Favorite Song/Music Convo

Coping
#64

Joni Mitchell appeared at the Newport Folk Festival this year. She suffered a brain aneurysm several years back and had to relearn a lot, so it’s both surprising and moving to see her back.

Both Sides Now

Rows and flows of angel hair
And ice cream castles in the air
And feather canyons everywhere
Looked at clouds that way

But now they only block the sun
They rain and they snow on everyone
So many things I would have done
But clouds got in my way

I’ve looked at clouds from both sides now
From up and down and still somehow
It’s cloud illusions I recall
I really don’t know clouds at all

Moons and Junes and Ferris wheels
The dizzy dancing way that you feel
As every fairy tale comes real
I’ve looked at love that way

But now it’s just another show
And you leave 'em laughing when you go
And if you care, don’t let them know
Don’t give yourself away

I’ve looked at love from both sides now
From give and take and still somehow
It’s love’s illusions that I recall
I really don’t know love
Really don’t know love at all

Tears and fears and feeling proud
To say, “I love you” right out loud
Dreams and schemes and circus crowds
I’ve looked at life that way

Oh, but now old friends they’re acting strange
And they shake their heads and they tell me that I’ve changed
Well something’s lost, but something’s gained
In living every day

I’ve looked at life from both sides now
From win and lose and still somehow
It’s life’s illusions I recall
I really don’t know life at all

It’s life’s illusions that I recall
I really don’t know life
I really don’t know life at all

I’d like to think that Joni’s reemergence is a metaphor for all of us. No matter what has been thrown at us, brand new chapters absolutely can be written.

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#65

It has been a while since I have been here.

I have been a Pink Floyd fan for over 50 years. They are really my only remaining rock music vice.

One of the founding members, Roger Waters, took an older song “Comfortably Numb” and put a new twist on it. The tune is lowered a pitch and slowed down, and a female vocal substitutes for the guitar solo near the end.

In the video the visuals are bleak and forecast life in 5, 10 years off in a post-covid (and possibly post Ukraine-induced nuclear WWIII ?) future. Even as the atmosphere is post-apocalyptic, the people are sheeple, married to their phones.

Put on your hearing aid so you can hear it, and pay attention as you watch.

#66

Another for the metal heads. I can really relate to this. What’s strange is that even though the lyrics are very dark, this boosts my mood and gives me a surge of energy hahaha…

Over and over again
I relive the moment
I’m bearing the burden within
Open wounds hidden under my skin
Pain as real as a cut that bleeds
The face I see every time I try to sleep
Staring at me crying

I’m running from the enemy inside
Looking for the life I left behind
These suffocating memories are etched upon my mind
And I can’t escape from the enemy inside

I sever myself from the world
And shut down completely
All alone in my own living hell
Overcome with irrational fear
Under the weight of the world on my chest
I buckle and break as I try to catch my breath
Tell me I’m not dying

I’m running from the enemy inside
Looking for the life I left behind
These suffocating memories are etched upon my mind
And I can’t escape from the enemy inside

I’m a burden and a travesty
I’m a prisoner of regret
Between the flashbacks and the violent dreams
I am hanging on the edge
Disaster lurks around the bend
Paradise came to an end
And no magic pill
Can bring it back again

I’m running from the enemy inside
Looking for the life I left behind
These suffocating memories are etched upon my mind
And I can’t escape from the enemy inside

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#67

(Hard to believe it has been a year since my last post here!)

It was May 1975.
A “Jacques Brel” musical had saved Playhouse Square in Cleveland. My girlfriend and I had returned from enjoying the play for a second time.
I asked her to marry me that night, and last month we celebrated our 47th anniversary.

The musical had songs of hope, love, and also despair. One song invades my mind from that night.

“The Desperate Ones.” I think of the young guys here, lives ruined by Big Pharma. This version is not performed by a quartet as in the musical. Instead, the great Nina Simone (thanks @Scotsman ) puts her stamp on the song. Jim

https://youtu.be/rDyHVxD4IfI?si=tByviC6i0oGHVcaI

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#68

Congratulations on your 47th Anniversary. You must have been a very young Jim when you got married. I didn’t know about the Desperate Ones origin. Thanks for the info. I must check out the original.

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#69

I had turned 21 earlier that week, having promised myself I wouldn’t marry before that age. Maturity magically comes at 21, don’t ya know!

My wife said, concerning Nina’s rendition of the Desperate Ones, she could imagine her singing in a smoky coffeehouse, the audience all in their berets, nodding and snapping their fingers in time. She certainly lends a bleakness to the tune that a quartet does not convey.

Have a good day, my friend. Jim

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#70

A haunting tune by Enya, take a listen:

Pilgrim, how you journey
On the road you chose
To find out why the winds die
And where the stories go?

All days come from one day
That much you must know
You cannot change what’s over
But only where you go

One way leads to diamonds
One way leads to gold
Another leads you only
To everything you’re told

In your heart you wonder
Which of these is true
The road that leads to nowhere
The road that leads to you

Will you find the answer
In all you say and do?
Will you find the answer
In you?

Each heart is a pilgrim
Each one wants to know
The reason why the winds die
And where the stories go

Pilgrim, in your journey
You may travel far
For, pilgrim, it’s a long way
To find out who you are

Pilgrim, it’s a long way
To find out who you are
Pilgrim, it’s a long way
To find out who you are

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#71

I’m loving your wife’s vision of the smoky coffee house with the beret wearing audience all snapping their fingers. Very evocative. I would have loved to have seen Nina perform.

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#72

Does anyone like molchat doma the Russian doomers?

I listened to them a lot before crashing actually

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#73

Good band

#74

It’s been a while since I’ve posted here. I’m going back now to a simpler time, probably before most of you were born, when the classic oldies played on AM radio.

This one was performed here by Peter, Paul and Mary. Enjoy “Lemon Tree” off the “Blowin in the Wind” album.

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#75

Continuing in my mission to introduce classic music from the '60s-70’s to all those here who weren’t born yet…
Imagine your grandpa is calling you to his stereo to play his fave old songs…and humor him.
Harry Nilsson had this hit in 1971, “Lime in the Coconut.” Enjoy!

For a more modern, rock version, listen here:

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#76

Love the song and title “lemon tree” as much as the real thing. I imagine the sound quality is much better on a record, DVD, CD, VHS, cassette, or live than Youtube. Live is obviously the best out of the bunch.

I am fond of all things lemony. Lemon-Balm, Lemon-Grass, and Lemon-Verbena. They live up their name. The trio makes a splendid tea, the likes of which would be marvelous to drink while listening to the above referenced “Lemon tree”. I had a lemon tree at a previous house, planted over a septic tank that grew as if it was on steroids, the lemons as large as grapefruits. I have a habit of making everything about plants and herbs, I do.

Anyway, the symbolic nature of the song reminds me of the quote: “Though the lips of the forbidden woman are as sweet as honey, in the end she is as bitter as wormwood.” If you ever taste the intense bitterness of wormwood, you’d never look at bitter the same. It makes kale seem like candy by comparsion.

Have yet to hear the coconut song. I ought to wait to ramble on about coconuts until then. I can get coco-nutty.

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#77

As I looked through my past choices here, I see many have a depressive feel. I honestly won’t apologize, because this PFS has had me feeling depressed more often than not. Who among us can deny that mood?

Still, I’ve decided to choose tunes somewhat more upbeat (at least marginally!) hereon out. Witness, the last two songs.

Today, a song that predates most posters by a decade or two. Performed by Norman Greenbaum, a “one hit wonder” in 1969.

Spirit in the Sky had decent instrumentals, and spoke of “going to see the spirit in the sky” upon passing. (BTW, Norman was Jewish but used Jesus to appeal to mass audiences.)

Opening lyics:
When I die and they lay me to rest
Gonna go to the place that’s the best
When I lay me down to die
Goin’ up to the spirit in the sky
Goin’ up to the spirit in the sky (spirit in the sky)
That’s where I’m gonna go when I die (when I die)
When I die and they lay me to rest
I’m gonna go to the place that’s the best…

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#78

The following tune was a big hit in the late 80s or early 90s, depending on which side of the big pond was your home.
The Proclaimers are a Scottish rock duo whose biggest hit was "I’m Gonna Be (500 miles.)"
Calling our friend @Scotsman to attention! Jim

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#79

Hey there Jim. Thanks for the shout out :slightly_smiling_face:. I feel that I should request to have my username changed as I am probably not the best ambassador for brand Scotland, not being a particular fan of the song when it first came out, probably because my lugs weren’t used to a song that sounded so, well, SCOTTISH!!! As my ears were probably trained on the default American lilt of a song it sounded kind of jarring at the time. A bit like, God, do I really sound like that?!? :smile:. Still, the passage of time has softened me towards my fellow Scots and I can see that they are indeed very talented fellows.

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#80

"Rainy Night in Georgia" from Brook Benton. In the spring of 1970, the song topped the Billboard Best Selling Soul Singles chart. It also reached number four on the Billboard Hot 100, and number two on the Adult Contemporary chart.

Easy on the ears, I’ve always enjoyed this song. What do you think?

#81

Your posts are a musical education Jim. I really like the song, but always associated it with Randy Crawford’s version, completely oblivous of the original. I confess to never having heard of Brook Benton although looking him up he appears to have had quite the career and back catalogue. Keep on sharing Jim. You spread some sunshine to Scotland in February, and no doubt to other destinations on this planet.

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#82

Thanks, @Scotsman, for the good words and continued reading.

From the late 60s-early 70s, a group worth a listen is It’s a Beautiful Day. The song they may be most famous for is White Bird.

If you like music with more of an edge, try their Wasted Union Blues.

#83

More musicians that had escaped this particular brain’s consciousness Jim. Until now! I couldn’t help but think of myself as the white bird on that aponymous track, sitting at my laptop and not soaring free.

The songs made me think of the Easy Rider soundtrack which would have been a similar vintage.

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