[HANASHIR:14770] Re: Jewish reggae(?)

[Tami Crystal <hananya...>]

Dear Carol Boyd Leon and others,

With due respect for the wonderful music you and others are creating, my 2
cents says there is a time and a place for taking melodies from other
traditions. I do not have to remind you about the origin of the most popular
Ein Keloheinu, some of the most popular melodies for Yigadal and/or what
Lewandowski did on his day job that bled over into his Jewish work.

Obviously you would choose carefully- what you are appropriating and what
you are using it for.

Adon Olam was not deigned to be the national anthem it has become. In the
Orthodox and some Conservative siddurim it comes before Birkat HaShahar, way
at the very beginning of the service. L'fi dati, a little reggae will not
hurt it and may help.

Shabbat Shalom l'kulam,

(Rabbi) Tami Crystal
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Carol Boyd Leon" <cbleon (at) hotmail(dot)com>
To: <hanashir (at) shamash(dot)org>
Sent: Friday, June 27, 2003 12:24 PM
Subject: [HANASHIR:14769] Re: Jewish reggae(?)


> Dear Robin and others,
>
> I think there's a time and place for parodies.  (Purim comes instantly to
> mind.)  Parodies can be lots of fun to sin and when they use a familiar
> melody they elicit instant participation, they can make people smile and
> laugh, they add a freshness to lyrics that are ages old, etc.
>
> But with all the music that's being written speciifically as Jewish music
> with melodies shaped by liturgical words and their meanings, I would much
> rather introduce congregants to a new Adon Olam composition written to be
a
> new Adon Olam composition than to a song which was written with a far
> different intent but which happens to work well with the words of the
> prayer.
>
> My 2 cents, respectfully submitted:  I see Jewish music as a spiritual art
> form.  The words and the melody shouldn't coincidentally fit together.
They
> should be purposely fit together.
>
> Shabbat shalom.
>
> -- Carol
>
> Carol Boyd Leon, Burke VA
> E-mail:  CBLeon (at) hotmail(dot)com
> Please see www.geocities.com/CBoydLeon/cd.html for my Jewish "Songs From
The
> Heart"
>
>
>
>
> ----Original Message Follows----
> From: SELINGER (at) cua(dot)edu
> Reply-To: hanashir (at) shamash(dot)org
> To: hanashir (at) shamash(dot)org
> CC: selinger (at) cua(dot)edu
> Subject: [HANASHIR:14764] Beth Hamon's music online; plus...Jewish
reggae(?)
> Date: Fri, 27 Jun 2003 02:43:39 -0400 (EDT)
>
> New on hotshabbat.com... *three full tracks* from Beth Hamon's new CD,
> "city of love." These will only be posted for the next few months so
> enjoy them while ye may. Here are the links:
>
> City of Love  http://www.hotshabbat.com/BHamon-CityOfLove.ram
> Hashkiveynu   http://www.hotshabbat.com/BHamon-Hashkiveynu.ram
> May God Bless http://www.hotshabbat.com/BHamon-MayGodBless.ram
>   -sheet music http://www.hotshabbat.com/BHamon-MayGodBless.pdf
>
> On another subject...Flipping through radio stations today I came across a
> reggae song with raunchy lyrics but a hypnotic beat and melody. It's
> called "Shake that thing," recorded by Sean Paul who sounds
> Jamaican. If you ignore the lyrics-- which I can barely make out anyway--
> it sounds extremely Jewish and would make a powerful and prayerful
> syncopated chant melody.
>
> If you can stop laughing long enough to consider it, the beat would work
> great with the lyrics of Adon Olam, which goes with just about any song
> anyway. The first part could be adapted like this:
>
> ADON OLAM asher malach
> ADON OLAM b'terem kol
> ADON OLAM y'tzir nivra.
>   (Michamocha Adonai?)
> Adon olam asher malach,
> B'terem kol y'tzir nivra.
> L'et na'asah v'cheftzo kol,
> azai melech sh'mo nikra.
> V'acharey kichlot hakol,
> l'vado yimloch nora.
> V'hu haya, v'hu hoveh,
> v'hu yih'yeh b'tifara.
> ...etc....
>
> You could select different melodic variations from the verses of "Shake
> that thing" as you like to match the number of lines in Adon Olam.
>
> Anyone at camp want to give it a try??? Or do you have other ideas for
> Jewish lyrics for this tune, in Hebrew or English?
>
> If you think that's funny, here's a website listing dozens more tunes
> that also fit the lyrics of Adon Olam:
>
> http://www.rahul.net/figmo/Olamni/
>
> -Robin Selinger
>   robin (at) totshabbat(dot)com
>
>
>
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