I’m not sure which is worse: the mendacious Chump, the Clown Car of Corrupt Cronies (aka the current incarnation of the GOP), or the Grammy Awards. Since this is a music blog, I’ll skip the first two. And, for the same reason, I’ll just sideswipe the Grammy Awards and say that, for as long as I can remember, they’ve been simultaneously entertaining and meaningless. Which is why, at 10 o’clock last Sunday night, with an hour left in the ceremony, I felt no remorse in turning off the tube and turning in for the night.
And with that, here’s today’s Top 5: #ReleaseThisBlogPost.
1) Bob Dylan – “It’s Alright, Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)” from Bringing It Back Home (1965).
2) Neil Young – “Ambulance Blues” from On the Beach (1974).
3) Juliana Hatfield – “On Video” from Made in China (2005).
4) Paul Weller – “Wake Up the Nation” from Wake Up the Nation (2010).
And so 2017 comes to a close not with a bang or whimper, but a mew.
A feral feline of unknown gender, who I’ve decided to call Bobbi/e, may have taken up temporary residence in our standalone garage, which is about 100 feet from our back porch. After the last few snows, I noticed paw prints tracking to and from the door; and, this morning, I spotted a ginger tabby cat slipping from the sliver of darkness into the light.
Once it’s closed, I should explain, the garage door gradually cracks open until it’s about six inches off the ground. And even if it didn’t, there’s a hole somewhere in the back, behind the boxes and old furniture that takes up much of what was once a two-car space. During the late-spring and summer months, for example, a groundhog family that lives behind (and below) the garage often uses it as a covered short cut. They’ll be grazing in the nearby grass when danger – i.e., me – steps onto the back porch, and off they go. Thirty seconds or a minute later, one peeks out from behind the garage to see if the danger has disappeared.
I’ve spotted a few other cats since, back in 2014, we moved into what was my parents’ house. One, another ginger, is a well-fed and well-groomed longhair; it obviously has a home. Another, however, is a scrappy-looking gray tabby that sometimes lounges on the front porch on sunny afternoons – like Bobbi/e, he’s probably descended from my family’s feline of the 1970s, Reilly, and his orange-hued missus. She appeared at our backdoor one day, heavily pregnant, and eventually gave birth behind the living-room couch. Which is to say, this house is likely ingrained in their DNA as a place of safety and refuge.
This morning, I stepped onto the porch to introduce myself to Bobbi/e as s/he padded down the driveway and s/he, in turn, mewed salutations before scampering off.
Anyway, my song for tonight is one that resonates far beyond the 45 released by Jackie DeShannon on April 15, 1965. In my Album of the Year essay for 2016, I wrote of its timeless quality as thus: “Somewhere there’s war, somewhere there’s heartache and somewhere some people hate while others fear. It’s not fair. It’s never fair. But it’s why the song resonates when it’s sung. It’s always true. The world needs love. Sweet love. Not for some. For everyone.”
And that is my sincerest wish for everyone in the coming year. No matter who or where you are, or what you’re going through, may peace and love find us all.
As a child, Christmas was my favorite holiday. And why wouldn’t it be? There were gifts to give and get, roast turkey to be had, stuffing to be savored, and family to be enjoyed.
Once, in my early years, I sneaked out of bed at what must have been 4am, saw that a bounty of presents had magically appeared beneath the Christmas tree overnight, and scampered around the house like a mini-Paul Revere screaming “he’s been here, he’s been here!” But unbeknownst to me, Santa’s two adult elves had just turned in after a long night of arranging everything just right. And though they shepherded me back to bed, the cat – so to speak – was out of the bag. I was back out in the living room within minutes. They corralled me again, I snuck out again, and around and around we went.
The elves drank a lot of coffee that day, I’m sure.
By my teen years, aka the late ‘70s and early ‘80s, the gifts shifted from action figures (not to be confused with dolls!) and assorted toys to LPs, Mattel Electronics handheld devices, and clothes; and the giving of presents became as much fun as receiving.
Thanksgiving, back then, always seemed somewhat of a rehearsal holiday to me. There were no gifts, just turkey and stuffing, and if dinner was at an aunt’s, as it sometimes was, then the stuffing was never as good as my mom’s.
That said, it did provide the grist for a classic TV moment –
Through the decades, however, a funny thing happened: Thanksgiving became my favorite holiday. Family and friends come together. Family breaks bread. And a good time is had by all. There is no stress, no worries beyond (not) eating too much.
And with that, here’s today’s Top 5: Thanksgiving…& Rumer
1) Rumer – “Thankful.” To my ears, Rumer’s Seasons of My Soul is one the greatest albums of the new millennium. Here’s a live version, from 2010, of one of its key tracks…
2) Rumer & Daryl Hall – “Be Thankful for What You’ve Got.” Rumer later recorded a wonderful rendition of this song for her 2015 Love Is the Answer EP, which is well worth the purchase.
3) Rumer – “Home Thoughts from Abroad.” This mesmerizing cover of Clifford T. Ward’s classic song is from Rumer’s sophomore set, Boys Don’t Cry.
4) Rumer – “Better Place.” This lovely tune hails from Rumer’s third album, Into Colour. The video was shot by me from the front row (a bad angle) from her 2015 visit to Philly – a great show that we took our mothers to.
5) Rumer – “What the World Needs Now.” There’s a reason why I chose This Girl’s in Love: A Bacharach and David Songbook as my top album for 2016 – a year on, and it remains timely and timeless at once. This song, especially.
