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MLT JOY 3 (2023 edition)
My MLT JOY 3
I love to get my daily dose of “WHY?”, such an endless fountain of inspiration and emotion filled joy ride. All so incredibly moving! BRILLIANT MASTERPIECE.
Feel free to share you MLT joy moment here. 😉🎈
https://test2.monalisa-twins.com/lyrics_jump_ship_monalisa_twins/
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71 Replies
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To give “If You Raise Your Head” a rest I clicked on “Nothing Is In Vain” and I was reminded they have been writing these incredible majestic masterpieces for quite some time. Each album touches on pop, rock, blues, ballads, and psychedelia. I think that if I heard songs like NIIV or Jump Ship before I knew who wrote them, I probably would not guess two young ladies from Austria when they were 21?
But let me tell you about my latest obsession. Since that last Q&A I have been trying to ignore the break between songs. One thing I like about concept albums is the absence of any gap between the songs, thus creating the concept of one long song. I think I have always assumed there was some kind of industry standard for gaps between songs, or it wasn’t a long gap, but a slow intro to the next song.
Like I said, I have been resisting 1-2-3…that last one was only two seconds? So which songs have the shortest gap and which have the longest rest between songs on “Why?”? And then we can count the length of the gaps on their other albums. Have they been doing this all along? and then on our favorite albums, and then every album we own, and this is not going to end well. Is every band doing this? Do solo artists do this? Is this done on vinyl, too? I’ll be pulling my hair out before you know it.
MLT Joy today was the new Duo Session. I like when their voices really take off towards the end. I hear that third twin when their voices sync perfectly like that. I am not familiar with this song, so I checked out the original and came back here really quick. I think Melanie will love the MLT cover of her song.
JP (it got up to 50F today)
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Hi JP
Yeah I noticed that too in “Look What They’ve Done to My Song, Ma”, the vocals really build up at the end, and it feels like an emotional catapult. Very breathtaking, loved it. I agree, I think Melanie will love what Mona and Lisa have “…Done to My Song, Ma”! 😁
Interesting topic you bring up about silence between the tracks on an album. In that Q and A I found the talk about the silence between songs quite interesting that Mona and Lisa mentioned, and how they make final changes on the album “all of us listening to the album and then deciding if the silence is just right” . I notice between “WHY?” and “Pretty Little Thing” a particularly longer silence than in the rest of the album.
The silence, or in some cases as you mentioned absence of silence between songs has an impact. It reminds me of Mozart’s quote “the music is not in the notes but the silence in between”. I would think this applies between songs or movements too. It wasn’t only Mozart, but other composers/musicians have expressed the same:
“Music is the silence between the notes”
Attributed to Debussy and also Mozart
“…..the pauses between the notes – ah, that is where the art resides”
Artur Schnabel
“Music starts in the silence”
Stephen Hough, pianist”
It took me a while to chew and digest that idea, and did a little research on that topic and found a number of explanations of the interpretation of silence in music, some even philosophical. The one that makes the most sense for me is this:
“Music depends on silence: rests, pauses and silences help to delineate and define different sections or whole movements of the piece, and distinguish or highlight other periods of sounds. Silences allow melodies, dynamics, rhythms, and expression markings to have greater impact and bring drama to the narrative of the music.
Composers have always appreciated the value and drama of silences – a kind of musical “withholding of information” which has the power to retain the memory of what was heard before and create a sense of anticipation of what is to come. Silences create drama and relax tension, and provoke a whole range of emotions from anger to longing, nostalgia to excitement, terror to peace. A pause after an unresolved harmony or cadence can create a silence which is tense and fraught with emotion.” I always notice in a classical piece when a movement ends, there is a silence that the audience is expected to adhere to by not applauding, and then the next movement begins. That silence is important.
In some of Beethoven’s works, he does the opposite and removes the break or silence between movements like in concept albums you mentioned, for example in his 5th Piano Concerto between the 2nd and 3rd movement there is no gap and music continues straight through for an effect, the same in his Moonlight Sonata between the 2 and 3rd movement, in the 4th Piano Concerto and a few other works. But the majority of his works follow the structure of silence between movements.
Interesting topic about silence.
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I play mp3s on my laptop with Music Bee. You can configure it to remove dead air between tracks, or you can go the other way and add dead air between tracks in 1 second increments.
I just tested it by playing the end of Why? and seeing when PLT starts. Why? Is 5:33 long; when I allow dead air, it runs the whole 5:33 and then PLT starts right up, but there’s no sound after 5:25 – for the last 8 seconds of Why?.
When I change it to eliminate dead air, it starts PLT after 5:21 of Why?. So you lose a little bit of the fadeout, but PLT starts 12 seconds sooner.
So you could change it on your player if you want, but I like it the way it is.
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Hi Chris
Yeah, I think I want to experience it just the way it was meant to be with the spaces between the tracks as it is. I suspect a longer gap than usual was placed for that big finish at the end of WHY? to hold that thought or feel like an exclamation, before Pretty Little Thing comes on. That’s my theory anyway. 😉
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I’m guessing you’re right. I don’t think MLT does anything by accident. The way Pretty Little Thing comes in also reminds me of how Her Majesty on Abbey Road comes in too. Or maybe I’m just imagining that.
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This reply was modified 1 year, 5 months ago by Chris Weber.
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This reply was modified 1 year, 5 months ago by
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I can’t find the quote from David Gilmour. I remember he once said something like,”What you don’t play is as important as what you do play.” Shine On You Crazy Diamond comes to mind. Once you know this song, waiting for that first guitar lick can be like torture, especially during live performances.
Movie soundtracks also come to mind. The most suspenseful scenes are shrouded in silence, and then Boo!, the audience reacts in unison. I think the absence of light can have the same effect in movies.
You mentioned the unresolved chord progression can create that suspense with the listener anticipating the return. So is that what is going on as the latest Duo Session ends?
Have you ever heard “Chapter 24” by Pink Floyd? It’s from their early works and written by Syd Barret.
from Wikipedia
All movement is accomplished in six stages…” – The lyric’s opening line appears to be taken from the I Ching’s instructions for performing a divination, which is accomplished in six stages, one for each row of the hexagram, and is used to select a hexagram and its corresponding chapter.
I found this video with lyrics
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This reply was modified 1 year, 7 months ago by
Rudolf Wagner.
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JP,
I love Pink Floyd’s “Shine On You Crazy Diamond”, it’s one of the reasons to get a nice set of headphones to listen to that song undisturbed as loud as you want. And I know what you mean that amazing instrumental beginning to the song as you anticipate that guitar magic to kick in anytime! Keeps you on the edge, waiting, then the incredible howling guitar notes kick in. Gotta go listen to it again, but before I do, I have to mention there is a real magic around the number 7. In life and in nature, there is a cycle that goes through a roughly 7 year period, before something changes or repeats. In economics there is a 7 years cycle for things to happen, I’ve experienced in my own life things change every 7 years or goes through or lasts 7 years. I’ve read also about how in nature, things take 7 years to finish, for example, all the cells in a human body takes 7 years to fully change, meaning every 7 years, you are physically different in that every single cell would have been replaced, then of course there is the 7 days weekly cycle….That Pink Floyd song lyrics “all movement is accomplished in six stages, and the seventh brings return…” has some profound truth and meaning to it.
Here is an interesting article about it: The number 7 is much more prevalent in nature than most of us realize: There are 7 oceans, 7 continents, 7 vertebrae in the neck, 7 layers of skin (2 outer and 5 inner), ocean waves roll in sevens, the rainbow has 7 colors, sound has 7 notes,….
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This reply was modified 1 year, 7 months ago by
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My little bit of MLT joy yesterday came within the new duo session. As they sing “I wish I could find a good book,” Lisa rocks left and right in time with the music, which was a trademark Melanie move. A deliberate homage, perhaps? Or did she just “feel it”?
On the topic of silence between songs, Michael Nesmith did an interesting interstitial thing on one of his solo albums. The first song is about yearning to fly down to Rio de Janeiro. It ends with some indistinct party conversation, which is overcome by whooshing wind sounds for about 30 seconds. Then the whooshing changes into the putt-putt-putt of a motorboat for another 20 seconds, to which is then added some guitar licks and finally the opening lyric of the second song: “Motor yacht pulses in the Casablanca moonlight.” To me it suggests being transported in style from one exotic location to another.
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Hi David,
Yeah Lisa really swings and sways to the song as she sings at that part, really engaging. I’m not familiar with Melanie, but I presume Lisa is doing just what comes naturally to the rhythm and feel of the song as they both put so much passion and feel into what they play. I like the simple guitar note that repeats in a beat at the beginning. My dad had an old album with solo harmonica on it, and there are passages where the harmonica has a distant and lonely moving feel to it that sounded so amazing and left a lasting impression on me, and when Mona starts playing the harmonica piece here, it evokes that amazing feel. She has really mastered that instrument.
Yeah, in that Michael Nesmith album, the transition between the song Rio and Casablanca Moonlight is really nice with that swooshing wind sound and the sound of a motorboat, and then the guitars kick in with the beginning of the next songs Casablanca Moonlight. Really effective transition, it does evoke a feeling of being transported from Rio to Casablanca.
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Ah, my scant clues were enough for you to track down the album. Great detective work, Jung!
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With Valentines Day just around the corner, “Any Other Day”, is the perfect song of love and passion.
Those lyrics are so genius! The melody and the singing just captures my heart! Only truly inspired songwriters can create amazing songs like this.
It fills me with joy every time.
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Another great feature of Any Other Day is the rhythm and rhyme scheme of the lyrics. Even without the music to back it up, the structure of the phrasing alone carries the heartbeat of the song.
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Jung, your art with the fountain pen is awesome, as always. Just like the “Studio Scribbles”, it personalizes the lyrics!
My MLT joy so for in 2023 is the “Duo Session” for “Look What They’ve Done to My Song, Ma”. “Duo Sessions” are my favorite whether it is an original or a tribute to another artist. It is the best way to enjoy and to appreciate MLTs musicianship. Also, the use of the Journey travel guitars was a very unique touch. They sounded great in conjunction with the Vox amps!
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Thanks Christopher. The Duo Sessions are the best. Years ago I use to love catching recitals put on by local music societies of fine musician artists doing piano or violin recitals. You sat in a private little room, and they would perform. The Duo Sessions are exactly like that, intimate front row seats to Mona and Lisa as they perform, so close you get to see the guitar strings vibrate, and see the passion filled love and expression in their faces as they sing and play. I love this little Duo Session corner, each acoustic performance of a cover or their masterpiece originals is a musical work of art, like an artists elegant gallery we get to step into.
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I absolutely love this song. It has great rythym and rhyme and I love singing along to it (not too sure you would want to hear it!) It’s very uplifting in a bluish kind of way. Chance, providence, luck or what ever you want to call it….it’s so true. We can follow a path or not but something will always happen…good or bad. Acceptance.
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Hi Dave, yeah it makes me wanna sing too. I love the lyrics in the song, right from the very beginning: …Any other day, I would have walked home right away, but some lucky fluke made me stay, and instead turned my world on its head, it is funny how life works that way…
It is so poetic, what a story that draws you in like a trailer to an amazing movie, so raw about real life and how love and destiny or providence work. Masterful song writing.
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How they both over my ongoing 15 yrs of since discovering them, renewed my creative inspiration to catapult into poetry /painting/sketching-drawing again , even the courage to tackle to sing at a few open mic jams, and karaoke venturing…. how they can instantaneously elevate/eminate/uplift/accentuate, etc Positivity ….. 💜🤘🏻💎😊
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Exactly! I have picked up the guitar again since joining the MLT Club. It is definitely due the Mona Lisa influence…especially when Lisa plays her Fender Telecaster.
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Hi Jacki, yes MLT’s beautiful endless creativity is so inspiring, got me back on my piano during the lockdowns. Mona and Lisa were their day after day for me in the MLT Club while the world spiraled into darkness. All their running and advocating for fitness and health even got me running again regularly, and I’ve been feeling great. Got myself some new runners with the biggest massive slab of foam cushioned soles I could find for ease to my knees, and it feels like I am Walking and Running In the Air. Mona and Lisa are so inspiring in so many ways.
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“Joy and woe are woven fine, a clothing for the soul divine. Under every grief and pine, runs a joy with silken twine.”
― William BlakeMLT joy for me: 2 weeks ago, a very good friend of mine lost her son to addictions he had bravely fought to overcome. He was found dead in a park from an overdose. 10 days ago, a lovely 19-year-old young woman who was part of my daughter’s Waldorf school class for 8 years, was killed in a car accident. I’ve been coping with the grief in part by binge-listening to MLT songs only to find that they have indeed woven that silken twine of joy through the very painful experiences of grief. Tremendously comforting and healing.
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Oh my Lord, you have gone through a terrible two-week period, Jeannette. Please accept my deepest sympathies.
The power of music definitely can help us through some difficult times. Keep on listening.
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Hi Jeanette, so sorry to hear about what happened, it was such a tough and sad couple of weeks for you. I’m so glad to hear you found solace in MLT music. MLT are a beacon of light in a dark world, and I don’t know what I’d do without Mona and Lisa. Their music and creativity have certainly soothed and healed me over the years. My thoughts are with you and your friends with the loss of their son, and your daughters class mates family.
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Thank you, Jung. Light in the darkness is a very good way to describe MLT.
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Oh Dear…. Sincerest Condolences to All… Yes…MLT are the Comforter of Grief/Bliss Quilt for our hearts/minds/emotions … They provide comfort, peace warmth, calm, contentment during the high/lows in one’s Odyssey Life Quest …
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This reply was modified 1 year, 7 months ago by Jacki Hopper.
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This reply was modified 1 year, 7 months ago by
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Thank you, Jacki. Well said – I love your image of a warm quilt – so comforting.
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I’m so sorry for your loss, Jeannette. Addiction is a terrible disease. In grief for lost ones I like to listen to songs that remind me of their smile. Only a few clicks away from here.
Sometimes MLT Joy is like MLT magic.
JP
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Thanks so much. I agree, there is magic here!
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I’m sorry to hear of your terrible loss Jeannette but I do hope this music will help to ease your sorrow. I know it helps me feel good.
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Thanks, Tim. Yes, the music is definitely helping!
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After a particularly busy and challenging week in a good way, and long day in the office today, fell asleep shortly after dinner and then awoke at 7, and went online to immerse myself in some beautiful music, and youtube sent me these 7 videos one after another. Just wanted to share my joyful musical moment tonight that made me forget everything and indulge in an absolutely beautiful moment. Just reminds me how much beauty MLT have infused into the universe. I hope you enjoy this random playlist of MLT.
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So solemn…still gives me chills.
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The Signed Studios Scribbles are so special, love them all, but I was especially thrilled when I received these very special MLT Signed Studio Scribbles.
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