Over Smashed Human Bones

Happy Cinco de Mayo, or as alt.latino is calling it, Cinco de Morrissey. If you follow the link you can listen to the alt.latino host interview two singers in Morrissey cover bands, both of Mexican heritage, talking about the strong influence of Morrissey in northern Mexico and among Mexican U.S. communities. This isn't news to me--having been to several Morrissey concerts I could see just how much of the crowd was made up of Latinos. When my friend Trisa and I went to see Morrissey in Yuma, Arizona, I remember Morrissey suggesting everyone in the audience had travelled from San Diego to which several people cried out, "Mexico!"

In the alt.latino interview, the guests briefly discuss the similarity Morrissey lyrics have to classic Ranchero songs, similarities I hadn't failed to notice as I've listened to more Ranchero music over the past few years--mainly Jose Alfredo Jimenez and Lola Beltran.

I sure wish I could find versions of these movies with English subtitles. I've learned to google for "letra" for these songs and then to put the lyrics through Google translate. The lyrics for this song translate as:

I do not want to hear your name
I not even want to know where you're going
and you told me that night
that black night of my evil.

If I had told you not go
how sad I expected the future
if I had said no, do not leave me
My own heart was going to laugh.

So it was that I saw so quiet
walk quietly under a more than blue sky,
After you see, I hold me to where I could,
crying profusely finished where I did not see you.

If I had told you not go
how sad I expected the future
if I had told you not leave me
My own heart was going to laugh.

So it was that I saw so quiet
walk quietly under a more than blue sky,
After you see, I hold me to where I could,
crying profusely finished where I did not see you.

If I had told you not go
how sad I expected the future
if I had told you not leave me
My own heart was going to laugh.

Which certainly doesn't seem far from Morrissey songs like "Back to the Old House" or "Late Night, Maudlin Street". The title of the above song is "La Noche de Mi Mal" which I would guess means something like "The Night of My Bad"? Yes, that's what Google translate says. It's funny how words can be used in different configurations in different languages. You can say "Viva Mexico" but "Live Mexico" sounds wrong. I took two semesters of Spanish in high school, you'd think I'd know more. I'm pretty sure I only knew what "mal" meant because of the scene in Firefly. Well, and the Morrissey album Maladjusted. Possibly from malevolent. I guess the Romans did conquer England once.

Maybe when I'm finished with Japanese I'll finally take a serious crack at Spanish. Now I know what I'll be doing in 2040.

You know, it occurs to me I forgot to commemorate Star Wars Day yesterday. Shops are really starting to jump on it. The Coffee Bean I went to yesterday had lightsabres around the register and themed drinks. Tim, who was with me, told me they had something called "It's a Trap-ical Storm". The Disney Store had 30% off all Star Wars merchandise. How badly would Disney like this to be a real holiday?

Incidentally, this is a good time for me to mention I'm excited about James Earl Jones appearing as Darth Vader in the upcoming Star Wars: Rebels season. Especially if he kills Kanaan and Ezra.

I don't really like the stylised frown face they give his helmet. There's something much more sinister about the ambiguous black skull face of the live action version.

Also to look forward to this season, as the trailer shows, things are starting to look more Clone Wars with the introduction of not only Ahsoka Tano but also the clone troopers. I was really hoping to see a story about surviving clone troopers post-Revenge of the Sith though it kind of wrecks the propaganda vibe of their stories on Clone Wars. Still, I hope this means Disney is going to bring in more Clone Wars writers and give them free rein after the misguided original trilogy and kid's show pandering of season one.

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