Damn Yankees: Sarah Vaughn's Lola

Sarah Vaughn

1924-1990

Wikipedia

When I first started dating Sun-Ae, way back in 1992, I used to visit her in Munich, and one time, she was playing a record (or maybe a CD?) by some jazz singer. I began listening to the singer's voice, which sounded familiar.

"Who's that?" I asked.

"Sarah Vogun," she replied, pronouncing the surname with a long "o" and a short "u."

I didn't recognize the name, so I checked. "Oh," I remarked, "Sarah Vaughn" (surname pronounced as "Vonn").

I thought of Vaughn recently because I discovered that she sang a version of "Whatever Lola Wants," the temptress song from Damn Yankees, a story in which a disappointed fan of some team defeated by the Yankees strikes a deal with the devil for his team to beat the Yankees. The original -- or at least the first version that I heard sung -- was rendered by Gwen Verdon, and I saw her performance back in the sixties on black-and-white television in my grandparents' home, and watching it now on You Tube, I'm surprised that my grandma let me watch it! Here are the lyrics to Vaughn's version:

Whatever Lola wants, Lola gets
And little man, little Lola wants you
Make up your mind to have (make up your mind to have)
No regrets (no regrets)
Recline yourself, resign yourself, you're through

I always get what I aim for
And your heart and soul is what I came for
Whatever Lola wants (Lola wants), Lola gets (Lola gets)
Take off your coat, don't you know you can't win
(Can't win, you'll never, never win)
You're no exception to the rule
I'm irresistable you fool
Give in (Give in, you'll never win)

Whatever Lola wants, Lola gets
I always get what I aim for
And your heart and soul is what I came for
Whatever Lola wants (Lola wants), Lola gets (Lola gets)
Take off your coat, don't you know you can't win
(Can't win, you'll never, never win)
You're no exception to the rule
I'm irresistable you fool
Give in (give in, you'll never win)
Give in (give in, you'll never win)
Give in.

I recall rooting for the poor man subjected to the temptation, hoping that he would resist, but I'm less sure of my inclinations now that I've heard Vaughn's interpretation . . .

By the way, I wonder if Lola is a Lilith figure. A recent book by Theresa Sanders, Approaching Eden: Adam and Eve in Popular Culture, implies that there is.

How do you like them apples, Mister Hiss?

Visionaire Issue 61: Larger Than Life

Marina Abramovic

If only Eve had been more like Lilith, she might have said, "Hell no, I don't want none of your stinkin' apples, Mister Hiss! I've a hunger of a different sort."

I saw this image of Marina Abramovic by Martin Schoeller in the New York Times, posted in a Suzy Menkes article, "Thinking, and Literally Looking, Very Big" (November 21, 2011), and just couldn't let pass an opportunity to bring in Milton's Paradise Lost . . . sort of.

The image comes originally from the magazine Visionaire, and you can click on a loud, flashly website to investigate further if you like that sort of thing.

Ms. Abramovic is a Serbian performance artist based in New York City . . .