On this day in 1814 Napoleon Bonaparte emperor of France and one of the greatest military leaders in history, abdicates the throne, and, in the Treaty of Fontainebleau, is banished to the Mediterranean island of Elba. The link goes to "This Day In History" for the events of this day, and the title is one of my favorite palindromes.
To top it all off, this day gives me an excuse to play one of my favorite Mark Knopfler songs: Done With Bonaparte which I used a while back for a "Take This Tune" theme.
I haven't done a "Take This Tune" since moving it over to my main blog. The rules are simple and are on the right. Just sign in below to let everyone know if you have had an idea sparked by the lyrics to the above song by Mark Knopfler which is both a history lesson and the suffering of all soldiers asked to serve for their country. May all the men and women currently fighting around the world, come home safe to their families.
DONE WITH BONAPARTE
Mark Knopfler
We've paid in hell since Moscow burned
As Cossacks tear us piece by piece
Our dead are strewn a hundred leagues
Though death would be a sweet release
And our grande arm?e is dressed in rags
A frozen starving beggar band
Like rats we steal each other's scraps
Fall to fighting hand to hand
Save my soul from evil, Lord
And heal this soldier's heart
I'll trust in thee to keep me, Lord
I'm done with Bonaparte
What dreams he made for us to dream
Spanish skies, Egyptian sands
The world was ours, we marched upon
Our little Corporal's command
And I lost an eye at Austerlitz
The sabre slash yet gives me pain
My one true love awaits me still
The flower of the aquitaine
Save my soul from evil, Lord
And heal this soldier's heart
I'll trust in thee to keep me, Lord
I'm done with Bonaparte
I pray for her who prays for me
A safe return to my belle France
We prayed these wars would end all wars
In war we know is no romance
And I pray our child will never see
A little Corporal again
Point toward a foreign shore
Captivate the hearts of men
Save my soul from evil, Lord
And heal this soldier's heart
I'll trust in thee to keep me, Lord
I'm done with Bonaparte
Tomorrow is the anniversary of Elvis Presley's death. My favorite guitarist, Mark Knopfler, wrote a song about when the downturn started ... when Elvis chose the wrong fork in the road. The '68 Comback Special was about to happen on December 3, 1968, but the drug fueled Las Vegas concerts were in his future with his death less than nine years later. He could still be Marlon Brando and the King of Rock and Roll, but he didn't get there from here. So you get two possibilities: Comeback and Death too Early from wrong choices, but either way a legend.
Around the time of 'Clambake'
Movie number twenty-five
You and the lying dutchman
Are still in overdrive
You're as strong as when you started
Mississippi in your soul
You can still be Marlon Brando
And the king of rock and roll
It isn't just the records
No, you must have hollywood
The songs alone are not enough
That much is understood
You'll soon be back in Memphis
Maybe then you'll know what to do
The storylines they're giving you
Are just not ringing true
Oh, it's a ways to go
Back to Tupelo
When you're young and beautiful
Your dreams are all ideals
Later on it's not the same
Lord, everything is real
Sixteen hundred miles of highway
Roll back to the truth
And a song to give your mother
In your first recording booth
Around the time of 'clambake'
That old dream's still rolling on
Sometimes there'll be the feeling
Things are going wrong
The morning star is fading
Lord, the Mississippi's cold
You can still be Marlon Brando
And the king of rock and roll
But it's a ways to go
Back to Tupelo
This week's Take This Tune is Mark Knopfler's biographical tribute "Song For Sonny Liston". I had never heard it until finding it as one of the songs on an album purchased recently. Boxing has never had a particular appeal, but I remembered the 1964 and 1965 fights simply because of all the publicity around them. Sonny was the champ. While people admired the sheer strength and brutality of the man, they didn't like Sonny. It was a time when boxing was trying to clean up its image. Sonny's rumored mob connections and flamboyant lifestyle marked him as just the type no one wanted at the top. Cassius Clay (eventually Muhammad Ali) became the top contender for Sonny Liston's title. He had been the lightweight Olympic Gold Medalist and had wracked up an impressive record professionally.
Clay was not widely expected to win. The fight was scheduled for February 25, 1964 in Miami, Florida. The promoter, Bill Faversham, was concerned about Clay's association with Malcolm X. Faversham convinced Clay not to announce his conversion to Islam until after the fight to prevent a loss in ticket sales. Still, no one expected the fresh faced younger man to defeat Sonny given Liston's overwhelming status as the favorite to win (7–1 odds) despite his bragging, and to Sonny infuriating, poetry recital at weigh in.
Float like a butterfly
Sting like a bee.
Your hands can't hit
What your eyes can't see.
When Sonny failed to return to the ring at the beginning of the seventh round, history was made and Clay was named champion with a TKO and the angry Bear was scheduled for a rematch. The ending of the 1965 second fight remains one of the most controversial in boxing history. The "phantom punch" never appeared to have landed yet Sonny went down in the first round and took longer than 10 seconds to stand. As stated in the Wiki about the fight
There were claims that Liston had bet against himself and "took a dive" because he owed money to the Mafia. Others believe that he feared for his safety from Nation of Islam extremists who supported Ali. The latter theory was supported by Mark Kram's book Ghosts of Manila, which included an interview with Liston conducted years after the fight. Liston claimed to have intentionally lost because of his fear of retaliation from the Black Muslims. No independent substantiation of this claim has come to light.
The mystery over Liston's death in 1971 has never been resolved as his body was discovered several days after he died making cause of death difficult to determine as well as accusations of police cover up with their declaration of a drug overdose. A friend of Liston's also told "Unsolved Mysteries" that Liston had been in a car accident a few weeks prior to his death. Liston was hospitalized with minor injuries, and received intravenous medicine. This is believed to be the source of the puncture wound that authorities found upon discovering Liston's body not the signs of drug addiction as no drug paraphernalia was found at the site despite and Sonny was known to be a heavy drinker but not a drug user given his fear of needles.
Whatever the true story, Sonny Liston, was a man who survived a hellish childhood, had a successful if brutal career, and may or may not have been murdered. Knopfler's song brings all that feeling to life.
"Some day they're gonna write a Blues for fighters.
It'll just be for Slow guitar, soft trumpet and a bell."
Trav at Trav's Thoughts has a Five on Friday meme on his blog where you pick five songs to share with your friends. You can choose a theme or just pick random songs. Create a playlist at Playlist.com or use any type of media.
This week I'm featuring Mark Knopfler. He is not only a great guitarist who can play any genre from the rock of Dire Straits to the country duets with Emmy Lou Harris, but a great songwriter of sensitive and interesting lyrics. Here is just a small sample.
This week's Take This Tune is the delightfully double entendre verses of "Red Staggerwing". Confession time. I love songs filled with double meanings and sly innuendos simply because I love word play. Let's face it, even Shakespeare dabbled in hints of goings on. It doesn't matter if it is Bewitched Bothered and Bewildered with the original lyrics rather than the cleaned up variety or this weeks' decidedly R rated song courtesy of Mark Knopfler and Emmylou Harris. What can I say except:
Red Staggerwing immediately reminded me of the ex-husband who played guitar and built model airplanes from scratch (no kits). So I bought him a 12 string and then I designed a plane for him to build. It was called "The Peregrin" named after the fastest of the hunting birds. It was bright red and it's wings tapered back similar to a jet aircraft, so our "taperwing" was a scarlet woman from the get to. It was simply the fastest control line stunt plane ever flown. Unfortunately, it's design was not meant to do acrobatic stunts at those speeds and it eventually developed stress cracks where the wings joined the body and could no longer fly. But it was beautiful. Like the marriage it had it's moments as when he would play Steamroller Blues (another somewhat raunchy song). When it was bad .... it cracked under stress.
So down below are all the fast and beautiful things that fly, roar, and sing as metaphors for when it's good it's very, very good.
If i was staggerwing plane
A staggerwing painted red
I'd fly over to your house, baby
Buzz you in your bed
If I was a taperwing
A taperwing painted blue
I'd be barrell-rolling over you
If i was a Maserati
A red 300s
I'd ride around to your house, baby
Give you a driving test
If i was a mustang racer
White with a stripe of blue]
You could ride me,baby
Whenever you wanted to
If i was a fender guitar
A fender painted red
You could play me, darlin'
Until your fingers bled
If i was one of them gibsons
Like a '58 or '9
You could plug me in
And play me anytime
If i was a motorcycle
A vincent red rapide
I'd ride around to your house, baby
Get you up to speed
If i was short track racer
I'd be an indian
You could ride me around
And ride me round again
