45 of 1001 Songs: Billie Holiday's God Bless the Child

 Billie Holiday has a lot of songs in the 1001 list, and I'm not complaining. If there was one musician I could listen to all the time it would be Billie Holiday. God Bless the Child sounds like a familiar song, but I couldn't place if I had ever heard it. I do know that the song has a lot of truth in the lyrics.

The song references what seems to be a disagreement between parents and a child, and referring to the history behind the song this seems very well what it was about. Not only does this give the song a story but emotion. There is also the classic array of instrumentals that I still haven't heard anything like before. It's light and powerful. It reminds me a lot of Billie Holiday's voicing. There is also a dark backdrop that keeps the song moving.

253 of 1001 Movies: Dumbo (1941)

Most of us seen this when we were children as long as we were born after 1941. Dumbo lived on so long as a popular movie though that it was still just as popular to show kids as it was upon it's release. The elephant would be the most recognized cartoon name in history as well. But I got to thinking what makes Dumbo so popularly good that it's on my list? Well it is the fourth cartoon released from Disney and employs some rare techniques for cartoons. It's also the shortest Disney film there is, so for those with short attention spans it's perfect. Though going back now I also realize that this movie might be rated PG nowadays with the smoking birds, and the drunk Dumbo.

Summary: Dumbo is delivered by a stork to his mother, and at first everyone is cooing over the new cute baby elephant. Until his ears pop and reveal that they are abnormally huge. This sets up the young elephant for ridicule from humans, but also his own kind. His only friend is Timothy, who also believes that Dumbo has potential to be a star. Dumbo's ears though prove to get in his way making him clumsy until he discovers they have the potential for flight.

220 of 1001 Movies: Citizen Kane (1941)

I remember watching this in a college class, and really enjoying it, so I was excited to watch it again since my recollection was fuzzy, and I couldn't remember what made it so good to me. I think having watched more movies from 1941 though I understand a lot better why this movie is as good as it is. The aspect of looking over one man's life all because they want to figure out what a word meant that he spoke before death is interesting. It makes it one of the most unique plots that I've seen. Plus, Welles does some of the most movie magic I've saw with is natural shots that put a creative perspective of the people we are watching.

Summary: Charles Kane is a rich, newspaper tycoon and he seems to have all a man would want. Riches though don't bring happiness and with the inability to achieve love, friendships, and political gain, he finds himself to be alone. Though he is alone he still is one of the most famous man there is. So when he dies it sends the media in a hurricane, especially to figure out what he was referring to when he uttered "Rosebud" right before he took his last breath.