John Cale- Macbeth

Today's literary inspired pop-song comes from John Cale's brilliant Paris 1916 (1973 ) album. Famous for being Welsh and a founding member of the Velvet Underground, Cale has collaborated with the best of them: John Cage, Brian Eno, Patti Smith, The Stooges, Siouxsie and the Bansheees...

Paris 1916 is one my desert album picks (thanks to JD for introducing me to it years back), and it's because the album itself is to literary. On it, Cale references Thomas' "Child's Christmas in Wales," he has a song called Graham Greene, and then there's "Macbeth"

Welcome home Macbeth
It’s been a long long time
And everyone knows you’re here
It’s easy to see they care


Banquo’s been and gone
He’s seen it all before
He took it and then he did walk it
He shook it and then he did rock it


And you know it’s true
You never saw things quite that way
She knew it all
And made you see things all her way
Somebody knows for sure
It’s gotta be me or it’s gotta be you
Come on along and tell me it’s alright
It’s alright by me


Alas for poor Macbeth
He found a shallow grave
But better than a painful death
And quicker than his dying breath

I started teaching my online Shakespeare course this week. I find teaching online a challenge, since so much of my teaching-persona is in the classroom, being improvisational. Teaching Shakespeare online is a special challenge, because you really lose a lot without the real-face-interface. But, I am dedicated to making Shakespeare available and accessible to everyone, and online is a way to do that.

It's also interesting teaching to an entirely different demographic than say, conventional, large state-school undergraduates. This class is through a community college and I have 20 students: 19 of them female, and one male. Most live rurally, are married, and have several children. And I they are finding it more mind-blowingly-difficult to accept men playing female characters on Shakespeare's stage than my 20 year-old students. There are going to be new challenges here.