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.
Today’s song, “Where Is My Mind?” by the Pixies (1988) is an old favorite.
I didn’t learn about the Pixies until I read comments Kurt Cobain made about them, and how they play soft/loud. After hearing that, I went in search of. Listening to “Heart Shaped Box” reminded me of that.
So they were in my mind’s forefront when my wife wondered last night, “Where is my head?” That was enough for my mental Alexa to play, “Where Is My Mind?”
With your feet on the air and your head on the ground, Try this trick and spin it, yeah
I know this song because Mom liked it, played it, and sang it. A country song, its cover by Jeannie C. Riley became a cross-over hit in 1968. The song later became the basis for a movie and a television show.
Why is it in my head today? My best guess is that my brain is playing head games with me. But the song is about the establishment (you know them), change, hypocrisy, rebellion, and judgement, (along with small town life) so that fits the here and now of our times, no? Sure, we can stretch.
Here’s Jeannie C. Riley with “Harper Valley PTA”.
I want to tell you all the story ‘Bout a Harper Valley widowed wife Who had a teenage daughter Who attended Harper Valley Junior High
Well, her daughter came home one afternoon And didn’t even stop to play And she said, “Mom, I got a note here From the Harper Valley PTA”
Well, the note says, “Mrs. Johnson You’re wearing your dresses way too high It’s reported you’ve been drinkin’ And a runnin’ ’round with men and goin’ wild”
“And we don’t believe you ought to be A bringin’ up your little girl this way” And it was signed by the secretary Harper Valley PTA
It’s a classic line: “Why don’t they do what they say, say what they mean?”
First, you have the POTUS backing the CDC, declaring people are supposed to wear masks (and his staff visiting with him are often required to wear masks, and have their temps taken every day), but then declares that he’s not wearing them. Mike Pence, one of the limpest Veeps in history, has been pilloried for not wearing masks when everyone else was wearing one, when told he should be wearing one, etc, while visiting places and making stops.
“Do what they say.”
Video revealings have people saying what they mean, turning on Blacks and other POC, screaming at them, “Go back where you came from, you don’t belong here,” calling them thugs, criminals, monkeys, and generally using the vilest language and deepest levels of hate that they can muster. When their words spread across the net (because we’re in the net age) and they’re ostracized and fired from jobs, they claim that’s not what they meant (they were just angry, afraid, blacked out, etc.). But it’s pretty clear that they mean what they say.
“One thing leads to another.”
And we certainly have seen that in evidence, haven’t we? Folks attend church, sporting events, bars, parties. Social distancing is shunned, masks are mocked, ridiculous claims are made (our air-conditioning filters will save you)…a few days later, people are in isolation, testing rona positive, and heading for hospitals.
Yet, we still have so many claiming that one thing doesn’t lead to another. They’re above the experts. Or, doesn’t matter. Business and the economy — making money — are more important. So the cases keep rising, and the deaths keep rising…
One thing leads to another.
Here’s the song by the Fixx, “One Thing Leads to Another”, from 1984.
The civic powers have decided there’s gonna a be a youth baseball tournament in our area this weekend. Thirty-two teams are coming from all over California and Oregon.
Gosh, I think this is a great idea. Snark, in case it’s not recognized.
Yes, social distancing rules will be in play. Only a hunnert people on a field at a time. But let’s see, thirty-two teams, say fifteen people to a team including coaches, support, and chaperones, and suddenly an four to five hundred people are running around town. Going to social distance? Hmmm…
Then there are fans…
Hmmm…
So, we went shopping today. Had to be done, Costco and Trader Joe’s, our go-tos. TJ was a blessed sanctuary. Everyone masked, not many people, all observing the SD guidelines and playing nice.
We zipped out to Costco. It wasn’t opening for thirty more minutes. “Should we get in line?” the spouse asked.
What line? I saw people milling. Half weren’t masked. Three fourths weren’t distancing.
“No. We’re not getting in that congregation. Let’s go to Target and get the pet supplies instead.”
Off we went.
Target…jebbus. Most weren’t masked. Social distancing? I don’t think they’d heard the term. My mind recoiled with bitterness. We’re probably looking at walking headlines, I thought. Oh, they went to a ballgame. WEnt shopping. One had symptoms but (fill it in yourself). Gosh, thirty people then tested pos. Gosh, they’re all in isolation, and gosh, some of them are really sick and in the hospital.
Yeah, gosh.
Into all of this came the 1985 Hooters song, “All You Zombies”. I don’t know if these people are unthinking, uncaring, ignorant zombies, a piece of all that, or just rebelling cause ‘Merica, Trump. Don’t know. But they strike me as zombies.
That makes “All You Zombies” today’s theme choice. Zombies come in all shapes, ya know?
A favorite song is stuck in today’s stream, but it’s quite apt for the time. Growing up in the 1960s, Shirley Bassey was a recurring fixture in pop culture. She sang several of the Bond movie theme songs, showed up on television shows, had international hits. Her voice and style were well-known.
So it was something of a delight when the Propellerheads combined with Shirley Bassey in a retro sound, “History Repeating”, in 1997.
[Verse 1] The word is about, there’s something evolving Whatever may come, the world keeps revolving They say the next big thing is here That the revolution’s near But to me it seems quite clear That it’s all just a little bit of history repeating
[Verse 2] The newspapers shout – a new style is growing But it don’t know if it’s coming or going There is fashion – there is fad Some is good – some is bad And the joke is rather sad That it’s all just a little bit of history repeating
Here we are in 2020, struggling to advance rights for women, people of color, regardless of sexual gender, identity, or orientation, while a segment of society tries to anchor us to a time that’s gone. Against that, we’re fighting a pandemic, kind of like that 1917-1918 flu pandemic, and there’s talks of voting rights and states’ rights vs. Fed. rights vs. individual rights…like the American Civil War and the ongoing civil rights movement.
Also, I chose this as my theme song back in back in 2017, so, yeah, “History Repeating” works for today. And it’s a swinging tune.
Yet again, my brain selected a song and has put it on a loop for reasons that I can’t pinpoint.
This one may have to do with the neighbor’s cat passing away. Named Pepper — an independent cat of independent means chasing independent ways and independent dreams — I often called her sugar and sweetness. A tortie, she featured a coal black face with big golden eyes that seemed solemn but optimistic, and a clear, strong voice. So maybe her spirit kicked the song into my head.
Anyway, here is Robin Schulz with “Sugar” from 2015. It uses Baby Bash’s song, “Suga Suga” from 2003 to build upon. Just realized, too, according to my neighbor, Pepper was ‘supposedly’ (they weren’t pos) born in 2003. Admittedly, this song goes against my general principle of referring to women as bitches. Just don’t like it as an expression, attitude, or stereotype.
Michael Seidel, writer 