Monday, April 28, 2025

X: Xanadu by Olivia Newton-John


 Welcome AtoZ-ers and other blog friends! This month I'm participating in the AtoZ blogging challenge, and you'll see a post every day (except Sundays) about one of the Songs of my Heart. Today's edition: Xanadu by Olivia Newton John.  (If my embedded video won't work, you can listen at this link).

 

 

For a little while there, when I was an older kid, but not yet a teenager, Olivia Newton-John was the it girl. I knew her from her song "Let's Get Physical" which I thought was about exercise and from her stint as Sandra Dee in the movie Grease. I remember hearing about the movie Xanadu, but no one took me to see it. The song was all over the radio, but mostly, I heard the movie was awful, and my mom was shocked that Gene Kelly was in it. 

I didn't see the movie until last year, when it came to the Carolina Theatre of Durham, renowned for its retro film series. Sweetman and I are regulars. And…it wasn't the kind of awful I was expecting. It was more a near-miss kind of thing. Lots of potential there--kind of a fun concept of the Muses coming to contemporary society and one of them deciding to inspire the opening of a nightclub: Xanadu. And this bit where she had inspired Gene Kelly's character when he was young, then came back around. But the acting is overall pretty wooden and you could drive entire trucks through the logic gaps.

 Gene Kelly could still move at age 67 though, even on roller skates. 

Lyrics from AtoZ:

A place where nobody dared to go

The love that we came to know

They call it Xanadu

(The days you cried can't be denied)

And now, open your eyes and see

What we have made is real

We are in Xanadu

(The dream in you, they offer you)


A million lights are dancing

And there you are, a shooting star

An everlasting world

And you're here with me, eternally


Xanadu

Xanadu (Now we are here)

In Xanadu (Xanadu)

Xanadu

Xanadu (Now we are here)

In Xanadu


Xanadu, your neon lights will shine

For you, Xanadu


The love, the echoes of long ago

You needed the world to know

They are in Xanadu

(The love you gave, you'll dream away)

The dream that came through a million years

That lived on through all the tears

It came to Xanadu

(The dream in you, they offer you)


A million lights are dancing

And there you are, a shooting star

An everlasting world

And you're here with me, eternally


Xanadu

Xanadu (Now we are here)

In Xanadu (Xanadu)

Xanadu

Xanadu (Now we are here)

In Xanadu (Xanadu, Xanadu)


Now that I'm here, now that you're near

In Xanadu

Now that I'm here, now that you're near

In Xanadu

Xanadu

 

#AtoZChallenge 2025
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18 comments:

  1. Oh, so glad you finally got to see the film. I actually saw it when it first came out. I think it may have been Gene Kelly’s last film? I need to check that out. And yes, he could certainly dance even on roller skates!

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    1. I think I remember reading that it was his final film.

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  2. Great song! Not my favorite ONJ (or ELO), but a great song, nonetheless.

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    1. Not my favorite of hers either, but it became very popular.

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  3. I like the song but was dumbfounded as to why Gene Kelly agreed to do this. I felt saddened by the fact that he was reduced to playing his old character I a great musical, " Covergirl". I did see this in the theatre

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    1. I was kind of astounded that they scored Gene Kelly for it, too. I LOVE Covergirl.

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  4. Samantha, I saw the movie when it first came out, and I think it was on HBO, Showtime, or something like that. I enjoyed it for what it was, and I agree with what you say about it, but I still see it as a rare gem. I feel the same way about the Sgt Pepper's movie with The Bee Gees.

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    1. Sometimes a movie really captures the time it was made in.

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  5. I remember Xanadu (the song, not the movie) and I also thought Let's Get Physical was about exercise.

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  6. Oh yes, I loved this song. Actually, I loved the whole soundtrack. I owned it on vinyl, but sadly "Xanadu" got a scratch on it. Sigh. I didn't see it when it came out. I can't remember why not, something about not being appropriate? Maybe my parents just didn't want to see it. I did get a chance to see it as an adult (a few years ago, maybe a decade?), and yeah, not great. I appreciated Gene Kelly which I wouldn't have if I had seen it as a kid. I'll just remember the soundtrack and be happy with that.

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    1. I guess that's a good thing about music technology. It's hard to scratch a digital music file!

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  7. I heard of the song but I never saw the movie. And I did hear it was bad. I didn't know Gene Kelly was even in the movie or rather, I didn't know anyone was in it except Olivia Newton-John.

    Have a lovely day.

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    1. He was really the only other "big name" person.

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  8. I also remember when Olivia Newton-John was huge!

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  9. Don’t think I ever saw the movie but heard the song, after all she was “our” Livvie.

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  10. The first version I ever heard of this song was a rock cover! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLzgozJWvoo

    (Xanadu by Tragedy in case the link doesn't work.) They put rock spins on so many disco hits!

    - Allison
    https://lightningflashwriting.blogspot.com/

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