Soon, soon, all too soon (as Echo and the Bunnymen would opine) the election will occur and this endless, distasteful and soul enervating campaign season will be at an end. I get the sense that the gloom is starting to lift a bit as the selections are a little happier, with a couple notable exceptions. As Dr. Maudsley, in the play Bluestockings, performed clumsily by a poorly educated half-wit, would propose, "We have a finite amount of energy. A man who toils in the field all day hasn't the capacity for mental taxation." I feel like we've all been toiling in the political field for over a year, and I may have lost a couple IQ points (and I have precious few to spare). Here's to getting happier, and smarter, starting next week - unless we all move overseas, which is not out of the question. Trust me, you'll find Abu Dhabi a very livable space.
Neil Young, Tonight's the Night (Live Rust)
This week's entry has been written and rewritten and tossed aside several times, with each new incarnation growing progressively darker. As I was in the locker room at the gym the other day listening to some men lamenting the constant hand wringing over this election, and one of them ended with the observation that, "no matter what happens we're going to wake up tomorrow and everything will be fine." Now, I've read enough Marcus Aurelius over the years, and occasionally even absorbed some of the Meditations, that, despite my famous temper, I'm usually pretty balanced in my response to the world. As Marcus reminds us, soon you will have forgotten the world and it will have forgotten you. However, I don't know if I can go there right now. I'm not a fan of Hillary Clinton, but I can certainly live with her. My biggest problem with her is that I feel she is under-motivated to do the right thing; which is not the same thing as saying she is under-qualified (which is what I, echoing the excellent Gary Beatrice, although from the other end of the political spectrum, always found myself saying about George W. Bush); and which is fundamentally different than being unqualified, in this case mind-numbingly unqualified, which is what I would say about Donald Trump. I do think this election matters, and that it matters profoundly, and the fact that Trump even has a chance of winning says something so bad about our country at this moment. I'm playing pretty fast and loose with Young's Tonight's the Night here, although in some ways I feel that as a country we are getting ready to overdose. Borrowing a line from one of my favorite Millennium episodes, I feel that we're at the midnight of the century, or at least the midnight of the American century. Anyway, this song, and especially this version, has been running through my head all week as I thought about what this moment means. Finally, it made me think of the artistic temperament. The other day I had this imaginary conversation with Neil Young where, right before the Rust Never Sleeps tour I asked him, "So, what killer song are you going to blow it out in at the end?" And he responds, "Tonight's the Night." And I answer, "Wow, great choice," while thinking, "What, did you lose the rights to Albuquerque? Of all the songs, seriously? What the shit, man?" I love Tonight's the Night, and it is the foundation song of what I consider to be the greatest rock album of all time, but it's certainly not what I would have thought would make a great song to end a concert, but then, as we know, artists are different - and it is a blistering version.
Gary Beatrice
Whiskeytown, Dancing With the Women at the Bar
Bruce Springsteen has recorded several exceptional songs about his difficult relationship with his father, and the reviews that I've read about his book make it sound that their relationship is also a theme of the book. I have no idea if Ryan Adams had challenges with his father, but the character in Dancing With The Women At The Bar sure does. Even worse, the protagonist seems to have inherited the sins of his father, "dancing" (and surely much more) just like dear old Dad.
But what makes this song hit me so hard is Adam's vocals. When he sings the refrain he captures such a wide range of conflicting emotions, the thrill involved in his behavior, the remorse for what he is doing, the anger at his father.
Ryan Adams has a number of exceptional solo albums, but the first true Whiskeytown album, Strangers' Almanac, from which this song comes, is as good as any of them.
Bruce Springsteen has recorded several exceptional songs about his difficult relationship with his father, and the reviews that I've read about his book make it sound that their relationship is also a theme of the book. I have no idea if Ryan Adams had challenges with his father, but the character in Dancing With The Women At The Bar sure does. Even worse, the protagonist seems to have inherited the sins of his father, "dancing" (and surely much more) just like dear old Dad.
But what makes this song hit me so hard is Adam's vocals. When he sings the refrain he captures such a wide range of conflicting emotions, the thrill involved in his behavior, the remorse for what he is doing, the anger at his father.
Ryan Adams has a number of exceptional solo albums, but the first true Whiskeytown album, Strangers' Almanac, from which this song comes, is as good as any of them.
Dave Wallace
The B-52s, Roam
A bit of a left-field choice for a B-52s song, but I've
always loved "Roam." Fitting with the original travel theme to
this blog (which we've now co-opted into something else), Roam is a wonderful
ode to cutting loose and travelling wherever the wind takes you. Somehow,
the song manages to capture that theme through the joy and freedom of the
music. The "Take it hip to hip rock it through the wilderness"
coda at the end of the song is especially awesome.
Mike Kelly
My Morning Jacket, Golden (n.b.
Excuse the cheesy video and Spanish subtitles- Scudder and I are going to Spain in
two weeks)
So
this is a little bit cheating because I'm chiming in after everyone else has
gone, but you have actually confounded me. I didn't know how to write into the
blog after the husband and wife team put forward Ministry and George Michael in
the same post. Since my mind is somewhat blown, let's simplify
things. Here's a song about two of my favorite things: bars and love.
Earlier
today, I read an interview with Jim James and the frontman from MMJ quickly
ratcheted up the charts on Mike's "People I'd like to have Tennessee
whiskey with" list. He's an earnest hippie who said things in the
interview like "It just seems like we’re moving farther and farther away
from what I know in my heart we can be, which is a just and loving world that
takes care of its citizens regardless of race, class or creed. It could be and
it should be so easy." I know, I know, it's sort of cliched, but I
read this while trying to figure out what to write in a blog that also featured
that holy-shit-wow Whiskeytown song so I flashed back to
"Golden."
As
the world goes batshit and Trump actually has a chance of winning, the ethos of
permanence in this song is a lighthouse of good sense about the stuff that
actually matters. We can't script the way things are actually going to
work out but it's reassuring to know that songs like this one exist, providing
a serene soundtrack to what is a beautiful existence if we have the courage to
look hard enough to see it. A sample......
And you always told me.
No matter how long it holds me
If it falls apart
Or makes us millionaires
You'll be right here forever
We'll go through this thing together
And on heaven's golden shore
We'll lay our heads
No matter how long it holds me
If it falls apart
Or makes us millionaires
You'll be right here forever
We'll go through this thing together
And on heaven's golden shore
We'll lay our heads
Nice
job this week, everyone. -- MK
Miranda Tavares
Taking a page out of Cyndi's book and keeping it light
this week :)
I was watching It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, which, in
case you haven't seen it, is a show about terrible people doing terrible
things...terribly. So the gang does a terrible dance routine for confusing
"reasons," and the routine is to George Michael's Freedom, which I
haven't heard in some years. And it struck me, juxtaposed against the sad,
desperate and misguided characters in the show: this is a pretty great song.
Due to its performing artist the tune has kind of a bad rep, because, Wham!,
but it really is a solid piece of work. It may not have a guitar lick or drum
beat that reaches out and grabs you, but I've always thought that's what
distinguishes pop from other genres (and why I've never been a huge fan of the
genre): nothing is distinguishable, everything melds, and you meld with the
song, too. Unlike
many pop songs, Freedom doesn't have an overpowering snare or tinnitus-inducing
synthesizer, and it's before autotune came along and jacked everything up. I'm
not going to pretend the lyrics are incredibly insightful or meaningful
("Because you don't belong to me/and I don't belong to you;" yes,
that is pretty much the definition of the word that is the song's title) but it
has a good beat and you can dance to it. Or at least nod your head to it.
Nate Bell
We both stayed up too late and are again late. I think
Miranda will have the positive and light part of the partnership this week.
My choice is not so light.
Feeling very anxious, and not feeling terribly hopeful at
the moment. It's less the main candidates and politics and more the level of
hate and dehumanizations I am seeing everywhere. It's been said better and
frequently, but the hate and divisiveness that has been exposed seems far
beyond anything I have seen.
This puts me in a very much Ministry mood.
"They live without hope"
Ministry, Scarecrow
"Staring in the face of condemnation
Laughter fills the sky instead of rain
Laughter fills the sky instead of rain
Live my life alone in resignation
Arms outstretched for those who cannot see
Arms outstretched for those who cannot see
Scarecrow
Crucified and left in isolation
Pictures of our lost morality
Pictures of our lost morality
Scarecrow
Eyeless stares invite this whole damnation
Rotting corpse of inhumanity
Rotting corpse of inhumanity
Scarecrow"
This is how I am picturing life in next weeks (years?)
for many people. We all need to pull out of this spiral, and be better to one
another.
Dave Kelley
"It ain't no sin to be glad you're alive."
Martha and the
Vandellas, Dancing in the Street
My selection this week is neither a dark contemplation on
the never ending election from hell nor an escape from this depressing
time. Bad times come and go for individuals, families, communities, and
nations. That will never change. However, even in our darker moments
there is joy to be found all around us. Dancing, music, and a sense of
togetherness are just a few of the social lubricants for the hardships we
all endure. Louis CK, in his ode to the glory of cured pork,
points out that when you have bacon in your mouth, who gives a fuck who is
president. That is obviously an overstatement done for comedic
effect. But, the dude has a point. Enjoying music with others and
shaking your ass while doing so is bacon on steroids. We should be contemplative,
thoughtful, concerned and angry about the problems of the world. Just not
all of the time. A killer op-ed on the crazy clown running for office has
its place, but so does grabbing the "Huge Ass" beer sign and waiving
it in the street, while your husband twerks, and your friends laugh and
dance. (I will let Miranda explain.) We all love songs
that make deep and interesting points about the world. But music from the
earliest time of the human race has also been about touching a chord in
your feet, your gut, your groin, and your heart. The brain can sit this
shit out every once in a while.
The awesomeness of this song is overwhelmingly apparent
IMHO. I had no idea until recently that Marvin Gaye co-wrote it.
This is my shout out to the great all female vocal groups of the fifties and
sixties. So every guy, grab a girl.... Of course please do not grab
her in the way that The Donald has been known to do.
Gary Scudder
Neil Young, Tonight's the Night (Live Rust)
This week's entry has been written and rewritten and tossed aside several times, with each new incarnation growing progressively darker. As I was in the locker room at the gym the other day listening to some men lamenting the constant hand wringing over this election, and one of them ended with the observation that, "no matter what happens we're going to wake up tomorrow and everything will be fine." Now, I've read enough Marcus Aurelius over the years, and occasionally even absorbed some of the Meditations, that, despite my famous temper, I'm usually pretty balanced in my response to the world. As Marcus reminds us, soon you will have forgotten the world and it will have forgotten you. However, I don't know if I can go there right now. I'm not a fan of Hillary Clinton, but I can certainly live with her. My biggest problem with her is that I feel she is under-motivated to do the right thing; which is not the same thing as saying she is under-qualified (which is what I, echoing the excellent Gary Beatrice, although from the other end of the political spectrum, always found myself saying about George W. Bush); and which is fundamentally different than being unqualified, in this case mind-numbingly unqualified, which is what I would say about Donald Trump. I do think this election matters, and that it matters profoundly, and the fact that Trump even has a chance of winning says something so bad about our country at this moment. I'm playing pretty fast and loose with Young's Tonight's the Night here, although in some ways I feel that as a country we are getting ready to overdose. Borrowing a line from one of my favorite Millennium episodes, I feel that we're at the midnight of the century, or at least the midnight of the American century. Anyway, this song, and especially this version, has been running through my head all week as I thought about what this moment means. Finally, it made me think of the artistic temperament. The other day I had this imaginary conversation with Neil Young where, right before the Rust Never Sleeps tour I asked him, "So, what killer song are you going to blow it out in at the end?" And he responds, "Tonight's the Night." And I answer, "Wow, great choice," while thinking, "What, did you lose the rights to Albuquerque? Of all the songs, seriously? What the shit, man?" I love Tonight's the Night, and it is the foundation song of what I consider to be the greatest rock album of all time, but it's certainly not what I would have thought would make a great song to end a concert, but then, as we know, artists are different - and it is a blistering version.
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