Song Of The Day 12/2/2014: Ame Son - "Hein, Quant a Toi"

Housekeeper's Holiday: One of the many deep personal issues I tried to resolve in 2014 was my fractured relationship with progressive rock. This was largely attempted out of a sudden compulsion to try and relate more congenially to people of my general demographic -- middle-agey, heterosexual, caucasian men bred either in the suburbs or outskirts of state capitals -- with whom I have certain crucial differences compared to the equatorial norm. Such as: I never developed much of an affection for prog rock. I heard Rush, I heard Pink Floyd, I heard ELP, and while I admired their musicianship, accuracy and laudable scheduling, I still preferred David Bowie.

(Other areas in which I split from gentlemen of my ballpark type:

• (Never had a strong affinity for science fiction, except for 2001, Vonnegut, Brave New World and Star Wars. But even in those cases, 2001 was a psychodrama, Vonnegut was satire, Brave New World was a screwball comedy and Star Wars was a Western.


• (Same goes for fantasy fiction. Number of Tolkien books read in my lifetime: 0.


• (Never developed a fondness for wrestling or mixed martial arts. In fact, didn't even watch a boxing match until Holyfield vs. Foreman in 1991. Which I thought was lovely.


• (Jumped off the carton bandwagon when Hong Kong Phooey was canceled.


• (Stopped playing Grand Theft Auto because I couldn't get the hang of the bicycle in Act I.


• (Never saw one Cheech & Chong movie or listened to one of their albums, but then again they were banned from my house when I was growing up, like KISS.)

On the prog rock tip, I tried several times to get it. I really did. And I still try if something grabs my attention long enough to garner interest. Most recently, as I've noted here, I've been researching the back stuff of Genesis. Even I'll note they are prog in approach only; now that Phil's taking a drum sabbatical Tony Banks is their only real virtuoso. But still, too many issues of heraldry and the feudal system, The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway excepted.

Lately, in efforts to jump-start my prog interest in time for the holidays when I'm sure there's lots of snowman allegories running around, I've turned to foreign tongues. That led me somehow to France's Ame Son, which is where I'm taking you now. I have no biographical notes on this one. They're all in French.