It’s a recent photo of our 15-year-old son Peter (he’s just being a goofball throwing up gang signs – love his sense of humor), contrasted with a photo of him from what seems like weeks ago, but in reality was nearly a decade and a half ago. I know every parent says “it goes so fast” but I usually don’t think about it much, until I’m confronted with it every morning as I grab eggs out of the fridge.
Sure, it makes me sad to realize that our babies are growing up, but it’s also a great reminder to cherish making Peter’s breakfast every weekday morning (2 eggs, scrambled, with cheddar cheese) instead of considering it a thankless chore. Soon enough, he’ll be getting his own breakfast at college (and it had better not be kegs and eggs!).
This trip down memory lane made me think of a great tune from 22 years ago, a song by the Velvet Crush called “Time Wraps Around You.” (Never heard of the Velvet Crush? Neither has 99.4% of America – and that’s a crying shame.) It’s on one of my favorite “hidden gem” albums of all time, Teenage Symphonies To God.
Leonard Cohen, the “songwriter’s songwriter” passed away earlier this week. His best-known song, “Hallelujah,” had an interesting gestation period. It first came out on Cohen’s 1984 album, but didn’t really make much of a splash. Jeff Buckley covered it in spectacular fashion a decade later, but it wasn’t until after Buckley passed away in 1997 that the song actually hit the mainstream. It was featured in the first Shrek film in 2001, but again there was a bit of a twist. A version by John Cale (Velvet Underground) was featured in the movie, but a version by Rufus Wainwright was on the movie’s soundtrack album.
I think it’s great that Cohen was still writing and recording until the very end (his latest album came out earlier this year). I think it’s sad that he was cheated out of millions by his former manager and had to tour the world in his 70’s (387 shows from 2008-2013) just to try to replenish his nest egg.
While “Hallelujah” is Leonard Cohen’s most famous song, his tune “Democracy” is the one that’s really striking a chord with me during election week:
Just like with “Hallelujah” something tells me there might be a bit of a time lag before the lyrics of this song truly catch on as well, but I hope it’s soon:
It’s coming from the sorrow in the street The holy places where the races meet From the homicidal bitchin’ That goes down in every kitchen To determine who will serve and who will eat From the wells of disappointment Where the women kneel to pray For the grace of God in the desert here And the desert far away: Democracy is coming to the USA
Sail on, sail on Oh mighty ship of State To the shores of need Past the reefs of greed Through the Squalls of hate Sail on, sail on, sail on, sail on
It’s coming to America first The cradle of the best and of the worst It’s here they got the range And the machinery for change And it’s here they got the spiritual thirst It’s here the family’s broken And it’s here the lonely say That the heart has got to open In a fundamental way Democracy is coming to the USA
It turns out we DO have something to look forward to in January: a new album from Japandroids! This dynamic duo from the Great White North (Vancouver, BC to be more specific) really knows how to rock. But don’t take my word for it, just put your earballs on the title track of the new disc:
Here are singer/guitarist Brian King and drummer David Prowse (no, not the guy who played Darth Vader) talking about the new album.
According to their interview with Pitchfork, the new album is a bit mellower and/or more diverse.
There’s a nice interview with Stereogum that also mentions the sonic diversity. I’m look forward to hearing the entire album. Meanwhile, here’s an absolute scorcher from their 2012 album Celebration Rock (one of my favorite albums from that year):
I’ve blogged about the band Lucius before. And I’ll do it again. Because they’re just so darn good. They’ve had quite a run lately. Last weekend they sang with My Morning Jacket and Roger Waters at the annual Bridge School Benefit concert put on by Neil and Pegi Young.
And on Tuesday they knocked it out of the park with this incredible performance on Late Night with Seth Meyers, showcasing not just their vocal range but also their emotional range (and their fabulous matching outfits, as per usual).
Their fall tour started today. Here are all the dates… if they come anywhere near your town, check ’em out.
Beach Slang has my favorite album of the moment, A Loud Bash of Teenage Feelings.
If you have a half-hour to spare, you can check out the entire disc here (or click on the image below). If you like earnest, guitar-driven, punk-tinged rock, it’ll be time well spent.
To me, Beach Slang has a great early-era Replacements sound to them. And their lead singer James Alex seems like he pours his heart and soul into the music, based on this interview. A few key quotes:
“And we play our guts out. That’s what we do every night. Even if we play for one kid, that could be the one kid who sparks this whole thing. Every kid matters. If it’s one person or thousands, we’re gonna play just as hard.”
“I had a wrecked childhood, so you look for family when you don’t have one. I found that in punk rock, in the scene, my friends were my family and I want to shout that out for all the kids who are lost and looking.”
“There’s something very romantic and necessary about rock and roll not being handed to you. It’s a blue-collar job and you have to work hard for it. If it means enough to you, you’ll do anything for it.”
“Sweat, urgency, unpredictability and danger. Rock and roll needs to have that. No two shows should be the same.”
At the beginning of each month, a co-worker friend of mine sends out a list of the celebrities who have passed away in the previous month. Don’t ask why. (Cough… Celebrity Death Pool… cough, cough.)
Some of the folks who passed away this September have a direct connection to music, such as the great Buckwheat Zydeco:
Country trailblazer Jean Shepard:
And R& B singer Clifford Curry:
But a few recently deceased celebs have a connection to music that’s a bit less obvious.
Transgender actress Alexis Arquette’s first acting gig (back when she was known as Robert) was as the boy on the amusement ride in the video for “She’s a Beauty” from The Tubes:
Boxer Bobby Chacon? He features prominently in Warren Zevon’s song “Boom Boom Mancini”
And Herschel Gordon Lewis was known as The Godfather of Gore for writing and directing B-movies like Blood Feast. But two bands took their names from his films: The Gore Gore Girls (from the movie by the same name)
and 10,000 Maniacs (inspired by Lewis’ Two Thousand Maniacs flick).
Kevin Sullivan on Warren piece: “Praise Warren. He also said, “You only have to do a very few things right in your life so long…” Jan 15, 08:48
Damian on Eternally Grateful… still: “Thanks for reading, and thanks for sharing that song, Chuck! You’re absolutely right that the Deadhead community is amazing.” Jan 15, 08:17
Chuck Wiggins on Eternally Grateful… still: “I’m ambivalent at best about the Grateful Dead’s music, but there’s no discounting the incredible community built around it. And…” Jan 14, 09:05
Kevin Sullivan on Spoken and Unspoken: “You lived the brotherhood Damian, and that is a full plate. Peace to you and peace to John.” Nov 18, 16:54
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