Music
Before we get into anything else, I need to clear up the mystery of why the cops were at the neighbor’s house at 12:45 in the morning the other night. Turns out, they were attempting to deliver a felony warrant for someone named Daquan (sp?) Jones. They knocked on the neighbor’s door, waking him but not his wife. When he answered, they explained what they were doing and he let them come in and look. There was no Daquan there. No one named Daquan has ever lived there. The previous owner, Linda, did have a weird guy who lived with her some and then always showed up for race day, but he doesn’t seem like the Daquan type. The cops didn’t say what charges the dude was wanted on, but ya’ gotta assume that it was rather serious if 14 cops decked out in full tactical gear and assault rifles were needed to bring the guy in. If anyone knows Daquan, you might want to tell him to turn himself in before the cops blow his head off.
Our neighbors next door have had a rough start to the year’s first half. Her Dad passed a couple of months ago, then both of their elderly dogs died, and then her mom passed two weeks ago. I don’t care who you are, that’s an emotional tornado that scrambles all your feelings and leaves you feeling torn apart. Their solution: they bought an 8-week-old Jack Russel Terrier yesterday. They’ve named her Libby. Obviously, the pup was still a bit scared when they brought her out to say hi. We hope this begins to help with some of the healing they need.
Yesterday was a good day to sit outside with the pups, so we did. A lot. Kat got her Medicaid back yesterday, so I will be checking today to see if mine is reinstated. I’ll also be seeing if there’s any other assistance I can get. Anything to help.
Last night’s dreams were surreal. See if you can make any sense of this. Imagine living at the top of a very tall building, the tallest building in town. The building has a triangle shape, not a pyramid, not quite a right triangle (more like 80 degrees), and at the top is a large rectangle-shaped apartment jutting out from the top of the building; that’s where you live, in that rectangle. Waking up, wearing pajamas (which I never do), I look out the window, and across the courtyard, a video is being projected onto another building. The video is an artist’s vision of two trees, one at each end, with red-spectrumed rectangle-shaped leaves falling in rhythm. As the leaves fall, they play music. I can’t hear what music, but scattered across the courtyard are a number of people conducting the music, full scores scattered in front of them, as the leaves fall.
Getting out of bed, I begin to explore the apartment. With every turn, I find a recessed door hidden in the architecture. Each subsequent room is a different sensory experience. One involves interacting with water by using your voice. Another is electronic matter challenging your perspective and opinion on contemporary issues. Yet another is a wood floor with children cutting out different shapes and as they place the shapes on the floor, they become music, and moving the shapes around the floor creates a song.
Moving from room to room takes me slowly downward through the building. I’m still barefoot and in pajamas. I ask someone for a cup of coffee. What they bring back is a bowl with a cup’s worth of coffee, but the bowl is large enough that it looks like very little. A strange-looking amphibian in a tank morphs its shape in response to my hand motions. A few rooms later, a camel is leaning against the glass taking a nap. Two prides of lions seem to be facing off until a massive orangutan picks up one of the troublesome females and carries her off. Nurses under a canvas tent were giving vaccinations to newborn animals and wrapping them in cloth diapers.
I passed briefly by a jungle court in progress but was encouraged to not linger. The animals were sitting in judgment of humans.
While the building was full of people, especially school-age children who seemed to be on field trips, I was the only one who lived there. I asked repeatedly why I was the only one living in the big rectangle and what my responsibilities were, but no one ever answered that question. Instead, they would re-direct me to another fascination or oddity.
So many rooms. So many tactile and emotional experiences. I felt warm, at home; curious but comfortable. Waking up was a shock to the senses, seconds before my alarm went off. As odd as it was, the dream left me with a feeling of peace, but I have no sense as to what any of it might mean if it means anything at all.
Such is the start of today. The bear and I may go for a walk in the woods if we can hitch a ride to the park. Does anyone care to go with us?
Night was cut short despite going to bed early. I was still dressed when my head hit the pillow a little after 8 PM. Despite having spent most of the day in bed thanks to all the rain, I felt exhausted. Somewhere along the line, I did finally drop down to my base layer, but even then I wasn’t conscious enough to remember my actions. The possibility existed that I might actually wake up feeling rested.
Until 1:30 AM. Hamilton decided that was an appropriate time to go out. His signals are obvious. He shakes a couple of times, then does a fake sneeze. At that point, my only choice is to either get up, get dressed and take him out or deal with piss in the hallway later. Belvedere is pretty good about holding it for an insanely long time. Not Ham.
Of course, it was raining. We were out for three painfully long minutes before coming back in as quietly as possible, trying to not wake anyone else. I herded the dogs back to the room and shut the door to ensure that they wouldn’t roam around making noise. Ham took that as a signal he needed to jump on the bed and roll all over the place sending cats scattering across the room.
A week has passed now since I last visited Mansion Society. I miss that atmosphere and the chance to sit somewhere other than the Recovery Room and talk with someone. If you’re interested in a morning chat, please let me know. If you don’t do caffeine, they have some great homemade lemonade or original Coke in a bottle with real sugar, the way the gods intended. Consider this your contribution to my continued treatment.
One matter needs clarification this morning. Someone is spreading a rumor that at least three surgeries are necessary after recovering from chemotherapy for CLL. Generally speaking, that information would be wrong. According to the American Cancer Society, it is rare that a splenectomy is necessary after chemotreatment. Surgery does not cure blood cancers. Chemo can put CLL into molecular remission, which is our goal, but no permanent cure exists. Please, stop spreading rumors. My oncologist gets tired of questions they’ve already answered.
Billy Joel’s 1983 album, “An Innocent Man” is on frequent repeat this morning in the Recovery Room. The whole thing. Six hits came from this recording, forming a stylistic foundation for music in the mid-80s. This one is important because it’s recorded during the period he was first dating Christie Brinkley. A song about her even appears on the album. He knew what he was getting into before the wedding.
It’s the lyrics to the title song that keeps me resetting the needle over and over.
Some people stay far away from the door
If there’s a chance of it opening up
They hear a voice in the hall outside
And hope that it just passes by.
Some people live with the fear of a touch
And the anger of having been a fool
They will not listen to anyone
So nobody tells them a lie.
…
You know you only hurt yourself out of spite
I guess you’d rather be a martyr tonight
That’s your decision
But I’m not below
Anybody I know
If there’s a chance of resurrecting a love
I’m not above going back to the start
To find out where the heartache began.
Some people hope for a miracle cure
Some people just accept the world as it is
But I’m not willing to lay down and die
Because I am an innocent man.
How many people do I know, including myself, who can relate to the song on multiple levels even now? There’s a timelessness to this album that makes it invaluable.
I have more to talk about, but it’s taken two hours and two trips outside with the dogs to get this much written. I’m going to take a break.
The sound that dominated church music in the 20th century is no more
The Short Version
With the recent death of Ben Speer, the style of southern gospel music popularized by James Vaughn and the Stamps-Baxter singing schools in the earliest part of the 20th century fades into the mist. The old quartets are gone. In their place is a smoother, slicker sound that is more like popular country music than anything that has its roots in a church. This was a sound that influenced people such as Bob Wills and Elvis Presley, among others. The genre has suffered before, but this time there likely is no resurrection.
A Little Background
I realize that the majority of people who are our regular readers won’t have a clue what I’m talking about. Certainly, most of those in my immediate circle have never heard of southern gospel music at all and even among those who do, few would recognize the difference in styles between the mid-20th century and now. Southern gospel music is important, however, not merely from a religious perspective within the Christian community, but from an educational perspective as well. Let me explain why.
Way back in the mid-1800s, when any kind of formal education was limited largely to the wealthy and formal music education even more difficult to afford, along came this guy B.F White and his good buddy E. J. King. White had developed a four-tone scale, commonly known as the fa-sol-la scale, that used shapes to indicate the notes. It looked something like this:
The style was modified over the years to eventually account for a full 8-tone scale, but the purpose remained the same: to make it easier to teach music to people who couldn’t read. Singing schools teaching the shaped-note system occurred all over the country, most frequently in the one-room churches that also doubled as the community schools. Music schools were often held on Saturdays so that the hymns could be sung in church on Sunday.
The system spread steadily throughout the 19th century, especially throughout the South. Then, in 1920, James Vaughn revolutionized the whole music school paradigm by forming a quartet with three of his brothers that would travel, perform, and teach. This provided for each of the four parts to break out and be taught separately, making the schools more efficient.
Vaughn’s quartet was so successful that it started a movement. Vaughn himself founded 16 other quartets and sent them out singing and teaching. Quartets started popping up everywhere. Some were specific to singing schools, but others began to focus on performance, singing at tent revivals. When Virgil Stamps founded what would become the Stamps-Baxter Music Company in 1924, the singing school movement spread even faster as the paper-backed song books were cheaper for churches and individuals to afford. The song books were so popular that I’m willing to be there are still rural churches scattered across the South that has them sitting in their pews.
As the nation sank into the Great Depression, more people turned to churches as a source of comfort and the singing schools as a primary source of entertainment. There were a lot of notable people who were involved, including Alfred Brumley, Thomas A. Dorsey, Bob Wills, and Mosie Lister. Anyone familiar with the heritage of southern gospel music has sung the songs these people wrote.
In the middle of all this, in 1939, G.T. Speers, more commonly known just as “Dad,” formed a quartet with his wife Lena, and his sister and brother and law. Dad Speers worked for Vaughn’s company at the time and later took a position as a singing teacher for the Stamps-Baxter company. As his own sons, Ben and Brock, grew older, they eventually replaced Dad’s sister and brother-in-law. Their daughters, Rosa Nell and Mary Tom would sing with the group at different intervals as well. The Speers Family represented, in almost every way possible, the core and spirit of southern gospel music. Here’s a sample from a 1950s performance with Mom, Dad, Ben, and Brock.
Then This Happened
After World War II, southern gospel music, with its rich harmonies and a call-and-repeat music style that made each part stand out, took off and became a commercial success. Singing “conventions,” featuring multiple quartets, became as popular as the tent revivals that dominated the Eastern portion of the United States, especially the South. The quartets were typically accompanied by an accomplished pianist whose stylings were as unique as any sonata and frequently as complicated as any jazz riff. The sound was wholly unique from anything else being recorded at the time.
Groups started becoming celebrities. Names such as the Blackwood Brothers, The Statesmen, The Cathedrals, The LaFeveres, The Happy Goodman Family, The Chuck Wagon Gang, The Flordia Boys and The Kingsmen were well known and frequently drew large crowds. Southern gospel music became a competitive recording genre in which music labels such as RCA were all too happy to invest. However, that post-war burst was to be short lived.
In 1954, a plane carrying The Blackwood Brothers Quartet crashed, killing two of its members. Almost overnight, the quartets and many other musicians abandoned flying and took to using tour buses. While the buses seemed safer, there was an emotional price to be paid for spending hours on end traveling from one engagement to another. Disputes flared as differences in musical taste and the limits of personal space along with time away from families took its toll. As was common for the time, many quartet members also smoked heavily, creating health problems for several.
As television became increasingly popular, southern gospel music took its place there as well. Prior to the dominance of network daytime television and news, many local stations produced their own programs featuring quartets both local and national groups. In 1964, Lea Beasley of The Flordia Boys produced the first nationally syndicated southern gospel program, “Gospel Singing Jubilee,” anchored by the Florida Boys, but featuring every major southern gospel group in the country.
With the 60s, the influence of more contemporary Christian music, fueled by the success of musicals such as Godspell, and Jesus Christ, Superstar, as well as the popular compositions of Ralph Carmichael, began to increasingly dominate among younger audiences. The popularity of southern gospel music waned as churches struggled to hold the attention of teenagers and young adults.
Audience numbers and record sales declined through the early part of the 70s. Then, in 1973, at the National Quartet Convention in Nashville, TN, James “Big Chief” Wetherington, the bass singer for The Statesmen since 1953, died suddenly backstage of a heart attack as the group was about to go on. Hearts sank as the death of one of the most recognizable figures in southern gospel music was announced on national television.
One can argue that from that point forward, southern gospel music was seen more as a novelty act. When Elvis Presley added J.D. Sumner and the Jordanaires as his backup group, few people knew of the long-standing connection Presley had with southern gospel music. Instead, they saw the secularization of a gospel group. When the Oak Ridge Boys released a secular album in 1977 and scored a hit with Ya’ll Come Back Saloon, the public perception of southern gospel music plummeted even more.
While southern gospel music never went away, it became more of a niche genre with a small and aging audience.
Bill Gaither To The Rescue
In 1991, The Gaither Vocal Band was recording in a Nashville studio and invited several well-known gospel singers and groups to join them for a specific song. After the song was recorded, the singers, many of whom had not seen each other in several years, stayed and reminisced and sang around the piano. This gave Bill Gaither an idea to create a program that would bring together the remaining living southern gospel legends as well as current groups, including soloists and duets that had started dominating the genre in the 1980s.
The resulting Homecoming series of videos and recordings were a boon for both Gaither and the southern gospel music industry. Suddenly, people were interested in old-time southern gospel music again with its individual voices blended together in syncopated counterpoint and improvisational piano stylings that were a blend of ragtime and jazz. Just as much, people were interested in the aging legends that Gaither brought together. Seeing Ben Speer, Jake Hess, Vestal Goodman, and J.D. Sumner all singing together was a reminder of just how powerful the blending of those voices could be. When The Statemen’s Rozie Rosell joined Jake Hess, Hovie Lister, and George Younce one last time for Oh What A Savior, there was hardly a dry eye left in the house.
One of my favorite moments was when the Homecoming choir was singing Heavens Jubilee with Rosa Nell Speer on the piano. Homecoming pianist Anthony Burger tried bumping Rosa Nell off the piano bench. It didn’t work. Here’s what happened.
The little fun moments like that made this revival of old-time southern gospel music feel personal, feel special. Millions of people bought the tapes and recordings, bringing the genre of southern gospel music back into the limelight once again. The number of groups began to grow and even though the new sound was different, it is difficult to deny that the Homecoming events prevented southern gospel music from being relegated to a moment in history.
Nothing lasts forever, though, and when one centers a series of events around personalities who are already well past their prime one has to expect that there is going to be a point where those who started the series are no long there, and after more than twenty-five years that is what has happened. Consider all the wonderful musicians who appeared on the Homecoming series that are no longer with us. I’m not sure this is a complete list, but here’s what I could find. The year each one died is in parenthesis.
- Albertina Walker (2010)
- Andraé Crouch (2015)
- Anthony Burger (2006)
- Ben Speer (2017)
- Bob Cain (2000)
- Brock Speer (1992–1999)
- Buck Rambo (1991–2016)
- Cliff Barrows (2016)
- Danny Gaither (2001)
- Doris Akers (1995)
- Dottie Rambo (2008)
- Earl Weatherford (1992)
- Eldridge Fox (2002)
- Eva Mae LeFevre (2009)
- George Beverly Shea (2013)
- George Younce (2005)
- Glen Payne (1999)
- Hovie Lister (2001)
- Howard Goodman (2002)
- J. D. Sumner (1998)
- Jack Toney (2004)
- Jake Hess (2004)
- James Blackwood (2002)
- Jessy Dixon (2011)
- Johnny Cook (2000)
- Labreeska Hemphill (2015)
- Mary Tom Speer Reid (2014)
- Rex Nelon (2000)
- Roger Bennett (2007)
- Rosie Rozell (1995)
- Stephen Hill (2012)
- Vestal Goodman (2003)
Some of those deaths hit the community especially hard. Anthony Burger died unexpectedly while on a Homecoming cruise in 2006. Dottie Rambo passed from injuries sustained in a bus accident in 2008. Both were dominant and joyful personalities that lit whatever room they were in. As each southern gospel legend died, a bit of that old-time music passed with them.
According to Pollstar, the Homecoming tour sold more tickets in 2014 than major rock acts such as Elton John and Fleetwood Mac. However, by 2015, the number of legends able to participate in the tour had reduced so severely that, once again, audiences began to diminish. The light began to go out.
Why Do I Even Care
I know that, for our regular readers, this whole article has to seem strange and out of place coming from someone who speaks against the hypocrisy of religion in general and questions the singularity of any deity on a regular basis. So, what gives? Why do I find this particular matter one worthy of several hours of fact checking and date confirmation?
Because, for the first 25 years of my life, southern gospel music was home. The Statesmen, Blackwood Brothers, and Cathedrals were the bulk of records my parents owned. We watched the Gospel Singing Jubilee while getting ready for church on Sunday morning. I learned to play piano in that improvisational style. When I could coax our family around the piano in the evenings, these were the songs we sang. Southern gospel music was a part of our daily life.
Equally important, these were the people we knew. Doy Ott, a former baritone for The Statesmen, was an optometrist in Bartlesville, Oklahoma when not out singing with the quartet. We would drop by, say hi, and listen to his stories about the antics between Jake Hess and Hovie Lister. When I was 14, J. D. Sumner, who was a towering 6′ 5″, claimed I was too short to reach the piano and stacked hymnals on the piano bench before I sat down to play. I met Hovie Lister for the first time when I was 19 and we remained friends until his death in 2001. These and many other relationships we had were personal. In one way or another, each one was influential in how I grew up.
In a metaphorical sense, Ben Speer’s death locks the door on that part of my life. Those who were the most influential, whose instructions and advice I heeded the most, are all gone. While we have recordings and videos to remind us of their incredible talent, we can no longer experience those personalities, listen to the stories, or get bumped from the piano bench as we once did. No matter how wonderfully mastered the recording is, there is no matching the chill that came from being in the same room as Rosie Rozell’s soaring tenor or feeling the floor vibrate when J. D. took his bass extra low.
No one sings that old-time style of southern gospel music anymore, either. Voices that dominate today’s southern gospel scene are more polished, refined, and frequently carefully honed through years of practice and education. One won’t find anyone who first learned to read shaped notes among today’s artists. Today’s southern gospel music is more about who gets the solo on the verses, not the give and take counterpoint of each voice.
I spent no small amount of time yesterday listening to the top 20 southern gospel songs as listed by the Southern Gospel Times. The experience was interesting. I’ve not listened to contemporary southern gospel for many of the same reasons I don’t listen to contemporary country music: the sound holds practically no relationship to the original. That doesn’t mean the sound was bad, mind you. In fact, the vocal abilities of most the artists I heard were quite impressive. Yet, the sound is more heavily produced, micro-managed in a studio to the point that the necessary sense of emotion and conviction that is pertinent to southern gospel music is lost.
A good example would be 2nd Generation’s cover of the Hemphill’s I Came On Business For the King, which is currently number seven on this week’s chart. The trio has a nice sound and great harmony. The song itself has an appealing melody that sticks in one’s ear long after it’s been heard. I can understand why the cover jumped so high its first week on the chart. However, when I turn around and compare that to the original recording by the Hemphills circa 1977, with 13-year-old Candy Hemphill taking the lead on the song Joel Hemphill wrote, the emotion evoked is still amazingly stronger than the new cover.
Southern gospel music now revolves more around individual voices. Quartets of any kind are rare. I had to jump down the chart to number 24 before finding a song by the Tribute Quartet. Their sound was, again, quite good, but so polished and carefully produced that it was missing any connection that might have said, “This is more than just another song.”
I’m not sure words sufficiently communicate what I’m feeling. Let’s see if we can do this another way. Consider first this video posted recently of the Tribute Quartet singing an old southern gospel standard, This Old House. The song, which features the bass, is deceptively difficult because of the tempo at which it’s sung.
Now, listen to an older version featuring George Younce and Glen Payne with The Cathedrals. Mark Trammell is singing lead which dates this video somewhere in the 1980s. Personal side note, Mark’s daddy, Charlie, and my daddy were friends for several years. I first met Mark at their home in North Little Rock when he was 15. He had an amazing voice even then. Anyway, consider the difference in how George treats the song.
See the difference? Please tell me you do. Same song, but totally different levels of emotion and cohesiveness. Notice how George brings the group into a circle so they can actually hear each other, creating a better blend. Few modern groups understand that dynamic, but George grew up in a day when all four members of a quartet had to sing around a single microphone. That unified sound came people working together, not from a mixing board in the back of the auditorium.
Yes. I will admit that there is a lot of “old man reminiscing” going on here. As every generation grows older, there is the challenge of adjusting to the newer sounds of music that is constantly progressing and adopting new technologies and capabilities. We miss the older sounds because they were comfortable for our ears. We know those sounds better and can relax. We don’t know newer music so it takes more effort to listen and we don’t always come away feeling that the effort was well placed.
Let me also reiterate that there is nothing wrong with contemporary southern gospel music. The genre is still valid and isn’t likely to go anywhere anytime soon. While the audiences for individual groups tend to not be as large as the Homecoming gatherings once were, they are still significant enough to warrant attention and consideration.
But that old-time southern gospel sound? Those songs with intricate harmonies and the pianists with fingers that flew across piano keys are all but gone. Not only are the people who sang them gone, but to a significant degree, the people who listened to them and enjoyed them are gone as well. Without a definable audience, any music genre is going to fade away.
Remembering What Was
What southern gospel music lost with the passing of Ben Speer was the last loud, dominant voice for that old-time, singing school-based, shaped note style of music. He was instrumental in keeping the Stamps-Baxter singing schools going and in reminding the world of that unique sound of which he and his family were so very much a part. I suppose that Bill Gaither might continue to include some of those old songs in whatever occasional Homecoming events he might have, but Bill’s relationship to that old-time style isn’t the same as Ben’s was. Bill has always been more progressive and supportive of integrating new sounds with old music. Ben, on the other hand, was always there to say, “Yeah, that’s nice, but let me remind you how it was meant to sound.”
With Ben Speer’s death, we lose that direct historical connection, that champion of the Stamps-Baxter songbook. No, Ben isn’t the last of that era, but he was the last dominant figure to make sure the sound wasn’t lost or corrupted, that the old-time way of teaching music wasn’t forgotten, and to show us how beautiful it could sound when done correctly. During Ben’s funeral service, Bill Gaither referred to him as the “harmony marshal.” That’s Ben’s commitment to that old-time sound, one committed to intricate and constantly moving harmonies with melodies that lept from high voices to low voices with no warning. Ben understood what it took to put it all together.
We don’t get that sound in the same way anymore. Now, it’s all handled in the control booth. If someone’s pitch is a little off, it’s auto-tuned. If the tempo starts to lag it’s simply pushed a little digitally. All the human fallibilities are removed and along with it so is the sense of human spirit and emotion with which we once identified.
Below, I am embedding the video from Ben Speer’s funeral service (April 11). Unless one is really a huge fan, you’re not likely to want to sit through the entire thing. While the stories and eulogies are entertaining enough on their own, the length at which they go on becomes a bit tiresome for anyone not close to the family. There are a couple of moments, though, to which you’ll want to jump forward.
The first comes at 48:10 when a local choir takes the stage. These are not professional singers. These are volunteers who have a connection with the Stamps-Baxter singing schools of which Ben was so very much a part. They sing four songs. This is southern gospel music in the raw, the sound that came from rural churches all across America for the better part of the 20th century. There is no measured volume, no careful blending of voices. This is an open-up-and-let-it-fly style of singing. During the summer, which church windows would be open, you could hear the sounds all over town and the echoes out into the country. What you want to hear, though, is about the 55-minute mark with the choir sings a verse in the fa-sol-la style taught in the singing school. Don’t be surprised if it takes a moment for your ears to adjust. To the uninitiated, it can sound as though they’re singing in some strange language. It’s not. At the 58-minute mark, they move into a song by “Dad” Speers that was one of Ben’s favorites and was well-known for singing, He Is Mine and I Am His. Again, the sound is unpolished, but the emotion is evident throughout the auditorium.
Then, following a couple of eulogies and other songs, at 1:32:50 Bill Gaither finally takes the pulpit and after some brief remembrances, leads the Homecoming choir in some of Ben’s best-known songs. I’ll be honest, this part was rough for me. I looked across the faces and there were so few that I recognized. I saw Lea Beasley of the Florida Boys there and Reba Rambo-McGuire as well as a handful of others, but all the other familiar faces and voices with which I grew up were absent. They’re all gone. As the choir sang songs I’ve heard Ben Speers and his family sing my entire life, there was no getting rid of the lump in my throat. Oh The Glory Did Roll comes at 1:47:34 and gives one a more polished, professional version of the Stamps-Baxter style of singing. It really is quite impressive. Then, at 1:51:30, they start in on Never Grow Old and when they get to the second verse, they bring up a video of Ben merged with a video of Dad Speer, singing the song along with them. The emotion couldn’t have been any higher.
Be sure, southern gospel music will continue. There will be singers and groups that will stand out and they will find contemporary ways to speak to a contemporary audience. But it will be different. That old-time southern gospel sound, the part that was rooted in the Sacred Harp and burgeoned from the Stamps-Baxter singing schools, is gone. What’s left are memories. Recordings. Videos. We’ll hold on to those memories with fondness even though our life takes us so very, very far away from that community. I’ll always appreciate what this sound and this music means to me and a part of me will miss it.
With fondness, we say goodbye and rest in peace.
Aretha Franklin says she’s retiring after one last album
The Short Version
The Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin, says she is retiring from performing after one last album. At age 74, such a move is perfectly understandable, especially given her health problems in recent years. So, she’ll make one last album with Stevie Wonder producing and then call it quits. No more. But Clive Davis doesn’t think she really means it.
Some Background Info
If you are one of those dear, innocent three-month-old children who has never heard of Aretha Franklin, it is time you were educated on the matters of soul. Quite simply, there is no one better. Beyoncè and Rhianna and even Lady Gaga would be nothing without the foundation Aretha laid down before those singers were even born. She won 18 Grammy awards back when those actually meant something. She’s sold over 75 million records worldwide. Rolling Stone magazine has named her THE best singer in the world. Period. Aretha was winning lifetime achievement awards back when your parents, or grandparents, were still in high school.
Ms. Franklin has still been going strong. At a Kennedy Center Honors event in 2015, Aretha sat down at a piano and belted out Carole King’s (You make me feel like a ) Natural Woman which was a hit for Franklin all the way back in 1967. Here, take a moment and watch the video:
https://youtu.be/5RIgeu-6Jcs
If I were to try and list just the songs that have been top ten hits for Ms. Franklin, it would extend longer than you likely have time to scroll. There is no one in the music industry today who can even stand in the shadow of Aretha. She’s that important.
So, She’s Going To Retire?
Ms. Frankling told a Detroit NBC news affiliate that she plans to retire this year. She’s already won every award there is to win, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom (2oo5). There really isn’t anything left for her to do except, possibly, put her legacy further out of reach from anyone else. So, being 74, one can see where she might find it preferable to sit back and take it easy for a while.
Oh, but she wants to do one more album. Just one, mind you. One last collection of songs with long-time friend Stevie Wonder at the production controls. The album hasn’t even been named yet and is already the most highly anticipated project of the year. When two legends of R&B come together like this at any time, you know the results are going to be phenomenal. As a finalè goodbye album, just go ahead and hand out the tissues. I don’t care if all she does is sit at the piano and hum, I’m sure it would be the most soul-stirring hum you’ve ever heard.
Of course, if there’s an album, there has to be a tour, right? Franklin told the Detroit station she would do “some select things, many one a month, for six months out of the year.” Still, she asserts, this is her last year in concert. She wants to spend more time with her grandchildren.
I’m not the only one who is skeptical. Clive Davis, whose Arista label produced Aretha from 1980 through 2004, doesn’t think she’ll be able to stay away from the music. Davis told the Associated Press:
“I think that what she might have meant was that she doesn’t plan an extensive tour — still not flying and still traveling by bus, it’s just hard to stay on that bus. Aretha is still magical in person and still has the God-given voice that she has. I don’t believe that she’s retiring. I just believe that she’s cutting back, judiciously.”
Clive’s reasoning makes more sense. Aretha is one of those people who just can’t stop singing. Maybe we won’t see her as often, but I’m almost certain we’ll still see her. Somewhere. On a stage. Making everyone else look like an amateur.
So many have died, these deserve to not fall between the cracks
Death seemed to come hand-in-hand with 2016 and it has reared its ugly head far too many times on too many beloved people. The lists of notable deaths are the longest I’ve ever seen them. Yet, with each list I notice several who were left out for one reason or another. I understand. When compiling such a list, including everyone is difficult. Whether through oversight or just lack of information, many people get left off lists on which they deserve to be included.
I can’t rectify the omissions of every list one might come across. However, there are ten people often excluded who really should never be forgotten. If you’re not familiar with their lives and their work, now would be a good time to acquaint yourself.
Abe Vigoda
Abd Vigoda. 1921-2016
Abe Vigoda was one of those people who was almost too easy to overlook. He was an everyman; the guy next door or the work colleague you constantly meet in the elevator but never really know. Most obituaries are quick to list his role as Salvatore Tessio in The Godfather, but for me, it was in his role as Phil Fish on the television series, The Barney Miller Show where Vigoda’s chops as an actor really stood out. He played a sad-sack detective who had given up fighting the system and instead fought his hemorrhoids. He perpetually looked older than he actually was, sad eyes, a slouching body, but his wit as an actor was sharp and he had that wonderful talent of making almost anyone around him look good.
He was as comfortable on stage as he was in front of the camera. In fact, he was probably more at home there than anywhere. His career was long, his list of credits impressive, and when not playing a character he had an infectious smile. We need actors like Abe Vigoda who don’t feel a need to hog the limelight and can just enjoy acting.
Edgar Mitchell
Edgar Mitchell, 1930-2016
Being an astronaut sounds like a wonderful occupation, doesn’t it? And being one of only twelve people to actually set foot on the moon had to be exhilarating, right? Ed Mitchell led the kind of life the rest of us dream about.
But imagine what it had to be like, sitting in the pilot’s seat for Apollo 14, with all the disasters of the previous attempt at space flight whizzing through your brain. The dangers were more real and present than ever. He knew that for all the simulations and safety checks, things could still go wrong and there was still a chance he might not come back. If ever there was an astronaut facing impossible pressure, it was Ed Mitchell.
Yet, he did it. He guided the Apollo spacecraft into a successful orbit around the moon, then placed the lander exactly where it needed to be on the surface. They just don’t make heroes like this anymore.
He believed in UFOs and remote healing. Consciousness was a dominant topic for his later conversations. That trip to the moon and back got him thinking in terms not everyone was comfortable discussing. Yet, he deserves to be remembered as the one who looked on an Apollo program in tatters and said, “Yeah, I’ll give that a shot.”
Andy Grove
Andrew Grove, 1936-2016
Most obituaries list Andy Grove as one of the founders and former CEO of computer chip giant Intel. That he was a technological visionary who brought us the digital life we now enjoy is impossible to argue. He should be remembered for that act alone.
However, before he was Andy Grove, technology CEO, he was András István Gróf of Hungary. A teen under the Nazi occupation, he saw how evil the world could be and at age 20 decided to escape, on his own, to the US. It was this drive, and some say his paranoia because of these events, that gave him the skills he needed to make Intel the world’s leading semiconductor company. He knew fear, he knew the risk of losing, and he kept his company from the face of bankruptcy during its infancy.
Gove’s mind operated on a level that would make most of us dizzy. He wrote the book, literally, on semiconductors, and then a best seller on his management style. He was also incredibly generous, giving CUNY a $26 million grant that totally transformed the university’s small engineering school. He was impeccable about details, yet understood that not everyone was a detailed-oriented person. He gave those around him room to be who and what they were best at being.
The digital world is much stronger, much faster, and much safer because of Andy Grove.
Fred Hayman
Fred Hayman, 1925-2016
Whatever you know, or think you know, about Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills is the work of this man: Fred Hayman. Born Fred Jules Pollag in a small town in Switzerland, Fred’s father died when he was young and his mother remarried to Julius Haymann. The family emigrated to the US and Fred’s first serious job was as a waiter at the Waldof-Astoria hotel.
Fred didn’t start out with any concept of fashion retail. Instead, he joined the Navy with the idea of becoming a dentist. That dream was never realized, though, and he eventually ended up back at the Waldorf-Astoria. Hotel work seemed to be his fate and he eventually ventured West where he became the manager of the Beverly Hilton Hotel.
But then, the entrepreneurial bug bit. There were no other clothing shops on Rodeo Drive when he opened his store, Giorgio, there in 1961. There were no boutiques. No perfume fragrances wafting out open doors. What he had was an open bar, a reading room, and a pool table so that husbands would have something to do while their wives shopped. The gimmick worked. So did the yellow/black striped awning that came to symbolize Beverly Hills shopping. His success lured other luxury retailers to the street, making Rodeo Drive the place for the Beverly Hills elite to build their wardrobe.
Hayman eventually sold Giorgio and its signature fragrance to Avon in the 1980s, but still kept a small shop open nearby. I suppose as long as the store remains open people will still remember his name, but don’t forget that this is the man responsible for turning a nondescript shop into the seat of luxury.
Alan Young
Alan Young, 1919-2016
“A horse is a horse, of course, of course.” Those are the words that instantly come to my mind anytime I think of Alan Young. I mean, it’s not just anyone who can play alongside a talking horse for six years and that’s exactly what Young did. As Wilbur, the owner of the contrary and trouble-making Mr. Ed, Young pulled off one of the most tremendous acting feats in television history. Acting alongside other humans is one thing, but anyone who has been around horses know that even the best of them can be a complete pain in the ass on a regular basis. Yet, Young did this for six years as the show became a hit.
What few of us still remember is that Alan Young was a star even before Mr. Ed. Prior to that horse riding into his life, Young had been host of his own variety show and even won a Prime Time Emmy award in 1951. He was a staple on evening television all through the 1950s and 60s and even made a few appearances in film.
Young “retired” for a while after Mr. Ed. But then Disney lured him into the voice-over business as the voice of Scrooge McDuck and other duck-related cartoon characters. His list of credits includes such improbable titles as Ren and Stempy, and Batman: the animated series. This became his second career, one in which he was active right up until his death this past May. So sure, you may not have known his name, but chances are you grew up with his voice, somewhere, in your childhood.
Pat Summit
Pat Summit, 1952, 2016
Women’s basketball never has gotten the recognition it deserves so if you’ve not heard the name Pat Summit before, that’s likely the reason. But hers is not only one you should know, she’s someone worthy of a tremendous amount of respect for one very simple reason: she is the winningest basketball coach in NCAA history. More wins than anyone, including all the guys whose names are recognized all over the world. We’re talking 1,098 career wins. In her 38 years as coach, she never had a losing season. Never. There was no way she would allow that to happen.
Most of her wins came as head coach of the Lady Vols at the University of Tennessee. She was relentless on the court. She pushed her girls hard, but they loved her for it. Ask any of them. I’ve not known any of her players to say anything negative about Coach Summit. She knew what it took to win and she made damn sure her teams got there. The fact that they all happened to be young women was irrelevant. They could have taken on most men’s teams in the NCAA and beaten them, too, were it not for the inherent sexism in the sport.
Women’s basketball arguably owes its life to Pat Summit. The NCAA didn’t even recognize women’s basketball as a sport when Pat started coaching in 1974. She was paid a whopping $250 a month, washed the team’s uniforms herself, and even drove the van to games. There was no budget for women’s basketball back then. Then, she coached the US Olympic Team to its first ever basketball medal in 1976, and things began to change. Her teams weren’t second-rate and she wouldn’t allow the university to get off treating them as second-rate, either.
Off the court, Coach Summit had a wonderful sense of humor and a quick wit when some jackass sports reporter tried subjugating her or her sport. Coach Summit knew how to use humor to defuse tense situations and teach a lesson at the same time. Unfortunately, that time was cut short with early-onset Alzheimers. Coach retired in 2013 and that horrible disease didn’t waste any time-consuming her. The next time you watch a women’s basketball game, though, remember Coach Pat Summit. The sport wouldn’t exist without her.
Alan Vega
Alan Vega, 1938-2016
The music world has taken some huge hits this year with the deaths of some very well-known and popular artists. With all those names in a very lost list, it’s easy to see how someone like Alan Vega might be missed. You probably never attended one of his concerts. You probably never saw his videos. There’s a chance you wouldn’t even like his music if you heard it. Vega was unique, a one-of-a-kind musician with a very limited audience.
So, why should you remember him? Because both punk and electronica grew out of his work. If you’re under the age of 40 and ever go to a nightclub, what you hear is the influence of Alan Vega.
Vega was a revolutionary kind of person. Attending Brooklyn College in the 1960s, he studied both physics and fine arts. He was as much a visual artist as he was a musician. Yet, he didn’t go for any level of conformity. He was part of a group that barricaded the Museum of Modern Art. As part of a project called MUSEUM: A Project of Living Artists, Vega started working with light sculptors made from digital debris.
In 1970s, he formed the band Suicide with his best friend, Martin Reverby and guitarist Paul Liebgott and began experimenting with sound the same way he had experimented with light. They called their music Punk, or Punk Mass, and within the artistic underground of that era they became stars.
That stardom never reached major radio market airplay, though, and Vega’s fame stayed largely within the relatively small community of experimental artists and musicians he influenced. He influenced a lot of people, however, and the resonance of his experimentation exists in much of the electronic and rock music heard today. He never stopped trying something new, even as he continued creating right up until his death. If you are a fan of EDM, punk, or any other electronic-dominated music form, you have Alan Vega to thank.
Pete Fountain
Pete Fountain, 1930-2016
I don’t know how old I was the first time I heard Pete Fountain play, but I remember the song. He took the old gospel melody of A Closer Walk and turned it from a dry, turgid piece of funeral-ready sadness into something with soul. A song that I all-too-well recognized as something that was sung over dead people suddenly had life. That was Pete’s gift. Give him even the shortest rif of notes and he could bring it all to life.
Pierre Dewey Fountain, Jr.,[3] was born in New Orleans. The rhythm of the city was bred into his veins and infused every note he played. He was sick a lot as a child, probably suffering from undiagnosed asthma. When a doctor advised his father that a music instrument, “something he can blow into,” might help, his father took him to a music store and he chose the clarinet. At first, his lungs were so weak he couldn’t even make a sound. He kept trying, though, and once he started he never stopped. By the time he was a teenager, he was playing regular gigs on Bourbon Street. He never left.
Influenced by the music of Benny Goodman, Fountain created a sound that was unique to New Orleans. A mix of blues and jazz, he created a tone that more woody than most, thanks largely to a crystal mouthpiece he started using in 1958. His sound was fluid and full, never shrill, easy on the ears. He could take the most boring of songs and make them exciting. That didn’t always set well with people who were accustomed to more sedate music. Legend is he pissed off Lawrence Welk with a jazz version of the Christmas classic, “Silver Bells.”
I was thrilled to see Pete live on two separate occasions, the latter being up close in a nightclub where he was unrestrained and played as though every note were made of gold. His style of Dixieland Jazz still lives in artists like Jon Batiste. You can find his recordings in music stores still. There are worse ways to spend your money, to be sure. Take a listen.
Janet Reno
Janet Reno, 1938-2016
Janet Reno is not one of those people who I would have expected to include on a list like this. However, when I mentioned her death a couple of months ago and received, “Who?” as a reply I realized then that her legacy was in danger of going unnoticed. Pay attention, children, some of you may very well owe your life to Janet Reno.
Most notably, Janet Reno was the first female Attorney General of the United States. Nominated by President Bill Clinton in 1993, she served in that position until 2001, the longest anyone had served in that position since 1829. That alone would be enough to earn her a spot in the history books. What she did for women in both the legal and political arenas was immeasurable. Now, add to that the fact that she was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 1995, understand all the physical challenges that disease created for her, and her accomplishments are even more impressive.
You should know her for more than that, though. Before becoming Attorney General of the United States, Miss Reno was Attorney General of the state of Florida where she broke new ground in the prosecution of child abuse. Most notably, she oversaw the passage of a law that would allow abused children to testify via closed-circuit television so that they would not have to confront the fear of those who had abused them.
Miss Reno’s tenure as Attorney General was not an easy one. It was her Department of Justice responsible for the Branch Davidian standoff outside Waco, Texas, that resulted in the deaths of 76 people. She also oversaw the arrest and convictions of notable criminals such as the Unabomber, Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols for the Oklahoma City bombing, and the persons responsible for the 1993 bombing at the World Trade Center.
There is a lot to learn from the life of a woman who was totally and completely committed to the law and justice. Take some time and get to know this incredible woman.
Leon Russell
Leon Russell, 1942-2016
How in the world is Leon Russell on this list? I mean, doesn’t everyone know about Leon Russell? I certainly would have thought so, but after his death last month I mentioned him to five different people, all under the age of 30, and none of them knew who he was. One person thought he was a member of the OJays. Sigh. This is why we create lists like this, children.
Leon Russell was born in Lawton, Oklahoma, a military town surrounded by nothing in the world but dust. I’ve never been there but what I didn’t end up sick. He began playing piano at the age of four, the same age I was when I started playing, and his parents moved to Tulsa. He went to the same high school there as Anita Bryant and formed his first band with Bread’s frontman David Gates. If you ask me who David Gates is I may have to slap you.
From Tulsa he went to Los Angeles where he became a studio musician. His style was popular and he played keyboard on a number of records for groups such as The Beach Boys and Jan & Dean. He was also an active composer and arranger. He wrote Delta Lady for Joe Cocker and over 100 different artists have covered his A Song For You. He produced albums for Bob Dylan, Frank Sinatra, Ike & Tina Turner, the Rolling Stones among others. Perhaps more than anything else, he was a mentor and friend to a young British singer going by the name Elton John.
Through the 70s and early 80s he performed country music under the name Hank Wilson, but he never stopped writing and producing rock through that time, either. If you’ve listened to the 1970s recordings of the Rolling Stones, B.B. King, Helen Reddy, The Gap Band, Bob Dylan, or Willie Nelson, you’ve heard Russell’s influence both in production and often on keyboard.
I could literally go on for pages and pages with this man’s accomplishments. He never stopped. in 2010 he recorded a duet album with Elton John. At the time of his death last month, he was planning on starting yet another tour in January.
You know Leon Russell. You just didn’t know that you know Leon Russell. Now you do. I hope you will remember. Maybe this will help:
Of course, this list, like every other list you’re seeing this time of year, is incomplete. There were many, many more people whose deaths this year deserve observance. This list just touches the surface. One of the most complete lists of notable deaths this year is a “live” list compiled by the Associated Press. Take a look. Go through the names and get to know the people mentioned. They are each notable for a reason. Take a moment and appreciate the way in which they changed their world, then let’s look at 2017 as a chance to change ours.
We listen to a lot of music, but these are the top of our list
We get down to this time of year and top ten lists start popping up everywhere. I’m sure we’ll have our share of lists as well. After all, this has been an extremely eventful year. There’s a lot to consider as we move into the new year.
Through everything we’ve endured, we’ve been listening to music. A lot of music. While we do try to keep the mix current to some degree, the songs we listen to the most tend to be older. We’ve needed a lot of emotional comfort this year and the songs that are familiar help provide that. The mix is interesting. I don’t know that I’d actually want to put all ten of these together on a mixtape. At the same time, though, these are some damn good songs. We’ll count them down backward just to create a false sense of drama.
The Bottom Five
10. My Funny Valentine – Etta James
Yeah, it’s old school, but then, so am I. There’s something about the sound of Ms. James’ voice that is like drinking a cup of hot cocoa on a snowy day. I really like the simple guitar accompaniment in this version of the song as well. I can just imagine sitting in some smoke-filled speakeasy when the lights go down, the room gets quiet, and her deep voice begins …
9. New Day – Alicia Keys
Change of tempo, change of style, change of era. New Day is essential Alicia Keys. I have this song on multiple playlists so I’m actually a little surprised that it didn’t rank higher. This is a must for those early mornings when we’re trying to get the kids out the door to school. More than just the song, though, I have mountains of respect for Ms. Keys so just hearing her voice makes me happy.
8. Everyday People – Sly & The Family Stone
This is another happy song with the added benefit of bringing a little high school retro feeling to the mix. The song is a bit of a distraction, though. There’s seldom a time when it comes on that I don’t have to stop what I’m doing and dance in my chair a little bit. If there’s no one around, I might even get out of my chair, though that tends to scare the dog.
7. Embraceable You – Gloria Estefan
Yeah, I know, most people like Ms. Estefan’s livelier music with a Cuban beat. I totally get that. Those are fun songs. But her album of standards really provides a great vehicle for the rich warmth of her voice to shine through, something we don’t necessarily get with all those dance songs. This is ultimately a couple’s song, though. If Kat’s not around when it comes on you can be sure I’m messaging her the lyrics.
6. Focus – Ariana Grande
Ha! I bet you didn’t think I know who Ariana Grande is! WRONG! Just don’t ask me to pick her out of a lineup of children at the mall. How in the world such a powerful voice comes out of a small package defies physics and physiology. As much as anything, though, this is just one of those songs where the rhythm catches hold and my office chair magically starts moving on its own. Seriously. Old men like me aren’t supposed to dance to new music like this.
The Top Five
5. Isn’t It Romantic? – Ella Fitzgerald
The top five has a lot of older standard in it and this is another one of my early morning favorites. The song not only speaks to the romantic in me, the ease of Ella’s voice helps keep me calm on those days when the morning headlines have me ready to punch something. I can just close my eyes and imagine a ballroom full of lovely people, the women all dressed in classic Oscar de la Renta gowns, swaying gently to the music without a care in the world. Sure, it’s pure fantasy, but it works.
4. Thanks for the Memory – Bob Hope
When the late Bob Hope was cast as an unemployed writer for this 1938 movie, I doubt he knew the title song would one day become so closely associated with him that many people thought he was the composer. He wasn’t, of course. Ralph Rainger and Leo Robin wrote the original version. Over the years, though, it became a staple at the end of the comedian’s shows and with each one, he would re-write the lyrics to fit the show. This song is pure nostalgia for me, and hearing Bob’s voice again never fails to make me smile.
3. This Can’t Be Love – Nat King Cole
This is the second of three songs by Richard Rogers and Lorenz Hart in my top five. Yes, I know they’re all older than I am, which means a fair portion of you are likely to have never heard it before. Rogers & Hart were staples on Broadway and in pop music of the 1920s and 30s. When you hear people talk about “the standards,” this is the music to which they’re referring. Even Lady Gaga has covered Rogers & Hart songs. If you’re a singer, you have to be able to do well with this songs. Why this song and this version? Because it was the first song to come up after my first date with Kat. Shhhh, don’t tell her.
2. Hold on, Hold on – Neko Case
Neko Case has one of those pure voices I can recognize with the first word she sings. I’ve been a fan of her music for several years now and keep going back to this one song over and over and over. The line, “The echo chorus lied to me with its hold on, hold on, hold on” seems especially fitting right about now. There’s a good reason this song is number two on my list. It’s gotten a tremendous amount of play the past few months. Like, every day, multiple times a day.
1. The Lady Is A Tramp – Ella Fitzgerald
This is vintage Ella Fitzgerald when her voice was at its best. The Rogers and Hart composition is one of my all-time favorites and is at the top of my list of standards. There have been dozens, maybe even hundreds of artists attempt to cover this song, but no one ever has nor ever will do it as wonderfully as Ms. Fitzgerald. When I’m down, this song and lift me up. When I feel like I don’t fit in, this song reminds me that’s okay. The strength and power keeps me moving, keeps my head up, and helps me power through even the most difficult days. Ella recorded this song several times but this is my favorite version.
There you have it, our top 10 songs for 2016. Perhaps it wasn’t quite what you were expecting. I know I was a little surprised by a couple of the songs in the bottom 10, but I love them all. Spotify created a six-hour playlist of my top 100 songs for the year as well. I’m not going to take the time to go through all of them with you, but if you’re interested in listening, you can find the playlist before. Happy listening!
Dancing our blues away makes as much sense as any projected political policies we’ve seen. Can’t hurt to try.
There is an automatic irony to me writing this article. I don’t dance. Not really. I can do the office chair boogie. I can do the dad shuffle. I can do the stand-and-sway if the music is slow. But actually dance? Nah, not going to happen. I don’t even bother watching Dancing With The Stars because it just makes me sad. I was raised Southern Baptist. We weren’t even allowed to watch American Bandstand because it was “a bad influence.” So, without those early dance skills being properly developed, any chance I ever had of being able to dance slipped right out under the front door into the Kansas wind.
I like dancing, though. I think it is artistic and beautiful and does wonderful things for people. I am especially taken by large groups of people dancing. Whether it’s choreographed steps that everyone knows, or a flash mob that’s been rehearsed, there’s something about a large group of people moving together at the same time to the same music that gives me hope.
Stop and think about it. Music provides a central ideal, something around which everyone can agree. Then, there’s cooperation. Some lead, some follow, but everyone’s working together for the greater good. There’s a plan, a choreography laid out in advance that everyone follows. Finally, when the time comes, everyone does their part in the performance and the result is something beautiful.
Now, if we can do that with music, and do it over and over and over again, why can’t we do that with other things such as politics? Same rules and methods apply. We just have to agree on the music.
Movies do a great job of illustrating my point. Dancing solves all the world’s problems. Let’s take a look at a few examples.
Shake A Tail Feather
From the original Blues Brothers in 1980, this particular scene proves that a blind man with the right song can bring together an entire community. If you can watch this and not feel better by the end, there’s just something wrong with your soul. Even the little kids get in on the act. If a blind man can generate this kind of cooperation, then maybe there’s hope for Congress. Maybe. If they were all blind.
You Make My Dreams
Okay, so there may not be a for-real flash mob dancing with you as you walk home, but there’s little question that we all feel more like dancing when we’re getting laid, which is exactly what happens in the 2009 movie Days of Summer. The problem is, that whole idea that dancing leads to sex is preposterous. Sex leads to dancing. Happiness leads to dancing. Maybe if we backed off the issues around who is having sex with whom or who is getting married to whom then maybe we’d all be a lot more happy and there’s be animated little birds flying around everywhere.
Fake I.D
The 2011 remake of Footloose bears very little resemblance to the original with Kevin Bacon, but one of the things it gives us is an incredibly wonderful line dancing scene. I’ve never actually tried line dancing. I’m always the one taking pictures of everyone else giving it a whirl. If I could dance, though, it would probably be with something like this. Line dancing is exactly how society should be: everyone on the same page, doing their own thing while working together with everyone else. And it’s fun. We need life to be fun.
https://youtu.be/uwNIMM4qnrI
Twist And Shout
I look at Ferris Bueller’s Day Off now and the first thing that comes to mind is how young everyone was back then. We all were young, once. That doesn’t mean we’ve lost the ability to Twist and Shout, though. We might even sway through a chorus of Danke Schoen. What this portion of the movie tells us, though, is that a) it’s easy to convince the people of Chicago to dance in the middle of the street, and b) dancing is a good distraction when you’re on the verge of really blowing it in life. Dancing puts all the problems on the shelf for a minute, gives us a chance to re-examine things before we proceed. The dancing is critical to the outcome of the movie. Perhaps it’s just as critical to the outcome of life.
Closing Time
This scene from Friends With Benefits shows the power of love as expressed through a flash mob. Stop and think a moment about all the trouble, planning, and coordination that Justin Timberlake’s character had to go through to make a flash mob like this happen in Grand Central Station. If we put that same level of effort into our government, our politics, our social lives, and especially our relationships, then perhaps we’d end up with everyone being best friends. Maybe. I can’t make any promises, but what we’ve been doing the past 50 years certainly hasn’t worked, has it? I’m willing to try something new and a dancing flash mob seems like the perfect way to go.
Now, if you’re still reading this far down the page, thank you. With the non-stop political coverage we’ve had the past several months and the bleakness I’m seeing for the future, it seems to me we need to take an extremely different tact in how we approach things. Am I in denial? Yes, most certainly. Denial is safe for the moment. Denial helps ignore the fact that there’s not a damn thing I can do to stop the impending catastrophe coming on January 20. So, let’s all get together and dance. I think we’ll feel better, even if we’re all in denial.
Awards that recognize talent are great but when it becomes a popularity contest the shows lose all meaning
I’m drinking coffee that is far too weak for a Monday morning. I’m drinking weak coffee because it is Monday morning. You know, the kind where you think you’re pouring the beans into the grinder but half of them are actually missing and falling onto the floor kind of morning. As a result, my coffee is very much like last night’s American Music Awards: Weak and bland to the point of nearly being useless.
What, you didn’t realize that the American Music Awards (AMAs) were last night? Welcome to the club. I woke this morning to something in my newsfeed about Ariana Grande thanking her fans for sticking by her during her emotional collapse this year. I’m not making light of serious mental conditions when I respond with: YAWN. She’s had a rough year. That’s not a problem. She’s surviving and that’s wonderful. But does that deserve a music award? Probably not.
Maybe I’m the only one who feels this way, and if so then I’ll apologize, but it seems to me the preponderance of awards shows, especially in the field of music, has become so numerous that it dilutes the value of all of them. Even the Grammy awards, which I still consider the best of the group, has lost some of its sparkle because, hey, if you didn’t win one of those then we’ll just for the next awards show and get you one then. If we’re going to bother giving out awards, they need to actually mean something. Otherwise, it’s just a group of musicians getting together, patting each other on the back, and exchanging tour dates. Those who genuinely enjoy music deserve more.
Music has a PR problem
I realize I’m reaching back before the dawn of time for some of you, but I remember watching two awards shows when I was a kid: the Grammys and the Oscars. Those were the big ones because my parents had made the decision that those two were culturally significant enough to justify my staying up past my bedtime to watch. The awards meant something, were reflective of our values as a society, and established a bar for the level of performance. Slowly, other awards shows started popping up, but I didn’t get to stay up late for those. My parents deemed them questionable both in terms of value and content.
Since then, the list has expanded even more, especially in the field of music. In addition to the Grammys and the AMAs, there are multiple MTV awards and people’s choice awards and country music awards and rock music awards and music video awards, and the list just keeps growing. Add in all the culture-specific awards shows and one could pretty much attend a music awards show every week, sometimes two. The number has exceeded any amount of reason. There is no requirement for quality in music for awards shows and many of the industry’s problems are reflective of that fact.
Of course, it doesn’t help a bit to have someone out there who goes on long rants then walks out on his own concert before canceling another. I don’t understand why anyone bothers to buy his concert tickets anymore. The industry also isn’t aided by excessive attention over performer’s personal lives rather than their music. Do we really need to know whom Taylor Swift is dating this week? Could Ariana Grande’s problems possibly stem from fans who can’t mind their own damn business and a media that encourages such invasion of personal lives? Surely, we would all do a lot better if we focused on the music and ignored those who only win because they have a huge Instagram following, Zayn.
Music With Meaning
Am I just an old man ranting about all this new-fangled music? I suppose that’s possible, to some extent. Although, I routinely surprise my 18-year-old when I know the words to more popular music than he does. My playlists regularly include Maroon 5, Lady Gaga, Beyoncè, and Bruno Mars. I’ll even toss in some Taylor Swift and Adele every once in a while. I like to think that I’m not completely out of touch. Yet, when I look at the list of last night’s winners, I see a list divided between sentimental favorites (Prince’s Purple Rain for top soundtrack—didn’t we do that already?) and Instagram stars of questionable talent (explain, please, why only having one name is good, Zayn).
Granted, the AMAs have never been known for their quality picks. The awards program began in 1973 as an “alternative to the Grammys.” In other words, a group of people decided that they were tired of their favorite artists not getting awards (largely because their music sucked) and decided to go off and do their own thing. The modern version of the AMAs does the majority of its voting online. As a result, the winners are simply those who are most popular, not the ones who have presented the best music in the previous year. So, we get a former boy band member winning Best New Artist when The Chainsmokers and Shawn Mendes were obviously better (see, I actually listened to the music). All the nominees for Tour of the Year were old school (Bruce Springsteen, Madonna, and Beyoncè). One has to wonder whether those who voted Blake Shelton Best Male Country Artist really listened to his latest album or his marriage-busting relationship with Gwen Stefani.
Looking through the entire list of nominees, I don’t see anything that was actually good on the list. Why? Because all the good music at the moment is coming from independent and small-label artists who don’t get the airplay, or more importantly, don’t have the huge social media followings. You aren’t likely to see those folks at the awards shows.
Your Support Makes A Difference
Entertainment fields are unlike political elections where your vote doesn’t always seem to matter. You vote for movies and music with your wallet. What you buy, matters. What you watch, matters. If you’re buying CDs from a local band, it may not seem like much at the time, but trust me, someone notices. That $5 you just spent on music from your favorite local band is five dollars that didn’t make it into the hands of a major label and they’re watching every penny at this stage of the game.
The same applies to awards shows. If you want a local band to make it big, then they need a ton of support all across social media. We’re not just talking about liking their page or their Instagram account, but sharing songs and photos so that other people have a chance to become familiar with the band or singer. We are living in an age where it is entirely possible for unsigned talent to make it big. Follow them on YouTube. Share their videos. As the numbers grow, the people who run the record labels and awards shows begin to notice.
At the same time, if you’re as tired of the nonsense as I am, then there are some groups and individuals you need to avoid. For me, and this is a personal decision, Zayn falls into the same dumpster pile as that Bieber kid. I didn’t like the group he was in, I don’t like his solo work either. You create your own list. That’s how the system works.
The music industry exists to make money. From your local radio station to your Pandora and Spotify accounts, what matters is where you are spending your money. So, do us all a favor. Stop supporting the folks whose music requires 15 people to write and can’t be covered with a single microphone and a guitar. Stop supporting alleged artists who walk out on their own shows or cancel without good reason. Support artists who are passionate, who write songs you’ll still want to hear 30 years from now. Buy their stuff. Share their stuff.
And turn off the damn awards shows. They need to just go away.
When it seems the universe has yanked life from your control and turned it against you, music reminds you to keep going and push back
There are so many people we know who are having difficulty finding ways to process the degree to which their reality changed this week. Political decisions made this week generate fear for many, making others severely anxious, and outright depressing for some. Trying to figure out how to pick up the pieces and continue on is a real challenge for many.
We don’t have any answers. We looked for some and came up empty. We cannot unify behind hatred. We cannot continue on with our lives as though nothing happened. We cannot forgive those whose sole reason for voting was to dominate and suppress the civil rights of others. We just can’t.
This is when we look to music to get us through the day. The powers of music to alter our emotions, to subdue the anxiety and depression and worry and pull them all down to manageable levels is extremely well documented. We listen, we feel better, we stay alive.
Music won’t make the situation at hand go away. Neither does protesting in the streets, by the way. We’re all better off, for now, staying in, hugging and comforting each other, and carefully watching what happens next. If action is required, we will take it. Until then, we have our music to get us through. We’ve chosen 25 songs we think can help keep us moving forward. At the end, I’ll give you a link to the whole playlist. Be of hope and good cheer.
Songs 1-5
Songs 6-10
Song 11-15
Songs 16-25
That’s what we’ve got for you. Total play time is right around an hour and 28 minutes. If you want the full playlist, I’m adding that link below. We hope this helps.
Credit for pictures in this article:
Models: Rebekkah Perrigrin & Emily Comstock
Makeup: Danelle French
Hair: Kelly Walsh
Styling: Lila Palomares & Allyson Brooks
Time is important to me because I want to sing long enough to leave a message. I’m used to singing in churches where nobody would dare stop me until the Lord arrives! —Mahalia Jackson
Music is something to be shared and the meaning runs deeper when we sing together
Growing up with my butt firmly planted in church on Sunday mornings, it just seems natural that there should be music. Hymns chosen to complement the topic of the morning’s sermon served as emotional preparation for what was to come. When the congregation would sing together, the sound could be glorious — or not, depending on the church.
Whether we’re in church or out, when we sing with other people we are somehow bonded emotionally to them. We may not know their names. We almost certainly don’t know their circumstances. Yet, as we bring our voices together, singing words we know so well, we are filled with a warm sense of belonging. For a moment, we are part of a choir and it doesn’t matter whether we get all the words right or if we miss a note here and there. What matters is that we sing.
After my missive on happiness this morning, it occurs to me that what was missing from my sermon was the music. Granted, I’m not inclined to lead everyone in a number of hymns. I think a more secular invocation is appropriate for our purposes. When we think about happiness, there are a number of songs that pop to mind. So, what we’re going to do is give you a group of videos, lyrics included or which you likely know, and let’s all sing together, shall we? I know it’s not church, but I think it will be enjoyable.
https://youtu.be/PGJX9tutZEA
There, is everybody happy now?
If you forget the words to your own song, you can always claim artistic license. Forget the words to the national anthem, and you’re screwed. —Lyle Lovett
The National Anthem is difficult to sing, is fraught with negative connotations, and fails to fully represent our country. So why do we still use it?
I’m looking at recent headlines and having an incredible sense of having been here before. Once again, we’re arguing about the National Anthem. This instance happens to be the result of some random football player exercising his right to sit during the pre-game ritual. This isn’t the first time someone has done that. It won’t be the last. This whole incident has been played out multiple times during my life. Yet, for all the talk, nothing has actually changed.
I’ll admit that, as a musician, I rather like the music portion of The Star-Spangled Banner. I like that not just anyone can sing the song well. The song harmonizes well when arranged correctly. The melody is open to a lot of personal interpretation. As a piece of music, The Star-Spangled Banner works well for me.
However, as a national anthem, the song sucks. The language is stilted and the entire third verse is offensive. Textually, the song doesn’t so much say, “Hooray for the United States,” as it says, “Hey, we didn’t get beaten this time.” As a nation, we have been divided over the anthem since the middle of the 19th century. Continuing to force it upon generation after generation just for the sake of tradition removes any real meaning. What we sing at the beginning of ballgames and political events today does not represent us. We need a national anthem that speaks for us all.
Why Have A National Anthem?
If we’re going to get all riled up about the issue of a national anthem, we first must consider why we have an anthem in the first place. Why is it an anthem and not just a national song? I don’t find it unrealistic should we just have a national jingle. After all, we are one of the most commercially driven and materialistic people on the planet. Perhaps an anthem isn’t what we need at all.
Most music dictionaries define an anthem as a song that identifies the ideals and values of a specific group of people. For example, when our friends directly to the North of us sing Oh, Canada it’s pretty obvious from the start what the song is about and who it represents. Russia’s national anthem (which is not without similar controversies itself) is also highly recognizeable. That one starts out:
Russia – our sacred homeland,
Russia – our beloved country.
A mighty will, a great glory –
These are your heritage for all time!
Sort of. The translation is a little rough, but the general sentiment is there. My point is that an anthem makes it clear that it holds a relationship with a specific group of people.
The Star-Spangled Banner doesn’t exactly fit that definition. People only relate the song to the country because we keep playing it every time we decide to get sweaty or have an election. The song does not contain the name of the country. The song does not represent our ideals. Our song is about a flag not getting blown to smithereens. That’s it. So, it fails in the definition of an anthem.
A National Anthem Should Be Inclusive
Singer/songwriter John Legend, who I respect, went on record yesterday as saying he believes we should change the national anthem to America The Beautiful. A lot of people have made the argument for Katherine Lee Bates’ song before. At the very least, it is certainly more descriptive of the country and contains the word “America.” That’s more than the current anthem does. Plus, it is easier to sing and is already well-known. There’s just one little problem in the chorus:
America, America,
God shed his grace on thee.
Uhm, yeah, there are going to be a lot of people have a problem with that reference to a specific deity. The case isn’t made any stronger by the fact that the original poem has at least eight verses, one of which contains a phrase some might find a bit frightening:
America, America,
God shed his grace on thee;
‘Til nobler men keep once again
Thy whiter jubilee!
What the fuck? Okay, if we give Miss Bates the benefit of the doubt, she might have meant “whiter” in the sense of more heavenly, maybe. Still, the inference here is totally unacceptable in a national anthem. The same is true for God Bless America and I’m Proud To Be An American. The religious references divide us, not unite us.
Some (Slightly) Better Suggestions
We have some existing songs within the American catalog of music that have the potential for being a great national anthem. If we’re going to get all caught up in the flag thing, then perhaps the late George M. Cohan has the answer:
You’re a grand old flag
You’re a high-flying flag
And forever in peace may you wave.
You’re the emblem of
The land I love,
The home of the free and the brave.
Ev’ry heart beats true
‘Neath the Red, White and Blue,
Where there’s never a boast or brag.
But should auld acquaintance be forgot,
Keep your eye on the grand old flag.
The song only works, however, if we just adopt the chorus. The first verse has an uncomfortable reference to, “Way down yonder in the land of cotton.” I can understand a lot of people not being particularly fond of that little element.
Perhaps we just do away with lyrics altogether. After all, that seems to be what largely upsets folks about any of the songs. Maybe John Philip Sousa’s The Stars and Stripes Forever, which is already our national march, could fit the bill. We like singing, though, and again, it doesn’t match the definition of an anthem.
Time To Write Our Own
We need a new national anthem. We need a song that is singable, one that unites us rather than divides us. The United States deserves a national anthem that actually contains the name of the country in its text. A song that can be sung by little children or mass choirs should be the goal of our effort. Any anthem representing our country needs to reflect all of us, not just the privileged few. To have a song that marginalizes so many of our own people is unacceptable.
We have too many wonderful and talented composers in our country for us to not have one kick-ass national anthem. We need to get behind the concept and tell Congress, who ordains such things, that we demand a new song. Maybe have John Legend write it, or maybe Beyoncé and Taylor Swift could team up. Anyone accept Kanye. Please, don’t let that idiot near our national anthem.
For too long, we have argued and fussed over a national anthem that fails to represent us well. We need to get over the whole aspect of tradition and write something new; something that gives us all a reason to stand with pride and sing.
Or maybe we just need a jingle.
Markets change, tastes change, so the companies and the individuals who choose to compete in those markets must change. —An Wang
What we hear affects how we taste. So, one beer is providing its own soundtrack
Most mornings I sit here trying to be as quiet as possible so as to not wake everyone else in the house, especially the little ones. Fortunately, everyone sleeps rather soundly, so I’m able to grind beans and make coffee without disturbing anyone other than the dog, who doesn’t mind as long as I feed him first. I enjoy sitting down with that first cup of coffee in the peace and quiet of the morning. I’ve never given any consideration as to whether music might actually change how my coffee tastes. However, I’m certainly thinking that way now.
Beer maker Stella Artois released a couple of YouTube videos this week aimed at changing how we experience their beer. Partnering with The Roots, aka the band from Jimmy Fallon’s Tonight Show on NBC, the brand is throwing some science at its customers by demonstrating how music alters how their beer tastes. No kidding. This is real science. In fact, it’s just part of a larger multi-sensory project called Le Savior. They’ve already thrown multi-sensory events in Montreal and New York where the videos take center place. Unfortunately, the rest of us just have to try and re-create the experience on our own.
Do we really care enough about the subtle tastes of a beer to change our playlists? If you drink Budweiser, you could probably care less. For Stella drinkers, though, that difference can be a huge factor in their drinking experience. Turns out, sound affects our entire culinary experience. Perhaps we should investigate.
Yes, This Is Real Science
While science has taken some hard knocks among those who refuse to believe the earth is hotter than ever, the science of auditory effects on tastes is pretty solid. Yes, we actually looked it up and did some reading. I mean, just because a beer company tells us something doesn’t mean we’re going to believe it, right? Please, tell me you don’t take these campaigns at face value. What we found is that not only is the auditory impact on food tastes a serious area of study, the volume of research on the various aspects is considerable.
At the core of all this research is how sound affects our concept of sweet and salty tastes. A 2011 study, Effect of Background Noise on Food Perception, looked at how perceptions of food differed based upon whether diners ate in silence, quiet background noise, or loud background noise. As it turns out, noise, “diminishes gustatory food properties,” ultimately affecting the tastes we perceive from the food and drink we think we’re enjoying.
In the real world, that means we need to be eating in environments that are actually quieter, not louder, if we want to really enjoy our meals. Televisions need to be shut off. Dining al fresco at a sidewalk cafe bordering a busy street probably isn’t enhancing the tastes of the food as much as we might think. All that loud kitchen noise and clanging and overly loud conversation? That’s great if a restaurant is trying to keep you distracted from how the food actually tastes. Quieter is always better.
But Silence Drives Us Nuts
Additional research, however, shows that some sounds, specifically music, can change how we feel about certain spices and especially regarding alcoholic beverages such as wine. A 2012 study published by The British Psychological Society demonstrated that subtle background music changed how subjects responded to the same wine. Think about that. Without being told they were drinking the same wine each time, subjects rated the wine differently four different times according to changes in background music. Interestingly enough, the subjects were so concentrated on the wine, they didn’t even notice cognitively that the music had changed!
With that knowledge in hand, Stella Artois employed food scientists Bompas & Parr and then worked with The Roots to come up with two different soundtracks to emphasize either the fruity sweetness or the hoppy bitterness, depending on which one might prefer. While I’ve not seen a full menu for the four-course meal severed at the Le Savior events, I assume food choices complimented whichever soundtrack was being played.
What this raises is whether dining and/or drinking experiences can be tailored based on music choices. If a restaurant plays a brass-heavy soundtrack, for example, are the more exotic and perhaps bitter tastes of the food going to come through more than if a lighter sound were chosen? Stop and think about it for a minute. Would knowledge of what music was playing ever impact or possibly even change your choice of where to dine?
Side A Or Side B?
Getting down to the actual videos one might find the difference between the two soundtracks almost insignificant. That theme comes up often in the comments below each video and while that source is far from being authoritative on any level we cannot ignore that we’re talking about more subtle difference that not everyone notices or appreciates. No two people approach tastes in exactly the same way. Our culinary traditions and experiences color every dish and every drink we consume. Some people care about subtle difference in flavor, some don’t. That’s cool.
Below, you’ll find both videos. Unfortunately, there’s nothing visually attractive here. The video is simply a vehicle for the soundtrack. What you’ll find, though, is that side A, which is supposed to bring out the fruitier elements of the beer has an emphasis on steel drums in the midst of the rapid-fire lyrics for which the group is known. There’s less direct melody and more percussion in this track. Side B, however, which is supposed to bring out the bitterness in the beer, is heavy on brass counter-melodies. Personally, the two tracks are obviously and completely different. However, I can see where someone not specifically tuned in on the musical elements might miss the difference. Again, one’s own tastes influence the experience.
Changing Minds
The question remains is whether this gimmick is enough to change anyone’s opinion about Stella Artois. For all the noise about craft and premium beers in the market, there are still a lot of people who just want something cold and alcoholic. One also has to wonder how a restaurant might serve music that meets the variety of tastes among the customers. Does every meal come with its own soundtrack? How would that even work?
Still, the test is an interesting one. Listen to the soundtracks during your next snack or drink. Who knows, they might just change your mind.
Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes. —Carl Jung
Dreams allow us to find creative solutions because there’s nothing to stand in their way.
My youngest son, the 18-year-old, has taken to wanting to watch horror movies on Netflix before going to bed at night. There is a severe dichotomy to his reasoning for choosing the last moments of the day to watch something that frightens the subconscious. He likes the emotional intensity of horror and suspense, but the movies give him nightmares.
Last night was a perfect example. I’m sitting elsewhere, reading, when I get a text message:
Why you leave me alone out here in the living room wanting to watch a horror movie?
When I didn’t respond quickly enough, he sent another message asking if I was almost done with my reading. He wanted to watch a movie, but was too frightened to watch one by himself. I stayed up to keep his mind occupied with other things while he watched some tale of creatures that live in the woods. Then, he had to watch something more fun before he could go to bed. Some dreams can be terrifying.
Dreams are strange beasts that we don’t understand in any great detail. For all the studies that have been done, scientists still don’t know why we dream. Neither does anyone really know why some dreams seem to have cognisance while others are nothing more than collections of random nonsense. If there was a failing to Dr. Jung’s research, it was the presumption that all dreams must have meaning. They don’t. Yet, without them, our lives get messed up in a hurry.
Turning Off Your Brain
Quick biology lesson: There is a part of your brain that, primarily, manages your impulse control, the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC). This is a very important part of our brain, especially when it comes to social skills. The DLPFC is that filter that stops you before you call your mother-in-law an old cow in the middle of Thanksgiving dinner. The same fold in your brain also prevents one from murdering everyone who is slightly annoying. We really need this part of our brain to work, and work well.
Care to guess what part of your brain gets shut off when you sleep? That’s right, the DLPFC shuts right down and takes a nap of its own. Actually, the entire prefrontal cortex takes a much-needed break. We work some parts of our brains harder than others when we’re awake and the prefrontal cortex uses that time to essentially catch its breath so that it can keep us from doing something stupid tomorrow.
Without the DLPFC in operation, however, our minds are free to roam. There is no inhibition in our dreams. All the creative mess on the right side of our brain, including the part that makes connections between bits of information, are allowed to wander at will. As a result, our dreams become full of really random and surreal thoughts as things that have absolutely nothing to do with each other begin to collide. At the same time, though, this uninhibited state allows us to find solutions that we otherwise wouldn’t consider.
The Upside Of Dreaming
Dreams have always fascinated us. As a result, scientists have attempted to study them for years with varying success. While there has been a lot of speculation, only relatively recently with the use of fMRI have we been able to begin to really understand what our brains are doing when we sleep, and specifically when dreaming. There are a number of different portions of our brain that are turned on and more active when we are asleep. Equally important, though, are the parts that stand down and let the creativity flow.
What may be most interesting is that we don’t have to dream all night to receive the creative benefits. Studies show that a good nap wherein we achieve REM sleep can boost cognitive association and creative problem solving by as much as 60 percent.You might want to let your boss in on that bit of research the next time you get caught sleeping at your desk (Ulrich Wagner and Jan Born in Nature, 2004).
Chances are you’ve experienced this phenomenon before. You have a problem to which you cannot seem to find a solution no matter how hard you might try. Then, you go to bed and in that foggy space between being awake and asleep the answer suddenly comes to you. Eureka! Problem solved.
Our minds can be at their most creative when we’re asleep, as well. Rocker Keith Richards tells the story of falling asleep on a night in May of 1965. Near his bed were a guitar and a tape recorder. When he woke up, the tape was at the end of the reel. Upon rewinding the tape, Richards found the opening of a song, along with an entire verse, followed by forty minutes of snoring. The song? (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction.
The Down Side
Life can be cruel sometimes and one of them is a nasty disease that specifically affects the DLPFC. While shutting that thing down during our dreams is a good thing, losing it completely kills us. However, before we die, we can get very, very creative even if we’ve never shown an inkling of artistic interest or ability before.
The disease is frontotemporal dementia. There is neither a known cause nor a cure. Like many forms of dementia, the process can be slow and doesn’t present itself the same way in every person. However, one of the things that happens as the DLPFC deteriorates is that people suddenly develop a tremendous artistic interest and ability they have never shown before. People might suddenly develop an interest and ability to paint, or sculpt, or write, or compose music when they’ve never had any training or even any overt exposure to the medium. Their skills develop more quickly than normal because that part of the brain that tells them they can’t, or shouldn’t, is no longer there. The creativity flows unabated right up until the point of death.
Yeah, creativity can be a killer. I’m sorry, did no one mention that to you before?
A Happy Medium
I don’t think too many of us really want to die for our art. Being creative is wonderful and we love it when the ideas are flowing freely. However, few of us are willing to trade off longevity to capture a new photograph or develop a new style of painting. Is there a way to be so creative without winding up in a pine box?
Turns out, there is. We can actually teach ourselves to temporarily turn off the DLPFC so that, for a moment, we can experience the creativity found in a controlled dream state. The practice is most frequently found in forms of improvisation, especially jazz music and improv comedy. Artists such as John Coltrane, YoYo Ma, John Baptiste, and Steve Martin all learned to develop that ability to let go, turn off the part of the brain that says, “No, don’t do that,” so that nothing stands between them and the pure flow of creativity.
Not that such spontaneous creativity comes easily. Years of practice are involved. There are basics to be learned so that when the creativity begins to flow the mind automatically knows what to do with that information. When it works, though, many artists describe the effect as being in a dream state. Many don’t even realize that they’ve completed a performance. With the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex shut down, it’s like being awake and dreaming at the same time.
What do we take from this? Perhaps we need to take Kierkegaard a bit more seriously when he asserts, “Sleeping is the height of genius.” For some, that may mean breaking up our day so that we have shorter periods between dream states (aka frequent naps). For others, perhaps taking an improv class to learn how to let go of our inhibitions might be appropriate. Everyone is a little bit different, so each solution is going to be somewhat unique.
No matter which path you might take, though, the power of dreaming is real. Let’s tap that source and get creative.
Clever gimmicks of mass distraction yield a cheap soulcraft of addicted and self-medicated narcissists. —Cornel West
In a world so full of horror, we need some distraction to keep from going insane
Here we are at the end of another week, finding ourselves staring at the monitor in disbelief. As I’m writing, the death toll from a truck driver plowing into a Bastille Day crowd in Nice, France, stands at 85. We are shocked. We are saddened. We are fearful. We are furious. How can this keep happening? Is there no place safe? Are all our efforts to keep ourselves safe for naught? Is this the distraction or is this life?
Part of our frustration comes from that fact that most people know that love and compassion are the solution. In the days between incidents, we see those examples of selflessness and caring between people of disparate groups. A black child hugs a white police officer. A Muslim community gives aid to members of a Christian community in need. The pictures are quick to appear and pushed heavily by media. We want to think that there is still hope. We prefer the distraction of good things over bad.
The truth is that when such inconceivable horrors plague us on such a regular basis, we need the distraction to keep ourselves from going insane with worry and fear. With apologies to Dr. West’s quote above, knowing that we are being distracted does not deter us nor rescue us from the reality. Rather, the distraction of entertainment, specifically music, occupies the fear centers of our brain so that we can more distinctly focus on the severity of the issues.
Three well-known female vocal artists dropped new singles last night. They are a necessary distraction. Listen.
Katy Perry: Rise
You do have your dancing shoes on, right? The electronic-driven sound of this new song is made for dancing in a dark club with swirling lights. The words, “I’ll survive,” pop out early in the first verse and then you’re not sure of the rest of the lyrics for most of the remainder of the song. You don’t care. All you want to do is dance hard, until your body is soaked with sweat and you’ve forgotten all the hate and danger in the world. I won’t bother passing judgment on whether this is Ms. Perry’s best song ever. This is a distraction. Forget the world and dance.
Katy Perry – Rise (New Song) by 12hzx
Britney Spears: Make Me
Pop diva Britney Spears is always good for a distraction or two, though it’s not always the music that’s distracting. This is a sexy, sultry, summer love song that brings the heat in a good way. In fact, for those so inclined, this might be worth adding to your love-making playlist. The slow tempo never varies, even when rapper G-Eazy jumps in (because, apparently, there’s a requirement in pop music now to feature a rap segment). Steady, sensual, Ms. Spears does an acceptable job of keeping your mind off terrorists and insane politicians for a few minutes.
India Arie: Breathe
This beautifully calm song from one of music’s most beautiful voices feels more like inspiration than it does a distraction. The song begins with soft acoustic guitar. The lyrics start: Sometimes you just can’t believe the things your eyes see so much, injustice in this life. It’s happening right on the TV screen.” The song hits close to home for every person of color and anyone sensitive to the realities of being non-white in the United States. The song reminds us that sometimes, many times, the first thing we have to do is stop and breathe. Throughout the song, Ms. Arie is surrounded by a beautiful group of people who join her on the chorus. The elderly lady sitting just left of India is especially wonderful to watch.
Whenever the next tragedy strikes, and I’ve no doubt there will be another far too soon, this is the song you want to play. Play it over and over until you get the message. We all need to breathe.
A Time For Everything
I know emotions are running high today. There is a desire on the part of many to express their feelings of anger and frustration. There is a time for protest, and perhaps this is that time. I firmly believe that there is also a need to step back, let go of the issues for a moment, and reassess our place in the world. Take a moment to be distracted by something beautiful, something fun, something happy. It is the only way any of us survive.
I don’t know why my brain has kept all the words to the Gilligan’s Island theme song and has deleted everything about triangles. —Jeff Foxworthy
Everyone needs a theme song that follows you around and announces your presence.
Everyone needs a theme song. You know, just a short 16 bars of something that people hear and know with whom it is associated. Bands and singers have theme songs. Commercials have theme songs. Movies have theme songs. And we all know the tunes to the themes of at least four or five different television shows. Having a song that’s particularly yours is great branding for a business person and a good way for the creative person to stand out. Everyone needs a theme song.
Of course, not just any song works as a theme. Music has to be catchy. If people are to remember the song and associate it with a specific person, then it needs to have a unique hook that grabs hold of a person’s brain and doesn’t let go. Not every song does that. In fact, very few songs manage to meet that criterion at all. Some are too slow. Many are too repetitive. Way too many are just plain sloppy. If you don’t have a song that has the right hook, one that really manages to make you stand out, there’s no point in having one at all.
My particular problem is that I’m a complicated person, not too terribly easy to define. I’m looking at several different choices, but nothing seems to fit.
Songs About Photography
There are a few dozen songs about photography. It’s tough finding one that hasn’t been overused, is too slow, or too damn depressing. Freeze Frame by J. Geils Band, Def Leopard’s Photograph, and the Neil Simon hit Kodachrome are instantly non-contenders because they already represent something/someone else. So, we would have to consider something different. Here’s what’s on my short list.
Picture Book by The Kinks is certainly snappy, even if it is a bit dated (1968). It never was too big a hit so not many people are going to associate it with something/someone else. I think my biggest concern is that the sound might be too thin for what people are accustomed to hearing. Try it out.
Cameras by Matt & Kim seems to be a contender. I like the jazzy feel that is almost a rhumba. This song is a little newer (2010)and I’m pretty sure only ardent Matt & Kim fans would recognize it.
Into The Lens by Yes is a consideration for the introduction if nothing else. Okay, the song runs eight and a half minutes long, which is a bit much for a theme song. But, it’s Yes and that intro is about as cool as any. Plus, once again, there are only a few people still living who would recognize it.
Fashionable Themes
The more I think about it, perhaps it might be best if I don’t have a theme song that actually focuses on photography. After all, I do the writing thing, the fashion thing, the advertising thing, and all those other things. There are some good songs that have been used on runways that might make a good theme song. Perhaps I should consider one of those.
What Kind of Man by Florence And The Machine gets on my list for this chorus alone:
And with one kiss
You inspired a fire of devotion that lasts for twenty years
What kind of man loves like this?
Don’t tell me that isn’t theme song material right there. Add that to the way Florence and the Machine rocks the middle of the song and I think we’ve got a potential winner right here.
Really Love by D’Angelo could be the song that captures my dark, brooding side. Imagine walking into a room as the discordant strings play behind me. It would definitely get everyone’s attention, I think. The image it projects might be a little more swashbuckling than what I might actually present in person, though. Am I up to the challenge?
America’s Sweetheart by Elle King certainly has both the tempo and the attitude I like in a theme song. I think it’s one of those where you turn up the volume and let it blow down the doors before entering the room. In fact, timing one’s entrance to match the lyrics, “What do you want from me?” would probably get astounding results.
Symphonic Themes
These would seem to be the most obvious choices, wouldn’t they? There are no lyrics to get in the way, and the melodies are strong enough to stand on their own. These are themes that could really get stuck in a person’s head. Maybe one of these might work.
Anton Dvorák’s Carnival Overture, Op. 92 starts right out the gate sounding as though you might have missed the first few bars. Your ears try to catch up and the next thing you know you’re chasing the melody for the rest of the afternoon. My only concern using this as a theme song is that it may be a bit too busy for some ears.
Short Ride in a Fast Machine is a fanfare for orchestra by John Adams. It’s not too long, though we generally think of fanfares as something short and quick. I like the steady driving rhythm that reminds me of a newsroom or the constant scurry of an ad agency.
Finally, Janácek’s Sinfionetta: Allegretto is a cool fanfare of brass and timpani that isn’t overdone. It’s a little slower than the others, but then, I’m a little slower these days, too. It’s also short enough to play in completion without people getting bored.
Which To Choose?
Now you’ve seen, and hopefully heard, my top nine choices. The question remains whether any of these should be my theme song? If so, which one? I think I could run with any of them, potentially. My fear, however, is that after a couple of weeks, hearing it multiple times a day, I’d grow tired of my choice and want a new one. I can be fickle like that. I mean, a long, long time ago, I actually liked You Light Up My Life. I even went to the horrible movie of the same name. I do make decisions that I later regret.
I’m more than happy to accept your vote if you’d like to let me know what it is. You could also make a different suggestion if you felt like it. You won’t though. It is extremely rare anyone clicks on a link. I suppose you’re too busy. Or maybe you’re just not impressed because I don’t have a cool theme song.
Yet.
That may soon change. Everyone needs a theme song.
I feel happy to terrify kids. —R. L. Stine
The law says you have to protect your kids from porn, but it doesn’t say anything about music videos
For most kids, their first taste of music comes from their parents. They hear what we play on the radio or our phones. We casually fire up our playlists while we do work around the house and don’t give a second thought to what our children are hearing.
Kids love music. Any music. They don’t care what the words mean. Last year, Little Man’s kindergarten class learned the Jackson Five’s ABC for their graduation program. You think that’s going to be cute until you hear the words coming out of your six-year-old kid’s mouth:
Shake it, shake it, baby, come on now!
Shake it, shake it, baby, ooh ooh!
Shake it shake it, baby, huh!
One, two, three, baby, ooh ooh!
ABC, baby, nah nah!
Do re mi, baby, huh!
That’s how easy love can be.
And then their little booty starts shaking and you damn near fall out of your seat from laughing so hard. You know the kids don’t have a clue that they’re singing about sex. Right now, it’s cute and funny. But then you hear them using the same language with each other. When little boys start demanding that little girls stand up and “shake it” for them, it’s time for some lessons in how to talk to people.
So, we took a look at some of the newest music videos released this week. All are bound to be chart toppers. Take a look, though, and think: is this something you can share with your kids?
Rihanna
Let’s start with the mildest video of the set. Rihanna’s Sledgehammer, which just dropped a couple of days ago, is part of the soundtrack for the next Star Trek movie, which I assume is due later this fall. Kids can probably watch this one and be okay. All the sensuality is muted and preserved in the subtleties of the video. In fact, this is probably the most dressed Rihanna has been for a video in quite a while. The lyrics are what will get you, though. Take a look.
Where to Watch Music Videos | Vevo Originals
Vevo is the world’s leading music video network. Watch music videos on your favorite apps, streaming services, and devices, including YouTube, Apple TV, Roku, Samsung TV Plus, Fire TV, and more.
Fifth Harmony, ft. Fetty Wap
Five attractive young women, in swimwear, on a beach. Both the song and the video are sexy from top to bottom. However, while the sensuality is aggressive and the video frequently gets in the way of the music, it’s still at a level that most kids are likely to ignore the sexy and get more into the rhythm of the music and the bright colors. That is, until Fetty Wap chimes in. Say some of those words around the wrong person and you’ll be picking your little ass up off the floor. Some are already touting this as the song of the summer, though. Best get familiar with it now.
Where to Watch Music Videos | Vevo Originals
Vevo is the world’s leading music video network. Watch music videos on your favorite apps, streaming services, and devices, including YouTube, Apple TV, Roku, Samsung TV Plus, Fire TV, and more.
Nick Jonas
Your kids are going to listen to this song and, hopefully, not have a clue what Nick means by the phrase, “under you.” There are also subtleties to the video that seem to infer a level of domestic violence. The imagery in this one could be rough for kids whose parents fight a lot. For adults, it’s just another breakup song, though, if his only regret is that he didn’t get to have sex with the girl then it’s probably a good thing they broke up. For kids, though, there is a lot here that might require some explanation when they start repeating it back to you.
Where to Watch Music Videos | Vevo Originals
Vevo is the world’s leading music video network. Watch music videos on your favorite apps, streaming services, and devices, including YouTube, Apple TV, Roku, Samsung TV Plus, Fire TV, and more.
Niykee Heaton ft. Migos
I really hesitated about including this one. There is a form of implied violence throughout this video that reflects the same kind of violence we see too often among inner-city teens. Toss in Niykee’s good looks dressed in little more than a swimsuit, and one can understand why forecasts for this song are pretty strong. There is a particular audience with which this song is going to resonate well. However, the video is not for kids. We can excuse much of the song as it talks around the topics rather than directly at them. When the first image one sees, though, is an automatic weapon, and gunshots are among the final sounds, one has to question whether this video is unnecessarily promoting a culture of violence that our country doesn’t need. Proceed with caution on this one.
Where to Watch Music Videos | Vevo Originals
Vevo is the world’s leading music video network. Watch music videos on your favorite apps, streaming services, and devices, including YouTube, Apple TV, Roku, Samsung TV Plus, Fire TV, and more.
Fergie
We saved the sexiest for last. Fergie’s latest solo release will hit number one on the charts. Fortunately, there’s a radio edit and if your kids hear the song that’s the version that’s likely to tickle their ears. However, Fergie’s never been a shy one and she drops enough f-bombs to recapture every remaining Daesh stronghold in Syria. Why is it that kids pick up the word “fuck” so easily and quickly? It doesn’t even matter if they never hear a parent say the word. Fuck is part of the first-grade vocabulary whether anyone likes it or not. This song is not going to help that matter at all.
I must say that I love a lot of the pin-up style costuming used in the video. The bright colors and over-the-top styling are quite artistic. Much of the look here reminds me of Christina Aguilera’s Candy Man video. This is much hotter than Xtina’s take on the era. If one is concerned about a child’s body image, this may not be a video they need to see. Adults will love it, but kids are going to ask a lot of questions. Be prepared
Where to Watch Music Videos | Vevo Originals
Vevo is the world’s leading music video network. Watch music videos on your favorite apps, streaming services, and devices, including YouTube, Apple TV, Roku, Samsung TV Plus, Fire TV, and more.
Your Call
I’m certainly not one to make valid parenting suggestions. From an adult perspective, all these videos are about as sexy as they can get without turning to porn. They’re a pleasure to watch and to hear. I know we have trouble keeping adult words and phrases out of the mouths of our kids, and I’m guessing ours aren’t much different than yours. How you deal with the music and the videos are your business. You know what’s best for your family. Exercise caution as you see fit.
And meanwhile, we’ll be over here dancing.
You don’t need to have Asperger’s to feel bewildered in a culture that relies so heavily on inconsequential chit-chat to grease the wheels of day-to-day life. —Lynn Coady
We don’t like admitting that Facebook relationships matter, but being unfriended by a friend leaves one hurt and bewildered. Is this serious?
Wise at last
My eyes at last
Are cutting you down to your size at last
Bewitched, bothered and bewildered no more
—Lorenz Hart
Those words, which appear late in the familiar song, keep going through my head this morning as I look through my Facebook feed. I’ve always found it interesting how emotions and events move in waves across my friends list. If one gets sick, at least a dozen more will do the same, even though they are not only unacquainted but don’t even live in the same region of the planet. If one has a baby (or grandbaby, more frequently), then I’ll start seeing baby pics from twenty different people.
What leaves me bewildered a bit, though (and I’m using that word a lot today), is when mass unfriending happens. We seem to be riding that wave at the moment. I’ve seen seven people allude to either unfriending or being unfriended in the past twenty-four hours. Each one has two things in common: they were “breakups” with someone they’d known a long time, and the split was over socio-political issues. Emotions ranged between anger, sadness, and resignation. With each, though, they were bewildered that they could know someone for so long and just now hit a topic of such severe disagreement as to part ways.
Unfriend or Unlike
I’ll admit that I rarely unfriend someone. I might unfollow them so that their all-too-frequent posts don’t clog my newsfeed, but I reserve unfriending for either blocking the rare person who is a complete asshole or weeding the list of people with whom I share no interest or relationship. Few people ever argue with me on a topic, which I appreciate. My need to unfriend someone is quite rare.
Neither am I someone who feels a need to “collect” friends. I am bewildered by those who do. I don’t understand the so-called advantage to having 5,000 friends one doesn’t know. The way Facebook limits who sees your posts changes so frequently that the only sure way to communicate with someone is through private message. On other social media platforms, one’s reach is more of a pure numbers game, so having high numbers of followers makes sense. Facebook doesn’t work the same way, though.
At the beginning of 2015, I did something drastic. I culled my friends list by a thousand people and started a professional page. My hope was to direct more professional contacts, such as models, makeup artists, stylists, photographers, etc., to that location so that I could be more personal on my personal page. Plan backfired. Not everyone got the message about the professional page. Not everyone cared. Roughly 800 of those unfriended stayed that way. Bewildered? Yes, totally. I don’t “get” this whole unfriend and unlike scenario.
Oh, But There’s Science
After seeing all the talk about unfriending, I thought I’d check and see if there was anything close to real research about on the topic. I wouldn’t have been too surprised to find nothing. After all, the whole concept of unfriending someone, even the word, has only been in the global lexicon about seven years. Proper studies take time.
What I found was a couple of studies done at the University of Colorado that were published in 2014. Christopher Sibona, a doctoral student, was the research behind both studies. He looked at 1,700 cases and came up with some interesting results. First, there’s the matter of who we unfriend in the first place:
- high school friends;
- other;
- friend of a friend;
- work friends;
- common interest friends.
Look at that very top result. High school friends. Why do we unfriend high school friends? Because our opinions have changed, matured, and become more deeply rooted. We are more likely to defend our positions after 10-20 years than we were back in high school. I’m starting to feel a little less bewildered by the whole thing.
How Does That Make You Feel
What may be the stronger study, though, is how one feels after being unfriended. You’re in a heated conversation with someone, and suddenly, they’re gone. You check, and you’ve been unfriended. Ouch! That hurts!
Or does it? Sibona’s study found four core factors for predicting someone’s response to being unfriended. You might respond negatively (sadness, disappointment, or anger) if the other person was a close friend, or if you monitor your friends list constantly. You might respond positively (relief, amusement) if differences were discussed both prior to and after the act of unfriending.
Equally interesting in this study is that the unfriending is more likely to occur with someone to whom one was once close. Those are the people with whom we are more comfortable engaging in deep conversation. Thus, we are more likely to find areas of severe difference.
More Unfriending To Come
One of the things we learned from the last presidential election is that as political tensions become more severe the number of severed social media relationships go up. There’s no reason to expect this year’s election season to be any different. The candidates themselves are about as polarizing as two people possibly can be. Political sentiment and a deep feeling of frustration have more people talking about the election and its related issues than ever before.
We have some decisions to make. Which is more important to you, maintaining a friendship with someone who is philosophically opposite of you, or holding firm to your position? I suppose, to some extent, that the exact issue on which one disagrees plays into that decision.
Perhaps we take old friendships too seriously. After all, one can’t expect people to stay the same forever. Should we really be surprised when someone 300 miles away decides the online connection is no longer worth the frustration?
At the same time, the answer may lie in being more compassionate with those who don’t see things the way we do. Even though we differ on very serious matters, are they not still our brothers and sisters in the universal sense? Maybe we can find that seed of love within us and share that rather than our differing opinions.
Don’t be bewildered by being unfriended. We are all different people with different experiences. Let each one go their own path. We’ll all have less stress for doing so.
The ship of democracy, which has weathered all storms, may sink through the mutiny of those on board. —Grover Cleveland
Storms are coming today, especially if you live in Indiana. A little music should help ease the stress
This morning’s weather forecast made it clear: we’re in for storms. Not just a small line of them this time, but a whole mass that hits once during the day and then again this evening into tomorrow morning. For my friends in Oklahoma, Kansas, and Texas, this is nothing new. Up here, though, storms this heavy don’t come along quite as regularly. I heard one meteorologist even mention the threat of tornadoes. I don’t like tornadoes up here because I can’t stand outside and see them coming. I don’t like any storms I can’t watch roll in.
I find it interesting how the weather is used as metaphor for many things. The storms of life. Stormy relationships. Situations get stormy, too, and I’ve even known a few people whose personality could best be described as stormy. The tumultuous, often violent weather is a destructive force over which we have no control. While we may see them coming, we’ve no idea how much damage they’ll wreak until they actually arrive.
Storms scare some and soothe others. There is a sense of cleansing that comes with storms, but there is also real danger with falling limbs and downed power lines. Those of us with arthritis would just as soon skip them.
A Relationship With Music
Storms have a sense of the poetic, which is why there is a link between the violent weather and music. Every genre I’ve encountered, including classical and polyethnic, has its storm music. The one that comes to mind most frequently is a gospel song by Alfred Tinley, Stand By Me:
When the storms of life are raging,
Stand by me (stand by me);
When the storms of life are raging,
Stand by me (stand by me);
When the world is tossing me
Like a ship upon the sea
Thou Who rulest wind and water,
Stand by me (stand by me).
The music slowly rising and falling infers the growing swells of the waves on an ocean with an emotional impact. When sung well in a baritone voice, One can almost feel the motion.
A Short Playlist
Violent weather seldom lasts long. They move through quickly and they’re gone. While today’s forecast calls for multiple rounds, we also know there will be periods of calm and peace. So, what I’ve assembled are five songs to get you through the loud, thundery parts of the day. They’re not going to out shout the storm, but hopefully, will give you something a bit distracting so perhaps you won’t feel quite so gloomy. Enjoy.
Happy is the man who finds a true friend, and far happier is he who finds that true friend in his wife. —Franz Schubert
Sometimes finding a happy place that is void of angst is more difficult than it should be
I knew the moment I stepped out the back door this morning that today was going to be a struggle: I stumbled over the threshold as the dog pulled on his leash. This was one of those mornings where nothing felt quite right. The skies were cloudy and a brisk breeze was blowing. Our neighborhood is normally fairly well lit with a majority of people leaving their front porch lights on all night. Not this morning, though. Several lights that are normally on were off. Instead of keeping his nose to the ground, as he normally does on our morning walks, the dog was sniffing the air. He pulled at his leash more than usual and occasionally would stop dead to smell. He wasn’t happy. Something felt off.
The problem is, I keep having days like this. Granted, they don’t all start out quite as creepy as this morning’s walk, but finding the happy has been a struggle. Trying to be positive and reaffirming has been much more of a challenge than it should be. I’m having more negative experiences than I am positive. I know I’m not alone, either. I see your posts on Facebook and Twitter. You’re trying. You want to be happy, but when you think you’ve found a smile someone comes along and slaps it off your face.
Let’s try something different
I recently started reading the book Mindfulness: a Practical Guide To Awakening by Joseph Goldstein. Don’t let the ethnic sound of the author’s name fool you. This book is 100% unapologetically Buddhist. However, there is a fair amount of crossover between Buddhism and Dudeism, so I’m guessing there might be some things I can apply. Any help is appreciated.
I’ve not gotten too far into the book, though, because I have this habit of not necessarily taking people at their word. The Internet has reinforced that habit and this political season isn’t helping at all. So, just getting through the preface and introduction of the book took some time as I felt compelled to check the references. After four days, I’m just starting the second chapter. I’m not gleaning a lot just yet.
One thing that has struck a chord, though, is the concept of impermanence. Goldstein goes into some detail and even quotes an absolutely beautiful poem that drives the concept home. Ultimately, though, the whole thing can be summed up in a simple statement: none of us are getting out of this alive. There’s no point is getting all worked up about things when, in the end, every last bit of it is temporary. The beauty, the occupation, the money, the glamor, the reputation, and prestige all die. They gain us nothing that actually impacts our long term happiness.
Creating a starting point
If everything is temporal, then is there anything that actually can make us happy? There is a sign on the wall of our living room that reads: Happiness is not a destination, it is a way of life. I’m not sure who originated that thought, but it seems to fit in with where I think Goldstein is taking his readers. And if happiness is a way of life, then perhaps we might start by meditating on the elements of life that make us happy and consider why we have attached happiness to those pieces of our lives.
For example, the first cup of coffee in the morning makes me happy, not in the smile-on-my-face sort of way but more of an internal feeling that I’m now ready to handle the day. Why does that make me happy? Perhaps the answer is partly because that is the moment where all my senses begin to feel awake. Prior to that point, half of me is still asleep. I’m not fully aware until I’ve had that first cup of coffee.
There’s a problem with coffee being a happy point, though, according to Goldstein and the whole Buddhist mindset: coffee is a thing. True happiness is not found in things, they say.
Let’s try this again
Another thing that makes me happy is snuggling with Kat. We don’t get to do this as often as we’d like. We’re both busy and, quite honestly, we’re both the type of people who frequently prefer to be left alone. We are sitting here this morning enjoying each other’s company, but neither of us speaking or even sitting close together. So, when we do actually have time to connect on any physical level, even if it’s just leaning on each other before we drag our weary bodies to bed, I feel happy.
Again, the question has to be asked: why? What is it about sitting next to, touching another person, that generates feelings of happiness? Is it just Kat that generates that feeling? No, connecting with the kids in a gentle manner, sitting next to one of my boys, or even nuzzling with the dog generates a very similar, though not identical emotion.
I’m guessing it’s more the act of connecting with someone, or something, outside myself that generates the positive feelings we recognize as happiness. I’m fairly sure there’s psychological research to back up that premise as well, though I’m not going to take up the time to go looking at this exact moment. Reaching outside ourselves is a positive thing. Maybe that’s what makes us happy.
Or maybe it’s something else
Happiness can come from more than once source, though, and many of those don’t involve actually connecting with another person. For example, this young lady’s performance did a very good job of putting a smile on my face. Take a look:
Why does that little girl’s stand up comedy make me happy? Skipping the analysis, I’m going to guess the answer is because it reaffirms, or is at least sympathetic to my own sense of values and opinions. Like any good comedy, she leaves me feeling good about the fact that not everything going on in our lives makes a lick of sense.
In the end, however …
I’m still not there. I’m not finding that happy place this morning. Knowing that I’m going to have to deal with issues and attitudes I’d just as soon avoid negates the meditation. I’m sure Goldstein addresses that issue later in the book, but I’m likely several pages away from that revelation. Instead, I have Schubert’s Erlkönig running through my mind. Even if I didn’t know the translation of the lyrics, which are gruesome enough on their own, the music fits the sense of maddening futility I feel for the day. Running, constantly running, only to fail in the end.
I think I really need to be taking more pictures, don’t you? Maybe you should pose for them. Maybe one of us could find our happy place.
If I knew where the good songs came from, I’d go there more often. —Leonard Cohen
Certain songs just resonate at certain times in our lives, keeping us moving, reminding us to not give up, that the prize is worth the struggle
Mondays are difficult days under any circumstances, but this one is especially difficult. We’re hurting as we remember the victims from Sunday morning’s senseless attack on the LGBT community in Orlando. The continued diatribe and nonsense from politicians is maddening because we’ve been here before, heard the same words before, and watched them do absolutely nothing. We cannot rely upon our political leaders to do what it takes to change this situation. We must make the change ourselves.
Change does not come by hating those who hate, though. Change comes through the increase of love, through encouragement, through kind words, through being there not only for friends but for strangers who are struggling. Change comes in how we respond to each other, day in and day out.
I firmly believe that music helps. Songs often say what we cannot with a passion we ourselves might be afraid to show. Songs can be there for a friend when circumstances keep us away. Songs linger in the minds of those who hear them, providing instruction and inspiration long after the music fades away. Songs deliver us from the pain we feel and remind us that a better world lies ahead. Songs help us share love when we can’t seem to form the words in our own mouths.
After watching last night’s Tony Awards, I’m convinced that some of the most inspirational songs for moments like this are found in the musicals of Broadway. So, I’ve chosen five that I find appropriate to what I’m feeling, what I assume others are feeling. I hope these will provide you with strength, motivation, and inspiration as you go through today and the rest of this week. And may you always remember that no matter what anyone says, no matter what anyone does, no matter how anyone acts, Love wins.
Always. Love wins.
https://youtu.be/AfN9AIqeYxU
https://youtu.be/ei1jsFOO3CQ
Wrinkles should merely indicate where smiles have been. —Mark Twain
There are moments of sadness we cannot miss and there are opportunities for smiles we should not ignore
The dog just let out a sigh of frustration. One of the cats is noisily clawing the hell out of a scratching pad. This is one of today’s smiles because I know that while the dog does nothing now but sigh and return to sleep on top of the clean clothes I just pulled from the dryer, he’s planning on revenge when said cat is wanting to sun itself in the window later.
I am feeling emotional this morning and apologize for the disjointedness that emotion creates. I’m already planning for tomorrow’s article as the Tipster graduates kindergarten. I’ll have to start writing that one today or it won’t get done. There are plenty of smiles in that one, but also a sense of sadness as well.
That mix of smiles and sadness is running heavily across a lot of things on my mind this morning. When I first heard of photographer David Gilkey’s death in Afghanistan on Sunday, I tried to ignore it. I didn’t know David. I’m not aware of any time we might have crossed paths. So, I assumed I would be able to disconnect from the fact another colleague has given his life in pursuit of a story that no one else is telling. There are too many of these deaths each year and with every one of them, I find myself drawn to a dark place where I wonder why I’m not taking those same risks. I’ve not been able to put Gilkey’s death out of my mind, though. Every time I’ve turned on NPR the past two days there has been some mention of this loss of an incredible photographer. NPR has a wonderfully touching remembrance with several of David’s wonderful photographs. You would do well to click the link and take a look.
I’m also feeling mixed about a new video from 360 Google, the experimental VR arm of the giant tech company. Yeah, sure, on one hand it’s a somewhat rough sketch of what the new technology is capable of producing. Investors are show videos like this as proof of concept more than anything. But the story they’ve chosen to illustrate is one that tugs more on the heart strings than an investor’s pocketbook. “Pearl” takes us on a journey of a young man, a would-be musician, choosing to live out of his car. Life moves quickly in the first few scenes. There’s a woman, then a little girl, and we don’t know where the woman’s gone but she’s no longer in the picture. It’s just Pearl and her dad, moving from place to place in that car. She grows up, inherits the car and more. The end, in true story-book fashion, has you smiling through tears. There are a lot of feels in this video, and a lot of smiles, and some important statements about life. You’ll forget this was supposed to be about technology.
After that, I need a distraction or else I’m going to be nothing more than a bundle of emotion all day and that’s never productive. I’ll end up sitting on the couch with the dog watching Netflix and eating those godawful chips I should never have bought in the first place. Another pot of coffee is on. The dog is off the laundry and back in his bed. We can continue.
Advertising has delivered a couple of smiles already this week. The first came with the release of a new ad from cellular carrier Sprint. Normally, it would take a lot for anything in this sector to make me smile. There is so much fraud and disinformation in this whole sector that I usually just roll my eyes. But what makes this fun is that Sprint has stolen Verizon’s long-time spokesperson, Paul “Can-you-hear-me-now” Marcarelli. This doesn’t happen often because non-competes are usually iron-clad and indefinite. Apparently, Paul’s wasn’t indefinite. Here’s the result:
I’m sure someone’s learning a very valuable lesson about talent contracts about now.
Then, there’s the new LG ad for vacuums. Yeah, I didn’t know they made vacuums, either. What they did was pull off an incredible stunt that likely would have never gotten approval in the US. They went to Korea and asked Extreme Rock Climbing Medalist Sierra Blair-Coyle to climb a freakin’ skyscraper using nothing more than a couple of household dirt suckers. The climb took her 30 minutes with the vacuums attached to her back. Now, I don’t know if anyone’s carpet really needs that much sucking power, but it’s a pretty impressive stunt. I’m going to attempt to embed the video, but if it doesn’t work on your device you can also find it here.
Then, there was the announcement yesterday that Buzzfeed is canceling its advertising contract with the GOP. This is both huge and unprecedented. Buzzfeed is one of the top five information websites on the Internet. Millions of people are influenced by what they see there. Not being able to place ads on Buzzfeed is a significant blow to what is already a difficult task in supporting the GOP’s choice for president. I’m sure Buzzfeed could have used the $1.5 million as well. But CEO John Peretti decided the company needed to take a stand. He wrote, in part:
“We certainly don’t like to turn away revenue that funds all the important work we do across the company. However, in some cases we must make business exceptions: we don’t run cigarette ads because they are hazardous to our health, and we won’t accept Trump ads for the exact same reason.”
What will be interesting now is whether other Internet media will make similar moves in either direction. In one way, it might be seen as a way of making a political donation to the opposition without infringing upon donation limits or having to work through a super Pac. At the same time, this demonstrates how dependent campaigns are on all forms of media coverage. Should this move be replicated by other companies, the GOP effort could be substantially hindered.
One source of about 9,000 smiles this week came from funny man John Oliver. Since it’s debut last year, Oliver’s show, Last Week Tonight, has gotten a lot of attention for the clever way he brings attention to important but often overlooked subjects. He completely outdid himself this past Sunday, though. The goal was to demonstrate how easy it is for quite literally anyone to buy and collect delinquent debt. What he ended up actually doing, though, was performing the largest giveaway in television history by forgiving the nearly $15 million in debt he had bought. This seriously raises the bar in a couple of ways. First, anyone serious about being generous is going to have to cough up some serious cash. This is double anything Oprah ever did. Secondly, is challenges other so-called news organizations to do more than just talk about a news story, but to actually get involved. Is this good journalism, not exactly, but then, Oliver isn’t a journalist and this isn’t a real news show. The clip runs 20 minutes, so feel free to bookmark it and come back later to watch.
One more set of smiles and then we all need to get on about our day. I’m sure we both have more important things to do, even if we’re not especially inclined to do them. James Corden, host of CBS’ Late, Late Show, used his popular carpool karaoke segment to advertise the fact that he’s hosting Sunday’s Tony Awards. This may be the best carpool yet. Enjoy the smiles then enjoy your day.
Cleaning your house while your kids are still growing up is like shoveling the walk before it stops snowing. —Phyllis Diller
When you’ve had such a good weekend, why does the universe feel the need to ruin that with a Monday?
Shoveling through digital tons of information seems to be the modern equivalent of going into work on a Monday morning and finding your inbox stacked five feet high. I have a feeling only government offices still use actual inboxes, given their penchant for wasting paper, but most everyone going to work today is going to find one of their first tasks to be shoveling their way through the detritus whether that be actual bottles left from consumed beverages or mountains of information that were blissfully ignored. Perhaps, like me, you have plenty of both.
I think one of the first things needing to be removed from the pile and set to the side is the fact that Canadian driver James Hinchcliffe won the pole position for the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500. I know most of the people reading this couldn’t care less about the 500, but what makes this story worth shoveling out of the pile is that one year ago today, the day after qualifying, Hinchcliff crashed into Turn 3, right here in my backyard, and nearly bled to death. With head and spinal cord injuries, it is amazing that he is even driving a golf cart, let alone rounding the 2.5-mile oval at speeds averaging 230.760 miles per hour. The strength and determination required to pull off this kind of comeback should be inspiring for a Monday morning.
Apparently the Billboard Music Awards were last night. I didn’t watch them, but if we’re shoveling we probably want to include this in the save pile somewhere. I can’t say anything authoritative, since I was sound asleep through most of it, but Billboard has posted their choices for 10 best performances of the night. Apparently Madonna did a tribute to Prince, Celine Dion sang in tribute to her late husband, René Angélil, and Britney Spears performed a tribute to herself. Or something like that. I do know that you should probably avoid the comments section of any performance you might see. The trolls were out in force last night and spread their hate and nonsense across the whole show.
Did you know that the used sneaker market nets over $1 billion annually? WTF? I thought it was strange when a “vintage” sneaker store popped up in a local mall a couple of years ago, but the number of people collecting limited release shoes has grown into a full-fledged part of the fashion industry. Does it make a lick of sense? Not really, but it does make for great conversation. Oh, and before you go shoveling your old sneakers out of your closet, one of the conditions to keeping the prices on these shoes stupidly high is that they’ve not actually been worn. Business Insider has a great piece on the industry. People who spend this much on shoes they can’t wear have no room to be making fun of geeks who buy toys they’ll never play with.
For those of you who enjoy shoveling politics, especially if you are my age or older, you’re going to either love or hate or love to hate this next one: The US is getting cozy again with Vietnam. Let that sink in a minute. During his visit there yesterday, President Obama announced the lifting of a decades-old arms embargo to the island nation where so many thousands of troops died in the one war the United States unquestionably lost. There’s a good, or at least understandable, reason for the move, though: China’s getting feisty in the region. While the President denies such reasoning on an official basis, Vietnam has been rather public in its concern regarding how China has been throwing its weight around in the South China Sea. Specifically, with island bases encroaching ever closer, China could send planes from one of those islands and bomb Hanoi in less than an hour. Vietnam is scared and we’ve seen this before. Be concerned.
Finally, today is #WorldTurtleDay. In the never-ending stream of special days and tributes, this is one that doesn’t annoy us quite as much. I mean, who can get angry about a turtle. In fact, I’m guessing a lot of us resemble turtles with the pace we’re moving today. These are some of the longest-living creatures on the planet, though. If moving a little (or a lot) slower is the key to a happy and longer life, then maybe we should start paying attention to the lessons they have to teach. Turtles are incredibly cool, even if they aren’t mutant teenagers chomping down on pizza.
Most of what I’m seeing this morning deserves to be shoveled right into the dumpster. There is an incredible amount of meaningless noise that serves no other purpose than to be a distraction. Shoveling to bulk out of the way is our best hope of sorting out what’s really important. I won’t say that it will make your Monday any better. Some of what I’m seeing rather sucks if one is deep in the stock market or heavily involved in retail. Still, just getting rid of the piles of stuff at least creates the illusion that you’re doing work or something like that.
With all that comes at you today, just keep shoveling and try to not throw out your back in the process.
A really great talent finds its happiness in execution. —Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Any true contest of talent finds that true talent doesn’t need a contest
Talent is elusive. A lot of people can develop skill, but talent comes from the soul; either one has it or one doesn’t. There is no way to cultivate something that doesn’t exist.
Those who know me best understand that I do not submit my work to appear in juried art shows, with very few exceptions. Why? Because those who judge art, in any form, can do no more than reward those whose aesthetic matches their own. Putting a blue ribbon on a piece of art is not saying that the one piece is better than all the others entered, but merely that it would match the drapes were it hanging in the judges’ livingrooms.
Having held this opinion for many years, I am always a bit torn when it comes to televised talent contests of any kind. On one hand, they do provide a platform on which talent might be recognized that would otherwise not receive attention. At the same time, however, it puts talent into a competitive arena that fails to understand what talent is in the first place. Having talent means that there is something within you, a combination of nurture and nature, a very specific mix of brain chemicals and specific methods of synaptic activity that allows you to do something very well and, in most cases, actually enjoy doing it. There is no competition for who has the best brain chemicals or whose synapsis fire the fastest. There is absolutely nothing about talent that can adequately and accurately serve as a basis for competition.
Look at those things that are competitive, such as sports. There is a definite measure of quality that defines who is the best. One runner moves across a given distance faster than anyone else. That can be measured. He or she in the winner. In a football game, one team or the other manages to move that odd-shaped ball across the goal line. Points scored are a quantitative measure. One team is the winner.
Talent, though, has no inherent scoring system nor means of accurate quantitative analysis that is wholly objective. We can measure range, we can measure decibels, we can measure color and light, but in the end, someone has to make a decision based on opinion, not an accurate measure of quality. Talent is, quite simply, not designed to be competitive in any way, shape or form.
So, we get down to the end of a popular talent contest like NBC’s The Voice. The concept has been syndicated around the world and is responsible for unearthing some incredible vocal talent. Yet, in each instance, only one person is selected as a winner and, every damn time, one can make endless arguments for multiple contestants that one was “better” than the other, and all of those arguments are going to be wrong.
No one is better. They are all different. They have different tonalities. They have different presentation methods. They have different appeals to people who prefer specific genres. One group of people may prefer the sound of one person over the other, but that is a subjective opinion that is likely to not be shared outside a limited group.
Look at all the myriad television contests that have been on television over the years. From all those, how many of those “winners” have turned their prize into an actual career? The answer is very few because being talented does not necessarily translate into broad commercial appeal. Choose the wrong song, choose the wrong timing, choose the wrong PR agent, and one’s talent career is sunk, but that does not mean that the person is not still every bit as talented.
This week, The Voice chose its four finalists: two women, two men. I’m going to post the video of their recent performance. Listen to the talent, attempt to be as objective as possible (which, in reality, is not possible) and try to make an argument that one is more talented than the other.
https://youtu.be/9wb7HqVNuKg
https://youtu.be/OrTCjntO3_s
https://youtu.be/SSg2xHumQs0
https://youtu.be/vRW3JistcGo
All four of these people hold superb and well-refined talent. You might not like their genre, you might not like the way they sing a specific song, you might not like the tone of their voice, but all of that is nothing more than your opinion. And, I hate to be the one to tell you, your opinion isn’t worth squat. You can bitch and moan and say whatever you want, but no opinion changes the fact these people are talented.
Talent is NOT a competition, whether it is singing or painting or photography or floral arranging or creative writing or acting or playing the cello. There is no contest that can truly say one talent is better than the other. Maybe we need to find a better approach.
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Sunday Morning Update: 12/08/24
Listen carefully to the sounds around the world. Syria’s al-Assad has disappeared. A 50-year dynasty has been deposed. What began with “Arab Spring” ended with over 500,000 dead. Some celebrate—some mourn. Others worry. Will terrorism return? Who has control of chemical weapons? Where are the Kurds? What happens to foreign bases? Humanity excels at creating complex situations and problems that are not easily solved. For all the wars and conflicts, we remain our own worst enemy.
Step away. Ignore the world and read. Spend more time in critical thought. Let the words sink deep. Mull the choice of vocabulary. Consider the implications. Parse what can be taken at face value from that which hides deeper meaning. Expand the ways you see the world.
Step away. Arm yourself with a fresh view of history. Read the books others want banned, even if you’ve read them before. Force yourself to answer the tough questions. Open more than one text at a time so that the brain in your head does not get lazy. Push your mind into unfamiliar territory. Glean wisdom from sources you’ve never known.
Step away. Give yourself time to think. Write down your thoughts. Wrestle with the words. Scratch out that last sentence and try again. Do not type with speed. Question yourself. Argue against your opinions. Let no conclusion go untested. Check the influence of your native biases. Give no ground to the mythologies of your youth.
Refill the coffee mug. The dogs that woke early now rest comfortably on the bed. Thoughts bombard my head, each fighting to be heard. What does it matter that the Eras tour has ended? What are the consequences of old shoes selling for $28 million? Fools part with money even as their own cupboards grow bare. The songs that linger now are those sung long ago. Cherished memories leave no souvenirs.
Age colours my vision. Depth of field is set by my experience. I wander. Is that the ticking of the clock or the sound of my boots as I pace the hallway? How many circles can I make before my legs collapse? I would dance but the music changes too quickly.
No one is well. We struggle to breathe. Moving brings us pain. Eating makes us ill. Medicine numbs us to the cancer that eats at our bodies. We sympathize. We empathize. Yet, we cannot help ourselves let alone give aid to others. We need… so much.
Spin around one last time. Step away.
Hold me. Close.
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