I associate this song with Thanksgiving, and as it’s the day before Thanksgiving in America, I thought I’d proffer this humorous, mellow gem from nineteen sixty-seven.
Peace out.
Sunday’s Theme Music
This song has been with me just a little less than eight years of my life. I probably heard it through Mom, but I’m sure A.M. radio played a part.
“Under the Boardwalk” caught my attention as a child because of that chorus, “under the boardwalk.” I liked singing it. As I learned the other pieces, I started singing them, too. I enjoyed the Drifters’ call and response, and the song’s mellow tempo. As I grew older and started understanding the words, I appreciated the lyrics’ sentiments about being out of the sun and the song’s imagery. I knew those days when the asphalt baked and the sand sizzled and you sought cool relief or shade, and you sat with friends in a secret place, hearing other sounds and giggling.
Eventually, I caught up with the song’s romantic connotations. Now, it’s a nostalgic stream to a simpler, happier, and more innocent time, that of my youth. And though it’s about the summer, and the beach, it’s really a song for all ages and places.
Old Love
Old love ties me to you
Sometimes, it gets us through
But sometimes, it’s like a crevasse in the way,
Something to avoid, something that darkens the day
Old love is a weight on my chest
Sometimes, though, it brings out my best,
But sometimes, it’s like I can’t breath,
Sometimes, sometimes, it’s short of my needs
Old love is a whisper in my mind
My look at you reminds me of old times
and a future so bright I had to wear shades
Old love never dies, but, yes, it fades
Friday’s Theme Song
This song has four things going for it for me: interesting lyrics, fascinating vocals, brilliant guitar playing, a beat and sound that moves me, and it came during an exciting era for me, personally.
Well, that’s more than four items, I think. Here’s Santana with Rob Thomas with the nineteen ninety-eight release, “Smooth.”
Thursday’s Theme Music
Once again the stream pulls me back in time.
I enjoy Eric Clapton’s style of music and performances. I immediately bought his “Journeyman” album on its release. I was stationed in Germany at that point, driving a silver Audi. I remember setting off for a Volksmarch one Sunday morning and slipping this CD into the player to hear as I sped across the landscape under gray skies and a weak sunrise.
Clapton’s version of “Before You Accuse Me” from this album became my favorite track. Bo Diddley wrote the song while I was an infant and I’ve heard numerous covers that I’ve enjoyed. Clapton’s cover is a powerful, rocking version.
Let us rock.
Tuesday’s Theme Music
Neurons fired, streams opened, and this song came to me today. Although I’m a Blood, Sweat and Tears fan, I don’t own any of their albums. Still, I know a number of their songs, like “Spinning Wheel”, “When I Die”, and “You’ve Made Me So Very Happy”, the song that passed into my slipstream of memory was “Lucretia MacEvil”. Sit back and enjoy Clayton-Thomas’ throaty vocals and that soulful fat brass sound.
Monday’s Theme Music
Dropping back into the seventies again. I’ve always enjoyed the southern rock style. Although the blues draw me like the sound of a can opening draws cats, the likes of Marshal Tucker, the Charlie Daniels Band, and Lynyrd Skynyrd all provided some smooth Top 40 enticements. This one, “Heard It In A Love Song,” by M.T. is one of those.
The song’s lyrics talk to me. The main chorus is about hearing truth in a love song, while the rest of the stanzas regard moving on after being with a woman for a while. That seemed like a popular romantic nature for men: I love you, but I gotta go, because of who I am. Led Zeppelin’s “Ramble On” is a little similar, except the lyrics call for him to ramble on to find the queen of his dreams.
I guess it’s all about restlessness, searching, and the inability to search if you stay in one place. Bruce Hornsby plays piano on this while that’s Eubanks with that sweet flute.
Sunday’s Theme Music
Ah, The Band. Oddly, I was reminded of them when I was attending a Veteran’s Day Concert presented by the Southern Oregon Concert Band. Besides the Star Spangled Banner and America the Beautiful, a medley of Irving Berlin, World War I music, Aaron Copeland songs, and John Philip Sousa were presented, along with each of the U.S. military services’ march songs.
But I walked away thinking about The Band, and this song, “The Weight.” Perhaps it was because the concert program reminded me of my youth. Mired in the middle of my early growth was a little event folks call Woodstock. Part of it was “The Weight.” The song has a folksy sense that reminds me of a Faulkner album and makes me smile. I always thought of it as good road music, with questions without answers, answers without explanations, and anecdotes with gravity that give shape to our lives and change our hopes.
Hope you find something in it, too.
Saturday’s Theme Music
Something from nineteen seventy-seven. Billy Joel had already established himself as a star by this year, but his album, “The Stranger,” gained him critical acclaim, awards, and increased popularity.
I enjoy the album. It came out the year I returned from my fifteen month assignment in the Philippines. The album seems like rock and roll and Americana. My favorite song is one called “Scenes From An Italian Restaurant,” but the album includes “She’s Always A Woman,” “Just The Way You Are,” and “Only The Good Die Young.”
However, I woke up streaming, “Movin’ Out.” The song expresses Joel’s disappointment with people moving up by buying consumer grades and making purchases to impress others. It’s a favorite theme for me, so here we are.
Friday’s Theme Music
Always enjoy B.B. Is the last name required? We saw him in concert in Santa Cruz during a festival, and loved it. He was such a rascal on stage.
Here he is with U2 performing the King classic, “When Love Comes to Town.”
Michael Seidel, writer 