Decided to go with a little U2 and “Desire” from Rattle and Hum (1988) because I’m feeling it.
Sunday’s Theme Music
Today’s theme music is from 1984, when Madonna was a new phenom.
I started streaming it because of a dream. In the dream, people were constantly chastising me for crossing the border, or crossing the lines, or crossing the borderlines. At first, I responded with confusion, telling them, I didn’t see, or, I didn’t know. Sometimes I apologized because they were upset. But as I grasped what they meant about borders and lines, I realized that they were the offensive ones with their false conformity-based or racially/sexually biased borders. As I encountered more people, I discovered more ridiculous borders and demands to recognize and accept the borders. That all pissed me off because their borders were predicated on childish fears and outlandish ideas. I was prompted to declare that I was against their borders, and I was going to cross them. That led to a huge, ugly, hostile confrontation.
So, awakening and thinking about the dream, I streamed a few things involving borders, like Taco Bell’s old commercial line, “Run for the border.” I then streamed a little CCR, “Better run through the jungle, and don’t look back to see.” But then, out of the morass came Madonna’s “Borderline”, which stayed and soothed.
Smoke
I smell a pipe and remember Dad.
Cigars remind me of my smoking fad.
Mother dear arises with sights of Salems and Kools.
Pall Malls and Marlboros put me in the office with chain-smoking fools.
But marijuana rolls me back in time
to my youth, when a hazy high was sublime.
Saturday’s Theme Music
Today’s choice was one of several songs in my morning stream (which kinda sounds like something I was peeing out, doesn’t it?). I owe it’s stream presence to a cat, specifically the Ginger Prince, a.k.a. Meep, alias Papi, but also sometimes called the Blade. The youngest of our cats, he still enjoys roaming at night. The house quickly bores him, so he wants out. Then, it’s cold and raining, so he wants in. But it’s boring in the house, so he wants out. But it’s cold and raining, so he wants in. And always, as he’s going in and out, he’s asking me, “What are you doing? Want to play?”
Either way, in or out, he spends the day sleeping, bathing, eating, with a little playing on the side, but he likes the night life better.
From 1979, here are The Cars with “Let’s Go”.
Friday’s Theme Music
I always liked this band’s vocals and harmonies on this song, not so interested in the synthesizers. Not anything against synths; I enjoy them with Yes and Kansas, and other rock bands. Part of it is that I think the opening is just too long, becoming a little tedious.
Anyway, this morning found me streaming “Never Been Any Reason” by Head East from 1975. But remembering a time when I was young and the present sucked and the future looked depressing brought the song into my stream. Made it through that time, you know, obs, head down, plow through, just hold on and take one step at a time, just breathe, all that.
Wednesday’s Theme Music
Today’s theme music comes from the “What the hell was that?” file. It’s a general file in my head. The major category is “What the hell?” Besides the mystified “What the hell was that?” sub-category, there’s “What the hell did he/she just say?”, “What the hell did he/she just do?”, and the ever-popular, “What the hell was I going to do/get/say?”.
The song’s wild musical break began streaming in my mind this morning but I can’t identify a trigger. The song was released in 1966, but I began aware of it later, hearing it on my AM/FM alarm clock a few years later. So different, it immediately went into the “What the hell was that file?” It then took a few years to determine what it was, and hear it fully. Hearing if fully, the Yardbirds and Beach Boys inspirations become clear.
Judge for yourself. Here’s “Psychotic Reaction” by Count Five, in black and white.
Wednesday’s Theme Music
I’d dreamed about setting up games in a small city college, and found myself thinking about a song as a result of it after I woke up. Then, my little ginger-fur friend plagued me to come in, tapping at the window by the door while imploring me with wide eyes, “Let me in.”
Letting him in, I began singing, “You belong in the house, carpet under your feet.”
The cat responded by asking me if I had anything to eat.
I returned to streaming the original song in my head. Here’s Glenn Frey’s song, “You Belong to the City”. It was written for the Miami Vice television series way back in 1985. It was a good year for me. I spent a few months in Africa, but that’s a different story.
Tuesday’s Theme Music
“Forever in Blue Jeans” started splashing through my memory stream this morning. I’m not certain what called it in. My dreams didn’t feature blue jeans or Neil Diamond, so I don’t blame my dreams.
Thinking about the lyrics, I infer from them that blue jeans are okay. From that, and maybe I’m stretching, but blue jeans are the po’ people’s clothing.
If so, that’s from a completely different era, in my mind. Even by the time Neil and his guitarist wrote this song in the late seventies, blue jeans had moved up in income brackets. Way back around two thousand, I recall reading an article about wealthy folks having tailored blue jeans made for them. Although poor and lower classes still wear them, blue jeans are more about being hip and casual now.
Anyone, here’s Neil with his song.
P.S. – what is “baby’s treat”?
Monday’s Theme Music
You often hear what’ll happen someday. Biggest of that is, “Someday, we’ll understand.” But, for a lot of us, for many of these prophecies, someday never comes.
It was part of my morning circle. When will this come about? What day? Someday. Well, sometimes someday never comes.
John Fogerty was writing about his parents’ divorce and his own marriage breaking up when he wrote “Someday Never Comes”. I enjoy CCR’s music because of the beats and a general buoyancy they project, but Fogerty’s lyrics were often observational essays.
Here’s “Someday Never Comes” (1972).
First thing I remember was askin’ papa, “Why?”, for there were many things I didn’t know
And daddy always smiled; took me by the hand, sayin’, “Someday you’ll understand”
Well, I’m here to tell you now each and ev’ry mother’s son
You better learn it fast; you better learn it young, ’cause someday never comes
h/t lyricsfreak.com
Sunday’s Theme Music
Today’s theme music is from the Van Halen tributary to my streaming music mind. “Ain’t Talkin’ ’bout Love” is off of their debut album in 1978. Essentially a power trio of Eddie on electric guitar, Alex on drums and Michael Anthony on bass, David Lee Roth provided the vocals. That first album had a number of elemental songs on it, nothing fancy. Eddie’s mind-blowing guitar playing was showcased, especially the solo, “Eruption”. “Ain’t Talkin’ ’bout Love” offers more of that against a head-rocking beat and emphatic vocals. There’s no doubt that they’re not talkin’ ’bout love.
Michael Seidel, writer 