c6b
Subj : Re: Another Emmy for Shatner
To   : alt.tv.star-trek.tos
From : ANIM8Rfsk
Date : Wed Sep 21 2005 14:27:34

From Newsgroup: alt.tv.star-trek.tos

in article xZIXe.60066$qY1.54547@bgtnsc04-news.ops.worldnet.att.net,
Marcovaldo at Marcovaldo@worldnet.att.net wrote on 9/19/05 5:46 PM:

> "Graeme" <graemecree@aol.com> wrote in message
> news:1127147873.347191.262380@o13g2000cwo.googlegroups.com...
>> ]]
>> I was glad that he won the Emmy. But I was a little disappointed in the
>> 
>> performance of the Star Trek Theme. I had read that he was going to
>> recite
>> the (virtually) unknown lyrics, but all he did was recite the show's
>> opening
>> narration ("Space the Final Frontier ...").
>> [[
>> 
>> Be glad he didn't.  The lyrics are awful, and only existed at all so
>> that Roddenberry could claim half of Sandy Courage's music money.  Lots
>> of shows have lyrics that were never used, probably for the same reason
>> (did you know that Bewitched and Leave it to Beaver had lyrics, for
>> example?)
> 
> And Bonanza:
> 
> (We've got a right to pick a little fight, Bonanza!
> Anyone who fights with anyone of us, he's got to fight with me!)
> 
> I'm actually a fan of Jay Livingston and Ray Evans, but I'm kind of glad
> this was left as an instrumental.

Um - you are aware it was sung on screen?  In the first episode?  By all 4
Cartwrights?
> 
>> The lyrics to the Trek theme make no sense.  They're apparently written
>> from the point of view of Kirk's wife who's waiting for him to stop
>> roaming the stars and come back to her.  Or maybe one of his lovers who
>> doesn't know she's been jilted.  Since Roddenberry saw Kirk as
>> something of a horndog, maybe that's what he had in mind.  Whoever she
>> is, she sort of figures that he's not coming back and that his Star
>> Trek will go on forever.  Really wretched stuff.  And badly written.
>> There are more syllables than there are beats of music so it sounds
>> terrible when sung, and there are bits where a line ends on a high note
>> with an S sound, which is notoriously difficult for singers to perform.
>> These lyrics were not meant to be heard, they were only meant to be
>> paid for.
> 
> I have seen the lyrics and am familiar with the story behind them. I agree
> that a "serious" rendition would have been unintentionally funny and
> probably embarrassing. But when I read the press releases concerning the
> "Emmy Idol" competition, I assumed that it would be all in fun. When I read
> that Shatner would be teamed with opera diva Frederica von Stade, I
> envisioned von Stade performing the familiar soprano line that we all know
> and love from the theme, while Bill did his inimitable "Lucy in the Sky with
> Diamonds" delivery of the words. That would have been entertaining. As it
> turned out, after finishing the "where no man has gone before line", he had
> nothing left to do but gaze at von Stade while she did the vocal. Ah well,
> congrats again to Bill.
> 
> And at least Donald Trump's duet with Megan Mullally of the "Green Acres"
> theme was worth a grin.
> 
> 

-- 

You Can't Stop the Signal

.

0