Dancing About Architecture

Chicago (184/365)

2008-09-04T21:38:00.008-04:00

Chicago - Lucy Wainwright Roche: Chicago will always remind me of picking plump succulent mountain blueberries with Libby. Discovering ones that tasted just like a Louie-Bloo Raspberry^® Otter Pop made for our favorite part. Cullen summed it up best, "I could listen to her sing 24/7 and never be bored."

Flying home Friday
over the buildings and
I did it my way,
leaking from some one else's ears
cut him some slack
look out the window
you're not coming back

Isn't it funny?
Isn't it something?
Isn't simple after all?
Goodnight Chicago,
you have sky's as red as any summer.
Goodnight Chicago
you are mine,
tonight.
Goodnight Chicago,
you have eyes as bright as any child's.
Goodnight Chicago
you are mine
tonight.

Long Haired Country Boy or Dental Floss(183/365)

2008-06-04T08:02:00.013-04:00

Which should it be????

Long Haired Country Boy - Charlie Daniels Band
or
Dental Floss - Frank Zappa: Carita was an absolute CBD freak in H.S., so naturally when I hear them I think of her. My mom and hers recently took a road trip together. She's living in Montana now, an architect with three kids. Guess I need to change her song.

Nice Day (182/365)

2008-06-03T08:45:00.009-04:00

Nice Day - Tommy Womack: Nice Day = Nothing Broken, No E.R. visits. This pretty much sums up my life. Except the hair part, mine is still wild and thick. Conversely, my brothers' hair have all high-tailed it off their heads, running down their backs, in search of an escape route.

I'm 45, my hair is going,
I've got a shaky sense of self esteem,
but in that water, that smile on my boy's face
for a moment life was not a bad dream.

It's been a nice day,
we all went swimming.
"I love you Daddy."
he said that twice.

Nothing got broken
No one got sunburned
I never freaked out,
it was nice.

I worry often,
I live in terror
of what life might have in store.

Ooh La La (181/365)

2008-06-02T07:34:00.015-04:00

Ooh La La - Ronnie Lane and Ron Wood: Every time I hear this I cry because I never knew my grandfathers, I sure could have used their love and wisdom. As I sip my morning java and look at Grandfather Mountain, I'm beginning to discover a new kind of wisdom. Blessed by love.

Watch Rod Stewart and The Coors perform Ooh La La

I wish that I knew what I know now
When I was younger.
I wish that I knew what I know now
When I was stronger.

I Went Wrong (180/365)

2008-06-01T08:08:00.002-04:00

I Went Wrong - Sean Costello: The rise and fall of a promising musical love affair. Discovered this lovely new-to-me talent the other day...I was so excited. Moments later as I visited his MySpace, I learned of his early demise, exactly one month after his death. A life cut short.

Sugar Mountain (179/365)

2008-05-31T13:17:00.000-04:00

Sugar Mountain - Neil Young: The day I turned 20, I listened to this song. Recently went to Sugar Mountain for the first time. Honestly, it's probably the most hideous looking mountain top in all of the Blue Ridge. Who's idea was it to put that condo up there? UGLY!!!

Oh, to live on Sugar Mountain
With the barkers and the colored balloons
You can't be twenty on Sugar Mountain
Though you're thinking that you're leaving there too soon
You're leaving there too soon

Side Note... Neil recently had a spider named for him. Click here to read more.

Stratford-On-Guy (178/365)

2008-05-30T08:50:00.001-04:00

Coffey Hall (and the surrounding Coffey Grounds)

Stratford-On-Guy - Liz Phair: Mundelein College, back in the day was an unique institution (now part of Loyola). My dorm room was the last room east with Lake Michigan as my next-door neighbor. In all the days I lived there, it never looked the same; always changing, always beautiful.

I was flying into Chicago at night
Watching the lake turn the sky into blue-green smoke

Mr. Lee (177/365)

2008-05-29T09:31:00.004-04:00

The Bobbettes - Mr. Lee: Until today I never heard this song in its entirety, but bits of it run through my head at strange hours, especially on sunny afternoons when I'm missing the lake front. If you're from Chicago, I bet you know this song too. Tell me how.

Hint:

Northern Town (176/365)

2008-05-28T17:34:00.001-04:00

Northern Town - GaNgLy MoOsE: Moved to a small mountain town over the weekend. "Things around here move a little on the slow side, (but) what I've found... there's nothing like a northern town." Lots of wild turkey running about; haven't encountered a bear yet; hoping to see river otters.

Click here to hear Northern Town

Livin' in a messed up place
is everything I need
grow roots in the burying ground
growing freedom

cussin' at the fading light
climbed up the mountain
I'm sliding down the other side
gaining speed

standing on the hallowed ground
what I've found well there's
nothing like a northern town
standing on the hallowed ground
what I've found well there's
nothing like a northern town

living in a time that's right
for taking a little seed
the whole wide world Lord's coming down on me
stop and take a look you'll see
it takes a whole lot of people to make a happy family

what I've found
standing on the hallowed ground
what I've found well there's
nothing like a northern town
standing on the hallowed ground
what I've found well there's
nothing like a northern town

fell off the edge of this earth
going to find you
maybe you can tell me where the time's run off to

sun and moon they've gone to hide
things around here move a little on the slow side

what I've found
standing on the hallowed ground
what I've found well there's
nothing like a northern town
standing on the hallowed ground
what I've found well there's
nothing like a northern town
and don't let it get you down

Truckin' (175/365)

2008-05-22T23:17:00.002-04:00

Truckin' - Grateful Dead: When I was younger I thought it would be cool to be a truck driver. What better way to see the country right? Today my dream came true. Guess what? It's not all that it's cracked up to be. Sang this song while I drove.

Truckin' got my chips cashed in. keep truckin, like the do-dah man
Together, more or less in line, just keep truckin' on.

Arrows of neon and flashing marquees out on main street.
Chicago, New York, Detroit and its all on the same street.
Your typical city involved in a typical daydream
Hang it up and see what tomorrow brings.

Dallas, got a soft machine; houston, too close to New Orleans;
New Yorks got the ways and means; but just won't let you be, oh no.

Most of the cast that you meet on the streets speak of true love,
Most of the time they're sittin' and cryin' at home.
One of these days they know they better get goin'
Out of the door and down on the streets all alone.

Truckin, like the do-dah man. once told me you've got to play your hand
Sometimes your cards ain't worth a dime, if you dont lay em down,

Sometimes the lights all shinin' on me;
Other times I can barely see.
Lately it occurs to me what a long, strange trip its been.

What in the world ever became of sweet Jane?
She lost her sparkle, you know she isn't the same
Livin on reds, vitamin c, and cocaine,
All a friend can say is ain't it a shame?

Truckin, up to buffalo. been thinkin, you got to mellow slow
Takes time, you pick a place to go, and just keep truckin on.

Sittin and starin out of the hotel window.
Got a tip they're gonna kick the door in again
I'd like to get some sleep before I travel,
But if you got a warrant, I guess youre gonna come in.

Busted, down on bourbon street, set up, like a bowlin pin.
Knocked down, it gets to wearin thin. they just wont let you be, oh no.

You're sick of hangin around and you'd like to travel;
Get tired of travelin and you want to settle down.
I guess they can't revoke your soul for tryin,
Get out of the door and light out and look all around.

Sometimes the lights all shinin on me;
Other times I can barely see.
Lately it occurs to me what a long, strange trip its been.

Truckin', I'm a goin' home. whoa whoa baby, back where I belong,
Back home, sit down and patch my bones, and get back truckin' on.
Hey now get back truckin' home.

Love and Gasoline (174/365)

2008-05-21T09:14:00.015-04:00

Love and Gasoline - Donna The Buffalo: Last year in Chicago to visit the family, Hayden and I spied this on a Dummer, aka Hummer and we nearly fell out laughing over the owner's license plate poetry. "How I wonder as I wander" what it must co$t to "Fil Er Up" now.

Click to listen to 30 second clip of Love and Gasoline

Long road we're laying it down
Step into the picture at the edge of town
And wide, wide as can be
Each and every day a bit of destiny

Lay down here by your side
White stars are passing in the middle of the night
Cool hands moving us along
Wise in the moment, Settled in the dawn

I'm not,
I'm not living for a simple dream
I'm still livin' on love and gasoline

Warm winds blowing through the trees
Time and revelation whistling 'round my knees
Same wind of a freeing kind
Sentimental journey coming into mind

Sunrise and the whole world sees
All that lays before is made for you and me
Real Love makes the world dance
Universal language stands a fighting chance

How I wonder as I wander
Where the answers lie
Chasing my thoughts
I hear thunder race across the sky

Radio Cure (173/365)

2008-05-20T22:02:00.000-04:00

Radio Cure - Wilco: Radio Cure is amusing. It leaves me with a pleasurable deride; its visceral yet diametrical. These words keep getting more complex with each listening and I can't help but be amazed by Tweedy's poetry. Misheard* this line as, "Honey, your kisses are clouds of fog".

Cheer up, honey, I hope you can
There is something wrong with me
My mind is filled with silvery stars
* Honey, kisses, clouds of fog
Shoulders shrugging off

Cheer up, honey, I hope you can
There is something wrong with me
My mind is filled with radio cures
Electronic surgical words

Picking apples for the kings & queens
of things I've never seen
Oh, distance has no way of making love understandable

Cheer up, honey, I hope you can
There is something wrong with me
My mind is filled with silvery stars
* Honey, kisses, clouds of fog

Picking apples for the kings & queens
of things I've never seen
Oh, distance has no way of making love understandable
Oh, distance has no way of making love understandable
Oh, distance has the way of making love understandable
Oh, distance has the way of making love understandable

Cheer up, honey, I hope you can

Postcards From Hell (172/365)

2008-05-19T06:27:00.003-04:00

Postcards From Hell - The Wood Brothers: I have a musical addiction problem. Which is a lot less evil than the more obvious ones. Still this is how burn-out and over-play occur. The more I listen to PFH, the more I've got to have it. Great advice, "don't read postcards from hell".

*To listen, click here and select PFH from right side. I highly recommend this album (Loaded - The Wood Brothers).

I know a man who sings the blues
Yeah he plays just what he feels
Keeps a letter in the pocket of his coat
But he never breaks the seal

Set up in a bar room corner
Playin' for tips and beer
People carryin' on and drinkin'
You gotta strain to hear

I've seen him playin' some old cheap guitar
But he could play on pots and pans
You never heard a soul so pure and true
It's flowin' right out of his hands
He can sing sweet as a choir girl
Or he can sing a house on fire
I've seen him callin' up the angels
And use a breeze for a telephone wire

But if you ask him
How he sings his blues so well
He says,
I got a soul that I won't sell
I got a soul that I won't sell
I got a soul that I won't sell
And I don't read postcards from hell

Says he came from down in Texas
Playin' out since he's fifteen
You can hear a little Chicago
And a lot of New Orleans
He can take you on a freight train
He can take you down the alley
He can take you to the church
He can walk you through the valley

But if you ask him
How he sings his blues so well
He says,
I got a soul that I won't sell
I got a soul that I won't sell
I got a soul that I won't sell
And I don't read postcards from hell

I've seen him sleepin' in a doorway
Maybe livin' outside
On his back just like a cockroach
But he ain't waitin' to die

And if you ask him
How he sings his blues so well
He says,
I got a soul that I won't sell
I got a soul that I won't sell
I got a soul that I won't sell
And I don't read postcards from hell

Mountains O' Things (171/365)

2008-05-18T08:59:00.002-04:00

Mountains O' Things - Tracy Chapman:

Tracy's singing,

The life I've always wanted
I guess I'll never have
I'll be working for somebody else
Until I'm in my grave
I'll be dreaming of a live of ease
And mountains
Oh mountains o things

from Hayden's speakers

To have a big expensive car
Drag my furs on the ground
And have a maid that I can tell
To bring me anything
Everyone will look at me with envy and with greed
Ill revel in their attention
And mountains
Oh mountains o things

as I pack boxes with all the stuff I've accumulated the last few months. Surrounded by these mountains of things, I can't help but feel ridiculously incongruous. Especially now with the economy on the brink.

Sweet lazy life
Champagne and caviar
I hope you'll come and find me
Cause you know who we are
Those who deserve the best in life
And know what moneys worth
And those whose sole misfortune
Was having mountains o nothing at birth

I pause to remind myself...

Oh they tell me
Theres still time to save my soul
They tell me
Renounce all
Renounce all those material things you gained by
Exploiting other human beings

Consume more than you need
This is the dream
Make you pauper
Or make you queen
I wont die lonely
I'll have it all prearranged
A grave thats deep and wide enough
For me and all my mountains o things

Mostly I feel lonely
Good good people are
Good people are only
My stepping stones
Its gonna take all my mountains o things
To surround me
Keep all my enemies away
Keep my sadness and loneliness at bay

Black Magic (170/365)

2008-05-16T10:06:00.008-04:00

Black Magic - Ollie and Friends: When Oliver, a self-taught guitar player came to visit, he walked into my living room, grabbed Gary's left-handed guitar, turned it upside down and started to play like it was nada deal. His music is his own creation. I describe it as fusion meets psychedelic.

Oliver is on the left...

More Ollie...

How To Save A Life (169/365)

2008-05-15T17:22:00.016-04:00

How To Save A Life - The Fray: Hell, it's way too soon to write about... yet tangled in these lyrics is my own reality. Fortunately, I never lost my friend because for some freaky reason he came to me to talk and I got him help. Still, I fear for his future.

Let him know that you know best
Because after all, you do know best
Try to slip past his defense
Without granting innocence
Lay down a list of what is wrong
Things you told him all along
Pray to God he hears you
And pray to God he hears you

And where did I go wrong?
I lost a friend somewhere along in the bitterness
And I would have stayed up with you all night
Had I known how to save a life

As he begins to raise his voice
You lower yours and grant him one last choice
Drive until you lose the road
Or break with the ones you've followed
He will do one of two things:
He will admit to everything
Or he'll say he's just not the same
And you'll begin to wonder why you came

Barely Breathing (168/365)

2008-05-14T11:45:00.009-04:00

Barely Breathing - Duncan Sheik: When Libby was a newborn, she was sick; spending the first six days of her life recovering from her birth*. I lived in the N.I.C.U. and late one night Barely Breathing played over the nurses' radio. Proving again the irony of God's sense of humor.

*Respiratory Distress Syndrome (Click to learn)

I know what you're doing, I see it all too clear
I only taste the saline when I kiss away your tears
You really had me going, wishing on a star
But the black holes that surround you are heavier by far
I believed in your confusion, you were so completely torn
It must have been that yesterday was the day that I was born

More Than Feeling (167/365)

2008-05-13T22:26:00.012-04:00

More Than A Feeling - Boston: It's a peerless May afternoon, Cindy and I are walking along the sea wall at Foster Avenue Beach; talking and enjoying all the sidewalk art. It's 1977, our time to be fresh-faced, young and carefree. Boston's screaming from some teenage boys' Boom-box. We start dancing.

Art along Lake Michigan.
Are these pieces of Chicago history doomed? Click Here to learn more.

So many people have come and gone
Their faces fade as the years go by
Yet I still recall as I wander on
As clear as the sun in the summer sky

Uncle John's Band (166/365)

2008-05-12T13:19:00.012-04:00

Uncle John's Band - Grateful Dead: Cathy's* parent's record collection completely blew me a way. "Do you realize," I stammered, holding a copy of Working Man's Dead, "that my brother Robert has this same album!" It never occurred to me until then that parents c/sh/w/ould even like rock and roll music.

*Please stop by and visit her new blog @

River of Music

Your psychedelic trip awaits...

Well the first days are the hardest days, don't you worry any more,
cause when life looks like easy street, there is danger at your door.
Think this through with me, let me know your mind,
Wo, oh, what I want to know, is are you kind?

Beyond The Sea (165/365)

2008-05-11T11:47:00.016-04:00

Beyond The Sea - Bobby Darin: My parents weren't fond of "all that wild rock and roll music" streaming from their children's rooms. At Sunday dinners in the dining room, my mom insisted on Formal, which almost always include some Bobby Darin. Happy memories. Thanks mom for teaching me proper etiquette.

Warning his lips aren't in sync with this recording...

Somewhere beyond the sea

      Somewhere waitin’ for me

      My lover stands on golden sands

      And watches the ships that go sailin’.

      Somewhere beyond the sea

      She's there watchin’ for me

      If I could fly like birds on high

      Then straight to her arms I’d go sailin’.

      It's far beyond the stars

      It's near beyond the moon

      I know beyond a doubt

      My heart will lead me there soon.

Night Moves (164/365)

2008-05-10T07:50:00.000-04:00

Night Moves - Bob Seger: Freshman year of H.S., working at Corn-A-Plenty, next-door to Lockwood Castle, consuming much of the inventory, drinking in the back-room of the store after hours because I had the key...This was my Night Moves. X-wild-child that's making sure her kids don't take after her.

We were just young and restless and bored
Livin' by the sword
And we'd steal away every chance we could
To the back-room, to the alley or the trusty woods
I used her, she used me
But neither one cared
We were gettin' our share
Workin' on our night moves
Tryin' to lose the awkward teenage blues

Isn't Nice To Be Home Again? (163/365)

2008-05-09T12:37:00.002-04:00

Isn't It Nice To Be Home Again? - James Taylor: Ironically, standing in the Wal-Mart return line, I'm home again. The older lady in front of me immediately starts-up a friendly conversation. She was sincere and genuine, so I just had to ask, "What part of the Midwest are you from?" "Cleveland, Ohio," she replied.

Late last night so far away
I dreamed my-self a dream
Well I dreamed I was so all alone
Isn't it nice to be home again?
I said welcome home
Didn't we miss your smiling face
Well the sun was nice in L.A.
Sun-shine
But isn't it nice to be home again?
Well I said isn't it nice to be home a-gain?

Jet Airliner (162/365)

2008-05-07T09:26:00.017-04:00

Jet Airliner - Steve Miller Band: At the car dealership getting work done on Dale, my almost one year old Mustang GT. SMB comes over the speakers playing this song and I want to jam-out, but I'm in public. Instead, I decide to get nitrogen in my tires, like a "big ol' jet airliner".

Leavin' home, out on the road
I've been down before
Ridin' along in this big ol' jet plane
I've been thinkin' about my home
But my love light seems so far away
And I feel like it's all been done
Somebody's tryin' to make me stay
You know I've got to be movin' on

Oh, Oh big ol' jet airliner
Don't carry me too far away
Oh, Oh big ol' jet airliner
Cause it's here that I've got to stay

Lovin' Arms (161/365)

2008-05-06T09:17:00.002-04:00

Lovin' Arms - The Wood Brothers: I like these lyrics, "But what if he's got slippery hands?" They're cool, bold, and so human. The music is tight, like the siblings that made it. I just know Loaded will become a favorite. Definitely one of the best CDs I've heard this year.
To listen to Lovin' Arms click here.

And you've got a good mind to pray
They say it's all part of his plan,
But what if he's got slippery hands?

Riding With The King (160/365)

2008-05-05T15:20:00.002-04:00

Riding With The King - John Hiatt: First fell in love with Hiatt after hearing RWTK. That voice! Dave played it for me and I just couldn't get enough. Although I've never been a huge fan of The King, I feel His influence ripple through most of the bands that I adore.

I dreamed I did a good job and I got well paid
Blew it all at the penny arcade
A hundred dollars on a Kewpie doll
I guess no white chick is gonna make me crawl.

On a TWA to the promised land.
Every woman, child and man
Gets a Cadillac and a great big diamond ring.
Don't you know you're riding with the king?

He's on a mission of mercy to the new frontier,
He's gonna check us all on out of here.
Up to that mansion on a hill
Where you can get your prescription filled.
Any kinda pill.

Get on a TWA to the promised land.
Everybody clap your hands.
And don't you just love the way that he sings?
Don't you know we're riding with the king?
Riding with the king.
Don't you know we're riding with the king?

A tuxedo and shiny 335.
You can see it in his face, the blue never lie.
Tonight everybody's getting their angel wings.
And don't you know we're riding with the king?

I stepped out of Mississippi when I was ten years old
With a suit cut sharp as a razor and a heart made of gold.
I had a guitar hanging just about waist high
And I'm gonna play this thing until the day I die.

Don't you know we're riding with the king?
Don't you know we're riding with the king?
Riding, you're riding with the king.
You're riding, you're riding with the king.

Do You Remember? (159/365)

2008-05-01T00:50:00.005-04:00

Do You Remember? - Jack Johnson: Jack's music is like an audio Prozac. I mean this positively. There's something so soothing about his sound. Imagine the "painted on flowers" girl, how pissed she might be at first and then completely taken by him. Or at least I fantasize her to be.

Do you remember when we first met?
I sure do, it was some time in early September
You were lazy about it, you made me wait around
I was so crazy about you I didn’t mind

So I was late for class, I locked my bike to yours
It wasn’t hard to find, you painted flowers on it
I guess that I was afraid that if you rolled away
You might not roll back my direction real soon

Well I was crazy about you then and now
The craziest thing of all is over ten years have gone by
And you’re still mine, we’re locked in time
Let’s Rewind

Do you remember when we first moved in together?
The piano took up the living room
You played me boogie-woogie I played you love songs
You’d say we’re playing house now you still say we are

We built our getaway up in a tree we found
We felt so far away but we were still in town
Now I remember watching that old tree burn down
I took a picture that I don’t like to look at

Well all these times they come and go
And alone don’t seem so long
Over ten years have gone by
We can’t rewind, we’re locked in time
But you’re still mine
Do you remember?

Chet Baker (158/365)

2008-04-30T16:33:00.020-04:00

Chet Baker - Randall Bramblett Band: First time I heard this song, RBB was playing it live in front of my eyes. It was so cool that I ran out and bought their Thin Places CD during intermission. It was Hayden's first rock concert, but I'm not sure he got it.

Click here to listen to a snippet

Chet Baker walked out of a window
left a trail of blue notes hanging in the air so sweet
and a checkered suit lying on a foreign street

The Guide (157/365)

2008-04-29T08:46:00.010-04:00

The Guide - Borne: Here's an idea. Actually it's more of an experiment. If every groom sung this song to his bride on their wedding day, then lived by these words, I wonder how dramatically the divorce rate would drop. It's worth a try. Unless you got something better.

For once in my life I see
Pure love staring right back
Right back at me
At me

I played you a sweet song and you sang,
You sang along.
In your heart, your eyes and soul,
Soul.

You are my angel.
You are my diamond.
You are my guiding light,
Yeah.

I've seen the future.
I've been to the bottom,
But you keep my head above,
Above.

You are my Jesus,
You are my savior,
You are all that is love,
Yeah.

You''re all that is love
You're all that is love
You're all that is love

You are my diamond.
You are my angel.
You are my guiding light,
Yeah.

You're my guiding light

Oh Daddy (156/365)

2008-04-28T11:29:00.019-04:00

Oh Daddy - Adrian Belew: Mr. Music Head defines the summer of 1989. Albert was really into Adrian so we went to see the concert. If only I'd believed what he was trying to tell me about Mr. Wonderful that night. It could've saved my heart from so much break.

Watch Adrian and his daughter...

Well, don't hold your breath 'cause it'll make you blue
but the whole opera's not over yet
and I aim to make the fat lady sweat

Chapel of Love (155/365)

2008-04-27T21:09:00.013-04:00

Chapel of Love - The Dixie Cups: The church was deserted when we arrived. This wedding had already been postponed twice; once to illness, then due a family death. And now? The groom changed his mind the night before. Is there any crime more publicly humiliating than altar-dumping? Nice timing Mr. X-Groom.

Spring is here, th-e-e sky is blue, whoa-oh-oh
Birds all sing as if they knew
Today's the day we'll say "I do"
And we'll never be lonely anymore because we're

Goin' to the chapel
And we're gonna get ma-a-arried
Goin' to the chapel
And we're gonna get ma-a-arried
Gee, I really love you
And we're gonna get ma-a-arried
Goin' to the chapel of love

Deeds of a Few (154/365)

2008-04-26T12:27:00.009-04:00

Deeds of a Few- Donna The Buffalo: The Cakalacky Film Festival last weekend screened Mountain Top Removal. A real eye-opener; corporate America reaching new highs (or is it lows?) in the RAPING of our mountains. Imagine completely leveling a mountain top just to obtain cheaper(?) coal. A needless mastectomy at everyones' expense.

All the children made to suffer
For the deeds of a few
The masters of war are reconvening
Their greasy chins dropping up and down
Weaving justification
For murder on the ground.

Deeds Of A Few:

A Different Kind of War:

Alison (153/365)

2008-04-25T15:19:00.005-04:00

Alison - Elvis Costello: If you're remotely near my age, then you probably have a story or two that could easily use Alison as its film score. Alison still makes my heart beat faster, maybe its just my fascination with Costello's amazing ironic abilities or is there something more?

Well I see you've got a husband now.
Did he leave your pretty fingers lying
In the wedding cake?
You used to hold him right in your hand.
I'll bet he took all he could take.

Great acoustic version...

Alpha Male and the Canine Mystery Blood (152/365)

2008-04-24T21:26:00.001-04:00

"The iPod? You don't walk into a cake shop and stick your finger in the middle of a cake and take a piece out. It's bad manners."
- Elvis Costello

Alpha Male and the Canine Mystery Blood - Tommy Womack: I miss those days when friends used to make me mixed-tapes. If Tom were making a tape for me today, he would probably tuck Alpha Male in between something by Neko Case and a slightly obscure Elvis Costello tune, no offense Elvis, but mixed-tapes rock.

"I bet their name was Menstrual Blood, and the A&R guy said, ‘That’s no good. Make it Mystery, and we can target a broader-based, goth, dog-lover market.”
- Tommy Womack

Extraordinary (151/365)

2008-04-23T15:01:00.022-04:00

Extraordinary - Joel Plaskett: Addictions can be funny things. If you're not careful, pretty soon you're shaking when you can't get your daily fix. Some songs have that hold on me, casting their spell, wooing me, begging to played over again. Shouldn't they be labeled with Habit Forming warnings?

I was doing 140 in my SUV,
Cruising with my girl,
It was twenty past three,
I was talking about changing my cell phone plan,
When my girl says "Baby you're a boy you're not a man,"

You're not extraordinary, extraordinary,
Baby if you wanna be out of the ordinary,
You don't need technology .

My Old Friend (150/365)

2008-04-19T10:25:00.003-04:00

My Old Friend - John Hiatt: Cathy and I don't have a shared history with this song, but after a long hiatus, this tune is running through my head. She's even prettier than she was back then. Our conversations feel like I've slipped into my favorite pair of jeans, so comforting.

My old friend
You make me feel young again
My old friend
You're just as pretty as you were back then
A Corvair with no floorboards, a Gibson Hummingbird
Driving south to the mouth of the riversong
Patchouli oil and motor oil
And you knew all the words

That's Why I Love You So (149/365)

2008-04-18T14:27:00.023-04:00

That's Why I Love You So - Donna Duncan: Driving south on Providence, this song comes on WSGE, I'm thinking it sounds a lot like new Bonnie Raitt, but Cliff capers me. It's actually new music by Donna Duncan, a fellow Charlottean. Definitely need to catch her at the Double Door Inn next weekend.

Click here to listen...then click on That's Why I Love You So:

Margaritaville (148/365)

2008-04-17T08:48:00.008-04:00

Margaritaville -Jimmy Buffet: Imagining Hell... Margaritaville on auto-repeat blaring over crackly speakers. Then again, I might already be there, with Buffet's bodyguard as my one next-door neighbor and the other a huge ParrotHead, who plays Buffet 78% of the time, there's no escaping. "Wasting away again in Torture-aritaville."

Invisible Man (147/365)

2008-04-16T08:45:00.014-04:00

Invisible Man - Joe Jackson: Never dreamed I'd be cool in the eyes of my teenagers, but somehow am. Three nights ago, Cullen came to me and asked could he load "that Invisible Man song" onto his iPod. "Mom," he proclaimed, "for an old person, you've got good musical taste."

I used to own this town
Now I'm watching you
Now it's my turn
Now I'm made of mist
Will you know
When you've been kissed
Can't touch the Invisible Man
Can't stop the Invisible Man
Now I'm almost free

The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald (146/365)

2008-04-15T10:13:00.010-04:00

The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald - Gordon Lightfoot: Headed to Canada in my parents faux-paneled station wagon, it wasn't difficult to find this song on the radio-dial the Summer of 1976. And that's where I'll always be whenever I hear this, Greg and I sitting so close I could smell his sweet sweat.

The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down
Of the big lake they called Gitche Gumee
The lake, it is said, never gives up her dead
When the skies of November turn gloomy
With a load of iron ore twenty-six thousand tons more
Than the Edmund Fitzgerald weighed empty.

Bring That Thing (145/365)

2008-04-13T03:47:00.002-04:00

Harry Manx - Bring That Thing: Harry plays with such passion, turning his guitar onto his lap. I guarantee if you love the Blues (like I do) this song will become a fever inside of you... climbing, mounting, until the only sound will be his harmonica completely taking over your mind.

Watch by clicking here.

Money (144/365)

2008-04-12T09:24:00.007-04:00

Money - Pink Floyd: Long before "Yuppie" was coined to describe the money-grabbing, BMW-driving youth of the 80's, there was Money (1973). When I'm about to make a frivolous purchase, this tune $ound$ in my head, causing a wrestling match between my inner sensible-self and an ugly spoiled brat.

Money, get away.
Get a good job with good pay and youre okay.
Money, its a gas.
Grab that cash with both hands and make a stash.
New car, caviar, four star daydream,
Think Ill buy me a football team.

Watch Pink Floyd Live:

Waiting Song (143/365)

2008-04-08T09:16:00.004-04:00

Waiting Song - Theresa Sokyrka: This week I know a lot of people that are waiting; waiting for good news, waiting for the love of their lives, waiting to start Chemo, waiting for the MRI results... just waiting. This song seemed so appropriate to sum all of that waiting up.

Radio Radio (142/365)

2008-04-05T11:51:00.010-04:00

Radio Radio - Elvis Costello: One of those songs that stays in my head all the time. I can be doing the laundry and suddenly, boom, it just pops in and settles there for the day. Listening to the actual tune only makes me crave it more. A favorite line...

I was seriously thinking about hiding the receiver
when the switch broke 'cause it's old

Freckle Song (141/365)

2008-04-04T08:45:00.008-04:00

Freckle Song - Chuck Prophet: Got addicted to this song from Cliff Anderson at WSGE. It appeals to me 'cause my hair's usually "in a mess" and I like a guy that appreciates that. Plus this song is very danceable with nice background vocals. Come on get up and dance.

Elvis Rules

2007-09-12T15:00:00.001-04:00

Yes. I'm still around. And Yes I still plan on writing more on this blog. Now that Summer is over I can get back into the groove.

For inspiration I saw Elvis Costello and Steve Nieve in concert last night.

Yellow Moon (140/365)

2007-06-23T15:15:00.002-04:00

Yellow Moon - The Neville Brothers: This CD is a favorite Summer disc. Aaron Neville's voice puts chills down my spine. I was single and living downtown when this disc came out. Suddenly a flash of memory; walking along the beach at night with friends, Yellow Moon playing in my mind.

Click to hear Yellow Moon with a very special guest.

Boys Are Back In Town (139/365)

2007-06-22T15:00:00.000-04:00

Boys Are Back In Town - Thin Lizzy: Hearing this transports me back to the summer of 1976. I think it was REO's LP and although I don't recall any of the other songs, this one is enough. Swooning over guitar licks! The lyrics were especially perfect for a girl with four brothers.

Friday night they'll be dressed to kill
Down at Dino's bar and grill
The drink will flow and blood will spill
If the boys want to fight, you'd better let them

That jukebox in the corner blasting out my favorite song
The nights are getting warmer, it wont be long
It wont be long till summer comes
Now that the boys are here again

The boys are back in town

Out On The Weekend (138/365)

2007-06-21T15:00:00.000-04:00

Out On The Weekend - Neil Young: Final LP from my magnificent seven collection, Harvest is difficult to write about. What it has meant to me... impossible to dissolve into words. Whatever I pen would never give it any justice. Its musical imprint is deeply etched like the grooves of well-worn vinyl.

Think I'll pack it in and buy a pick-up
Take it down to L.A.
Find a place to call my own and try to fix up.
Start a brand new day.

Sweet Baby James (137/365)

2007-06-20T15:00:00.000-04:00

Sweet Baby James- James Taylor: What a great sing-a-long. Like honey, this song just seems to flow sweet from his mouth. Its a lovely cowboy lullaby that brought countless comfort to a certain teenager during the late 70's. Of all the concerts I've seen, Taylor's show remains one of my favorites.

There is a young cowboy he lives on the range
His horse and his cattle are his only companions
He works in the saddle and he sleeps in the canyons
Waiting for summer, his pastures to change

And as the moon rises he sits by his fire
Thinking about women and glasses of beer
And closing his eyes as the doggies retire
He sings out a song which is soft but its clear
As if maybe someone could hear

Father and Son (136/365)

2007-06-19T14:59:00.000-04:00

Father and Son - Cat Stevens: This tune held all my angst and the truth that one day I thought I'd find. Of all the LP's from my youth, this one maybe the most important. It got me through 7th grade. Besides Harvest, I believe it was my most played Album.

Its not time to make a change,
Just relax, take it easy.
You're still young, that's your fault,
There's so much you have to know.
Find a girl, settle down,
If you want you can marry.
Look at me, I am old, but I'm happy.

Hey Joe (135/365)

2007-06-18T14:58:00.000-04:00

Hey Joe - Jimi Hendrix: There is something so primal about Jimi. He set the stage for me musically, creating a tough standard. He was the first musician that I experienced who just didn't sing as he played, he put his Everything into it. And damn what a guitar player.

Hey Joe, where you going with that gun in your hand?
Hey Joe, where you going with that gun in your hand?
I'm gonna shoot my baby, I caught her messin' round with another man
and that ain't too cool.

I Feel The Earth Move (134/365)

2007-06-17T14:57:00.000-04:00

I Feel The Earth Move - Carole King: Hairbrushes please, it is bedroom concert time. One benefit from my sister's wedding was Ricky. Ricky was my future brother-in -law's younger brother. I had a wild heart stopping crush on him. Luckily, he liked me back. And we spent lots of time together that year.

I feel the earth - move - under my feet
I feel the sky tum-b-ling down - tum-b-ling down
I feel my heart start to trem-b-ling -
Whenever you're around

No Time (133/365)

2007-06-16T18:20:00.001-04:00

No Time - The Guess Who: Another song from my magnificent seven LP collection, this song summed up what I believed were my mother's feelings toward me that year. Busy planning my sister Meg's wedding there was no time left for me. Woe was my young teenage self, lonely and neglected.

No time for a summer friend
No time for the love you send
Seasons change and so did I
You need not wonder why
You need not wonder why
There’s no time left for you
No time left for you.

Let It Be (132/365)

2007-06-15T18:19:00.000-04:00

Let It Be - The Beatles: Like a prayer, it has carried me through some rough times. When I didn't know what else to do, I just simply "let it be" and grace took over. Let It Be was my first Beatles LP and is part of My Magnificent Seven Collection.

My Magnificent Seven (131/365)

2007-06-14T14:00:00.001-04:00

My Magnificent Seven: When I was in seventh grade, my mom and sister Meg were planning her wedding. Feeling ignored and lonely, Meg gave me her old stereo. REO and Meg each gave me a few of their old LP's. These seven pieces of vinyl became my salvation.

The Beatles - Let It Be
The Guess Who - American Woman
Carole King - Tapestry
Jimi Hendrix Experience - Smash Hits
Cat Stevens - Tea For The Tillerman
James Taylor - Sweet Baby James
Neil Young - Harvest

FM (130/365)

2007-06-13T11:23:00.000-04:00

FM - Steely Dan: I always considered Steely Dan a studio band, so although I was a huge fan and owned a whole slug of their LP's, I never even thought about seeing them live. Watching this YouTube video now makes me realize the error of my young ways.

Worry the bottle mama, its grapefruit wine
Kick off your high heel sneakers, its party time
The girls don't seem to care whats on
As long as it plays till dawn
Nothin' but blues and Elvis
And somebody else's favorite song

Good Thing (129/365)

2007-06-12T11:24:00.000-04:00

Good Thing - Fine Young Cannibals: This Ska band had it going on in the mid/late 1980's with two #1 hits in the U.S. Composed of two of the former members of The English Beat (Andy Cox and David Steele) and Roland Gift. Gift's falsetto voice so rich and luscious hooked me.

Watch:

Good thing
Where have you gone
Doo doo doobie doo
My good thing
You've been gone too long
Good thing
Doo doo doobie doo
Good thing

Heard It In A Love Song (128/365)

2007-06-11T11:23:00.000-04:00

Heard It In A Love Song - Marshall Tucker Band: In H.S. this was my favorite band. I saw them in concert several times, mostly up at Alpine Valley in Wisconsin. Love Song is gorgeous, watch Roy play his guitar. Even people that don't like country rock seem to make this song their one exception.

Watch:

Pump It Up (127/365)

2007-06-10T11:23:00.000-04:00

Pump It Up - Elvis Costello and The Attractions: This song is my Snickers bar without the calories. I listen. I dance. I pump it up and get an instant energy boost. Chewy, satisfying, delicious. Elvis is fun. Elvis is groovy. Elvis was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2003.

I've been on tenterhooks
Ending in dirty looks,
Listening to the Muzak,
Thinking bout this 'n that.
She said that's that.
I don't wanna chitter-chat.
Turn it down a little bit
Or turn it down flat.

Pump it up when you don't really need it.
Pump it up until you can feel it.

Is She Really Going Out With Him? (126/365)

2007-06-09T11:22:00.000-04:00

Is She Really Going Out With Him? - Joe Jackson:When Look Sharp came out, Steve held up the newly acquired vinyl, "This album is going to change music." He played it, I hated it. If this was what music was coming to, I wanted no part of it. Minds can be changed you know.

Good Morning Britain (125/365)

2007-06-08T10:41:00.000-04:00

Good Morning Britain - Aztec Camera with Mick Jones of The Clash: Probably one of the more obscure discs in my collection. This song has good energy, but when I went to read the lyrics again, I was stunned to realize the intensity of Roddy Frame's words. I'm amazed at what I'm rediscovering from writing this blog.

The past is steeped in shame,
But tomorrows fair game,
For a life that's fit for living
Good morning Britain.

Twenty years and a loaded gun
Funerals, fear and the war ain't won
Paddy's just a figure of fun
It lightens up the danger.
And a corporal sneers at a Catholic boy
And he eyes his gun like a rich man's toy
He's killing more than Celtic joy
Death is not a stranger.

Rockin' Horse (124/365)

2007-06-07T08:52:00.000-04:00

Rockin' Horse - Donna The Buffalo: Do you like blue grass-zydeco? Never heard of it? Either way, I highly recommend this disc. All the songs are excellent, but this tune maybe my favorite because it is happy and fun. The lyrics mixed with Jeb Puryear 's gravelly voice* make it so satisfying.

All the radiators sing
Things are being realized
Won't you step on over here
Something's perfecting in your eyes
Hope to find that you would be so inclined
As to allow me the honor dear of loving you
Let's shrink the world down to just us two

*"Puryear's voice is classic country: it hints at Gram Parsons and lends a timeless, easy grace to every tracks he sings." - Imre Szeman of Popmatters

Click here to learn more @ Donna The Buffalo Web Site

School's Out (123/365)

2007-06-06T13:36:00.000-04:00

School's Out - Alice Cooper and The Muppet's: What a great song and this video is so bizarre, yet amazing in that Cooper way. My kids get out of school starting TODAY for my oldest and Friday for the younger two. I hoping to stay sane, so far its not looking so good.

Well we got no choice all the girls and boys
Makin' all that noise 'cause they found new toys
Well we can't salute ya can't find a flag if that don't suit ya that's a drag
School's out for summer school's out forever school's been blown to pieces
No more pencils no more books no more teacher's dirty looks yeah
Well we got no class and we got no principals and we got no innocence
We can't even think of a word that rhymes
School's out for summer school's out forever my school's been blown to pieces
No more pencils no more books no more teacher's dirty looks
Out for summer out till fall we might not come back at all
School's out forever school's out for summer
School's out with fever school's out completely

588 -2300 * The Empire Carpet Jingle (122/365)

2007-06-05T13:48:00.005-04:00

The Empire Carpet Song (aka 588-2300) - The Fabulous 40s: O.K., sing it with me, 588- 2300 Empire. When I was a kid, late at night, when I couldn't sleep this song would cruelly pop into my head where it stayed for hours, torturing my young developing brain. Last year, Empire came to N.C. HELP! S.O.S.!!

Five eight eight, two three-hundred,
Em-pire!

P.S. If you really want to hear this jingle:
But don't say I didn't warn you.

Jesus, etc... (121/365)

2007-06-04T10:25:00.001-04:00

Jesus, etc. - Wilco: When I pay close attention, I see all the Synchronicity floating around. I never listened to this disc until this Spring. A week after I heard Jesus, Etc..., E made this post. Looking deeper, I discover this song itself is full of synchronicity and interpretation.*

don't cry
you can rely on me honey
you can come by
anytime you want

*From Wikipedia...
Perceived September 11 connections:
Though Yankee Hotel Foxtrot was recorded entirely before the September 11, 2001 attacks, and that was in fact the original release date for the album, many have noted perceived references in the album to the attacks. Among the examples cited are:
- The album cover image of Marina City, resembling the twin towers of the World Trade Center.
- In the song "Jesus, etc.", the lyrics "Tall buildings shake/ voices escape, singing sad, sad songs" and "Skyscrapers are scraping together/ Your voice is smoking."
- The title of the song "War on War", and its lyrics, "Moving forward through flaming doors/ you have to lose/ you have to learn how to die/ if you want to, want to be alive."
- The title of the song "Ashes of American Flags", and the lyrics "I would like to salute/ the ashes of American flags."

Stop Your Sobbing (120/365)

2007-06-03T10:11:00.000-04:00

Stop Your Sobbing - The Pretenders: I'm a big baby. I've got to stop sobbing now. This past Saturday I went to a fund raiser for kids with cancer. It broke my heart to hear the stories, especially from parent's that lost their children to it. Too much pain to bare.

Furry Happy Monsters (119/365)

2007-06-02T09:30:00.000-04:00

Furry Happy Monsters - R.E.M.: Shiny Happy People has been proclaimed one of the "wussiest songs of all time", but R.E.M. brought it to a higher level when they made this version for Sesame Street. Interestingly, the original is based on a Chinese propaganda poster from the Tienanmen Square Massacres.

Monsters having fun, happy, happy,
See them jump and run, happy, happy,
Laughing all the while, cheerful, cheerful,
Flashing a big smile,
that's a perfect sign that they're feelin' fine!
Furry happy monsters feeling glad!

With You (118/365)

2007-06-01T15:19:00.001-04:00

With You - Stars of Track and Field: It feels like Pink Floyd, with a softer edge. I like the dreamy quality of this music. My imagination brings me to the shore of a large body of water. The night is foggy, but once there I find a bonfire, food, dancing and laughter.

Click here and select With You to hear song.

Perfect Blue Buildings (117/365)

2007-05-31T15:18:00.000-04:00

Perfect Blue Buildings - Counting Crows: I get so lost in this song. It is hypnotic to listen to, especially now. It brings me back to the early days of motherhood, tired all the time, 4-am breastfeedings, getting used to the new definition of who I had become, some one's mom.

Please help me stay awake, I'm falling...
Asleep in perfect blue buildings
Beside the green apple sea
Gonna get me a little oblivion, baby
Try to keep myself away from me

Counting Crows – Perfect Blue Buildings

Here Comes Your Man (116/365)

2007-05-30T14:18:00.000-04:00

Here Comes Your Man - The Pixies: Another spring/summer tune. I walked a lot to its beat, down pedestrian-filled Michigan Avenue on my way to/from work. My favorite part, crossing over the river where the sounds of soulful musicians floated in the air and mingled with my mixed-tapes for a new song.

outside there's a box car waiting
outside the family stew
out by the fire breathing
outside we wait 'til face turns blue
i know the nervous walking
i know the dirty beard hangs
out by the box car waiting
take me away to nowhere plains
there is a wait so long
here comes your man

big shake on the box car moving
big shake to the land that's falling down
is a wind makes a palm stop blowing
a big, big stone fall and break my crown
there is a wait so long
you'll never wait so long
here comes your man
there is a wait so long
you'll never wait so long
here comes your man

Tempted (115/365)

2007-05-29T12:35:00.000-04:00

Tempted - Squeeze: Listening to Squeeze in late Spring - early Summer just seems natural. Its playful and fun, and matches the season's tone. Although Tempted's lyrics deal with the fantasy of adultery, it somehow makes it cute and fun. Do you suppose God will be pissed or pleased?

Tempted by the fruit of another
Tempted but the truth is discovered
What's been going on
Now that you have gone
There's no other
Tempted by the fruit of another
Tempted but the truth is discovered

I'm at the car park, the airport
The baggage carousel
The people keep on crowding
I'm wishing I was well
I said its no occasion
Its no story I could tell

Don't You Want Me? (114/365)

2007-05-28T09:21:00.000-04:00

Don't You Want Me - Human League: Never was a waitress in a cocktail bar, but after I broke-up with Dan, DYWM became my theme song. I sang it daily. It affirmed me, gave me backbone, self-confidence and power. Which is what I needed; my broken heart was so jagged and bruised.

You were working as a waitress in a cocktail bar
When I met you
I picked you out, I shook you up, and turned you around
Turned you into someone new
Now five years later on you've got the world at your feet
Success has been so easy for you
But don't forget it's me who put you where you are now
And I can put you back down too

I was working as a waitress in a cocktail bar
That much is true
But even then I knew I'd find a much better place
Either with or without you
The five years we have had have been such good times
I still love you
But now I think it's time I lived my life on my own
I guess it's just what I must do

Don't you want me baby? Don't you want me oh
Don't you want me baby? Don't you want me oh

Take It Down (113/365)

2007-05-27T10:02:00.000-04:00

Take It Down - Patty Griffin and/or John Hiatt: Heritage or hate? Hmmm... This song is Hiatt's reaction to South Carolina's stubborn love for their rebel flag. The first thing I learned moving south eleven years ago? The Civil War is not over yet! Griffin's cover is so tenderly delivered, but love Hiatt's too.

Take everything that we've had
Take it and burn it to the ground
Some things were never meant to last
Take it down down down
Take it down

I'm still married to it all
That ain't no place to hang around
My love is fifty feet tall
Take it down down down
Take it down

And I've grown accustomed to the way
You hurled us into space
I'll never make that trip
Tears all rusted on my face
I'm just an empty place
Where your love used to fit

South Carolina, where are you?
You were once lost, now are found
The war is over, the battle's through
Take it down down down
Take it down

John Hiatt – Take It Down

Changes (112/365)

2007-05-26T15:46:00.000-04:00

Changes - David Bowie:

Bowie is and will always be
one of Rock and Roll's true heroes.

A favorite on my H.S. jukebox.
This song's imprint, HUGE.
Almost too much for words.

Memories flood back.
Old faces greet my mind
with the motility and clemency of
youthful carefree happiness.

Watch this fun rehearsal from 1976-Vancouver:

Oh yeah
Mm
Still don't know what I was waiting for
And my time was running wild
A million dead-end streets and
Every time I thought I'd got it made
It seemed the taste was not so sweet
So I turned myself to face me
But I've never caught a glimpse
Of how the others must see the faker
I'm much too fast to take that test

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes
(turn and face the strain)
Ch-ch-changes
Don't want to be a richer man
Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes
(turn and face the strain)
Ch-ch-changes
Just gonna have to be a different man
Time may change me
But I cant trace time

I watch the ripples change their size
But never leave the stream
Of warm impermanence
So the days float through my eyes
But still the days seem the same
And these children that you spit on
As they try to change their worlds
Are immune to your consultations
They're quite aware of what they're going through

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes
(turn and face the strain)
Ch-ch-changes
Don't tell them to grow up and out of it
Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes
(turn and face the strain)
Ch-ch-changes
Wheres your shame
You've left us up to our necks in it
Time may change me
But you cant trace time

Strange fascination, fascinating me
Ah changes are taking the pace I'm going through

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes
(turn and face the strain)
Ch-ch-changes
Oh, look out you rock n rollers
Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes
(turn and face the strain)
Ch-ch-changes
Pretty soon now you're gonna get a little older
Time may change me
But I cant trace time
I said that time may change me
But I can't trace time

Arc Of A Diver (111/365)

2007-05-25T14:03:00.000-04:00

Arc Of A Diver - Steve Winwood: Puts me right back into April, 1981. Ronald Regan had just been shot. Always the experimental type, I worked a variety of odd and unusual jobs in college. One was as a roadie for a local band and before every show they played this LP.

Watch While You See A Chance (from Arc Of A Diver):

Stand up in a clear blue morning until you see what can be
Alone in a cold day dawning, are you still free? can you be?
When some cold tomorrow finds you, when some sad old dream reminds you
How the endless road unwinds you

While you see a chance take it, find romance fake it
Because its all on you

Don't you know by now no one gives you anything
Don't you wonder how you keep on moving one more day your way

You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go (110/365)

2007-05-24T16:42:00.000-04:00

Happy Birthday Bob!

You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go-Bob Dylan: A LONG time ago, I had a HUGE crush on this boy. He didn't even know that I existed, but whenever he was around me, I got kind of dizzy. My imagination enjoyed him singing this to me, while I just toyed with his heart.

Watch These Fantastic Covers:
The Beautiful Voice of Matthew Luke Sandoval...

The Gorgeous Harp and Guitar Playing of Coldironsbound82...

I've seen love go by my door
It's never been this close before
Never been so easy or so slow.
Been shooting in the dark too long
When somethin's not right it's wrong
Yer gonna make me lonesome when you go.

Dragon clouds so high above
I've only known careless love,
It's always hit me from below.
This time around it's more correct
Right on target, so direct,
Yer gonna make me lonesome when you go.

Purple clover, Queen Anne lace,
Crimson hair across your face,
You could make me cry if you don't know.
Can't remember what I was thinkin' of
You might be spoilin' me too much, love,
Yer gonna make me lonesome when you go.

American Pie (109/365)

2007-05-23T15:16:00.000-04:00

American Pie - Don McLean: My dad was a big band kind of guy; his generation a dividing line between old-fashioned and cool. Friends with parents even five years younger were musically much more hip (they liked Elvis). So, it was a groovy-shock to learn these deep mysteries from him.

Watch:

But February made me shiver
With every paper I'd deliver.
Bad news on the doorstep;
I couldn't take one more step.

I can't remember if I cried
When I read about his widowed bride,
But something touched me deep inside
The day the music died.

Four Winds (108/365)

2007-05-22T12:07:00.000-04:00

Four Winds - Bright Eyes: In writing class today we were discussing Edward Hirsch. He said the ability of a gifted writer is to bring the reader right to the "border of what can be said" like Czeslaw Milosz did in Gift. This song takes me to the musical edge.

Watch (the video is kind of edgy too):

Your class, your caste, your country, sect, your name or your tribe
There's people always dying trying to keep them alive
There are bodies decomposing in containers tonight
In an abandoned building where

A squatter's made a mural of a Mexican girl
With fifteen cans of spray paint in a chemical swirl
She's standing in the ashes at the end of the world
Four winds blowing through her hair

But when great Satan's gone, the whore of Babylon
She just can't sustain the pressure where it's placed
She caves

The Bible's blind, the Torah's deaf, the Qu'ran's mute
If you burn them all together you get close to the truth still
They are pouring over sanskrit on the ivy league moons
While shadows lengthen in the sun

Cast on a school of meditation built to soften the times
And hold us at the center while the spiral unwinds
It's knocking over fences, crossing property lines
Four winds, cry until it comes

And it's the sum of man
Slouching towards Bethlehem
A heart just can't contain all of that empty space
It breaks, it breaks, it breaks

Well, I went back to my rented Cadillac and company jet
Like a newly orphaned refugee, retracing my steps
All the way to Cassadaga to commune with the dead
They said, "You'd better look alive"

And I was off to old Dakota where a genocide sleeps
In the black hills, the bad lands, the calloused east
I buried my ballast, I made my peace
Heard four winds leveling the pines

But when great Satan's gone, the whore of Babylon
She just can't remain with all that outer space
She breaks, she breaks, she caves, she caves

Everyday I Write The Book (107/365)

2007-05-21T09:27:00.000-04:00

My New Theme Song?

Everyday I Write The Book - Elvis Costello: How many of us have ever thought... Yep, one day I'm going to write a book? Last year I decided to stop dreaming and start doing. Since then, I try to write everyday. Natalie Goldberg, Julia Cameron, Elvis Costello, John Hiatt and others* inspiring me.

Don't tell me you don't know the difference
Between a lover and a fighter
With my pen and my electric typewriter
Even in a perfect world, where everyone was equal
I'd still own the film rights and be working on the sequel

And I'm giving you a longing look
Everyday, everyday, everyday I write the book

Watch:

* Others include my Tuesday Morning Writers Group, Maureen Ryan Griffin, Elizabeth Van Jacob, Sue Evans and Kay Leonard Otter. Thanks for your generous encouragement and gentle guidance. 19,000 W-T-D.

World (106/365)

2007-05-20T15:10:00.000-04:00

World - Five For Fighting: John is an awesome songwriter. A rarity; a musician with a social conscious. He gives me something to think about by asking deep and open-ended questions. I admire that in any art form. A fabulous piano player, he started learning to play at age two.

Got a package full of wishes
A time machine, a magic wand
A globe made out of gold
No instructions or commandments,
Laws of gravity or indecisions to uphold
Printed on the box I see ‘Acme’s Build a World to Be’
Take a chance, grab a piece
Help me to believe it

What kind of world do you want?
Think anything
Let’s start at the start
Build a masterpiece
Be careful what you wish for
History starts now

Listen Here: Click

Kodachrome (105/365)

2007-05-19T09:26:00.000-04:00

Kodachrome - Paul Simon: Makes my step spring-ier, my bounce bounce-ier, my mood lighter. I was 11/12 when this song was popular. I just loved the lyrics, especially the first couple lines. Carefully memorizing the words that someday (far in the future) I'd be able to sing from experience.

Watch Live (Kodachrome/Maybellene):

When I think back
On all the crap I learned in high school
Its a wonder
I can think at all
And though my lack of edu---cation
Hasn't hurt me none
I can read the writing on the wall

Kodachrome
They give us those nice bright colors
They give us the greens of summers
Makes you think all the worlds a sunny day, oh yeah
I got a Nikon camera
I love to take a photograph
So mama don't take my Kodachrome away

99 Luftballons (104/365)

2007-05-18T22:12:00.000-04:00

99 Luftballons -Nena:Originally this post was intended for day 99, but a cute little pony stole that spot. Meine Universitaetsprofessor auf Deutsch, Gertrude Denning, haben mich memorize und comprehend auf Deutsch das froehlich Leid. Gott sei dank! She didn't make me sing, mich Singstimme ist nicht sehr gut.

Watch:

Hast du etwas Zeit fur mich
Dann singe ich ein Lied fur dich
Von 99 Luftballons
Auf ihrem Weg zum Horizont
Denkst du vielleicht g' rad an mich
Dann singe ich ein Lied fur dich
Von 99 Luftballons

Und dass sowas von sowas kommt
99 Luftballons
Auf ihrem Weg zum Horizont
Hilet man fur Ufos aus dem All
Darum schickte ein General
'Ne Fliegerstafell hinterher
Alarm zu geben, wenn' s si war
Dabei war' n da am Horizont
Nur 99 Luftballons

99 Dusenjager
Jeder war ein grosser Krieger
Hielten zich fur Captain Kirk
Das gab ein grosses Feuerwerk
Die Nachbarn haben nichts gerafft
Und fuhlten sucg gleich angemacht
Dabei schoss man am Horizont
Auf 99 Luftballons
99 Kriegsminister

Streichholz und Benzinkanister
Hielten sich fur schlaue Leute
Witterten schon fette Beute
Riefen: Kring und wollten Macht
mann, wer hatte das gedacht
Dass es einmal soweit kommt
Wegen 99 Luftballons

99 Jahre Krieg
Liessen keine Platz fur Sieger
Kriegsminister gibt' s nicht mehr
Und auch keine Dusenflieger
Heute zieh ich meine Runden
Seh' die Welt in Trummern liegen
Hab' 'nen Luftballon gefunden
Denk' an dich und lass' ihn fliegen

New Frontier (103/365)

2007-05-17T09:25:00.000-04:00

New Frontier - Donald Fagen: The Nightfly musically etches deep grooves through my college experience. It was played at almost every gathering in Coffey Hall circa 1982. Virg was particularly addicted to this LP, requesting it each time she stopped by for a visit. Part of the deserted island collection.

Come On Teacher (102/365)

2007-05-16T17:17:00.000-04:00

Come On Teacher - Joel Plaskett: Thanks to Helen I need to join a 12-step program for this song. I've become totally addicted to it, craving it , thinking about it at odd hours, being grouchy until I get my daily fix. I just noticed something lately, I left there in 1980!

If for some reason I'm not present
Blame it on my adolescence
If for some reason I am tardy
It's cause I went out last night to party
Dans la French class je suis terrible
Apres l'ecole I'll be coming up to see you

I just noticed something lately
I've been here since 1980!

Old Man (101/365)

2007-05-15T14:09:00.000-04:00

Old Man - Joni Mitchell: O.K. grab your barf bags 'cause today's post is going to be really sappy. Still can't believe my husband surprised me like this. He is so wonderful and dreamy. I think Joni actually intended this song for us. May sing this to him later tonight.

Take The Money And Run (100/365)

2007-05-14T13:09:00.000-04:00

Take the Money and Run - Steve Miller Band: Having "Stuck Tune Syndrome" requires replacing the stuck tune with another one. Yesterday's song reminded me of today's pick because every time Sheryl sang "woo-hoo" all I could think of was Take The Money and Run. How appropriate, this video features yet another 'Stang. Vrrroooommmmm.

This here's a story about Billy Joe and Bobbie Sue
Two young lovers with nothin' better to do
Than sit around the house, get high, and watch the tube
And here is what happened when they decided to cut loose

Steve McQueen (99/365)

2007-05-13T14:07:00.000-04:00

My Husband Rocks!!!

Steve McQueen - Sheryl Crow: Remember a few weeks back when I did my car series? Must have put something into the air because sitting on my driveway Mother's Day, from my husband (with a big gold bow on it) was a black 2007 GT Mustang.
My Dream Machine!

We got rock stars in the Whitehouse
All our pop stars look like porn
All my heroes hit the highway
They don't hang out here no more
You can call me anytime
You can page me all night long
But you won't catch this freebird
I'll already be long gone
Like Steve McQueen
All we need's a fast machine
And we're gonna make it all right

Strange Apparition (98/365)

2007-05-12T14:29:00.000-04:00

Strange Apparition - Beck: I used to think: Beck? Beck who? You mean Jeff Beck? Then I heard, Think I'm In Love, and I thought I was going to puke. What an annoying song!!! Afterwards, I discovered he was Beck Hansen. Double puke.
But, this is a lovely doppelgänger (Gregg Allman).

Strange apparition
Haunting my brain
Standing on the last legs
Of a dream that walked away

When the Lord rings my front door
And asks me what I got to show
Besides the dust in my pockets
And the things that just eat away my soul

Cleaning Windows (97/365)

2007-05-11T11:50:00.001-04:00

Cleaning Windows - Van Morrison: Van reveals such an intimate self-portrait. It takes me back to my Rogers Park days, bopping down the street, headed to the Lake to hang-out at the beach. I have a huge crush on this song. There really is no other way to describe it.

I prefer the studio version but here is a sample of it live.

Oh, the smell of the bakery from across the street
Got in my nose
As we carried our ladders down the street
With the wrought-iron gate rows
I went home and listened to Jimmie Rodgers in my lunch-break
Bought five woodbines at the shop on the corner
And went straight back to work.

Oh, Sam was up on top
And I was on the bottom with the v
We went for lemonade and Paris buns
At the shop and broke for tea
I collected from the lady
And I cleaned the fanlight inside-out
I was blowing saxophone on the weekend
In that down joint.

Whats my line?
I'm happy cleaning windows
Take my time
I'll see you when my love grows
Baby don't let it slide
I'm a working man in my prime
Cleaning windows (number a hundred and thirty-six)

I heard Leadbelly and Blind Lemon
On the street where I was born
Sonny Terry, Brownie Mcghee,
Muddy Waters singin' I'm a Rolling Stone
I went home and read my Christmas Humphrey's book on zen
Curiosity Killed the Cat
Kerouac's Dharma Bums and On the Road

Whats my line?
I'm happy cleaning windows
Take my time
Ill see you when my love grows
Baby don't let it slide
I'm a working man in my prime
Cleaning windows...

Satellite (96/365)

2007-05-10T11:50:00.000-04:00

Satellite - Dave Matthews Band: Never was a big DMB fan, it's not that I didn't like them; they just seemed to be such a Guy's Band. Then three years ago, I was invited to a DMB show. Satellite makes me feel hopeful, like Tigger, in that bouncy confident way.

Winter's cold, spring erases
And the calm away by the storm is chasing
Everything good needs replacing
Look up, look down all around, hey satellite

The Ancient Egyptians (95/365)

2007-05-09T11:34:00.000-04:00

The Ancient Egyptians - Poi Dog Pondering: This song is on my I-pod as well as a mixed-disc I recently made, entitled Tuesday Morning Writing Class. As I drive to class and listen to Frank sing, I watch my fellow drivers, most on their cell phones, zip past me on Providence Road.

Well the Ancient Egyptians, and the other Africans
The Mayans, the Incas, and all the Polynesians.
All around the world, a long long time ago,
People would walk, where ever they had to go.

They didn't have car keys, and they didn't have roads --
They didn't have those ugly convenience stores, or Texaco's
In fact, all around the world, a long long time ago,
people would walk, where ever they had to go.

Well now it's the 1990's, and the gasoline does flow,
but I still try and walk most of the places I have to go
But sometimes my friends will stop and say,

"Hey Frank! There's a bus or a cab over there...
Why don't we go ahead and get in it?"

But I say no, no, no, and didn't you know,
you get to know things better when they go by slow.

Low (94/365)

2007-05-08T08:13:00.000-04:00

Low - Cracker:Early on Dave turned me onto Camper Van Beethoven, so that the first time I heard Cracker play Low, it was already a personal favorite. Now enough time has past to make it a classic. Oh, the way Johnny Hickman plays his guitar. Very nice.

Hey don't you wanna go down
Like some disgraced cosmonaut
A million miles below their feet
A million miles a million miles

Have A Little Faith In Me (93/365)

2007-05-07T09:46:00.000-04:00

Have A Little Faith In Me - John Hiatt: I can't help it, I associate the number 93 with WXRT. In a pre-MTV, I-Tunes and Napster time, we had 93 'XRT. It's where I learned to love Hiatt. WXRT had faith in groups like R.E.M., Elvis Costello, Joe Jackson and Hiatt. Rockin' cool education.

When your secret heart
Cannot speak so easily
Come here darlin’
From a whisper start
To have a little faith in me

And when your back’s against the wall
Just turn around and you will see
I will catch, I will catch your fall baby
Just have a little faith in me

You see time, time is our friend
’cause for us there is no end
And all you gotta do is have a little faith in me
I said I will hold you up, I will hold you up
Watch music video...
Your love gives me strength enough
So have a little faith in me

or maybe you prefer the full gospel sound...

Hot Soft Light (92/365)

2007-05-06T08:44:00.000-04:00

Hot Soft Light - The Hold Steady: I recently discovered The Hold Steady. Sometimes their music is a little too loud/harsh for me, so I've go to be in the mood. But listen at 1:15 and especially at 2:28 to see what I'm talking about. Wild guitar reminds me of Thin Lizzy.

Radar Love (91/365)

2007-05-05T11:04:00.000-04:00

Radar Love - Golden Earring: Another 45 from my collection. Used to spin this in our basement on the RCA, which gave me a tiny electrical shock when I was barefoot AND changing a record. But it was so worth the zap to be able to dance to this song.

Fast Car (90/365)

2007-05-04T10:50:00.001-04:00

Fast Car - Tracy Chapman: This song is from one of my favorite LP's. My husband's company car is FAST! (604-horsepower, 6.0-liter, twin-turbocharged, hand-built V12). Sometimes when I borrow it for the day, I get to feel like Tracy describes. A total rush! Until I start feeling guilty about the carbon print I've created.

Watch:

I remember we were driving
driving in your car
The speed so fast I felt like I was drunk
City lights lay out before us
And your arm felt nice wrapped round my shoulder

Thunderbird (89/365)

2007-05-03T10:50:00.000-04:00

Thunderbird - John Hiatt: Never been in a Thunderbird, but I've been in a 1948 DeSoto. The first time I heard Thunderbird I wanted to "cut across town" in one. A woman that lives somewhere nearby drives a turquoise T-bird and I wonder if she's ever heard Hiatt's song.

We're from Pennsylvania
Welsh men of words
My daddy drove a Desoto
I drive a Thunderbird

My Thunderbird, my Thunderbird
She's the voice of the future
Baby, have you heard
Tomorrow's taken wing on my Thunderbird

My Thunderbird, my Thunderbird
Put your head on my shoulder
Don't say a word
We'll cut across town in my Thunderbird

Got electric windows
Tilt away wheel
Slide across the bucket seat
For that sexy leather feel of

65 Mustang (88/365)

2007-05-02T10:49:00.000-04:00

65 Mustang - Five For Fighting: First, let me say that I love songs about cars. Second, Mustangs, hold a special place in my heart, especially the vintage models. Third, listen to this intro...

Put it altogether, add in a passionately penned song that rocks and the results are pretty cool.

She's my time machine
She's my rolling memory
She's my family
And I love her so

She knows my secrets well
But her back seat won't ever tell
She's no Jezebel

My '65 Mustang rides along
Every mile's another song
And what I don't remember
She never forgets
That little girl ain't let me down yet
It all comes back to me
When I turn that horse's key
I'm 17 or 23
Or bringing home my first baby
Like Dad did when the '65 was three

She's been four colors
We've broken forty laws
She goes where she wants
No matter what the cost

No power nothing here
AC's 2 by 75
Yea you got it man
You roll em down and drive

My '65 Mustang rides along
Every mile's another song
And what I don't remember
She never forgets
That little girl ain't let me down yet
It all comes back to me
When I turn that horse's key
I'm 17 or 23
Or bringing home my first baby
Like Dad did when the '65 was three

Don't need to play no new CD's
She's enough music for me
I Don't need no new AC
Cause she's cooler than I'll ever be

My wild Mustang
She's waiting on me
Ready to take us away
Sail across the sea

When I'm on her back
I'm the boy each man should be
She's My Family Tree

My '65 Mustang rides along
Every mile's another song
And what I don't remember
She never forgets
That little girl ain't let me down yet
It all comes back to me
When I turn that horse's key
And she roars to me...I'm 23
Or bringing home my first baby
Like Dad did when the '65 was three

She's my family

Smoke! Smoke! Smoke! (That Cigarette) (87/365)

2007-05-01T05:32:00.000-04:00

My Favorite Corny Songs- The Mini Series

Smoke! Smoke! Smoke! (That Cigarette) - Asleep At The Wheel: An old song, from 1947, so the health issues were virtually unknown. I played this version by AATW a lot on my C&W radio show, while rebelliously lighting-up yet another smoke. Later, AATW played a relatives wedding, but by then I had quit smoking.

The Streak (86/365)

2007-04-30T19:10:00.000-04:00

My Favorite Corny Songs- The Mini Series

The Streak - Ray Stevens (1974): I think it was this song that I first became aware of radio station playlists. I was still listening to AM Top 40 at the time. WLS played this like the number one song it was for three weeks in May. WXRT never touched it.