“Red Dragonfly” (also transliterated as Akatonbo) is a famous Japanese children’s song (dōyō) composed by Kōsaku Yamada in 1927, with lyrics from a 1921 poem by Rofū Miki. It is a nostalgic depiction of a Japanese red dragonfly seen at sunset by an infant being carried on an older sister’s shoulder.The poem is written in […]
Can’t Take My Eyes Off You
“Can’t Take My Eyes Off You” is a 1967 song written by Bob Crewe and Bob Gaudio, and first recorded and released as a single by Gaudio’s Four Seasons bandmate Frankie Valli. The song was among his biggest hits, earning a gold record and reaching No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 for a week, […]
Samba
Samba is a broad term for many of the rhythms that compose the better known Brazilian music genres that originated in the Afro Brazilian communities of Bahia in the late 19th century and early 20th century. It is a name or prefix used for several rhythmic variants, such as samba urbano carioca, samba de roda, […]
The Addams Family Musical
The Addams Family is a musical comedy with music and lyrics by Andrew Lippa and book by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice. The show is based upon The Addams Family characters created by Charles Addams in his single-panel gag cartoons, which depict a ghoulish American family with an affinity for all things macabre. Although numerous […]
Diamonds and Rust
“Diamonds & Rust” is a song written, composed, and performed by Joan Baez. It was written in November 1974 and released in 1975. In the song, Baez recounts an out-of-the-blue phone call from an old lover, which sends her a decade back in time, to a “crummy” hotel in Greenwich Village in about 1964 or […]
Massenet – Meditation (Thaïs)
“Méditation” is a symphonic intermezzo from the opera Thaïs by French composer Jules Massenet. The piece is written for solo violin, orchestra and backstage chorus. The opera premiered at the Opéra Garnier in Paris on March 16, 1894. The Méditation is an instrumental entr’acte performed between the scenes of Act II; a wordless chorus joins […]
Can She Excuse My Wrongs
“Can She Excuse My Wrongs” is a late 16th-century song by the English Renaissance composer John Dowland, the fifth song in his First Booke of Songes or Ayres. The words are set to a dance-tune, a galliard. The song is associated with Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, who was executed for treason in 1601 […]
Somebody To Love
“Somebody to Love” is a song by the British rock band Queen, written by lead singer and pianist Freddie Mercury. It debuted on the band’s 1976 album A Day at the Races and also appears on their 1981 compilation album Greatest Hits. Written by Mercury at the piano, “Somebody to Love” is a soul-searching piece […]
On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe
“On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe” is a popular song written by Harry Warren with lyrics by Johnny Mercer. The song was published in 1944, spanned the hit chart in mid-1945, and won the 1946 Academy Award for Best Original Song, the first win for Mercer. The song refers to the famous eponymous […]
Elly Duhé
Elley Frances Duhé, known commonly as Elley Duhé, is an American singer born in Mobile, Alabama. After her father got Elley her first guitar when she was 14, she began her career at 15 singing in coffee shops. Duhé felt inspired by her musician father and uncles who are in the New Orleans music scene. […]