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Friday, March 11, 2016

What Are "Songs About Gondolas"

I'm imagining some category about my own, private Jeopardy, and the category in question is Songs About _____ .

How many songs are there about gondolas or about events set in gondolas? And I do not mean songs sung by gondolieri, such as O Sole Mio and other ditties one finds up and down the canali of Venice. Truth is, there are times when one would want to escape from the incessant floating cantors.

My favorite:  Gondola No Uta from Kurasowa's masterpiece, Ikiru.






My next favorite is who other than Joe Locke - portrayed by Ned Beatty - singing Hear My Song
from the wonderfully imaginative and magic movie Hear My Song.

Well, the owner won't let anyone watch the vid on a site other than YouTube, so I'll post a pic of Ned Beatty in role and a song video of the real Joe Locke.




(The lyrics run "Hear my song, Violetta; hear my song beneath the moon; come to me, in my gondola..." )



Then there is Biondina In Gondoeta  (The Blonde in the Gondola) sung by the great Orietta Berti



Ciao, bella! Ciao.

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