Some Recent Editorial Art

Neil Innes was a musical hero of mine. He died unexpectedly in December at the age of 75.

He had a special gift for writing funny songs that were also wonderfully catchy tunes. He began his musical career with the Bonzo Dog Band. He wrote and sang their biggest hit, I’m The Urban Spaceman, which reached #5 in the U.K. in 1968.

He was in the Beatles-parody band, The Rutles, with Eric Idle. His Rutles songs so faithfully mimic Beatles songs from each stage of their career, you’d swear they were lost Beatles classics (well, I would, anyway). Check out I Must Be In Love, as an example.

He was also associated with the Monty Python comedy troupe, and wrote songs for their Holy Grail film, in which he also appeared as an actor.

Sam Sacks reviews fiction for the Wall Street Journal. A recent entry: “This Is Happiness” by Niall Williams, which celebrates the simple pleasures of rural Ireland circa 1958.

The story’s narrator admits, however, he may be embellishing his memories: “Do I exaggerate? Of course I do. The truth doesn’t care. Here’s the thing life teaches you: sometimes truth can only be reached through exaggeration.”

Thomas Lynch is a poet and author. He’s also a small-town funeral director. Not surprisingly, his work focuses on mortality.

His first book, a collection of poems, was published in 1986. His latest book, “The Depositions,” is a collection of essays on “the joyous and sorrowful mysteries by which we keep track of our life and times.”

Songs just don’t get any more famous than Hoagy Carmichael‘s “Stardust” (lyrics by Mitchell Parrish).

Here’s John Edward Hasse’s opening paragraph for the Masterpiece column in the Wall Street Journal’s Review section:

What is probably the most-recorded American song in history began as melodic fragments imagined by a former Indiana University student named Hoagland “Hoagy” Carmichael.

When he finished fiddling with his wordless tune, he had the beginnings of an American classic, “Stardust,” that surpassed his later evergreens such as “Skylark,” “Lazy River,” and “Georgia On My Mind,” and stood apart from all other popular songs.

There are over 2000 recorded versions of “Stardust.” One of the best is by Nat King Cole. My personal favorite might be that of Willie Nelson, whose beautiful guitar lines give the song a special poignancy (see YouTube video below).

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