Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. CCCXXI--Richie Havens: Follow

 A few years back when I was still managing a thrift shop, I had heard Richie Havens version of the Beatles' "Here Comes the Sun" on some cable station that was showing the Woodstock rockumentary and for the first time I really came to appreciate how great it was.  As luck would have it, a few days later someone kindly donated a copy of Havens' greatest hits, which I scooped up for a dollar.  Little did I know that there would be several of his songs I liked just as much as "Here Comes the Sun," and a few even more--such as this week's tune.

Richie Havens was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1941.  At the ripe old age of 20 he headed for Greenwich Village for a chance to better express himself artistically, picked up a guitar shortly thereafter, and by 1966 he had released his first LP.  Havens would go on to develop a sterling reputation both as a singer and as a live performer (his performance at Woodstock was equal to any other band's), and would continue to record and tour through his retirement due to health reasons in 2012.  Havens also belongs to a long list of emaycee faves that have not been elected to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (Squeeze, the Spinners, Bachman-Turner Overdrive, and the Guess Who to name a few).  For his career, Havens released 22 albums (with one reaching the top thirty), and 13 singles (one hitting the top twenty).  Sadly, Havens died from a heart attack in 2013, leaving a rock solid legacy in the music world, and, in my humble opinion, is one of the most underrated music artists I've ever heard.

(Not sure whether or not this is a) Fun Fact:  Havens requested to be cremated at his death and to have his ashes scattered over the fields where the original Woodstock was held--and his family complied with those wishes.

"Follow" was released on Havens' debut album, Mixed Bag.  The song was not released as a single, and the album did not chart on the Billboard 200.

If, like me, you have a soft spot for folk music then "Follow" should be a cool breeze on a warm summer day for you.  The song features a lightly strummed acoustic guitar, a bass, and a delicate touch of electric guitar, and lets Havens vocals carry the day--which he does with an understated yearning as he passes on an old man's hopes for a younger generation.  The plea--which is more or less to enjoy the bounties which love and nature provide us--is delivered so gently and with such earnestness that if you can harness your inner child for six minutes it will not be lost on you.  There are some songs from the sixties where the message of peace, hope, and love don't age so well, but "Follow" is not one of them.  A timeless classic from a timeless and classic performer.

Lyric Sheet:  "And maybe you can sing to me the words that I just told you/If all the things you feel ain't what they seem/And don't mind me 'cos I ain't nothin' but a dream..."

Enjoy:

526,000+ Dead Americans Because of Donald Trump's Incompetence

Peace,

emaycee

Drawing to an inside straight?

 

The hand Democrats are holding...

Kevin McCarthy claimed this weekend at TPAC that he'd wager his house that republicans will win back the U.S. House of Representatives in 2022, because Donald Trump is going to lead them to victory.

That's the equivalent of George from Of Mice and Men betting his freedom on Lennie to control his lethal impulses just for the chance to get that rabbit farm.

Of course, migrant worker George was a lot smarter than Kevin McCarthy....

526,000+ Dead Americans Because of Donald Trump's Incompetence

Peace,

emaycee

How can a poor man stand such times and live?

I second that emotion...

 Of the many nice consequences of the end of Donald Trump's time in the White House is that I can again begin to focus on issues other than what an inept bozo Trump was and/or the horrific state he left America in with his shit show administration.  Like the greatest long term threat to America's future--income inequality.

Three studies have come to light of late that highlight how the rich keep getting richer and the rest of us keep getting a smaller share of the pie:

• The first shows that millionaires and billionaires own 80% of the wealth in America, up from 60% in 1989.  If this rate continues, they will hold 99% of the wealth in the United States by 2050, leaving the rest of us to eat Soylent Green, one supposes.
• The second notes that there are 644 billionaires in America and that combined they have added an extra $930 billion to their net worth over the last year by cashing in on the pandemic.  That's enough money to give every man, woman, and child in America almost $30,000.  That would be money for people who actually need it to survive, not for those who are on an ego trip to see who can garner the most cookies.
• I was shocked--shocked I tell you--to find there was yet another study (measured over the last fifty years) that proves that tax cuts for the wealthy do not trickle down to the poor and the middle class to either increase their net worth or provide more jobs.  All that tax cuts for the wealthy succeed in doing is making the rich richer and the rest of us live without essential services the government can no longer afford.

"So on we worked, and waited for the light/And went without the meat, and cursed the bread/And Richard Cory, one calm summer night/Went home and"...got in his private jet, flew to his private island, dined on caviar and champagne, partied with movie stars, and the rest of us sucked on it.

At least until we tire of a rigged game--at which point, anything will go.

524,000+ Dead Americans Because of Trump's Incompetence

Peace,

emaycee

For a good time call 202-224-6542

 524,000+ Dead Americans Because of Donald Trump's Incompetence

Peace,

emaycee

Eunuchs ain't a goin' nowhere...

Trump takes McCarthy for a walk

 How low would your self-esteem have to be to kiss the ass of a crude idiot like Donald Trump?

Pretty fucking low if you're Kevin McCarthy or Mitch McConnell, I guess.  McCarthy once again got played by Liz Cheney this week when both were asked if Trump should be at CPAC 2021 and Cheney showed the little boy what political courage looks like...and McCarthy showed what it's like to be on a second rate tyrant's leash.  And McConnell, for all his bluster in the aftermath of Trump's impeachment when he said that Trump bore the blame for the January 6th insurrection and should be prosecuted within current laws rather than impeached...said this week that why, yes, he would support Trump if he's the republican nominee in 2024.

Can being Speaker of the House or the Majority Leader in the Senate really be that great to put up with humiliation from a man that both of them have to know is a moron who has no business cleaning toilets for a living let alone being President of the United States?  Both McCarthy and McConnell are literally embarrassing themselves on a daily basis to cower at the feet of a man who has the intelligence of a headless chicken and the charm of a maggot.

I'd rather live in a tent and eat out of a McDonald's dumpster than demean myself in front of 300 million of my countryman for the whims of an imbecile.

523,000+ Dead Americans Because of Donald Trump's Incompetence

Peace,

emaycee

Please proceed...

 

The gift that just keeps on giving...

News that the republican strategy for 2022 is to call the Democrats COVID Relief Bill a socialist wish list and hope that nobody notices all the good it's going to do is a sure sign of just how fucking far off course the republican party is right now.

Who exactly do they think is going to buy this?  Their base is going to be their base--Democrats could come up with a potion that lets Americans fart perfume and the far right would still rather have smelly farts than vote for a Democrat.  But who else?  Suburban women?  Not once we get schools going and they have $1400 per family member extra to spend this year.  Minorities?  See previous statement.  Independents?  Ditto.  Young folks?  Not once we have herd immunity and they're free to start living their lives again...plus $1400 checks. Old folks--sure they're still going to lean slightly for republicans but it's hard to imagine once the coronavirus is in check and they can start visiting grandchildren and vacationing again that republicans are going to make up the ground among the over 65 crowd that Little Donnie cost them in the last election...plus $1400 checks.

So, yeah, sure, run with the socialist wish list strategy--hell, it might even make some folks think socialism ain't all that bad...cause $1400 checks.

523,000+ Dead Americans Because of Donald Trump's Incompetence

Peace,

emaycee

Deep-sixed in the heart of Texas

Free markets are anything but free

 

Watching the epic disaster that unfolded in Texas last week leaving millions to freeze and thousands to pay exorbitant rates for the power to light and heat their homes due to its market based energy policies and republican fealty to capitalism, I am reminded yet again that there is nothing the government can do that the free market can't do a lot worse and soak consumers for a lot more money than the government would have.

You'd think by now Americans would have learned that lesson.

511,000+ Dead Americans Because of Donald Trump's Incompetence

Peace,

emaycee

Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. CCCXX--Halsey: Hold Me Down

 My introduction to this week's tune was an acoustic version Halsey performed on the TV show Roadies (this is the fourth song featured on FNJ that I discovered on its ten episodes).  While I've never been able to find the acoustic version anywhere else, it did lead me to check out the original, which in and of itself was a very nice listening surprise and turned out to be one hell of a song.

Halsey hails from New Jersey, and released her first album in 2015 at the ripe old age of twenty-one.  Over the course of the last six years, she has had quite the influence on both music and American culture.  She is a fierce advocate for women, sexual assault survivors, mental health, racial justice, and LGBTQ issues.  At the 2018 Women's March Halsey performed a five minute poem called "A Story Like Mine" which detailed sexual assault and violence in her life and was hailed around the world.  Musically, she has released three albums, one of which reached #1 on the Billboard 200 with the other two reaching #2.  Halsey has also released 21 singles, with two # 1's (one with the Chainsmokers), and four others that have hit the top ten.  She's also been nominated for two Grammy Awards, and has toured after the release of each of her albums.  It's quite a resume for a woman who will turn twenty-seven later this year.

"Hold Me Down" was the first single released from her first album, Badlands, though it was released as a promotional single rather than a traditional single.  Still, it has had over 100 millions streams on Spotify and has been certified platinum.

Fun Fact:  Despite her rather busy musical career and activism, Halsey has found time to get 29 tattoos, one of which features a lyric from Friday Night Jukebox honoree "Loser" by Beck.

While doing my half-assed research for this week's post, I read that while Halsey definitely had musical influences, she felt as if filmmakers were actually a bigger influence on her art.  And as I listened to this week's tune several times in the run-up to writing this post, I noticed that the music in "Hold Me Down" is often very much like the soundtrack of a movie--it adds a sense of urgency and it illuminates her overarching message and its delivery.  She has said that the song was about an asshole of a man who tried to make her feel small and how she wanted to tell everyone not to let anyone make you feel small, and Halsey delivers a defiant performance.  Her staccato vocals are full of a cadence that illuminates a headstrong woman's call to arms.  It's a tour de force for a young woman who is wise beyond her years, and whose convictions are strong in word and deed.

Lyric Sheet:  "Hold me down, hold me down/Throw me in the deep end, watch me drown/Knock me out, knock me out/Saying that I want more, this is what I live for..."

Enjoy:

511,000+ Dead Americans Because of Donald Trump's Incompetence

Peace,

emaycee

Chain, chain, chain--chain of fools

Dinner at the Gates' household

 Bill Gates said this week that it would be "a shame" if Facebook permanently banned Donald Trump for his egregious actions fomenting a coup in our country.

For the life of me, I see no reason why Trump's banning would be a shame.  He lied over 30,000 times in his four years in office.  Trump bolstered white nationalists and encouraged their violent tendencies--in case Gates is too ignorant (not unlikely for such a self-centered man) to figure it out, white nationalists literally want anyone who isn't white dead or returned back to slavery.  Trump continually incited his followers with lies about our election which eventually led to them trying to overthrow a legitimately elected President.  Lying is not protected speech and we have laws to protect us from it.  While racism may be protected, encouraging violence is not and racism is not protected from the backlash of public outrage.  Trump's actions concerning the insurrection--the cowardice of 43 GQP Senators notwithstanding--were sedition, also not protected.

Frankly, the only person Gates cares about is himself (consider his non-profit, which was pretty much set up to be not a charity but a way to confirm his worldview--epic fail!)--my guess is that he either has a financial stake in Facebook or else Microsoft profits in some way from people using Facebook.  Well, that or he's just looking out for his fellow rich white assholes--after all, racism only affects poor folks, am I right?

One of the few things I'm going to regret when my time on this earth is through is that I won't have lived long enough to see the look on the faces of pigs like Bill Gates when enough Americans rise up and put our pitchforks straight on up their privileged pathetic asses, and they realize that all of their money isn't going to be enough to stop their epic and long overdue ruination.

507,000+ Dead Americans Because of Donald Trump's Incompetence

Peace,

emaycee

You sold your souls for this

Sweet land of liberty for how much longer?

Throughout the course of our history, Americans have rallied behind more than a few Presidents who were extremely flawed.  But to call Donald Trump flawed would be like calling Mount Everest a nice sized hill--the fact is, republicans who last weekend refused to hold Donald Trump accountable for his failed coup voted to unrestrain a degenerate the likes of which the White House has never seen. 

Donald Trump is not a good man.  He has cheated on all three of his wives (famously paying off a porn star so as not to kill his election chances in 2016).  He has said he wished his daughter Ivanka wasn't his daughter so he could have sex with her (what kind of man says something like that--I mean fucking seriously?).  His adherence to any religion or its doctrines is nonexistent--my guess is if he was splashed with holy water his skin would burn like Regan in The Exorcist.  And his claim that white nationalists were good people is akin to saying Charles Manson would have been a fine religious leader if it weren't for the Tate and LoBianca killings.  He lies like most people take breaths.

Donald Trump isn't a good businessman.  He has gone through bankruptcies like I go through M & M's when I've got the munchies (not to mention he bankrupted a casino, which is the equivalent of running out of drinking water when you live on the shores of Lake Superior).  He was sued for his fake University and paid a considerable sum in damages.  He was sued for his fake non-profit (keeping money for his family that was donated for charitable purposes--again, what kind of human does that?) and paid a considerable sum in damages as well as being prohibited from setting up another one.  His name has become so toxic that his properties are plummeting in value--which is quite the neat trick considering that the post-Presidencies of most men have literally been cash cows.

Donald Trump was the worst (and laziest and dumbest) President in our history.  He used the office to grift for his own family businesses (expressly forbidden by the emoluments clause in the Constitution).  He gave aid and comfort to Russia, a nation which has been a sworn enemy of the United States since the end of World War II.  His only accomplishment was a tax cut that so benefited the wealthy at the expense of regular Americans that it was hated by everyone except billionaires.  His epic mishandling of the coronavirus pandemic has thus far led to a half a million dead Americans and an economy on the brink of being in tatters.  In four years he led republicans to a loss of the House, the Senate, and the White House, one of only a handful of Presidents to accomplish that ignominious feat.  He literally cheered on an insurrection that nearly toppled two hundred and fifty years of one of the greatest democracies in the history of mankind.

All of the above just touches the surface--thousand page tomes will be written about the incompetence of Donald Trump's four years in the White House.  And still--still!--forty-three republican senators were more than happy to give him a pass.  What could they possibly have to gain?

Their future is bleak--eventually there will be more people of color than white Americans, and the GQP is losing their votes by anywhere from 65% to 90% per racial group.  They're losing young people by 60% to 40%.  Worried about a primary challenge from the radical right?  Too late--if Ivanka Trump decides to run against Marco Rubio in 2022 Rubio is toast regardless of his ass kissing vote.  Their votes will do nothing to stop a Kristi Noem or a Marjorie Taylor Greene to say they are Trumpier than the rest and will more than likely defeat anyone they run against in a republican primary.  For those with Presidential ambitions, if Trump runs and wins in 2024, there will probably be many years before someone not named Trump is President.  And if health or legal problems or another loss prevent him from becoming President again, exactly one of them will have a chance to be the republican standard bearer in future Presidential elections--the rest will be also rans who will never be President.  And the winner?  Does anyone seriously think if Biden gets the pandemic under control and the economy back on track that enough people of the eight-one million who voted for him are going to a) stay home (thanks to Trump, that option has been permanently destroyed--take a chance on another Trump?  No thanks!), or b) think that what America really needs is the guy or gal who thinks disastrous Donald did a good job?  Fucking seriously?  And then it's off to Presidential Loserville, population Jimmy Carter, Walter Mondale, Michael Dukakis, Bob Dole, Al Gore, John Kerry, Mitt Romney, Hillary Clinton, and their buddy Donald Trump--not a one of which has two shits of a say in running our country.  Bon voyage!

They had a chance to vote their consciences and chose instead to sell their souls for a man who is not a good human being, is not a good leader, and was not a good President.  Good call.

I've read a lot recently that history will not be kind to the forty-three Senators who lacked the courage to do the right thing.  My guess is that their Senatorial careers, much like those of most Senators in our history, will be--unlike the seven who will always be mentioned as having the courage to vote to impeach the only President in our history who tried to actively overthrow our government--forgotten.

That is, if they're lucky.  If not, names such as Josh Hawley, Ted Cruz, Rick Scott, Lindsay Graham, and Ron Johnson will very likely carry the same connotation as America's foremost traitor:  Benedict Arnold.

505,000+ Dead Americans Because of Donald Trump's Incompetence

Peace,

emaycee

Look for the union liars

 

Amen, brothers and sisters

In case you haven't heard, the reason for the downfall of American society (at least according to billionaires), including our inability to subdue the COVID-19 pandemic, is teachers' unions.  Can you imagine those pesky teachers wanting to make sure they're vaccinated and proper cleaning and safety protocols are put in place in our schools before our students return to in person learning?  The horror.

I swear, these fuckers will not be happy until we all have to work with chains around our feet for two dollars an hour.

502,000+ Dead Americans Because of Donald Trump's Incompetence

Peace, 

emaycee

Adios, mother fucker!

Hell has a new member

 

Goodbye and good riddance--Rush Limbaugh has passed away at age 70 from lung cancer.

And just like that, the world immediately becomes a better place.

501,000 Dead Americans Because of Donald Trump's Incompetence

Peace,

emaycee

Kaep in your ass

 500,000+ Dead Americans Because of Donald Trump's Incompetence

Peace,

emaycee

Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. CCCXIX--Squeeze: Pulling Mussels (from the Shell)

For shits and grins, I thought I'd actually do one of these posts on a Friday, just to stun both of my readers....

 

I am notoriously bad at hearing lyrics, and this week's tune is no exception.  I originally thought the chorus was "pulling muscles for Michelle...."  Guess I thought it was a song about a guy doing some serious bodybuilding to impress a gal named Michelle....

I wrote a brief history of Squeeze in Vol. 227 for their song "Tempted," so I'll just note here that forty-seven years down the road they are still touring and sadly have yet to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame although groups with half their talent, such as Abba, have been.  It's a cruel world.

Fun Fact:  I've been listening to this week's tune since the early 1980's, and had no idea until I did my weekly half-assed research that "pulling mussels" was British slang for coitus.  And now, sadly, I am far too old to ever have a chance to use the phrase to show how cool I am....

"Pulling Mussels (from the Shell" was the second single released (in the U.K.) from Squeeze's whimsically titled LP Argybargy (more British slang, for a rousing argument or discussion).  The song was not released in the U.S. as a single, but did reach #44 on the UK Singles Chart.  The album reached #32 in Great Britain, and was the first Squeeze album to chart here in the States, peaking at #76.

"Pulling Mussels (from the Shell)" is like a short story, a soliloquy of painted lyrics from Chris Difford describing a typical English middle class holiday.  When you add in Tilbrook's understated melodies to Difford's vivid portrait, you have a masterpiece.  Tilbrook sings with a light-hearted lilt, and the song has an uptempo instrumental break featuring Tilbrook on guitar for a bit (he swears he only plays one note...he does wonders with it) which segues into a brilliant piano solo featuring the incomparable Jools Holland.  It's got a catchy as all hell chorus--emaycee fave--to boot.  It's a band making the most of its abilities for your musical enjoyment...and I still have at least one more Squeeze song to go (sometime in 2024, I believe).  A wondrous piece of Brit pop.

Lyric Sheet:  "But behind the chalet, my holiday's complete/And I feel like William Tell/ Maid Marian on her tiptoed feet/Pulling mussels from a shell..."

Enjoy:

492,000+ Dead Americans Because of Donald Trump's Incompetence

Peace,

emaycee

The least of our brothers

Truer words, my friends...

Last week the Supreme Court ruled that the state of California could not completely ban indoor church services, despite the nation suffering through our worst pandemic in a hundred years.  Turns out filling the high court with candidates hand picked by the religious right results in...really bad court decisions.  This will be the first of many.

Again, though, it shows once again that Christians are anything but Christians--if praying together is more important than the health and well-being of your fellow humans, then your prayers and your God are fucking worthless.  But it's not about God, is it?  It's about shoving their religion down everyone's throats.

It's one thing if you want to be a martyr for your cause--non-believers shouldn't be compelled to do the same.

486,000+ Dead Americans Because of Donald Trump's Incompetence

Peace,

emaycee

 

Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. CCCXVIII--The Temptations: Papa Was a Rollin' Stone

 Oddly enough, my main recollection of this week's tune isn't the first time I heard it or a TV show or a movie where it suddenly struck me how great it was.  Rather, it's that after my first marriage ended the gentleman who lived above me in the apartment I rented after moving out used to crank the volume to ten on his stereo and blare the song at 5:00 AM every single morning.  Fortunately for me, I wasn't sleeping much during that time in my life, and he moved out within a few months...lest there might have been a good chance the tune didn't make it to a blog post (other than most hated songs).  

The Temptations started in the mid-fifties with various line-ups in various local bands before settling in my current home, Detroit, Michigan.  In 1961 they had a successful audition with one Berry Gordy and joined his Motown label.  They actually had some trouble in their early years having hit songs, and were jokingly called "The Hitless Temptations" by their label mates.  Eventually their silky smooth vocals and harmonies, as well as their finely choreographed movements kick started their hit making abilities and they went on to become one of Motown's most successful groups and earned a spot in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989.  They are often credited with being the progenitor of psychedelic soul (their song "Cloud Nine" is considered the first), which near as I can tell was a very short-lived, if incredibly successful, movement.  The Temptations were the first Motown act to win a Grammy, and totaled three for their career.  In all, the Temptations released 43 studio albums (four top tens on the Billboard 200, and a stunning 14 #1's on the R & B chart), and 109 singles, enjoying four number one hits on the Billboard Hot 100.  The Temptations continue to perform sixty years after their start--twenty-five different men have been members of the Temptations at one time or another.  Sadly, twelve of those men have gone to the great Motown Revue in the sky, a number of them at far too young of an age.

"Papa Was a Rolling Stone" was released in 1972 on their album All Directions.  The album version runs almost twelve minutes, and was listed at #169 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All-Time.  The single version was just shy of seven minutes, and became the last #1 hit and top 40 hit the Temptations would have on the pop charts. 

Fun Fact:  The Temptations did not want to record or release "Papa Was a Rolling Stone" fearing it would be a flop.  Funny how sometimes things work out....

The surprising thing about my choice this week is that a guy who adores a good pop song...didn't choose "My Girl" or "Just My Imagination" from the pantheon of Temptations' songs.  But there's a maturity to this one, a band being pushed (successfully) past its comfort zone and creating an incredible piece of music.  Some of the credit goes to producer Norman Whitfield for the incredible instrumentation and using four different singers (each representing a different child of the father noted in the title), but the Temptations had to execute those vocals to capture the song's nuances, and execute they did.  It's a poignant and deft portrait of a man who didn't live up to his fatherly responsibilities, and of the heartbreak of the children he left behind.  A masterwork from a band at the height of its powers.

Lyric Sheet:  "Folks say Papa was never much on thinking/Spent most of his time chasing women and drinking/Mama I'm depending on you/To tell me the truth..."

Enjoy:

476,000 Dead Americans Because of Donald Trump's Incompetence

Peace,

emaycee

Grifters gonna grift

 

Republicans are feeling awfully lucky...

News this week that right wing nutjob Lauren Boebert just happened to claim $22,000 worth of mileage expenses in less than a year of campaign travel (her campaigning would have had to have taken her over 36,000 miles in her single Colorado district) just as a tax lien on her restaurant came due for $19,000 is certainly...kind of interesting.

It got me to thinking what two of the radical right's current idols, Boebert and Marjorie Taylor Greene, were worth financially as well as what careers they had chosen, as both seem a lot more interested in promoting themselves (a la their hero, Donald Trump) than legislating.  Boebert is worth from $100,000-$1,000,000 (estimated...a la Donald Trump) and she and her husband own a restaurant in a small Colorado town (Silt--pop. 2900) which they bought after he was laid off (they may be world class investors, but based on that info, a million dollar net worth seems an incredible long shot).  Greene is worth $4 million (again, estimate) that for the most part comes from she and her husband buying her father's construction company (wealth from Dad, a la, once again, Donald Trump).  It seems to me highly unlikely that without winning elections in rabidly red congressional districts either woman would have a job with their career resumes at this point in their lives that pays $174,000 per year (yearly salary for Senators and Congresspersons) with a generous expense account and world class healthcare.

None of this is to say that there aren't a number of other members of Congress on both sides of the aisle whose elections have placed them in a similar financial situation as Boebert and Greene.  But neither of them have shown the slightest interest in either legislating or looking after their fellow Americans.  But like Donald Trump, both have shown that their main interest is in promoting themselves.

For all their talk, they couldn't care less about America or Americans.  Like Trump, they're just looking to cash in.

My guess is, like Sarah Palin, Boebert and Greene stick around a couple of election cycles before they realize they can make a lot more money by being moronic assholes.

473,000+ Dead Americans Because of Donald Trump's Incompetence

Peace,

emaycee

A bad gamble?

 

GQP = Crapped out?

I'm terrible at making political predictions (my favorite:  Sarah Palin as the republican nominee for President in 2012--she didn't even run for the office) so I hesitate to question the republicans' crazy train coalition strategy for the 2022 congressional elections, but you've got to wonder if they're not putting a little too much faith in a) the fact that they won more seats in the House than expected in 2020, and b) the usual pattern of the party in power losing seats.

As to the first part, since 2016 republicans have not performed particularly well when Donald Trump isn't on the ballot--how many of his cult will just sit out the mid-terms with Donnie being little more than a stick figure?  And for the second, you have to wonder about the GQP providing nothing in the way of policy, especially as the Democrats rally together to help the economy and slow the COVID-19 pandemic...and the fact that we're in a brave new world in the United States when it comes to how American voters cast their ballots to count too much on the past to be a predictor of the future.

The Democrats improving the economy for working folks and getting a handle on the pandemic in addition to potentially indifferent Trump cultists doesn't sound like a winning recipe even with republicans kowtowing to QAnon.

Methinks they might be suffering from irrational exuberance....

473,000+ Dead Americans Because of Donald Trump's Incompetence

Peace,

emaycee

Oh, what a relief it is...

 471,000+ Dead Americans Because of Donald Trump's Incompetence

Peace,

emaycee

Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. CCCXVII--Goo Goo Dolls: Name

 I've noted a time or two that occasionally we come across beloved songs in odd ways...my first recollection of this week's tune was hearing it on the radio as it awoke me.  Instead of hitting the snooze button I heard the guitar intro and lay there in bed, preparing to face another dreary day in the throngs of my depression, and gave thanks for such a wonderful bit of guitar to give me just a little bit of hope before I headed off to a job that by the time this week's single was released, I thoroughly hated, music business or not.

The Goo Goo Dolls formed in Buffalo, New York in 1986, starting out as a heavy metal, alternative, and punk amalgamation.  Eventually they hit their stride as a pop band, and have had a good deal of commercial success along the way.  John Rzeznick and Robby Takac have been a part of the trio since their beginning, with a couple of different drummers filling in along the way.  The band has won two Grammy Awards, and has had a number of world tours.  For their career, the Goo Goo Dolls have released 13 studio albums (four of which hit the top ten), and have released 29 singles (with three hitting the top ten).  They released their latest effort (a Christmas album) just last year.  While my interest in the band pretty much ended with this week's tune, it wouldn't be a stretch to call the Goo Goo Dolls the Billy Joel of alternative bands--and it wouldn't be a criticism, either.  They've both had a hell of a run and made plenty of music fans happy, which seems to me like it would make for a hell of an epitaph.

"Name" was released in 1985, and was the third single from their clever play on words album entitled A Boy Named Goo.  The single was the first hit of their career, and reached #5 (with a bullet!) on the Billboard Hot 100.   The album would peak at #27 on the Billboard 200.

Fun Fact:  Wal-Mart ceased carrying the above noted LP because of customer complaints about the album cover, which featured a young boy smeared in blackberry juice.  Customers thought the boy was drenched in blood.  Wal-Mart denies this claim, saying it discontinued the album because of poor sales...but I think most of us can smell bullshit when it's in the air.

One of the (few) drawbacks to doing Friday Night Jukebox is that occasionally you learn more than you want to know about a song or an artist...as is the case with "Name."  I always thought the song was about a couple of runaways, trying to find their way--and it turns out to be a song for the one-time MTV VJ Kennedy.  While I'll be the first to admit that I was born with the word "dork" branded into my forehead, on the coolness quotient of life a VJ ranks somewhere around the famed pocket protector.  That being said, the aforementioned guitar intro (a sound which to this day I can't figure out how Rzeznick makes his guitar do it)--emaycee fave acoustic, too--along with what could have been a compelling lyrical story line and Rzeznick's impassioned vocals make for one hell of a pop tune.  And if it's okay with the rest of you, I'm going to go on and pretend it's about two mixed up kids hiding from the law...and let it be another fine addition to the pantheon of songs in Friday Night Jukebox.

Lyric Sheet:  "We grew up way too fast/And now there's nothing to believe/And reruns all become our history/A tired song keeps playing on a tired radio..."

Enjoy:

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Peace,

emaycee