After reading headline bullshit about more Trump lies (and other pols, but mostly the mano one) and general bullshit that’s out there, a 1984 Queen song entered the mental music stream.
“I Want to Break Free” wasn’t a big hit in the U.S., but I was travelling through Europe on mil biz that year, and heard it on their media. I thought the thingy ’bout the lies worked for this pandemic year.
Rolled out of bed (leaving a cat behind) still thinking about a dream. Then pondered, what is today’s theme music?
Brain Alexa said, “Playing, ‘I’ve Got the Music in Me’.”
I said, “Who is it by?”
No answer.
“What year did it come out?”
No answer.
Had to wiki that stuff to learn that it was the Kiki Dee Band who released it in 1974.
There are some uplifting lyrics.
Ain’t got no trouble in my life, No foolish dream to make me cry. I’m never frightened or worried, I know I’ll always get by. I heat up (I heat up) I cool down (I cool down) When something gets in my way I go round it. Don’t let life get me down Gonna take life the way that I found it.
CHORUS I got the music in me I got the music in me I got the music in me I got the music in me I got the music in me I got the music in me
They say that life is a circle (circle) But that ain’t the way that I’ve found it. Gonna move in a straight line (ooh) Keeping my feet firmly on the ground. I heat up (I heat up) I cool down (I cool down) I got words in my head so I say them. Don’t let life get me down, Catch a hold of my blues and just play them.
CHORUS
Feel funky
Feel good Gonna tell ya I’m in the neighbourhood Gonna fly like a bird on the wing Hold on to your hat honey, Sing, sing, sing, sing Heat up, cool down (cool down) I got words in my head so I say them Don’t let life get me down (Don’t let it get ya down) Catch a hold of my blues and just play them.
CHORUS 2x
Ain’t got no trouble in my life, No foolish dream to make me cry. I’m never frightened I’m never worried, I know, I know I’ll always get by.
CHORUS 2x
I got the music Pretty music I got the music In me
Don’t let it get ya down Don’t let it get ya down Don’t let it get you down Don’t let it get ya down Don’t let it get ya down Don’t let it get you down Ha, ha, ha, ha
I was half asleep while attending something in the middle of the night. Was it a noise outside that awoke me, or a cat going through the pet door, or just something in my nervous system? Tag it with ‘things I’ll never know’.
But, momentarily awake (with Tucker licking my knuckles and purring) (did he wake me?), I drifted through fragmenting dream memories. Lyrics from “Standing Outside a Broken Phone Booth with Money in My Hand” (Primitive Radio Gods, 1996) join the dream memories.
The song is slight, mildly catchy in a hypnotic sort of way but I enjoy reflecting on the lyrics and their twists. What’s usually most memorable from this song for me is B.B. King singing, “I’ve been down-hearted, baby, ever since the day.”
Contrary to world expectations, I’ve been, um, feeling good? How else can it be put, but I’ve been experiencing a rising sense of hope and optimism. It permeates everything I’m doing and thinking.
Rationally, I can’t account for it. I can say that I’m less stressed because I’m not out there socializing and fighting traffic. I can attribute it to kind weather gods; May, June, and July have been pleasantly mild for the most part, keeping anxieties about wildfires and smoke tamped.
But then there’s COVID-19 and what it’s doing to the world. And there was the death of a sweet, shy cousin, too young, just fifty-one, dead from cancer, leaving two sons behind, succumbing to the disease after a four year struggle. In my mind, she remains bright-eyed and smiling with an impish impulse.
And there was Dad, being rushed to the hospital mid-week, Dad who is rarely sick but has a full metal jacket of stents (installed a few years ago) and moderate CPOD. He is almost eighty-eight, though, so there’s always expectations and worries. We are talking about the life train. It always pulls in at the same final stop.
Writing, though, has been a wonderful escape, of course, taking me on an unexpected ride as the characters evolve and the story goes in directions that I didn’t expect. That’s always a pleasure, innit? A good writing day can propel you over many obstacles.
So…
Feeling good. Optimistic, hopeful, even joyous.
Against this backdrop, I’m hearing “Bell Bottom Blues” by Eric Clapton (1971). Two aspects of the song stay on a loop in my head: “I don’t want to fade away,” and “I don’t want to lose this feeling.”
No, I don’t want to lose this feeling. It’s too good. I wish I could package it and share for free with everyone in the world. Others should know these sensations. They’re powerful stimulants.
Enough of my babbling. Here’s the music, a later live acoustic version that I think does more justice to the song.
A cool mountain wind came by late yesterday, serving to dispatch summer’s edgy warmth.
Such a welcome combo. I was relaxing after another wall-painting session. I wanted to take a walk but was ambivalent, mostly because it was about eight PM.
(‘Take a walk’ is an interesting expression. When I hear/write/read that line, I often imagine people with numbers waiting in line. You know, take a number, take your place, take a seat, take a walk. Just word associations.)
Decided not to go walking, but as I was thinking and enjoying the mild, cool wind and watching the change from day (distant apricot sunset in the west, indigo sky rising at the zenith, the moon, clear and shiny, riding the southern sky), a Scorpions song came to mind.
“Wind of Change” (1991) is such a mellow song, it definitely answered the moment.
The wind of change Blows straight into the face of time Like a stormwind that will ring the freedom bell For peace of mind
The Marshall Tucker Floof (floofinition) – American southern floof rock (flock) band. Formed in 1972, they were known for incorporating jazz, blues, and country nuances into their music.
In use: “The Marshall Tucker Floof’s first released song, “Can’t You Feed”, reached the Floofboard top 100 and established the band.”
Took a walk into the steep hills of southern Ashland, where you lean forward like you’re walking into a hurricane gale to progress up the incline. Looking back over the browning valley, across to where vineyards sprawled under a blue sky and the Interstate snaked by with semis full of goods, the song, “Bullet the Blue Sky” by Oasis (1987) stole out of memory into consciousness.
And i can see the fighter planes i can see the fighter planes Across the mudhuts as the children sleep Through the alleys of a quiet city street up the staircase to the first floor Turn the key and slowly unlock the door A man breathes into a saxophone Through the walls we hear the city groan Outside is America Outside is America
Not surprising. I’d be writing in my head as I walked, picking up where I’d stopped for the day, moving the chains to the next day. As my story companions travel, they stop and watch things and wonder.
Basically, as I was doing today, wondering about the past, the future, the present, politics, you know…the world.
Floofs del Río(floofinition) – Spanish floof pop (floop) duo formed in 1962, sometimes also called Río Floofs, or “river floofs”.
In use: “Although formed in 1962, Floofs del Río made it big in 1995 with a song called “Floofarena”, which makes them a definite one-hit wonder to date.”
Michael Seidel, writer 