There is a Facebook Community (sort of like a wiki on Facebook after enough people are part of it) called the 30 Day Song Challenge, with over a million users who “Like” it! The idea is that you share a song of certain meaning to you each day on your Facebook profile. It’s a great idea, this song a day sharing thing. I’ve created a few myself earlier this year without knowing about this concept, with the 28 great love songs in February and Top 10 Bob Dylan songs leading to his 70th birthday in May 2011. Both were intended to be theme focused, though, unlike this meme that is more about variety.
However, despite being about variety, the 30 themes for the Facebook 30 Day Song Challenge were a bit too similar, repetitive, anti-climatic and dated for my liking, and also not universal enough:
Ah, you were so much older then, you’re younger than that now… and may you stay forever young no matter how much the times, they are a’changin’, you rolling stone you!
Man, can you believe the Bob is 70???
I sure can’t… mostly because my main association with him is through his music, and that’s mostly timeless, never aging, so the icon seems that way to me.
For Bob’s 70th, Rolling Stone magazine did a huge number of features this month on him:
Me, I did a meme tribute on Facebook to share one of my favourite Top 10 Bob Dylan songs each day leading to his birthday today. Here is my list, which was generally presented in no particular order except for the last two being my favourite two Dylan songs. It gets too hard to separate the order of the others for me.
Most people do not hear most of the songs they know for the first time in the year the song was released. If anyone did, I would feel very sorry for them for missing out on all the great songs of the past from before they were born, or even great songs each year they lived they would have missed.
What most people don’t do is reflect each year on the best songs they heard for the first time that year. I’ve blogged some of mine, but not all so this is my entire collection for 2010 which could fit on a CD if I made one.
After several years of discovering a ton of jazz and older music, then tunes from musicals, so that they made up most of the songs in my list for recent years (2009 list), I am back with an eclectic set that reflects my true musical tastes and philanderings across genres. I even have not only one song from the current year, but two! A song from the year of the list was something I didn’t have for several years. I did find newly released songs I liked a lot in those years, but they didn’t compare to a variety of jazz and musicals standards I discovered in those years.
But before I share my list, let me ask you the same question as I answered to write this post. What were the best songs you heard for the first time in 2010?
I’d love to know so please do leave a comment. I can add the links to videos so people can hear what you’re talking about, if you would like. But if you don’t want to do it here, maybe write a blog post like this if you have a blog, or a Facebook note or something like that on a social media platform account you have. It might just be one of the more thoughtful notes to your friends all year.
Here is my list, in no particular order of preference, with videos streaming the songs. You will need to click on the YouTube link for some videos with some weird copyright condition that only allow them to be viewed on YouTube. I hate Grown Up Corporate YouTube that’s become a wussie and lost all its edge.
Sometime in early 2010, possibly late 2009, YouTube changed its copyright policies for whatever reason… and lost its edge.
The precise time isn’t important. Nor is the exact reasons why. This isn’t a history documentary. Just a commentary on the state of things.
I first noticed it during the Winter Olympics in 2010, in trying to find clips about which I blogged. There was either nothing, or poorly labeled posts that were taken down sometimes just hours after being put up. I thought the Olympics legal machine had threatened YouTube into temporary submission, but those egomaniacs can go smash their egos elsewhere because this was something much bigger happening.
It seemed YouTube changed conditions of what it allowed to be posted to be something like this.
1. If the obvious true copyright owners of the videos did nothing, they would be left on. That is, you’d have to file a claim of some sort to have any action taken. You’d have to prove it somehow, like if it were a legitimate music video, cut from a show, etc. I’m not sure about just the music track used being copyrighted.
2. The copyrighted videos could be left on with (Google word?) ad revenues in return.
3. The copyrighted videos could be left on but embedding had to be disabled.
4. The copyright videos could be left on with one of several targeted commercials at the start… which is REALLY annoying because they’re unexpected since most videos seem NOT to have one.
5. The copyrighted videos could be removed… en masse. This last change was the killer because YouTube seemed to have done it for entire clients, like Bob Dylan’s videos. I was disappointed a lot of Bob Dylan videos, and performances of his songs, disappeared just like that from YouTube. Not only was I disappointed in YouTube in this case, I was disappointed in Bob. I thought he was cooler than that. Really, does the man need any money? But it’s about the only thing Bob’s done that’s ever disappointed me, and that’s more than I can say for pretty much anyone else I know.
It seemed anything that qualified as “fan creation”, meaning it wasn’t just clipped or taken directly as was continuously from some source, was allowed to remain on YouTube, though. It seemed to also have applied to such fan vids using what should be copyrighted sound tracks. Maybe YouTube was being hypocritical to say it was in the video business so music copyright didn’t apply to it. I don’t know. But that seems to have been the outcome from certain videos I see and don’t see of the same music tracks that remained or were removed from YouTube.
In doing this, YouTube went from rebel teenager to responsible adult overnight. The company that once posted everything and gave the finger at anyone who complained of copyright was now waving another finger to a different beat at those who posted stuff that shouldn’t be on there.
Worse, not long after YouTube first “took down” the videos for copyright, it even removed the message about why the video was being removed. It left a black screen that did nothing, as if the poster screwed up technologically.
Tsk! Tsk! Tsk! You are still an adolescent, YouTube, in behaving like that!
Now, being like many people who got used to YouTube, I still went there to search for videos. However, I kept hitting snags of removed videos that were still searchable. Then YouTube remedied that annoyance and now I just find videos I like, share with friends, only to have some removed just days later. They must have a notification system on because there would be just too many videos to have people actually monitor them for potential copyright infringement.
Recently, however, I hit my breaking point with YouTube. I had had enough of its corporate behaviour. It wasn’t the YouTube that attracted me in the first place. So now I just search for videos on Google, under the “Video” category, and look for alternatives to YouTube first. I admit I still end up going to YouTube half the time, but that’s half the time and a lot less frustration than I used to have because I now have a grasp of what videos I see on YouTube that might not be removed days later.
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So where am I going the other half of the time that I don’t go to YouTube for videos?
No one particular place, really, but I’m finding out a lot of other great video sources.
I like the Chinese youku.com (means excellent and cool) and Tudou.com (literally potato net, thought it sounds like Vietnamese for freedom). Once again, Made in China as trumped Made in the USA. Can you imagine that? I never thought I’d be saying that about Internet services, especially considering the Internet censorship in China. But they only seem to care about Communist propaganda or anti-Communist stuff. They have all kinds of stuff on Youku and Tudou you won’t find on YouTube these days! Furthermore, they don’t have a 20 minute video limit that YouTube had upped from its original 10 minute limit as late as last year. Maybe YouTube did it to compensate for the copyright move. It certainly freed up server space and bandwidth (info flow from loading up videos) with all the videos it removed! Pick your favourite historical massacre and compare the videocide to it!
I mean, really. This is just for sharing and fun. It’s like free preview in poor quality. If the people like it enough, they’ll go buy the real thing from you. You’ll probably sell more copies on that business model. The copyright pundits should really just GET OVER IT! People like me just go elsewhere to find the same things… and then trash them for it.
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But what could YouTube have done?
Well, for one thing, they could have come up here to Canada. Our dollar is still cheaper.
And our copyright laws are so worthless we didn’t even bother copyrighting them!
Anything done politically to try and change them is just a facade. The result would allow a politician to say we’ve got this and that going, but it wouldn’t address the issue and get the money to the right people who own the copyright. Lawyers or organizations fighting on behalf of the people and such would get the revenues. If one does get any revenues, the fees paid to register to get it would cut a lot of it away for most people, or a few would benefit from the lack of gains by the many. Good old capitalism at its best… though without true free market forces. Just greedy bastards out to get you and make themselves look good at the same time.
It’s just a thought. But I’d be stupid to think YouTube would listen. It’s all grown up now and lost all sense of adventure. I just refer to it as BooTube now, even though I know that name’s been copyrighted.
At the Vietnamese Association of Nova Scotia celebrations, one of their leaders and a friend, Lien, told me about this amazing song called Hello Viet Nam. It is sung by Pham Quynh Anh, with Pham being her last name and Quynh Anh being her first. The Vietnamese who had names outside the ordinal naming system tended to have duo names that were poetic in nature. Marc Lavoine wrote the original song in French called Bonjour Viet Nam. It was later adapted into English by Guy Balbaert, and is known by the Vietnamese title of Xin Chao Viet Nam, though there is not a Vietnamese version of which I am aware. The full story of Pham Quynh Anh and the song’s development is at the end of this post. And yes, Viet Nam is really two words the way the people of the Motherland spells it.
Hey, if your Mother spelled your name in a certain way, wouldn’t you want others to spell it the same way?
Now, I didn’t doubt Lien’s musical tastes or ability to judge music. I had just heard enough songs about Viet Nam over the years and none had really stood out to me. However, just a few seconds into this one, it hit home, I was hooked and knew I had found the best song about Viet Nam I’ve ever heard!
It only took me about 30 years. 🙂
As a relatively new songwriter originally born in Viet Nam, I haven’t even come close to writing a song about Viet Nam. However, I can definitely tell you this one goes in my books as one I wish I had written. Any time you ever meet a songwriter, by the way, ask them for their list of songs they wish they had written. It’s a neat exercise! You can do the same, even if you weren’t one! But here’s Hello Viet Nam.
Tell me all about this name, that is difficult to say.
It was given me the day I was born.
Want to know about the stories of the empire of old.
My eyes say more of me than what you dare to say.
All I know of you is all the sights of war.
A film by Coppola, the helicopter’s roar.
One day I’ll touch your soil.
One day I’ll finally know your soul.
One day I’ll come to you.
To say hello… Viet Nam.
Tell me all about my colour, my hair and my little feet
That have carried me every mile of the way.
Want to see your house, your streets, show me all I do not know.
Wooden sampans, floating markets, light of gold.
All I know of you is all the sights of war.
A film by Coppola, the helicopter’s roar.
One day I’ll walk your soil.
One day I’ll finally know your soul.
One day I’ll come to you.
To say hello… Viet Nam.
And Buddha’s made of stone watch over me
My dreams they lead me through the fields of rice
In prayer, in the light…I see my kin
I touch my tree, my roots, my begin
One day I’ll walk your soil.
One day I’ll finally know my soul.
One day I’ll come to you.
To say hello… Vietnam.
One day I’ll walk your soil
One day I’ll finally know my soul
One day I’ll come to you
To say hello…Vietnam
To say hello…Vietnam
To say xin chào… Vietnam
The song is about a Vietnamese immigrant who has never had a chance to know his/her home. S/he may have been born in the land to which his/her Parents immigrated, or may have been too young to remember when s/he left the country in search of a better life, most likely as one of the Boat People during the mass exodus from the late 1970s to early 1990s. The song captures a curiosity about one’s roots that all immigrants could relate to, though the song is specific to Viet Nam, of course.
Anyway, Hello Viet Nam is the best song about Viet Nam I have ever heard. That much is clear to me. The video I chose is not the official video. Please click here for the official video. I chose it because it shows some footage of Viet Nam about which Quynh Anh is curious to know, although some footage was from the movies. It was also the video with the best audio, and since most of my readers speak English, I chose the English version of the song first. The French version is below. The lyrics below look similar enough to the English that I think the English was a reasonably faithful translation, but I’m no French expert.
Of course, Viet Nam was once a French colony before the Americans came there so it is quite appropriate to have an English/French bilingual version. I’m just surprised the Vietnamese haven’t jumped on it to create a Vietnamese version. They have Vietnamese versions of far more English songs than you know, albeit often with rather adulterous translations (ie. not faithful).
Raconte-moi ce nom étrange et difficile à prononcer
Que je porte depuis que je suis née
Raconte-moi le vieil empire et le trait de mes yeux bridés
Qui disent mieux que moi ce que tu n’oses dire
Je ne sais de toi que des images de la guerre
Un film de Coppola, des hélicoptères en colère
Un jour, j’irai là-bas
Un jour, dire bonjour à ton âme
Un jour, j’irai là-bas
Te dire bonjour, Vietnam
Raconte-moi ma couleur, mes cheveux et mes petits pieds
Qui me portent depuis que je suis née
Raconte-moi ta maison, ta rue, raconte-moi cet inconnu
Les marchés flottants et les sampans de bois
Je ne connais de mon pays que des photos de la guerre
Un film de Coppola, des hélicoptères en colère
Un jour, j’irai là-bas
Un jour, dire bonjour à mon âme
Un jour, j’irai là-bas
Te dire bonjour, Vietnam
Les temples et les Bouddhas de pierre pour mes pères
Les femmes courbées dans les rizières pour mes mères
Dans la prière, dans la lumière, revoir mes frères
Toucher mon arbre, mes racines, ma terre
Un jour, j’irai là-bas
Un jour, dire bonjour à mon âme
Un jour, j’irai là-bas
Te dire bonjour, Vietnam
Te dire bonjour, Vietnam
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The Story of Pham Quynh Anh and Bonjour Viet Nam
Pham Quynh Anh (born 1987) is a Belgium, ethnic-Vietnamese singer. Her parents were born in Vietnam and immigrated to Belgium, where they met, married and gave birth to Quynh Anh.
When Quynh Anh was 13 years old, her father persuaded her to compete in the TV singing competition “For Glory,” held by Belgium’s RTBF Television. Upon winning the competition, she met her manager, who introduced Quynh Anh to her producer. The producer made possible Quynh Anh’s duet “J’espère” with French-hit singer Marc Lavoine. With “J’espère,” Quynh Anh followed Lavoine on tour to France, Switzerland and Belgium. In 2002 she signed a contract with Rapas Centre, a French-branch of Universal.
Quynh Anh reached international popularity in 2006 with her French song “Bonjour Vietnam,” composed by Lavoine and co-written by Lavoine and Yvan Coriat, when it accidentally appeared on the Internet. It is stated that the people of Vietnam were especially moved by the lyrics and by the ethnic- and cultural-yearning of foreign-born Vietnamese.
Due to its popularity, “Bonjour Vietnam” was translated into English by Guy Balbaert and is called “Hello Vietnam.” The English version is also accompanied with a draft-music video In May 2008, Quynh Anh sang the English version of the song in Paris by Night 92, an on-going Vietnamese language musical variety show. It is claimed that a Vietnamese version of the song will be released.
Quynh Anh will release her first solo project with her first single as the English version “Hello Vietnam.” In an interview with “Oh My News,” Domenech, manager of Rapas Centre, said that Quynh Anh will release her album “Bonjour Vietnam” that will be composed of 15 songs. The album is stated to be released in the near future.
Sometime in early 2010, possibly late 2009, YouTube changed its copyright policies for whatever reason… and lost its edge.
Digital Citizen 