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Sunday, January 03, 2021

Road Music Again

 "No man is happy who does not think himself so." - Marcus Aurelius

I don't normally mention when big hit songs roll around on shuffle - we've heard all the "classic rock" songs a million times, and we will have to listen to them a million more times again before we die.  Zeppelin, Floyd, ZZ, the Doors, etc, etc - I won't mention that they played.  You've heard them before.  

Most of today's songs were hits in their day, but not in the "classic rock" sense.

 When I left the house, a Bee Gees tune was playing.  One of their very earliest disco-era songs, "Nights on Broadway".


After that one, a song by this guy rolled up.  His name is Eumir Deodato, and he plays a killer jazz beat on a Fender Rhodes electric piano.  Honestly I had no idea his music was in the music library, or when or how it got there.  I've shared music with a few friends, so maybe it migrated in from there.

The song was really cool though, and I thought it was worth mentioning.  Deodato has been nominated for three Grammy awards, and won one of those Grammy awards.  The intro features some really cool left-right stereo panning on the piano.  Tickles the ears a bit.

Check out some very cool mid-1970's jazz!  Deodato 2 - "Latin Flute"

I found this one on YouTube after locating the one I heard:  Deodato 2 - "Super Strut"

Afterwards, a couple of other really good songs came up.  Bruce Hornsby and the Range had a mega-hit first album in 1987, "The Way It Is".  I think everyone knows the title song (below).  There is also great music all the way through the album - it's one of my favorites.  I bought the CD immediately after hearing that song on the radio.  My favorite song from that album though, is *not* that song.

It's this one:  "Down the Road Tonight".  I love the lyrics and the melody.

Also I enjoy this song "The Valley Road", from their second album, Scenes from the SouthSide.  The lyrics and music are pretty melancholy, but it's just an amazing tune.

I was also treated to a Great White Rock/Blues song: "Rock Me".  It starts off slow with some neat bluesy guitar vibrato riffs and harmonica, followed by vocals.  Moves into a cool power chord chorus and power vocals.

And I got to hear some newer music too.  Third Eye Blind - Semi-Charmed Life.  An amazing and catchy tune with some incredibly dark lyrics.  A song written as he watched his happy and upbeat young friends descend into meth addiction and desperation.


"Semi-Charmed Life"

Doo doo doo, doo doo-doo doo...

I'm packed and I'm holding
I'm smiling, she's living, she's golden
She lives for me, says she lives for me
Ovation, her own motivation
She comes round and she goes down on me

And I make her smile, like a drug for you
Do ever what you wanna do, coming over you
Keep on smiling, what we go through
One stop to the rhythm that divides you

And I speak to you like the chorus to the verse
Chop another line like a coda with a curse
Come on like a freak show takes the stage
We give them the games we play, she said...

I want something else to get me through this
Semi-charmed kinda life, baby, baby
I want something else, I'm not listening when you say good-bye

Doo doo doo, doo doo-doo doo...

The sky was gold, it was rose
I was taking sips of it through my nose
And I wish I could get back there, someplace back there
Smiling in the pictures you would take
Doing crystal meth, will lift you up until you break

It won't stop, I won't come down
I keep stock with a tick-tock rhythm, a bump for the drop
And then I bumped up, I took the hit that I was given
Then I bumped again, then I bumped again
I said...

How do I get back there to the place where I fell asleep inside you
How do I get myself back to the place where you said...

I want something else to get me through this
Semi-charmed kinda life, baby, baby
I want something else, I'm not listening when you say good-bye

I believe in the sand beneath my toes
The beach gives a feeling, an earthy feeling
I believe in the faith that grows
And the four right chords can make me cry
When I'm with you I feel like I could die
And that would be alright, alright

And when the plane came in, she said she was crashing
The velvet it rips in the city, we tripped on the urge to feel alive
Now I'm struggling to survive,
Those days you were wearing that velvet dress
You're the priestess, I must confess
Those little red panties they pass the test
Slide up around the belly, face down on the mattress one

And you hold me, and we're broken
Still it's all that I wanna do, just a little now
Feel myself, heading off the ground
I'm scared, I'm not coming down
No, no
And I won't run for my life
She's got her jaws now locked down in a smile
But nothing is alright, alright

And I want something else to get me through this life
Baby, I want something else
Not listening when you say
Good-bye, good-bye, good-bye, good-bye

Doo doo doo, doo doo-doo doo...

The sky was gold, it was rose (Doo doo doo, doo doo-doo doo...)
I was taking sips of it through my nose (Doo doo doo, doo doo-doo doo...)
And I wish I could get back there (Doo doo doo, doo doo-doo doo...)
Someplace back there, in the place we used to start (Doo doo doo, doo doo-doo doo...)

I want something else (Doo doo doo, doo doo-doo doo...)





 

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