In The Night Crew I found two descriptions that pinged my sense of hearing:
"Anna and Cheryl were still on the phone when Creek arrived, doing his shave-and-a-haircut knock."
Can you hear the knock?
I was wondering how I could achieve something similar, then I heard the Steve Miller Band on the radio today singing Take the Money and Run and there's a quick hand clap riff in there that sounded a lot like the quick hand clap bit in the Friends theme song.
Now that I've got "the clap" I just have to figure out what to do with it. Okay, first I'll have to stop laughing, because that just sounds so wrong...
And now for the next John Sandford description and the What Song Am I? question of the day:
"Barefoot, humming to herself--something stupid from Les Misérables that she couldn't get out of her mind--Anna took the watering can out to the porch, and started watering her plants."
I loved this one, I haven't seen Les Misérables, yet I was able to identify the song and therefore hear it.
Do you know what song it is? Any guesses?
Hint: Think Seinfeld (1991) : The one where Jerry buys the obscenely expensive jacket with the candy stripe lining, and George and Jerry meet Elaine's father.
The really annoying part of this is that it's been two days since I finished the book and I'm still periodically breaking into the song... Very clever Mr. Sandford, and if I may say so: just a tad diabolical.
So, two questions: What do you suppose the odds are of Mr. John Sandford stumbling across my blog? and What Song Am I?
~
A stupid song from Les Mis? Um...none. I'm not a fan of the duet for Marius and Cosette. It's titled "A Heart Full of Love."
ReplyDeleteThat's my guess because there's not really anything else that grates or could be considered stupid, IMO. Love Les Mis.
As for the descriptions, I really can't imagine the knock based on that description. Maybe I'm just dense, but I don't get the description.
Stephanie-It's not "A Heart Full of Love". My theory is that Sandford's Les Mis reference was a tongue-in-cheek tribute to a Seinfeld episode. And the shave-and-a-hair-cut knock can likely be considered old school. You would probably recognize it if you heard it. There's a link to the seven notes on Wikipedia...
ReplyDeleteDeb, you're an absolute hoot. Love this post! And I know shave-and-a-hair-cut. My husband knocks it on the window to our girls while he's pumping gas. Ten cents!
ReplyDeleteJanna- That's fun! Now I'm thinking about ten cent gas, wouldn't that be nice!
ReplyDeleteWhat a fun post this is! It makes me think about how powerful some cultural references are. I love how those two sentences stuck with you. That happens often to me as I read also. Maybe you should write to Mr. Sandford (or at least put his name in your labels). :-)
ReplyDeleteI'm guessing that song is the Master of the House song (not sure if that's the name of the song or just the chorus.) Sometimes I worry about using cultural references in my writing because I think that will date it somehow. I wonder if there will come a time when people will wonder what a shave-and-a-hair-cut knock is.
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year to you my dear family!
ReplyDeleteOf course Mr. John Sandford reads your blog and I bet he hums the song while he reads it.
Deb- You're right he should be in my labels, funny you should mention it, as I just decided this morning that I would go through all my posts and fix up my labels. And I've got myself thinking about cultural references as well!
ReplyDeleteAlissa- You got it, "Master of the House" it is! Yay!!
I'll have to do a bit of research and see what the popular opinion is on using cultural references. Personally, I love coming across a reference that I can relate to instantly - and if it has the power to evoke one of my senses, so much the better. You've got a good point though, we run the risk of dating our work, or of using references that are already dated... tricky!
Jarmara- LOL! That image is awesomely funny!!! Thanks for the laugh and Happy New Year!
Isn't worth me spit... thinks he's quite a lover, but there's not much there... Definitely my favorite broadway soundtrack...
ReplyDeleteAnd, yeah, effectively incorporating such tidbits w/o seeming forced is quite the art.
Bane- It's an incredibly catchy tune - I think you skipped a few words LOL! One of my biggest regrets is that I didn't make it to Les Mis while I was living close to theatres.
ReplyDeleteWell, color me confused an out of touch. I've no idea what you people are talking about.
ReplyDeleteI love Les Mis. Love the music. Love the musical. Wish I could see it again.
I don't know much about Mr. Sanford, but he'd be missing out on a whole lot if he isn't reading your blog!
ReplyDeleteI always tapped out the Shave and a Haircut tune with my little kiddies... that is, when they were little. Seems they have outgrown such things.
ReplyDeleteShave and a haircut,
Two-Bits!
Love it. Sorry, but I do not know the Les Mis song. I really enjoy your posts. My good husband liked your description of the Cowpoke; A Bovine Engineer. Me, too. You're a good writer. Keep it up.
WD
Word Designer
Stephanie-I don't think the "something stupid from Les Miserables that she couldn't get out of her head" was meant literally. I related it to having a catchy song stuck in my head, as in "Ahhh! I can't get that stupid song out of my head!"
ReplyDeleteThis is one of the dangers of using cultural references, especially dated ones as Alissa brought up, because anyone who hasn't seen the Seinfeld episode, wouldn't remember how humourous it was when George kept breaking into Master of the House.
I havent' seen Les Mis, hope to one day. As much as I love living in the sticks, I do miss my theatre!! Hope this helped!
Angie-Thanks! It cracks me up when I envision Mr. Sandford reading my blog while humming Master of the House!
Word Designer-Welcome! And ah shucks, thanks for the encouraging words.
I remember my Dad ending it with two bits. Janna uses ten cents, which I've also heard, and then there's the version that ends with sham-poo. Fun!
The comments on your blog are always so much fun to read. I know, but won't ruin it. And now I'll have to read the book. And use the family tree function. Brilliant.
ReplyDeleteI love Les Mis although Phantom of the Opera tops my list. It was the first Broadway show I saw (off Broadway) so it's a little nostalgic.
ReplyDeleteAnd I got quite a chuckle about the clap. :)
Suzy- :) I think the family tree program has some awesome potential!
ReplyDeleteStephanie- Welcome! Ditto on The Phantom, my first too, I saw it in Toronto and it hooked me on theatre.
I guess the clap could be considered a cultural reference on a couple of levels :)
Those songs from Les Miz are incredibly earworm-worthy. It helps that there's only about 3 melodies which get repeated and repeated throughout the entire show. I did see it and enjoyed it throughly although there were effects which were repeated far too often for my liking!
ReplyDeleteI always knew that melody as 'shave and a hair cut- two bits'.
When they were little my kids liked my laundry song, done to the Ride of the Valkyries; 'doing the laundry, doing the laundry, doing the laundry, dum de de dum.' It was ominous and dark, which is usually my mood while doing the laundry!
Elspeth
Elspeth- If memory serves you are involved in the theatre? Writing and acting? I just listened to Ride of the Valkyries on YouTube to get the full effect, and your version is awesome LOL! Now my hubby here is belting out Doing the laundry, dum de de dum. Haha!
ReplyDelete