Song 190 - American Dream from Miss Saigon

Sparkle Saturday this week is taking us to Vietnam and the moving musical Miss Saigon and is a brilliant example of how some songs need to be seen within the context of the musical to understand their brilliance. I must admit when I first listened to the songs on the tape we had of this musical, I was a bit bored with it! Such a child that I was, however, when I saw this performed on stage I was blown away by the depth of this song. To be fair to my younger self, I probably didn't fully understand what happened in Vietnam when I first listen to the songs of this musical.

The American Dream comes right at the end of the musical and is an autobiographical account of Engineer's life and the life he hopes for in America. So much hope and so much promise, the song crescendo only to smash us down with the final scenes between Chris and Kim.  It is the power of storytelling at its finest.

Though it is not surprising that the team who brought us Les Miserables, Claude-Michel Schonbergh and Alain Boubil, could create a powerful and moving account of the destruction of the Vietnam War for the theatre for the people involved. There have been so many accounts of Vietnam on screen, in books and in music and this is one of the best.

For me, today I get to feel less guilty. I took my dad to Miss Saigon about 15 years ago but didn't take my sister and today, my sister and I are going to see the musical in Edinburgh. There is a twist in the tail as the tickets say restricted view (of course, the seats are downstairs!), hopefully, it won't be too restricted!!! Hee Hee, my sister might not be talking to me after today!

Listen here to the American Dream.

Song 189 - Lost Boy - Ruth B

I think one of the most annoying habits I have is that I collect music and sometimes I don't even remember what I have.  But the best thing about having too much choice when listening to music is that you make excellent discoveries. When I heard Lost Boy by Ruth B, it transported me inside one of my own stories and made me think about the relationship of two of the characters. Not many songs do that so I've had a note of it pinned to my notice board.

I loved putting soundtracks into my stories, because I can't imagine my characters not liking music because without music, for me, there would be something missing in life. I suppose that also how I feel about all the books I have read. I mean, can you imagine a world without Peter Pan or Winnie-the-Pooh? Don't even try and answer that questions. 

So thank you Ruth B, for this gem of a song and giving my characters a theme tune. It is interesting to read that her inspiration for the song came from the TV series Once upon a time. Inspired by storytelling, stories are the lifeblood of our society and I hope one day I will share my stories with the world. 

Listen to Lost Boy here.

Written by Ruth B.

Album: Safe Haven

Released: May 2017

Song 188 - Strangers by Sigrid

This is probably going to be one of the tracks of 2018, Strangers by Sigrid. To be honest, the song is still growing on me, but I like the idea of watching new artists and listen to them develop. Sigrid was named as BBC Music Sound of 2018, about 10 days ago, and since then I've listened to her being interviewed by a variety of people.

Coming from Norway, she started hitting our airways in 2017 when she had had first breakthrough hit, Don't Kill my vibe, and with the backing of BBC music, who knows where her music will take her this year. When interviewed by Graham Norton, she said that Adele had been an influence on her (Adele herself won BBC sound of 2008, beating Duffy to the Title) and that the chorus to Rolling in the Deep has inspired her to become an artist.

I think for Jules' Jukebox, I'll be keeping my ears out for her new releases as there is something about her sound that makes me believe she might just become as established in the music industry as Adele has been.  I've also listened to her track, Plot Twist and I'm looking forward to hearing more.

Strangers by Sigrid

Song 187 - "Macavity" from Cats

Saturdays should sparkle. This year, in the Jukebox, whilst I'll dust down the old girl, who has been unplugged for six months, Saturday are going to be show tunes because I love musicals and I can't my playlist without tunes from shows on my playlist. I know musicals aren't for everyone, but if you fall into this category, don't read my blog on a Saturday. Simple!

For me, I have to start with a tune from the first musical I show in the West End, in fact, I think Macavity was the first poem I could recall without having to read it from a book. I still have brilliant memories of the first time we saw Cats. It had been a present from our Grandparents, who lived in London for a day in the West End. There was, of course, a bit of a drama from me (heights in theatres are one of my fears), which has always been met with disapproval from my family, who must go "oh no, here we go again".

But after I went upstairs (we weren't even sitting on a balcony), I was in heaven. The rubbish dump set (with everything on the scale as a cat would see it), was breathtaking and I was transfixed by the next 2 hours of songs, dance and excitement. My addiction to musicals started that day and, even, thinking about it now, I am filled with a warmth as this love is something I shared with my family and the songs from Cats take me to a place of very precious memories of my childhood that can be provoked as soon as you turn on the playlist. But that's music for you and I think everyone listens to music with their own memories.

Anyway, before I go misty-eyed,  Cats would not have happened without T.S. Eliot, and his book of Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats, Andrew Lloyd Webber who put the poems to music and Trevor Dunn, the director who put it on the stage. Cats had its premiere in London's West End in 1981 and is one of the longest musicals in the West End. I've seen it four times, once in London and three times in Edinburgh. Unless you have a passionate hatred of cats, I would recommend it to you.

My favourite description of Macavity is below with the link to the track,

Macavity's a ginger Cat, he's very tall and thin;
You would know him if you saw him, for his eyes are sunken in.
His brow is deeply lined with thought, his head is highly domed;
His coat is dusty from neglect, his whiskers are uncombed.
He sways his head from side to side, with movements like a snake;
And when you think he's half asleep, he's always wide awake.

Macavity from Cats the musical