks out of 10 (written down before the judges spoke)

1. Kris - The Way You Look Tonight - 7
2. Allison - Someone to Watch Over Me - 9
3. Matt - My Funny Valentine - 6
4. Danny - Come Rain or Come Shine - 8
5. Adam - Feeling Good - 10

Simon Cowell seems to be trying to get rid of Allison, for some peculiar reason, trying to direct viewers' votes. She was definitely second best after Adam tonight. Adam is simply amazing.!!

I thought the band was too loud over Danny's song - badly balanced, otherwise it might have sounded a lot better and worth 9.

September

September brings with it memories of two portentous events - in September 1939 Germany invaded Poland, World War 2 followed. September(11th)2001 brought us another fateful, never to be forgotten event. This year a solar eclipse adds to the drama.

It's sad that September carries such dreadful memories.

Sorrow and scarlet leaf,
Sad thoughts and sunny weather.
Ah me, this glory and this grief
Agree not well together!
(Thomas Parsons, 1880, A Song For September)

September, so named because once upon a Roman time it was the 7th month. (Septem = 7th in Latin).The first three weeks of September fall within the tropical zodiac sign of Virgo, with just one week left for Libra.

You know, September, as a month, here in the northern hemisphere, doesn't strike me as being a typically Virgoan time, or for that matter Libran. Yes, I know that in mythology Virgo holds a sheaf of corn, and in most places September is harvest time, but September is also when the leaves fall from the trees, and life starts winding down. September is not a neat Virgoan month. Leaves pile up all over the place then chilly winds blow them messily around. If anything, Virgo describes the work of clearing up the leaves, I guess.

September is when the kids go back to start a new school term. The boys, in Britain anyway, play soccer and rugby again, after a summer of playing tennis and cricket. They often get themselves very muddy in the process - how Virgo is that?

One of Frank Sinatra's loveliest offerings, "September Song"....."And it's a long long time from May to December, and the days grow short when they reach September....." describes our life's September, our autumn/fall. On the back of the old LP cover to the Sinatra album "September Of My Years", writer Stan Cornyn says:

"...............September can be an attitude or an age or a wistful reality. For this man it is a time of love. A time to sing. A thousand days hath September"

My goodness those liner note writers were good! It's a big loss that cds don't have the space for their purple prose.

Sinatra in his songs, though a Sun Sagittarian, remains in essence a September man. Often melancholy, whether for the dying of the year, or for a love, a memory, a feeling - yet with hope always for Septembers still to come. And that, for me, is the true essence of September.

A YouTube presentation of Sinatra and John Denver singing "September Song" together - a rare and lovely combination. John Denver didn't live to see the September of his own years, and that is so very sad.

Lyrically Tagged

I've been tagged to write about 5-10 songs that had an impact on my life. I want to relate this in some way to astrology, so I'm going to bend the rules a little.

Thanks Michelle, at Crow's Feet and Jeff at Psychosomatic Wit .

The rules:
1. Each person who wants to join in has to write about
5-10 songs that had an impact on them in their life.
2. They should link back to me as well as Michelle and Jeff.
3. Then, if so inclined, tag one to five more people.

OK.

Singers and singer/songwriters seem to affect me more when there's some astrological connection between my natal chart and theirs. I've been surprised to note this, but it's true enough.

Everything Neil Diamond has ever written and sung always "hit the spot" for me. I've known for a long time that he's a Sun Aquarian, but with the computer came extra evidence that his Sun is only a degree from my own, his Mars is 5 degrees away from my Venus in Sagittarius. We're of the same generation - early Pluto in Leos with Uranus in Taurus and Neptune in Virgo. To pick one special song from those he's written is well nigh impossible. Let's see - "I Am, I Said" says how I've often felt, "Red, Red Wine", and "Longfellow Serenade" also come immediately to mind.

"Well, I'm New York City born and raised
But nowadays, I'm lost between two shores
LA's fine, but it ain't home
New York's home but it ain't mine no more"
(Substitute England for New York, and Oklahoma for LA - and it fits!)

Songs - any songs - from two famous Sun Sagittarians always soak right in. Frank Sinatra's Sun and Mercury conjoin my Venus in Sagittarius, he had Jupiter in Pisces like me, too. How to choose a song from the Sinatra repertoire? Off the top of my head - "Love's been good to me", and "Witchcraft", but literally any and every song he has ever sung becomes, for me, the definitive version. "My Way" always makes me smile, too - it fits me like a glove!

Tina Turner, another Sagittarian Sun, has Venus in Sagittarius within degrees of my own Venus, her Saturn in Aries matches mine and is also within minutes of my Moon. She's of my generation too. "Simply the Best" has always made me feel happy, and anything she sings grabs my attention.

Paul Simon is a songwriting genius. Those early songs he sang with Art Garfunkel are true modern classics, I can listen anytime anywhere and am always entranced. "American Tune" sends shivers down my spine, being a (legal) immigrant in the USA. Paul's Mars at 16 Aries is 4 degrees from my Moon. His Moon is 3 degrees away from my Cancer ascendant, and his Mercury conjoins my North Node in Scorpio.

"We come on a ship we call the Mayflower,
We come on a ship that sailed the moon
We come at the age's most uncertain hour
And sing the American tune
But it's all right, its all right
You can't be forever blessed
Still, tomorrow's gonna be another working day
And I'm trying to get some rest,
That's all, I'm trying to get some rest."


Eric Idle can always make me laugh. His "Galaxy Song" from Monty Python is priceless.
His natal Jupiter is smack dab on my Cancer ascendant, his Sun in Aries is 5 degrees from my Moon, and his Mars 8 degrees from my Sun. The last lines of "Galaxy Song" always crack me up -

"So remember when you're feeling very small and insecure how amazingly unlikely is your birth
And pray that there's intelligent life somewhere up in space ''cause there's bugger all down here on Earth."

I'm tagging my husband Anyjazz, at "Thinks Happen" and Chrispito , at Astroturf- who I suspect might enjoy this challenge.....and anyone else who'd like to join in, of course.

Me and Ol' Blue Eyes - astrologically speaking.

I have idolised Frank Sinatra since the 1960s. He could do no wrong. I was not interested in the scandals. All that mattered to me was what he did for his audience, while singing or acting. As far as I'm concerned he has no equal, and never will.

Oddly, until today I had never looked at his birthchart. I knew he was Sun Sagittarius, but no more. Two things led me to have a look at his chart. Firstly I'd watched a DVD of one of his shows last night, and "that old black magic had me in its spell" again! Secondly, I've started scribbling in a blog which I'd originally opened to test custom headers and HTML. I re-cycled it under a new title "The Glorious Cycle of Song". Naturally it got me thinking about Sinatra.

Anyway.....I have a theory that people are attracted to entertainers, writers, musicians, actors, celebrities etc. whose charts contain some correlation with their own. By some peculiar means we are able to "sense" the connection, even via screen, audio, or literature. I've found in my own experience that the clearest and longest lasting attractions involve the closest astrological connections.

My theory holds good in Sinatra's case. I was delighted to see that his Sun was at 19.13* Sagittarius, because my Venus is at 19.59* Sagittarius ! ( His Mercury is at 17* Sagittarius too.)

This is a small, but to me enormously significant discovery.

"It's such an ancient pitch, But one I wouldn't switch, 'Cos there's no nicer witch than.........."