Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. CCLXXXII--Cee Lo Green: Fuck You

For the life of me, I cannot remember my introduction to this week's tune, though I do remember it was one of those songs that I heard once and immediately had to hear again...and again, and again, and again....

Cee Lo Green was born in Atlanta, Georgia, and did not have the easiest of childhoods--his father died when he was two, and his mother was a firefighter who was paralyzed in a car crash and died two years later when Green was just eighteen.  By that time, though, his career had started with the hip hop group Goodie Mob with whom he released three albums.  He then began his solo career, releasing two albums before joining up with DJ Danger Mouse to form Gnarls Barkley and release the killer song, "Crazy."  Shortly thereafter Green returned to his solo career which has been his focus since, and has resulted in much commercial and critical success.  Over the course of the last twenty-six years, he has released four albums with the Goodie Mob, two with Gnarls Barkley, and five solo albums (with a sixth to be released next month), and has seen three of those records hit the top ten.  He has twice had singles hit #2 on the Billboard Hot 100.  He has won five Grammy Awards and one Brit Award, and spent three seasons as a coach on one of the worse shows on television, The Voice.  Green has also had some controversy in the past few years and was investigated for sexual battery (he pleaded to a lesser charge), and also made some severely misguided tweets concerning rape which seem to have stalled his career a bit (his last album was the only one of his career that failed to chart). 

"Fuck You" was released in 2010 on the album The Lady Killer.  It would eventually reach #2 (with a bullet!) here in the United States, and hit number one in the United Kingdom.  It was nominated for a Grammy for Song of the Year and Record of the Year, and would win a Grammy for Best Urban/Alternative Performance. 

Imagine if you will, a song that has the pop sensibilities of classic Motown and makes use of one of my favorite words in the English language, and you would have one hell of a single.  Green has written a ditty which is ostensibly about telling a former flame who has left him for greener pastures (cash money) and her new boyfriend to blow it out their ass.  "Fuck You" (you can't believe how odd it is to type those words in reference to a song) also contains one of my all-time favorite moments in a song, when Green sings, "Ain't that some shit" and the backing vocalists follow right up with an "Ain't that some shit" of their own.  Green makes some great pop culture references, has a voice to die for, and manages to turn a song that could have sounded bitter into a joyful rebuke to a lost love.  It's also one of the few times you can say fuck you at the top of your lungs and not have to feel guilty about it later....

Rap Sheet:  "I see you driving 'round town with the girl I love/And I'm like 'fuck you'/I guess the change in my pocket wasn't enough/I'm like 'fuck her and fuck you too'..."

Enjoy:

Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee

I'm trying real hard

That finger is white for a reason...

...to understand why it is that white men carrying guns are allowed to angrily scream in the face of police officers because they can't get a haircut whilst the officers show the utmost in restraint, but the minute people of color protest the murder of a black man for forgery, the vast majority of them peacefully, but a couple of jackasses break a few windows and the police feel the need to blast all of them with tear gas.

Though I think we all know why.

Colin Kaepernick weighed in today with probably the most succinct analysis of where these state sanctioned murders of African Americans would all lead...and he's probably right that in the face of this violence cries for peace will eventually fall on deaf ears. 

And one can assume that it most certainly won't have a happy ending for either the police or a hell of a lot of those white folks screaming about their freedom to have a Bud Light in a bar.

Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee

Can't stop my wondering

Justice is supposed to be color blind, isn't it?

You know all those folks who have been protesting Stay at Home Directives over the past few weeks and screaming about the U.S. Constitution and their right to get a haircut?

For all their concern about the Constitution, why the heck do you suppose they weren't protesting in Minnesota this week?  I mean George Floyd didn't get his Sixth Amendment rights to a speedy trial before an impartial jury before he was executed by the Minneapolis police, so you'd think they'd be up there with their guns screaming in the streets about our Constitutional rights, wouldn't you?  Hell, isn't a human life worth at least a little more than free refills for your iced tea?

Wonder if they would have showed up if George Floyd had been white....

Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee

This is...why

Do you ever wonder after events such as the Minneapolis police murdering George Floyd this week if Colin Kaepernick wants to run to his front window, throw it open, and scream to the world, "Fucking told you!"

Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee

Reflections of their leader

Google Biff Tannen and often Donald Trump is equated to him

Tom Nichols has written a piece for The Atlantic in which he methodically questions Donald Trump's manliness and wonders why the (mostly white) men who support him give him a pass despite his inability to measure up to standards most of us equate with masculinity.  Nichols notes Trump's incessant whining (which may be the trait of his I find most disgusting), his crudity when talking about women (utterly classless at every level), and his bragging (especially the lack of praising others for what is essentially a team effort), among a number of others, as traits that most men would not emulate nor want their sons to grow up and become such a man.

In the end Nichols speculates that Trump's supporters let his indiscretions slide because they see him the same way they might see wayward sons:  as still being a little boy who can be forgiven because he doesn't know any better yet.

Nichols is much smarter and more schooled in the way of politics than I am, but I think the reason they don't care about Trump's lack of traits considered manly is because among republicans that ship sailed a generation ago.  How many years have we heard the whining of white men who are certain that their lack of financial success is because of blacks and Latinos getting breaks they don't deserve (instead of looking in the mirror at the true culprits)?  How many years have incels been running around pissed off because they believe they should get laid at the drop of a hat merely because they have a dick?  How often have we seen republican men prancing around with guns bullying their fellow Americans because they have neither the brains nor the heart to convince us that their ideas are better?

Donald Trump isn't an abomination of the traits white republican men consider manly--he's their standard bearer.

Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee

The biggest fail

American journalism may be broken for good

When the history of the Trump era is written, it is hard to see any greater failure (outside of the Trump administration itself) than that of our national media.

Despite their best attempts to claim their aims are in the interest of fairness, there is no way a President who has lied over 18,000 times in just under four years, has killed more Americans with his incompetence than any of the forty-four before him with his disastrous response to the coronavirus pandemic, has suggested drugs as cures that are known to kill, has suggested people inject bleach, has retweeted a tweet in which a former U.S. candidate for President was called a skank,  has accused multiple people of murder without a shred of evidence, and has let his racist flag fly again and again is anything resembling normal.  And it is beneath the dignity of everything America has ever stood for.

When Bill Clinton was impeached, dozens of newspapers and TV commentators called for his removal from office.  Clinton had an ill-advised affair with a staffer.  Trump has killed 100,000 Americans because he flat doesn't give a damn and exactly one newspaper in American has called for his removal from office (The Los Angeles Times, for those wondering).  There is nothing that allows the two failures to even be remotely comparable.  And the lack of inaction toward Trump's heinous actions is rooted in nothing more than cowardice.

Edmund Burke is credited with saying (though it's actually a paraphrase of a letter he wrote), "All that is required for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing."  Nothing is exactly what our national media as done in the face of Trump's unfitness for office.

But I'd be hard pressed to label the people in our national media doing nothing in the face of Donald Trump's massive failures in the White House as "good."

Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee

Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. CCLXXXI--Gerry and the Pacemakers: Ferry Cross the Mersey

If they gave musicians lessons on how to write the perfect pop tune, this week's ditty (one of my all time favorite pop songs) could serve as an exceptional example of how to do exactly that.

Gerry and the Pacemakers were formed in 1959 (the same year I was born--coincidence?  I think not...) in Liverpool, U.K. (hmm, seems some other band I know of was from there...) by Gerry Marsden.  After being signed by Brian Epstein (of The Beatles fame), they recorded their first single in 1963 (produced by George Martin, who helped produce a song or two for The Beatles) which promptly went to #1 on the U.K. Charts, as did their next two singles, making them the first band ever in the U.K. to have their first three singles reach the top of the chart.  Their fourth single release would just miss, reaching #2.  Though for several years Gerry and the Pacemakers and their Merseybeat sound rivaled the Beatles  in popularity in their native U.K., by 1966 they were finished, but they reunited off and on from 1972 through 2018 when Marsden announced his retirement.  For their career they released a dozen albums (with a #2 and #19 in the U.K., a number 13 here in the U.S.), and 19 singles with six top ten hits in the United Kingdom and three here in the States.  They also made a film (see below) which many consider, for better or worse, to be their A Hard Day's Night (and considering the plots are remarkably similar and they had the same management as the Beatles, it's not surprising).  Other than its theatrical release, the movie has never been shown on TV or released on video.

"Ferry Cross the Mersey" was released in 1965 on the soundtrack for the film of the same name as noted above.  The single would reach #6 (with a bullet!) on the Billboard Hot 100, and #8 on the U.K. chart.  The soundtrack was their second highest charting album in the U.K. and their highest charting LP here in America.

Fun Fact:  It's a lot funner for me, but as regular readers (both of you) know, I've mentioned the Chicago radio station WLS-AM 89 a time of two here before as being quite the influence on my musical tastes (a collective yawn is not taken personally!), and interestingly enough (or not) "Ferry Cross the Mersey" had its best sales in Chicago, where it reached #1 on...WLS-AM 89.  Too cool for words....

In an odd confluence, as I was roaming about the house this week singing "Ferry Cross the Mersey" to my heart's content, it dawned on me that the song reminded me of (and I am in no way equating the two) The Kinks' "Waterloo Sunset"--and sure enough as I was doing my weekly half-assed research I checked out the Wikipedia entry for the the Kinks song in which Ray Davies noted that he was heavily influenced by the Merseybeat sound when he wrote the song, and that the song was originally called "Liverpool Sunset."  For those not familiar, the Mersey is a river which runs through Liverpool and into Liverpool Bay.  Much like "Waterloo Sunset," "Ferry Cross the Mersey" is a nice song about a moment in time in one's home city and the strong bond that many are lucky enough in life to develop to it.  Marsden delivers an understated vocal that captures his bond with Liverpool, and the lyrics offer a beautiful slice of the life he loves there.  The melody is the stuff dreams are made of--I've literally been singing it for the last three days and it just never gets old.  Wondrous, artful, serene--I'm not sure there are enough adjectives to describe how much I love this slice of pop music pie, another in a long line of songs that have made every moment I've spent listening and learning about music more than worth the while.

Lyric Sheet:   "People around every corner/They seem to smile and say/We don't care what your name is boy/We'll never turn you away..."

Enjoy:

Fuck Donald Trump,

emaycee

The exterminator

This is what happens when you elect an idiot to be President

Americans are increasingly understanding that the Trump adminstration's response to the coronavirus pandemic has been an utter disaster, as a new poll shows the number of Americans who believe Trump is responsible for the nearly 100,000 deaths resulting from the virus has grown from 50% one month ago to 61% today.

There are still five months before the election in November, but I can't imagine that people associating the republican nominee for President with the Office of the Grim Reaper would be very helpful for his re-election chances.

Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee

Paging Herbert Hoover

Trump's giving him a run for his money as worst ever

Republicans are taking one hell of a gamble banking on the economy turning around enough in the next five months to boost their electoral chances--especially considering that they're going to need 100% of Americans actively involved in the economy (hard to see for at least a few more months as many elderly people and people with children will probably continue to take a hard pass) and the unemployment numbers dropping to an encouraging level (30 million people aren't all going back to work before November).

But the more I see their strategy the more it reminds me of Herbert Hoover's strategy in 1932, where he kept telling the millions of unemployed Americans who were going hungry to trust the markets and all would be well soon.

Spoiler alert:  The final tally in the 1932 election was 472 electoral votes for Franklin D. Roosevelt, and 58 for Hoover.  Democrats would hold the White House for the next twenty years, and control of Congress for almost a generation.

Here's hoping the old adage that what we learn from history is that we learn nothing from history bites republicans on Donald Trump's fat ass in a big way this November.

Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee

Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. CCLXXX--Filter: Hey Man Nice Shot

Spoiler alert:  the subject of this song is not going to make for one of the happier Friday Night Jukebox posts....

Filter has had a much longer and more successful career than I ever would have guessed before doing my weekly half-assed research.  They formed in 1993 in Cleveland when Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails fame advised his then guitarist, Richard Patrick, to work on another project as Reznor was going to be taking quite some time completing his latest album, and Patrick wisely listened.  Little known facts would include that Patrick did a stint in rehab (which isn't all that surprising in the annals of pop music), and the fact that his brother is the actor Robert Patrick, known for playing the most current model of cyborg in the movie Terminator 2.  Over the course of the last 27 years, Filter has gone through numerous incarnations with Patrick being the sole constant and has released 7 studio albums, two of which went platinum.  Their single "Take a Picture" reached #12 on the Billboard Hot 100.  Filter is still performing and released their latest album just this year.

Completely Not Fun Fact:  The subject of "Hey Man Nice Shot" is R. Budd Dwyer, a State Treasurer in Pennsylvania who was convicted on 11 counts, most of which were fraud related, and then scheduled a press conference shortly before he was to be sentenced at which he committed suicide by shooting himself in the head on live TV.  Some have tried to falsely claim that Dwyer was eventually exonerated, but there is absolutely no truth to this claim and it is speculated that Dwyer committed suicide so his family could still collect the death benefits he was due after a career in Pennsylvania politics (once sentenced his benefits would have been stripped away).

"Hey Man Nice Shot" was released as a single in 1995, from Filter's debut album Short Bus (for those wondering, short bus is slang for the smaller buses schools use to transport children with disabilities).  The single would reach #76 (with a bullet!--no pun intended) on the Billboard Hot 100.  Due to its proximity to the suicide of Kurt Cobain, many have claimed that the song was about Cobain, but as noted above it was not and Patrick has been adamant that the song was written years before Cobain's death.

Somewhere along the line in all of my schooling I was taught that we don't have to necessarily either agree or believe in the artist's statement to acknowledge their work as great art.  I've thought a lot about this week's song and read the lyrics numerous times and still I confess that I'm not really sure what Patrick was trying to convey with "Hey Man Nice Shot."  He's said that the song could be seen as callous, but in no way was he trying to glorify suicide.  As for myself, it seems a bit callous to call out Patrick's vocals or the incredible bass line that runs through it in order to justify its inclusion in Friday Night Jukebox--maybe in the end the best I can do is to put it out there for folks to listen to and make their own peace with its subject matter.  Perhaps sometimes art is more than what the heart and head can comfortably comprehend.  And perhaps sometimes, as I've come to believe this week, art is just a picture of a moment in time that we must bear witness to.

Lyric Sheet:  "I wish I would've met you/Now it's a little late/What you could've taught me/I could've saved some face...."

Enjoy:

Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee

Please proceed

Baby don't fear the reaper...

Reports are coming in that Donald Trump will soon begin to hold his rallies for his adoring supporters once again, in hopes of stroking his ego reigniting his chances for re-election this November.

Hard to see what could go wrong with a thousands of old, overweight people getting together in close quarters to scream and yell while Trump bloviates on stage....

Have fun!

Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee

Dead troops talk

Folks in Wisconsin were dying to get out

A member of the Daily Kos community had a post yesterday questioning the wisdom of the Wisconsin state Supreme Court overturning Governor Tony Evers stay at home directive in which he/she posted photos of Wisconsinites who had flocked to the many bars that reopened after the decision had been handed down.

I hope this doesn't sound maudlin, but I couldn't help looking at those photos and wondering how many of those folks would end up dead from coronavirus, or worse, how many of them might take it home to older parents or their children or grandchildren and might be having a most unwanted, sparsely attended funeral in the near future.

Not sure there's a beer or cocktail in the world that would taste quite that good....

Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee

What they ain't got--courage!

Baby, the rain must fall

COVIDIOTS in Michigan planned another rally at our capitol building in Lansing today but according to The Detroit News had a minuscule turnout of about 300 (some say this number was exaggerated, and considering The Detroit News is a right wing rag, not surprising).  The reason for the poor turnout?  Seems Michigan today was covered with a steady and quite chilly rain.

So let me get this straight--these folks aren't afraid of dying from the coronavirus, aren't afraid to threaten to assassinate our Governor Gretchen Whitmer, and aren't afraid to shed the blood of their fellow Americans to further their cause...but can't show up for a rally for freedom because it's, uh, raining?  Such a valiant effort to show all the backbone of an earthworm.

I'm sure Donald Trump will be sending their Congressional Medals of Honor any day now.

Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee

Insane in the brain

It's who wins in the end that matters

It's easy as we watch republican leadership fail to heed the warnings of experts or the state Supreme Court in Wisconsin make shit up to kiss Trump ass so toy soldiers can commit suicide or red states reopening even though coronavirus cases and deaths continue to skyrocket to become a wee bit discouraged.

Fear not--there are really only three things we need to do in the face of such idiocy.  One, remember that republican leadership has failed us miserably and do everything you can to keep you and your family safe despite what other morons are doing.  Two, continue to spread word far and wide as to how many Americans--more than 86,000 as of a few minutes ago--have died because of the Trump administration's incompetent reaction to the pandemic.  And three, as the economy remains in the toilet Trump flushed it down, that Democrats have had the HEROES Act ready since May and republicans blew it off to suck up to their wealthy benefactors.

We may not be able to control the response to COVID-19 now, but we can certainly make sure who controls the response come next January.

Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee

Gloom, despair, and agony

America under republican leadership

The most amazing part of the past couple of days has been watching Democrats throw republicans lifeline after lifeline and watching republicans plow ahead with their plan to reopen the economy, coronavirus be damned, and set themselves up for a bloodbath this November unlike anything they've seen since Roosevelt opened up a can of whoop ass on Hoover in 1932.

From letting Dr. Fauci testify with his expertise before the Senate, to highlighting the CDC plan for reopening the economy (which the Trump administration tried to suppress), to the economic package Democrats unveiled today right as Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell was letting Americans know that this economic downturn was going to be a lot worse than folks are preparing for...the Democratic Party has done all it can to keep the country safe and prepare for the tsunami that's coming.  The republican party is basically throwing a Hail Mary pass in hopes of a miraculous economic recovery, but the end result won't be merely losing a game but killing thousands more Americans and sending our economy into a tailspin that will make the Great Depression look tame.

I have no doubt that Joe Biden and Donald Trump will each get 45% of the vote this November, but I'm having a real hard time seeing the 10% of Americans who will decide this election walking into their voting booths and thinking, "What this country really needs is more needless deaths and a wrecked economy...I'm voting Trump!"

At that point we might be able to cue "Taps" for the republican party.

Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee

Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. CCLXXIX--Bobby Darin: Mack the Knife

This week's tune originally comes from The Threepenny Opera, which opened in 1928 in Germany.  It was written by Kurt Weill (music) and Bertolt Brecht (words/lyrics)...and underwent a wee bit of translating and altering before becoming a massive pop hit in 1959, the year I was born.  Coincidence?  I think not....

The career of Bobby Darin began at the all too young age of 20 in 1956.  He had his first hit with "Splish Splash" in 1958 and would have a number of pop hits over the next several years before becoming politically active in the mid-60's and his music subsequently became more folk oriented (his "Simple Song of Freedom" is a wonderful song for those whose tastes are folk inclined).  Darin also had quite the foray into acting, winning a Golden Globe in 1962, and having an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor in 1963.  Darin also had his own variety show on television, and was a multi-instrumentalist.  For his career, Darin released 27 studio albums, three of which hit the top ten, and had nine top ten singles.  He also appeared in thirteen movies.  In 1990, Darin was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and in 1999 he was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.  Sadly, Darin passed away at the all too young age of 37 in 1973 after complications from heart surgery.  Say what you will, Darin packed a hell of a career into a very short period of time.

(Not So) Fun Fact:  Darin worked on the campaign of Robert Kennedy in 1968 and was in the hotel the night Kennedy was assassinated.  He was considering a career in politics afterward...until his sister informed him she was actually his mother and his mother was actually his grandmother.  The two events sent Darin into seclusion for a year before deciding not to enter politics.

"Mack the Knife" was released as a single in 1959, and would go on to reach #1 (with a bullet!) on the Billboard Hot 100.  It was the only number one single of Darin's career, and would garner him Grammy Awards for Record of the Year and Best New Artist.

My introduction to "Mack the Knife" was, as has been the case a time or two here on Friday Night Jukebox, my father, and was, if you knew my father, the right combination of cool swing and unabashed joy to suit his tastes.  The song tells the story, oddly enough, of a street hood who's just returned to town, is good with a knife, and has a list of folks that he's just itching to get revenge upon.  Darin sings it, again oddly enough considering the song's rather bloody tale, with great gusto and abandon, all the while with the finger snapping cool of a young Frank Sinatra (Sinatra was one of many who covered the tune and said that Darin's version was the definitive one).  In the end, what I like best about the song is its timelessness--I swear, if Darin were a young man today he could release it as a single and it would sound as fresh and vibrant as any other song on the current market.  A true wonder.

Lyric Sheet:  "Now on the sidewalk, ooh, Sunday morning, uh-huh/Lies a body just oozin' life/Eek, and someone's sneakin' 'round the corner/Could that someone be Mack the Knife?"

Enjoy:

Fuck Donald Trump,

emaycee

A wop bop a loo bop a wop bam boom

Little Richard with four lads you might recognize

Richard Penniman, better know to the world as Little Richard, passed away today at the age of 87, leaving behind a legacy that few will ever know in the world of rock and roll.  With his passing, only Jerry Lee Lewis remains among the four biggest early influences (Elvis Presley and Chuck Berry being the other two) on rock music.  He will be remembered for his flamboyant stage presence, unabashed vocals, and flashy dressing style.  He is known as The Architect of Rock and Roll (like Chuck Berry he wrote many of his biggest hits), and was among the first class inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

While always familiar with his work, I became a little more intimate when my youngest son was in day care and fell in love with a couple of his songs.  It became one of those situation where familiarity bred not contempt, but a greater appreciation. 

I don't really have much to add to the worldwide tributes pouring in today--just wanted to note that the world lost another great musician and pay homage to him the only way I know how with one of the great songs of rock and roll history, "Tutti Frutti."

Enjoy:

Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee

Bumbling on down the road

These two would be a massive improvement over Trump and Pence

And this was the week that was:

• Mike Pence visits the Mayo Clinic, a world renowned hospital, and doesn't wear a mask because he cares more about Donald Trump's ego than he does his fellow Americans.
• Donald Trump's valet who delivers his fat ass boss Big Macs and Diet Cokes tests positive for coronavirus.
• Donald Trump visits a Honeywell plant making masks for our healthcare workers...and doesn't wear a mask.
• Mike Pence visits a nursing home, one of the hot spots for the coronavirus due to their being full of elderly Americans, doesn't wear a mask and then jokes about delivering empty boxes of PPE equipment for a photo op.
• The spokeswoman for the Vice President tests positive for coronavirus.

You know, the complete and utter incompetence of the Trump Bozo Bus would be absolutely fucking hilarious if they weren't spreading the coronavirus everywhere they go.

The abject cluelessness of these people is mind boggling.

Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee

What goes around comes around

What kind of an asshole threatens these people?

If you're of a certain age, you will recall that there was a great deal of anger among many in this country who felt we should not be involved in the Vietnam War.  Unfortunately, some of this anger spilled over and was directed at those who least deserved it, the soldiers who had fought there and had returned home.  Unfairly or not, as the Democratic Party was, for the most part, the anti-war party, the treatment of these soldiers (though often from fringe groups on the left) provided a black eye for our party that most certainly cost us at the ballot box, especially among those that preferred the middle ground.

I note this after news broke this weeks that the republican terrorists who have been floating around our state capitols waving guns, bearing swastikas and nooses, and waving Confederate flags have begun threatening healthcare workers who only fault is trying to keep Americans alive through the worst pandemic this country has ever seen.

Call me crazy, but I'm having a real hard time believing those folks who are still on the fence concerning the Presidential election this November walking into a voting booth and thinking to themselves, "You know, nothing makes America greater than threatening to kill doctors and nurses for doing their job."

So we need to make sure we hang these fuckers like an anvil right around Donald Trumps big fat neck.

Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee

Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. CCLXXVIII--Keith Carradine: I'm Easy

In another Friday Night Jukebox first, this week's tune is the first to be featured that won an Academy Award for best song...even better, it's not one of those schmaltzy Disney numbers but is a nice slice of American pop right up there with other winners like Springsteen's "Philadelphia" or Eminem's "Lose Yourself."  In another first for FNJ, it also the first tune to win the Golden Globe for best original song.

The musical career of Keith Carradine was very short--he released two albums, one in 1976 capitalizing on his Oscar win, and a second just for shits and grins (kidding--I'm sure the success of the first led to another shot at even more music success).  Not that his original career-acting--didn't pan out--Carradine has appeared in 64 films and 71 television shows/movies.  He's been nominated for an Emmy Award and twice for Tony Awards.  He also comes from a family of actors--his father John, brothers David and Robert, and daughter Martha Plimpton have all had quite some success on both the big and small screens.  Not too bad for a kid who grew up in San Mateo, CA--just a stone's throw from where I grew up:  the metropolis of San Bruno.

"I'm Easy" was originally featured in Robert Altman's epic film Nashville, and after the film's success and song's Academy Award win, was rushed out on an album entitled, appropriately enough, I'm Easy.  The song would reach #17 (with a bullet!) on the Billboard Hot 100, while the album would reach #61 on the album chart.  They were the only two charting records of Carradine's brief foray into music.

For me, the most impressive part of "I'm Easy" is that a virtual musical novice--Carradine--wrote the song.  Don't get me wrong--it's not "Backstreets" or "Night Moves," but it's still a thoughtful song with a catchy yet subtle arrangement.  If you've seen Nashville, you know that Carradine plays a womanizer and in the scene where he performs the song, several woman who he's had relations with are in the audience--each of whom, save one, believes the song is written for herself (I've always felt the song was actually written for the one woman who doesn't seem to either realize or care who the song is written for).  Carradine weaves a tale about a man who's in love with a woman and will easily follow her lead, but who can't seem to make about her mind about him.  The instrumentation is sparse--it's mostly a pair of acoustic guitars, with a nice strum and pluck playing off one another.  Carradine sings so that one feels the protagonist's longing, though his measured tones also conjure the easy nature of his desire for her.  The last few weeks the theme seems to be songs that added up to more than the sum of the artist's parts, and "I'm Easy" is another such song, a small moment of triumph for an actor turned momentary musician.

Lyric Sheet:   "And when your eyes throw light at mine/It's enough to change my mind/Make me leave my cautious words and ways behind..."

Enjoy:

Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee

Darkness on the edge of town

All of this thanks to President Grim Reaper

A new report from the Trump administration is projecting that deaths from the coronavirus pandemic could reach three thousand per day by the first of June, in large part because Donald Trump is pushing states to reopen even though the number of cases and deaths have not begun to show any sign of consistently decreasing.  By the end of June, we could more than double the number of deaths we've already had.

I honestly do not know where we go from here--republicans' fealty to a man who could not care less about the lives of America's citizens and frankly is stupider than your average rock has brought us to the point where not only is their party's leader unable to muster any sympathy for the 70,000 already dead but is willing to sacrifice more American lives to try and get his utterly incompetent ass re-elected.

If we do not defeat him in November, America is done.

Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee

Ain't no sunshine state

Two tickets to heaven, please

I have no qualms with the NBA holding out hope to still crown a champion this season--it's a business that like all others needs to make money and to be honest, it would be a shot in the arm to a lot of us who are missing sports like crazy.  But for them to be considering Disney World in Florida as one of the two spots to continue the season absolutely reeks of desperation.

While the NBA very well may be able to test its players, the state of Florida (and America as a whole) is not equipped to test as many people as will need to be tested--even if they quarantine the players regular folks are going to have to have access to feed them, clean their uniforms, etc....not to mention that since Florida is not reporting its deaths honestly, we actually have no idea how bad the situation really is in Florida.  Do NBA owners really want to trust a Trump sycophant, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, to be truthful with the lives of their million dollar assets?

No, the reason Florida is on the list is because DeSantis has made sports an essential business in Florida and not many other of the states where such an event might be held are going to insult the intelligence of their citizens by making sports an essential activity.

If the NBA is stupid enough to put their players in jeopardy in Florida, it's going to be a disaster of their own making.

Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee

Just one question

Al Qaida, the Taliban, and the DeVos family--all terrorists

If there was one question I would like to see the press ask Donald Trump is his daily bullshit dissemination conferences, it would be this:

"What do you think of the fact that the family of one of your Cabinet members--Betsy DeVos--is giving financial support to protesters who are carrying swastika signs, confederate flags, threatening the governor of Michigan with bodily harm, and waving guns threateningly as they protest desperately needed stay at home directives?"

While I'm certain Trump would give his standard response--they're fine people (they're not) and the DeVos family are good Americans (again, no), I think it's important that Americans know exactly how fucked up the Trump administration is.

Look 40% of American are going to vote for the idiot regardless, but I'm pretty sure the other 60% aren't going to be all the comfortable with a Cabinet member giving money to a fringe group of American terrorists.

Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee

This is what real leadership looks like

On what planet is this asshole a fine person?

In light of republican terrorists attempting to overrun our capitol here in Michigan--funded largely by the DeVos family--because their candy asses can't get their way, idiot Donald Trump suggested to our Governor Gretchen Whitmer that she should negotiate with these terrorists because they are fine people.

Whitmer refused.

For the record, people carrying swastikas, confederate flags, rifles in a threatening manner, and screaming at police officers who are just doing their jobs all the while not having the decency to wear masks to protect their fellow citizens are not fine people and should not be negotiated with.

Kudos to Governor Whitmer for having the courage to tell them to go pound salt up their ass.

Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee

How you gonna keep 'em down on the farm?

It's a whole new world...

Lindsay Graham told a group of South Carolina businessmen this week that another federal stipend (like the current $600 a week being added to unemployment benefits) in the next stimulus package would only happen over his dead body (he should give thanks we're a peaceful sort or most assuredly we could grant that request), as it was more money than most folks make and would not be conducive to their risking their lives returning to work for the peanuts they currently earn.  In the same breath he also warned that businesses would have to be careful how it's handled lest they piss off the miserable  bastards having to return to piss poor paying jobs.

Probably a bit late for that--most of those folks making $7.25 an hour to put away folks smelly bowling shoes or themselves reeking of cooking grease after flipping their fucking burgers are probably already pretty pissed about it.

You'll note that Senator Graham didn't mention what would be the one obvious solution to their dilemma:  raising the minimum wage.  Democrats have already passed a bill in the house raising it to $15,00 an hour,  so all it needs is a vote in the Senate.  While it wouldn't be worth losing one's life over, at least the survivors could afford a decent funeral (especially if hazard pay was added to that).

But that wouldn't help their wealthy benefactors who have shown again and again that they are more than happy to let them die stocking shelves for pennies as long as they can float between their first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth homes or sail out to sea on their yachts to keep themselves safe.

The rest of us can just eat cake.

Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee