Wacky and Wise Words of Wisdom - Musically Speaking
'Music has Charms to soothe a savage Breast' are the actual words penned by William Congreve in 1697 in his epic play - the tragedy - 'The Mourning Bride'.
And along with its wondrous charms and powers, Music has provided countless expressions that have evolved into common usage in today's everyday speech.
Interesting to note that many 'addicts' of these idioms would have some difficulty defining them, despite being perfectly clear about their meaning.
Even fewer regular users would know the sometimes extraordinary origins of seemingly ordinary phrases.
When it is suggested a person must 'Face the Music', few would expect a military connection.
And yet, a military person who had transgressed in some important way, was required to stand in front of a band (plus his whole military fraternity) and have said 'sins' read out to the beat of a drum, and then a drum roll as he was stripped of his insignia and/or awards and medals.
The final ignominy was the slow, relentless drumbeat as he walked away from all his hopes and dreams, forever.
Equally traumatic for another 'centre of attention' type person, would take place on the stage of a theatre, where a performer would have to 'Face the Music' to play his part - the orchestra being situated in a pit between stage and audience.
An unsuspected origin for the common saying 'Going For a Song', came from a poet of the 1500's.
Edmund Spencer wrote and published a series of six storybook-length poems, partly in honour of Queen Elizabeth I - and when time came for payment of 500 English pounds, the Chief Minister of the day complained, "What! All this for a song?" Subsequently, the expression came to mean something bought or sold extremely cheaply, and evolved into the well-known and often-used - 'Going For a Song'.
Musical instruments feature largely in this field, like Drums, for instance.
You can 'Drum Up Support' or try to get extra business and/or support for a belief or a cause - or maybe 'Bang the Drum', speaking out in support of any of these.
Maybe you will need to 'Drum Something In', or have to keep repeating your message many times over to achieve the desired effect.
But first, perhaps, you should decide whether you will 'March to the Same Tune' as those around you - or maybe 'To the Beat of Your Own Drum' - or your beat could be that of 'A Different Drum' altogether.
Fiddles feature, as well as Drums.
Most people know that the phrase 'To Fiddle While Rome Burns' means to waste your time on insignificant or futile things while problems are mounting up and threatening to destroy absolutely everything.
BUT...
does everyone also know that this one's origin comes from Ancient Rome and the Great Fire of AD64, when the statesman, Nero reportedly sat playing his 'fiddle' as the city of Rome burned around him? WRONG! Firstly, no 'fiddle' existed before the 16th century, so maybe a lyre could have been used - IF the story was more than just a vicious rumour.
Nero was in fact, nowhere near Rome at the time, and upon hearing of the disaster, rushed back to organise a relief effort, using his own funds! Despite this now recognised and accepted 'truth', the phrase 'To Fiddle While Rome Burns' continues in common usage as symbolising a lack of care or responsibility.
We can feel 'As Fit as a Fiddle' - but how fit can a fiddle be, actually? Well-ll-ll, the origins come from 1600's when 'fiddles' (and all the variations of the violin) were deeply appreciated for the excellent sounds their unusual and symmetrical shape produced.
In those long-ago days, the word 'fit' meant apt or appropriate - or best-suited for the job.
Somehow, this evolved into the more common gym-type desired state of fitness as being - 'Fit as a Fiddle'.
When we 'PlaySecond Fiddle', we well know it means a subordinate role is to be taken - and this is one idiom that hasn't strayed far from its origins.
Early orchestras had a lead violinist, and he held the highest and most prominent membership - or 'first' violin - in the String section.
All other violinists in this section took lesser roles in providing the background, thus 'Playing Second Fiddle'.
The original musical instruments were surely your voice and your mouth - and whistling, of course, and so the following were born - and developed:- Today it's common for wannabe political hopefuls, especially in America, to embark on 'Whistle Stop Tours', and we understand this to mean visiting a number of places in fast order, never stopping for long in one place, but covering as much territory as possible in the shortest time.
Perhaps lesser known, is that in the mid-west of the USA in the 1920's, in some smaller communities still serviced by railways, trains did not stop at these places, unless a passenger wanted to alight.
The conductor's pull on the signal cord, and the answering two whistles by the engineer, ensured the train would stop as required.
These became known as whistle stops.
President Truman was amongst the first politicians to use an extensive rail trip to make many speeches a day from the observation platform as part of his election campaign in 1948 - reportedly 'on the first lap of a whistle stop campaign to criss-cross the nation before election day'.
And then there is 'Whistling in the Dark', and most users of this expression would be meaning they believe in a positive result, despite the odds (and other people's opinions) being against them.
It's all to do with projecting a positive 'front' of optimism and cheer, within a cheerless situation, when 'Whistling in the Dark is an attempt to raise spirits and courage.
Both Sigmund Freud and the writer Robert Blair professed beliefs in 'Whistling in the Dark' to raise spirits and lift up Courage.
This 'darkness' reminds me of an expression read somewhere, some many years ago when I was a child, that - 'Trying to sell something without advertising, is like winking at a girl in the dark.
You know what you're doing...
but nobody else does' We won't discuss 'Whistler's Mother', but we will finish this whistling section with the famous (or often 'infamous') 'Wet Your Whistle'.
Since the Middle Ages in England, the word 'whistle' was slang for your throat, so to 'Wet Your Whistle' is simply to have a drink - mostly construed to be alcoholic.
Of course, it is also near-impossible to whistle with a dry throat.
Thought-provoking?? But what is music without ears to listen - and actually hear? Fear not...
ears are not neglected.
If you deal with problems or issues or decisions without the benefit of guidelines or rules, or even reasonable support, you are seen to 'Play By Ear'.
It's easy to see the obvious connection to the gifted musician who can perform even complex musical compositions without using any written 'sheet' music.
Whenever something you hear delights your heart and soul, maybe matching or uplifting your mood, it is most definitely 'Music to your Ears' - whether actually music, or not.
But on the subject of Music, my words could never come anywhere near these immortal words - And the night shall be filled with music, And the cares that infest the day Shall fold their tents like the Arabs And as silently steal away.
~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, The Day Is Done And - A painter paints pictures on canvas.
But musicians paint their pictures on silence.
~Leopold Stokowski And - Music washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.
~Berthold Auerbach 'Music to Your Ears'...
no?? Christine
And along with its wondrous charms and powers, Music has provided countless expressions that have evolved into common usage in today's everyday speech.
Interesting to note that many 'addicts' of these idioms would have some difficulty defining them, despite being perfectly clear about their meaning.
Even fewer regular users would know the sometimes extraordinary origins of seemingly ordinary phrases.
When it is suggested a person must 'Face the Music', few would expect a military connection.
And yet, a military person who had transgressed in some important way, was required to stand in front of a band (plus his whole military fraternity) and have said 'sins' read out to the beat of a drum, and then a drum roll as he was stripped of his insignia and/or awards and medals.
The final ignominy was the slow, relentless drumbeat as he walked away from all his hopes and dreams, forever.
Equally traumatic for another 'centre of attention' type person, would take place on the stage of a theatre, where a performer would have to 'Face the Music' to play his part - the orchestra being situated in a pit between stage and audience.
An unsuspected origin for the common saying 'Going For a Song', came from a poet of the 1500's.
Edmund Spencer wrote and published a series of six storybook-length poems, partly in honour of Queen Elizabeth I - and when time came for payment of 500 English pounds, the Chief Minister of the day complained, "What! All this for a song?" Subsequently, the expression came to mean something bought or sold extremely cheaply, and evolved into the well-known and often-used - 'Going For a Song'.
Musical instruments feature largely in this field, like Drums, for instance.
You can 'Drum Up Support' or try to get extra business and/or support for a belief or a cause - or maybe 'Bang the Drum', speaking out in support of any of these.
Maybe you will need to 'Drum Something In', or have to keep repeating your message many times over to achieve the desired effect.
But first, perhaps, you should decide whether you will 'March to the Same Tune' as those around you - or maybe 'To the Beat of Your Own Drum' - or your beat could be that of 'A Different Drum' altogether.
Fiddles feature, as well as Drums.
Most people know that the phrase 'To Fiddle While Rome Burns' means to waste your time on insignificant or futile things while problems are mounting up and threatening to destroy absolutely everything.
BUT...
does everyone also know that this one's origin comes from Ancient Rome and the Great Fire of AD64, when the statesman, Nero reportedly sat playing his 'fiddle' as the city of Rome burned around him? WRONG! Firstly, no 'fiddle' existed before the 16th century, so maybe a lyre could have been used - IF the story was more than just a vicious rumour.
Nero was in fact, nowhere near Rome at the time, and upon hearing of the disaster, rushed back to organise a relief effort, using his own funds! Despite this now recognised and accepted 'truth', the phrase 'To Fiddle While Rome Burns' continues in common usage as symbolising a lack of care or responsibility.
We can feel 'As Fit as a Fiddle' - but how fit can a fiddle be, actually? Well-ll-ll, the origins come from 1600's when 'fiddles' (and all the variations of the violin) were deeply appreciated for the excellent sounds their unusual and symmetrical shape produced.
In those long-ago days, the word 'fit' meant apt or appropriate - or best-suited for the job.
Somehow, this evolved into the more common gym-type desired state of fitness as being - 'Fit as a Fiddle'.
When we 'PlaySecond Fiddle', we well know it means a subordinate role is to be taken - and this is one idiom that hasn't strayed far from its origins.
Early orchestras had a lead violinist, and he held the highest and most prominent membership - or 'first' violin - in the String section.
All other violinists in this section took lesser roles in providing the background, thus 'Playing Second Fiddle'.
The original musical instruments were surely your voice and your mouth - and whistling, of course, and so the following were born - and developed:- Today it's common for wannabe political hopefuls, especially in America, to embark on 'Whistle Stop Tours', and we understand this to mean visiting a number of places in fast order, never stopping for long in one place, but covering as much territory as possible in the shortest time.
Perhaps lesser known, is that in the mid-west of the USA in the 1920's, in some smaller communities still serviced by railways, trains did not stop at these places, unless a passenger wanted to alight.
The conductor's pull on the signal cord, and the answering two whistles by the engineer, ensured the train would stop as required.
These became known as whistle stops.
President Truman was amongst the first politicians to use an extensive rail trip to make many speeches a day from the observation platform as part of his election campaign in 1948 - reportedly 'on the first lap of a whistle stop campaign to criss-cross the nation before election day'.
And then there is 'Whistling in the Dark', and most users of this expression would be meaning they believe in a positive result, despite the odds (and other people's opinions) being against them.
It's all to do with projecting a positive 'front' of optimism and cheer, within a cheerless situation, when 'Whistling in the Dark is an attempt to raise spirits and courage.
Both Sigmund Freud and the writer Robert Blair professed beliefs in 'Whistling in the Dark' to raise spirits and lift up Courage.
This 'darkness' reminds me of an expression read somewhere, some many years ago when I was a child, that - 'Trying to sell something without advertising, is like winking at a girl in the dark.
You know what you're doing...
but nobody else does' We won't discuss 'Whistler's Mother', but we will finish this whistling section with the famous (or often 'infamous') 'Wet Your Whistle'.
Since the Middle Ages in England, the word 'whistle' was slang for your throat, so to 'Wet Your Whistle' is simply to have a drink - mostly construed to be alcoholic.
Of course, it is also near-impossible to whistle with a dry throat.
Thought-provoking?? But what is music without ears to listen - and actually hear? Fear not...
ears are not neglected.
If you deal with problems or issues or decisions without the benefit of guidelines or rules, or even reasonable support, you are seen to 'Play By Ear'.
It's easy to see the obvious connection to the gifted musician who can perform even complex musical compositions without using any written 'sheet' music.
Whenever something you hear delights your heart and soul, maybe matching or uplifting your mood, it is most definitely 'Music to your Ears' - whether actually music, or not.
But on the subject of Music, my words could never come anywhere near these immortal words - And the night shall be filled with music, And the cares that infest the day Shall fold their tents like the Arabs And as silently steal away.
~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, The Day Is Done And - A painter paints pictures on canvas.
But musicians paint their pictures on silence.
~Leopold Stokowski And - Music washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.
~Berthold Auerbach 'Music to Your Ears'...
no?? Christine
Source...