Daddies and their little girls

Terry Zwigoff – Robert Crumb and his daughter Sophie, in Crumb
Terry Zwigoff – Robert Crumb and his daughter Sophie, in Crumb (1994) – from IMDB

In my post Thank Heaven For Little Girls, I presented several renderings of the song and ended with its use to accompany a stage dance between mature men and little girls. I stressed the symbolic nature of this reinterpretation of a song that lauded little girls for growing up into delightful young women: men love little girls as they are now, not only for their future beauty after puberty.

Now I found another video of a stage dance of adult men with little girls, but this one is much more romantic, the men lift the girls up, take them in their arms, and kiss them several times (at 1’05”, 3’00” and 3’29”): CONTINUE READING / CONTINUER LA LECTURE…

Thank Heaven for Little Girls

Yuri Krotov - Before debut performance
Yuri Krotov – Before debut performance – from iamachild.wordpress.com

Gigi is a 1958 musical comedy film directed by Vincente Minnelli, based on the 1944 novella of the same name by the French writer Colette. The screenplay and the song lyrics were written by Alan Jay Lerner, while the music was composed by Frederick Loewe. It starts with Maurice Chevalier singing the song “Thank Heaven for Little Girls” and ends with a reprise of the same song by Maurice Chevalier with a studio chorus. Part of the charm of this performance comes from his typical French accent. Rather than the movie version, I prefer the following video of the song illustrated with pictures of little girls. CONTINUE READING / CONTINUER LA LECTURE…

L’éternel printemps, by Aleister Crowley

Todd Webb - LaSalle Street and Amsterdam Avenue, Harlem
Todd Webb – LaSalle Street and Amsterdam Avenue, Harlem (1946) – Museum of the City of New York / Todd Webb Archive

I present today a second poem from the section “Various Measures” in the collection of verses Rodin in Rime. Youth directly feel the truth of love and life by dancing and holding each other, while old people try to reach it by pondering. The poet says: roll back the wheel of time and rejoin youth. Yielding to the ecstasy of love and dance, all ages can be one with eternity. CONTINUE READING / CONTINUER LA LECTURE…

Sweet Little Rock And Roller, by Chuck Berry

Woodstock Festival
Woodstock Festival (1969)

Charles Edward Anderson Berry, better known as Chuck Berry, was a pioneer of American rock and roll. Born on October 18, 1926, he knew fame between 1955 and 1965, thanks to a musical style appealing to youth, with a dancing rhythm, easily sung melodies, guitar solos, showmanship and lyrics centred about the teenage world. He continued to play music until his death on March 18, 2017. CONTINUE READING / CONTINUER LA LECTURE…

Chanson de grand-père, par Victor Hugo

Arthur B. Davies - Dancing Children
Arthur B. Davies – Dancing Children (1902)

Victor Hugo, né le 26 février 1802 à Besançon et mort le 22 mai 1885 à Paris, est considéré comme l’un des plus importants écrivains de langue française. Suite à la mort de Charles Hugo, un de ses fils, et de son épouse, Victor Hugo prit en charge leurs deux enfants Georges et Jeanne Hugo. Son recueil de poésie L’art d’être grand-père (1877) est principalement consacré à ses deux petits-enfants, mais plus généralement traite avec beaucoup de tendresse du charme et de la spontanéité de l’enfance. En des phrases courtes et simples, le poème “Chanson de grand-père” exalte la beauté et la séduction de petites filles en train de danser, ce sont des “petites femmes.” CONTINUE READING / CONTINUER LA LECTURE…