 |
| Regina Spektor from Wikipedia |
Regina Spektor is an musician who I find both extremely interesting as well as entertaining.
I found her a while back on iTunes while I was busy looking for something else - I forget what now. Her performances are all her own originals.
Spektor is a Russian Jew who emigrated to the US in about 1990 early in her life (around age 10, see this in Wikipedia). Her story is interesting to me because I lived and worked in NYC in the late 1970s. I worked at a company called "Plastic Optics" - it had a number of other affiliated companies and was run by a man called "Arnie."
"Arnie" was basically a crazy man... There was a story about how he had a heart attack in about 1977 and the hospital emergency room workers found $10,000 USD in cash in his pockets as they stripped him for surgery.
Arnie was also Jewish and at the time I worked there was working with various Jewish relief agencies that brought Russian Jews to the US on some sort of special USSR program. Plastic Optics made eye glass lenses and the newly minted refugees from Russia (all Jews) came to his company for jobs. Some of them worked for me.
I was born and raised in the midwest. There were nothing but USA born and bred midwesterners for miles around.
Needless to say we did not grow up understanding what it was to be Jewish. Even in college (which I attended for a few years before moving to NYC) there weren't a lot of Jewish kids.
Not so in NYC. It seemed everyone at Plastic Optics was Jewish - except me. The office was filled with Jewish women. The shop floor Jewish men and a variety of other interesting locals.
So I've been around a lot of Russian Jews. Spektor is so interesting because her songs embody the kind of humor I recall from those days - funny but burning with irony.
I doubt many today even recall the Soviet Union (USSR) or how horrible it was. The stories of misery these people told were by today's standards unimaginable - especially for a midwestern boy.
In those days many of the Russian Jews who emigrated to the US lived in Coney Island. A far away (hour and a half subway ride) place I never visited in the remote wilds of Brooklyn.
At any rate Regina brings a phenomenal perspective to things.
Many of her lyrics (with obnoxious ads) can be found here or by Googling.
She is also on youtube.
Finally, I leave you with "Laughing With..."
I found her a while back on iTunes while I was busy looking for something else - I forget what now. Her performances are all her own originals.
Spektor is a Russian Jew who emigrated to the US in about 1990 early in her life (around age 10, see this in Wikipedia). Her story is interesting to me because I lived and worked in NYC in the late 1970s. I worked at a company called "Plastic Optics" - it had a number of other affiliated companies and was run by a man called "Arnie."
"Arnie" was basically a crazy man... There was a story about how he had a heart attack in about 1977 and the hospital emergency room workers found $10,000 USD in cash in his pockets as they stripped him for surgery.
Arnie was also Jewish and at the time I worked there was working with various Jewish relief agencies that brought Russian Jews to the US on some sort of special USSR program. Plastic Optics made eye glass lenses and the newly minted refugees from Russia (all Jews) came to his company for jobs. Some of them worked for me.
I was born and raised in the midwest. There were nothing but USA born and bred midwesterners for miles around.
Needless to say we did not grow up understanding what it was to be Jewish. Even in college (which I attended for a few years before moving to NYC) there weren't a lot of Jewish kids.
Not so in NYC. It seemed everyone at Plastic Optics was Jewish - except me. The office was filled with Jewish women. The shop floor Jewish men and a variety of other interesting locals.
So I've been around a lot of Russian Jews. Spektor is so interesting because her songs embody the kind of humor I recall from those days - funny but burning with irony.
I doubt many today even recall the Soviet Union (USSR) or how horrible it was. The stories of misery these people told were by today's standards unimaginable - especially for a midwestern boy.
In those days many of the Russian Jews who emigrated to the US lived in Coney Island. A far away (hour and a half subway ride) place I never visited in the remote wilds of Brooklyn.
At any rate Regina brings a phenomenal perspective to things.
Many of her lyrics (with obnoxious ads) can be found here or by Googling.
She is also on youtube.
Finally, I leave you with "Laughing With..."
Laughing With
"No one laughs at God in a hospital
No one laughs at God in a war
No one’s laughing at God
When they’re starving or freezing or so very poor
No one laughs at God
When the doctor calls after some routine tests
No one’s laughing at God
When it’s gotten real late
And their kid’s not back from the party yet
No one laughs at God
When their airplane start to uncontrollably shake
No one’s laughing at God
When they see the one they love, hand in hand with someone else
And they hope that they’re mistaken
No one laughs at God
When the cops knock on their door
And they say we got some bad news, sir
No one’s laughing at God
When there’s a famine or fire or flood
But God can be funny
At a cocktail party when listening to a good God-themed joke, or
Or when the crazies say He hates us
And they get so red in the head you think they’re ‘bout to choke
God can be funny,
When told he’ll give you money if you just pray the right way
And when presented like a genie who does magic like Houdini
Or grants wishes like Jiminy Cricket and Santa Claus
God can be so hilarious
Ha ha
Ha ha
No one laughs at God in a hospital
No one laughs at God in a war
No one’s laughing at God
When they’ve lost all they’ve got
And they don’t know what for
No one laughs at God on the day they realize
That the last sight they’ll ever see is a pair of hateful eyes
No one’s laughing at God when they’re saying their goodbyes
But God can be funny
At a cocktail party when listening to a good God-themed joke, or
Or when the crazies say He hates us
And they get so red in the head you think they’re ‘bout to choke
God can be funny,
When told he’ll give you money if you just pray the right way
And when presented like a genie who does magic like Houdini
Or grants wishes like Jiminy Cricket and Santa Claus
God can be so hilarious
No one laughs at God in a hospital
No one laughs at God in a war
No one laughs at God in a hospital
No one laughs at God in a war
No one laughing at God in hospital
No one’s laughing at God in a war
No one’s laughing at God when they’re starving or freezing or so very poor
No one’s laughing at God
No one’s laughing at God
No one’s laughing at God
We’re all laughing with God"
No comments:
Post a Comment