I would like to introduce you to a friend of mine, his name
is Mr. Giraffe. You can see him (most of him, anyway)
in the upper left corner of this photograph:
In this photo you can also see some of my other friends,
Messieurs Frog and Bird, but Mr. Giraffe is special.
He is special even in addition to his four brightly colored
feet: his green one, his magenta one, his orange one and his
blue one. The green one being, as I am often told, his very favorite.
No, Mr. Giraffe is special even beyond his padded
polychrome paws. He is special because he sings to me.
Now, I won't pretend that he sings especially well, he does
possess a voice only slightly more sonorous than Edith Bunker's.
And he does tend to sing only the same few songs over and over,
namely Beyond the Sea, I'll Be Seeing You and Boom Boom
Ain't It Great to be Crazy, in a steady rotation.
But he does sing his best, and he sings only for me, not for
anyone else. Not for the mamas, not for Clyde the cat,
just for me. And that's what makes him special.
Actually... maybe that makes me special...
In any case, I often like
to sing along with him:
MANNY'S NOTE: Hello all, just wanted to provide
an addendum to Simon's singing post.
Forty-five hours a week we spend together, so there's
plenty of time for us not just to sing in two-, er, three-part harmony,
Simon, Mr. Giraffe and me, but also to listen to all sorts of music
played and sung by all sorts of folks, from all parts of the
world. We have a good time, no doubt about it.
And for those who are curious, here's a short rundown of
some of the songs and albums that Simon has seemed
to like the best (some links are provided for
your listening pleasure). Enjoy!
Trouble by Ray Lamontagne (he loves
the whole album, not just the title song)
Pretty much anything by Cat Stevens. Here's Oh Very Young
Take the A Train by Mel Torme
Elvira by the Oak Ridge Boys
Most everything on The Family Hootenanny, a terrific CD
sent to me by a musician friend in Detroit, Deanne Iovan,
bassist and lead singer of of The Come Ons
The Crosby, Stills and Nash version of The Beatles' Blackbird
And he greatly enjoys the Smithsonian Folkways compilation of
Maritime Music, especially Leadbelly's Haul Away Joe,
to which you really should listen:
There's been a goodly amount of Indian music that he's liked,
from sitar folk to bouncy Bollywood tunes. Also, Delta blues
and gospel compilations. Mississippi John Hurt is a favorite.
Like I said, we have a good time.
~Devon the Manny
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