by Marco den Ouden
Whether it's the hustle bustle of the season, or whether the topic proved harder than expected, there was a relative dearth of nominations this week—only 153. But of these 68 made my shortlist. I was quite surprised by the songs nominated. Sports suggests vigorous physical activity, but many of the suggestions were remarkably mellow and contemplative. So we start off this week’s list with Jackie Leven’s Stopped by Woods on a Snowy Evening. He’s riding a one-horse open sleigh through the woods and pauses to contemplate the peace and quiet of a fresh snowfall.
My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.
He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound’s the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.
You’ll recognize the lines, of course. They make up half of the Robert Frost poem.
The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.
From this peaceful setting we move to the sport of Ice Fishing. Bill Morrissey tells us it’s the end of the season, but some yob always stays too long as he sees a bob house floating by on an ice floe. “There ain’t much to ice fishing,” he muses, “'till you miss a day or more and the hole you cut freezes over and it’s like you have never been there before.” The music suggests it’s a laid back activity.
Laura Veirs continues the mellow mood as she tells about Snow Camping with her brother. Not with a tent in the snow, but by digging a snow cave for shelter.
And Tom Waits is nostalgic for a lost love named Alice. He remembers skating with her and he carved out her name with his skates. (I can barely do a circle or a figure eight so this is quite the feat!) Nevertheless he goes over the figure again and again. “I must be insane to go skating on your name and by tracing it twice I fell through the ice of Alice.”
Enough of mellow. Let’s move to the competitive and athletic stuff. We start with the Elfstedentocht, the annual Dutch skating race that goes through eleven towns and villages. Public Service Broadcasting tells the story through vintage news reel footage and upbeat music. From Holland it’s on to Norway where cross country skiing (Langrenn in Norwegian) is all the rage. Tungtvann sing the dance tune based on the sport with references to the sport in the narrative. Sounds more like a drinking song than a dance song! It rocks!
Although the Biathlon is associated with Norway, we have German DJ and singer Papaoke singing its praises. An unusual sport that combines cross country skiing with rifle shooting, it originated as a military training exercise in the 1800s. The song is punctuated with rifleshots as percussion.
Now some may not consider curling to be a vigorous or energetic sport, but it does take considerable skill and the rocks they slide down the ice are made of granite and weigh from 17.24 kg-19.96 kg (38 lbs-44 lbs). The Weakerthans allude to the sport in Tournament of Hearts (the name of the premier curling competition in Canada). But curling is used as a metaphor for life. The real tournament of hearts is between the singer and his girl.
Next up, Canadian icon Stompin’ Tom Connors sings about The Good Old Hockey Game, Canada’s national pastime and unofficial sport. The clip is from a Conan O’Brien Show taped in Toronto,
Speed skating, curling and hockey are all Olympic sports as is the bobsled. The Ragamuffins tell the unusual story of the Jamaican bobsled team in Hobbin and a Bobbin. They debuted at the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary and inspired millions.
A tragic story is that of Tonya Harding. “Portland white trash” from Portland, Oregon, she became a figure skating star. She was only the second women ever to land a triple axel in competition. She was a two time American champion and two time Olympic competitor. She had everything going for her, but her background and the dubious people she associated with, including her ex-husband, did her in. She became a bad joke. But Sufjan Stevens treats her with dignity and touch of affection. Was she a villain or a victim? “Tonya Harding, my friend, well this world is a bitch, girl. Don't end up in a ditch, girl. I'll be watching you close to the end so fight on as you are, my American princess. May God bless you with incense. You're my shining American star.”
Now one of the great things about outdoor winter activity is that it invigorates you as well as makes you ready for the cozy comfort of the indoors. A number of songs mentioned apres-ski or apres-other sport partying and drinking. But our next song tells how the great outdoors sets the mood for love.
Emmy the Great and Tim Wheeler get cozy as they sing “Sleigh Me, sleigh me. Say you'll be my baby. Take me for a ride, take me for a ride. Stars are shining bright, don't you know it's cold tonight.” Though the line could be a euphemism for something more than a sleigh ride. If you catch my snow drift!
Christmas is coming up fast so we close with some upbeat jazz, as we think about the Winter Wonderland and all its activities with the inimitable Count Basie.
Merry Christmas from snowless Australia. I kind of miss the cold stuff.
The Icy A-List Playlist:
1. Stopped By Woods on a Snowy Evening – Jackie Leven (TatankaYotanka)
2. Ice Fishing – Bill Morrissey (tincanman)
3. Snow Camping – Laura Veirs (Uncleben)
4. Alice – Tom Waits (SongBarLandlord)
5. Elfstedentocht Part 1 – Public Service Broadcasting (Ton Bukkens)
6. Langrenn – Tungtvann (Traktor Albatrost)
7. Biathlon – Papaoke (BanazirGalbasi)
8. The Hockey Song – Stompin' Tom Connors (tincanman)
9. Tournament of Hearts – The Weakerthans (tincanman)
10. Hobbin' and a-Bobbin' – The Ragamuffins ft Bob Andy (BanazirGalbasi)
11. Tonya Harding – Sufjan Stevens (amylee)
12. Sleigh Me – Emmy The Great & Tim Wheeler (ShivSidecar)
13. Sleigh Ride – Count Basie (severin)
Brisk and Crisp B-List Playlist:
1. January Hymn – The Decemberists (amylee)
2. Sleigh Ride – The Ronettes (Noodsy)
3. Dog Sled – Louvin Brothers (BanazirGalbasi)
4. Fly Eddie Fly – Eddie the Eagle (Carpgate)
5. Angel in the Snow – Elliott Smith (Uncleben)
6. Vi tenner våre lykter (We Light Our Lanterns) – Katzenjammer (severin)
7. Hit Somebody! (The Hockey Song) – Warren Zevon (Fred Erickson)
8. Winter Wonderland – Cocteau Twins (Shoegazer)
9. Super Skier – Chad Mitchell Trio (SweetHomeAlabama)
10. Snow – Rosemary Clooney (SweetHomeAlabama)
11. Snow in Central Park – Jackie Leven (TatankaYotanka)
12. Ski Song – Lorraine Bowen (TatankaYotanka)
13. The Hockey Song – Jughead (happyclapper)
14. Aurora – Bjork (George Boyland)
15. Snow – Loreena McKennit (BanazirGalbasi)
16. Corning Wassailing – Kate Rusby (Uncleben)
17. White Winter Hymnal – Fleet Foxes (Max Visconta Nuclerosea)
18. Counting Stars – Kate & Anna McGarrible (Fred Erickson)
19. Warriors on the Ice – The Boils (Carpgate)
20. Ski und Rodel Gut – Heino (TarquinSpodd)
21. Time to Get Alone – The Beach Boys (Fred Erickson)
C-List (Instrumentals):
1. Skating – Vince Guaraldi Trio (BanazirGalbasi)
2. The Skater's Waltz Op. 183 – Emile Waldteufel (SweetHomeAlabama)
3. Glacier Hiking – Daniel Herskedal (Nilpferd)
4. Sleighride/Blizzard – Timothy J. Fairplay (Shoegazer)
5. Snow Frolic – Francis Lai (untergunther)
6. Cresta Run – Sidney Torch & his Orchestra (TatankaYotanka)
7. Saturn Ski Jump – Jean-Jacques Perrey & Harry Breuer (Traktor Albatrost)
8. Slalom – Ennio Morricone (Traktor Albatrost)
9. Sleigh Ride – The Ventures (Uncleben)
10. Ice Pick – Albert Collins (Nicko)
11. Biathlon – Idiosync (BanazirGalbasi)
12. Winter Games – David Foster (Fred Erickson)
Guru’s Wildcard Ice Picks:
1. Ski Trails – The Blazers & the Yodelin’ Guides
2. Hop-Sah-Sah – The Blazers & the Yodelin’ Guides
3. The Father Of Cross-Country Skiing (Langrennsfar) – Ylvis
4. The Story of Biathlon – Nicolay Ramm & Nils Fredrik Røren
5. Jingle Bells – Frank Sinatra
I mentioned in comments over the week that my parents had an album of ski songs that I loved as a kid. I managed to find them online and here are two of them, both featuring some yodeling. Traktor Albatrost nominated a song in Norwegian about cross-country skiing. While trying to find the lyrics online, I came across my third pick. Later tincanman made a joke about the sport of biathlon, suggesting it was very progressive of the IOC to introduce a sport for for bisexual and gay people. So I searched for songs on biathlon and came up with the hilarious fourth pick. And finally I close it out with my favorite rendition of that old classic, Jingle Bells.
Let the music slip along at leisure …
These playlists were inspired by readers' song nominations from last week's topic: Slip sliding away: songs about winter sports and pastimes. The next topic will launch on Thursday at 1pm UK time.
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