M. Ward and Conor Oberst - O'Brien/O'Brien's Nocturne

  • Length: 3:38
  • Rating: 5.00 (5 ratings)
  • Views: 580' favoriteCount='11
  • Author: pennyonthestylus

Tags: austin  conor  Nocturne  O'Brien/O'Brien's  oberst  texas  ward 

Live in Austin, TX 9/28/08

O'Brien Is Tryin' To Learn To Talk Hawaiian

  • Length: 3:20
  • Rating: 4.91 (150 ratings)
  • Views: 19203' favoriteCount='88
  • Author: Fretkillr

Tags: acoustic  guitar  hawaiian  o'brien  sing  song 

It's time for another antique song. I'm fortunate to have access to a sizable collection of antique recordings and over the years I've probably logged over a hundred hours listening to these early recordings that span from 1890 up to the 1930's. I can best describe it as listening through an audio time machine. You not only get to hear the sounds, voices, and music going back in time as much as one hundred years, but you also get a little insight into what was going on in their lives and minds."O'Brien Is Tryin' To Learn To Talk Hawaiian" by Ada Jones (1917) caught my attention right away. I did a little research and learned that this song was written by Al Dubin (lyrics) and Rennie McCormick (music). The Panama Pacific International Exposition was the 1915 worlds fair held in San Francisco, California. The fair was a showcase for promoting the cultures of the Americas. The recently annexed Hawaiian Islands sent a contingent of Hawaiian musicians and dancers. And when I say dancers, I mean "hula" dancers. I'm sure when the men of the day saw the gyrating hips of those grass skirted, coconut shell clad women it had to be quite similar to when I saw my first pole dancer. The Hawaiian dancing caused quite a buzz and when word reached New York many men let their imaginations run wild with thoughts of meeting a "hula" girl. The songwriters of Tin Pan Alley were quick to pick up on this and hence "O'Brien Talks Hawaiian" was born. The writer made clever use of the "ian" sound to rhyme with tryin', sighin', cryin' etc. . and the main character in the song, an Irish American, Pat O'Brien (nicknamed Paddy). The Hawaiian girlfriend's name is Lu which is a great vowel to rhyme with and creates the line, "his Honolulu Lu". The other clever rhyme is using the word "joke" that rhymes with "a-bout" if it's said with an Irish accent. The song is quite funny because it makes O'Brien out to be quite the cad. I was also advised to say "ukulele" with it's proper pronunciation with the "oo" vowel and not the "you" sound. I tried to roll my "r's" the best I could. The music style of this song is actually Ragtime which was soon to be overshadowed by the Jazz Age. It's a real nice ditty that I hope you play at your next luau. Aloha. - Fret Killer

A playin' o' the bottles

  • Length: 0:44
  • Rating: ( ratings)
  • Views: 125' favoriteCount='1
  • Author: Bruinbass

Tags: bottle  bottles  music  O'Brien 

Scott and Kelly hitting the bottles. A musical interlude to make you feel better about yourself. Mainly because you aren't these guys.

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