From the movie Winnie the Pooh and the Blistery Day
The Mellomen
Heffalumps and Woozles are the overall main antagonists of Disney’s Winnie the Pooh franchise. They are creatures who first appeared in the 1968 featurette Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day.
Pooh encounters them in his dream during the song Heffalumps and Woozles. According to Tigger, Heffalumps and Woozles love honey and always want it, to the point of being willing to steal it. In fact, they turn out to be Tigger slang for Elephants and Weasels. Heffalumps look cute and cuddly like elephants, while Woozles look sly and cunning like weasels. A few of them turn out to be friendly in later installments.
The song was performed by The Mellomen.
The Mellomen were a popular singing quartet active from the late 1940s through the mid-1970s. They were founded by Thurl Ravenscroft and Max Smith in 1948. They recorded under a variety of names, including Big John and the Buzzards, The Crackerjacks, The Lee Brothers, and The Ravenscroft Quartet. They were sometimes credited as The Mellowmen, The Mello Men, or The Mellow Men. They sang backup to some of the best-known artists of the day, including Rosemary Clooney, Bing Crosby, Doris Day, Arlo Guthrie, Frankie Laine, Peggy Lee, Elvis Presley, and Jo Stafford.
I decided to post this video just for the simple fact that Jon Batiste is one of the most animated characters I can think of. That, and we could all use a little FREEDOM!
New Orleans musician Jon Batiste just released his new song FREEDOM, and his video makes the streets of New Orleans sing.
Batiste, clad in a pink suit, gets New Orleans community members on their feet, singing and dancing throughout Treme, the Seventh Ward, City Park and under the Claiborne Expressway.
The St. Augustine Marching 100 were also prominently featured, which is where Batiste went to school.
Batiste’s music company tweeted the link to the music video Friday, calling it a “tribute to New Orleans.”
Batiste describes the song FREEDOM as “like an old movie,” comparing the likeness of the video’s movements to James Brown and Elvis.
“If you think about movies back in the day, you wouldn’t show a black man with a white woman, or you wouldn’t show a black relationship, or you wouldn’t show a woman in a certain role. That is our sexuality and how people are represented. That’s what people like James Brown, or when we saw Elvis with the twist in the hips, did. They were unlocking something in people that they were trying to hold in. These people became beacons of freedom, and you look at the way they move and the way that they express who they are onstage. That becomes the way that you want to be in life.”
Jon Batiste
When I move my body just like this I don’t know why But I feel like freedom (Freedom) I hear a song that takes me back And I let go with so much freedom (Freedom) Free to live (how I wanna live) I’m gon get (what i’m gonna get) ‘Cause it’s my freedom (Freedom)
I love how you talk You speaking my language The way that you walk You can’t contain it Is it the shoes Jumped up, kangaroo We’re overdue for a little more prancing
Now it’s your time (It’s your right) You can shine (It’s alright) If you do I’ma do too
When I move my body just like this I don’t know why But I feel like freedom (Freedom) I hear a song that takes me back And I let go With so much freedom (Freedom) Free to live (How I wanna live) I’m gon get (What I’m gonna get) ‘Cause it’s my freedom (Freedom)
The reason we get down, is to get back up If someones around, Go on let them look You can’t stand still This ain’t no drill More than cheap thrills, (Feels like money money money)
Now it’s your time (It’s your right) You can shine (It’s alright) If you do I’ma do too
‘Cause when I look up to the stars (Stars) I know exactly who we are (Ooh) ‘Cause then I see you shinin’ You shinin’ You shinin’ oh!
Free to be! (Everybody come on) (Freedom!) (Everybody come ‘round) (Everybody come on) (Everybody hit the floor) Come on now!
I’m stuck to the dance floor With the, with the whole tape With the, with the, with the whole tape (Let me see you wobble) I’m stuck to the dance floor With the, with the whole tape With the, with the, with the whole tape (Let me see you shake) Give you just what you ask forgivin’ you the whole shake I’ma give you the whole shake (Let me see you wobble) I’m stuck to the dance floor With the, with the whole tape With the, with the, with the whole tape (Can you make it break?)
I say yeah (Yeah) Oh yeah (Oh yeah) (Let me see you wobble) ‘Cause, you do I’ma do too
When I move my body just like this I don’t know why But I feel like freedom (Freedom) I hear a song that takes me back And I let go With so much freedom (Freedom) Free to live (How I wanna live) I’m gon get (What I’m gonna get) ‘Cause it’s my freedom (Freedom)
FREEDOM is one of the songs on Jon Batiste’s new album We Are.
