John Butler Trio - Spring to Come

Just when I feel that I might be ready to welcome spring with a smile as bright as the sunshine outside and a lot more warmth than the sun is able to radiate through the yet chilly north wind ... news headlines scream of more blood being shed in the streets ~

Somewhere out there on the horizon

Maybe there's a glimmer of hope ...

My thoughts go out to all affected by violence and bloodshed, and to my friend in Australia who first introduced me to the music of John Butler and the John Butler Trio ... hugs to the moon goddess, may they find you well ...

Spring To Come
John Butler, John Butler Trio

Lost my love, lost my light
I can't find them anymore

Bruce Springsteen The Ghost of Tom Joad live in Studio

Every year I take a road trip to clear my mind and reset my equilibrium ~ for me, there's nothing better, nothing more relaxing than driving some off-the-beaten-path road and listening to music. One such trip included driving through the night on some forgotten street, and in the early hours of the new day -long before the sun would make its appearance- 'The Ghost of Tom Joad' by Bruce Spingsteen started playing on the radio ...

Well the highway is alive tonight
But nobody's kidding nobody about where it goes ...

It wasn't a highway, and the street wasn't alive that night, but -as strange as that may sound- the song dispelled some of the lonely feeling that I hadn't been able to shake ~

The Ghost of Tom Joad
Bruce Springsteen

Men walking 'long the railroad tracks
Going someplace, there's no going back
Highway patrol choppers coming up over the ridge
Hot soup on a campfire under the bridge

Kansas - Dust in the Wind

Back in the ~ few but -oh- so memorable ~ days playing with a group, 'Dust in the Wind' by Kansas was among the songs I loved best. It's hard to pin down why, perhaps it's because there is a certain fragility transcending the lyrics, the guitar line, the violin's melody, the vocals ... and -to me- everything combines to a perfect whole. And it's a song befitting the peace and quiet tonight ... 

Don't hang on
Nothing lasts forever, but the earth and sky
It's there always
And all your money won't another minute buy ...

Dust in the Wind
Kansas

Dust in the wind
All we are is dust in the wind
Dust in the wind
All we are is dust in the wind

I close my eyes
Only for a moment, then the moment's gone

Bruce Springsteen - Youngstown

Going through the online news today I ran into an article starting with the sentence "The people of Youngstown are fed up." Immediately, my mind went to playing Bruce Springsteen's 'Youngstown'. From the first time I heard the song it spoke to me ~ perhaps because I grew up in a coal-mining, steel-milling town, perhaps because the haunting lyrics and melody wormed their way into my mind, or perhaps because Bruce Springsteen's voice of velvet, rust and gravel just brings a lot of memories to life ... Whatever the reason, I'm sure the song will be playing on my mind for a while again ...

From the Monongaleh valley
To the Mesabi iron range
To the coal mines of Appalacchia
The story's always the same

Youngstown
Bruce Springsteen

Here in north east Ohio
Back in eighteen-o-three
James and Danny Heaton
Found the ore that was linin' yellow creek

Andra Day - Rise Up

Andra Day's voice is simply marvelous, the song 'Rise Up' inspired ~ it doesn't matter what you may get out of the lyrics -or what you may read into them- I doubt anybody can remain untouched by this song ...

Rise Up
Andra Day

You're broken down and tired
Of living life on a merry go round
And you can't find the fighter

Zager & Evans - In The Year 2525

I have a distinct love/hate relationship to a large part of the music of the 60ies: It draws me in to listen but the more I listen to it the more I tend to ponder the fact that nothing really has changed since. Take "In The Year 2525 (Exordium & Terminus)" by Zager and Evans for example: the song bemoans how humanity becomes more and more dependent on technologies. That was in 1968. Almost 50 years ago. And still, humanity becomes more and more dependent on technologies ...

But through eternal night
The twinkling of starlight
So very far away
Maybe it's only yesterday ~

In The Year 2525 (Exordium & Terminus)
Zager and Evans

In the year 2525
If man is still alive
If woman can survive
They may find

Bruce Springsteen - Born In The U.S.A.

This page is about music, certainly not politics. But then, sometimes, music touches on politics and there’s no getting around scraping the issue.

Not that I believe all I hear on the news, but this sounds just wrong enough to be true: Donald Trump is playing Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the U.S.A.” at his rallies as a swipe at his co-contender Ted Cruz. … What’s wrong with this picture? Anybody? Anything?

 

To me, the song is anything but glorious or patriotic.