My Patient Husband was setting up his new toy (a Patient iPhone) and it played a couple of notes before he shut it off.
I looked up from across the kitchen. “What was that? The opening of Jesu Joy Of Man’s Desiring? Or–“
He said, “Yeah. It was the opening of the Verbum Domini podcast.”
I said, “Because it sounded like the opening notes of Queen’s Somebody To Love.”
Here’s where the full force of our mutual geekery came to bear. Due to the almost-random associations we make, we are contractually incapable of having only one conversation at the same time.
Within seconds my Patient Husband was Patiently Humming the opening notes of both (“Oh, wow, I never realized that!”) and I was quoting Professor Robert Greenberg’s Teaching Company lecture where he was paraphrasing JS Bach as saying, “Music is for the glory of God, and don’t you forget it!” (I believe Greenberg also claimed Bach would have kneed you in the abdomen while shouting this, but don’t quote me on that. We’ve paraphrased that to ourselves so often that I can’t remember any longer what’s him and what’s us.)
And then for the worst musical mash-up in history: what would have happened if Queen’s Freddie Mercury had ever met JS Bach? Because while Mercury was classically-trained, I don’t think they would have shared many other opinions.
“You did WHAT? You played WHAT? You sang WHAT?” And that would have been the end of the argument as far as Bach was concerned, although come to think of it, Freddie Mercury’s “Can anybody find me somebody to love?” is actually more Christian than Christian artist Michael W. Smith’s paen to learned helplessness, Somebody Love Me. Go figure. Bach would have been weeping with frustration or fury. Or both.
All of which made it rather amusing that based on the first three notes, I was unable to differentiate Queen’s work and Bach’s.
There’s no real point to this blog entry, only that if you think of it, you might want to pray for the sanity of our Kiddos, who have to live with parents who view the world this way.
This post broke my heart.
This one, or the one about the stars? Because if this one, you may want to come talk to the Kiddos and tell them real people don’t talk like this.
I’m going to need to listen to both a few more times. I can’t hear it yet though.
It might be that I’m listening to Celtic Women and not true classical. I dunno. I’ll report back when I hear the similarity!
that’s priceless. can i come live with you???
Only if you don’t mind sleeping on a futon in the basement. 🙂
Who would have guessed that a Patient iPhone could have started so many conversational and philosophical hares? Laurence Sterne would be proud of you!