Tag Archives for tunes

winter wassail: ‘be thou hale’

The great Philip Tanner singing the traditional Gower Wassail Song, 1937

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welcome 2011: new dawn, new paradigm …

‘Polar Bear & Cub’, by Niviaksiak, 1959, and a poignant piece about the artist & his art, via Waddington’s …

‘Untitled Chant’: [haiku url=”http://download940.mediafire.com/vjndi1o3l0ug/odkjzjufznz/Untitled+Chant.mp3″ title=”” graphical=”true”]

From the 1974 film {& based on the book by James Houston}, ‘The White Dawn‘, an Arctic tale, featuring the actors/singers, Akshooyooliak {‘Medicine Lady’} & Lou Gossett …

… Found, including fascinating wee backstory to this beautiful, obscure song, via Corduroy Mountain …’Her song simmers with a spectrum of emotions: sadness, hope, desperation, and resolve.’ …

Also, a clue from this extract from the comment by levinsky9, via the NYT review of said movie:

‘Henry Mancini’s music, based on the song created by an Inuit woman who made it up on request …’

Curious to know what Medicine Lady is singing about … could it be a foretelling, a lamenting … ‘warmest year on record‘ … observations from visiting photographer Ron Wassink in Iqaluit, ‘no one has a memory of the bay as we see it today’ … ‘there is no ice on Frobisher Bay’ …

… Could it be the Gulf Stream has veered northwest, leaving Britain in a rather more Labradorian / ‘White Dawn’ deep freeze these past few winters …?

… Now there is talk of a ‘polar bear refuge‘ …

… Whatever the reason, it’s unnerving & not ‘in season’, that on this day, 01 January 2011, in Toronto, Canada, it’s a soggy, grey +10C …!