John Towsend Trowbridge Bracket adds the last corner of our Final Four!
We’ve got Shaman’s Blues by the Doors, representing the Dorothy Gilgallen Bracket, who escaped Jefferson Airplane, Led Zeppelin, and the Spinners.
It’s All In The Game represents the Winfield Scott bracket. Judy Collins, Syd Barrett, and Billy Paul could not stop this classic from advancing.
And The Good Life performed by Nancy Wilson quietly and smoothly overcame competition which included (in the Sweet Sixteen) Arthur Lee of Love, Kim Deal of the Breeders, and Eddie Cornileus of the Cornileus Brothers and Sister Rose—“Too Late To Turn Back Now.”
“End of the World” sung by Skeeter Davis vs. “Surabaya Johnny” sung by Lotte Lenya.
“Danville Girl” sung by Pete Seeger vs. “April In Paris” by Jacqueline Francois.
The advantage “Surabaya Johnny” has, is that despite its 1920s vintage, it almost sounds more modern than “modern”—it has a jazz feel, a pop feel, maudlin strings, but also the smell of a drunken bar. The sentiment is modern all the way: trashy, shameless, obsessive love. The vocals are low class and full of emotion, but pretty—in a completely modern way. It’s not just a song. It’s a small drama. It has musical hooks and different moods. It schools with its 100 years the modern listener, even while being a terrific number on its own. It’s also completely in German.
Here’s a translation:
I was young, God, just sixteen then,
when you came up from Burma one day.
And you told me to go with you
you guaranteed both of us pay.
I asked for your profession
and you said looking directly at me,
you would work for the railway
and have no dealings with the sea.
You said a lot, Johnny.
no single word was the truth
you cheated me, Johnny,
right from the start.
I hate you so much, Johnny,
as you stand and smirk, Johnny.
Take that pipe out of your face, you dog!
Surabaya-Johnny. why are you so mean?
Surabaya-Johnny.
My God, and I’m loving you so.
Surabaya-Johnny, why aren’t I joyful?
You have no heart, Johnny
and I’m loving you so.
At the beginning you feigned to be a gentleman,
until I left and went with you.
but it took only two weeks
until I couldn’t please you at all.
You dragged me all over the Punjab,
along the river down to the sea.
Now if I look at myself in the mirror
and I don’t know who I see!
You didn`t want love, Johnny,
you wanted money, Johnny.
But I looked, Johnny, only at your mouth.
You called for all I had, Johnny
I gave you even more, Johnny.
Take that pipe out of your face, you dog!
Surabaya-Johnny. why are you so mean?
Surabaya-Johnny.
My God, and I love you so!
Surabaya-Johnny. why aren’t I joyful?
You have no heart, Johnny
and I’m loving you so!
I didn’t take care
why they gave you this name,
but along the whole coast
you were a well-known guest.
One morning, in a six-pence-bed
I will hear the sea rumbling.
and you`re gone without a word
and your ship lays down at the quay.
You don’t have a heart, Johnny
you`re just a villain
You’re going now, Johnny?
tell me the reason!
I love you in spite of everything, Johnny,
like that very first day.
Take that pipe out of your face, you dog!
Surabaya-Johnny. why are you so mean?
Surabaya-Johnny.
My God, and I love you so!
Surabaya-Johnny. why aren’t I joyful?
You have no heart, Johnny
and I’m loving you so!
March Madness always involves a little madness—and “Surabaya Johnny,” for all its greatness, is just that, really, a dunghill of madness, a girl trailing after an arrogant solider, and we shouldn’t glorify it, should we? Even if it makes for good “art.” The world of Brecht/Weil, after all, was the Germany leading up to Hitler.
“End of the World” (1962) uses a beautiful, ironic, poetic trope, worthy of Shakespeare. Why, asks the heart-broken innocent, does the world go on? Hiding in the question is both the answer which will cure the singer’s heart-ache—and the best embodiment of it. The trope comes alive the moment the song starts with the first word, “Why…” and is manifested perfectly in the contemplative tempo, the melody, and the vocals.
The second match-up in the John Townsend Trowbridge Bracket:
“April in Paris” has such marvelous orchestration, the song almost feels like a duet between the singer and the orchestra leader. Sophisticated and feel-good in her performance, Jacqueline Francois is obviously a better singer than Pete Seeger, but the hobo tale of “Danville Girl” conveyed with simple vocals and banjo to a sweet and simple tune has sensuality and charm enough to win anyone over.
It is interesting to contrast “Surabaya Johnny” with “Danville Girl”—both desperate, drifter tales, with the German one full of emotion and the American with almost none.
“Surabaya Johnny” defeats “End of the World!”
“Danville Girl” edges “April in Paris!”
So it is the German against the American!
Who will it be? The crying German, Lotte Lenya? Or the indifferent American, Pete Seeger?
“Danville Girl” is going to the Final Four!
#marchmadnesssongs