Sunday 28 June 2009

IF - ‘Worn’ and a giveaway….

 

Dance Me To The End Of Love

Dance me to your beauty with a burning violin
Dance me through the panic 'til I'm gathered safely in
Lift me like an olive branch and be my homeward dove
Dance me to the end of love
Dance me to the end of love
Oh let me see your beauty when the witnesses are gone
Let me feel you moving like they do in Babylon
Show me slowly what I only know the limits of
Dance me to the end of love
Dance me to the end of love
Dance me to the wedding now, dance me on and on
Dance me very tenderly and dance me very long
We're both of us beneath our love, we're both of us above
Dance me to the end of love
Dance me to the end of love
Dance me to the children who are asking to be born
Dance me through the curtains that our kisses have outworn
Raise a tent of shelter now, though every thread is torn
Dance me to the end of love
Dance me to your beauty with a burning violin
Dance me through the panic till I'm gathered safely in
Touch me with your naked hand or touch me with your glove
Dance me to the end of love
Dance me to the end of love
Dance me to the end of love

Leonard Cohen

dance.pretty

‘Dance, pretty Mama, dance!’

Eh, banangi! That Benny and Mimi?  Man! They can dance until their shoes are worn through.

What kind of music makes you dance until dawn? Share it with us here and at the end of the week, I’ll get our own resident music maestro to pick a name at random. The winner will get a signed, matted giclée print of this painting – and I’ll donate the cost of the print to Dr. Maithri’s Swaziland Project in your name.   Howzat?

40 comments:

A Cuban In London said...

You stole my song, Tessa :-). I used that track in one of my posts for my Song for Spring Sunday Mornings section some months ago and it was almost given an X-rated classification by the BCB :-). I love that tune, and having seen his concert in London recently on BBC4, I cannot get it out of my head now.

Oh, what song(s) to choose that make me dance all nigth long? Did you say I had a week to decide? I will comeback later during the week. In the meantime there's 'Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy' or 'Seaside Rendezvous' by Queen, 'La Tumchi Anni' by Mariem Hassan or 'Maloyan Devil' by Bob Brozman and Djeli Moussa Diawara.

Greetings from London.

Anonymous said...

For dancing the night away, I revert to my youth - 80's club stuff all the way!

Not that there's much all night dancing these days, life is much quieter now, but if there was.

Love the new look too!

Beth Kephart said...

"The Book of Love," by Peter Gabriel.

It's everything.

(so are you)

Ces said...

No better reason to wear out a pair of shoes than from dancing! Yeah!

Donna Gotlib said...

Wonderful, strong, vibrant composition and colors. I want to dance.

Vickie said...

Jazz, Baby!

Irene said...

"Ne me quitte pas" from Jacques Brel.

Hugs,
Irene

valerie walsh said...

This is a beuaituf image and The Leonard Cohen song is perfect!!! It is hard to choose one kind of music but I will go with BlueGrass today :)

soulbrush said...

the beatles or michael jackson's music every time, as well as miriam makeba, ladysmith black mambaza and johnny clegg!!

soulbrush said...

omg forgot to say 'fabadabadoo illo, and if i won this i would definitely dance the night away!

Linda Sue said...

I can dance to ANYTHING- honestly- the wind in the trees, the creek tumbling over boulders, pop corn popping...of cousre there is music- now that I am an old lady i like to dance to anything that keeps beat with my pulse...my dance is secret however- because I look like Elaine on Sienfeld...I am a horrifying sight!
LOVE the painting- happiness and colour! Beautiful!

Elizabeth said...

Our best dancing lately was at our son's wedding two years ago.
We are all horrible dancers and we LOVE dancing
so both families had a blast!
Dancing is so good for your soul.

jim doran said...

I didn't realize that Leonard Cohen wrote that song - I've been listening to Madeleine Peyroux's cover.

Mambo makes me dance, every time.

Lorac said...

Ah Leonard!!! He is wonderful! He is a fellow country man.I have grown up with his music and poetry.
My choice of music to dance the night away is 70's and 80's Rock but I love to Tango as well.

Woman in a Window said...

Wishing Well by Airborne Toxic Event. Youtube it. Can't help but dance.

That Leonard can write a mean song! (Don't enter me in your contest. I've a deep vein of guilt for anything won. But I always like to come here and dance...or in the case of your hair dye fiasco, laugh.)

Amy said...

Tessa -

I don't consider myself a very "artsy" person. Sometimes I just stare and stare at famous works of art and think, "I know I'm supposed to find this fascinating...but I don't." Then, sometimes, I find myself being swept of my mental feet unexpectedly by a piece. I adore this painting. It resonates with me. Maybe because I love dancing, but I don't think that's all there is. Anyway...what makes me dance is the music of my youth. 80's "pop" and "hair bands." You can, to this very day, find my 40 year old self in a club, dancing the night away to some Erasure or Soft Cell or The Hooters. I'm sure I look awfully pathetic next to those 20 somethings, but I don't care. I like to move it, move it!!

Michele said...

Bon Jovi, U2, and Frank Sinatra!! Not necessarily in that order :)

BEAUTIFUL PAINTING, TESSA!!!

ArtSparker said...

Charming rhythm in this illlustration.

Cynthia Pittmann said...

Hi Tessa, I love Leonard, too. I have a draft post with this same song set to go when the right moment comes along. "Take this Waltz" http://www.leonardcohen.com/music.cgi?album_id=16&song_id=20 (for lyrics)
is an overwhelmingly moving poetic song (based on the Frederico Garcia Lorca poem "Little Viennese Waltz"). It's so powerful that I can't listen to it too long-not all night. Maybe old beach tunes...yes, they make me dance and laugh...like the California sound...even Smash Mouth so inappropriate...but "Walkin on the Sun" gets me moving...do you remember "Wipe Out"? (If I let myself listen to this music more often, I would probably lose 10 pounds.) BTW I just ordered that Beth Kephart book on your sidebar...I hope it arrives soon.

Oh, and I gave you an award over at Oasis Writing Link (OWL) blog. Come over and read my post.

I love your painting-it's color, contrast and feeling of movement. You are incredible, Tessa. Your life is creative expression realized. You and your open heart inspire me. <3

Cindy said...

Two polar opposites in my "dance until dawn" mix: incredibly cheesy pop techno (friends to dance alongside are a must), and old Big Band jazz standards (a martini, manhattan, or other classic drink is a must here).

I love reading your blog and seeing how you fuse your life, your words, and your art so seamlessly!

Delwyn said...

Hi Tess

I loved to see this on Mr C's post recently and now your accompanying painting has increased the pleasure...

as for dancing well I won't be doing that for awhile...

Happy Days

Lori ann said...

Ah incredible Tessa, your posts are THE BEST.

I love the painting and the caption to go with it, so perfect.

I would dance and run to the Frieda soundtrack also Slumdog Millionaire, the music is fantastic, brilliant!

kj said...

oh tessa, i love this post and your painting! you are the best artist!

i love to dance, especially alone. my favorites are the soundtracks from 'priscilla queen of the desert' and 'corrina corrina', and mostly anything by the beach boys.

i didn't know this was leonard cohen. i am hearing his 'suzanne' in my head right now.

:)

WhiteSockGirl aka The Fabulous Bitch said...

I love that painting!

Debra Keirce said...

Anything by Elton John! Or a Polish Polka.

adrienne said...

yes, that song! there is also a beautiful rendition by madeleine peyroux. gorgeous.

as for getting my groove on, ay mami! i love me some cuban son. or reggae. or anything that's playing when the cells in my body need to do a little reorganizing...

pink dogwood said...

I could dance to indian 'bhangra' music all night and then some (or until my knees hold :):)

Well, it doesn't matter who wins the giveaway since you are donating to a cause a lot of us love. But I sure would love a copy of this beautiful artwork - so I selfishly do want to win :)

Renee said...

Oh my God, I love it all. Leonard Cohen's words, your painting, you.

I want Cuban to win it, can we just give it to him.

Because I go over there to get inspired by his musical picks.

Love Renee xoxo

Irene said...

Tessa, this just as an aside, bu there is a band called "Beirut," they play very happy East European music, bu they are American or imports and I think you should look them up on You Tube and get a taste of them. They are really good and to dance by.

kendalee said...

Oh Leonard, perfect poet. Who could resist?

And what a great giveaway double whammy - lovely idea! I also am a teen of the 80s so love a bit of 80s dance vibe but my absolute favourite thing for all night dancing is Argentine Tango - anything by D'Arienzo or Piazzolla... bliss. Dancing's so good for heart and soul - not so much for now slightly rickety knees but even they can't resist given half a chance :)

Indigene said...

One song that always me me dance is, "Girls, Just Wanna Have Fun" by Cyndi Lauper. No matter where I am, I have to find a bed to jump up and down on when I hear this! It's just girl power fun!

karen said...

Great post! I've been catching up on all your lovely posts, as I've been away a lot. Sorry to hear of the 7 grey hairs and associated trauma!

My lovely husband has been teaching me how to do some kind of dancing from his youth, growing up in the Afrikaner world of the Limpopo province in South africa.. You can do it to almost any type of music, and it's somewhere between a waltz and some other kind of ballroom dancing, and we are having loads of fun, despite me landing on his feet a lot!!

Grace Albaugh said...

" Let The River Run" sung by Carly Simon gets me singing and dancing all over my family room. Something you will hardly ever find me doing. Dancing that is.
Since I'm alone all afternoon maybe I'll have to sneak a little dancing in.

Polly said...

I love this song. I must say it's got a completely different rythm and emotions in writing and without music. Thanks for this.

I haven't danced all night long for such a long time that I can't even say what music would keep me awake that long! How sad is that...

Fare La Bella Vita said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anaka said...

Fabulous painting as always.
And Femi Kuti is what I can dance the night to!

adrienne trafford said...

i love this painting as i love everything else you do...

i could literally dance to anything but i'll pick what i've been dancing to for the last mesmerizing 6/7 months...Kings of Leon, the Bird and the Bee, MGMT, Paper Route, Metric, Chaka Khan, Stevie Wonder, Madonna and quite recently Michael Jackson...

and i'm a total sucker for techno - xoxox

marc aurel said...

Samba saudade from Jao Gilberto onwards.

Tessa said...

Man! That was fun! I absolutely loved reading about what music makes you all dance until dawn. Thank you so much for joining the party - just the best EVER!

The maestro has dug into his violin case and the name he drew was Cindy of Just Alaska. YAY!

And because I kept whining that I wished I could give every one of you a Dance, Pretty Mama print, he shut me up by delving into the case again and this time came up with Amy of Amy, Uncensored. Double YAY!

So two limited edition prints and a double whammy for Swaziland!

Maithri said...

Oh my friend,

Now you got me goin with this one ;)

Love the artwork and love that song... theres a jazz version of it I like too...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SsK40HcxxsE

As for the music that makes me dance till dawn - have you heard of Mafikizolo? ;)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nX7w9pzhlHE

Thank you once again for your generosity to the people of Swaziland. You are my inspiration - And I mean that quite literally...

Much love to you,

M