It's muh birthday, it's muh birthday, happy birthday, Self.Saturday, May 1, 2010
A Working Class Hero Is Something To Be
May Day has to be the Teabaggers favorite holiday; they just love to celebrate the seeds of Socialism & Unions, mixed with a little Paganism. I am sure that they would find solidarity with me, I am after all, a TEAMSTER (SAG, AFTRA, AEA).
May Day just might have more holidays than any other day of the year. It is a celebration of Spring. It is a day of political protests. It is a pagan festival, a saint's feast day, & a day for organized labor. In many countries, it is a national holiday. In medieval England, people would celebrate the start of spring by going out to the country or woods to "go a-maying, gathering greenery & flowers. Another English tradition is the maypole. Some towns had permanent maypoles that would stay up all year; others put up a new one each May. The pole (a phallus symbol of virility) would be hung with greenery & ribbons, brightly painted, & decorated, & served as the focus for the festivities.
In many countries, May Day is also Labor Day. This originates with the United States labor movement in the late 19th Century. On May 1, 1886, unions across the country went on strike, demanding that the standard workday be shortened to 8 hours. The organizers of these strikes included socialists, anarchists, & others in organized labor movements. Rioting in Chicago's Haymarket Square, including a bomb thrown by an anarchist, led to the deaths of a dozens people & the injury of over 100 more.
The protests were successful, as 8 hour work days eventually did become the norm for most people, if not for me. Labor leaders, socialists, & anarchists around the world took the American strikes as a rallying point, choosing May Day as a day for demonstrations, parades, & speeches. It was a major state holiday in the former Soviet Union & other communist countries.
Portland expects 6000 + people to participate in our annual May Day parade & rally on the South Park Blocks. I am, of course... working.
There are some great covers of this John Lennon song, including Green Day. This version, by Marianne Faithfull, is my favorite.
May Day just might have more holidays than any other day of the year. It is a celebration of Spring. It is a day of political protests. It is a pagan festival, a saint's feast day, & a day for organized labor. In many countries, it is a national holiday. In medieval England, people would celebrate the start of spring by going out to the country or woods to "go a-maying, gathering greenery & flowers. Another English tradition is the maypole. Some towns had permanent maypoles that would stay up all year; others put up a new one each May. The pole (a phallus symbol of virility) would be hung with greenery & ribbons, brightly painted, & decorated, & served as the focus for the festivities.
In many countries, May Day is also Labor Day. This originates with the United States labor movement in the late 19th Century. On May 1, 1886, unions across the country went on strike, demanding that the standard workday be shortened to 8 hours. The organizers of these strikes included socialists, anarchists, & others in organized labor movements. Rioting in Chicago's Haymarket Square, including a bomb thrown by an anarchist, led to the deaths of a dozens people & the injury of over 100 more.
The protests were successful, as 8 hour work days eventually did become the norm for most people, if not for me. Labor leaders, socialists, & anarchists around the world took the American strikes as a rallying point, choosing May Day as a day for demonstrations, parades, & speeches. It was a major state holiday in the former Soviet Union & other communist countries.
Portland expects 6000 + people to participate in our annual May Day parade & rally on the South Park Blocks. I am, of course... working.
There are some great covers of this John Lennon song, including Green Day. This version, by Marianne Faithfull, is my favorite.
It's Mad, It's Gay!
I adored the film version of CAMELOT when I was 13 years old. I saw it in the theatre, by myself, at least 6 times. I would eventually appear in 3 productions this musical, playing Merlin in high school & playing Mordred twice in summer stock. In high school, my best friend Rich & I would always re-write lyrics to the songs in our musicals. In Put On Your Sunday Clothes from Hello, Dolly!, we sang the lyric- "get out your beads & buckles & bows" as- "get out your creams & jellys & foams". We found this to be quite hysterical. In Camelot, we sang this Alan Jay Lerner lyric as - "It's May! The CRUSTY month of May!". We would sing in full voice, in production & nobody seemed to notice. I was & am, eternally a bad boy!
I think Alan Jay Lerner was a brilliant lyricist (just think of every song from My Fair Lady).
From Camelot, I offer:
It's May!
The lusty month of May!
That lovely month when ev'ryone goes
Blissfully astray
It's here!
That shocking time of year
When tons of wicked little thoughts
Merrily appear!
It's May! It's May!
That gorgeous holiday
When ev'ry maiden prays that her lad
Will be a cad!
It's mad! It's gay!
A libelous display!
Those dreary vows that ev'ryone takes
Ev'ryone breaks
Ev'ryone makes divine mistakes
The lusty month of May!
It's May!
The lusty month of May!
That darling month when ev'ryone throws
Self-control away
It's time to do
A wretched thing or two,
& try to make each precious day
One you'll always rue!
It's May! It's May!
The month of "yes you may",
The time for ev'ry frivolous whim,
Proper or "im"
It's wild! It's gay!
A blot in ev'ry way
The birds & bees with all of their vast
Amorous past
Gaze at the human race aghast,
The lusty month of May!
So...pick some posies, be one with the workers of the world & get a little lusty!
I think Alan Jay Lerner was a brilliant lyricist (just think of every song from My Fair Lady).
From Camelot, I offer:
It's May!
The lusty month of May!
That lovely month when ev'ryone goes
Blissfully astray
It's here!
That shocking time of year
When tons of wicked little thoughts
Merrily appear!
It's May! It's May!
That gorgeous holiday
When ev'ry maiden prays that her lad
Will be a cad!
It's mad! It's gay!
A libelous display!
Those dreary vows that ev'ryone takes
Ev'ryone breaks
Ev'ryone makes divine mistakes
The lusty month of May!
It's May!
The lusty month of May!
That darling month when ev'ryone throws
Self-control away
It's time to do
A wretched thing or two,
& try to make each precious day
One you'll always rue!
It's May! It's May!
The month of "yes you may",
The time for ev'ry frivolous whim,
Proper or "im"
It's wild! It's gay!
A blot in ev'ry way
The birds & bees with all of their vast
Amorous past
Gaze at the human race aghast,
The lusty month of May!
So...pick some posies, be one with the workers of the world & get a little lusty!
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