Duel of the Fates

The Obi-Wan trailer reminds me of how great Duel of the Fates is.
It sets the perfect tone for the cinematic climax of Phantom Menace. Nothing to that point in Star Wars was choral, which set it apart even more.

I had no idea what they were saying, or if it was a made-up language. It just sounded cool.

“The great sword fight at the end of the film – the decision to make that choral was just the result of my thinking that it should have a ritualistic or quasi-religious feeling, and the introduction of a chorus might be just the thing. … [T]he medium of chorus and orchestra would give us a sense that we’re in a big temple.”

The words originated in the medieval Welsh poem Cad Goddeu (The Battle of the Trees). The text was translated into English by Robert Graves, and published in 1948 as part of The White Goddess: A Historical Grammar of Poetic Myth.
John Williams selected lines 32-35:

under the tongue root
a fight most dread,
and another raging
behind in the head

Williams had it translated into a variety of languages, eventually selecting Sanskrit “because of the quality of the vowels.”

Korah Matah Korah Rahtahmah
Korah Rahtamah Yoodhah Korah
Korah Syahdho Rahtahmah Daanyah
Korah Keelah Daanyah

Born Fighter

Not his greatest song, but it has one of the funniest first verses I’ve ever heard and a Dave Edmunds solo (2:00) that curls what’s left of my hair.  When I searched YouTube for this song, I ran across a ’79 documentary of the same name.  Here is a clip where Lowe and Edmunds talk a bit about Phil Spector, then work on takes of that same solo.  I haven’t watched past where the solo recording ends at 15:00, so I don’t know if the rest is worth watching.  Nick Lowe seems rather, um, “relaxed.”

Weekend Viewing?

Available for streaming on Apple TV+ October 15.

The Velvet Underground created a new sound that changed the world of music, cementing its place as one of rock and roll’s most revered bands. Directed with the era’s avant-garde spirit by Todd Haynes, this kaleidoscopic oral history combines exclusive interviews with dazzling archival footage.

And this again, just because it kills me every time …

Who Moved Stonehenge?


”Archaeologists believe they may have discovered the true origins of the ancient Stonehenge monument after unearthing evidence some of the materials may have served a previous purpose elsewhere.
Experts have long worked at the site to find out more about why and how the ancient wonder was built – with some of the volcanic bluestones used in the structure being brought 160 miles to the site from their point of origin in Wales.Now researchers have uncovered signs the smaller bluestones originally formed an even older, long-lost monument in the Preseli Hills in Pembrokeshire, Wales.During filming for the BBC documentary Stonehenge: The Lost Circle Revealed, a team led by Professor Mike Parker Pearson uncovered signs the stones had been left in the western Welsh moorlands.
Professor Alice Roberts said the archaeologists “were always up against it”, adding: “they had a terrible time. They’ve been doing this for about 10 years.
“They looked in lots of different places and didn’t find anything. They were almost on the brink of giving up and then they looked at this particular place called Waun Mawn.”
“They decided that they were going to dig anyway and just see if they can find anything, and they found these ghosts of stone holes,” Prof Roberts said. “And they were exactly the same diameter as the outer circle at Stonehenge.”
Archaeologists used 3D scanning techniques, traditional field archaeology, and laboratory analysis to discover when and where the stones for Stonehenge were quarried and where they first stood.
But while the question of where the stones came from may have been answered, why they were transported to England may remain a mystery for now.
Prof Roberts said: “Of course there are questions about why these stones would have been brought from West Wales to Salisbury Plain … but ultimately it’s pre-history and we don’t know.”

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Dammit, Nigel.

More here.