Category Archives: music

♫ Hold The Line ♫

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dorothy-totoA couple of days ago I played a song … I don’t remember which one it was now … and Roger commented that he liked the bands Toto, Journey, and Kansas.  Immediately, I thought of The Wizard of Oz … Dorothy left Kansas and took Toto on a Journey.  So anyway, then I started thinking that those are three bands that I haven’t featured very much on my music posts.  Tonight, I decided to consider some Toto songs.  To date, the only Toto song I have played here is Africa, probably the one they are best known for.  Tonight, I add Hold the Line to that list …

According to SongFacts …

This pop nugget was the first single by Toto, a group made up of six very talented session musicians who had backed up artists like Boz Scaggs, Aretha Franklin, Barbra Streisand and Jackson Browne. Written by their keyboard man David Paich with lead vocals by Bobby Kimball, it deals with the mysteries of love. It proved that a slick pop song created by top players could succeed without a great deal of hype or a charismatic lead singer. Toto was a Top 40 staple in the ’80s, releasing nine hit songs, including the #1 “Africa.”

“Hold the line” is an expression meaning to maintain your existing position, which in this case is the singer telling a girl to be patient and stay with their relationship.

The saying also has a more literal meaning, however, which is how David Paich came up with the title. “Hold the line” is what you tell someone on the phone if you want to put them on hold while you’re taking another call. This is typical in workplaces, but in the days before cell phones, some households (especially ones with teenagers) also had multiple phone lines coming in and could put callers on hold. Paich lived in one such household.

In his 2015 Songfacts interview, Paich said: “When I was in high school, all of a sudden the phone started ringing off the hook, and I had a situation where I was at the dinner table and I had three girls all call at the same time, so all the lights were flashing. I was kind of juggling girlfriends, and that’s how that came about.”

By 2008, guitarist Steve Lukather was the only original member still with the band when he decided to call it quits. He made this statement on the band’s official website:

“Honestly I have just had enough. This is NOT a break. It is over. I really can’t go out and play ‘Hold the Line’ with a straight face anymore. I was 19 when we cut the record. I am 50 now.”

Hold the Line
Toto

It’s not in the way that you hold me
It’s not in the way you say you care
It’s not in the way you’ve been treating my friends
It’s not in the way that you stayed till the end
It’s not in the way you look or the things that you say that you’ll do

Hold the line, love isn’t always on time, oh oh oh
Hold the line, love isn’t always on time, oh oh oh

It’s not in the words that you told me, girl
It’s not in the way you say you’re mine, ooh
It’s not in the way that you came back to me
It’s not in the way that your love set me free
It’s not in the way you look or the things that you say that you’ll do

Hold the line, love isn’t always on time, oh oh oh
Hold the line, love isn’t always on time, oh oh oh

It’s not in the words that you told me
It’s not in the way you say you’re mine, ooh
It’s not in the way that you came back to me
It’s not in the way that your love set me free
It’s not in the way you look or the things that you say that you’ll do

Hold the line, love isn’t always on time, oh oh oh
Hold the line, love isn’t always on time (Love isn’t always on time)

Hold the line, love isn’t always on time (love isn’t always, love isn’t always on time)
Hold the line, love isn’t always on time
Love isn’t always on time
Love isn’t always on time
Love isn’t always on time, oh oh oh

Songwriters: David Paich
Hold the Line lyrics © Spirit Music Group

♫ I Can’t Help Myself ♫ (Redux)

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I seem to be ‘redux-ing’ a lot these days, don’t I?  Funny how an assassination, a near war, a lethal plane crash, Christmas & New Year all hitting within a week can leave you so far underwater that you cannot even see the surface.  At least it’s been well over a year since I played this one, and you’ve gotta admit this is a great one, so perhaps you can forgive me just this once?

This song was written by the successful Motown team of Lamont Dozier, Brian Holland and Eddie Holland, who wrote most of The Supremes hits. The melody of this song is very similar to Where Did Our Love Go, which Holland-Dozier-Holland wrote for The Supremes. According to Lamont Dozier, the title came about because he couldn’t help himself from working with the same tune.

The story behind the song …

“I stayed with my grandmother when I was a kid. She owned her own home beauty shop, and when the women would come up the walkway to get their hair done, my grandfather would be pedaling around in the garden. He was a bit of a flirt, and would say, ‘How you doin’, sugar pie? Good morning, honey bunch.’ He was one of those types of guys. My grandmother had a big bay window to the front of the house. She’d say, ‘Look at that old codger – he thinks I don’t see. I know what he’s doing.’ He was just flirting with his big smile. I’m sitting there on the porch watching this – I’m probably 11 or 12. I was like a sponge, soaking it up.

Years later, at Motown, I’m sitting at the piano. I’d take these mind trips back to my childhood, and I’m trying to see what this piano part is telling me. Sure enough, there my grandfather is, pedaling in the garden. That memory comes to my mind’s eye, and I know where the song is supposed to go. I hear him saying, ‘Good morning, sugar pie. How you doin’, honey bunch?’ That’s what started it.”

This was the first US #1 hit for The Four Tops, and it was a big one, topping the Hot 100 for two weeks and the R&B chart for an amazing nine. The group had paid their dues: they formed in 1953 and didn’t get a Motown deal until 10 years later. Their first Motown single, Baby I Need Your Loving,  did very well, but this one established them as one of the top acts in the company.

I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch)
Four Tops

Sugar pie, honey bunch
You know that I love you
I can’t help myself
I love you and nobody else
In and out my life
You come and you go
Leaving just your picture behind
And I kissed it a thousand times
When you snap your finger or wink your eye
I come a-running to you
I’m tied to your apron strings
And there’s nothing that I can do
I can’t help myself
No, I can’t help myself
Sugar pie, honey bunch
I’m weaker than a man should be
I can’t help myself
I’m a fool in love, you see
Want to tell you I don’t love you
Tell you that we’re through
And I’ve tried
But ev’ry time I see your face
I get all choked up inside
When I call your name
Girl, it starts the flame
(Burning in my heart
Tearing it all apart)
No matter how I try
My love I cannot hide
‘Cause sugar pie, honey bunch
You know that I’m weak for you
I can’t help myself
I love you and nobody else
Sugar pie, honey bunch
Do anything you ask me to
I can’t help myself
I want you and nobody else
Sugar pie, honey bunch
You know that I love you
I can’t help myself
I love you and nobody else

Songwriters: Edward Jr. Holland / Lamont Dozier / Brian Holland
I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch) lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

♫ Ruby Tuesday ♫ (Redux)

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As sometimes happens, I had a certain song in mind to play tonight, for after chatting with a friend about it, it’s been stuck in my poor head all day.  But, as often happens, I spent a great deal of time tonight working on my a.m. post, then on a project that Jeff and I are launching later today, and then answering comments, and … long story short, it is late and I am exhausted!  So, I am re-duxing one that I played in September for the same friend I played it for then.  Tap ‘dem toes, David!

Back in April, I had a request for a song that I was familiar with by an artist I was not familiar with.  Confused yet?  Well, the song, as you can see from the title, is Ruby Tuesday, and I was familiar with the Rolling Stones’ version, but the one requested was by a singer, Melanie, with whom I was not familiar.  As so often happens, life interfered (more likely Donald Trump interfered with my life), and I forgot all about it.  Tonight, I wanted to play something special for the requester of the song, so I dug back through my notes and said … AHA!!!

By the way … any of you who have requested a song that I haven’t played … feel free to nudge or remind me, for I truly am a very forgetful old woman these days, and my intentions are good, but …

This was the fourth US #1 hit for the Rolling Stones in 1967, written by Keith Richards, who says of the song …

“It was probably written about Linda Keith not being there.  I don’t know, she had pissed off somewhere. It was very mournful, very, VERY Ruby Tuesday and it was a Tuesday. That’s one of those things – some chick you’ve broken up with. And all you’ve got left is the piano and the guitar and a pair of panties. And it’s goodbye you know. And so it just comes out of that. And after that you just build on it. It’s one of those songs that are easiest to write because you’re really right there and you really sort of mean it. And for a songwriter, hey break his heart and he’ll come up with a good song.”

Originally called Title B, this was mainly written by Brian Jones and Keith Richards, but in keeping with Stones tradition, it was credited to Mick Jagger and Keith Richards.  The Stones’ version hit #1 in the U.S., #2 in Canada, and #3 in the UK.  And then along came …

Melanie Anne Safka, better known as just Melanie, is best known for the 1971/72 global hit Brand New Key, her composition What Have They Done to My Song Ma, and her 1970 international breakthrough hit Lay Down (Candles in the Rain), inspired by her experience of performing at the 1969 Woodstock music festival.  She was at Woodstock and still I haven’t heard of her?  Odd that.  Now, I listened to the first two mentioned and I have to admit that I wasn’t fond of either.  And, sorry David, but I still prefer the Stones’ version of this one.

And with all that said, I now offer you Ruby Tuesday by both Melanie, and the Rolling Stones!  Oh … Rod Stewart also covered the song in 1993, so maybe I’ll throw that one in just for fun, too.  Which is your favourite?

Ruby Tuesday
The Rolling Stones (also Melanie, Rod Stewart)

She would never say where she came from
Yesterday don’t matter if it’s gone
While the sun is bright
Or in the darkest night
No one knows, she comes and goes

Goodbye Ruby Tuesday
Who could hang a name on you?
When you change with every new day
Still I’m gonna miss you

Don’t question why she needs to be so free
She’ll tell you it’s the only way to be
She just can’t be chained
To a life where nothing’s gained
Or nothing’s lost, at such a cost

Goodbye Ruby Tuesday
Who could hang a name on you?
When you change with every new day
Still I’m gonna miss you

“There’s no time to lose, ” I heard her say
Catch your dreams before they slip away
Dying all the time
Lose your dreams and you will lose your mind
Ain’t life unkind?

Goodbye Ruby Tuesday
Who could hang a name on you?
When you change with every new day
Still I’m gonna miss you

Goodbye Ruby Tuesday
Who could hang a name on you?
When you change with every new day
Still I’m gonna miss you

Songwriters: Keith Richards / Mick Jagger
Ruby Tuesday lyrics © Abkco Music, Inc

♫ I Can’t Fight This Feeling Anymore ♫

Posted on by under Holidays, music

I was planning to play a song for a special friend tonight, but … first off, I realized I had played it just a few months ago, and secondly, this one came up on my playlist as I was doing house chores and listening to music this afternoon, and as often happens, it got stuck in my head … and I was whistling it, humming it, and occasionally bursting out in song with the few parts of the lyrics I actually know … or think I know!

Released by REO Speedwagon in 1984, this song was given the John Lewis Christmas advert tribute for 2019 in the UK.  But what of the song’s origins?

The ballad was written by REO Speedwagon lead singer Kevin Cronin, who also penned other hits by the band including Keep on Loving You.

When the band struggled to come up with songs for their Wheels Are Turnin’ album, they each took time off they could write alone.

Cronin travelled to Molokai, Hawaii, and he played around with a song that he first wrote 10 years earlier but never finished. It evolved into this.  According to Cronin …

“Really, what the song is about was about my inability to have the courage to express myself. I was brought up in an Irish-Catholic family, and you were taught to always keep a bright face, always act like everything was OK, even if maybe everything on the inside wasn’t so OK. So that’s something I’ve struggled with, and over the years have gotten better at.

At that time, the only way I knew to express those feelings was to write songs about them. I’ve learned over the years that it works better to talk to people!  You can actually become closer to other human beings when you are vulnerable and express yourself and are free to tell the truth and to be honest and to be up front with your feelings. It does work. Back in those days, the best that I could do was write a song about it.”

While only a #16 hit in the UK, the song gave REO Speedwagon its second #1 hit in the U.S. in 1985.

Now, I mentioned above that it was the John Lewis Christmas advert in the UK this past year.  The John Lewis & Partners Christmas advert is a television advertising campaign released by British department store chain John Lewis & Partners, and since 2007 has become something of an annual tradition in British popular culture.  I mention this only because I checked it out, and while the quality of the music is not up to the standards of the original by REO Speedwagon, it is a fun, cute video, so I am playing it, too, along with the original!

Can’t Fight This Feeling
REO Speedwagon

I can’t fight this feeling any longer
And yet I’m still afraid to let it flow
What started out as friendship has grown stronger
I only wish I had the strength to let it show

I tell myself that I can’t hold out forever
I said there is no reason for my fear
‘Cause I feel so secure when we’re together
You give my life direction, you make everthing so clear

And even as I wander, I’m keeping you in sight
You’re a candle in the window on a cold, dark winter’s night
And I’m getting closer than I ever thought I might

And I can’t fight this feeling anymore
I’ve forgotten what I started fighting for
It’s time to bring this ship into the shore
And throw away the oars, forever

‘Cause I can’t fight this feeling anymore
I’ve forgotten what I started fighting for
And if I have to crawl upon the floor, come crashing through your door
Baby, I can’t fight this feeling anymore

My life has been such a whirlwind since I saw you
I’ve been running round in circles in my mind
And it always seems that I’m following you, girl
‘Cause you take me to the places that alone I’d never find

And even as I wander, I’m keeping you sight
You’re a candle in the window on a cold, dark winter’s night
And I’m getting closer than I ever thought I might

And I can’t fight this feeling anymore
I’ve forgotten what I started fighting for
It’s time to bring this ship into the shore
And throw away the oars, forever

‘Cause I can’t fight this feeling anymore
I’ve forgotten what I started fighting for
And if I have to crawl upon the floor, come crashing through your door
Baby, I can’t fight this feeling anymore

Songwriters: Cronin Kevin
Can’t Fight This Feeling lyrics © Fate Music

♫ We’re All Alone ♫

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I was rolling smokes a bit ago, and humming a song by Little River Band … Reminiscing.  Perfect song for tonight, yes?  Sure … it was … ’til I realized I had already played it last January.  I considered redux-ing it, since I had my little heart set on that one, but I try to keep my redux-ing to a minimum, so I headed toward my TBP (to be played) list and closed my eyes and pointed.  And I wasn’t in the mood for the first song my pointy finger chose, so I tried again, and … BINGO!

This song was written by Boz Scaggs who introduced it on his 1976 album Silk Degrees. The song was first a hit for Frankie Valli.  But the version that made it to the top ten on the charts in both the UK and the US was the one released in 1977 by Rita Coolidge, and it is that one I want to play for you tonight.

(Is anyone else having trouble the last 2-3 days with the autosave in WordPress, or is it just me?)

The Rita Coolidge version of We’re All Alone was featured on the album Anytime…Anywhere released in March 1977.  According to Coolidge …

“When I was with A&M Records, it was like a family. I would visit Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss, and it was a very open, communicative group of people. One day I was in Jerry Moss’ office and he said that the Boz Scaggs album Silk Degrees was in a million homes and there was a song on it that was perfect for a woman to sing. He said, ‘It’s called “We’re All Alone” and as he’s not doing it as a single, I think you ought to record it.'”

The original lyrics of We’re All Alone include lines “Close your eyes ami” and “Throw it to the wind my love”. Coolidge sings these lines as “Close your eyes and dream” and “Owe it to the wind my love”.  And, on a personal note … you guys know my poor hearing and how I always get lyrics mixed up … in the line that says “Close the window, calm the light”, I always thought it was “Close the window, come alive”.  Oh well.  🙄

For some reason that I cannot identify, and don’t feel like digging too deep to find, this song always first takes my breath, then brings a tear to my eye.

We’re All Alone
Rita Coolidge

Outside the rain begins
And it may never end
So cry no more, on the shore a dream
Will take us out to sea
Forevermore, forevermore

Close your eyes and dream
And you can be with me
‘Neath the waves, through the caves of hours
Gone, forgotten now
We’re all alone, we’re all alone

Close the window, calm the light
And it will be all right
No need to bother now
Let it out, let it all begin
Learn how to pretend

Once a story’s told
It can’t help but grow old
Roses do, lovers too, so cast
Your seasons to the wind
And hold me dear, oh, hold me dear

Close the window, calm the light
And it will be all right
No need to bother now
Let it out, let it all begin
All’s forgotten now
We’re all alone, all alone

Close the window, calm the light
And it will be all right
No need to bother now
Let it out, let it all begin
Owe it to the wind, my love, hold me dear

All’s forgotten now, my love
We’re all alone

Songwriters: William R. Royce Scaggs
We’re All Alone lyrics © Spirit Music Group, BMG Rights Management

♫ All Out Of Love ♫

Posted on by under music

For some reason, I had this one on my TBP (to be played) list … I’m not sure if one of you requested it … usually I put a name by the song if it was requested … or if I just happened on it one night and decided I should play it soon.  At any rate, it came up, I listened, and I really wanted to play this one tonight.

Released in February 1980, this is a song by the Australian soft rock group Air Supply.  The song was written by Graham Russell & Clive Davis. In the United States, it reached #2, and in the UK, where it was the only Air Supply song to make it to the top 40, it reached #11.

An interesting bit of trivia … The chorus was originally “I’m all out of love, I want to arrest you”. However, Clive Davis thought that Americans wouldn’t understand what that meant (he was right … I’m still scratching my head over it) so he suggested “I’m all out of love, I’m so lost without you”. This is why he has a songwriting credit.

The song is known for vocalist Russell Hitchcock holding the final note for 16.2 seconds. This was the longest-held note for a male pop singer until 1983, when Sheriff lead vocalist Freddy Curci held the final note of When I’m with You for 19.4 seconds.

All Out of Love
Air Supply

I’m lying alone with my head on the phone
Thinking of you till it hurts
I know you hurt too but what else can we do
Tormented and torn apart
I wish I could carry your smile and my heart
For times when my life seems so low
It would make me believe what tomorrow could bring
When today doesn’t really know, doesn’t really know

I’m all out of love, I’m so lost without you
I know you were right believing for so long
I’m all out of love, what am I without you
I can’t be too late to say that I was so wrong

I want you to come back and carry me home
Away from this long lonely nights
I’m reaching for you, are you feeling it too
Does the feeling seem oh so right
And what would you say if I called on you now
And said that I can’t hold on
There’s no easy way, it gets harder each day
Please love me or I’ll be gone, I’ll be gone

I’m all out of love, I’m so lost without you
I know you were right believing for so long
I’m all out of love, what am I without you
I can’t be too late to say that I was so wrong

Oh, what are you thinking of
What are you thinking of
What are you thinking of
What are you thinking of

I’m all out of love, I’m so lost without you
I know you were right believing for so long
I’m all out of love, what am I without you
I can’t be too late I know I was so wrong

I’m all out of love, I’m so lost without you
I know you were right believing for so long
I’m all out of love, what am I without you
I can’t be too late I know I was so wrong

I’m all out of love, I’m so lost without you
I know you were right believing for so long
I’m all out of love, what am I without you
I can’t be too late to say that I was so wrong

Songwriters: Clive J. Davis / Graham Russell
All Out of Love lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd., Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

♫ Big Yellow Taxi ♫

Posted on by under Environmental Issues, Global Issues, music, Political commentary, Social commentary

A conversation with David yesterday triggered the thought of tonight’s song, a very meaningful one back then … and now.

Released in 1970, Big Yellow Taxi was written, composed, and originally recorded by Canadian singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell.

“I wrote ‘Big Yellow Taxi’ on my first trip to Hawaii. I took a taxi to the hotel and when I woke up the next morning, I threw back the curtains and saw these beautiful green mountains in the distance. Then, I looked down and there was a parking lot as far as the eye could see, and it broke my heart… this blight on paradise. That’s when I sat down and wrote the song.”

The song is known for its environmental concern – “They paved paradise to put up a parking lot” and “Hey farmer, farmer, put away that DDT now” – and sentimental sound. The line “They took all the trees, and put ’em in a tree museum / And charged the people a dollar and a half just to see ’em” refers to Foster Botanical Garden in downtown Honolulu, which is a living museum of tropical plants, some rare and endangered.

In the song’s final verse, the political gives way to the personal. Mitchell recounts the departure of her “old man” in the eponymous “big yellow taxi”, which may refer to the old Metro Toronto Police patrol cars, which until 1986 were painted yellow. In many covers the departed one may be interpreted as variously a boyfriend, a husband or a father. The literal interpretation is that he is walking out on the singer by taking a taxi; otherwise it is assumed he is being taken away by the authorities.

Interestingly, the song fared better almost everywhere than it did in the U.S.big-yellow-taxi

Mitchell lived in Laurel Canyon, which is a section of Los Angeles, when she wrote this song (that’s the reference in the album title). At the time, big news in California was the battle to save the redwood forests, which were threatened by developers eager to cut down the trees to build shopping centers and other amenities. As Mitchell implies in this song, this could lead to trees someday becoming something you could only see in a museum.

Now, Joni Mitchell’s is the iconic version of the song, but many in the U.S. may better remember a later recording by a group called Counting Crows … and so, I present you with both here … take your pick, or check them both out!

Big Yellow Taxi
Joni Mitchell/Counting Crows

They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot
With a pink hotel, a boutique
And a swinging hot spot

Don’t it always seem to go
That you don’t know what you’ve got til its gone
They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot

They took all the trees
And put ’em in a tree museum
And they charged the people
A dollar and a half to seem ’em

No no no
Don’t it always seem to go,
That you don’t know what you’ve got
Til its gone
They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot

Hey farmer farmer
Put away the DDT
I don’t care about spots on my apples
Leave me the birds and the bees
Please!

Don’t it always seem to go
That you don’t know what you’ve got
Til its gone
They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot
Hey, now they paved paradise
To put up a parking lot
Why not?

Listenin’ late last night
I heard the screen door slam
And a big yellow taxi
Took my girl away
Now, don’t it always seem to go
That you don’t know what you’ve got
Til its gone
They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot

Hey now, now
Don’t it always seem to go
That you don’t know what you got
Til its gone
They paved paradise
To put up a parking lot
Why not?
They paved paradise
To put up a parking lot
Hey hey hey
Paved paradise
To put up a parking lot

I don’t want give it
Why you want give,
Why you want give it all away?
Hey hey hey
Now you want give it,
Ah she want to give it
Cause she givin’ it all away
Now now now

I don’t want give it
Why you want give,
Why you want give it all away?
Giving it all, giving it all away

Why you want it?
Why do you want it? (She’s giving it all away)

Hey pave paradise
Put up a parking lot

Songwriters: Joni Mitchell
Big Yellow Taxi lyrics © Crazy Crow Music / Siquomb Music Publishing

♫ Eve of Destruction – Over and Over and Over Again My Friend ♫

Posted on by under music

Just like John Lennon’s Imagine that I played for the umpteenth time earlier this week, this song is timeless.  It was appropriate when it was first released in 1965, and it is apropos of the situation over the past two days.  This was the only song I could think of to play tonight.  Sigh.

Released in 1965, this song was an anti-government protest against racism, hypocrisy and injustice at a volatile time in American history.  Sound familiar?  I’m really surprised that this song hasn’t made a huge comeback in the past year or so, for it is every bit as apropos today as it was 50+ years ago.  In some ways, the issues today are different, but in other ways … not so much.  Today, instead of Vietnam we have climate change and a clown in the Oval Office, Brexit and election manipulation.  Racism is still alive and well, but today we have no Martin Luther King.  Hypocrisy?  Oh yeah, in spades, my friends.  And Injustice is the name of the game here and around the world.  I could name 100 reasons that this song is as relevant today as it was then. Different faces, same ol’ song. 😢

Eve of Destruction
Barry McGuire

The eastern world, it is explodin’,
Violence flarin’, bullets loadin’,
You’re old enough to kill but not for votin’,
You don’t believe in war, but what’s that gun you’re totin’,
And even the Jordan river has bodies floatin’,
But you tell me over and over and over again my friend,
Ah, you don’t believe we’re on the eve of destruction.

Don’t you understand, what I’m trying to say?
And can’t you feel the fears I’m feeling today?
If the button is pushed, there’s no running away,
There’ll be no one to save with the world in a grave,
Take a look around you, boy, it’s bound to scare you, boy,
And you tell me over and over and over again my friend,
Ah, you don’t believe we’re on the eve of destruction.

Yeah, my blood’s so mad, feels like coagulatin’,
I’m sittin’ here, just contemplatin’,
I can’t twist the truth, it knows no regulation,
Handful of Senators don’t pass legislation,
And marches alone can’t bring integration,
When human respect is disintegratin’,
This whole crazy world is just too frustratin’,
And you tell me over and over and over again my friend,
Ah, you don’t believe we’re on the eve of destruction.

Think of all the hate there is in Red China!
Then take a look around to Selma, Alabama!
Ah, you may leave here, for four days in space,
But when your return, it’s the same old place,
The poundin’ of the drums, the pride and disgrace,
You can bury your dead, but don’t leave a trace,
Hate your next door neighbor, but don’t forget to say grace,
And you tell me over and over and over and over again my friend,
You don’t believe we’re on the eve of destruction.

No, no, you don’t believe we’re on the eve of destruction.

Songwriters: P. F. Sloan
Eve of Destruction lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, BMG Rights Management

♫ Imagine (Again) ♫

Posted on by under Environmental Issues, Global Issues, music, Political commentary, Racism & Bigotry, Social commentary

Now, I know that I played this song three times during 2018 and once during 2019.  And, I know that a couple of my beloved friends/readers to not care much for John Lennon.  But, I have a reason for playing this one tonight, so please … bear with me.

I just finished catching up on comments to my last few posts, and before that, I spent a couple of hours on my ‘good people’ post.  And a few things came to me during the course of those two things.  I sense in the comments a lot of hopelessness among you guys.  Oh, don’t get me wrong … I’ve been down in the rabbit hole more times than I can count … there have been days that I considered jumping off a cliff, and there will no doubt be such days again.  But, it disturbs me to feel that some of you have given up hope that we can turn things around in this nation … in the world.

I have been so hopeless so many times in the past three years that I’ve perfected my plan to jump off a cliff if needs be, but as yet I still have hope that we can turn things around.  We will never live in a perfect world, for humans are the most flawed species on earth!  But, we can make it better.  If I didn’t believe that, I would not be sitting here writing this tonight.

And so, I ask you, dear friends, to listen to this song … really listen … even if you don’t like Lennon, or you’re tired of me playing it … just listen.  Let the words of hope wash over you.  It’s a new year, and yeah, I know that the markings on a calendar are a contrivance of humans and have no meaning in the grand scheme of things, but … let’s start 2020 with at least a tiny shred of hope that we can make a difference.  If we can’t make a difference, if you truly think we are just doomed … then why do you love the ‘good people’ posts so much?  You love them for the same reasons I do … because they give us hope for the future … for humanity.  Now, don those headphones, sit back and close your eyes, and just absorb the music, okay?  Love ‘n hugs!

Imagine
John Lennon

Imagine there’s no heaven
It’s easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky

Imagine all the people
Living for today (ah ah ah)

Imagine there’s no countries
It isn’t hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion, too

Imagine all the people
Living life in peace

You may say that I’m a dreamer
But I’m not the only one
I hope someday you’ll join us
And the world will be as one

Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man

Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world

You may say that I’m a dreamer
But I’m not the only one
I hope someday you’ll join us
And the world will live as one

Songwriters: John Winston Lennon
Imagine lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Downtown Music Publishing, BMG Rights Management

♫ A Whole New World ♫

Posted on by under music

Peabo Bryson.  Be still my heart!  Peabo-BrysonThis romantic song was the theme to the Disney animated movie Aladdin (November 1992), where it was used as the love song between Aladdin and Princess Jasmine. Alan Menken wrote the music and Tim Rice wrote the lyrics. Menken also wrote music for the films Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid and Enchanted, as well as the score for Aladdin.  Tim Rice was brought in to work on this song after Alan Menken’s songwriting partner, Howard Ashman, died of complications from AIDS on March 14, 1991.

Probably the most famous recording of this is by Peabo Bryson and Celine Dion, and while I have nothing against that one, I happened upon this one a day or so ago and … be still my heart.  The duet is Peabo Bryson (have I mentioned — be still my heart?) and Andrea Tessa, the Chilean singer-songwriter, and I think it has a depth that other versions lack.  Of course, that is only the opinion of an old, near-deaf woman, so what do I know?  Maybe I just like looking at Peabo!

A Whole New World 
Peabo Bryson and Andrea Tessa

I can show you the world
Shining, shimmering, splendid
Tell me, princess, now when did
You last let your heart decide?

I can open your eyes
Take you wonder by wonder
Over, sideways and under
On a magic carpet ride

A whole new world
A new fantastic point of view
No one to tell us no
Or where to go
Or say we’re only dreaming

A whole new world
A dazzling place I never knew
But when I’m way up here
It’s crystal clear
That now I’m in a whole new world with you
Now I’m in a whole new world with you

Unbelievable sights
Indescribable feeling
Soaring, tumbling, freewheeling
Through an endless diamond sky

A whole new world
Don’t you dare close your eyes
A hundred thousand things to see
Hold your breath – it gets better
I’m like a shooting star
I’ve come so far
I can’t go back to where I used to be

A whole new world
Every turn a surprise
With new horizons to pursue
Every moment red-letter
I’ll chase them anywhere
There’s time to spare
Let me share this whole new world with you

A whole new world
That’s where we’ll be
A thrilling chase
A wondrous place
For you and me

Songwriters: Tim Rice / Alan Menken
A Whole New World (underscore) lyrics © Walt Disney Music Co. Ltd., Walt Disney Music Company, Disney, Warner Chappell Music France, WONDERLAND MUSIC CO. INC., WONDERLAND MUSIC COMPANY INC., WONDERLAND MUSIC COMPANY INC, WONDERLAND MUSIC CO., INC., WALT DISNEY MUSIC CO LTD