Love is not a victory march
It's a cold and it's a broken Hallelujah
I can’t remember what I said, but it must have been pretty profound. I’m deep like that. After Mike went to bed and left me to guard the world, I realized that I have a piano, 15 fingers and the internet, and that by combining these 17 things, I could probably make Mike a little gift. I stole the chords from the internet, sat down at the piano, and recorded about 27 different copies of the song until I finally had a copy that was somewhat presentable.
Because sometimes a broken Hallelujah is all you get. And it's often more interesting than a whole one anyway. *
Very nicely done, my dear. This is one of my all-time favorite songs--and of all the versions out there, I prefer the one done by Jeff Buckley. He was phenomenal.
ReplyDeleteI so admire anyone that has musical abilities--I have none. I LOVE to sing and NO ONE wants to hear me do it--my kids used to cry MORE when I tried to sing to calm them down. ;) Both of my girls are great musicians and both have let their talents go to waste, so to speak--neither has kept up with their music. And that makes me sad.
Absolutely gorgeous, Ziva! I adore this song too. And your rendition is wonderful. I didn't realize you were so "musical" and I don't know why I didn't know.
ReplyDeleteWow. Nice interpretation of my all-time favourite song. Cohen, Buckley, k.d. lang and now Ziva. I'm impressed. 15 fingers? Did you use any of your toes?
ReplyDeleteYep, 15 fingers, I'm almost boringly conventional with 5 fingers on each of my three hands. Didn't use any toes, though; toes are just too unreliable with it comes to the piano, I only use them for the easiest chords.
ReplyDeleteThank you Linda, I'm glad you liked it. I'm not sure how "musical" I am, but I took a couple piano lessons when I was younger. :)
ReplyDeleteThank you! I love this song too. And I wish I had a decent singing voice so I could sing while I play, but I'm pretty sure my future kids will be like yours and only cry harder when I try to sing to them.
ReplyDeleteI played classical piano for years and used to be really good. Then I moved away from home and haven't had a piano for the past 5 years, It was only last year that I took up playing again when M bought a piano for our apartment, and I can really tell it's been years since I played last. I'm not nearly as good anymore.
As far as I'm concerned, you are brilliantly musical. This was lovely.
ReplyDeleteI feel a bit sad hearing this beautiful interpretation of Hallelujah because I'm afraid people will assume that you're nothing more than an extremely talented musician capable of playing everything from beautiful pop songs to broadway show tunes like Memories and moodier, more complex classical pieces such as...oh, I don't know, Dmitry Kabalevsky's Prelude, Op.38, 8 leaps to mind here, although I'm also a huge fan of Beethoven's Sonata No.14 Moonlight I. Adagio Sostenuto (Maurizio Pollini's 1992 Pathetique recording is quite good).
ReplyDeleteAnd that would be a tragedy, because you're also a very talented writer, linguist, political science student and, of course, secret assassin with green skin, three arms and stunning hair. Not to mention a fabulous baker of cookies and pies.
Thank you for this gift, Ziva. And you're right, sometimes a broken Hallelujah is all you get.
That was so lovely. I can only imagine how well you played when you were "really good". Nicely done Ziva. Now, if you're taking requests, I love "When Time Goes By". :-)
ReplyDeleteYou play with such beautiful expression. What a wonderful gift.
ReplyDeleteThis was beautiful Ziva!
ReplyDeleteNow I don't feel even the slightest bit guilty for being such a drill sergeant with my son's piano lessons!! (-:
That was incredible and inspiring. Thanks. I needed that.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if you can fix a broken Hallelujah with a potato.
Wow, my ego is getting so big my spine is actually starting to complain. Please go on.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you liked it, Mike. And I didn't even need a screwdriver to get it out of the computer.
When Time Goes By, huh? I'm almost embarrassed to admit this, but I've never seen Casablanca.. My next project is to record Greensleeves, but who knows, maybe I'll try When Time Goes By for you after that. ;)
ReplyDeleteThank you! I find playing with any sort of expression extremely difficult when I'm recording, but apparently the trick is to leave the recorder on and just keep playing for an hour or so and eventually you'll have caught a few salvageable notes on tape.
ReplyDeleteMy mom made me take those piano lessons, and while I absolutely hated it from time to time, I'm so happy that she made me do it. Knowing how to play an instrument can often be extremely rewarding.
ReplyDeleteThat's a very good question, Lauren. I guess what we really have to figure out is if a broken Hallelujah is a major problem, or just a minor one. If it's just a minor problem, potatoes is really all it should take to solve the problem, but if it's a major problem, things immediately get trickier. Too bad Douglas Adams went and died before he could provide a list of major and minor problems for reference.
ReplyDeleteOoh, ahh. Me likey.
ReplyDeleteI think I heard a subliminal message in that song. It said something like "Go to your piano and learn to play like Ziva".
Nope. That wasn't it. It said "Eat more cookies".
That's weird. You see, the subliminal message actually said "Free the Wookies!"
ReplyDeleteGet out of town! That's YOU playing the piano?! Well color me impressed my friend!
ReplyDeleteEverybody should have an M. Ms are very handy. And handsy. But you have to take the good with the bad. Or the good.
ReplyDeleteYou know, sometimes I wish there was on off switch on my brain.
Oh, Ziva! What a wonderful rendition of that song - it is also one of my favourites. I took about 4 years of piano lessons but gave it up (I became a 'teenager'). I did tinker around with playing for a few years later and wanted to get back to it eventually. Maybe someday I will and will and try to play as well as you do!
ReplyDeleteHa! It's a bit appropriate - that song was featured in one of the "Shreck" movies, except Shreck didn't have three arms (but he was green).
;-)
Yep, that was me doing the playing. But you know, I wouldn't need all this musical talent if I had your awesome Pajama Jeans. ;) I think you might have gotten the better deal here.
ReplyDeleteNo, YOU win! Officially!
ReplyDeleteGo right ahead! And tell him that girls love a guy who can play piano. That might help a little more than a few lame words from some lady his mom met on the internet. ;)
ReplyDeleteThanks Double-O, I'm glad you liked it. :) You really should take up playing again, I have a feeling you'd be really good at it.
ReplyDeleteYou know, sometimes when I look at myself in the mirror in the morning I mistake myself for Shrek. Luckily, he's a pretty handsome fella.
Please don't switch off your brain. Ever.
ReplyDeleteObjection, your honor! You don't look like Shrek at all, my dear.
ReplyDeleteBut honey, you think version control tools are interesting, so your opinion can't really be trusted now can it?
ReplyDeleteUm, Ziva? You didn't drive into Russia did you?
ReplyDeleteZiva, that's so pretty. I always wished that I could play the piano. How lovely that you made a song for Mike.
ReplyDeleteOh god no. I wouldn't drive into Russia if you paid me.
ReplyDeleteActually I probably would. Money is a great motivator.
I've been meaning to post something for days now, but last night when I was finally going to do it, M broke the internet. And today a new lens for our camera arrived in the mail so I couldn't possibly sit down to write a post. But I'm thinking about you, my weird cheese-loving friend.
I figured Mike deserved a song, and who am I to deny him what he deserves? I'm glad you like it, though. You know, it's never too late to learn how to play. And playing the piano is surprisingly easy.
ReplyDeleteNow all I need is a piano. ;)
ReplyDeleteYou don't mind if I frame those words and paste them in front of my son from time to time do you Ziva? (-:
ReplyDelete