A couple of years before the Great Recession, I began seeing pieces--and not Chicken Little, The Sky Is Falling pieces, but thoughtful pieces generally from economists--that our economy was not as strong as it appeared and that an ugly crash was coming.
And we all know how that turned out.
Sadly I am seeing those same kinds of pieces again, showing that many of the same actions which caused the last downturn are being repeated, or speculating on how bad Trump's trade wars are going to hurt the economy. Even worse, while George W. Bush was a moron, at least he had the good sense to surround himself with people (though free enterprise/capitalism mongers to a fault) who had some semblance of knowledge concerning our economy. Not so Donald Trump, a moron who has surrounded himself with other morons (mostly from his own family) who will do little more than stand on the toilet seat and watch the American economy swirl down the drain, while the rest of us suffer the ravages of yet another economic collapse caused by republicans.
Please know that I am not hoping for an economic downturn to thwart Trump--I've seen firsthand how much recessions can hurt a family's finances. But we need to prepare for it, and react to it in such a way that, like Herbert Hoover before him, we make sure that republican incompetence on the economy sticks to Trump and their party like stink to shit.
And twenty years without a republican President sounds mighty fine to me.
"We want history to record that we stood up, that we pushed back, that we fought. If you see anybody in that cabinet in a restaurant, in a department store, at a gasoline station, you get out and you create a crowd and you push back on them and you tell them they're not welcome anymore, anywhere!"--Maxine Waters
As Maxine Waters courageously calls for Democrats to engage in civil disobedience to try and stop the creeping authoritarianism that Donald Trump and the republican party are emboldening, Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi are firing up their Democratic supporters by telling them that in spite of all evidence to the contrary that we should remain civil and hope against hope that the republicans will be nice, too.
In a couple of words...go fuck yourselves. We're fighting for the very soul of this country and you want nothing more than to set us up for even more failure? Get fucking real.
I'll be saying this a lot over the next few months, but if Democrats want us to fight for them, they need to be out there fighting for us.
And Schumer and Pelosi aren't exactly filling me with a whole lot of hope.
A few years back, Dave Brat beat Eric Cantor in a Virginia primary election and there was not one pundit in the entire fucking country who said that it showed the republican party was in disarray, even though Cantor was the House Majority Leader and it was a huge upset.
So don't believe the hype when these same idiotic pundits tell us that Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's victory over one-time potential Speaker of the House Joe Crowley in New York's 14th Congressional District signals problems in the Democratic Party. It does not--there is absolutely no one other than out of touch national pundits (many of whom are republican supporters) that believes Ocasio-Cortez's victory is anything other than excellent news for the Democratic Party. Frankly, we're tired of the status quo and are looking for candidates exactly like Ocasio-Cortez who fully embrace Democratic Party ideals and are not milquetoast surrogates for bullshit bipartisanship or wholly owned toadies of Corporate America.
We want candidates who are going to fight for us--and as Joe Crowley learned, if you're not going to fight for us, we're not going to fight for you.
1. India
2. Afghanistan
3. Syria
4. Somalia
5. Saudi Arabia
6. Pakistan
7. Democratic Republic of Congo
8. Yemen
9. Nigeria
10. United States
Want to guess what it is? It's compiled by the Thomas Reuters Foundations and it's a list of the top ten nations where it is most dangerous for women in terms of sexual violence, harassment, and coerced sex. You'll note that America is the only developed nation on this list.
And are you surprised? You shouldn't be--especially when we're led by a man who has been accused numerous times of sexual assault of women, has bragged about his sexual assaults of women, and who has been shielded by the misogynistic party that he leads.
I'm not going to pretend that Democrats are blameless here, but we are the one party in this nation that fights for women's rights, the only one to elect a woman to be our nominee for the Presidency, and the only one currently electing women in record numbers to change the woman hating culture that Donald Trump and his followers are all too happy to embrace.
Their true slogan should be Make America Shit because that's exactly what they're doing.
Truth be told, if Rolling Stone hadn't released it's list of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time" my choice here probably would have been "Good Vibrations" (not a bad choice, either--actually ranked higher on Rolling Stone's list at #6). But Rolling Stone did, I gave it a a rather late first listen, and fell in love with it instantly. Probably doesn't hurt that the song is featured prominently toward the end of one of my all-time favorite movies, Love Actually.
The Beach Boys are another in a long line of bands featured here on FNJ whose bio is a bit long for a blog post. Nonetheless...they (original lineup: brothers Brian, Carl, and Dennis Wilson, cousin Mike Love, and friend Al Jardine) had their beginnings in the late 50's, had a great run from the early to late 60's, pretty much became a nostalgia act by the mid 70's, and are still together today, though Jardine and Love run separate versions of the band on the oldies circuit. The band has had numerous internal squabbles through the years. Brian Wilson is generally credited as being the genius behind the band, though the rest of the band played crucial roles. Brian had massive mental health issues for a number of years (somewhat coinciding with the band's commercial and critical decline), but in recent times seems to have gained something of a foothold on his problems. The Beach Boys are the most successful American band in history, with thirty-six top 40 hits and over 100 million records sold. They were #12 on Rolling Stone's list of the "100 Greatest Artists of All Time." Sadly, Dennis Wilson drowned drunkenly in 1983 and Carl Wilson succumbed to lung cancer in 1998. Still, though their fortunes have waxed and waned through the years, they will always be one of a handful of rock and roll artists whose catalog represents much of the best of what rock and roll has to offer, and their influence on the music and on other artists is immeasurable.
Released in 1966 on their seminal LP, Pet Sounds, "God Only Knows" was only released as a B-side (to "Wouldn't It Be Nice") here in the states and only reached #39 (though still with a bullet!) on the Billboard Hot 100. Overseas it was released as an A-side (so many cool kids overseas), and was much more commercially successful (it hit #2 on the UK Singles Chart). Surprisingly, as it's considered one of the greatest albums ever and it's from a very commercially successful band, Pet Sounds only reached #10 on the Billboard 200 and sold a mere 500,000 copies (which is merely 500,000 more copies than I've ever sold).
Fun Fact: Believe it or not, there was much internal consternation over the use of the word "God"--in the 1966 pop world, God was as unthinkable as an expletive. Eventually the band decided the word was being used in the more secular way (i.e., "My God, what the hell is that?"), rather than with any religious connotation and the lyrics were left intact.
This one is a little hard to write about--it's musical structure is way above my meager musical knowledge (Wikipedia gives a nice run down if that's your cup of tea). And Brian Wilson used instruments that aren't exactly your run of the mill rock and roll instruments (French horns, violas, cellos, harpsichords, a sleigh bell). Some have compared it to classical pieces--again, not exactly my forte. So suffice it to say that it has harmonies that the Gods of Rock and Roll personally oversaw, that it's theme of a love that leaves one wondering where one would be without it is one muses would fight over, and that in the annals of pop songwriting I'm not sure there has ever been a better song written and composed. And when Paul McCartney says it's his favorite song of all time...well you know you are listening to something very, very special.
Lyric Sheet: (One of the finest ultra short choruses ever written) "God only knows what I'd be without you..."
You might think, as this is the second tune from Richard Thompson ("Wall of Death" with now ex-wife Linda Thompson was the first) that's been featured here on FNJthat I was a big fan of Richard Thompson...but I actually only own two of his albums. So much for my street cred....
As I've already done my half-ass bio of Richard Thompson, I'll just do a brief recap--born in England, modicum of commercial success with Fairport Convention, much critical success with Linda Thompson (especially Shoot Out the Lights), with continued modicum of commercial success and much critical success as a solo artist. Thompson is quite well regarded as a guitarist. He continues to release new material (the last in 2017) and tour regularly. Also known for converting to Islam in the 1980s. Over the course of his career he has released 27 albums and been on more tours than I can count. In sum, another in a long line of talented musicians who has managed to make a more or less fifty year career out of playing music--and good for him.
Released in 1991 on his Rumor and SighLP (and a fine LP it was--even garnering a Grammy nomination), "I Feel So Good" did not chart as a single, though it made #15 (with a bullet!) on Billboard's Modern Rock Tracks. The album didn't chart here in the States, either, though it was Thompson's only top 40 hit in his native U.K., and is considered his best selling solo effort. I came to the song from seeing on MTV the video you'll see below, which is once again proof that MTV wasn't always completely fucking irrelevant. It's a nice video, too.
Not really sure where my love for this song came from--I'm generally not into songs about a young man just released from prison on a Bacchanalian rampage. But Thompson does an excellent job both musically and vocally of capturing the abandon one supposes one would have upon release from prison. Thompson's guitar verges on delirium and his vocals evoke the elated ravings of a budding psychopath. Thompson has said that the protagonist is neither a hero nor a villain, and that the song is an indictment of the society that created him. In any case, the premise of the young man in such a state of joy that he feels the need to break somebody's heart is a tour de force for a pop song, and that Thompson could create such a premise and put it in a pop song is a testament to why forty some odd years down the road I am still fascinated by the machinations of rock and roll.
Lyric Sheet: "They put me in jail for my deviant ways/Two years, seven months, and sixteen days/Now I'm back on the street in a purple haze..."
How much longer before we have Auschwitz in America?
Can we please dispense with the bullshit of calling the places where immigrant children are being held by the Trump Administration (and its enablers in the republican party) after being separated from their parents "tender age" shelters?
Donald Trump this week called his supporters the smartest and most loyal in American history.
Because, you know, Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-Un are both fine men who have America's best interest at heart (mass murderers...wha?). Those good factory jobs are just around the corner (two years and waiting...). That swamp--consider it drained (Scott Pruitt--nothing to see here!). And he's a fine role model for Christians (Stormy weather...).
As for their loyalty, our very own Gestapo, ICE, separates children from their parents merely because of the color of their skin (and don't shit yourself, that is the reason), one can't help but be reminded that Hitler had plenty of loyal supporters as Jews were separated from their children at Auschwitz and Buchenwald and Dachau....
Trump supporters are neither smart nor loyal. They're gullible dupes who have been sucked into a mindless cult that is making America anything but great.
By a margin of 57% to 37% (basically the republican base), Americans trust Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau over Donald Trump when it comes to the current trade situation between our two nations.
There's plenty of news these days that eating up the headlines (some of rightfully so, especially our very own Auschwitz-like separating of parents and children as championed by the Trump Administration and enabled by Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell), but I'm not sure people realize how big of a deal this is: sixty percent of Americans trust a leader of another nation more than our own leader to look out for our best interests economically. At a time when our economy is relatively strong, only republicans are sticking with Trump. He has lost the trust of everyone else.
While I would never discount the chance of Trump winning re-election in 2020 (especially after the debacle of 2016), I'd certainly think this would put at least a couple of nails in its coffin.
Being one of about three Americans who enjoys watching the Men's World Cup (and the other two share a house with me), I was watching Iran play Morocco today, and as the cameras panned the crowd, I couldn't help but notice that, not unlike many sports fans, the Iranian fans wore silly hats, painted their faces, wore clothing that amply mimicked their flag's colors, and sang their national anthem with pride.
It's easy to forget amongst all of republicans' bluster about how evil Iran is, that it's a country filled with folks trying to raise a family, trying to earn a living, and rooting unabashedly for their favorite teams--not so much unlike us here in the States.
And it shouldn't be forgotten amidst all of Donald Trump and John Bolton's warmongering over Iran, that it's precisely these folks, people with children and pets and mortgages and ten year old cars, who will be hurt the most should the war cult prevail.
Another year has passed, and as I turned 59 last week, we have another edition of "It's My Birthday and I'll Write About a Favorite Album If I Want To..."
I've written about The Who before on FNJ so we can dispense with the weekly bio--not that The Who even need one. They are without a doubt my favorite band of all time, and their Holy Trinity of Albums (Tommy, Who's Next, and Quadrophenia) released in succession may only be rivaled by the Beatles who released so many classic albums in a row I'd need a whole post to list all of them (slight exaggeration...) and maybe Springsteen's quartet from Born to Run through Nebraska. For me, Who's Next is easily one of the five greatest albums of all time, and is Pete Townshend's magnum opus--an album filled with one rock classic after another. So without further ado:
Baba O'Riley--I noted a couple of weeks back that "Heroin" by the Velvet Underground, in my humble opinion, may be one of the best rock songs ever written--and some of it's fiercest competition might come from this song. Literally the perfect musical storm: vocals, instrumentation, music, and lyrics come together in a way few songs ever have. The best song The Who have eve done, bar none--and lyrically one of the sparsest. Favorite lyric: "Out here in the fields, I fight for my meals/I get my back into my living/I don't need to fight, to prove I'm right/I don't need to be forgiven..."
Bargain--A love song that would border on obsession...until Townshend sings the third verse, and you realize that love can be both a blessing and curse. Catchy as all hell--a very underrated Who tune. Favorite lyric: "I look at my face in the mirror/I know I'm worth nothing without you/And like one and one don't make two/One and one make one..."
Love Ain't for Keeping--Lyrically this one reminds me of taking place in ye olde England--lying in a field with your baby not far from the cottage you built with your own hands. Musically, it bounces from its ballad laced verses to an staccato, rat-a-tat chorus. Nonetheless, another nice, if short, song from the album. Favorite lyric: "But the air is perfumed/By the burning firewood/The seeds are bursting/The spring is seeping/Lay down beside me..."
My Wife--Written and sung by John Entwistle, the song chronicles a man who stayed out far later than he should have getting drunk and now has to run from his wrathful wife. Both comical and foreboding, the song shows another side of The Who. The ominous horns are the work of comic genius. Favorite lyric: "Give me a bodyguard/A black belt Judo expert with a machine gun..."
The Song Is Over--One of my favorite songs on the album. Townshend sings the vocals on this one as he tells the story of a relationship that has ended...by comparing it to a song. Heartfelt and introspective, another in a long line of songs written by Townshend that remind you just how great of a songwriter he was. Favorite lyric: "The song is over/I'm left with only tears/I must remember/Even if it takes a million years..."
Getting in Tune--Who's Next was originally going to be an album called Lifehouse, that was supposed to be a follow up to the rock opera Tommy, and telling the story of a world taken over by totalitarianism that is redeemed by music from The Who. When I read this my first thought was to marvel at the chutzpah, and my second was to wonder if The Who can save us from Donald Trump and the republican party.... A celebration of the healing power of love and music. Favorite lyric: "I'm singing this note cause it fits in well/With the way I'm feeling/There's a symphony that I hear in your heart/Sets my head a reeling..."
Going Mobile--An ode to the joys of owning a mobile home and taking to the road. Uh, yeah. One of the best pop songs Townshend ever wrote, and it truly conveys the joyousness of hitting the road. Easily the funnest song on the record, with the vocals courtesy of Pete Townshend. With my pop sensibilities, this is the first song on the album that grabbed me back in the day. Favorite lyric: "Hee, hoo!/Beep beep!"
Behind Blue Eyes--Quite possibly one of the most compassionate rock songs ever written--and it's sung from the viewpoint of a villain seeking an understanding of what it's like to be the bad man in search of a little empathy. Another song that shows the sheer brilliance that is Pete Townshend. Roger Daltrey's vocals for this one are as good as they get, especially as the song starts as a ballad and then segues into a balls out rocker. One of The Who's most popular songs, and rightfully so. A masterpiece. Favorite lyric: "And if I swallow anything evil/Put your finger down my throat/And if I shiver, please give me a blanket/Keep me warm let me wear your coat..."
Won't Get Fooled Again--An epic conclusion (eight and a half minutes) to an epic album--though it's seen as an anti-revolution song, I think it's more of an observation that revolutions all too often don't live up to their promises. Together with "Baba O'Riley" this song was the trailblazer for synthesizers in pop music. Daltrey's scream of righteousness toward the latter part of the song is the perfect ending for a perfect album--it's an anthemic unleashing of the rock and roll soul. Favorite lyric: "And the parting on the left/Is now the parting on the right/And the beards have all grown longer overnight..."
For lyrics freaks like me, all the words can be found here.
Thanks to Mitch McConnell's stealing of a Supreme Court seat, once again the working men and women of American will be worse off financially thanks to the Supreme Court's recent decision in Epic Systems v. Lewis, which, through endorsing forced arbitration, essentially legalizes wage theft. While the decision was made by the Supreme Court, make no mistake--this is for all intents and purposes, a law created and enforced by the republican party.
But fear not, fellow workers of the world. We do have recourse--as long as you're willing to take matters into your own hands (so to speak...).
Just guessing, but a $50 billion (estimate of how much is stolen via wage theft from American workers each year) hit to Corporate America's bottom line would certainly be a fine fuck you to the thieves who run our companies.
Amidst the daily deluge of downers from the Trump Administration, every now and again a scintilla of hope shimmers through. In reaction to a number of the Super Bowl Champion Philadelphia Eagles deciding they weren't interested in kowtowing to a racist asshole, Donald Trump rescinded their invitation to the White House and staged a fake rally of Philadelphia Eagles fans (actually White House interns, aka future Nazis) in support of our National Anthem. But if you'll look closely at the photo above, one man took a knee...on the fucking White House lawn.
Know that as long as there is even one of us willing to fight for what's right, the bastards can never defeat us.
As I was putting together my list of songs for this year, I noticed that, in the three plus (!) years I'd been writing a weekly post about music, there were a shitload of artists whose work I had spent countless hours listening to that had yet to have a mention here on FNJ. Tom Petty got a holler a few weeks back, and in the coming weeks I'll be featuring songs by Van Morrison, the Band, Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Johnny Cash, and a host of others. This week it's John Mellencamp, who was the final piece of my Holy Trinity of working class rockers--along with the aforementioned Petty and Bruce Springsteen.
Whereas Springsteen was the Power and the Glory, and Petty was the Reverend of Laid Back
Wisdom, Mellencamp has been the Minister of Pissed Off--though he had a a much better knack than either of them for writing hit singles. Originally Johnny Cougar, then John Cougar, then onto John Cougar Mellencamp, before finally being allowed to use his given name, Mellencamp started out with a few catchy singles about life in the midwest, before graduating to writing songs that went much deeper into our nation's psyche. His Rain on the Scarecrow LP is probably one of the ten best ever made, and he followed it up with years of releases full of smart songs about our world. For his troubles Mellencamp was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2008, and will be inducted into the Songwriter's Hall of Fame this year. Mellencamp was one of the original founders of Farm Aid, which has raised over $50 million to help keep family farms afloat, and has been a frequent critic of our enemies on the right, including their pseudo God, Ronald Reagan. Not bad for a kid from Seymour, Indiana.
Released in 1989 on his Big DaddyLP, "Mansions in Heaven" was never released as a single, so again this week there will be no shout outs to Billboard's charts. It is, however, a chance to do something that I originally wanted to do a lot more of with Friday Night Jukebox, which is to feature hidden gems from artists that get lost amongst the glittery hits. And this one certainly got lost--in the Wikipedia entry on Big Daddy, it's the only song that didn't get a recap, and on this week's YouTube video, it's the first one I ever recall to have zero comments.
When I was still a young man at thirty years of age, I thought "Mansions in Heaven" was a song about the hope for better days. Now that I'm an old man of almost sixty years, after listening to it numerous times in preparation for this post, I'm convinced the song is about a man at peace with his small lot in life. Whether or not that's art imitating my stages of life, "Mansions in Heaven" is sparse in its instrumentation, featuring only a lightly strummed acoustic guitar before the band kicks in on the chorus. Mellencamp delivers a fine performance, at times almost speak singing (or is it sing speaking?) the protagonists wizened story. But the creme de la creme, that tiny small moment that makes the song so much more than just more filler for the hits, is the "oh-oh"s that are seamlessly inserted in the middle of the two lines of the chorus, both of which lead you to believe that the angels really are descending to take him to his mansions in heaven. All in all, "Mansions in Heaven" is a subtle Mellencamp masterpiece that showcases the human touch of one of pop music's best songwriters.
Lyric Sheet: "Withstood the heartache/Kept on believing/It ain't winning or losing/Just the singing of the song..."
The average American gets paid just enough so he doesn't quit his job, and works just hard enough so he doesn't get fired.
"When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying the cross." Source unknown
Uncle emaycee Wants You For the Coming Class War! Enlist today....
Capitalism: Give a man a fish, feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you can exploit his labor, become filthy rich, and keep the poor bastard living paycheck to paycheck for the rest of his life.
