Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. LXX--Weezer: Buddy Holly

Oh-wee-ooo....

If you're like me, certain songs have certain moments that for whatever odd reason, take a song from being a great song into being one of your all time favorites.  For example, there's Paul McCartney's scowl toward the end of "Hey Jude" or Steve Miller's "Oooh, Lord" in "Take the Money and Run" that take the songs to another level.

"Buddy Holly" is chock full of them--from Oh-wee-ooo to Oh, Oh, to Hoo Hoo, if ever there was a song with nonsense syllables to gladden the heart, this week's tune is full of them.

Weezer was formed in 1992 (where the fuck did the time go? seems like just yesterday...), by front man Rivers Cuomo and has had quite the career since, still performing and releasing albums nearly 25 years later.  Their first two albums are considered classics and often show up on best albums of all time lists, and they've had a long collection of singles that have charted.  For those who may be curious (or not), "Weezer" was a nickname Cuomo's father had for him when he was a child.  Cuomo is also one of the few rock stars who possesses a degree from Harvard--a Bachelor of Arts in English.  The band has released ten studio albums since its inception, three of which have gone platinum and two of which have gone gold.  Not too bad for a power pop band.

Released on their Weezer (Blue Album)--not to be confused with Weezer (Green Album). Weezer (Red Album) or Weezer (White Album (hey that one's been used before!)--"Buddy Holly" was actually the second single released from the album ("Undone-The Sweater Song" was actually first, a piece of trivia I had forgotten over the years).  It would eventually reach #18 (with a bullet!) on The Billboard Hot 100.  Another fascinating (or not) fact:  the single was released on Buddy Holly's birthday.  Not really sure why since the song has very little to do with Buddy Holly and doesn't sound much like anything Holly ever did, but there you have it.  Also, we have Ric Ocasek (former Cars front man) to thank for the song--Cuomo thought it was too stupid and didn't want to put it on the album but producer Ocasek campaigned for it and eventually won out.  Thanks, Ric!

"What's with these homies dissin' my girl?"  Uh--how can you not love a song that opens with that line?  Jesus, it's one of those "You had me at hello" moments.  And the song gets nothing but better. There's heartfelt but not overwrought vocals by Cuomo, all the joys and horrors of young love, all kinds of power guitars, a catchy as all hell chorus, a reference to the delightful Mary Tyler Moore , and as noted earlier, plenty of nonsense syllables to help you sing along.  There are plenty of songs that when I hear I am reminded of how good they are, or sound just as good as ever, but there aren't many that get nothing but better with time and "Buddy Holly" is one of them.  It's a song that will get stuck in your head and you'll be smiling all day because it is.  A true power pop classic.

Lyric sheet:  "I don't care what they say about us anyway/I don't care 'bout that..."

Oh--wee-ooo--enjoy:

Peace,
emaycee

Money, it's a gas

About the only thing I miss from subscribing to The Detroit Free Press are the columns they used to run regularly featuring Leonard Pitts.  For those not familiar with Pitts, he's an exceptionally good op-ed writer for The Miami Herald who has a genuinely unique take on the state of America and isn't afraid to share it, consequences be damned.

As is Pitts' wont, he had a slightly different take than many on the Flint water crisis this past week.  Pitts said for all the hoopla over it being just another in a long line of racism run amok in America, what the poisoning of Flint's children is truly about is poverty.  Pitts points to the city of Morgantown, West Virginia where whites outnumber blacks and those living beneath the poverty line is near 40%--and says he can easily imagine a similar situation as Flint happening there, but not so much in the Hamptons or Orange County, or any number of wealthy communities across America.

And Pitts is exactly right.

And again I ask:  what does it say about a nation when the needs of the privileged few take precedence over the many?  Isn't that in many ways what the Pilgrims first came to America to escape?  And so many immigrants after them?

Remember this?  "We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity...."

Somehow when the Founding Fathers wrote those words I don't think they envisioned a nation where children would be poisoned for a lack of money.

They wanted us to be better than that.

And so should we.

Peace,
emaycee

An idea that's time has come

While Bernie Sander campaign is "berning" down, so to speak, he has begun to push for issues that can be a part of the Democratic Party Platform at this summer's convention in Philadelphia.  Medicare for all, free college tuition, breaking up the big banks, and an end to Citizen's United are all worthy goals and Sanders is right to use his electoral success this year to drive our party to the left.  Surprisingly, though, one issue Sanders has not broached is the idea of a basic income guarantee.

For those not familiar, a basic income guarantee  is a policy wherein the government guarantees each of its citizens an income (usually, though not necessarily) around the poverty level.  What each citizen does to improve upon that money is up to each individual citizen.  While I was familiar with the idea of a basic income guarantee, I did not know that it has actually had several trial runs in the United States in the mid 60's (Indiana, Iowa, Pennsylvania, and Seattle among others), Canada in the early 70's, and is being tested as we speak in London among derelicts.  Believe it or not, the results have been exceptional--it's been found that people are healthier, happier, do not work much less than before, and amazingly enough, just a bit wealthier, too.

Richard Nixon actually put forth the idea for all Americans in the late 1960's and it passed the House but was never able to get out of the Senate (and that there will tell you just how much the republican party has changed--anyone imagine a republican putting forth such an idea today?).  With the continued downfall of America's middle class and poor since the 1970's you have to wonder just where we would be as a nation economically had it passed.

But better late than never, and when you consider wage stagnation, the lack of good paying jobs, and a future in which computers will do more and more of the work we do now which will mean less and less jobs, it's perhaps time to revisit the idea of a basic income guarantee.

Methinks it's either that or a second American Revolution--and my guess is the second one will be a lot less pretty than the first, especially for those who have a disproportionate share of the M-O-N-E-Y.

Peace,
emaycee

Snyderly whiplash

Is there a lamer Governor in America than Michigan's own Rich Snyder?  I mean Scott Walker  and Paul LePage are outwardly bigger assholes, and Rick Scott and Pat McCrory are equally as incompetent, but for sheer buffoonery, it's impossible to beat Snyder.

For those who may have missed it (and lucky for you if you did), Snyder has courageously volunteered to drink Flint water for the next month.  Leaving aside that I'd be willing to bet all I own and then some that Snyder (or more likely, his minions) pour it down his gold plated sink before it gets anywhere near his lips, what the Snyder administration didn't so courageously tell you is that Snyder has yet to do shit to fix the pipes in Flint--zip, zero, nada, nothing.

Let's see...drink some water or actually fix the problem?  Which do you suppose would do the most to help Michiganders?  And which is nothing more than a half-assed spectacle?

Snyder proves once again that republicans are quite adept at being little more than circus clowns--they can stage a show, but unfortunately it's not funny in the fucking slightest.

Get busy livin'

There's an old story wherein F. Scott Fitzgerald supposedly told Ernest Hemingway, "The rich are different than you and me."  To which Hemingway purportedly quipped, "Yes, they have more money."

Alas, the story is most likely not true, but the gist of it remains truer than ever.  A recent study shows that men in the top 1% in income outlive the the poorest men by fifteen years.  For women, it's ten years.

While it will be interesting to see if Obamacare will eventually shrink that difference, I have to admit to being quite shocked the difference was so pronounced.  And to being not just a little angry--there is something seriously wrong with a nation that would allow so many people to die early simply for a lack of funds.

And makes Bernie Sanders call for Medicare for all that much more significant and all the more important to put in this summer's Democratic platform.

Peace,
emaycee

Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. LXIX--Jesse Malin: Brooklyn

Truth be told, I know nothing by Jesse Malin other than this song.  I originally found it in the Appendix of Nick Hornby's fine dissertation on his favorite songs, Songbook--"Brooklyn" was merely a song on a list of newer tunes that Hornby had been enjoying.  I downloaded it on Kaaza and fell in love with it instantly.

Malin started in music at the ripe old age of 12 (seriously? who's in a real band at 12?) in 1980 leading a hard core punk band called Heart Attack, which auditioned at the famed club CBGB's only to not get a gig because it was feared the young members couldn't attract a drinking crowd.  Heart Attack is actually quite well known throughout New York City, notably for its youth as the band members raged in age from 12 to 16.  Malin would later go on to form the glam rock band D Generation in the 90's which was apparently quite well received critically, not that I'd ever heard of them before (and I don't live in NYC, either, so there).  Eventually Malin would go solo, with his first album produced by Ryan Adams (also the first album produced by Adams), and he's still performing today, some thirty-six years later.

Released on his solo debut record The Fine Art of Self Destruction  (and what a great LP title that is), "Brooklyn" had little or no commercial success outside of New York (if even there).  I'm not one hundred percent certain what the song is about--it's obviously a remembrance of things past, but whether the "you" in the song is a past love (most likely), best friend, or sibling really isn't made clear.  Malin's lyrics for the song are nothing if not subtle, so we're left with a lot of thoughtful images that evoke the loss he sings of.

The song starts with a nice acoustic guitar intro (soft but full), though the guitars eventually fade into the background and give way to a quiet piano that sets the mood and continues to the end.  The highlight of "Brooklyn" is by far and away Malin's vocals--it's a song about loss and his singing evinces the protagonists sadness throughout.  The simplest way to say it is that he just nails it.  The chorus is repeated often (emaycee fave!), though in an odd twist, the lyrics leading up to the chorus are short so it just seems like the story is starting before you're back in the middle of it.  But somehow it all works--I'd be hard pressed to name too many songs by unheard of artists with no commercial success (though there are a few) who recorded a song that would make my top 100 of all time, but "Brooklyn" would.  It's a gem.

Liner note:  "You used to like the sad songs of doom and gloom..."

Enjoy:

Peace,
emaycee

Busted

There's a movement afloat called "Bernie or Bust" wherein participants are vowing that if Sanders doesn't win the Democratic nomination, they'll stay home come Election Day this November.

I won't speak for most Democrats, but I became a member of the Democratic Party because, at least in theory (doesn't always work as it should in today's world), Democrats put people first.  While we have never been perfect, politically we've done a lot more good than ill for the American people.  And that's why our tent is so much bigger than republicans--we're a party of the people, not of overzealous religious organizations or greedy corporate trusts.

I would be hard pressed in my forty years of following the Democratic Party and its liberal wing to find a movement that was more short-sighted than the Bernie or Bust movement.  There would be very real consequences for very real people, most of whom are going to be poor and minorities, if the republican party held all three branches of our government.  And, no, it wouldn't lead to a the revolution so many of its supporters dream would happen--just ask the folks in Wisconsin and my current home state of Michigan, where Scott Walker and Rick Snyder cruised to re-election despite running their prospective states down the shitter.

When you sign on with an organization like Bernie or Bust, you are the antithesis of everything Liberals stand for--you are in effect saying principles are more important than people.

And you should be voting republican in this fall.

Peace,
emaycee

STFU

In the 2008 Presidential election, American voters resoundingly rejected John McCain as their choice for our next President.  The only states McCain carried were the ones that would vote for the banjo playing kid in the movie Deliverance as long as he had an "R" next to his name.

None of that, however, has stopped McCain--who never met an American soldier he didn't want to get killed in a useless war--from criticizing President Obama at every turn, for every decision he's ever made concerning foreign policy.  And he does this despite the fact that President Obama has proved right in virtually every one of them.

Seems now McCain has his panties in a twist because President Obama is using "grudging incrementalism" in the fight against ISIS.  Apparently increasing the number of troops to a little over 4000 is going to lead to end of America as we know it.

(Roll eyes here,)

No, it isn't.  ISIS is not the Nazi war machine from WWII, it's not the Soviet Union of old, it's not China as we know it today, and would probably have a real battle on its hands with the rugged army of Luxembourg.  Yes, they've committed several terrorist attacks which are tragic and should be fought at every turn, but ISIS is not going to takeover America, not going to change our way of life, and is not going to take all of our women and children into slavery.

It is little more than a pimple on America's butt.

Listen, you wouldn't mortgage your family's future for a pimple on your butt, and you certainly wouldn't risk your kids lives for it.  You'd wait out the discomfort and use a little preventive medicine  until it eventually goes away of its own volition.

And America should handle ISIS in the same way.

And the last thing we need is idiots like McCain screaming to spend more money and waste more American lives on a big nothing.

Peace,
emaycee

I'm at a loss

A Columbus, Ohio teen is facing forty years in prison for live streaming her seventeen-year-old friend's rape on Periscope.

Let me repeat that:  A Columbus, Ohio teen is facing forty years in prison for live streaming her seventeen-year-old friend's rape on Periscope.

Leaving aside the fact that the above statement may use the word "friend" in the most convoluted way in the history of writing, can somebody please explain this to me?  What would possess any person to film a friend's rape?  Is it abject stupidity?  Is it an utter lack of empathy a la a psychopath?  Has social media changed the world as I knew it so much that I just don't recognize it anymore?

I've literally been trying to wrap my head around this young woman's actions for two days and I cannot.  It is completely beyond me.

Peace,
emaycee

Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. LXVIII--Nick Lowe: Cruel to Be Kind

Not that anyone other than me is counting, but we have another first this week on Friday Night Jukebox:  the first song to borrow a line from Shakespeare (Hamlet, no less) for both its title and its chorus ("I must be cruel only to be kind/Thus bad begins and worse remains behind.").

My, my, my--the things we learn from music.

Nick Lowe may be the least famous great songwriter and producer in the history of pop music--in addition to "Cruel to Be Kind" he also wrote one of Elvis Costello's seminal songs, "(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding" as well as produced Costello's first five albums, two albums for Graham Parker, and has somehow managed, despite his lack of fame, to have a career that started in 1969 and is still going strong today.  Lowe was also a member of the vastly influential group Rockpile (few people have heard of them, they didn't last long, but they did some really special rockabilly/power pop music in their time) which would later have a considerable impact on the 80's New Wave movement.

Released in 1979 (hey--I would have still been a young man then...) on his Labour of Lust LP (itself quite a nice piece of work and well worth a listen), "Cruel to Be Kind" would go on to become Lowe's only hit single stateside (#12 with a bullet!) on the Billboard Hot 100 and only one of two in his native U.K.  His backing band for the album, was, oddly enough, his Rockpile bandmates (Lowe returned the favor on two of Dave Edmunds'--he of "From Small Things (Big Things One Day Come)" fame--solo LPs) and it shows in the crispness of the playing and the musical arrangements.

The song itself is an absolute gem of power pop music--one of those magical moments that make listening to music ever so worthwhile.  Like many a Brit before him, Lowe has a way with self-deprecating humor as well as planting his tongue firmly in his cheek.  For the most part, "Cruel to Be Kind" is a look into our mysterious attractions to the opposite sex, and it's sometimes dark side.  But the song is never maudlin--Lowe's vocals are understated but always bouncy, the guitars jangle throughout, and there's whip smart drumming (which, for whatever reason, I only noticed recently) that really holds the entire song together, from the rat-a-tat beginning through the ever so catchy chorus.  And speaking of the chorus (segues are for amateurs...), the song closes with it being sang again and again (as noted many times before, a big emaycee fave) with Lowe's vocals fluctuating between love and madness throughout.

Trust me on this--I've been listening to this song for 36 years and never once has it gotten old.

Rap Sheet:  "Well I do my best to understand dear/But you still mystify and I want to know why..."

Enjoy (Note: the bride in this video is actually Carlene Carter, Lowe's one time wife and daughter of June Carter Cash and step-daughter of the Man in Black--fun fact!):

Peace,
emaycee

A true legacy

There are millions of sports fans across the world who celebrated the retirement of Kobe Bryant yesterday.

I wasn't one of them--mostly because I'm not a big fan of rapists.

I can't say I was particularly surprised that the traditional media managed to spend an entire season lionizing Bryant without mentioning his greatest legacy in America:  turning the act of slut shaming into an art.  In the process womens' lives are ruined and sports stars go on being superstars making their millions instead of being sent to prison where they belong.  Thanks to Bryant, Steelers' quarterback Ben Roethlisberger got away with sexually assaulting two women, Blackhawks' forward Patrick Kane got away with one, and no one's really sure how many former Florida State, and now Tampa Bay Buccaneer quarterback, Jameis Winston got away with.

Fortunately, there is still a thriving alternative media and Think Progress yesterday called into question all of the hoopla surrounding Bryant's last days in the NBA--calling out the ignorant idolatry while a guilty man goes free just because he has lots of money (well worth the read).

For those who think the women involved in these cases were merely gold diggers, I highly suggest reading the Think Progress piece--to a person, each of these women's lives were ruined and some even had to go into hiding.  They are not victims once, but victims again and again because rich men can afford lawyers that get paid to destroy their reputations, lives, and families to protect sexual deviants.

As noted at the end of the article, it's highly likely that had Kobe Bryant been Kobe Bryant, janitor, or Kobe Bryant, shoe store manager, he'd be in prison.

And for those who still choose to celebrate his accomplishments, I ask you this:  would you be comfortable having your wife, your mother, your sister, or your daughter in a room alone with Kobe Bryant (or Roethlisberger or Kane or Winston)?

I know I sure wouldn't.

Peace,
emaycee

Who's cooler than cool?

Bruce Springsteen, that's who.

Springsteen this week cancelled a concert in North Carolina in response to the passage of HB2, which is a law that basically allows hateful rednecks to discriminate against anyone based on their sexual orientation or sexual identity.  It was a nice big middle finger to North Carolina republicans and their hate mongering Governor, Pat McCrory, and could just be the opening that leads to a Democratic victory in North Carolina in this fall's Presidential election.

Is there any question that the rightful heir to the legacy of Woody Guthrie is Bruce Springsteen?  For all the once upon a time talk about Bob Dylan (who's keeping busy these days doing Frank Sinatra covers--can you say culturally irrelevant, boys and girls?), it's Springsteen who, even though he's in his late sixties and has had an avalanche of commercial success, continues to fight the good fight for the least among us and uses his talent and fame for the betterment of all, just like Guthrie did right up until his death.

Though he's a much richer man than most of us, if there's anyone of his stature who could still be called a working class hero, it's Bruce Springsteen.

A class act if ever there was one.

Peace,
emaycee

Day old bread

Aged and tired Senators John McCain of Arizona and Chuck Grassley of Iowa were in the news (yawn...) again this week.  McCain made the bold claim that based on republican primary turnout they won't need Latino voters in 2016 to win elections (bullshit, but please keep believing it), and Grassley for whining that he (deservedly) might well lose in his umpteenth re-election bid this November thanks to his utter incompetence as the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committe, fiddle farting around while the Supreme Court opening left by Antonin Scalia's death remains vacant.  If America wants two faces to best describe everything that's wrong with Congress, I can't think of two better ones than McCain and Grassley.  McCain hasn't met an American soldier he wouldn't gladly send off to be killed in another pointless war, and Grassley has been republicans' best lap dog, following the orders of lightweights like Mitch McConnell and John Boehner for so long now that it's impossible to believe he's capable of thinking for himself.

It's hard to think of two Senators who have spent the amount of time these two have in the Senate (thirty years for McCain and thirty-six for Grassley) and have accomplished less.  McCain seems to get by because he's a war hero (plenty of war heroes in America who have not sucked on the public teat for thirty years and have actually accomplished something other than getting re-elected).  Grassley, on the other hand, is famed for visiting each of Iowa's ninety-nine counties each year (and this accomplishes for the American people exactly what?).

While it's unlikely, there is nothing better the voters of Arizona and Iowa could do this November than send these two into permanent retirement.  Stale, indolent, and inert are not what the American people need from their representatives in Washington, and at this juncture that's pretty much all we're getting from McCain and Grassley.

Peace,
emaycee

...Or you will surely get it

While much has been made (and rightfully so) over comments made by Wisconsin republican Rep. Glenn Grothman in which he freely admits that the voter ID law passed in his state was designed to suppress Democratic votes, I was actually quite pleased with another part of his statement that for the most part has been ignored:  "I think Hillary Clinton is about the weakest candidate the Democrats have ever put up."

Seriously?  A former First Lady, Senator from New York, and Secretary of State?  Weakest candidate ever?

God how I hope republicans as a whole embrace this notion wholeheartedly--if memory serves, her husband opened a can of whoop ass on republicans twice in Presidential elections, and she did the same twice in Senatorial election.

I'm sure a fifth ass kicking would taste just as sweet.

Peace,
emaycee

Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. LXVII--Warren Zevon: Werewolves of London

Even though it was far back in the dark ages of 1978, I can still remember buying the LP of  Excitable Boy by Warren Zevon--it had gotten a five star review from Rolling Stone, was produced by the then critically and commercially successful Jackson Browne, and had a lineup of songs unlike any I'd ever heard.  Zevon was headed for bigger and better things.

Alas, as life all too often works out, Excitable Boy would be the pinnacle of Zevon's career--while he would remain a critical success and the darling of many fellow artists, Zevon never again had either the commercial success or what could be considered a classic album (though I've always had a fondness for Bad Luck Streak in Dancing School).  If nothing else, Zevon will never be forgotten because of this week's tune, "Werewolves of London," the catchiest song ever written about either London or werewolves.

This week's fun trivia fact that I'd completely forgotten:  John McVie and Mick Fleetwood of, surprisingly enough, Fleetwood Mac fame played, respectively, bass and drums on "Werewolves of London."  Oh, the thinks you can think!

Couple of other Warren Zevon factoids:  "Werewolves of London" was sampled by Michigander Kid Rock in his dreadful song "All Summer Long."  Mr. Rock, for those not familiar, is the Mitch Albom of rock stars--he makes you scratch your head wondering how he ever had any commercial success whatsoever due to a complete and total dearth of talent.  And speaking of Mitch Albom, Zevon once recorded a song written by Albom called "Hit Somebody (The Hockey Song)" which is so horrid that if I was given a choice of listening to it or "We Are the World" on an endless loop for eternity, I wouldn't even bat an eye and choose "We Are the World."

What a good day--a rip of Kid Rock and two rips of Mitch Albom in the same paragraph!  And we now return to our regularly scheduled Friday Night Jukebox...

Zevon's career began in the 1970s.  He came out of the sometimes justly maligned Southern California rock scene, recording with and writing songs later recorded by artists such as the Eagles, Linda Ronstadt, Bonnie Raitt, and Fleetwood Mac, though Zevon's writing often showed a much darker side than most SoCal songwriters.  He would have continuous success critically for the remainder of his career, and the occasional minor hit (and did win a couple of Grammys) but never again quite reached the glory of his second album.  Sadly, Zevon would battle alcoholism and obsessive compulsive disorder throughout his life, and died at the all too young age of 56 in 2003 from complications of lung cancer.

The greatest tribute to "Werewolves of London" is that a song that could quite easily have devolved into just another novelty song, didn't.  In large part this is due to Zevon's songwriting--references to Lon Chaney, Trader Vic's, and beef chow mein aren't your standard fare in most pop songs, and when you throw in Zevon's dry wit ("His hair was perfect"  or "I'd like to meet his tailor") you have a pop classic that never gets old.  Zevon plays a jaunty piano throughout, which is supported by a fine rhythm section that keeps that music lively throughout.  Zevon's vocals are in perfect sync with the subject matter--both humorous and unforgiving, and his howl during the chorus is one of those small touches that make it all the more memorable.  All in all it's one of those songs that never gets old and will always make even a bad day a little bit better when you hear it.  Guaranteed to bring a smile...

Lyric sheet:  "Well, I saw Lon Chaney walkin' with the queen/Doin' the werewolves of London..."

Enjoy:

Peace,
emaycee

Two down, forty-eight to go

The great state of New York has become the second state to lift its minimum wage to $15--realizing that like California before it, New Yorkers, too, wish to satisfy and keep its greatest resource, namely the citizens of the Empire State.

Once again, it cannot be overstated how important this is as well--now that most of the good factory jobs are gone for good, if we are to have an American economy that works for all of us the big gains in wages are going to have to come from where the bulk of the jobs are going to be:  in the service industry.  And while no one is going to compete with Bill Gates for world's richest human on $15 an hour (it comes to $31,200 per annum for a 40 hour a week position), it is a good start and at least gives American workers a living wage.

Besides, New York and California are striving to hire the best and the brightest--let the other states settle for the densest and dumbest.

Peace,
emaycee

This is why the economy collapsed

A recent poll showed that 87% of banking executives think the collapse of the economy in 2008 was the fault of the poorest 50% of Americans--who combined hold 1% of America's assets.  The sheer idiocy of their belief is beyond comprehension for mere mortals.

Much as we all found out in the aftermath of the Great Recession. a combination of ignorance and arrogance is lethal for the economic interests of ordinary Americans.

And it's yet another reason that one of the first priorities of either Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders needs to be the break up of the Big Banks.

Peace,
emaycee

If he only had a brain

Ted Cruz, while visiting Wisconsin last week, said that we need to enact right to work (for less) legislation, like Scott Walker did in the Badger State, for the entire nation.

While throwing out this sop to Corporate American, Cruz neglected to mention that also as of last week, the state of Wisconsin ranks 49th in the United States for its economic outlook.  That means one state, one fucking state, has a poorer economic outlook than Wisconsin.

What on God's green earth made Cruz think that a horrendous economic outlook is anything any creature with a functioning brain, much less working class Americans, would aspire to?

And once again, courtesy of republicans, we have proof that truth is indeed stranger than fiction.

Peace,
emaycee

Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. LXVI--Dodworth Saxhorn Band: Gee, It's a Wonderful Game

I'm not going to lie to you--if I were stranded on a deserted island, "Gee, It's a Wonderful Game" is not one of the top five thousand songs I'd be pining to hear again--but it's subject, baseball, is something that I would miss dearly.

Yes, our long winter wait is over, as baseball season begins Monday (yeah, yeah, I know there's a game on Sunday but the Giants start Monday and that's when my season begins), and thus my two sons, my daughter, my brother, my nephew and myself can begin our yearly fascination with the great game of baseball.

I first discovered "Gee, It's a Wonderful Game" on Ken Burns' documentary Baseball and the song captures wonderfully (so to speak) the joy of being a baseball fan.  Written by Michigan native and all-time great American sportswriter and short story writer Ring Lardner in 1911 (a new Jukebox record for oldest song featured), it's a paean to the early days of the sport at a time when baseball was the only national pastime.  Lardner (memorably portrayed by John Sayles in the film Eight Men Out) deftly weaves historical figures and early great baseball players with shared names (Christopher Columbus and Giants' great Christy Mathewson, Napoleon Bonaparte and Napoleon "Nap" Lajoie) into a narrative where he freely admits that much like Sam Cooke he doesn't know much about history--but he knows a lot about baseball.  Lardner also ties in Frank Chance of "Tinker to Evers to Chance" fame as well as definitely the meanest as well as perhaps the best player of all time, one   Tyus Cobb.  It's a tour de force of baseball and fandom if ever there was one--and I'd be willing to bet this is the only one that ever was.

Performed by Ann Arbor (it's a great day on Jukebox for Michiganders) brass ensemble The Dodworth Saxhorn Band, "Gee, It's a Wonderful Game" features just the kind of instrumentation you'd expect for a tune from 1911--tubas, trumpets, saxophones, and a surprising dearth of electric guitars.  Oh, well, you can't have everything.

Lyric Sheet:  "Baseball, baseball/Ain't it a dandy old game?"

It sure is.

Enjoy:

Peace,
emaycee