Day: December 17, 2017

Song Lyric Sunday — Take Two

Fandango5 Comments

Earlier today, I posted my response to this week’s Song Lyric Sunday prompt, which was the word “pretending.” But when I saw that my blogging friend, Jim, used the same song as I did, “The Pretender” by Jackson Brown, I wondered if there might be another song I could use.

Then, as I was waking my dog and listening to iTunes on my iPhone, I heard this song:

“How Long” is a 1974 song by the British group Ace from their album Five-A-Side. It reached No. 3 in the US.

I always assumed this song was about a secret affair, but it was actually written by lead singer Paul Carack when he found out that Ace bassist Terry Comer was secretly working with two other bands at the same time he was playing for Ace. When he wrote this song, Carack felt betrayed by Comer. Interestingly, Comer returned to the band in time to play on the recording of the song..

Here are the song’s lyrics.

How long has this been going on?
How long has this been going on?

Well, if friends with their fancy persuasion
Don’t admit that it’s part of a scheme
But I can’t help but have my suspicions
‘Cause I ain’t quite as dumb as I seem

And you said you was never intending
To break up our scene this way
But there ain’t any use in pretending
It could happen to us any day

How long has this been going on?
How long has this been going on?

Oh, your friends with their fancy persuasion
Don’t admit that it’s part of a scheme
But I can’t help but have my suspicions
‘Cause I ain’t quite as dumb as I seem

Oh, you said you was never intending
To break up our scene this way
But there ain’t any use in pretending
It could happen to us any day

And how long has this been going on?
How long has this been going on?
(How long?)
How long has this been going on?
(How long has this?)

How long has this been going on?
(How long?)
How long has this been going on?

Alice B. Toklas Brownies

Fandango18 Comments

1895A370-6C1A-43E2-8AAD-77FED7A2396BBack in the day, I used to be something of a pothead. In my twenties and early thirties I spent many a weekend in a cannabis haze, mesmerized by nature programs on TV or by zoning out on rock albums.

But after a while (like when my wife and I had our first kid), I decided that being in a haze while raising children was not such a good idea. My wife and I went cold turkey and stopped smoking weed pretty much altogether.

By the way, our experience negates the argument that marijuana is addictive. It was harder to quit smoking cigarettes than it was to quit smoking pot. It also demonstrates that marijuana is not a gateway drug, since neither of us has ever done any “hard” drugs like heroin, cocaine, or meth.

Okay, yes, I did drop acid a few times, but that was a whole nuther trip, so to speak.

My wife and I are getting up there in years, and like many aging Baby Boomers, we have our share of aches and pains. And sometimes getting a really solid sleep at night eludes us.

We have a friend who has some medical issues and his doctor prescribed medical marijuana, which is legal in California. When I was telling him about my trouble falling and staying asleep, he brought over some Alice B. Toklas brownies (brownies baked with marijuana in them). “Eat a brownie about an hour before bedtime,” he said. “I promise you’ll sleep like a baby.”

So I did eat a brownie and I did get a great night’s sleep. It was bliss. I fell asleep almost instantly and didn’t wake up until after seven!

I don’t have a prescription from my doctor for medical marijuana, but the good news is that in November 2016, the good citizens of California voted to legalize the recreational use of marijuana. Starting January 5th, I will be able to legally purchase cannabis from my local dispensary.

And I’m looking forward to getting my bliss on. Maybe it will make hearing about how Donald Trump is destroying my country a little more tolerable.

Written for today’s one-word prompt,”bliss.”

Song Lyric Sunday — The Pretender

Fandango5 Comments

The word for this week’s Song Lyric Sunday prompt is “pretending.”

Kurt Vonnegut said, “We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be.” Aren’t we all, at times, pretending to be someone we aren’t but perhaps would prefer to be or wish we were?

For this week’s challenge, I chose a song by Jackson Browne. Written in 1976 for the album of the same name, “The Pretender” is the story of a man who betrays his ideals and principles in pursuit of the almighty dollar.

The album was released in November 1976 on the Asylum/Electra label and was only a minor hit single for Browne, reaching #58 on the Billboard Hot 100, spending five weeks on the chart in 1977.

Browne said the song is not necessarily autobiographical, but is about “anybody that’s sort of lost sight of some of their dreams…and is going through the motions and trying to make a stab at a certain way of life that he sees other people succeeding at.” In other words, pretending to be someone they’re not.

Here are the song’s lyrics:

I’m going to rent myself a house
In the shade of the freeway
I’m going to pack my lunch in the morning
And go to work each day
And when the evening rolls around
I’ll go on home and lay my body down
And when the morning light comes streaming in
I’ll get up and do it again
Amen
Say it again
Amen

I want to know what became of the changes
We waited for love to bring
Were they only the fitful dreams
Of some greater awakening
I’ve been aware of the time going by
They say in the end it’s the wink of an eye
And when the morning light comes streaming in
You’ll get up and do it again
Amen

Caught between the longing for love
And the struggle for the legal tender
Where the sirens sing and the church bells ring
And the junk man pounds his fender
Where the veterans dream of the fight
Fast asleep at the traffic light
And the children solemnly wait
For the ice cream vendor
Out into the cool of the evening
Strolls the Pretender
He knows that all his hopes and dreams
Begin and end there

Ah the laughter of the lovers
As they run through the night
Leaving nothing for the others
But to choose off and fight
And tear at the world with all their might
While the ships bearing their dreams
Sail out of sight

I’m going to find myself a girl
Who can show me what laughter means
And we’ll fill in the missing colors
In each other’s paint-by-number dreams
And then we’ll put our dark glasses on
And we’ll make love until our strength is gone
And when the morning light comes streaming in
We’ll get up and do it again
Get it up again

I’m going to be a happy idiot
And struggle for the legal tender
Where the ads take aim and lay their claim
To the heart and the soul of the spender
And believe in whatever may lie
In those things that money can buy
Though true love could have been a contender
Are you there?
Say a prayer for the Pretender
Who started out so young and strong
Only to surrender