Pink Martini has twelve instrumentalists (and sometimes travels with string sections), and performs its multilingual repertoire on concert stages and with symphony orchestras throughout Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Northern Africa, Australia and New Zealand and North America. Pink Martini made its European debut at the Cannes Film Festival in 1997 and its orchestral debut with the Oregon Symphony in 1998 under the direction of Norman Leyden. Since then, the band has gone on to play with over 30 orchestras around the world, including multiple engagements with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl, the Boston Pops, the National Symphony at the Kennedy Center and the BBC Concert Orchestra in London. Other appearances include the grand opening of the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s new Frank Gehry-designed Walt Disney Concert Hall, with return sold-out engagements for New Year’s Eve 2003, 2004 & 2008; two sold-out concerts at Carnegie Hall; the opening party of the remodeled Museum of Modern Art in NYC; the Governor’s Ball at the 80th Annual Academy Awards in 2008; and the opening of the 2008 Sydney Festival in Australia.
Lauderdale met China Forbes, Pink Martini’s lead vocalist, at Harvard. He was studying history and literature while she was studying English literature and painting. Late at night, they would break into the lower common room in their college dormitory and sing arias by Puccini and Verdi – and the occasional campy Barbra Streisand cover –thus sealing their creative collaboration. Three years after graduating, Lauderdale called Forbes who was living in New York City, where she’d been writing songs and playing guitar in her own folk-rock project, and asked her to join Pink Martini. They began to write songs together for the band. Their first song “Sympathique”– with the chorus “Je ne veux pas travailler” (”I don’t want to work”) – became an overnight sensation in France, and was even nominated for “Song of the Year” at France’s Victoires de la Musique Awards. Forbes, though fluent only in English, sings in 15 different languages.
Pink Martini’s debut album Sympathique was released independently in 1997 on the band’s own label Heinz Records (named after Lauderdale’s dog), and quickly became an international phenomenon, garnering the group nominations for “Song of the Year” and “Best New Artist” in France’s Victoires de la Musique Awards in 2000.
In October 2004, the group released its second album, Hang on Little Tomato.
In May 2007, it released its third album, Hey Eugene!.
A fourth studio album, Splendor in the Grass, followed on October 27, 2009.
Sympathique, Hang on Little Tomato and Hey Eugene! have all gone gold in France, Canada, Greece and Turkey; collectively, Pink Martini's records have sold more than two million copies worldwide.
On New Year's Eve 2005, Pink Martini performed live at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall in Portland, Oregon. This performance was aired live on National Public Radio's Toast of the Nation, and in partnership with Oregon Public Broadcasting was recorded for a live DVD and later broadcast on US public broadcasting and French television.[citation needed] The DVD has been rereleased to retail as Discover the World: Live in Concert, featuring not only the full concert, but several vignettes and a short documentary of the band's history.
The band has collaborated and performed with Jimmy Scott, Carol Channing, Henri Salvador, Jane Powell, Chavela Vargas, Georges Moustaki, Michael Feinstein, DJ Dimitri from Paris, clarinetist and conductor Norman Leyden, Hiroshi Wada, DJ Johnny Dynell and several drag queens from New York City, among others. On June 1, 2007, the band appeared on the long-running BBC Two Later with Jools Holland TV music program. On June 14, 2007, Pink Martini performed on Late Show with David Letterman, performing "Hey Eugene".
Pink Martini played Walt Disney Concert Hall on New Year's Eve for the first two years it was open (2003/4 and 2004/5). They returned to play NYE there again in 2008/9.
In May 2009, the band recorded three concerts with the Oregon Symphony under the direction of Carlos Kalmar for the band’s fifth album … a symphonic record which is slated for a 2011 release.
Pink Martini songs appear in such films as In the Cut, Nurse Betty, Josie and the Pussycats, Tortilla Soup, Shanghai Kiss, Mary and Max, and Mr. & Mrs. Smith and have been used on television shows such as Dead Like Me, The Sopranos and The West Wing, among others.[citation needed] Their song "Una notte a Napoli" is an integral part of the Italian movie Mine Vaganti (2010), by the Italian-Turkish director Ferzan Özpetek. The song "No Hay Problema" is included as background/setup music for Microsoft's Windows Server 2003 and was also used as the background/setup music for an early build of Windows Longhorn, now known as Windows Vista.[citation needed]
In February 2011, the group's lead singer, China Forbes, recorded a video greeting to the European Space Agency's Italian astronaut, Paolo Nespoli, and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Kaleri, on board the International Space Station. The astronauts were preparing to oversee the docking of ESA's Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) cargo vessel, Johannes Kepler, which took place at 17:08 CET on 24 February. The greeting was set to the sound track of Dosvedanya Mio Bombino - one of Pink Martini's signature songs - and was mixed with footage of the actual docking.
In November 2011, they played at the Balboa Theater with the Bonita Vista High School band, Club Blue.
Never On Sunday
Pink Martini Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
A Monday, a Monday is very, very good
Or you can kiss me on a Tuesday
A Tuesday, a Tuesday, in fact I wish you would
Or you can kiss me on a Wednesday
A Thursday, a Friday and Saturday is best
But never, never on a Sunday
A Sunday, a Sunday, 'cause that's my day of rest
Most any day you can be my guest
Any day you say, but my day of rest
Just name the day that you like the best
Only stay away on my day of rest
Oh, you can kiss me on a cool day, a hot day
A wet day, which everyone you choose
Or try to kiss me on a gray day, a May day
A pay day, and see if I refuse
And if you make it on a bleak day
A freak day, a week day, why you can be my guest
But never, never on a Sunday
The song Never On Sunday by Pink Martini is a playful and flirtatious tune about the singer's availability for love and kisses on any day of the week except on Sundays. The song's catchy melody and upbeat tempo complement the upbeat lyrics, and the bridge of the song has a mambo-like rhythm, adding to the song's playful tone. The song's opening lines, "Oh, you can kiss me on a Monday, A Monday, a Monday is very, very good. Or you can kiss me on a Tuesday, A Tuesday, a Tuesday, in fact, I wish you would," sets the tone for the rest of the lyrics where the singer invites a potential lover to kiss her any day of the week except on her day of rest, Sunday.
The lyrics showcase the singer's independent spirit and drive to keep her Sunday's holy and separate from the rest of the week. The song also conveys the message that the singer values her time for herself and that she is not willing to compromise it, even for a potential lover. The line "Most any day, you can be my guest, Any day you say, but my day of rest," reveals the singer's willingness to be flexible with her time and that she is open to love and affection, but not on Sundays.
Line by Line Meaning
Oh, you can kiss me on a Monday
Kissing me on a Monday is fine and even preferred
A Monday, a Monday is very, very good
In fact, kissing me on a Monday is great
Or you can kiss me on a Tuesday
Kissing me on a Tuesday is also an option
A Tuesday, a Tuesday, in fact I wish you would
I would even like it if you kissed me on a Tuesday
Or you can kiss me on a Wednesday
Wednesday is also a possible day for kissing
A Thursday, a Friday and Saturday is best
But these other days are even better for kissing
But never, never on a Sunday
However, please never try to kiss me on a Sunday
A Sunday, a Sunday, 'cause that's my day of rest
Sunday is reserved for me to rest and not be bothered
Most any day you can be my guest
I welcome you to kiss me most days
Any day you say, but my day of rest
Pick any day except Sunday, which is the day I rest and don't want to be bothered
Just name the day that you like the best
Choose the day that works best for you
Only stay away on my day of rest
Just remember to not try to kiss me on a Sunday
Oh, you can kiss me on a cool day, a hot day
Temperature doesn't matter for when you kiss me
A wet day, which everyone you choose
It can even be raining, it doesn't matter
Or try to kiss me on a gray day, a May day
Even on a dreary or specific month day, it's okay to try to kiss me
A pay day, and see if I refuse
Even on payday, feel free to attempt to kiss me
And if you make it on a bleak day
If you manage to get a kiss from me on a dreary day
A freak day, a week day, why you can be my guest
or even an unusual day or regular weekday, then please feel free to kiss me
But never, never on a Sunday
As a reminder, please never try to kiss me on a Sunday
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Manos Hadjidakis, Billy Towne
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Eλένη Βαρμάζη
Traduction du texte :
Depuis ma fenêtre j'envoie
un, deux et trois et quatre baisers
qui arrivent au port
un et deux et trois et quatre oiseaux
Comme je voudrais en avoir un et deux
et trois et quatre enfants
qui quand ils grandiront tous
deviendront des hommes forts pour le bien du Pirée
Autant que je cherche, je ne trouve aucun autre port
qui me rende folle autant que Le Pirée
Où, quand le soir arrive, ses chansons se suivent
sa partition change et, se remplit d'enfants
De ma porte dès que je sors
il n'y a personne que je n’aime pas
et quand le soir je m’endors, je sais que -
Je sais que je vais rêver de lui
Une parure de pierres autour du cou, et une pe-,
et une pe-, une perle en amulette
parce que le soir je sors sur le port
pour rencontrer un inconnu
Autant que je cherche, je ne trouve aucun autre port
qui me rende folle autant que Le Pirée
Où, quand le soir arrive, ses chansons se suivent
sa partition change et, se remplit d'enfants
Ilias Kotsifas
The first foreign song to win an Oscar in the history of the academy. And it is Greek. But who knows it here in Greece? The do not even know who is the composer.. Pink Martini, heard you for the first time in 'una notte a Napoli' and I felt in love with you. Hearing your absolutely brilliant Greek pronunciation of yours, made me love you. Thank you
Daniela Contursi
Pero qué hermosa canción, por favor! 💚
Rita Schüle
I really have chills right now listening to this amazing interpretation of this wonderful song!! Thank you Pink Martini, your music is makes this world a better place 💗
emmalina bradbury
A favourite song for years, and this amazing rendition my favourite one, love Greece, the song, and the performance.
Christine Mary Gallacher
That is definitely the most beautiful rendition of Never on a Sunday I have ever hear absolutely wonderful....
Tuncel Gulsoy
I totally agree, I remember playing this song at my radio program for those Greek Audiophile Club members who had visited us in Istanbul.
Solo BV
I live in a neighbourhood of Piraeus right at the port (Drapetsona), there is an old warehouse with a clock on top and every day at 23:05 this song is played.I grew up hearing this song daily especially when i was at my grandparents house which was really close to the clock.Really nice accent for a non greek , magical performance.
Merlin Hopkins
That is an incredibly beautiful memory.
panathasg13
Very well done job with the greek! Is a difficult language and she did a fantastic job.
To be fair i was listening to the playlist and came across Never on Sunday and thought... Oh Greek!, my language. This as noted is named Ta pedia tou Pirea!
It literally translates to Children of Piraeus (Greece) but the song really refers to the men at the port of Pireaus
Spiros M
it was such a pleasant surprise seeing that song on the suggestions. It's a very beautiful cover and your greek accent was pretty good especially given that greek is a pretty difficult language and only about 11 million people speak it.