Janus the two-faced god

...was always looking backward and forward at the same time. The month of January is named after him.

I’m not very good at looking into the future, nor am I too eager to do so, what with Mr. Obama in the White House and all, but I do enjoy reminiscing about the past. I mean, what else are you going to reminisce about?

Accordingly, it being January once again, I find that I missed the Festival of Auld Lang Syne Performances that we enjoyed a couple of times in years gone by. So let’s do it again, since New Year’s Eve was not all that long ago and the year 2013 is still in its infancy.

The first performance in our Festival will be on the musical saw with accordion accompaniment, plus there is a bit of the human voice. Experiencing this particular performance is eerily reminiscent of listening to Darlene Edwards, whom you may recall from this recent post. When the voice enters (which I believe is female, but I may be wrong), you may actually be able to forget Darlene for a little while by concentrating instead on what seems to be a very poor imitation of the young Bob Dylan from back in the day when Bob’s lyrics were still actually comprehensible. Here, then, from 2006, is the androgynous Nicki Jaine on both the saw and the vocal, accompanied by Roy Ashley on accordion, performing Auld Lang Syne #1 (2:41).

Next, class, we travel through both time and space to Detroit in the year 1987 to hear the young Aretha Franklin and Billy Preston sing a Motown version of our festival theme, Auld Lang Syne #2 (2:07). Inexplicably, there is a brief appearance by comedian David Brenner at the end of the performance.

As we continue to mellow and chill and let 2012 fade into history, who better than saxophonist Kenny G to put us in the proper mood? Here is the third rung on our festival ladder, Auld Lang Syne #3 (4:52). You may skip this step only if you majored in jazz saxophone in college and feel that Kenny G sold out for commercial success.

I have searched for a fitting rendition of Auld Lang Syne with which to close the festival. I have decided against subjecting you to Barbra Streisand’s turn-of-the-millenium Las Vegas concert version and have chosen instead one of the purest voices ever to come down the pike, the young Julie Andrews, for our Auld Lang Syne #4 (2:02).

In her role as silent-film star Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard, Gloria Swanson had one of the great movie lines of all time: “They didn’t need dialogue. They had faces then!” When I listen to Julie Andrews, I feel like saying, “They had voices then!” I shudder to think what fans of today’s popular music will consider “golden oldies” thirty or forty years from now.

Some of us may not see many more Januarys Januaries years roll around. For us it is always December now, which brings with it some special challenges. Our Festival now closes with a special encore, Ed Ames singing “Try To Remember” from The Fantasticks (4:48). Although his voice is still quite good, he babbles incoherently at the end, much as your correspondent often appears to be doing.

Our Festival has now come to an end. As you return to your humdrum, everyday lives, you are free to choose any kind of music that helps you get through your day.