Theme from Jurassic Park
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Theme from Jurassic Park

With the release of Jurassic World a few days ago I’ve decided to play the main theme from the film. Written by John Williams for the first film in the series in , this theme also features in Michael Giacchino’s score for Jurassic World. I hope you enjoy this piece today.

If you’re looking for more film music, click here. To hear all of my June songs, click here. If it’s your first time on the site, find out more about why I’m trying to record a piano tune every day here.

https://soundcloud.com/mark-pentleton/theme-from-jurassic-park

Nothing’s Gonna Change My Love For You
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Nothing’s Gonna Change My Love For You

We had friends over last night and were enjoying an 80s playlist in the garden. This particular song had everyone singing along – something I never thought I’d see! Nothing’s Gonna Change My Love For You was written by song-writing giants Michael Masser and Gerry Goffin and was originally recorded by George Benson in 1985. However, it became particularly famous after Hawaiian singer Glen Medeiros released it in 1987. No surprise then that we decided that 1987 was the best musical year of the 80s last night!

To hear all of my June songs, click here. If it’s your first time on the site, find out more about why I’m trying to record a piano tune every day here.

https://soundcloud.com/mark-pentleton/nothings-gonna-change-my-love

People Need Love
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People Need Love

Today I’m doing my own take on ABBA’s People Need Love. This was the first single released by the band, then known as “Björn and Benny, Agnetha and Anni-frid”, which admittedly wasn’t as catchy as “ABBA”. It went on to appear on their 1973 album Ring Ring. I hope you enjoy my laid-back version of this song.

If you’re looking for more ABBA tunes, click here. To hear all of my June songs, click here. If it’s your first time on the site, find out more about why I’m trying to record a piano tune every day here.

https://soundcloud.com/mark-pentleton/people-need-love

Alone
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Alone

Today’s song, Heart’s 1987 power ballad Alone, was inspired by a recent episode of the brilliant sitcom The Goldbergs which looks back at the 80s with a fantastic soundtrack of 80s classics. In addition to the Heart version, Céline Dion also recorded the song 20 years later, and it has been featured many times on American Idol, X-Factor and other talent shows around the world.

To hear all of my June songs, click here. If it’s your first time on the site, find out more about why I’m trying to record a piano tune every day here.

https://soundcloud.com/mark-pentleton/alone

Rose Garden
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Rose Garden

I first heard Rose Garden probably around 35 years ago on one of my dad’s James Last albums. The German composer and big band leader passed away yesterday so I thought I’d play this song as a tribute to him. Growing up there were many James Last albums in our house including the catchily named Trumpets a-Go-Go and the classic Last the Whole Night Long! The song was first recorded by country singer Lynn Anderson in 1970. I think we also possibly had a recording of Pinky and Perky singing Rose Garden (!), but it was the James Last version I remember!

To hear all of my June songs, click here. If it’s your first time on the site, find out more about why I’m trying to record a piano tune every day here.

https://soundcloud.com/mark-pentleton/rose-garden

El Día Que Me Quieras
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El Día Que Me Quieras

This beautiful tango was written by Argentinian singer songwriter Carlos Gardel with lyrics by Alfredo Le Pera. El Día Que Me Quieras, meaning “the day you love me”, became part of the Latin Grammy Hall of Fame in 2001. It has been recorded by many artists, including Luis Miguel and Roberto Carlos, and Gloria Estefan included it – along with her English adaptation of the song, The Day You Say You Love Me, – in her 2013 album Standards.

Following yesterday’s mention of French subjunctives, the linguistic bit of today’s song also centres around the subjunctive: quieras is the subjunctive form of the verb querer and is used because of the element of doubt: the day you say you love me may never come, so the subjunctive has to be used!

I hope you enjoy El Día Que Me Quieras. To hear all of my June songs, click here. If it’s your first time on the site, find out more about why I’m trying to record a piano tune every day here.

https://soundcloud.com/mark-pentleton/el-d-a-que-me-quieras

 

C’était Toi (You Were The One)
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C’était Toi (You Were The One)

Today I’m playing C’était Toi, a Billy Joel track from the album Glass Houses. I’m not sure how well known it is, but I like it, and I believe it’s the only Billy Joel song recorded in French! I hope you enjoy this one.

The random fact about today’s song is that it was my first exposure to the French subjunctive: I first got into Billy Joel probably in 1st or 2nd year at secondary school and I remember trying to translate the French chorus. The part that stumped me was je sais qu’il n’y a personne, personne qui puisse me sauver, tu étais la seule – “I know there’s no-one, no-one who can save me, you were the only one”. I remember asking my French teacher to explain where the puisse came from. Maybe that has something to do with what I’m doing now! It’s all because of Billy…

If you’re looking for more Billy Joel tunes, click here. To hear all of my June songs, click here. If it’s your first time on the site, find out more about why I’m trying to record a piano tune every day here.

https://soundcloud.com/mark-pentleton/c-tait-toi

A Case of You
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A Case of You

One of the things I like best about my 365 Songs challenge is discovering new music, and very often discovering a song that everyone else knows but for whatever reason one that I’ve never played or even come across before. Today’s song is one of those songs. Joni Mitchell’s A Case of You is a beautiful song which was suggested by my friend and colleague Jessica who celebrated her birthday last week. On the original, Joni Mitchell plays the Appalachian dulcimer – there can’t be many pop songs which have that claim to fame! I hope you enjoy this piece.

To hear all of my June songs, click here. If it’s your first time on the site, find out more about why I’m trying to record a piano tune every day here.

https://soundcloud.com/mark-pentleton/a-case-of-you

Canto de Entrada (Misa Campesina)
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Canto de Entrada (Misa Campesina)

A couple of weeks ago I played the Canto de Meditación from the Misa Campesina Nicaragüense, and I’m returning to this Nicaraguan folk mass today to play the Canto de Entrada, the entrance song. This song came to mind in particular this week when we were recording an episode of Coffee Break Spanish and talking about the use of the pronoun vos which is used in some parts of Latin America (including Nicaragua) instead of tú. Vos has its own conjugation, and this varies from country to country, but the one irregular verb in the vos form is vos sos  – “you are” – from the verb ser, which in standard Spanish would be tú eres. The song begins, vos sos el Dios de los pobres – “you are the God of the poor”. It goes on:

el Dios humano y sencillo
the human and simple God;
el Dios que suda en la calle
     the God who sweats in the street;
el Dios de rostro curtido
     the God of the weathered face.
Por eso es que te hablo yo
     that’s why I talk to you
así como habla mi pueblo
     just as how my village speaks;
porque sos el Dios obrero
     because you are the worker God,
el Cristo trabajador
     the hard working Christ.

I hope you enjoy this piece from the Misa Campesina. If you’re looking for an original performance from the Hermanos Mejía Godoy, here’s a version from a concert in Managua in 2010.

https://soundcloud.com/mark-pentleton/misa-campesina-canto-de

Love And Marriage
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Love And Marriage

Today I’m playing the Frank Sinatra classic Love And Marriage. It dates from 1955 and was written by Sammy Cahn and Jimmy Van Heusen. For a generation of TV viewers it is also known as the theme song from the 1980s-1990s sitcom Married With Children. I hope you enjoy today’s tune!

If you’re looking for more Sinatra tunes, click here. To hear all of my June songs, click here. If it’s your first time on the site, find out more about why I’m trying to record a piano tune every day here.

https://soundcloud.com/mark-pentleton/love-and-marriage

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