BS: ' House Carpenter' in Chinese

Subject: ' House Carpenter' in Chinese
From: Seth
Date: 12 Nov 00 - 05:48 PM

The train station in Nan Yang, Henan Province, China, has musak that plays a woman who sounds just like Joan Baez singing " House Carpenter" in Chinese all up and down the platform. I've had so many strange experiences here that this doesn't rate that high, but now I've got the song stuck in my head. I always liked it in the States when the muzak at Safeway would play John Lennon's " Imagine" and I would see the shoppers gently nodding along to John's radical vision. Wherever John is these days, I Know he would appreciate that. What is the strangest muzak experience you've had? Seth from China

Subject: RE: BS: ' House Carpenter' in Chinese
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 12 Nov 00 - 05:54 PM

Sitting in our local Indian restaurant, listening to 'Chariots of Fire' (the film theme) being played on a sitar, on a tape that was stretched badly..... We suspected that it was a whole tape of film/movie themes, but Chariots was the only one we recognised, as the tape was sooooooo bad!

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: ' House Carpenter' in Chinese
From: Allan C.
Date: 12 Nov 00 - 05:59 PM

Damn, Liz! Was that you?!!

I could swear I had the same experience.

Subject: RE: BS: ' House Carpenter' in Chinese
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 12 Nov 00 - 06:06 PM

Dummo - ever been to the Mala on the Barking Road??

Or is there a whole heap of these tapes out there. We were quite concerned really, because we didn't know if the thing was supposed to be quite that bad, or if the tape really was stretched..... it would be horrible to think that it was recorded that way.........

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: ' House Carpenter' in Chinese
From: Allan C.
Date: 12 Nov 00 - 07:27 PM

No, I've never been anywhere close to there. But I swear I heard the same tape. I suspect your worst fear is probably founded.

Subject: RE: BS: ' House Carpenter' in Chinese
From: MK
Date: 12 Nov 00 - 08:44 PM

Hearing Gordon Lightfoot's If You Could Read My Mind played on steel drums by a Calypso/Reggae Band. For a moment I thought I had dropped bad acid and then realized I was straight.

Subject: RE: BS: ' House Carpenter' in Chinese
From: Chris Flint
Date: 13 Nov 00 - 05:18 PM

My partner ( Annie)heard a song which was identified as being sung in mandarin and had the tune of ' House Carpenter' whilst in Jakarta a few weeks ago but unfortunately was not able to find out what the song was about. Any ideas

Chris

Subject: RE: BS: ' House Carpenter' in Chinese
From: Sourdough
Date: 14 Nov 00 - 02:51 AM

As a New Englander, I was charmed by the small Bavarian town of Miesbach. It was Oktoberfest. My wife was happily showing off her home town and introduced me to some people with whom I shared what was for me an amazing amount of local beer and those great bread pretzels. The festival was taking place in a "Markt" that had been a center of trade for six or seven centuries. Many of the people were dressed in the traditional "tracht" clothes of the village, the styles that a Bavarian can tell which village you are from, subtleties of shape of hat, decorations on bodices, etc.

I enjoyed joining in with the group singing along with the Oompah Band those great Bavarian drinking songs, arms linked with strangers, and rocking back in forth in time with the music. On stage, lederhose clad singers and musicians set the tone. Their accordian and horns rang out in that joyful traditional music.

Then the music stopped for a moment. When it restarted, it was a BAvarian version of Jailhouse Rock followed by You Ain't Nuthin' but a Houn' Dog". The same singer who had just sung German songs such as, "In Heaven There is No Beer", was now singing a selection of Elvis' greatest hits, complete with his German accent" all underneath the stucco walls of a three hundred year old house with a portrait of several farmers of that time who had marched off to fight for Bavarian freedom.

Sourdough