Savanofsky: Only KJV

Remarks:

A song about KJV Onlyism! And a funny one at that. It even has over 350,000 views on YouTube in its first 16 months (it came out in December 2022). Who would have thought.

The singer, Savanoksy, is breaking up with his girlfriend Amanda because she is unwilling to read the King James Version (KJV) of the Bible. She will meet him halfway by reading the New King James Version (NKJV). Like the KJV, it translates the same Greek text, the Textus Receptus, but in modernized English. But KJV Onlyists believe that the KJV is the ONLY trustworthy English translation of the Bible. So they durst not read the NKJV, much less the ESV, CSB, NASB or others which translate the Nestle-Aland text, a scholarly reconstruction of the Greek New Testament.

Like “Home”, this song probably depends  too much on context to be much good on its own.

Note that the King James English in the song is often ungrammatical but used for comic effect.

See also:

• songs: the 2020s
• KJV Only
• English Bible translations
  • Authorized Version (KJV)
  • NKJV
  • ESV
  • CSB
  • NASB
• New Testament manuscripts

Lyrics:

[Verse 1: Savanofsky, Amanda Savan]
Are you breaking up with me?
Thou hast verily spake
I don’t understand
Like, I literally don’t understand the words that you’re saying
Thy love is better than wine, and yet
Tryna play me with the ESV? (The ESV?)
I durst not, only KJV
Tryna play me with the CSB (That’s a good translation)
Methinks not, only KJV
Tryna playeth the NASB, I durst not
Need a KJB, I’m only KJV
Henceforth, readeth KJV
Or thwarteth all plans to lay with me
I’m only KJV

But we have the exact same theology
I’m only KJV
But you just started reading the King James like a week ago
I’m only KJV

Lo, time for my next chick to weddeth
She wist not mine Textus Receptus
Thou art fair, hast dove’s eyes, and pleasant
But methinks thou dost much protesteth

Okay, okay, baby, I have a solution
Why don’t we just read the New King James Version?

Go thy way
Thy hair’s a flock of goats, yet go thy way
Meseems thou shouldest go thy way
Go thy way
Thy hair’s a flock of goats, yet go thy way
Meseems thou shouldest go thy way

Okay, fine, but you still think I’m saved, though, right?
Methinks not, only KJV
Oh, I think you’re in a cult
I’m only KJV
I’m only KJV

Source: Genius Lyrics.

Neil Diamond: If You Know What I Mean

Remarks:

This has been ringing in my head most of the week! The usual cure (hear the whole song to completion) did not make it go away. It is not even a song I particularly like. I figured it was a premonition of some sort, so when my sister said, “Guess who died?” I said, “Neil Diamond!” – but it was O.J. Simpson.

This was a top-20 hit in North America in 1976, at the height of his powers. Not sure what the song is about. The English-language Wikipedia, the only one to comment on the matter, states:

‘Diamond has stated that the song is a “tender recollection” of a relationship in his teens, in which he successfully seduced a significantly older woman.’

He and Barbra Streisand, who has also appeared in this space, were in the same chorus in high school back in Flatbush, Brooklyn.

See also:

• songs: the 1970s
• Neil Diamond: America

Lyrics:

When the night returns just like a friend
When the evening comes to set me free
When the quiet hours
That wait beyond the day
Make peaceful sounds in me

Took a drag from my last cigarette
Took a drink from a glass of old wine
I closed my eyes and I could make it real
And feel it one more time

Can you hear it, babe
Can you hear it, babe
From another time, from another place
Do you remember it, babe

And the radio played like a carnival tune
As we lay in our bed in the other room
When we gave it away
For the sake of a dream in a penny arcade
If you know what I mean
If you know what I mean, babe

And here’s to the songs we used to sing
And here’s to the times we used to know
It’s hard to hold them in our arms again
But hard to let them go
Do you hear it, babe
Do you hear it, babe
It was another time
It was another place
Do you remember it, babe

And the radio played like a carnival tune
As we lay in our bed in the other room
When we gave it away
For the sake of a dream in a penny arcade
If you know what I mean
If you know what I mean
If you know what I mean
If you know what I mean

If you know what I mean, babe
If you know what I mean

Source: Genius Lyrics.

Beyonce: Blackbird

Remarks:

Beyonce, now in her Cowboy Carter phase, just came out with a cover of “Blackbird” (1968) by the Beatles. It is recorded over the original guitar and foot-tapping. She is backed by four Black female country music singers.

Paul McCartney, who wrote the song and gets producer credits on this cover, approves:

“… I thought she had done a killer version of the song. When I saw the footage on the television in the early 60s of the black girls being turned away from school, I found it shocking and I can’t believe that still in these days there are places where this kind of thing is happening right now. Anything my song and Beyoncé’s fabulous version can do to ease racial tension would be a great thing and makes me very proud.”

The original was recorded a month after Martin Luther King was assassinated.

There are other interpretations and accounts of the song, but it seems like this is becoming the official one.

As maybe you can imagine, Alicia Keys has already done a cover (back in 2011).

See also:

• songs: the 2020s
• Beyonce Knowles
• Beatles: Blackbird
• The assassination of Martin Luther King Jr
• blackbirds:
  • Norman Rockwell: The Problem We All Live With – a picture of Ruby Bridges, probably the “blackbird” McCartney was mainly thinking of. He might also be thinking of:
  • Elizabeth Eckford
  • Dorothy Counts

Lyrics:

[Verse 1: Beyoncé]
Blackbird singing in the dead of night
Take these broken wings and learn to fly
All your life
You were only waiting for this moment to arise
(You were only waiting for this moment to arise)

[Verse 2: Beyoncé]
Blackbird singing in the dead of night (Dead of night, night)
Take these sunken eyes and learn to see (Learn to see all of your life)
All your life
You were only waiting for this moment to be free

[Chorus: Beyoncé]
Blackbird fly (Blackbird, blackbird, fly, fly, fly, fly)
Blackbird fly (Blackbird, blackbird, fly, fly, fly, fly)
Into the light of a dark, black night

[Bridge: Beyoncé]
Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh
Ooh-ooh

[Chorus: Beyoncé]
Blackbird fly (Fly)
Blackbird fly (Fly)
Into the light of a dark, black night

Beyoncé & Rumi Carter
[Verse 3: Brittney Spencer, Tiera Kennedy, Reyna Roberts, Reyna Roberts & Tanner Adell]
Blackbird singing in the dead of night
Take these broken wings and learn to fly (Learn to fly, learn to fly)
All your life
You were only waiting for this moment to arise

[Outro: Reyna Roberts & Tanner Adell, Beyoncé, All]
You were only waiting for this moment to arise
You were only waiting for this moment to arise

Source: Genius Lyrics.

Joan Osborne: One of Us

Remarks:

This came out in 1995, a top-ten hit in both the US and UK. The video shows scenes from “Schindler’s List” (1993) – not part of Osborne’s original video, which was filmed at the Coney Island amusement park.

See also:

• songs: the 1990s
• Warsaw Ghetto

Lyrics:

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

If God had a name
What would it be? And would you call it to His face
If you were faced with Him in all His glory?
What would you ask if you had just one question?

And, yeah, yeah, God is great
Yeah, yeah, God is good
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

What if God was one of us?
Just a slob like one of us
Just a stranger on the bus
Tryna make his way home

If God had a face
What would it look like? And would you wanna see
If seein’ meant that you would have to believe
In things like heaven and in Jesus and the saints
And all the prophets?

And, yeah, yeah, God is great
Yeah, yeah, God is good
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

What if God was one of us?
Just a slob like one of us
Just a stranger on the bus
Tryna make his way home

Just tryna make his way home
Back up to heaven all alone
Nobody callin’ on the phone
‘Cept for the Pope, maybe, in Rome

Yeah, yeah, God is great
Yeah, yeah, God is good
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

What if God was one of us?
Just a slob like one of us
Just a stranger on the bus
Tryna make his way home

Like a holy rollin’ stone
Back up to heaven all alone
Just tryna make his way home

Nobody callin’ on the phone
‘Cept for the Pope, maybe, in Rome

Source: letras.

Rita Lee: Lança Perfume

Remarks:

Rita Lee getting her 1980 on! We last saw her in 1967 as a cymbal-playing Mutant. She has since become the Queen of Brazilian Rock. Much of her music, though, would count as soft rock in the US – because she adapted rock music to local tastes. Just like how Mexican and Chinese restaurants in the US adapt their food to local tastes.

Championing sexual freedom, this is one of her better known songs. It was a hit in Brazil, France, Argentina and Uruguay. In the US it reached #70 on the dance chart.

The beginning of the song sounds very familiar to me, but all I can think of is “Somebody’s Baby” (1982) by Jackson Browne.

Olivia Newton-John’s own roller skating song also comes from 1980.

Rita Lee passed away last year.

Requiescat in pace. 

See also:

• songs: the 1980s
• songs in Portuguese

Lyrics: 

Lança, menina, lança todo esse perfume
Desbaratina, não dá pra ficar imune
Ao teu amor que tem cheiro de coisa maluca
Vem cá, meu bem, me descola um carinho
Eu sou neném, só sossego com beijinho
Vê se me dá o prazer de ter prazer comigo
Me aqueça

Me vira de ponta-cabeça
Me faz de gato e sapato
E me deixa de quatro no ato
Me enche de amor, de amor, oh

Lança, menina, lança todo esse perfume
Desbaratina, não dá pra ficar imune
Ao teu amor que tem cheiro de coisa maluca
Vem cá, meu bem, me descola um carinho
Eu sou neném, só sossego com beijinho
E vê se me dá o prazer de ter prazer comigo
Me aqueça

Me vira de ponta-cabeça
Me faz de gato e sapato
Ah, ah, me deixa de quatro no ato
Me enche de amor, de amor, oh

Lança, lança perfume
Oh, lança, lança perfume
Oh, lança, lança, lança perfume
Lança perfume

Lança, menina, lança todo esse perfume
Desbaratina, não dá pra ficar imune
Ao teu amor que tem cheiro de coisa maluca
Vem cá, meu bem, me descola um carinho
Eu sou neném, só sossego com beijinho
Vê se me dá o prazer de ter prazer comigo
Me aqueça

Me vira de ponta-cabeça
Me faz de gato e sapato
E me deixa de quatro no ato
Me enche de amor, de amor, oh

Lança, menina, lança todo esse perfume
Desbaratina, não dá pra ficar imune
Ao teu amor que tem cheiro de coisa maluca
Vem cá, meu bem, me descola um carinho
Eu sou neném, só sossego com beijinho
E vê se me dá o prazer de ter prazer comigo
Me aqueça

Me vira de ponta-cabeça
Me faz de gato e sapato
Me deixa de quatro no ato
Me enche de amor, de amor, oh

Lança, lança perfume
Oh, lança, lança perfume
Oh, lança, lança, lança perfume
Lança perfume
Lança perfume

Oh, lança perfume, lança perfume
Oh, lança, lança perfume
Lança perfume
Lança perfume

Oh, lança perfume, lança perfume

Source: Letras.mus.br. 

The Raspberries: Go All the Way

Remarks:

Eric Carmen passed away this past week. This is my favourite song of his by far. For me it is the quintessential rock song, like what Shannon’s  “Let the Music Play” (1984)  was to dance music in the 1980s. In 1972 this song went to #5 on the pop charts in both Canada and the US. It did not chart in the UK: the BBC refused to play it because of the lyrics. It did not chart beyond the Anglosphere.

Eric Carmen was mentioned in this space before for ripping off Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto #2.

Requiescat in pace. 

See also:

• songs: the 1970s

Lyrics:

I never knew how complete love could be
Till she kissed me and said
“Baby, please, go all the way
It feels so right being with you, here, tonight
Please, go all the way
Just hold ‘me close, don’t ever let me go ”

I couldn’t say what I wanted to say
Till she whispered
“I love you so, please, go all the way”
It feels so right being with you, here, tonight
Please go all the way
Just hold me close
Don’t ever let me go

Before her love I was cruel and mean
I had a hole in the place where my heart should have been
But now I’ve changed and it feels so strange
I come alive when she does all those things to me
And she says, “Come on, come on, come on
I need you, I love you, I need you”

“Baby, please, go all the way
It feels so right being with you, here, tonight
Please, go all the way
Just hold ‘me close don’t ever let me go ”

Source: Vagalume. 

Ananda, Joker Beats: Quero Que Tu Vá

Remarks:

This came out in 2018. I do not know if it ever charted, but as of 2024 it has 92 million views on YouTube. This song is the brainchild of MC Koringa of metropolitan Rio. That is presumably him at the end of the video. The Wikipedia says his style of music is “funk melody”. It comes out of Latin freestyle, the dance music I knew in New York in the late 1980s! And which apparently fills a huge chunk of my brain.

See also:

• songs: the 2010s
• songs in Portuguese

Lyrics:

Sabe por que passo e finjo que não te vejo
Bloquear tua cara é hoje o meu maior desejo
Tu evapora com a minha tolerância
Não te dei abertura então não de confiança

Não vem me rotular
Não caibo em caixa direito
E me respeita se tu quer respeito
Não vou te mostrar que hoje tô avessa
Mas nada me impede de te xingar na minha cabeça

Refrão

Eu quero que tu vá
Vá tomar no c*
Para de tomar conta da minha vida e vai,
Pra p* que pariu, aonde já se viu
Hoje eu tô tipo,
Tolerância zero!

Marisa Monte: Beija Eu

Remarks:

I am still in my Marisa Monte phase. This is one of her earlier songs. In 1991 it went to #7 on the Brazilian MPB chart. MPB (“Música Popular Brasileira”) is the sort of music she usually sings. It grew out of bossa nova in Rio in the 1960s. The video is taken from a concert in 2022.

See also:

• songs: the 1990s
• songs in Portuguese
• Marisa Monte
  • Marisa Monte: Portas
  • Marisa Monte: A Sua

Lyrics:

Seja eu,
Seja eu,
Deixa que eu seja eu.
E aceita
O que seja seu.
Então deita e aceita eu.

Molha eu,
Seca eu,
Deixa que eu seja o céu
E receba
O que seja seu.
Anoiteça e amanheça eu.

Beija eu,
Beija eu,
Beija eu, me beija.
Deixa
O que seja ser

Então beba e receba
Meu corpo no seu corpo,
Eu no meu corpo,
Deixa,
Eu me deixo
Anoiteça e amanheça

Source: Vagalume.

Portuguese: a brief history

Portuguese (1290- ) went from a little language at the edge of Europe to one of the top ten languages in the world, the largest of the African diaspora.

The base was Vulgar Latin – not the Classical Latin that people learned at school, then as now, but the everyday street Latin of ordinary people. Rich people lived in a domus, but ordinary people lived in a casa – which remains the word for “house” in Portuguese to this day. Spanish, Italian, French, Romanian and other Romance languages also come from Vulgar Latin. Even in Roman times they were becoming separate dialects.

Pronunciation and grammar: Languages are always changing, but what became Portuguese went through two big changes, both during periods of empire and expansion:

1. Roman Empire: Vulgar Latin spreads to what is now Portugal and Galicia (north-western Spain) to native speakers of Celtic languages, particularly Lusitanian.
2. Portuguese Empire: Portuguese spreads to Brazil to native speakers of Bantu languages, particularly Kimbundu (from Angola) and Kongo (from Congo).

Both times the pronunciation and grammar became easier and simpler – easier and simpler, that is, for someone who speaks a Celtic or (later) a Bantu language. Hard-to-say consonant combinations, like -ct- or -pt-, disappear. So did huge chunks of Latin grammar, like the genitive, ablative, dative and even accusative cases, replaced by prepositions and word order. Genders were reduced from three to two.

Brazil blackened Portuguese. There is no Black Portuguese like there is Black English, a dialect spoken mainly just by Black people. Or, to put it another way, Black Portuguese became Brazilian Portuguese. Huge numbers of Europeans did not arrive in Brazil till the late 1800s – by then Brazilian Portuguese had already taken shape.

Galician is spoken in north-western Spain. Some say it is a dialect of Portuguese – people in northern Portugal can certainly understand it – others say it is a language in its own right. It seems like Portuguese with a Spanish accent. To put it another way, Portuguese is Galician that spread southward during the Reconquest of the Moorish lands that became Portugal (1139- ).

Words: If you arrange words by when they came into the language and where they came from, it makes for a brief history of the language. It would go something like this:

• Celtic (before -29):
  • caminho (road), camisa (shirt), carro (carriage), cerveja (beer), menino (boy), etc
• Vulgar Latin (-29 to 400) – from Roman times:
  • casa (house), ver (see), vir (come), noite (night), lua (moon), mulher (woman), etc.
• Germanic (400 to 800) – from Suebian and Visigothic rule:
  • guerra (war), norte (north), branco (white), roupa (clothes), etc
• Arabic (800-1250) – mainly from the Reconquest:
  • açúcar (sugar), arroz (rice), limão (lemon), laranja (orange), etc.
• Classical Latin (1450- ) – mainly from the Renaissance onwards:
  • lunar, Carnaval, consciência, etc.
• Tupi (1500-1850?) – mainly from colonizing Brazil – Tupi was the main Indian language along the coast:
  • abacaxi (pineapple), jacaré (alligator), piranha, etc.
• Bantu (1539-1888) – mainly from slave times in Brazil:
  • bagunça (mess), moleque (brat), cachimbo (smoking pipe), macaco (monkey), etc.
• English (1945-2045?) – mainly from the American Century:
  • Internet, futebol, ketchup, ok, jeans, folclore, nocaute (knock-out), etc.

– Abagond, 2024. 

See also:

• Romance languages: a brief history
  • Portuguese
  • Galician
• Roman Empire
  • Romanization
  • Latin
    • Vulgar Latin
• Lusitanian
• Bantu Expansion
  • Mbundu – who speak Kimbundu
  • Swahili – a distant cousin  of Kimbundu
• European Expansion
  • Portuguese empire

Marisa Monte: Portas

Remarks:

This comes from her 2021 album of the same name. It never charted as far as I know. But, as shown in the video, she used it to open her concert in her native Rio in 2022, dressed like a queen in a fairy tale.

See also:

• songs: the 2020s
• Marisa Monte: A Sua
• songs in Portuguese

Lyrics:

Nesse corredor
Portas ao redor
Querem escolher
Olha só, uma porta só

Uma porta certa
Uma porta só
Tentam decidir
A melhor
Qual é a melhor?

Não importa qual
Não é tudo igual
Mas todas dão em algum lugar
E não tem que ser uma única

Todas servem pra sair ou para entrar
É melhor abrir para ventilar
Esse corredor

Nesse corredor
Portas ao redor
Querem escolher
Olha só, uma porta só

Uma porta certa
Uma porta só
Tentam decidir
A melhor
Qual é a melhor?

Não importa qual
Não é tudo igual
Mas todas dão em algum lugar
E não tem que ser uma única

Todas servem pra sair ou para entrar
É melhor abrir para ventilar
Esse corredor, esse corredor

Source: letras.

Latin novella

A Latin novella (fl. 2016- ) is a Latin easy reader, a book in Latin that is relatively easy to read. They are mainly written by Latin teachers for their students, but plenty appear on Amazon – just search “Latin novella”. Most are aimed at first and second-year students.

Easy to read: As it turns out, Latin can be made relatively easy for English speakers to read. That is for two reasons:

1. Some 6o% of English words come from Latin directly or indirectly – like the words “directly” and “indirectly. Many Latin words mean just what they seem to mean or can be guessed from context. There are “false friends”, of course, but they are avoided.
2. English grammar depends on word order, Latin does not. Put Latin words in English order and all those picky word endings that Latin loves so much do not matter so much or their meaning can be guessed at.

All this is made easier still by using:

• short sentences,
• a limited vocabulary,
• plenty of pictures,
• footnotes.

The grammar, though, is usually not limited.

A limited vocabulary: Latin novellas generally use about 150 to 300 base words chosen from the 1,000 most common words in Latin (which are used about 70% to 80% of the time in non-simplified texts). This is extended by cognates (Latin words borrowed by English) and by using pictures and footnotes to give the meaning of additional words.

In Latin teacher circles there are two main approaches to teaching Latin (usually combined in some form):

1. The grammar translation method: Once you learn the rules of the language and maybe a thousand words, then all you need is a good dictionary and you can puzzle out pretty much anything written in Latin. The keyword here is “puzzle” – a great approach for those who love word puzzles, but frustrating for everyone else.
2. Comprehensible input: You learn to read Latin by reading Latin. Loads of it, the more the better, not just the short passages you find in a Latin I or Latin II book. In theory, it does not matter how easy or hard the Latin is. What matters is exposure. Just like when you learned your native tongue. The human brain is wired to learn language subconsciously based on input. But because motivation is a huge factor in successfully learning a language, it is generally best to stick to texts where you already know at least 90% of the words. That puts the “comprehensible” in “comprehensible input”.

Latin novellas are based on the second approach.

Content: They usually run about 40 to 215 pages and are often based on Roman myth and history. They tend to shy away from stories that are just about White men or boys. The Roman Empire was hardly as Whitewashed as Hollywood makes it seem, multiculturalism was part of its genius. But many novellas go beyond that into a feminist rewriting of history. So these novellas are full of “hard” women and girls – even the Sabine women who are raped take up arms, a reading not at all supported by the written record. Why learn Latin or any language if all you get is an echo chamber?

– Abagond, 2024. 

See also:

• Hollywood whitewashing
• Latin
  • Studying Latin

508

 

 

Portuguese media diet

For the rest of Lent (till March 28th 2024) I am going on a Portuguese media diet. That means all private consumption news, music, books, television, Internet, etc, must be in Portuguese. I even cancelled my subscription to The Economist. The main exceptions are this blog and anything done with non-Portuguese-speaking people.

A map of Lusophonia: the Portuguese-speaking world.

“Portuguese” includes its creoles, dialects, and ancient forms. So Galician, Latin and Cesária Évora are included.

After Easter I will write a review and include the link to it below.

– Abagond, 2024.

See also:

• Portuguese
  • Latin
  • Galician
• The Economist
• media diet
  • Portuguese media diet review
  • Black Media Month review
  • 1949 media diet review
  • 1851 media diet – a review
  • Ten Days of Tucker Carlson: a news diet
  • Trump tweet news diet – a review
  • British media diet review
• Jhumpa Lahiri: In Other Words

555

 

Bad Yard Club ft Crystal Waters: In de Ghetto

Remarks:

This came out in 1996, going to #20 in US dance clubs, #7 in the UK. It still sounds just as good (not everything from the 1990s does). It was produced by DJ David Morales, who came up with the song two years before.

See also:

• songs: the 1990s

Lyrics:

Wickid my yubes?

What I said

Dancing at de ghetto
Inna de ghetto
Party in de ghetto
Inna de ghetto
Sucking dos a canto?
Inna de ghetto
People just a rap-so?
Inna de ghetto
Dancing at de ghetto
Inna de ghetto
Party in de ghetto
Inna de ghetto
A puta mento, a calypso
We vu disco?
Inna de ghetto
Singing in de ghetto
Inna de ghetto
Party in de ghetto
Inna de ghetto
Singing with I-drid?
Inna de ghetto
Singing with the sis-tred
Inna de ghetto
People just a rap-so?
Inna de ghetto
Singing in de ghetto
Inna de ghetto
Stacking at the ghetto
Inna de ghetto
Wagging at the ghetto
Inna de ghetto

Sit-sit-sit-sit-sit-sit-sit-sit
Sit-sit-sit-sit-sit
Let-me-say-it

Dancing at de ghetto
Inna de ghetto
Party in de ghetto
Inna de ghetto
Oh, combine
Inna de ghetto
Sigh down wine?
Inna de ghetto
Big arm strong
Inna de ghetto
Watcha a bob-fey?
Inna de ghetto
Rasca-lo-me?
Inna de ghetto
Dan-dan, dan-dan-dan
Dancing in de ghetto
Pat-pat, pat-pat-pat
Pat-pat, pat-pat-pat
Pat-pat, pat-pat-pat
Party in de ghetto

Let-me-say-it

Let-me-say-it

Dancing at de ghetto
Inna de ghetto
Party in de ghetto
Inna de ghetto
Dancing at de ghetto
Inna de ghetto
Party in de ghetto
Inna de ghetto
Dancing at de ghetto
Inna de ghetto
Singing in de ghetto
Inna de ghetto
People in de ghetto
Inna de ghetto
Party at de ghetto
Inna de ghetto

Keep your lights on
Inna de ghetto
In yellow man
Inna de ghetto
India man
Inna de ghetto
The juan-jo-na-raid
Inna de ghetto
Once for Quassan
Inna de ghetto
And Kir Batan
Inna de ghetto
Run de riddim make me ride it

Let-me-say-it

Dancing at de ghetto
Dancing at de ghetto
Dancing at de ghetto
Dancing at de ghetto
Dancing at de ghetto
(Fade)

Source: Genius Lyrics.

songs in French

Inna Modja, circa 2014.

These are the songs (and slam poetry) I can remember posting that were (at least partly) in French or one of its creoles (I am bound to forget a few):

• 1875: Jessye Norman: Habanera
• 1934: Josephine Baker: Haiti
• 1967: Johnny Hallyday: Hey Joe
• 1967: France Gall: Nefertiti
• 1994: Youssou N’Dour & Neneh Cherry: 7 Seconds
• 2001: In-Grid: Tu est foutu
• 2008: Manu/Senghor: Aux Tirailleurs Sénégalais morts pour la France
• 2011: Inna Modja: La Fille Du Lido
• 2014: ZAZ: Sous le ciel de Paris

– Abagond, 2024. 

See also:

• songs – in Spanish, in Portuguese

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The Psalms of St Augustine: Psalm 53:5

Saint Augustine by Philippe de Champaigne, c. 1645

St Augustine loved the Psalms. He carried his copy everywhere. But the Psalms he loved were not what you find in most Bibles now.

In 392, in Letter #22, he quoted this part of Psalm 53:5 (or 52:6 or 52:11, depending on which Bible you use):

Deus confringet ossa hominibus placere volentium (“God will break the bones of those wanting to please men”)

This is probably from memory – he uses “scattered” instead of “break” (at least in English translation) when writing about the psalm itself.

In 395, the Vulgate came out. This was St Jerome’s Latin translation of the Bible. It had two versions of the Psalms – one translated from the Greek of the Septuagint and his own translation of the Hebrew original. The Septuagint in turn was translated from Hebrew by the Library of Alexandria in the -200s, so its “original Hebrew” was about 600 years older.

We do not have Jerome’s first edition, but scholars reconstruct that part of Psalm 52:6 like this:

from Greek:

Deus dissipavit ossa eorum qui hominibus placent (“God scattered the bones of those who please men.”)

from Hebrew:

Deus dispersit ossa circumdantium te (“God scattered the bones of those who surround you”)

Up till then, the Psalms in Latin had always been translated from the Septuagint. Their imagery and wording were so beloved and so often sung, that Jerome’s latest-greatest translation from the Hebrew original never caught on.

The Septuagint text was:

ὁ θεὸς διεσκόρπισεν ὀστᾶ ἀνθρωπαρέσκων

The literal translation of this can be found in the Orthodox Study Bible (2008) at Psalm 52:11:

“God scattered the bones of men-pleasers”

In 1382 Wycliffe translated the Vulgate as (spelling modernized):

“God hath scattered the bones of them, that please men”

In 1455, the Gutenberg Bible had:

Deus dissipavit ossa eorum qui hominibus placent (“God scattered the bones of those who please men”)

In 1592, the Sexto-Clementine Vulgate had Psalm 52:6 as:

 Deus dissipavit ossa eorum qui hominibus placent (“God scattered the bones of those who please men”)

In 1899, the Douay-Rheims translated this as:

“God hath scattered the bones of them that please men”

So far, so much the same.

But then:

In 1953, just 54 years later, you start getting this in Catholic Bibles:

“God has scattered the bones of your besiegers”

That is Psalm 52:6 from the physically oldest Catholic Bible I have. It uses the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine (CCD) translation for the Psalms.

In 2024, the Vatican website has, in Latin:

Deus dissipavit ossa eorum, qui te obsidebant (“God scattered the bones of them that besieged you.”)

This is the Nova Vulgata (1979) version. In place of the psalms as Catholic and Orthodox Christians had known them for nearly 2,000 years, it retranslated the Psalms from the original Hebrew. But not the original Hebrew the Library of Alexandria used in the -200s, or that Jerome used in the 300s – those are long gone – but as it existed in the 1900s. So much for “oldest and best”.

Protestants did the same thing in the 1500s, giving us the main line of English Protestant translations:

• 1611: Authorized King James Version: “God hath scattered the bones of him that incampeth against thee”
• 2024: ESV: “God scatters the bones of him who encamps against you”

– Abagond, 2024. 

See also:

• St Augustine
  • Augustine: Select Letters
  • What Augustine read
• Library of Alexandria
• Bible
  • Why the Septuagint matters
  • Latin Bible translations
    • Vulgate
    • Augustine’s Bible
  • English Bible translations
    • Authorized Version
      • KJV Only
    • ESV
  • Other verses through time:
    • The Lord’s Prayer in English through time
    • Luke 4:4 – a brief history

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