As a child born at the end of 1962, I caught the dying gasp of the Beatles run as a band. My family bought a copy of the 45 RPM single Let it Be, released in 1970. I suppose by that time, the band was already a thing of the past, but my older brothers … Continue reading Lost Your Hair
Song Lyrics
He Dug Metallic Gold
As a kid, I read the cereal box while I ate breakfast. No, I’m not the only one. My brothers did this too, and on TV, characters on sit-coms and commercials would sometimes be shown reading the box. I think it was a thing. Sugary cereals often had content printed on the box to distract … Continue reading He Dug Metallic Gold
Heatwave
Whenever I'm with himSomethin' insideStarts to burnin'And I'm filled with desireCould it be a devil in me?Or is this the way love's supposed to be?It's like a heatwave -- Lyrics: (Love is Like a) Heatwave by Martha Reeves and the Vandellas Heatwave is on repeat in my brain since I woke up. I fired … Continue reading Heatwave
The Great Curve
Mo-om! Dad’s writing about his music again! The Great Curve: A song so immense it generates its own gravitational field. -- Johnny_Segment on Reddit. I popped into Walmart after work yesterday. My mood was low, even though it was Friday afternoon. A Friday with something other than rain forecast for Saturday. We’ve just endured five … Continue reading The Great Curve
The Lunatic is on the Grass*
Oh, pretty boy, can’t you show me nothing but surrender? Why am I starting a story about Pink Floyd with a Patti Smith quote? Funny thing about this quote: from the first time I heard the Patti Smith song Land, probably around forty years ago, I thought she said, “Oh pity, boy, can’t you show … Continue reading The Lunatic is on the Grass*
People Who Died
Q: Is punk an attitude or a musical genre? I’m getting an early start on the punk themed Song Lyric Sunday. No, the challenge isn't this Sunday, the last Sunday in October, but December twenty-fifth. Christmas Day. I began thinking about this a month ago. Jim Adams, the host of Song Lyric Sunday left a … Continue reading People Who Died
Molly’s Lips
We are the new AmericanaHigh on legal marijuanaRaised on Biggie* and NirvanaWe are the new Americana — Lyrics from New Americana by Halsey (2015) August 10, 1995 “Hey Tiffany, I’m really sorry to hear that Jerry Garcia+ died.” “Thanks, Jeff. It’s such a shock.” “Yeah, I remember how I felt the day Kurt Cobain++ died.” … Continue reading Molly’s Lips
She’s Crafty
I think I thought I seen her on eighth and forty-deuce… —From the Beastie Boys’ She’s Crafty(I love this lyric. I love this song). For Song Lyric Sunday My years of blogging launched an annoying habit. I became a serial commenter. When I read a blogpost, if the topic relates to me in any way, … Continue reading She’s Crafty
The Calm and the Storm
I have an annoying habit. Actually, I’ve got dozens of annoying habits, but I’m only writing about one of them. If someone says something that reminds me of a song lyric, I sing it. “Aw, that’s cute,” you say. No, it’s not, I’m as tone deaf as a stone. I can’t carry a tune. ♫ … Continue reading The Calm and the Storm
Song Lyric Sunday
Yellow matter custardDripping from a dead dog's eyeCrabalocker fishwife, pornographic priestessBoy, you've been a naughty girl, you let your knickers down I am the egg manThey are the egg menI am the walrusGoo goo g'joob It’s gone six weeks since I last participated in Song Lyric Sunday. The website host, always somewhat chilly in his … Continue reading Song Lyric Sunday
My Happy Fit
~~ Fair warning, no wind instruments in this song ~~ I don’t go for brass music—horns, trumpets, trombones, and, god forbid, tubas. Saxophones are cool, I like that sound, but all the rest? Keep ‘em. they annoy the hell out of me. Every summer, Gettysburg hosts a brass music festival. For a week, everywhere you … Continue reading My Happy Fit
And the Rest
Ginger or Mary Ann? If you’re a guy of a certain age (my age), this question makes perfect sense, you already know the answer. In 1964, Gilligan’s Island, a TV show featuring seven adults shipwrecked on a tropical island, first aired. The characters, each a two-dimensional being with a primary or defining trait, acted in … Continue reading And the Rest
Tonight wild heights we’ll hit
My hearing sucks. My long slide into a muffled world started decades ago. Early on, my propensity to turn up the TV volume annoyed my family. My endless stream of misheard words and missed statements frustrated my coworkers. “WHAT?” Hearing loss isn’t linear. Some frequencies fade faster than others. Like most people, I first lost … Continue reading Tonight wild heights we’ll hit
We had Such a Brainiac-Amour *
* Why write a blog post no one wants to read about a song no one wants to hear? I love American music. I also love British rock from the late seventies and early eighties. In fact, at that time—the late seventies and early eighties—I graffitied my high school and then college desks by drawing … Continue reading We had Such a Brainiac-Amour *
Been Drinking Brew for Breakfast
My brother Dana bought London Calling right when it came out. The 1979 Clash album hit the record stores in December. By the time Dana returned to college at the end of January, I was hooked. Our bedrooms sat across the hall from each other—his room facing the street, my room facing the back yard. … Continue reading Been Drinking Brew for Breakfast
Frenzy
Thanks to Jim Adams, for hosting Song Lyric Sunday. Each week my blogging friend Angie at King Ben’s Grandma plays his game. He gives a prompt (or a series of prompts) and bloggers write a post related to the prompt. Every week, I find myself writing long, rambling comments on Angie’s blog related to the theme du … Continue reading Frenzy
The Other Stuff 