Dark, but not really.

Sometimes a blog inspiration might be a song I heard on the radio. Today's is just that. Nothing special, just a song I like and had heard this morning.

I also had a picture that could complete the bad analogy I usually try to make with the song title. This picture was taken January 3rd 2007. Big moon, warm temperatures. It was almost like spring.

If you look at it differently, the moon can look like a light at the end of a tunnel. Or something from a Stephen King novel.

All in all, today's turning into a pretty good day. The week is flying by.

The title sounds a little dark but it's a pretty song: I will follow you into the dark.

DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE

"I Will Follow You Into The Dark"

Love of mine some day you will die
But I'll be close behind
I'll follow you into the dark

No blinding light or tunnels to gates of white
Just our hands clasped so tight
Waiting for the hint of a spark
If Heaven and Hell decide
That they both are satisfied
Illuminate the NOs on their vacancy signs

If there's no one beside you
When your soul embarks
Then I'll follow you into the dark

In Catholic school as vicious as Roman rule
I got my knuckles bruised by a lady in black
And I held my tongue as she told me
"Son fear is the heart of love"
So I never went back

If Heaven and Hell decide
That they both are satisfied
Illuminate the NOs on their vacancy signs

If there's no one beside you
When your soul embarks
Then I'll follow you into the dark

You and me have seen everything to see
From Bangkok to Calgary
And the soles of your shoes are all worn down
The time for sleep is now
It's nothing to cry about
Cause we'll hold each other soon
The blackest of rooms

If Heaven and Hell decide
That they both are satisfied
Illuminate the NOs on their vacancy signs

If there's no one beside you
When your soul embarks
Then I'll follow you into the dark
Then I'll follow you into the dark

15 second video. vol 1. Sunday the twenty eighth.

Sunday has its 60 minutes. Good stuff but I hardly watch anymore. Anyway, I have a video thing on my camera but I hardly use it. I can set it for 15 second clips (and except for me watching, that’s probably too long. Spielberg had his Duel - got to begin somewhere.) Starting today, I’m going to take a video each week of something I’m doing. It should be fun the see the seasons change and how boring my Sundays really are. Ha.

Volume one:

Burning the newspapers in a burn barrel. It’s not legal in town but I’ve only been caught once. Usually I would have music playing in the background but the cold out weighed my ambition. It just snowed last night so it’s too crappy out to hit softballs. Today I’m throwing them; left handed while holding the camera (that will explain the wimpy throw). Cubbie tracks them down and returns thru my legs, turns around and gives it back to me (thru my legs). Kinda like a pez dog dispenser. He just finished before time ran out. We both need practice.

The Rolling Stones; Walking the Dog.

An aside: Family Guy had the best cartoon / movie dance routine with the a film clip of Gene Kelly. Stupid show but pushes boundaries. Funny. Never thought I’d like it. Clint sold me on it. Video will follow when it’s posted and I’m sure it will be. (1-29-2007 it is)

Midnight Rider.

Clint on the Mini-Chopper I won at the 95 WIIL Rock Football Pool. It's pretty cool. Has four speeds, goes up to 60, can be ridden on the street (with limitations). Enough snow has melted, we'll probably take it out this weekend. Fun, fun, fun.

I couldn't tell you how many times I saw the Allman Brothers. Five, ten? Whatever the number, I was never disappointed. Sweet sounding jams lasting as long as an album side (half an hour). Gotta love the slide guitar.

(Quick Wiki note on slide guitars: The late Duane Allman played a key role in bringing slide guitar into rock music, through his work with the Allman Brothers Band ... Beginning in the 1960s, Allman used an empty glass Coricidin medicine bottle, which he wore over his ring finger, as a slide; this was later picked up by other slide guitarists such as Bonnie Raitt, Rory Gallagher, and Gary Rossington of Lynyrd Skynyrd. Such bottles eventually went out of production in the early 1980s (although replicas have been produced since 1985))

The Allman Brothers Band

Midnight Rider

Well, I've got to run to keep from hiding,
And I'm bound to keep on riding.
And I've got one more silver dollar,
But I'm not gonna let them catch me, no,
Not gonna let 'em catch the midnight rider.

And I don't own the clothes I'm wearing,
And the road goes on forever,
And I've got one more silver dollar,
But I'm not gonna let them catch me, no
Not gonna let 'em catch the midnight rider.

And I've gone by the point of caring,
Some old bed I'll soon be sharing,
And I've got one more silver dollar,

Repeat three times and fade
But I'm not gonna let 'em catch me, no
Not gonna let them catch the midnight rider.

Hell froze over?

Yes, another picture in the paper. Yea me.

Blog title is a play on the Chris Rea song: Road to Hell. (frozen over, get it?)

Good excuse for including a great song.

Otherwise, I was thinking of OutKast Hey Ya, "Shake it like a polaroid picture". That song is OK, this is much better.I always loved the lyric, "This ain't no technological breakdown".

Chris Rea

Road to Hell Part II

Well I'm standing by the river
But the water doesn't flow
It boils with every poison you can think of
And I'm underneath the streetlight
But the light of joy I know
Scared beyond belief way down in the shadows
And the perverted fear of violence
Chokes the smile on every face
And common sense is ringing out the bell
This ain't no technological breakdown
Oh no, this is the road to hell

And all the roads jam up with credit
And there's nothing you can do
It's all just pieces of paper flying away from you
Oh look out world, take a good look
What comes down here
You must learn this lesson fast and learn it well
This ain't no upwardly mobile freeway
Oh no, this is the road

Said this is the road
This is the road to hell

Doll stuff.

These pictures were from my mom’s house. She has shelves and shelves of dolls. Been collecting them for years.

We all had gathered there because my sister was up from southern Illinois. It was kind of a late holiday get together. We see each other about 2 or 3 times a year. Just about right. Ha.

The light was almost to low for pictures but on the other hand, it gives them a grainy look, almost like they are a painting, not a photographed object.

There are some pretty ones and some that could terrorize a little kid with their eyes. I always think of the scary doll episodes from the Twilight Zone. And there were a few of them. Shiver....

Anyway, these could make great photo material – I’d like to try some in regular daylight.

And keeping with the doll theme, Doll Parts by Courtney Love, Hole.

It’s on the CD Live Through This. I really like the CD. She’s sings with lots of energy.

i am doll eyes

doll mouth, doll legs

i am doll arms, big veins

dog bait

yeah, they really want you

they really want you, they really do

yeah, they really want you

they really want you, and i do too

i want to be the girl with the most cake

i love it so much it just turns to hate

i fake it so true, i am beyond fake

and someday, you will ache like i ache

someday, you will ache like i ache

i am doll parts

bad skin, doll heart

it's stands for knife

for the rest of my life

yeah, they really want you

they really want you, they really do

yeah, they really want you

they really want you, and i do too

i want to be the girl with the most cake

he only loves those things because he loves

to see them break

i fake it so true i am beyond fake

and someday, you will ache like i ache

someday, you will ache like i ache

someday, you will ache like i ache

someday, you will ache like i ache

someday, you will ache like i ache

Adam Cohen, son of you know who.

The Low Millions are a pop-rock band from California. They launched their debut album, Ex-Girlfriends in 2004, under the recording label Manhattan Records.

Many of the songs on Ex-Girlfriends have lyrics which revolve around love and romance.

The hit single, Eleanor from their debut album has received widespread airplay on radio.

Adam Cohen (singer/guitarist) — son of songwriter Leonard Cohen
Michael Chavez (singer/guitarist)
Jorgen Carlsson (singer/bass)
Eric Eldenius (drums)

The first few riffs of this song are plagiarized by a VISA commercial I’ve been seeing on television. The one where a lot papers fly out of windows into the streets of a city. Has anyone else noticed? I’ve seen it the most during football / sporting events.

LOW MILLIONS LYRICS

"Eleanor"

Fine, I understand
Okay with me, if thats the plan
You can take the stereo, the TV and the video,
The bed, the sheets and pillows,
Before you go.
But for now, unlock the door
What are we doin' all this for?
Let me make you dinner one last time
Then you'll go your way, and I'll go mine.

And I won't call you baby, (anymore)
Won't call you baby (like I did before)
Won't call you baby, anymore
Eleanor

You left your smell, you left your taste
You left me here with my mistakes
And I can't relate to what you say I've done
But just for you, I'll bite my tongue

And I won't call you baby, (anymore)
Won't call you baby (like I did before)
Won't call you baby, anymore

Eleanor I miss you
Eleanor be well
Eleanor I wish you'd release me from your spell

Come on!
Eleanor!
Do it!
You can- Do it!

And I can't call you baby, (anymore)
Won't call you baby (like I did before)

Won't call you baby, anymore
No I can't call you baby, (anymore)
Won't call you baby (like I did before)
Won't call you baby, anymore
Eleanor

Little Mick.

Happy Birthday Mick. (I didn't label the songs but he's in all of them.)

Michael "Mick" Kevin Taylor (born 17 January 1949 in Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire) is an English musician best known as the former lead guitarist for The Rolling Stones.

Known as "Little Mick" within the band, Taylor's live presence with the Stones is preserved on the Get Yer Ya-Yas Out!, a live album recorded over three gigs at the Madison Square Garden in New York during the 1969 American Tour. Sticky Fingers, Exile on Main Street, Goats Head Soup and It's Only Rock and Roll were the four studio albums Taylor recorded with the Stones.

Songs like "Sway", "Can't You Hear Me Knocking", "Moonlight Mile", "All Down the Line", "Shine a Light", "Stop Breaking Down", "100 Years Ago", "Winter", "Time Waits for No One" and "Fingerprint File" are indelibly the Mick Taylor classics from those four studio records.

However, to the many fans of the Rolling Stones, the 1972 American Tour and the 1973 European Tour are where the true genius of Mick Taylor and the Taylor years can be heard, and the band was unable — and ever since unwilling — to officially release material recorded on these tours.

The band was contractually prohibited from officially releasing any material that was owned by Allen Klein's company ABKCO, which is part of the reason for a planned 1972 live album being shelved. It is a tragedy for Taylor fans that his best live work as a Stone can only be heard on obscure sound and film recordings, found on bootlegs of mostly mediocre sound quality, although 21st century re-masters of these bootlegs are now becoming more readily available through the internet.

Taylor resigned from the Rolling Stones in December 1974, just before the Stones were to start recording a new album in Munich, West Germany. As the story goes, the Stones were at a party in London when Taylor announced he was quitting and walked out.

Jagger, took the news professionally, but Richards complained about Taylor's departure. Mick Jagger, in a 1995 interview with Jann Wenner of Rolling Stone magazine, nearly admits the years Taylor was a member of the band were the best musically.

Jagger said Taylor never explained why he had left, and surmised that "he (Taylor) wanted to have a solo career. I think he found it difficult to get on with Keith."




In 1979, four years after he had left the Stones, Taylor's first solo album, the self-titled Mick Taylor, was released on CBS.

The album met with critical acclaim but could not have come out at a worse time. Taylor's new material was rock, jazz, and Latin flavoured blues while the year 1979 was the height of the punk and new wave movement. Still, it was his only charting album on both US or Europe, reaching #119 on Billboard in early August with a stay of 5 weeks on the Top 200. The record label told Taylor he should promote the record by visiting American radio stations. Taylor, on the other hand, wanted to take a new band on the road, which he saw as the best way to introduce new audiences to his own songs, but this plan wasn't backed by the record company.

Already frustrated with this situation, Taylor took some time out and deliberately kept a low profile for about a year. He had moved to the US East Coast to promote his solo record and was now living in the house where The Great Gatsby was filmed (Long Island). In 1981 he toured Europe and America with Alvin Lee (from Ten Years After), sharing the bill with Black Sabbath.

He spent most of 1982-1983 on the road with his old mentor John Mayall for the so-called Reunion Tour with John McVie (Fleetwood Mac) and Colin Allen. It was during this tour that Bob Dylan showed up backstage at The Roxy in Los Angeles because he wanted to meet Taylor. Perhaps Taylor's second most known work came in 1983 with Bob Dylan Infidels album, on which Taylor played with Mark Knopfler as well as Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare. Taylor lived in New York throughout the decade, which turned out to be a dark period. He battled with addiction problems for part of the decade before getting back on track the second half of the 1980s and moving to Los Angeles in 1990.

At the end of the 1980s and early '90s, Taylor managed to find his way back by doing session work and touring in Europe and America with a band including Max Middleton (formerly of Jeff Beck group), Shayne Fontayne, and Blondie Chaplin (now a back-up musician with the Stones).

Taylor moved back to England in the mid 1990s. He never seemed to feel comfortable in his role as a former Rolling Stone until he released a new record in the year 2000, the CD "A Stone's Throw". Playing at clubs and theatres (impossible for the Stones) as well as appearing at festivals has connected Taylor with an appreciative audience and lasting fanbase.

Brrrrr.

My blurry pet picture was starting to hurt my eyes. Here's something more in focus. Hoarfrost.

By the way, it's way too cold for my taste.

Under 20 F. which is also about C -5 ??? Am I a cold wimp?

Sleep over.

Please excuse the quality of the picture. I took a better one but Bob (the cat)'s head wasn't all in it.

I don't want to make too much fuss taking pictures or they move.

Anyway, aren't they cute? Ha.

Strange bedfellows.

Past sleepovers:

Cubbie and Bob (the cat).

Cubbie and Rama.

Let's Spend the Night Together.

Gone Baby Gone.

Sunday quickie. Gnarles Barkley doing the Femmes. Saw them this summer. On the shores of Lake Michigan with Chicago as a backdrop. Ah, summer.

Gone Baby Gone

Beautiful girl lovely dress
High school smiles oh yes
Beautiful girl lovely dress
Where she is now I can only guess
Cause its gone daddy gone
Your love is gone
Gone daddy gone
The love is gone away
When I see you
Eyes will turn blue
When I see you
Thousand eyes turnin blue
Tell by the way you that you switch and walk
I can see by the way that you baby talk
I can know by the way you treat your man
I can love you baby til its a cryin
Beatiful girl lovely dress
15 smiles oh yes
Beautiful girl lovely dress
Where she is now I can only guess

In case you don't know Gnarles, this was the song of the summer of 2006:

Crazy.

The Jam. Last of Paul for me.

Paul Weller was strongly influenced by 1960s bands such as The Kinks, The Small Faces and The Who, all three great favourites of his and whose influence can be heard in much of The Jam's material. However, that did not mean that he was averse to finding inspiration in the works of many other artists: the Jam's second number one single, "Start!" borrows heavily from The Beatles' "Taxman", for example. The group's third chart topper, "Town Called Malice", which recently found renewed fame on the Billy Elliot soundtrack (2001), has a driving bass line reminiscent of The Supremes' "You Can't Hurry Love" or Iggy Pop's "Lust for Life".

A Town Called Malice.

A Town Called Malice.



Better stop dreaming of the quiet life -

cos it's the one we'll never know

And quit running for that runaway bus -

cos those rosey days are few

And - stop apologising for the things you've never done,

Cos time is short and life is cruel -

but it's up to us to change

This town called malice.

Rows and rows of disused milk floats

stand dying in the dairy yard

And a hundred lonely housewives clutch empty milk

bottles to their hearts

Hanging out their old love letters on the line to dry

It's enough to make you stop believing when tears come

fast and furious

In a town called malice.



Struggle after struggle - year after year

The atmosphere's a fine blend of ice -

I'm almost stone cold dead

In a town called malice.



A whole street's belief in Sunday's roast beef

gets dashed against the Co-op

To either cut down on beer or the kids new gear

It's a big decision in a town called malice.



The ghost of a steam train - echoes down my track

It's at the moment bound for nowhere -

just going round and round

Playground kids and creaking swings -

lost laughter in the breeze

I could go on for hours and I probably will -

but I'd sooner put some joy back

In this town called malice.

Start.

Start.



It's not important for you to know my name -

Nor I to know yours

If we communicate for two minutes only

It will be enough

For knowing that someone in this world

Feels as desperate as me -

And what you give is what you get.



It doesn't matter if we never meet again,

What we have said will always remain.

If we get through for two minutes only,

It will be a start!

For knowing that someone in this life,

Loves with a passion called hate

And what you give is what you get.



If I never ever see you -

If I never ever see you -

If I never ever see you - again.



And what you give is what you get!

In The City" took The Jam into the UK Top 40 for the first time in May 1977, and although every subsequent single had a placing within the Top 40, it would take another two years and eight singles before they were sufficiently engrained in the British national consciousness for "The Eton Rifles" to break the Top 10, hitting the No. 3 spot in November 1979.

In the City.

In the City.

In the city there's a thousand things I want to say to you

But whenever I approach you, you make me look a fool

I wanna say, I wanna tell you

About the young ideas

But you turn them into fears

In the city there's a thousand faces all shining bright

And those golden faces are under 25

They wanna say, they gonna tell ya

About the young idea

You better listen now you've said your bit-a



And I know what you're thinking

You still think I am crap

But you'd better listen man

Because the kids know where it's at



In the city there's a thousand men in uniforms

And I've heard they now have the right to kill a man

We wanna say, we gonna tell ya

About the young idea

And if it don't work, at least we said we've tried



In the city, in the city

In the city there's a thousand things I want to say to you

The Eton Rifles.

The Eton Rifles.

Sup up your beer and collect your fags -

There's a row going on down near Slough.

Get out your mat and pray to the West.

I'll get out mine and pray for myself.



Thought you were smart when you took them on,

But you didn't take a peep in their artillery room.

All that rugby puts hairs on your chest.

What chance have you got against a tie and a crest?



Hello-Hurrah - what a nice day for the Eton Rifles.

Hello-Hurrah - I hope rain stops play for the Eton Rifles.



Thought you were clever when you lit the fuse,

Tore down the house of commons in your brand new shoes,

Composed a revolutionary symphony,

Then went to bed with a charming young thing.



Hello-Hurrah - cheers then, mate. It's the Eton Rifles.

Hello-Hurrah - an extremist scrape with the Eton Rifles.



What a catalyst you turned out to be:

Loaded the guns, then you run off home for your tea -

Left me standing like a guilty schoolboy...



What a catalyst you turned out to be:

Loaded the guns, then you run off home for your tea -

Left me standing like a naughty schoolboy...



We came out of it naturally the worst:

Beaten and bloody, and I was sick down my shirt.

We were no match for their untamed wit,

Though some of the lads said they'd be back next week.



Hello-Hurrah - it's the price to price to pay to the Eton Rifles.

Hello-Hurrah - I'd prefer the plague to the Eton Rifles.



Hello-Hurrah - it's the price to pay to the Eton Rifles.

Hello-Hurrah - I'd prefer the plague to the Eton Rifles.

In 1980 they hit number one for the first time with what many believe to be the definitive Paul Weller song, "Going Underground", which was to become in effect the band's signature tune. A popular story has it that hitting the charts at all was in fact an accident for "Going Underground": it was supposed to be a double A side with "Dreams of Children", a less-remembered song, but a mistake at a French pressing plant meant "Going Underground" was given 'A' status on the label. Whether this is true or apocryphal is not known, but whatever the case, after "Going Underground", The Jam - and Weller in particular - were UK superstars.

Going Underground.

Going Underground.





Some people might say my life is in a rut,

But I'm quite happy with what I got

People might say that I should strive for more,

But I'm so happy I can't see the point.

Somethings happening here today

A show of strength with your boy's brigade and,

I'm so happy and you're so kind

You want more money - of course I don't mind

To buy nuclear textbooks for atomic crimes



And the public gets what the public wants

But I want nothing this society's got -

I'm going underground, (going underground)

Well the brass bands play and feet start to pound

Going underground, (going underground)

Well let the boys all sing and the boys all shout for tomorrow



Some people might get some pleasure out of hate

Me, I've enough already on my plate

People might need some tension to relax

[Me?] I'm too busy dodging between the flak



What you see is what you get

You've made your bed, you better lie in it

You choose your leaders and place your trust

As their lies wash you down and their promises rust

You'll see kidney machines replaced by rockets and guns



And the public wants what the public gets

But I don't get what this society wants

I'm going underground, (going underground)

Well the brass bands play and feet start to pound

Going underground, (going underground)

[So] let the boys all sing and the boys all shout for tomorrow



We talk and talk until my head explodes

I turn on the news and my body froze

The braying sheep on my TV screen

Make this boy shout, make this boy scream!



Going underground, I'm going underground!

More Paul: Stanley Road.

Another day, another couple of songs. These are from the album Stanley Road.

Paul Weller was born John William Weller, 25 May 1958, in Stanley Road, Woking, Surrey (hence the name of the album).

Paul’s own 1995 album Stanley Road took him back to the top of the British charts, and went on to become the best selling album of his career.

It marked a return to the more guitar-based style of his earlier days.

The album's major single, "The Changingman", was also a big hit, taking Weller back into the Top 10 of the UK singles charts.

The album also featured a second popular single, the ballad "You Do Something To Me".

Personally, I like Stanley Road the best.

"I just like the beat." Ha. No, really. The sound reminds me of Nicky Hopkins.

Stanley Road





Stanley Road

A hazy mist hung down the street
The length of it's mile -
As far as my eye could see
The sky so wide, the houses tall
Or so they seemed to be,
So they seemed to me so small,
And it gleamed in the distance
And it shone like the sun -
Like silver & gold - it went on & on.
The summer nights that seemed so long
Always call me back to return -
As I re-write this song
The ghosts of night, the dreams of day
Make me swirl & fall & hold me in their sway -
And it's still in the distance
And it shines like the sun -
Like silver & gold - it goes on & on.
The rolling stock rocked me to sleep -
Amber lights flashing 'cross the street
And on the corner.....a dream to meet -
going on & on.
On & on,
On & on..........

Changing Man






Changing Man

Is happiness real?
Or am I so jaded
I can't see or feel - like a man been tainted
Numbed by the effect - aware of the muse
Too in touch with myself - I light the fuse
I'm the changingman - built on shifting sands
I'm the changingman - waiting for the bang-
As I light a bitter fuse
Time is on loan - only ours to borrow
What I can't be today - I can be tomorrow
And the more I see - the more I know
The more I know - the less I understand.
I'm the changingman - built on shifting sands
I'm the changingman - waiting for the bang-
To light a bitter fuse
It's a bigger part -
When our instincts act
A shot in the dark -
movement in black
And the more I see - the more I know
The more I know - the less I understand.
I'm the changingman - built on shifting sands
(I don't have a plan)
I'm the changingman - waiting for the bang-
To light a bitter fuse

You do Something to Me






You do something to Me

You do something to me - something deep inside
I'm hanging on the wire - for a love I'll never find
You do something wonderful - then chase it all away
Mixing my emotions - that throws me back again
Hanging on the wire, I'm waiting for the change
I'm dancing through the fire, just to catch a flame -
an' feel real again
You do something to me - somewhere deep inside
I'm hoping to get close to - a peace I cannot find -
Dancing through the fire - just to catch a flame
Just to get close to, just close enough -
To tell you that.....
You do something to me - something deep inside.
--------------------------------------------

Special bonus to those who made it all the way down here:

That's Entertainment from a previous blog. If you don't know the song, it's well worth a listen.

Paul Weller.

There seem to be quite a number of songs I like in this Box Set. Some are from The Jam and some from The Style Council.

I'll post a couple a day.

Hit Parade BOX SET

Paul Weller

Paul Weller's Hit Parade (Yep Roc), his first ever career spanning box set, chronicles 30 years of milestone work from one of the world's best songwriters. Four disks long and including a 60 page booklet, Hit Parade is a comprehensive Weller collection. Between 1977 and 1982, Weller released six wildly successful albums with The Jam, who still hold the UK record for most simultaneous Top 75 singles (including US smash Town Called Malice"). After The Jam, Weller formed The Style Council, with whom he scored 19 consecutive hits on the UK charts and performed at Live Aid. Since 1992, Weller has released eight critically acclaimed studio albums, including Stanley Road, considered one of the best British rock albums of all time. Finally, Hit Parade combines work from all three spectacular Paul Weller career stages into one astonishing package. Custom hard-bound book.

Release Date: January 23, 2007.

My Ever Changing Moods.


When You’re Young.


When You're Young - Paul Weller

Life is timeless, days are long when you're young

You used to fall in love with everyone

Any guitar and any bass drum

Life is a drink and you get drunk when you're young

Life is new and there's things to be done

You can't wait to be grown up

Acceptance into the capital world

You pull on some weed, then you pull on someone when you're young

But you find out life isn't like that

It's so hard to comprehend

Why you set up your dreams to have them smashed in the end

But you don't mind you've got time on your side

And they're never gonna make you stand in line

You're just waiting for the right time

You're fearless and brave -

you can't be stopped when you're young

You swear you're never ever gonna work for someone

No corporations for the new age sons

Tears of rage roll down your face

But still you say "it's fun"

And you find out life isn't like that

It's so hard to understand

Why the world is your oyster but your future's a clam

It's got you in its grip before your born

It's done with the use of a dice and a board

They let you think you're king but you're really a pawn

You're fearless and brave - you can't be stopped when you're young

You used to fall in love with everyone

Any guitar and any bass drum

Big Boss Groove live.

1973 was a looong time ago.

Springsteen signed a solo record deal with Columbia Records in 1972 with the help of John Hammond, who had signed Bob Dylan to the same record label a decade earlier.

(and Leonard Cohen I might add).

Springsteen brought many of his New Jersey-based musician friends, including guitarist Steven Van Zandt, into the studio with him, many of them forming the E Street Band. His debut album, Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J., from January 1973,

(January 5, 1973)

established him as a critical favorite, though sales were slow. Because of his lyrics-heavy, folk rock-rooted music on tracks such as "Blinded by the Light" and "For You" and the Columbia and Hammond connections, critics frequently compared Springsteen to Bob Dylan in the early days of his recording career. "He sings with a freshness and urgency I haven't heard since I was rocked by 'Like a Rolling Stone'," wrote Peter Knobler in Crawdaddy,

(I used to get Crawdaddy - I forgot it existed. Ha)

Here are two versions of Blinded by the Light.

Personally, I like Manfred Mann’s better (probably because it got more radio play when it was out). The lyrics seem like they were written by someone high in the 70's. I remember bits and pieces of the lyrics when I hear the song and have no clue what they mean. Ha. They follow the videos.

Blinded by the Light

[Chorus]: Blinded by the light
revved up like a deuce
Another runner in the night
Blinded by the light
revved up like a deuce
Another runner in the night
Blinded by the light
revved up like a deuce
Another runner in the night (fading)

Madman dummers bummers,
Indians in the summer,
With a teenager diplomat
And the dumps with the mumps
As the adolescent pumps his way into his hat

With a boulder my shoulder,
feeling kinda older,
I tripped the merry-go-round
With this very unpleasin', sneezin' and wheezin,
the calliope crashed to the ground
(pickup)
the calliope crashed to the ground

(chorus)

Some silicon sister with a manager mister
told me I go what it takes.
I'll run you on sonny to something strong
play the song with the funky break

And go-cart Mozart was checkin' out the
weather charts see if it was safe outside
And little Early Burly came by in his curly wurly
and asked me if i needed a ride
(pickup)
asked me if i needed a ride


(chorus)

Bridge: She got down but she never got tired
She's gonna make it to the night
She's gonna make it through the night


(break with soul-stirring solo)

Oh momma that's where the fun is
But momma that's where the fun is
Momma always told me not to look
in the eye's on the sun
But momma that's where the fun is

(chop sticks variation)

So brimstone-baritone, anti-cyclone Rolling Stone
Preacher from the East,
says dethrone the dictaphone, hit it in it's funny bone
thats what they expect at least

It's a new grown chaperon standing in the corner
watching the young girls dance
and some fresh sown moonstone messing with his frozen zone,
only reminding him of romance
(pickup)
and the calliope crashed to the ground

(Chorus)

(Chorus and First Verse)

Now Scott with the sling-shot finally found a tender spot
and throws his lover in the sand
and some blood-shot forget-me-not
said Daddy's within earshot, save the buck-shot, turn up the band

(repeat Verse 2 "Silicon sister with a manager....")
(bridge)

Cubbie and Bob (the) Cat.

First it was Rama. Now Cubbies sleeping with Bob(the)Cat.

Moon.

I didn't have a working lens good enough to catch a better picture of the moon. This was the best I could do.

Lit up is my after work play area for Cubbie. I hit him softballs every night for about a half hour. Except when there is alot of snow. Obviously not now.

I have a portable light in the lawn chair. The garage is on the right with my radio playing . The table in front of the tree holds a drink and a flashlight for errant balls. Squirrel feeder doubles as an ashtray and a dog slobber rag holder. Aluminum bats lean on the tree year round. The clothesline pole is on the left and of course the moon is the moon.

Stupid thing I did getting ready to take this: I walked two steps forward to get a closer view of the moon. (like that matters. ha) Then I thought about and laughed. It's like a quarter of a million miles away? What was I thinking?

Neville Brothers:

Kiko and the lavender moon out playing

Makes believe nobody can see

And then he waits

And then he fakes

And then he bends

And then he shakes

He plays and plays

Still playing till he

Goes off to sleep


Kiko and the lavender moon

Out dancing making faces at

A big black cat and then he flies

Up to the wall

Stands on one foot

Doesn't even fall

Dance and dance

Still dancing till

He goes off to sleep


He always sleeps

'Til the sun goes down

He never wakes

Till no one's around

He never stops

Can't catch his breath

It's always there

Scares him to death


Kiko and the lavender moon

Out dreaming 'bout green shoes

Haircuts and cake

And then he wishes

The world away

And then he kneels

As if to pray

He dreams and dreams

Kiko and the lavender moon