Thursday, April 01, 2004


For those of you who tried to email over the past few days, all mail since March 29th was lost in space. If you have made comments or have questions, please resend your email and I will respond.

Tomorrow we will listen to a dialogue song by Michael Franks called "In the Yellow House." The song comes from the play Noa Noa and depicts vignettes of Paul Gauguin's life in France and abroad. In particular, this song deals with the final days of Van Gogh's life. The lyrics reproduced here, as well as the accompanying music, are from another of the play's songs, "Vincent's Ear."

How did you ever find her?
She tried so hard to disappear.
Somebody rang the bell and
Handed her Vincent's ear.
And no one understands
All the love inside he tried to give
No one understands
His wife was hard to live
No one understands
In a past which he could not desert
No one understands
How his heart was hurt
Somehow by someone.
People suspect a secret
But what could explain a gift so queer?
Totally unprepared for
The riddle of Vincent's ear.
Time can't erase the image:
Handsomely wrapped for you, my dear.
Imagine her surprise then
Discovering Vincent's ear.

Our lesson tomorrow is twofold. One to further reinforce our ability to punctuate dialogue, and the other to more fully appreciate Van Gogh's madness and genius.

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