Science fiction, fantasy, mystery and what-not
As commercials rev up — “Come see us. We’re all wearing masks and are following the guidelines and taking precautions!” — and election day grows nearer, everybody is trying to seduce us as consumers and voters in America.
Buy, buy, buy! Vote for me, vote for me!
It’s right in my head that today’s theme music is Billy Squier singing “Everybody Wants You” back in 1982.
It’s spin back Saturday!
Woke up with The Who’s rock opera, Tommy, in my mind’s center hall. Then the two song medley, “See Me, Feel Me/Listening to You” (1969) goes on loop.
It’s an appropriate song when thinking about the cults of politics percolating around the world, especially of the great wing type, especially of the Trump cult. It’s in sharper focus for me because that’s my country. I hear and read the staggering knots and twists employed to justify supporting him to the detriment of everything that matters, unless you’re white, wealthy, and male. The Evangelicals, Blacks, and women who support me startle me, but this medley seems to illuminate their position.
On the one hand, you have Trump – Tommy – isolated and self-centered, emotionally distant. Where the analogy collapses is Tommy knows his state and wants healed; Trump is blissfully unaware of himself and doesn’t want healed. He doesn’t know he’s sick. Feeding his base, he doesn’t see himself as sick.
Then you have the base. The comparison with Tommy shines here.
Listening to you I get the music
Gazing at you I get the heat
Following you I climb the mountain
I get excitement at your feet
Right behind you I see the millions
On you I see the glory
From you I get opinions
From you I get the story
Listening to you I get the music
Gazing at you I get the heat
Following you I climb the mountain
I get excitement at your feet
h/t to Genius.com
Decided to post the Woodstock video as it captures the essence of that time in rock. Have a listen, please, and as they say in America, “Have a nice day.”
Today’s offering has no roots in cats, dreams, politics, or news. This 1974 hit just started playing in my head. Specifically, the chorus jumped to mind:
Life is a rock, but the radio rolled me
Gotta turn it up louder, so my DJ told me
Life is a rock, but the radio rolled me
At the end of my rainbow lies a golden oldie
h/t to Genius.com
Recognize it? I’m impressed if you do. The song references ninety-two songs, dances, bands, performers, and companies of the pop era to that point.
Give a listen to “Life Is a Rock (But the Radio Rolled Me)” by Reunion, please.
Today brought a 1995 song from Collective Soul.
“December” is about endings and breaks from what’s going on. For Ed Roland, the songwriter, it’s about parting with the band’s manager. Pour moi, I pull the sarcastic and bitter sense of weariness from the sound: it’s done. Let’s end this, and this is just the polarized, argumentative state of the United States. I went to see Trump and the disastrous GOP reign end. The sooner that comes, the happier I’ll be.
On to the music.
Woke up hot at three-ish. As I reviewed dreams, got up and drank water, and then opened the back door to entertain cool night air, my mind began streaming Blue Oyster Cult and “Burnin’ for You” (1981).
My mind seems to have a song ready for any moment. I imagine a team of people up there. Males and females are armed with servers loaded with music. Sitting on swivel chairs, they stay poised to begin songs for each sight, sound, thought, emotion, and memory.
“Burnin’ for You” works on multiple levels. Fer instance, It addresses homes in a major way. That’s fittin’ for ‘merica, where Homeland Security and police battle protesters as jobs and savings dwindle and eviction notices fly, leaving folks without homes. BOC catches that:
Home in the valley
Home in the city
Home isn’t pretty
Ain’t no home for me
Yet, priorities: save the businesses! Protect the billionaires! Grow the military!
Sorry. Jumped onto my anti-GOP train as led by 45 hisself. I’ll’ stop now. Here’s the music.
The Traveling Wilburys song, “Handle with Care” (1988) sprang to mind last night. Eleven thirty, I went out into the clear, friendly bight and entertained the moon and stars. All were bright and lively, and rona kept the time free of passerbys as all are home shelterin’. My cats joined me, with Boo being the one to break the silence, rub up against me, and lean against my calf.
That brought out the Wilbury chorus:
Everybody’s got somebody to lean on
Put your body next to mine, and dream on
h/t to Genius.com
This song is so special, IMO. Such talents, legends of rock, are brought together as friends, performers and song writers, contributing but remaining as individuals. Look at the video and how each is dressed and how they act and participate. They’re enjoying themselves. That feeling carries over into the song.
Went out at eleven last night. Cool and clear under a sharp moon and a starry blanket, it was the type of night that prompts enthusiastic prose.
A shooting star whizzed past, gladdening me. I always view them as a good omen. Back inside, I fed cats and replenished food and water bowls. Then, putting away the laundry, a 1967 Boyce & Hart song tottered in.
Yes, this was my Saturday night. I don’t know why “I Wonder What She’s Doing Tonight” came out of the memory jukebox.
You might know of Boyce & Hart as the duo behind much of the Monkees. It’s a convoluted pop episode involving TV and Bob Kirschner, but this is definitely a song from another era.
Maybe that’s why it spoke to me on a quiet Saturday night.
My dreams returned last night. I awoke feeling fantastic. The air was clear and cool, and my energy was flowing like a river during the spring melt off. The perfect song for this moment, I decided, was a kick back in feeling, style, and spirit. For that, I summoned “Old Time Rock and Roll” and Bob Seger from 1978.
This ’83 live version brings it all home. Give it a listen.
Got up from bed at the crack of cat (hmmm, that sounded better in my head) and began channeling Jimi Hendrix, “Stone Free” (1966).
The lyrics attracted me as sort of counter to my day, as I’m being ‘forced’ to socialize. (Yeah, I’m such a whiner. Poor, poor, pity poor me.)
Stone free, to do what I please
Stone free, to ride the breeze
Stone free, I can’t stay
I got to, got to, got to get away right now
Yeah, alright
h/t to Genius.com
I dreamed a black man in black clothes came by and fixed my arm. He was upbeat about it all.
Thinking that over, I opened my eyes and checked the time: 6:01. Not needing to get up and wanting more sleep, I told myself, I’ll just close my eyes for a moment.
My mind answered, “I close my eyes, only for a moment, then the moment’s gone.” Then the rest of the classic rock tune, “Dust in the Wind” by Kansas (1978), swelled in my head.
It’s a good choice as theme music goes. We’re battling over rights, equality, facts and science, trying to preserve our lives, planets, and society while coping with COVID, all to a cacophony of bullshit from the WH. Sometimes I feel like we’re warring nests of ants. Then, looking at the stars, I remember that we’re stardust, born on a cosmic wind.
Michael Seidel, writer 