My brain wandered off into an unusual direction and decided to rewrite a classic rock song.
The Neurons’ target is a song by Kansas. Released in 1978, “Dust in the Wind” became known for its reflective lyrics and evocative sound. These were the lines my brain wanted to rewrite.
Dust in the wind All we are is dust in the wind (All we are is dust in the wind) Dust in the wind (Everything is dust in the wind) Everything is dust in the wind
My brain was suddenly singing,
I close my screen Only for a moment but the app is gone All my words Are no longer there, a pain for me
Pixels on the screen All we are is pixels on the screen (All we are is pixels on the screen) Pixels on the screen (Everything is pixels on the screen) Everything is pixels on the screen
It’s a windy beast out there this morning. Definitely a creature of autumn. Trees are shimmying and waving branches like they’re cheering on the University of Oregon Ducks football team.
It’s technically a Sattyday, or Saturday as they call it in some parts of the U.S., samedi in some other places. October 12, 2024. 64 with a lovely balminess riffing. Most of the sun action is obscured behind a cloudy gray monolith. Our air will tiptoe into the low to mid sevenities this day.
The cats are out there, trying to make out like they’re happy with the weather’s shape. But their dismayed whiskers reveal their truths, that this wind is disturbing their sleep, mussing their fur, and annoying them with its sounds. Whenever I go by a door or window and look out, they eye the house like they want back in. I will go back and see if that’s true. Both will probably come in. Tucker (pronounced Tuck-ah) will stay but Papi will go back out. He has a short memory when weather is introduced as the topic.
You know who else doesn’t like the wind? DJ Trump dislikes the wind. The former President said some stuff about the wind at one of his rallies last week as part of his magic weave. This is lifted from a Huffpost article shared on Yahoo:
“The wind, the wind, it sounds so wonderful. The wind, the wind, the wind is, the wind is bullshit, I’ll tell you,” he said.
The crowed roared.
“It’s horrible, so expensive. Just too expensive. It doesn’t work. All of that to do y’know one tenth of one percent, I mean the whole thing is crazy,” he said.
Trump complained that wind power means people can’t watch television on days with no breeze.
He is right; the whole thing is crazy.
Speaking of wind, it’s a mess down in Florida after Hurricane Milton finished with them. Millions without power. Massive flooding. Sixteen dead, but people left homeless. Gas stations lack gas and alligators are swimming freely as a threat. President Biden has asked Congress to return to pass more funding for FEMA. Let’s see how the GOP reacts.
Moving on.
I have a friend with a fruitful fig tree, and she’s generous with its produce. After receiving pint after pint after pint of fresh, ripe figs, my wife baked a fig cake with a mix of almond and white flour. Excellent with coffee. I theorize it’d go well warm with a scope of vanilla bean ice cream as a dessert. But I’m having it this morning, cold with my coffee. Still fine riding on the taste buds.
All this wind thinking lends itself to songs about wind. I ended up with Kansas singing in the morning mental music stream (Trademark blown away). The Neurons agreed with the choice (although they did campaign for “Against the Wind” by Bob Seger and The Scorpions’ windy offering, “Wind of Change”. So here is “Dust in the Wind”, the 1977 progressive rock offering.
Stay strong, be positive, and vote blue in 2024. Rock on with your day. I’ve been rocking mine with coffee. Here’s the music. Cheers
Today is January 29, 2021, the first ‘last Friday of the month’ in 2021. Sunset was at 7:29 AM. Sunset will be at 5:21 PM. Outside, it’s 37 degrees F and slowly drying under a gray smeared blue sky. Looks like one of those days when it could get sunnier but it also could get cloudier and rainier. Ah, typical southwestern Oregon.
The last Friday of the month used to be significant in the organizations I worked for in the military and civilian worlds. Reports were requested on the last Friday of the month. Summaries were given. Expectations set for the next month. Funny how much revolved around the last Friday of the month.
Thinking of Friday, I thought a Friday song would be appropriate. First into mind on that note is always the 1975 Steeley Dan song, “Black Friday”. It’s reigned as a theme song a coupla times. So has “Friday I’m in Love” by The Cure (1992). Thinking a little harder on it, I came up with a few others, like Katy Perry’s song, “Last Friday Night” and “Livin’ It Up Friday Night” by Bell & James, which was a friend’s favorite back in the late 1970s. He’d sing that song every day of the week.
A cat interrupted proceedings, though. Talking to him, I mentioned that he was a wayward floof. Wayward kicked an old Kansas song, “Carry on Wayward Son” (1976) into the musical stream, where it’s gone into loopy mode. So, for your listening pleasure and my sanity of mind, here it is.
Stay positive, test negative, wear a mask, and get the vax. Happy Friday.
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.
How ’bout some prog-rock about some sailors? Amazing, but songs about sailors aren’t that uncommon in the rock world.
You might have something from Styx, Blue Image, or Gordon Lightfoot in mind. This one, though, is from Kansas and 1977. Not their biggest hit by far, I’ve always been teased by that line, “How long to the point of know return?” It’s like, “Well, I don’t know.”
I also always remember Jerry, a buddy of mine, when I hear this song. He loved being the vocalist while playing air keyboards when this song played.
Michael Seidel, writer 