THE MOODY MAVEN
Even a Muse Needs Her Night Out
Yes, yes karaoke fans, another festive evening with alternate songs and the help of my wayback machine. Of course you know this melody, but if you don’t…whaaaat?!
Recently we watched a kind of whacky rom com called Chungking Express. It’s a Hong Kong arthouse film released in 1994. I’m not here to talk about this movie, but rather the soundtrack. And not the whole soundtrack, just one song that played a big role in the story, California Dreamin’.
California Dreamin’ is kind of a haunting song. If you don’t remember it exactly, or don’t know it all, you should give it a listen. Old fashiony, Flower Powery, Woodstocky kind of thing your gramps and grannies listened to on their staticy little AM radios.
So, a quick history before we turn on the mic. California Dreamin’ was written by by John and Michelle Phillips in 1963. Barry McGuire recorded the first version but it was two years later that John and Michelle, along with Denny Doherty and Cass Elliot who formed the Mamas and the Papas to record the most famous version. And the version used in Chungking Express.
I say it’s haunting because it rolled in my head for days once I’d heard it. First as an earworm…
