Lifeboat by Ani DiFranco

Lifeboat by Ani DiFranco

Saw a young woman do this song at an open Mic Night, and it was the most memorable song to me of the entire evening. Love the minimalist texture, tone and feel to it.

What a Great song writer.

"Life Boat" AKA "Tired Old Face"

Every time I open my mouth
I take off my clothes
I'm raw and frostbitten from
being exposed
I got red scabby hands
and purple scabby feet
And you can smell me coming from
halfway down the street

And I remember that old hotel had quite the smell
where I'd go to use the phone
Between the donut shop and the pizza parlor
where I learned to live alone
Sweet sixteen and smiling
my way out of any jam
Learning the ways of the world, oh my
Learning the ways of man

And I didn't really want a baby
and I guess I had a choice
But I just let it grow inside me
this persistent little voice
And I guess I got her off and running
and run off is what she did
And that's part of what I think about
think about that kid

So now there's nothing left to wish upon
except for passing cars
The cacophony of city lights
is drowning out the stars
This park bench is a life boat
and the rest a big dark sea
And I'm just gonna lie here until
something comes and finds me

Yeah I got this tired old face
still grinning most of the time
Just 'cause it don't have a better way
to express what's on it's mind
And I got this running monologue
entertaining in it's outrage
And I've got the air of an animal
That's been living in a cage

Every time I open my mouth
I take off my clothes
I'm raw and frostbitten from
being exposed
I got red scabby hands
and purple scabby feet
And you can smell me coming from
halfway down the street

January 18, 2013 I am Weary Let Me Rest by Pete Kuykendall

I am Weary Let Me Rest by Pete Kuykendall

Made famous by the Cox Family

from the movie "Oh Brother Wherefore Art Thou"

A little bit of zen and Norwegia

January 17, 2013 I Won't Give Up by Jason Mraz

I won't Give Up by Jason Mraz

Another great song that is universally loved. 

From Wiki...

In 2001, Mraz released a live acoustic album, Live at Java Joe's, a coffee-house type place in the Ocean Beach neighborhood of San Diego where Jewel also made her debut. Here, Mraz performed with percussionist Noel "Toca" Rivera and bassist Ian Sheridan and felt at home singing and scatting through jazzy-pop songs. He would deliver rapid fire lyrics full of verbal mischief, and he would riff off the crowd like a stand-up comic.[8] The album featured Mraz's free-lancing vocal style and songs he later re-released, including "1000 Things", "You and I Both", and "Halfway Home."

January 16, 2013 Somebody that I Used To Know by Gotye

Somebody That I Used To Know Gotya (featuring Kimbra) 

When my daughter was visiting last summer/fall, this song kept playing constantly.

One thing that struck me was that My Daughter, My three Grandsons, and I were all singing along to this crazy catchy tune. 

And I wondered how many songs do you find like that?

I thought when I was a kid, would there be any songs that me, my mother, and my grandfather would have sung together in a car. (Or a buggy) ha

AND, oh by the way, I still don't know how the hell you pronounce this guy's name.

Paint It Black by The Rolling Stones

Released: May 1966
From  http://www.nme.com/list/100-best-songs-of-the-1960s/

On which pounding drums, Jagger drawl and the first sitar to feature on a Number One record combine for an indie disco favourite for now and all time. One of the few tracks composed by Nanker – Phelge, which was the collective pseudonym the Stones used when all five of them – Jagger, Jones, Richards, Watts and Wyman – contributed to the writing (and more importantly shared the royalties).

January 15, 2013 Be Still by the Frey

"Be Still" by the Fray

Thanks to YouTube ID EsKaLiDe for posting this video

Until a few months ago, I had never heard of this group (or this song).
I was sitting in Drew Hyundai, while my car was being serviced.
They played this song on the Today show.
It immediately struck a harmonious obsession in my creaky old soul.
Sort of a soft unspoken semi-religious theme.
And a beautiful, simple chord progression.
It is a piano ballad, but lends itself very well to the guitar.

Heroin by Lou Reed

Songwriters: REED, LOU

(Reed) 

I don't know just where I'm going 
But I'm gonna try for the kingdom, if I can 
'Cause it makes me feel like I'm a man 
When I put a spike into my vein 
And I'll tell ya, things aren't quite the same 
When I'm rushing on my run 
And I feel just like Jesus' son 
And I guess that I just don't know 
And I guess that I just don't know 

I have made the big decision 
I'm gonna try to nullify my life 
'Cause when the blood begins to flow 
When it shoots up the dropper's neck 
When I'm closing in on death 
And you can't help me now, you guys 
And a 
You can all go take a walk 
And I guess that I just don't know 
And I guess that I just don't know 

I wish that I was born a thousand years ago 
I wish that I'd sail the darkened seas 
On a great big clipper ship 
Going from this land here to that 
In a sailor's suit and cap 
Away from the big city 
Where a man can not be free 
Of all of the evils of this town 
And of himself, and those around 
Oh, and I guess that I just don't know 
Oh, and I guess that I just don't know 

Heroin, be the death of me 
Heroin, it's my wife and it's my life 
Because a mainer to my vein 
Leads to a center in my head 
And then I'm better off and dead 
Because when the smack begins to flow 
I really don't care anymore 
About all the Jim-Jim's in this town 
And all the politicians makin' crazy sounds 
And everybody puttin' everybody else down 
And all the dead bodies piled up in mounds 

'Cause when the smack begins to flow 
Then I really don't care anymore 
Ah, when the heroin is in my blood 
And that blood is in my head 
Then thank God that I'm as good as dead 
Then thank your God that I'm not aware 
And thank God that I just don't care 
And I guess I just don't know 
And I guess I just don't know

Runaway by Del Shannon

Runaway by Del Shannon

Why why why why why!

Absolutely unforgettable riffs once you've heard them.

January 14, 2013 While My Guitar Gently Weeps by George Harrison

"While My Guitar Gently Weeps by George Harrison

IMHO, the most talented, grace filled and  compassionate of all the Beatles, the Beatles'  

phenomenon and their entourage. (Keep in mind I have reached the age where I no longer have any fear whatsoever of being wrong, and I gladly accept alternate opinions.)

Wikipedia, AKA, my brain, provides what I find an extremely interesting analysis of how the song came to be and is borrowed from the following site. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/While_My_Guitar_Gently_Weeps

Inspiration for the song came to Harrison when reading the I Ching, which, as Harrison put 

it, "seemed to me to be based on the Eastern concept that everything is relative to 

everything else... opposed to the Western view that things are merely coincidental." 

Taking this idea of relativism to his parents’ home in northern England, Harrison committed to write a song based on the first words he saw upon opening a random book. 

Those words were “gently weeps”, and he immediately began the song. As he said:

"I wrote "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" at my mother's house in Warrington. I was thinking about the Chinese I Ching, the Book of Changes... The Eastern concept is that whatever happens is all meant to be, and that there's no such thing as coincidence - every little item that's going down has a purpose. "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" was a simple study based on that theory. I decided to write a song based on the first thing I saw upon opening any book - as it would be relative to that moment, at that time. I picked up a book at random, opened it, saw 'gently weeps', then laid the book down again and started the song." 

The initial incarnation was not final, as Harrison said: "Some of the words to the song were 

changed before I finally recorded it.” A demo recorded at George's home in Esher includes 

an unused verse:

I look at the trouble and see that it's raging,

While my guitar gently weeps.

As I'm sitting here, doing nothing but ageing,

Still, my guitar gently weeps.

As well as an unused line in the very beginning:

The problems you sow, are the troubles you're reaping,

Still, my guitar gently weeps.

This line was eventually omitted in favour of the one appearing on The Beatles.

An early acoustic guitar and organ demo of the song featured a slightly different third 

verse:

I look from the wings at the play you are staging,

While my guitar gently weeps.

As I'm sitting here, doing nothing but ageing,

Still, my guitar gently weeps. 

January 13, 2013 Bang the Drum Slowly by EmmyLou Harris

"Bang the Drum Slowly" by EmmyLou Harris and Guy Clark

Thanks to YouTube ID thereddirtgirl1 for posting this video.

If you aren't obsessed with the monumental talent of EmmyLou Harris, I can forgive you.

If you however, do not love her voice, her song writing abilities and her ability to blend her voice with any and every other person on earth, then God Bless You, Peace Be With you, and may you try to enjoy your live without music. 

Because you have obviously missed some essential point, along the way. IMHO. haha

This song was written for her father, who had just recently died. 

It's a traumatic event, losing a parent. Would that we all could find some comfort through her ability to place her feelings in her music.

January 12, 2013 Clay Pigeons by Blaze Foley

"Clay Pigeons" by Blaze Foley 
(Stage name for Michael David Fuller (December 18, 1949 – February 1, 1989)

"He's only gone crazy once. Decided to stay." – Townes Van Zandt

"Blaze Foley was a genius and a beautiful loser." – Lucinda Williams

What a story, this man's life was. 

From Wiki ...

Foley jokingly claimed to be the illegitimate son of Red Foley and Blaze Starr.

Lucinda Williams wrote her beautiful song, "Drunken Angel" about him.

In 1989, Foley was shot in the chest and killed by Carey January, the son of Foley's friend Concho January. Carey January was acquitted of murder in the first degree by reason of self-defense. He and his father presented completely different versions of the shooting at trial

Foley placed duct tape on the tips of his cowboy boots to mock the "Urban Cowboy" crazed folks with their silver tipped cowboy boots. He later made a suit out of duct tape that he used to walk around in. At his funeral, his casket was coated with duct tape by his friends. Townes Van Zandt was quoted as saying that "he'd have to dig Foley up to get the pawn ticket for his guitar that was in his pocket".

From IMDB.com

Blaze Foley: Duct Tape Messiah (2011)
A documentary on the everyday man behind the legend, Blaze Foley. Born in a tree house, killed in a friend's living room and 86'ed from his own funeral, is now a bona fide country music legend whose songs are covered by Merle Haggard, John Prine, Willie Nelson and Lyle Lovett.

January 11, 2013 Our Town by Iris DeMent

"Our Town by Iris Dement"

Thanks to YouTube ID buppie2000 for posting this video.

Iris DeMent is a uniquely acquired taste. 
"Our Town" was played full-length during the closing scene and credits for the last episode (July 26, 1995) of one of my favorite TV shows of all time, the CBS series "Northern Exposure."

I promptly went out and bought the cassette tape (yes I said Cassette Tape) of "Infamous Angel".
It took a few play throughs but I acquired a great taste for the timbre and quality of her piercing  rural and lyrical voice, the kind of voice, which one would associate with a bygone era, perhaps 50-60 years ago. Perhaps in a Pentecostal church, much like the one she was born and raised up into.

Another great reason to love her, are her numerous appearances through the years on the "Prairie Home Companion", Garrison Keillors' incomparable radio show.

I also give her bonus points for being married to Iowa native and fellow musician, Greg Brown. According, to my Wiki, I mean my brain, they live in Iowa City, Iowa. 

I spent 4 months in Iowa City one day. It was a great place to visit, but not such a good place to go to school for poor little me in 1966. Where oh where was Wikipedia then?

January 10, 2013 Carrickfergus sung by Loudon Wainwright III

"Carrickfergus" Traditional Irish Ballad sung by Loudon Wainwright III

Thanks to YouTube loadergdl for posting this video.

If you are obsessed with the Wainwright family like I am, or if you watch "Boardwalk Empire" (neither option is recommended for the faint of heart or squeamish), then you will love this great song.

January 09, 2013 Hemingway's Whiskey by Guy Clark

"Hemingway's Whiskey by Guy Clark"

Thanks to YouTube ID for Minor Wilson for posting this video.

To paraphrase actor Frank Faylan, in his role as the father of Dobie Gillis' in "The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis", You gotta love a guy who makes his own guitars. You just gotta.

Makes them, plays the hell out of them. Then, with his whiskey encouraged voice, sings songs about Ernest Hemingway. What is not to like?

This guy (pun intended), is absolutely great. 

Prolific song writer. One of many unique singer-song writers to come out of Texas in the 60's including Townes Van Zandt, Steve Earle, Kris Kristofferson, Rodney Crowell, etc.

January 08, 2013 I Never Will Marry sung by Joan Baez

"I Never Will Marry" sung by Joan Baez

Traditional Ballad with roots as far back as the civil war.

I think this old black and white video taken in some unnamed dimly lit coffee house is absolutely priceless, and I don't know if this is the native sound or it has been enhanced somehow along the way, but it is phenomenal.

The version of "I Never Will Marry" I was exposed to , was subtitled "The Damsel's Lament" and appeared on a 1960 LP by "The Brothers Four" on their eponymous first album. 

I wonder where the heck this album came from. I know I didn't have any money to buy it, so it must have been purchased by one of my older siblings. 

I think I wore the grooves out of that record playing it continuously on the monstrous piece of furniture we called our record player, Am/Fm radio and shoe polisher.

The Brothers Four were contemporaries of the Kingston Trio, and since I did not have access to any Kingston Trio LP's, I like the Brothers better.

January 07, 2013 Farther Along sung by the Peasall Sisters

Farther Along (disputed origins) sung by the Peasall Sisters 

I ran across this tune in Rhapsody the other day, while looking for some thing else. I really like these girls, and remember them from "Oh Brother, Where Art Thou". They played George Clooney's daughters. They were the sweet little voices who sang.....

"In the Highways" – written by Maybelle Carter 
They are Leah, Sarah and Hannah Peasall.

From Wikipedia.....

The lyrics to the song were written in 1911 by Rev. W. A. Fletcher, an itinerant preacher, while he was traveling to the Indian Territories by train.Fletcher was feeling depressed because his wife, Catherine Louise Emmett Fletcher of Cleburne, Texas, was expecting their first-born child in a few weeks and he wouldn't be present for the occasion. He felt that his priorities were with his ministry in the Indian Territories and wrote the lyrics to reflect his frame of mind at the time.Sitting next to him on the train was J.R. Baxter, a gospel music promoter who was quite taken with the lyrics that Fletcher was writing and offered him $2.00 for them. Mr. Baxter subsequently had them put to music and the song has been quite popular in the gospel music arena ever since.

The song deals with a Christian's dismay at the apparent prosperity of the wicked, when contrasted with the suffering of the righteous. The repeated theme is that, in Heaven, the truth will be revealed.
The song was copyrighted in 1937, as part of the Starlit Crown collection, and was renewed in 1965. It is often erroneously thought of as a folk hymn or as being in the Public Domain

From http://library.timelesstruths.org/music/Farther_Along/

attr. to W. B. Stevens

alt. by Barney E. Warren, pub.1911

Tempted and tried, we’re oft made to wonder

1. Why it should be thus all the day long;
   While there are others living about us,
   Never molested, though in the wrong.
   • Refrain:
     Farther along we’ll know more about it,
     Farther along we’ll understand why;
     Cheer up, my brother, live in the sunshine,
     We’ll understand it all by and by.
2. Sometimes I wonder why I must suffer,
   Go in the rain, the cold, and the snow,
   When there are many living in comfort,
   Giving no heed to all I can do.
3. Tempted and tried, how often we question
   Why we must suffer year after year,
   Being accused by those of our loved ones,
   E’en though we’ve walked in God’s holy fear.
4. Often when death has taken our loved ones,
   Leaving our home so lone and so drear,
   Then do we wonder why others prosper,
   Living so wicked year after year.
5. “Faithful till death,” saith our loving Master;
   Short is our time to labor and wait;
   Then will our toiling seem to be nothing,
   When we shall pass the heavenly gate.
6. Soon we will see our dear, loving Savior,
   Hear the last trumpet sound through the sky;
   Then we will meet those gone on before us,
   Then we shall know and understand why.

There are several contradictory claims for the authorship of this song. The words and music are frequently attributed to W. B. Stevens, although others have attributed the words to W. A. Fletcher.

January 06, 2013 Why Did I Wait So Long by Shawn Lane

"Why Did I Wait So Long" by Shawn Lane from Ricky Scaggs CD "Brand New Strings"

Concerning  "Why Did I Wait So Long" Ricky Scaggs,writes the following....

"A good friend of mine told me the story of Lester Flatt's bedside conversion. He said Lester wanted to go to Sparta, Tennessee, his old hometown and be baptized. So they took Lester down to a little stream in his wheel chair and baptized him there. When Lester came up out of the water, he started to cry and said 'Oh why did I wait so long?' Lester just kept crying and saying those words over and over again.

I told this story to my friend, Shawn Lane, and it really touched his heart. So, Shawn wrote this beautiful song and it sounds a hundred years old. I asked Shawn to come in and sing on it with me.

Jesus said, 'You must be born again' (John 3:3). If you've never been born again, don't put it off - there is no promise of tomorrow (Acts 4:12; 2nd Corinthians 6:2) It's the most important decision you'll ever make because it is for all eternity."

God spoke to me a hundred times
He'd call my name, I would not go
Now I cry with joy on bended knees
Could have been this happy long ago

(CHORUS)
Why did I wait so long?
Why did I wait so long?
To answer the call, from the Greatest of all
Why did I wait so long?

God's been with me through troubled times
With hands not seen, He's guided my way
But my foolish pride and worldly things
Kept me from Him until today.

(CHORUS)

Why did I wait so long?
Why did I wait so long?
To answer the call, from the Greatest of all
Why did I wait so long?

(TAG)
Why did I wait so long?
To answer the call, from the Greatest of all
Why did I wait so long?
Why did I wait so long?

At my age, I seem to have a LOT in common with Lester Flatt (One half of the famous Lester Flatt Earl Scruggs duo that was immensely popular for decades.

Old Norwegians like myself tend to spend inordinate amounts of time with the following.....

1. Looking into the abyss.

b. Considering all possible alternatives

iii. Night Sweats.

January 05, 2013 Let Me Die in My Footseps by Bob Dylan

Thanks to YouTube ID Jason Bennett for this performance and post.

A great Irony in my life, is that I never knew who the hell Bob Dylan was when I was growing up in the 1960's. I knew his songs, of course, through Peter Paul & Mary among others, but I did not become obsessed with him until he and I were already old men. 

I am now vigorously obsessed with his music, and his entire musical catalog. 

However, Appreciation for Dylan is somewhat inexplicable. Sort of like when you recommend a restaurant or a movie to a friend. Then they come back and say what the hell did you see in that place/movie.

It reminds me of the Saturday Night Live Spoof of the 1988 presidential debates where Jon Lovitz as Michael Dukakis turns to the audience and says..."I can't believe I'm losing to this guy"... meaning George Bush Senior played by Dana Carvey (...stay the course, 1000 points of light etc. etc.) When I listen to a Bob Dylan song e.g. "Ballad of a Thin Man" I wonder similar things. I can't believe I'm actually listening to this guy. And loving it? Maxwell Smart AKA Don Adams haha 

There is something really infectious or contagious about Dylan. Once you've got it, I'ts like a dose of HIV. You can't get him out of your system.

From protester to old goofball and everything in between, I listen with rapt attention.
It could be because of all the times I had my attention rapped in grade school, but

I do find a lot of parallels between Dylan and I , well, except of course for the all his talent, fame, intellect, cleverness, inscrutability, etc. etc. You get the picture.

Perhaps I should have said we have shared the same time and space and planet for some and many years now.

It is just a guess, but I believe the "dying in my footsteps" idea came from the generally accepted fatalism in the 50's and 60's that an "hot" war with the USSR was both imminent and inevitable. Many gruesome images of Nagasaki and Hiroshima citizenry "dead in their footsteps", so to speak" were still vivid in people's consciousness, as I'm certain any one with a brain would still have today. Under the ground might well have meant the Bomb Shelters people were being encouraged to build. I have always wondered, whether the people that actually built these shelters were optimists or pessimists.

Dylan may have listened to Tom Lehrer's macabre humor in the song 
"We Will All Go Together When We Go" We Will All Go Together When We Go
with the following, not for the faint of heart, lyrics....

When you attend a funeral,
It is sad to think that sooner or
Later those you love will do the same for you.
And you may have thought it tragic,
Not to mention other adjec-
Tives, to think of all the weeping they will do.
But don't you worry.
No more ashes, no more sackcloth.
And an armband made of black cloth
Will some day never more adorn a sleeve.
For if the bomb that drops on you
Gets your friends and neighbors too,
There'll be nobody left behind to grieve.

And we will all go together when we go.
What a comforting fact that is to know.
Universal bereavement,
An inspiring achievement,
Yes, we all will go together when we go.

We will all go together when we go.
All suffuse with an incandescent glow.
No one will have the endurance
To collect on his insurance,
Lloyd's of London will be loaded when they go.

Oh we will all fry together when we fry.
We'll be french fried potatoes by and by.
There will be no more misery
When the world is our rotisserie,
Yes, we will all fry together when we fry.

Down by the old maelstrom,
There'll be a storm before the calm.

And we will all bake together when we bake.
There'll be nobody present at the wake.
With complete participation
In that grand incineration,
Nearly three billion hunks of well-done steak.

Oh we will all char together when we char.
And let there be no moaning of the bar.
Just sing out a Te Deum
When you see that I.C.B.M.,
And the party will be "come as you are."

Oh we will all burn together when we burn.
There'll be no need to stand and wait your turn.
When it's time for the fallout
And Saint Peter calls us all out,
We'll just drop our agendas and adjourn.

You will all go directly to your respective Valhallas.
Go directly, do not pass Go, do not collect two hundred dolla's.

And we will all go together when we go.
Ev'ry Hottentot and ev'ry Eskimo.
When the air becomes uranious,
And we will all go simultaneous.
Yes we all will go together
When we all go together,
Yes we all will go together when we go.

BTW, Tom Lehrer was a satirist with a much harder edge than a latter day Mark Russell, and most certainly had a huge influence on Biff Rose, who, while being another one of my musical obsessions,  had sort of a flash in the pan career in the late 1960's, and then proceeded directly into obscurity, just like normal people like me.

So, an obscure post in an obscure blog about obsession AND obscurity and insecurity. 
Here's just a little bit more and then on to a new day....
Norwegia Section

January 04, 2013 Dance Me to the End of Love by Leonard Cohen

Thank you to YouTube IDannapolyz for posting this great video.

Dance me to the end of love. ME, an old Norwegian. HA
Leonard Cohen, like Bob Dylan, is another old timer who still has a lot of Joie de vivre left in his unbelievably talented soul.
He, along with Dylan, is another one who I was blithely unaware of in my formative years until the mid 90's when I saw him for the first time on a PBS special. 

One song from that show, "Take This Waltz" absolutely stunned me, and that dance will certainly make an appearance at a later date on this dance floor.
I will never forget it. I think I wore out the old VHS tape on that show.

A very interesting contradiction, however, for an old Norwegian who can not dance, would not dance, and does not dance, to be enthralled by these two "dancing" songs. 

And....An Interesting word, enthralled. To be in thrall to........

Thrall(Old Norse: praell) was the term for a serf or unfree servant in Scandinavian culture
during the Viking Age. Thralls were the lowest in the social order and usually provided unskilled labor during the Viking Era.

Wow, I couldn't have found a more apt description of myself.
At least I wasn't a Troll, however I do like Grieg's music about them.

It should be fairly obvious to even (or odd) casual observers, that most of my knowledge, or what passes for it, is unable any longer (if ever) to be processed inside my brain, due to malfunctions in my soft hard drive (Hippocampus).
Nor can I store or retrieve much information properly, so I find Wikipedia does pretty good for a substitute, in cases of WBS.
That's Weak Brain Syndrome.

January 03, 2013 Answer by Sarah McLachlan

Thanks to YouTube ID of KLASIKSOUND  for posting this video.

Answer.

I love this title almost as much as I love this song, and this songwriter. 

It brings to mind the title confusion of George Frideric Handel's Messiah. 

Not THE Messiah. Messiah.

Not THE Answer. Answer.

Sarah McLachlan has the same ability Mozart had.
That is to say, she can make the simplest of chord progressions elegantly beautiful beyond all words.

Do I pretend to know exactly what "Answer" is? Absolutely not. 
Do I pretend to know exactly what THE "Answer" is? Absolutely not. 
Do I pretend to know exactly what AN "Answer" is? Absolutely not. 
But, I do believe you can surmise the shape and texture of "Answer"
I believe you can get a sense of an answer.
You may be able to feel the answer you need by listening to this song.

January 02, 2013 I Like Your Way by Lynn Nesheim

Warning 
this Blog should not be viewed by any one over the age of 40, without the express consent and advice from their children.
 You will more than likely hear and see things that you did not think it was possible for one old Norwegian human being to think, do and say. This confusion could be considered hazardous to your mental health. Ha Ha.

I have writers' block.

So what does an old Norwegian do when that happens? 
He blogs, he babbles, he drools, he laughs at himself. 
Stuff, nonsense and pablum spewing out into the ether.
I am extremely adept at babbling about things, for which I know little or nothing at all.
If it weren't for Wikipedia, I'd be deaf dumb and blind but not a kid. Pete Townsend of The Who

I am obsessed. (I might also be possessed, but then, how would I know that?).
One of the things I am obsessed about is music.
A few years ago, in one of many failed attempts to manage my weight, I decided to use the 40 days of Lent as a diet plan. 
Since I needed something to occupy some of the time I had spent eating, I created my very first blog on my musical obsessions, which at that time, were mostly classical and largely oriented toward the piano. http://currentmusicalobsession.blogspot.com/
I was (and still am) totally obsessed with them, and, unfortunately for me, with eating also.

But this year, which I am assuming is the last year I will be able to think straight (or think curly for that matter John  Prine), called to me for new challenges with old obsessions, or if you prefer, old wine in new wine skins, which of course, is the inverse of what Matthew, Mark and Luke, said you should never do. 

So, its a new year. And, as most people make new resolutions, or turn over new leaves in their lives,
My plan is to turn over some old leaves. I'm going to look backward in an attempt  to express my appreciation for the life I have been given.
For the life that I have lived.

I hope very much, to do that with music.
Music that I'm obsessed with.
Music extremely top heavy with Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Tom Petty, EmmyLou Harris, Warren Zevon, Townes van Zandt, Steve Earle, etc. etc.
Music from artists that I have accumulated an extreme appreciation for over the years. 

So, here goes nothin', and I do mean "Nothin'" Townes van Zandt

But, first, for something completely different. Monty Python.

I may as well start off with my most embarrassing musical limitations, shame and humiliation. haha

Here's a song I wrote for Mona last year.....

I will call these end-of-blog sections where I demonstrate my hubris and audacity by pretending to play the guitar  the ......Norwegia Section

January 01, 2013 Don't Let Me Come Home a Stranger by Jerome Clark and Robin Williams

This is how I ended my Easter blog a few years back and the best way to start in this one.
From Songwriter(s): Jerome Clark, Robin Williams.

"Don't Let Me Come Home a Stranger"

This is my fervent prayer.

Will there come a time when the memories fade.
and pass on with the long, long years,
When the ties no longer bind?
Lord save me from this darkest fear.
Don't let me come home a stranger,
I couldn't stand to be a stranger.

Paul Westerberg sang about having a dyslexic heart.
That's the way I feel about grace.
It's amazing, only my soul seems to be dyslexic.
I fear I once was found and now I'm lost.

I love the home and family I grew up in, around, and with.
I love my wife.
I know I have a chance at being found when I am near her.
But I am lost without her.
Please, don't ever let me come home a stranger.
Robin and Linda Williams say it best in this song.
From 1991 in a Garrison Keillor televised broadcast of their radio show.
I believe it was titled Prairie Home Companion 3rd Annual Farewell show.

Happy New Year.