speed of dark

Indie Mom went through a reggae phase in high school, but I have only ever been mildly interested in it. As with polka, I can listen for a while, but then it all starts sounding the same and I get bored. That doesn't mean that there aren't a few examples that completely charm me.

I'm also bringing into today's Time Travel the idea I've mentioned before of grocery-store music, which is often bland background but occasionally contains a surprise gem among the fluff.

"Stir It Up" was on my grocery store's playlist for a while. Not rare, heard everywhere, and covered by a hundred artists, it's still an infectious number that can have you bopping down the pet food aisle crooning "steer ih tup, liddle dahlin..." Composed by Marley in 1967, it was originally made popular by Johnny Nash in 1972, and Nash's version is also very good even though his "I Can See Clearly" is one of my most-hated songs ever. This is the Jamaican version with the Wailers.
Bob Marley and the Wailers: Stir It Up from Catch a Fire (2001)


In spite of the fact that UB40 are white Brits, they have the rep of being one of the world's most culturally diverse dub reggae bands, with musicians of English, Scottish, Irish, Yemeni and Jamaican parentage. "Here I Am (Come and Take Me)" is a cover of an Al Green hit from 1973, and Green's version is on the movie soundtrack to The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

A few weeks ago Indie Mom and I were in a clothing store when this started to play, and it was all I could do not to embarrass her by dancing around the place.
UB40: Here I Am (Come and Take Me) from Labour of Love II (1989)


Correctly titled "Over the Rainbow," and first released as a single in 1939, this song was written for Judy Garland to perform for The Wizard of Oz and so completely became her signature song that it is difficult to separate it from her or imagine it any other way.

A few months ago my husband and I rented the movie 50 First Dates, a really cute movie whose soundtrack contains a lot of cover songs cleverly reworked in reggae style. But "Over the Rainbow," which runs over the ending credits totally stole my heart. Its simple reinvention of the hoary old standard recreates the hope that a peaceful world is possible.
Israel Kamakewiwo'ole: Somewhere Over the Rainbow from Alone In IZ World (2001)

Remembering those and their families whose lives were ended or changed forever on this date six years ago, and hoping for a peaceful world.