song="It Don't Come Easy" performer=Ringo Starr source of song=iTunes®, downloaded directly to this computer rhythm=4/4 common time rock and roll speed summary, by Sarah Jane Bristol beats calibrated=3,150 total time elapsed=1,535.50 seconds average time per trial=1,706.1111 seconds average beat=0.487 seconds mean speed=123.1 beats per minute meanemotion according to meanspeed music theory=victory
This film was written, directed and edited by Sophia St. John Newman. She is a visionary indeed.
all charts and calibrations above by Ian Schneider under the supervision and "vision" of James C.C. Manning, who refuses to go on vacation for labor day. "I am actually more relaxed when I am busy," said James. Predictably.
Video, courtesy of "ahcansee" and YouTube
Thank you to all of you who wrote in with good wishes regarding D. In fact the Chopin Preludes - the 24 key cycle that can clear the mind - are having excellent effect.
Congratulations to Greg Schiano and the Scarlet Knights! GO RU!!
Ian Schneider Sophia St.John Newman Sarah Jane Bristol under the supervision of Chief Calibrator, Sir James Manning August 31, 2007
I recently had an experience where a woman who is older and with a broken hip is not able to get out of bed was given some joy from the Carpenters - she has heard all the soothing voices from Sinatra to Tom Jones with Celine Dion and Barry Manilow in between over this year. The sweetness and sincerity of Karen Carpenter's voice and the the Carpenters' thick harmonies, thanks to Richard's work, gives D some comfort. We certainly recommend the Carpenters as music by which to relax. Here we focus on a song they made famous at the speed of grace - "Rainy Days and Mondays." "Rainy Days And Mondays" is remembered and still played today.
This song did very well. I have personally calibrated 3 or four versions of it, and I have found the speeds to vary. The version calibrated and represented by James C.C. Manning and Sarah Jane Bristol is from iTunes, downloaded to our mac iBook G4®. We assume that the digital source would be the most reliable.
Richard Carpenter's website represents the version below as standard. The Carpenters site is excellent, and well worth a visit. Richard lets everyone know how important their music was to all, and keeps everyone updated on Carpenters news.
speed summary - song="Rainy Days And Mondays" performer=Carpenters total beats measured=2,340 total time elapsed=31 minutes, 4.7 seconds average time per trial=3 minutes, 27.2 seconds average beat=797 milliseconds mean speed=75.3 beats per minute meanemotion=grace.
Sarah Jane Bristol Sir James C.C. Manning Ian Schneider August 30, 2007
Paul Simon sings - "If you took all the girls I knew when I was single, and put them all together for one night/ You know, they'd never match my sweet imagination, and everything looks worse in black & white!"
The YouTube presentation is courtesy of Sir Paul and
If you want to enter the BPM into your digital music player, you can 1) highlight the song, 2) press Control + "I" simultaneously, 3) go to the Info section, 4) fill in the number, 5) close.
speed summary, by Ian Schneider and James Manning - song title="Kodachrome" performer=Paul Simon composer=Paul Simon trials calibrated=13 total time elapsed=44 minutes, 38. 9 seconds beats per trial=468 average time per trial=3 minutes, 26.0 seconds average beat=440 milliseconds meanspeed=136.3 beats per minute mean phase=2.27 cycles per second mean pitch=581.5 hertz
Sir James Manning Ian Schneider Sarah Jane Bristol August 28, 2008
"Afterglow" is a song Genesis released as part of an album called Wind & Wuthering. Later, Chester Thompson of Frank Zappa and the Mothers joined Genesis, giving the band a badly needed infusion of African-American drumming.
Here is the song as played on the Duke tour, 1980. Truly a "had to be there" band. Genesis: welcome to North America!
The song "Afterglow" - shown here both in the studio with Phil Collins only on drums, and live on the recording 'Seconds Out' with Chester Thompson on drums, until the final section, where Phil joins Chester for the instrumental end of the song.
Sir James Manning and I went "full Cheney" on this post. The 1980s performance still rocks, the expression of the natural passing from one's a "father passed away" to "feeling the same spirit in his baby's newborn tears" leaving a regret - "I wish I could have told him in the living years." Life is very short, said the Beatles, said Ecclesiastes!
The United States government controlled and APPROVED Wikipedia says about the sappy yet ballsy [sic] song by Mike Rutherford and his Mechanics in their truth and knowledge.
"The Living Years" is the only number one song recorded by Mike + The Mechanics. It peaked on the Billboard Hot 100 on March 25, 1989. It also reached number two in the UK Singles Chart. Co-written by Mike Rutherford and B. A. Robertson, the song was inspired by the recent deaths of both men's fathers, and combine elements of both relationships. The lyrics describe the disagreements Rutherford and his father shared, in addition to the profound impact of losing someone before being able to say everything you wished you could have said to the person. Also, they allude to the birth of Robertson's son three months after his father's death.
The chart clearly shows drum machine action - right around the 98 bpm mark. The band uses a children's choir and emotes a naturally as possible: If you Love somebody ---- tell them now.
speed summary, by Ian Andrew Schneider, approved by Sir James C.C. Manning - song="The Living Years" performer=Mike + The Mechanics trials calibrated=12 beats per trial=500 total and complete calibration=6,000 beats over One hour, one minute, and 2.9 seconds time per per trial=5 minutes, 6.43 seconds composer=Michael Rutherford, B.A. Robertson, James Teatro average time per beat=0.618 seconds meanspeed=97.9 beats per minute rhythm= 4/4, quarter notes getting 4 beats per measure meanemotion according to meanspeed music theory=natural mean slow phase=1.63 hertz corresponding tone=417.1 cycles per second
This post is dedicated to "Mr." Mike and the "Ville" right here in my third home state of New Jersey.
Adding bpm to iTunes is as simple as - 1) highlight the song
2) hitting summary, you can see the basic information regarding what you purchased -
3) pressing on the Info tab brings you to the promised land of speed. Just fill in the bpm - gotta do it yourself for now. Steve Jobs is saving this. BEAT (sorry) HIM TO IT. Press control/"I" at the same time, life gets simple -
Procol Harem performing Whiter Shade of Pale , courtesy of YouTube.com -
John Lennon performing Imagine, thanks to YouTube.com -
The song "A Whiter Shade of Pale" by Procol Harem is one which John Lennon used to listen to on a loop - on headphones - as often as forty times in a row, and fall asleep thereto. This song is said to be the most popular song in the history of English popular music. John Lennon's "Imagine" mirrors the speed or A Whiter Shade of Pale. Just as meanspeed music theory asserts that emotions of languid bittersweetness (77-78 beats per minute) turn into emotions of loneliness and despair as they are faster (79-84 beats oer minute) - only to recover with songs which tend to emote renewal (85-89 beats per minute).
As much as one might think: OK, so the speeds are handed down from one rock generation to the next - so what? Why a theory? Answer - this just happens to be a fantastic example in terms of song quality and overall popularity. A look at the lists of songs at the speed of grace will show other songs emoting much the same thing. This is what we are always stressing here at Meanspeed Music - TAKING BACK YOUR MIND FROM ANY CONTROL.
Overall: look at the way these songs of graceful confidence AVOID the meanspeedmeaspeed - √60 seconds x 10 -1, or 77.459666 - beats per minute. The speed itself is that which appears more territorial than either the singer *or* the song, and serves to expose a performers true emotions--not *always* - I would never use the word always. But songs at 76 are going to be gracefully confident, and songs at 83 are going to be desperately lonely.
At Meanspeed Music, with the key supervision of Sir James Manning, we calibrated the most famous John Lennon solo song ever: IMAGINE. All calibrations, spread sheets and graphs were produced by Ian Schneider and Sir James. We used 4 beats - one measure - contiguous groups as a basis of 5,400 beat measurements.
"Imagine" is a utopian-themed song performed by John Lennon, which appears on his 1971 album, Imagine. Although originally credited solely to Lennon, in recent years Yoko Ono's contribution to the song has become more widely acknowledged. The song was produced by Phil Spector.
"Imagine" is widely considered as one of the greatest songs of all time. In 2004, Rolling Stone magazine voted "Imagine" the third greatest song of all time.[1] Former U.S. presidentJimmy Carter said, "In many countries around the world — my wife and I have visited about 125 countries — you hear John Lennon's song 'Imagine' used almost equally with national anthems."[2]
The lyrics were thought to be inspired by Lennon's hopes for a more peaceful world, though their origins are not known for certain. In 1963 Lennon penned the lyrics to "I'll Get You" with an opening verse of, "Imagine I'm in love with you, it's easy cause I know." The first verse of "Imagine" would seem to be a reworking of this. But the song's refrain may have been partly inspired by Yoko Ono's poetry, in reaction to her childhood in Japan during World War II. According to The Guardian, primordial versions of the song's refrain can be found in her 1965 book Grapefruit, where she penned lines such as, "imagine a raindrop" and "imagine the clouds dripping."[5]
The following is a quote by John Lennon on the message of "Imagine", interviewed by David Sheff for Playboy magazine in 1980:
Sheff: On a new album, you close with "Hard Times Are Over (For a While)". Why? Lennon: It's not a new message: "Give Peace a Chance" — we're not being unreasonable, just saying, "Give it a chance." With "Imagine," we're saying, "Can you imagine a world without countries or religions?" It's the same message over and over. And it's positive.[6]
Yoko Ono said that the lyrical content of "Imagine" was "just what John believed — that we are all one country, one world, one people. He wanted to get that idea out."[7]
Nutopia is a conceptual country created by John Lennon and Yoko Ono on April Fool's Day 1973. This country (or nation) was supposed to live up to the standards set by the song "Imagine".
In the official declaration of Nutopia, it is stated that it
"has no land, no boundaries, no passports, only people. Nutopia has no laws other than cosmic. All people of Nutopia are ambassadors of the country. Citizenship of the country can be obtained by declaration of your awareness of Nutopia."
The flag of Nutopia has only one colour: white. Some criticized this association with surrender, but Lennon & Ono defended that association, saying that only through surrender and compromise can peace be achieved. U2 later adopted the Nutopian flag as a part of their live performance of the political songs from their third album, War (album).
A plaque engraved with the words "NUTOPIAN EMBASSY" was duly installed at their home at the Dakota. It is believed that the whole affair was a jibe at Lennon's ongoing immigration troubles, as he and Ono (who already had a Resident Alien "green card", which Lennon had been denied, through her previous husband) tried to move to America.
Despite its popularity, "Imagine" has received critiques over the years, some of which have perceived the lyrics in a negative light.
Journalist and broadcaster Robert Elms said "Imagine" was written by a "multi-millionaire with one temperature-controlled room in his Manhattan mansion just to store his fur coats."[10]Elvis Costello also commented satirically on the song in "The Other Side of Summer", wherein he asks the question, "Was it a millionaire who said 'Imagine no possessions'?"
Irving Bible Church Senior Pastor Andy McQuitty wrote a sermon in which he analyzed the lyrics of the song. His sermon explains the belief that a world where one would "live for today" and have nothing worth killing or dying for would be negative. Lennon's utopia is described as a "souless, passionless, religionless, Heavenless, Helless, transcendantless reality". [1].
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The Strawberry Fields memorial in Central Park, New York
Virgin Radio conducted a UK favorite song survey in December 2005, and Imagine was voted into top spot, beating Beatles songs "Hey Jude" and "Let It Be".
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The song is referenced in George Harrison's song "All Those Years Ago". One of the lines is "You were the one who imagined it all, all those years ago."
The song was used in the last sequence of the 1984 film The Killing Fields.
The song was performed during a show commemorating the 30th anniversary of Star Trek.
In 1990, the song was featured in the Quantum Leap episode "The Leap Home" and is also on the soundtrack of the series.
When the Liverpool airport was named after Lennon, a phrase from the song, "above us only sky", was painted on the ceiling of the terminal. When commenting on this, the panel of Have I Got News for You joked that the baggage handlers' motto was taken from the same song: "Imagine no possessions".
A mosaic was constructed as a part of the Strawberry Fields memorial in Central Park, New York City, near Lennon's final home, in memory of the singer. In the centre of the mosaic is the word "Imagine".
A humorous telling of this song's origin appears in Forrest Gump. The main character, Forrest, is a guest on The Dick Cavett Show alongside John Lennon. Forrest recounts his experiences playing ping pong in China; he claims that the Chinese do not have much stuff ("no possessions") and, unlike him, do not go to church every Sunday (which Lennon interprets as "no religion too"), to which Dick Cavett responds, "It's hard to imagine", and Lennon says, "Well it's easy if you try".
"Imagine" and other songs by John Lennon were used in the movie Mr. Holland's Opus. (1995)
In 2005, post-hardcore band Thrice released a b-side from their album Vheissu called "Lullaby". The song is a response to "Imagine". Though Thrice lyricist Dustin Kensrue is an admitted fan of Lennon, he has stated that he disagrees with the message of the song because it doesn't offer any realistic solutions to world problems.
The song was WABC-AM 's final song before switching to its current NewsTalkRadio format.
In the Iranian left movement, the song usually relates to Mansoor Hekmat and his party, the Worker-Communist Party of Iran. The WPI plays the song in all of its meetings and demonstrations, and in its TV channel. Within Iran, the song is sometimes sung in protests and symbolizes the left movement, especially the WPI.
George Galloway quoted the line I'm Not the Only One for the title of his autobiography.
On November 18, 2006, UFC fighter and known anarchist Jeff Monson used "Imagine" as his walk in/entrance song for his heavyweight title fight against Tim Sylvia at UFC 65: Bad Intentions in Sacramento, California.
The song is a popular choice for students learning the piano. [citation needed]
Some artists, disagreeing with the song's anti-religion stance, have changed the line "and no religion too" into "and one religion too" in their cover versions.
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Khaled and Noa released an Arabic and Hebrew duo cover of "Imagine" and released it in Khaled's album Kenza.
Bassist Jeff Berlin covered the song on his 1997 album "Taking Notes". That album also featured Jeff's solo interpretation of Eric Clapton's song "Tears In Heaven", which has went on to become one of his most recognisable songs after gaining much praise from fans.
Joan Baez has recorded and performed the song numerous times throughout her career. She first included it on her 1972 album Come from the Shadows, and often includes it in her concert set lists.
Dana covered Imagine on her 1980 album Everything is Beautiful.
Tommy Emmanuel did an instrumental cover verson of Imagine on his album Determination.
American R&B/soul singer, Tracie Spencer, remade the song for her 1988 self-titled debut album. The song did moderately well in the USA, hitting #31 on the R&B/Hip-Hop charts. She was only 11 years old when the album was released.
Late singer Eva Cassidy has a version of the song on her 2002 album Imagine. Although not released as a single, it appeared on Now That's What I Call Music! 53 the same year. The album was released in November, the month Cassidy died six years earlier.
In 2004, alternative rock band A Perfect Circle covered the song on their third album, eMOTIVe. This song is significantly darker and gloomier than the original version and was quite popular upon release.
Canadian rock musician Allison Crowe, who performs the song in concert, recorded "Imagine" for release on her 2005 double-album, Live at Wood Hall.
Dolly Parton recently released a cover of the song (2006), in a duet with David Foster. The video for Parton's cover of the song featured vintage footage of Lennon and Yoko Ono.
Ozmosis (British MC) covered the song but added a new set of lyrics [3]
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