Showing posts with label jazz. Show all posts
Showing posts with label jazz. Show all posts

Saturday, February 25, 2023

Thursday, January 5, 2023

Speaking of . . .

. . . human

Thinking about songs that I've loved and admired over the years, this one always comes to mind. The lyrics present a very human reflection on one aspect of life in a very innocent, but still unapologetic way. This combined with sophisticated, jazz-inflected chord changes and a sparse instrumentation always drive the point straight home for me. 


Whatshername

- Peter, Paul & Mary



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Wednesday, February 23, 2022

Flower . . .

Wishing upon a star
Takes me so very far.
Just don’t play around with my heart.
You must take special care
Not to damage or tear
Just the smallest little part.

Sometimes I’m not too clear
What is this thing that I fear.
It’s so difficult to describe.
How can something unknown
Make me feel so alone.
I should be the bigger man
But I clearly won’t. 

I’m just a sensitive flower.
I’m such a sensitive soul.
I’m just a sensitive flower.
So I’ve been told.

Maybe the way I react
Lacks some refinement or tact.
I just do the best that I can.
Sometimes we’re out in a crowd
Full of opinion so loud.
I go back inside of my shell.

No matter how very hard
I try to change how I behave.
I just can’t seem to please
All the people even half the time.
Do you think that I can be saved?

In this state of affairs
Don’t get caught unawares.
Just be cognizant of what’s there.
Why do those who can’t see 
Think that some vision can’t be
Advantageous to possess
For someone like me.





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Friday, December 31, 2021

Harry . . .

Southward bound,
A latte grande on the seat
Between my legs.
All around,
I see the saints,
I see the dregs.
And the byproducts of civilization
Enter, exit from stage left, stage right.

Another monument 
To the elusive and mysterious
Honolulu Harry, 
The richest man I know.
Honolulu Harry,
The richest man in this life 
Or the next.

Through the town,
Sometimes with baggage,
Some without,
Making a livelihood.
Up or down,
Any direction that you choose
And among the fast foods, strip malls and traffic, 
There’s that name again as plain as day.

Harry was certainly rich,
But it only was money.
Very few liked him that much.
Now it seems kind of funny.

Just the sound
Of his name spoken with respect
And reverence that’s owed to him,
Brings to mind
Beneficence 
Without a peer.
And it warms the heart to think of the thousands

Harry helped, but not while he was here. 


(from Put A Finger On It ©2006 Raymond M. Jozwiak)



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Friday, October 8, 2021

The Not Very . . .

 . . . horrible early musings of Alexander Hamilton


(from Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow)
". . . Nevertheless, he felt obliged to condemn the lawless nature of the action:  In times of such commotion as the present, while the passions of men are worked up to an uncommon pitch, there is great danger of fatal extremes.  The same state of the passions which fits the multitude, who have not a sufficient stock of reason and knowledge to guide them, for opposition to tyranny and oppression, very naturally leads them to a contempt and disregard of all authority. The due medium is hardly to be found among the more intelligent. It is almost impossible among eh unthinking populace. When the minds of these are loosened from their attachment to ancient establishments and courses, they seem to grow giddy and and are apt more or less to run into anarchy. . . "


Echo Park

- Joseph Arthur



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Tuesday, September 21, 2021

Changes . . .

 

(from https://contingentmagazine.org/2019/08/08/mailbag-august-8-2019/)
". . . When used as a criticism in everyday conversation, “revisionist history” refers to conscious, intentional misstatements about things in the past, whether distant or recent. . .In most cases, accusing a historian of practicing revisionist history is accusing them of framing a historical figure, event, or narrative in a distorted and dishonest way in order to advance a particular social or political agenda. . . But for some who use “revisionist history” as a pejorative, the idea that history involves inquiry and interpretation is the problem itself. They’ll argue that they’re just looking at the evidence, not interpreting or “spinning” it like academic historians. History, for them, is just What Happened, its meaning easily accessed and understood by looking at a set of True and Complete Facts that has been assembled without human intervention. . . accusers in both of these situations are often doing exactly what they accuse historians of doing—ignoring evidence that complicates their preferred narrative or embracing a historical narrative that’s clearly based on the interpretation of evidence but declaring that it’s just What Happened—and therefore can’t be questioned. . ."


Changes
- David Bowie



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Wednesday, September 1, 2021

Held . . .

. . . together  

There was a time
When I was so unsure 
Of how I would find
My way through tears and trouble.
This big world can
Look so scary 
To a little boy
On his own.

It's held together by your love.
So secure sometimes it's frightening.
The thread connecting
All the right things
That help me to survive.
It's held together by your love.
It's so sure it strikes like lightning
A breeze refreshing
Me when I 
Find that life is cruel.
It's held together by your love

Each day I'd see 
Life full of uncertainty.
So few were free
From burdens of humanity.
It seemed to 
Me like everything 
Was fraying 
Before my eyes

I'm not one to run away
From each little storm.
Only fools refuse assistance
As they're carried downstream in the 
Rushing foam

I look around,
Concerned for much 
I see now.
I may have found
The rare elusive why and how
That everyone keeps searching
For, to bind or mend
All life's loose ends.


 


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Wednesday, July 7, 2021

Hope . . .

 

There's only hope.
Nothing can really quite compare.
A wondrous thing,
Rewarding to the ones that care.
So simple a concept
Yet difficult to see.
Remarkably powerful
Tool to fight despair.


(Hear 'Hope' from the album 'Ambience & Wine')




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Wednesday, June 2, 2021

Why. . .

 . . . ask why?  Pay attention! Do something!

(from https://www.cnn.com/2021/05/27/us/san-jose-shooting-thursday/index.html)

". . . Biden said . . . "Once again, I urge Congress to take immediate action and heed the call of the American people, including the vast majority of gun owners, to help end this epidemic of gun violence in America." . . . The San Jose shooting suspect spoke angrily about co-workers, his ex-wife says. . .The shooter had two semi-automatic handguns and 11 magazines with ammunition, Smith told CNN. . ."They were handguns of the type that would be legal in California," Smith said, adding she didn't know how or when the gunman obtained the weapons. . . bomb-sniffing dogs alerted investigators to the gunman's locker at work. In the locker, investigators found "precursor things for explosives ... ingredients for a device," Smith said Thursday. . . Cassidy resented his work and spoke angrily about coworkers, his ex-wife says Cecilia Nelms told CNN . . . he "resented what he saw as unfair work assignments" and "would rant about his job when he got home," she said. . . Cassidy also had a strained relationship with an ex-girlfriend, court documents show, which revealed troubling allegations she made in a filing in 2009 as she responded to a restraining order he filed against her. . . described Cassidy as having mood swings that were "exacerbated when (Cassidy) consumed large quantities of alcohol," she said in the court document, and she alleged he had bipolar disorder. . . "




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Sunday, January 17, 2021

The End . . .


(from https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2021/01/donald-trump-after-presidency.html)
". . . finally, the end is at hand. Trump is suffering a series of wounds that, in combination, are likely to be fatal after Joe Biden is sworn in on January 20. Trump is obviously going to surrender his office. Beyond that looming defeat, he is undergoing a cascading sequence of political, financial, and legal setbacks that cumulatively spell utter ruin. Trump is not only losing his job but quite possibly everything else. . .What appeared to be a brilliant strategy for escaping consequences was merely a tactic for putting them off. The bill is coming due. . ."

This must really be
This must really be the end
Nothing could be fitter
This must really be
This must really be the end
Make no mistake it's bitter


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