Tuesday’s Theme Music

After reading about South Dakota’s disparaging remarks about herd mentality and the subsequent spike in COVID-19 cases in that states, I thought of the phrase, against all odds.

Against all odds, Alabama held back until it was conclusively demonstrated that despite not being like California, Alabama was going to experience the coronavirus. Checking the news today, I see two thought-provoking headlines to use to compare and contrast:

Alabama Tourism Among States Least Affected By Coronavirus

Mobile sees surge, added the most coronavirus cases in Alabama last week

The first article tells that Alabama’s tourism industry has been one of the least hard-hit in the nation. In the second article, ADPH reports that Mobile surged from 158 cases last week to 468 this week.

Anyway, I can hammer the point that social distancing works, but against all odds, churches, some Republican governors, and Liberty University disbelieve the facts and refuse to take the recommended actions.

And anyway, now that I’ve made this a stupidly long post for a theme music entry, today’s theme music is Phil Collins with “Against All Odds (Take A Look at Me Now)”, a 1984 song written for the movies, “Against All Odds”. Kind of a slow song, bit of sappy movie montage behind it, and it doesn’t even mention odds (what are the odds of that?). Not much of a theme song. Don’t Rachel Ward and Jeff Bridges look pretty, though?

Oh, well.

Cheers

Monday’s Theme Music

“Geez, look at the friggin’ numbers, rising and rising, when will it end?”

“My god, did you read the news?”

“Look at those people! None of them wearing a mask, or gloves, and they’re not six feet apart!”

Such responses to things led to today’s song. Blasting out of 1978 right into today, it’s Chic with “Le Freak”. You can sing along with the refrain, “Ahhh, freak out!”

 

Yeah, read, think, talk, wonder, watch, and freak out. Perfect for today. Music, with a slice of humor and nostalgia.

Sunday’s Theme Music

After watching people walking up the street this morning (teens, no social distancing or masks, quite oblivious to what’s happening in the world it seems) from the shelter of my home office, I streamed “Gimme Shelter” by the Stones in my head. Next, “Shelter Me” by Joe Cocker bubbled through the stream.

But then then young ones drifted away like dandelion seeds in the wind. Absence their chattering, I instead took in blue skies and sunshine, the ever-greening world, and the promise of another day.  With that, “Everyday Sunshine” by Fishbone jumped into my head. I seems like I haven’t heard that song for years, maybe since it came out in 1991. As it’s considered alt-rock, I don’t think it ever got the play time that it deserved, but it’s a lively, upbeat melody.

With a h/t to Metrolyrics.com, here are some of the lyrics.

I wish everyday the sun would shine
Take me to another place in my mind
Where everything is beautiful
And no wants or needs
Nor sign of greed
Could rule our soul

How I wish everyday sunshine
How I wish everyday sunshine

If we could fly away on wings
To a place where all could be true
And the skies were blue
And love was true
And me and you

Pure Prairie Floof

Pure Prairie Floof (floofinition) – American country flock (flock rock) from Ohio, active for over nine lives.

In use: “One song, “Floofie”, is Pure Prairie Floof’s biggest crossover hit single, but they have a solid following of fans among the floofful.”

Saturday’s Theme Music

Reading the news today, Sonny and Cher’s big 1967 hit, “The Beat Goes On”, sprang into the mental music stream. I’m sure we all know why that song deserves to be today’s theme music.

Friday’s Theme Music

Showered. Shaved. Teeth were brushed. Headed out to make breakfast and thought, yeah, feel like steppin’ out. Which, you know, can be done, but with risk. How much risk? Some; we’re trying to flatten the curve, conserve resources, and buy time until we have a COVID-19 vaccine or we’ve developed herd immunity. Both are expected to require some time to pass. We hope, by social distancing and isolation, we’ll keep the illness and death down in the meantime.

While walking into the kitchen after those thoughts, Joe Jackson’s 1982 song, “Steppin’ Out”, began its fast-paced melodic beat in my mind. That opening track, with its humming vibrancy, captures the anticipation of going out at night to meet people and have fun.

Maybe on another day. Not today, but it’s a good song to help pass the time until then.

Cheers

Thursday’s Theme Music

Such a simple mind have I. Watching the sunset pulling into the day, my mind punched the buttons for a 1984 Don Henley song, “Sunset Grill”.

Let’s go down to the Sunset Grill
We can watch the working girls go by
Watch the “basket people” walk around and mumble
And stare out at the auburn sky
There’s an old man there from the Old World
To him, it’s all the same
Calls all his customers by name

h/t to Google.com

I was feeling nostalgic. We’d hit 75 degrees F, and summer was strolling through, teasing us with looks and smells. Also, it was Wednesday, when my buddies and I meet to chat about science and the world and quaff a few pints.

It would’ve been a perfect day for the Sunset Grill.

 

Wednesday’s Theme Music

A friend related her tale of venturing out to a store. Her recounting triggered jungle songs. So here we are – “Welcome to the Jungle” (GNR, 1987), “Jungle Boogie” (Kool and the Gang, 1973, here on “Soul Train”), and “Run Through the Jungle” (CCR, 1970). I think each song speaks for its niche with its musical style, but each convey the jungle with slight variations. Behind them all, though, is the sense that the civilized human scene is a jungle of wild menace. Kind of like that out there, although I haven’t heard stories of violence. I guess it’s not as much of a jungle as it was on, say, black Friday.

Here they are, in chronological order.

Any jungle songs on your mind?

Tuesday’s Theme Music

This came straight up the memory pipe into the music stream this morning, right out of Canada and 1983 in my head in the U.S., 2020. I don’t know what resided down in the memory wells that said, “Let’s fire this mutha back into conscious memory.” Nothing leaps out as an ignition moment. But here we are with “Hot Girls in Love” by Loveboy.

Monday’s Theme Music

Gosh, for some reason, while reading blog posts, coronavirus news, and red state/blue state slants, a Pink Floyd song called “Us and Them” (1974) popped into my mental music.

Us (Us, us, us, us, us) and them (Them, them, them, them)
And after all we’re only ordinary men
Me (Me, me, me, me, me) and you (You, you, you, you, you)

God only knows it’s not what we would choose to do

h/t to Genius.com

It’s all about war and its senselessness, apt to me. It seems like it went urban/rural divide > culture divide > culture wars > political contests > red state/blue state > coronavirus front. What was it that Governor Kay Ivey (Alabama – R) said a few weeks ago? ““Y’all, we are not Louisiana, we are not New York State, we are not California. Right now is not the time to order people to shelter in place.”

Goodness knows what California and New York had to do with facts and information. At the time of Ivey’s speech, Alabama led California in per capita cases of coronavirus.

But anyway, the song… It starts out mellow but then cranks up the crescendo in time for you to hear, “Forward he cried, from the rear, and the front ranks died.”

And I won’t even go into expanding on that line.

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