Last time the read-a-thon rolled around, I was powering through The Return of the King, but as I read this conversation between Denethor and Pippin, I had to stop and ponder for a few minutes.
‘What would you do in my service?’
‘I thought, sir, that you would tell me my duties.’
‘I will, when I learn what you are fit for,’ said Denethor. ‘But that I shall learn soonest, maybe, if I keep you beside me. The esquire of my chamber has begged leave to go to the out-garrison, so you shall take his place for a while. You shall wait on me, bear errands, and talk to me, if war and council leave me any leisure. Can you sing?‘
‘Yes,’ said Pippin. ‘Well, yes, well enough for my own people. But we have no songs fit for great halls and evil times, lord. We seldom sing of anything more terrible than wind or rain. And most of my songs are about things that make us laugh; or about food and drink, of course.’
‘And why should such songs be unfit for my halls, or for such hours as these? We who have lived long under the Shadow may surely listen to echoes from a land untroubled by it? Then we may feel that our vigil was not fruitless, though it may have been thankless.’
I perhaps didn’t think about it as much as I should have, and in July I was surprised by my Chinese teacher pulling a movie-Denethor! We had no warning, but were told to sing a folk song for our classmates. I foolishly chose “Little Sadie,” a gruesome and kind of hard to sing ballad, which was awkward to explain after I finished. I feel I could defend it now, but off-the-cuff and in Chinese? It was tough.
We don’t really have bards, troubadours, or song-of-greeting traditions any more, but I’m bringing it back for a day. Here’s the challenge: represent yourself, your country, or your people (whoever they may be) with one song. You don’t need to sing it yourself, but I’d still like to hear the tune, so provide a link or video and tiny explanation in the comments or on your own blog, and I will choose the winner after 3 hours. That means time is up at 0700 UTC.
For prizes, see this post, but know that there will be a book for first place, and postcards for 2nd and 3rd. It’s international, my friends! Now, can you sing?
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Here‘s my song … written, performed, and recorded by yours truly. :-)
Postcard winner! Please check out the prize post.
Yay, another music-related challenge.
I actually am a bit hesitant about sharing this song because it’s glued to my heart. I love it so much, I can relate to it so much and for some reason I’ve always felt like keeping those songs to myself. Oh well, I guess just this time I can make an exception.
Here is ‘What I Cannot Change’, by LeAnn Rimes. It’s, obviously, a sad song:
I have to go with the Notre Dame fight song on this one. My family is full of ND grads, I’ve grown up loving the team (even when they lose like they did today), and I actually sing this song in the shower.
THAT’S RIGHT, THEY LOST TODAY! WHAHAHAHAHA… oh, there are people around. Sorry, everyone. Please continue what you were doing (fight on).
Here’s my choice of song: Mitt lille land, written and performed by Ole Paus:
The lyrics have been posted there in English as well. :)
I fell madly in love with this song when I first heard it. I feel as if it is even more relevant to me now that I am soon to be a nurse caring for broken people every day. It’s also one of my favorite songs to perform (but I have never recorded it, so you get Ingrid instead).
“Breakable” by Ingrid Michaelson:
I choose Made In America by Toby Keith for my song. My grandfather served in the navy and I come from a super patriotic family so this song is very fitting for what I know.
This represents me…. well…. the old me… but this song got me through some tough times :)
I think this song represents my country because America is so beautiful with rich diversity that you will find in the food we eat, our land, and the people who live in here. I just love this version sang by Ray Charles.
[…] Hour 17: “Can You Sing?” Here’s the challenge: represent yourself, your country, or your people (whoever they may be) with one song. […]
Here’s a link to my post explaining my choice: “Admit It” by Say Anything.
My own personal anthem might be “Dizzy Moon” by Transister:
Does is represent my country? Well, I try to be socially optimistic, but sometimes, kinda, yeah.
This was the first song that popped in my head: Heads Carolina Tails California by Jo Dee Messina. I’ve lived in both states (my childhood in CA and then moved to NC when I was 12). I still can’t decide whether I like the beach or the mountains better, but NC and CA are amazing places for either!
Also, I can completely understand the desire to just go somewhere different, and I love the idea of leaving where you go to chance (aka with the flip of a coin).
Oh my goodness, Kayla, I have lived in NC and CA as well. I was only in NC for about 6 months and moved like a year ago. I used to think about this song when I was debating whether to move to NC or not, and then again when debating whether to move back to Cali or not.
When I lived in Japan this song made me think of home. “American Woman by Lenny Kravitz” And he is HOT!!!
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1guzg_lenny-kravitz-american-woman_music
I believe I can fly. Us Pakistanis can make it through anything.
Love this challenge! My response is here.
If this doesn’t describe America i don’t what will
Anthony and Samuel
I was not able to follow up on this one. Do you have a link?
[…] 20:30 Saturday Book: The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern Food & Drink: Water. Noise: Saint-Saenes; Joshua Bell Environment: Backroom. Other Activity: “Can you sing?” Challenge […]
I went with the really obvious Oh Canada by Classified (Youtube video is on my blog) It came out during the Vancouver Olympics, they used to play it on the radio in the mornings on my way to work every time we won a medal. It made my heart swell with pride and even now, I crank it every time it comes up on my iPod :)
Haha, I grew up in Orlando, so I choose Disney! (I’ve been listening to a lot of Disney today too!) It’s so hard to pick a favorite, but I do love The Lion King, so I’m going with Circle of Life. Hopefully it’ll wake you up too!
Yay for upbeat songs! My song is I Feel Fantastic by Jonathon Coulton.
Jex @ Everything and Nothing (Psst…this is the blog link for my video)
“I Am Woman” represents me.
It didn’t all show up, but come to my blog to hear the song “I Am Woman,” which represents me. Here’s the link.
This song is super awesome, not sure how much of America it actually represents, but I like to think we try and help others
[…] Song Identity mini-challenge […]
My choice here: blog link
Great challenge! Very fun!
this wsa a fun challenge, and spured much interesting conversation at my house. thanks for hosting =D
blog link
It’s a Dutch song so don’t think you would understand and it’s an older one and maybe weird for outsiders, but still quite representable ;)
Great challenge though!
Yes it does have words I can sing :) Cool you like the video anyway!
I love your blog and will come back again after the readathon!
Lived in China for the past two years so interested to read your experiences!
What a lovely coincidence! Do you feel like reading a Chinese book? I hope so, because you’ve won this challenge! Please check out the prize post for more information.
This song is from the 90’s and features a few Canadian rappers that joined to do this song called “Northern Touch” and was Rascalz ft. Kardinal Offishall, Thrust, Checkmate, Choclair . They played it constantly on the city radio stations and it is always a fave. Plus, I love the video, which is so quintessential 90’s rap. It’s not the best quality, but here’s the link to the video
Ah, it takes me back!
[…] 17: Song Identity Mini Challenge and Hour 18: Charity I am skipping these, because I can’t think of anything that describes me […]
Mine’s a little long so I’ll just leave the link to my read-a-thon post
Postcard winner! Please take a look at the post about prizes for contact info and such.
My favorite band ever is Aerosmith. Their song, Dream On, defines me. The lyric…”Dream On, dream until your dreams come true” is my total philosophy!
Thanks for the fun challenge! :)
[…] winners for the Can You Sing Challenge […]
[…] song identity challenge is hosted at Taiwandering. Well, as some of you might know, I was a voice major in college. I wish I had the time or patience […]