Perhaps like me you’ve wondered why we call it “Thursday” but in French and Spanish it’s “Jeudi” and “Jueves” respectively.  By Jove, here’s why. It’s because in Romance languages this is the day of Jupiter, that rumbling Roman god of thunder, lightning and the great big sky.

Jeudi, check; Jeuves, check; but how does that explain Thursday?  Well, in northern Europe after the Romans “came calling” and (whether they liked it or not) the Germanic people adopted the Roman calendar, Jupiter was identified with the Norse god, Thor; he of rumbling thunder, flashes of lighting and one big hammer.  Hence Jupiter’s day became “Thor’s day” in Germanic languages, of which English is one.

So where’s this leading?  Well, far, from the great northwestern expanses of the Roman Empire, and about 1,500 years after its collapse, an Australian girl named Melanie Horsnell won a songwriting competition and used the money to leave her hometown of Sidney to fly to London, where she lived as a busker for a year.  The wonderful thing about street performing is that it gives you lots of practice in public and Melanie, who hadn’t originally considered a musical career, decided to pursue one.

Back in Sidney she became a regular at the (suburban) Glebe Excelsior Hotel, known for its live music tradition, and slowly joined the vanguard of the local folk scene, building up a fan base.  On the side she was hired to provide songs for Australian television commercials (e.g. McDonalds, Huggies and Johnnie Walker), which led to a National Grid commercial in the States.

Occasionally performing with some fellow musicians under the name… Forever Thursday, it was this collaborative effort that provided the music for Melanie’s next American commercial gig, J.C. Penney and you will doubtless recognize today’s selection, Forever Thursday’s 2007 debut release, which was later released as a whimsical music video that begins with a girl (Melanie) staring quizzically at the great big morning sky…

LISTEN TO TODAY’S SELECTION – Thursday 29 March 

How Can It Be

 I say, and so say I

My morning thought

It knew itself just fine

Until across the room

It caught its first glimpse of my afternoon

How can it be

That these things live in me?

 I say, and so say I

My morning’s day seems nothing like its night

My night so self assured

Was all at sea when faced with dawn’s strange world

 How can it be

That these things live in me?

I say, and so say I

My morning’s day seems nothing like its night

My night so self assured

Was all at sea when faced with dawn’s strange world

 How can it be

That these things live in me?