By ShivSidecar
As a child living in a pre-video age I was absurdly proud of my plastic 3D Viewmaster – I had discs of The Flintstones and Popeye and a few “educational” discs. My very favourite of these was The Seven Wonders Of The World, which featured lurid reconstructions of improbable-looking structures in ancient landscapes. As an avid reader of Greek and Roman mythology I was particularly attracted to the huge statues of Zeus and Helios, the Sun God. I so wanted to grow up, travel and see these marvels in situ. But eventually I read the accompanying booklet and realised that empires had fallen and buildings had been looted and destroyed – only the Giza pyramids remained.
My interests for a few years thereafter were music, girls and alcohol… then I took more of an interest in the world about me and realised that there were more than seven wonders out there… Wikipedia can supply us with a list of lists of modern wonders to debate, and we can all probably come up with our own.
The original seven wonders were identified from classical literature, so were all located in the Mediterranean basin or Asia Minor – reflected in the Persian-market vibe of Prince Buster All Stars’ dramatic ska instrumental 7 Wonders of the World, a clear influence on a certain later Two Tone classic. However there don’t seem to be seven distinguishing themes. (Is there a rhyme for Halicarnassus?). Peter Hammill’s Seven Wonders doesn’t distinguish, either – it’s a meditation on the impermanence of things: “Everything's changed, including the Seven Wonders. Nothing is permanent here…” My poor mother used to get freaked out by Hammill’s vocal gymnastics on my Van Der Graaf LPs; great to hear one of his more extreme examples.
A few imaginative songs about that world: Tom Waits envisages the savagery of the Roman Colosseum as a blood-soaked charnel house – poison and pillaging is the least of it. The B-52s turn back time to visit the pyramids of Mesopotamia (apparently on a whim – “I ain’t no student of ancient culture… before I talk I should read a book”). And Antony Szmierek is inspired by a pub quiz to muse on the construction of the Giza Pyramids – he knows a local pyramid. In Stockport. An ex-council building, now an Indian restaurant. Motivational, apparently.
More ancient wonders from outside the Middle East: the Great Wall of China can’t be seen from space (see B-list), but it is now an unlikely leisure facility. Ex-Earth Wind & Fire singer Philip Bailey is Walking On The Chinese Wall to great effect; for once the oh-so 1980s production doesn’t grate. There weren’t as many prog epics nominated this week as I expected, but Yes are the right band in the right place to commemorate Angkor Wat (“Starpoint to compass: we look to the north to return to the centre: Angkor Wat”). The other high-pitched voice at the end isn’t Jon Anderson, but Khmer poet Pauline Cheng.
Humans have been (build, baby) building for millennia now, and modern wonders are all around us. Urbanisation can be ugly, but some cities do, intentionally or otherwise, have the wow factor. Jonathan Richman is unapologetic when he sings “I can see why Paris would be ugly for you, but give Paris one more chance…”. Rio de Janeiro is another spectacularly-located city, topped by its own modern wonder, the huge statue of Christ the Redeemer. City and statue are both referenced in Nara Leão’s Samba Do Aviao, actually a song about fear of flying over both. Many other modern wonders were created for strictly functional reasons. The great Hoover Dam was the largest concrete structure in the world when built in the 1930s, and makes for an excellent metaphor. Sugar’s Bob Mould is standing on the centreline, “between two states of mind”, weighing up his options (all dire). No resolution is offered.
There can be wonder in the mundane. Nick Cave’s Grinderman itemise personal wonders such as Miles Davis, Mata Hari and the Epic of Gilgamesh alongside the Hanging Gardens of Babylon – all of which “I give to you”. Nick manages to spatchcock Blake’s “world contained in a grain of sand”, also quoted by our Landlord’s introduction, into his lyric.
Time for a multimedia piece now (you need to watch the video). Singer Otis Gibbs carries a camera with him on his US tours and takes snaps of what he sees by the roadside – a giant elephant, a peanut statue, a chicken in a muffler. All wonders, all created by dreams of the glorious. Weird Al Yankovic is an acquired taste, but I found myself acquiring it during his family’s epic journey to see The Biggest Ball Of Twine In Minnesota (also noted by Otis Gibbs). Back in the day many rock bands used to have their own grouchy on-the-road songs – hearing Weird Al’s travails made me wonder: what did they have to complain about?
Astonishing Sites (and Sounds) A-List Playlist:
Prince Buster All Stars – 7 Wonders Of The World
Peter Hammill – Seven Wonders
Tom Waits – In The Colosseum
The B-52s – Mesopotamia
Antony Szmierek – The Great Pyramid Of Stockport
Philip Bailey – Walking On The Chinese Wall
Yes – Angkor Wat
Jonathan Richman – Give Paris One More Chance
Nara Leão – Samba Do Aviao [Aeroplane Samba]
Sugar – Hoover Dam
Grinderman – Palaces Of Montezuma
Otis Gibbs – Great American Roadside
Weird Al Yankovic – The Biggest Ball Of Twine In Minnesota
A-list Instrumental Supplemental: Musicians Visit Wonders
There were some fascinating instrumental pieces submitted in which the artists were recorded performing at or within Wonders. Best heard separately…
Paul Horn – Unity
[Flautist recorded in the Taj Mahal]
Paul Winter – Mars On The Rim
[Saxophonist on the rim of the Grand Canyon]
Bowerbird Collective – Where Song Began In The Tarkine
[String duo in the Tarkine wilderness, Tasmania. “Song” = birdsong.]
Babylon And Beyond B-List Playlist:
Natalie Merchant – Wonder
Shawn Philips – Lost Horizon [Shangri-La]
Kansas – Song For America
Misty In Roots – Musi-O-Tunya [better known as Victoria Falls]
Nico – Valley Of The Kings
Patti Smith – Fuji-San [Mount Fuji]
The Cure – The Hanging Garden
Mormos – Great Wall Of China
Esperanto – Statue Of Liberty
The 5th Dimension – Magic Garden
Sylford Walker – Burn Babylon
Ed Petrie & Naomi Wilkinson – The Great Wall Of China
Guru’s Wildcard Picks:
The Pretty Things – Alexander [Alexandria]
Alex Harvey – Roman Wall Blues [from poem by WH Auden]
The Magnetic Fields – Washington D.C.
Richard Thompson – Pharaoh [Wall Street skyscrapers, via Ancient Egypt]
The Hanging Gardens of Babylon imagined
These playlists were inspired by readers' song nominations in response to last week's topic: Seven and up: songs about wonders of the world. The next topic will launch on Thursday after 1pm UK time.
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