Tag: rock

Friday’s Theme Music

Out walking the beach under glorious weather – seventy and sunny – a few days ago at Yachats. Out came a Tommy John song, “Draggin’ the Line”, 1971. I heard it as a fifteen-year-old. I took it to be about working, and accepting that he had to work, because he was in love with a girl. He’s not hurrying or complaining, he’s just doing what must be done, and – to reference another song from another group – they’re happy together.

Makin’ a livin’ the old, hard way
Takin’ and givin’ by day by day
I dig snow and rain and the bright sunshine
Draggin’ the line (Draggin’ the line)

My dog Sam eats purple flowers
Ain’t got much, but what we got’s ours
We dig snow and rain and the bright sunshine
Draggin’ the line (Draggin’ the line)
Draggin’ the line (Draggin’ the line)

I feel fine
I’m talkin’ ’bout peace of mind
I’m gonna take my time
I’m gettin’ the good sign

h/t to AZLyrics.com

I later heard that it was about doing cocaine. That didn’t make sense to me. Today, after thinking about the song, I checked Wikipedia. “Asked about the meaning of the title in a 2009 interview, Tommy James said: “”Draggin’ the Line” just meant working every day. Nothing really very mysterious about it.””

h/t to Wikipedia.org

Let’s mellow, children.

 

 

 

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Wednesday’s Theme Music

Today’s music started with a simple response to a weary situation. I thought, “Take me home,” and my stream kicked in with the Stevie Nicks song, “Stand Back” (1983). So, here we are.

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Tuesday’s Theme Music

Well, did you ever wake up
With them bullfrogs on your mind?
Well, did you ever wake up
With them bullfrogs on your mind?
You had to sit there laughin’
Laughin’ just to keep from crying

h/t to genius.com

Yeah, you know what I’m talking about. I think I first heard Canned Heat perform “Bullfrog Blues” in the late 1960s. Later, though, came Rory Gallagher, and it’s his lively version that streamed through my head this morning after a peculiar sequence of dreams.

So here it is, my sweet baboos. Cheers

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Monday’s Theme Music

Always enjoyed this song, “Yellow Ledbetter” by Pearl Jam (1992). I often played it in my car during my ’90s Bay Area commutes, cranking it up and singing along even though I had no idea what Eddie Vedder was singing. I’d just make up my own lyrics for the most part because I enjoyed his range’s slide from sounding wistful, drifting toward anger, and almost sighing with resignation. Later, the net provided me with the lyrics but I keep singing free form whenever I hear this song, just going with the flow, you know.

The guitar playing on it, though, is what moved me most about this song. Never played the air guitar to it during my commutes because I imagined what looks I’d get from my fellow drivers.

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Sunday’s Theme Music

Going through routines, planning my day, and checking the news, Nine Inch Nail’s song, “Everyday Is Exactly the Same” (2006) began streaming. Those initial words, you know?

I believe I can see the future
Cause I repeat the same routine
I think I used to have a purpose
But then again
That might have been a dream
I think I used to have a voice
Now I never make a sound

h/t to AZLyrics.com

I think, OMG, no, that’s too depressing. Searching for an alternative, my stream offered “Clocks” by Coldplay. I thought, No, no, that’s no better, dude. The stream offered “Stuck in the Middle with You” by Stealer Wheels. I think the stream thought itself funny. 

Bah.

 

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Saturday’s Theme Music

Today’s song came by way of a cat. He went out through the pet door from the MBR, crossed the patio, came in through the living room side door, and then walked around behind me, greeting me as I came down the hall from the MBR.

Whipping my head back, I asked, “How did you get here so fast?”

He flicked his tail once and sat.

I nodded. “Everything you do is magic.” I knew, of course, that it wasn’t magic, but quantum walking. Cats are adept at walking through universes from one to another, turning up at odd times and places.

That simple phrase, though, invited the stream to begin “Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic” (The Police, 1981).

I need to watch what I say.

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Friday’s Theme Music

Okay, I knew this song, but, one, I didn’t know who performed it; two, I didn’t know the song title; and, three, I didn’t know what year it came out. I also only knew a few choruses. None of this stopped it from streaming in my head as I was walking yesterday. Boisterous, with a thumping beat, it’s an excellent freakin’ walking song.

I needed the details. I mentioned the song to the barista yesterday, telling her it was stuck in my head, and sharing some of the song with her.

“That’s familiar. Wait.” She stared into space. “I know it but I don’t know who did it or the name of it.”

“Well, I need to go look it up.”

She nodded. “Please tell me if you find what it is, because now it’s stuck in my head.”

Well, I found it. Took a good five minutes, but the net is an impressive place. Here is Fitz and the Tantrums with their song, “The Walker”, from 2013. Let me know if you recognize it.

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Thursday’s Theme Music

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.

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Wednesday’s Theme Music

Heard this on the radio this morning in the car. After parking, I listened through to the end. Nothing was in English, so I didn’t understand it, but I enjoyed many elements. After heading out to write and walking a few miles, I reached the coffee shop, powered up the ‘puting machine, and found the song.

“Sastanàqqàm” by Tinariwen was released in 2017. Wikipedia tells me that Tinariwen is a band of Tuareg refugees playing desert blues. The song’s lyrics fascinate me.

I Question You

Ténéré,can you tell me
of anything better
Than to have your friends
and your mount,
And a brand new goatskin,
watertight,
To find your way
by the light
Of the four bright stars
of heaven,
To know how
to find water in
The unlikeliest of places,
And enlist the momentum
of the wind
To help you move forward.
Tell me, Ténéré,
how you and I
Can remain united,
with no hate for each other.
Ténéré, I can now admit that
I have travelled far through this wide world.
Ténéré, I give you my oath
That as long as I’m alive,
I will always come back to you.

https://lyricstranslate.com

  • Ténéré means desert in Tuareg

Hope you give it a listen and enjoy it as much as I did. Cheers

 

 

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Tuesday’s Theme Music

Going through some papers yesterday evening, I decided, I’m throwing this all away.

My mind is like Siri or Alexa. “Playing Genesis, “Throwing It All Away”.

Me: “What? No! I never — ”

“Throwing It All Away” begins.

Me: “Stop it! Stop it!”

But the mind no longer hears. It’s singing along. “Throwing It All Away” continues on an endless loop until I go to sleep. Then it starts up again this morning.

So, here’s a little soft pop-rock for you day. From 1986.

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