Sunday, November 18, 2007

Celebrating those who have gone ahead on All Souls Day

All Souls Day went past a couple of weeks back.

In just the last 2 years, I've said goodbye to 4 male relatives on both sides of the family.

Two songs came to mind during this time of remembering.

In the brilliant Robert Altman film (his last), "A Prairie Home Companion", Meryl Streep and Lily Tomlin, playing the role of sisters from a musical family, sing a song of farewell to their mom, uncles and aunts. It's called "Goodbye to my Mama", and it's really worth a listen.

The second song is by Venice, a group of men whose blood relations were the Lennon Sisters. They come from a very large family, and have a song on their album "Spin Art" called "The Family Tree". It speaks also of uncles and aunts, family members who have gone before them. There is another version from a live concert they did - this version is the better of the two, but I've not tracked down the album yet.

You can get the Merly Streep/Lily Tomlin Song from Amazon as an MP3. Or just go for the whole album, which is brilliant overall, and it you loved the film, it's a sure thing that you'll like the soundtrack. The Venice song does not seem available as a standalone MP3 for purchase from Amazon. I did a search, and was surprised to find out how many songs are titled "Family Tree". You'd need to buy the album "Spin Art" to get the Venice version.


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