20 December 2008

A Trio of Pop Songs as Ancient Literature

Herman's Hermits, "It's The End of the World":

Peter Noone as Achilles, mourning the death of Patroclus on the beach in Homer's Iliad

Why does the sun keep on shining?

Why does the sea rush to shore?

Don't they know it's the end of the world?

It ended when I lost your love.

...

I wake up in the morning and I wonder

why everything s the same as it was.

And I can't understand, no, I can't understand

why life goes on the way it does!

Frank Sinatra, "Something's Gotta Give":

FS as Prometheus, in chains, addressing Zeus in Aeschylus' Prometheus Bound:

When an irresistable force such as you

meets an immoveable object like me

You can bet just as sure as you live

Something's gotta give Something's gotta give Something's gotta give.

So, en garde, who knows what the Fates have in store...?

The Hues Corporation, "Rock the Boat":

An ensemble piece with Aeneas and the Trojans in their ships and Juno and Aeolus on Olympus at the opening of Vergil's Aeneid.

Aeneas: Oh, I'd like to know where you got the notion to

Juno and Aeolus: Rock the boat!

Aeneas and the Trojans: Don't rock the boat, baby!

Juno and Aeolus: Rock the boat!

Aeneas and the Trojans: Don't tip the boat over!

Juno and Aeolus: Rock the boat!



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