Wednesday, February 28, 2024

Harlem Nocturne

This is one I will never ever forget. I just heard it, after 50 years I still remember where I was and who I was with when I first heard it. <sigh> I was wishing I knew how to dance at my High School prom. My date Barbra wanted to dance to this tune soooooo bad.

 

Hearing it again brought back that same feeling...Wish I could dance.

Harlem Nocturne long version by The Viscounts

"Harlem Nocturne" has been recorded by many diverse artists, but this version by the The Viscounts is by far the best.

... Wonder if my Physics teacher remembers who he danced with while this played? 

Our Natinal Anthem - As You Have Never Heard It Before

The story of the United States of America National Arnhem, as you have never heard before.

To celebrate their victory over British forces during the War of 1812, U.S. soldiers raised a large American flag at Fort McHenry in Baltimore, Maryland, on September 14, 1814.

Poet Francis Scott Key was inspired by seeing the flag after witnessing the fort’s bombardment. He wrote a poem called "Defense of Fort M'Henry." This eventually became the Star-Spangled Banner and the United States national anthem.

Defence of Fort M'Henry


O! say can you see, by the dawn's early light,
    What so proudly we hail'd at the twilight's last gleaming,
Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight,
    O'er the ramparts we watch'd, were so gallantly streaming?
        And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
        Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there —
            O! say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave
            O'er the land of the free, and the home of the brave?

On the shore, dimly seen through the mists of the deep,
    Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze o'er the towering steep,
    As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
        Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,
        In full glory reflected now shines on the stream —
            'Tis the star-spangled banner, O! long may it wave
            O'er the land of the free, and the home of the brave.

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
    That the havock of war and the battle's confusion
A home and a country should leave us no more?
    Their blood has wash'd out their foul foot-steps' pollution,
        No refuge could save the hireling and slave,
        From the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave;
            And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
            O'er the land of the free, and the home of the brave.

O! thus be it ever when freemen shall stand
    Between their lov'd home, and the war's desolation,
Blest with vict'ry and peace, may the heav'n-rescued land
    Praise the power that hath made and preserv'd us a nation!
        Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
        And this be our motto — "In God is our trust!"
            And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
            O'er the land of the free, and the home of the brave.

 The story behind the song

 The Flag that inspired the song 

Eternal Father

If you have worn the uniform, this music is sacred to you
It gives me chills every time I hear it. 
 
"Eternal Father, Strong to Save" is a hymn written by William Whiting in 1860 inspired by the dangers of the sea described in Psalm 107. This hymn is commonly associated with seafarers, particularly in the naval armed services, and is often referred to as the "Navy Hymn." This hymn also has a long tradition in civilian maritime settings and is regularly called upon by ship's chaplains and sung during services on ocean travels.

1 Eternal Father, strong to save,
Whose arm does bind the restless wave,
Who bids the mighty ocean deep
Its own appointed limits keep;
O hear us when we cry to Thee 
For those in peril on the sea.

2 O Savior, whose almighty word
The winds and waves submissive heard,
Who walked upon the foaming deep,
And calm amid the rage did sleep;
O hear us when we cry to Thee 
For those in peril on the sea.

3 O Holy Spirit, who did brood
Upon the waters dark and rude,
And bid their angry tumult cease,
And give for wild confusion peace;
O hear us when we cry to Thee 
For those in peril on the sea.

4 O Trinity of love and pow'r,
Your children shield in danger's hour;
From rock and tempest, fire, and foe,
Protect them where-so-e'er they go;
Thus, evermore shall rise to Thee
Glad hymns of praise from land and sea.


There exist a myriad of alternate verses to the hymn. One, for example, was written by David B. Miller in 1965 and specially dedicated to naval submariners.  

Lord God, our power evermore,
Whose arm doth reach the ocean floor,
Dive with our men beneath the sea;
Traverse the depths protectively.
O hear us when we pray, and keep
Them safe from peril on the deep.

The Story Behind Eternal Father, Strong to Save

The original hymn was penned in 1860 by William Whiting, an Anglican churchman from Winchester, United Kingdom. Whiting grew up near the shores of England, and at the age of thirty-five had felt his life saved by God when a fierce storm nearly destroyed the ship he was traveling on, instilling a faith in God's control over the rage and calm of the sea. As headmaster of the Winchester College Choristers' School some years later, he was approached by a student about to travel to the United States, who expressed to Whiting a tremendous fear of the ocean voyage. Whiting shared his experiences of the ocean and wrote the hymn to "anchor his faith". Whiting is commonly believed to have been inspired by Psalm 107, which describes the power and danger of the seas in great detail:

"Some went out on the sea in ships; they were merchants on the mighty waters.  They saw the works of the Lord, his wonderful deeds in the deep.  For he spoke and stirred up a tempest that lifted high the waves. They mounted up to the heavens and went down to the depths; in their peril their courage melted away."

Psalm 107: 23–26

This hymn was popularised by the Royal Navy and the United States Navy in the late 19th century, and alterations of it were soon adopted by many branches of the armed services in the United Kingdom and the United States. Services who have adopted the hymn include the Royal Marines, Royal Air Force, the British Army, the United States Coast Guard, and the United States Marine Corps, as well as many navies of the British Commonwealth. Correspondingly, it is known by many titles, periodically referred to as the Hymn of Her Majesty's Armed Forces, the Royal Navy Hymn, the United States Navy Hymn (or just The Navy Hymn), and sometimes by the last line of its first verse, "For Those in Peril on the Sea". 

Wikipedia Reference
 

North Carolina History

 


On April 12, 1776, North Carolina’s Fourth Provincial Congress approves the Halifax Resolves. After the Patriot victory at Moores Creek Bridge, the Fourth North Carolina Provincial Congress met in Halifax, NC. Members unanimously adopted the Halifax Resolves on April 12, 1776. The Resolves were simply entered into the Congressional minutes, and as such, are not "signed" documents. After adoption, the secretary of the Congress, James Green, sent copies of the Resolves to the North Carolina delegation assembled with the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia for execution.The decision was about as close to declaring independence as the state could come without actually doing so.

The colonial assemblies desired self-governing status within the British Empire in early 1776. However, North Carolina was an exception. The Halifax Resolves ordered North Carolina's delegation to the second Continental Congress in Philadelphia, not only to form foreign alliances, but also to seek and vote for independence from Great Britain. This action made North Carolina the first of the colonial governments to call for total independence. As such, it became a factor leading to the writing of the Declaration of Independence, which was adopted on July 4, 1776.

North Carolina’s delegates to the Continental Congress were now authorized to vote for independence!

The state had changed its mind—drastically—in a relatively short period of time. Only seven short months earlier, the state’s Third Provincial Congress had approved a message to British citizens. That letter scorned the concept of independence:

“We have been told that independence is our object,” that Congress wrote, “that we seek to shake off all connection With the Parent State. Cruel suggestion! . . . We again declare, and we invoke that Almighty Being who searches the recesses, of the human heart, and knows our most secret intentions, that it is our most earnest wish and prayer to be restored, with the other United Colonies, to the state in which we and they were placed before the year 1763 . ."

That letter was written in September 1775. But matters moved quickly, and a battle was soon fought early in 1776. The Battle at Moore’s Creek Bridge has been called the “Lexington and Concord of the South.” The story concludes HERE: https://www.taraross.com/post/tdih-halifax-resolves