Ravens mania in Baltimore prompts memories of classic 'purple' songs
Our fair city is awash in purple these days. It's a case of Ravens fever, which strikes Baltimore with the fierceness of a flu every season, and has extra bite if the team does well.
Wearing purple, the Ravens color, is typically reserved for Fridays, but with prospects for a Super Bowl shot flashing before many an eye, purple is everywhere, every day.
The lights on Baltimore's iconic Washington Monument gave off a purple glow as I arrived at ...
Peabody Conservatory for an orchestral concert Saturday night. Earlier that day, all the clerks at the Giant grocery store were in full purple mode.
On Sunday afternoon, I spotted a fair amount of that color in the audience at Second Presbyterian Church for a chamber music program; the place was packed, despite the fact that the concert started during game time. One mother and her daughter rushed into the performance quite late -- right after the team's win was assured, I imagine -- each sporting a head-to-toe outfit in the same purple shade.
All this purple haze in town got me thinking about musical manifestations of the hue. No, not Jimi Hendrix and that "Purple Haze." Or the "Purple Rain" conjured by the artist intermittently known as Prince. This is a blog of great snobbery and musical classiness, after all, so I had to find something truly up-market, yet suitably purplish in its lyrics.
First, thrill to a purply gem from Judy Garland -- who could be a classier singer? (The song's intro takes a terribly long time, but such an inspired mix of melody and lyrics requires a big lead-in.)
For contrast, I've also included an earlier high-class standard featuring the lovely Helen Forrest with Artie Shaw's band, and a tear-jerking film segment that adds immeasurable depth to this "Deep Purple" reflection.
