Daily Prompt #JusJoJan – Jan 3: Solo

Other than playing the harmonica, I have no musical abilities. However, listening to music is an important part of my life. I have an eclectic musical interest that includes classic country, classic rock, 50s music, 90s hair bands, heavy metal, classical-romantic-baroque eras, selective rap, movie soundtracks, and opera.

Consequently, when I read Linda’s today’s #JusJoJan word prompt, ‘solo’, courtesy of Dar, my first connection was to the operatic song, O Sole Mio. Granted, ‘sole’ and ‘solo’ are spelled differently and have different meanings, but that’s what I thought of, so here we are. As my father-in-law used to say to my mother-in-law: “It’s good enough for the girls I go with.” Then she’d smack his arm, and he laugh delightedly.

Here’s a little trivia about this song from the Songfacts website.

  1. O Sole Mio translated from an Italian-based language means ‘my sun’ or ‘sunshine. (So, it’s an English rendition of the American folksong You are My Sunshine.)
  2. Its origin is traced back to the 1890s.
  3. Litigation over ownership of the song wasn’t settled until 2002.
  4. Luciano Pavarotti won a Grammy for Best Vocal Classical Performance in 1980 with this song.
  5. Elvis Presley’s It’s Now or Never is a rendition of this song.

Here is my favorite operatic tenor, Rolando Villazon, singing O Sole Mio over the scenery in this video.

Until next time,
Kaye Spencer
writing through history one romance upon a time

 

2 comments

    1. Diatonic–single and double reed, preferably key of C. I’ve never attempted a chromatic harmonica. And when I say I play the harmonica, I mean I can puff out recognizable old folk tunes and some old country tunes that are good enough for my grandkids’ enjoyment. haha

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