Sunday May 8, 2022 “Becoming All Alone” Regina Spektor
So this song gets some regular airplay on one of the radio stations that I listen to and you know how it is with songs on the radio, we don’t usually listen that closely to the lyrics. But then I caught the line about having a beer with God and how they wouldn’t have to pay because…well because He was God, and was intrigued enough to give it my attention.
Maybe not a happy song, but let’s go with quirky.
A classically trained pianist, singer/songwriter Regina Spektor’s songs have been described as idiosyncratic, warm, punky and eccentric, often all at the same time. Born in Moscow she moved to the Bronx with her family when she was only nine years old.
Spektor has said that her songs are not usually autobiographical but are based on scenarios and characters drawn from her imagination. She draws on a wide variety of inspirations including literary sources, such as: F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway in "Poor Little Rich Boy"; The Little Prince in "Baobabs"; Virginia Woolf and Margaret Atwood in "Paris"; Ezra Pound and The Merchant of Venice in "Pound of Flesh"; Boris Pasternak in "Après Moi"; Samson and Delilah in "Samson"; Oedipus Rex in "Oedipus"; and Edith Wharton's Ethan Frome in “$2.99 Blues”.
Her music has found its way into countless movies and TV shows and her "You've Got Time" was the theme song for the Netflix original series Orange is the New Black. She has recorded eight albums and has been nominated for several awards including a Grammy for “You’ve Got Time”.
Spektor cites the Beatles, Bob Dylan, Nirvana, Madonna, Eminem, Kate Bush, Rufus Wainwright, David Bowie, the Ramones, Patti Smith, Billie Holiday, Radiohead, Tom Waits, and Frédéric Chopin as prime influences. You can only admire the breadth of her musical diversity but also wonder how she left Elvis and Pavorotti off her list..
Regina Spektor has recorded eight albums and has participated in a number of additional philanthropic compilation albums covering artists like John Lennon, Radiohead, the Beatles and songs from the Broadway musical Hamilton.
Stay safe and well…and I wonder what the topic of conversation over beers with God might be.