Coda

It's a music movie.

I'm stunned at the lack of buzz re the new season of "Ted Lasso." Today there were articles about its Christmas episode, but only one hand's worth of people have e-mailed me about the show since it launched. It seems like Apple and the media did such a great job of promoting it that they no longer allowed fans to own it. Or maybe it's just not that good, I don't know, I haven't seen it yet, I'm waiting for the season to finish before I dig in, I only binge.

And there's been a concomitant amount of promotion about "Coda." But no one's e-mailing me about it whatsoever.

The hype was hard to miss. Sundance winner. Marlee Matlin insisting deaf characters be played by deaf actors. But it appears the hoi polloi just don't care, that newspaper coverage is the circle jerk of Twitter for the entertainment industry, but even worse, it has little to no effect.

It's kind of like when people ask to send me their physical product, it's streamable online, that's enough, but these people feel better about themselves if they send the CD or vinyl. It makes them feel like they've done something, pushed the project along, when nothing could be further from the truth. Studios and streaming platforms massage old school media and believe they've done their job when nothing could be further from the truth.

But I heartily recommend "Coda," as long as you can handle a heart-tugging, somewhat saccharine movie. But there are edges at times. And I really enjoyed it. It's free with your Apple TV+ subscription, something everybody seems to have, since it comes free with Apple purchases, but there's no talk about "Coda." But if you watch it, you'll tell other people about it.

So what we've got here is Emilia Jones as Ruby, the only hearing person in a family of deaf people, i.e. her parents and her brother Leo.

And you know how it is with films about disabled people, they're perfect, admirable, sans edges. But not this family! They're so busy talking you expect them to break an arm or a finger. And they use salty language. And Ruby is their interpreter, can they live without her?

Families. They don't really want to let you go. They want you to be who they want you to be, and too often people can't escape the pressure.

So the Rossis make their living fishing, in Gloucester, Massachusetts, and Ruby is on the boat as their ears and she's singing...

So what we know now is the hit parade, the Spotify Top 50, is so detached from what people want from music as to be laughable. As for Rihanna, she may be a billionaire, but she hasn't put out an album for five years! So what is so surprising in "Coda" is when they sing songs... Like the Isley Brothers' "It's Your Thing," and Kiki Dee's "I've Got The Music in Me" and David Bowie's "Starman." Yes, they're old, but you can actually sing them, and the lyrics aren't completely vapid. And when the choir sings them your heart will go pitter-patter, that's the power of music right there!

And the astounding thing is Emilia Jones, an actress, has a great voice. She adds meaning to the songs. This is not some TV competition show, this is far from the flat screen. It's not about riches, but the joy of music.

And getting into Berklee.

The music teacher, Eugenio Derbez as Bernardo Villalobos, is a graduate of the college and is deserving of an Academy Award nomination for his supporting role. At first he comes off hokey, but ultimately you realize he's got a solid inside, that he's got a code, which he lives by and insists his charges respect. And isn't it always the arts teachers who can bend the rules with language and attitude and fully reach the students.

So, there's a plot. Having to do with the deaf family and fishing and Ruby being an outcast and it all works, maybe because her family is so off the wall, in a good way. But there's also the story of Ruby's singing. And the question of her future. Will she have one? Or will she be tied down to the boat for the rest of her life.

Now I'm not exactly in the mood I was in after midnight when I watched "Coda." That's when things slow down and you can marinate in art, as opposed to today when I'm dealing with all the incoming. If I'd written this last night it would have less edge and more soul. But if I wrote this last night what difference would it make? "Coda" is not Afghanistan. Not that most Americans care about Afghanistan, despite the news, but my point here is we're all in our separate silos and when the maelstrom gets too tough that's where we retreat. That's why art is king, it soothes our souls.

And when the movie was over, I immediately went to the internet to find out if Emilia really did sing, and more about the actors and the shoot. But simultaneous with my research I pulled up Apple Music to hear...

I started on Apple Music, since it's lossless. But I switched to Spotify, because it was a much more thorough search, yielding results I was unaware of, you see I needed to hear...

"You're All I Need to Get By."

That's the duet in the movie. As a matter of fact, there's even a soundtrack, you can hear the two characters' version here:

https://spoti.fi/37LH4yb

I'm not going to link you to the YouTube clip, because you'll learn too much about the plot.

Not that the iteration of the song will bowl you over, but you see they work on it throughout the movie, from recalcitrance to exuberance. You see and hear it build. And it's so satisfying. And you know it, but it doesn't sound anything like the original, who did the original again? MARVIN GAYE & TAMMI TERRELL!

But that was a hit in 1968, and Tammi unfortunately died not long thereafter.

Then again, Mr. V has the choir sing Marvin's "Let's Get It On," which is both surprising and satisfying at the same time, can you sing this at school?

But the version of "You're All I Need to Get By" in "Coda" is different from the famous hit Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell version, because it's...

A cappella. Just the melody, the notes and the vocals, and it shines in a whole new way. The original hit is more of a record.

Now interestingly the first hit that comes up on Spotify is Michael McDonald's version.

But there's a take by Aretha Franklin. And Diana Ross. Nancy Wilson. Johnny Mathis & Deniece Williams. And even Tony Orlando & Dawn, who made it into the Top 40 with this Ashford & Simpson composition in 1975. Now you know why all the money is in publishing. Write a great song and it's FOREVER!

But the "Coda" version is unique in its quietude. It's not a rollicking record, just high school students singing.

What do we need to get by?

It's hard to stay focused in this overwhelming world in which death is always at the door. But then you watch a movie like "Coda" and it's reinforced what you need is...

People.

Love.

And music.

Have all these and you've got the building blocks of life, and since the version of "You're All I Need to Get By" is so stripped down in the movie the truth emanates, shines brightly and resonates.

Yes, watch "Coda" and when they sing you will fly. Taken to a place only music can lift you.

"You're all, all that I want to strive for and do a little more
You're all, all the joys under the sun wrapped into one
You're all, all that I need to get by"


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