Di (aka Pensitivity101) hosts Fibbing Friday, a silly little exercise where we are to write a post with our answers to the ten questions below. But as the title suggests, truth is not an option. The idea is to fib a little, a lot, tell whoppers, be inventive, silly, or even outrageous, in our responses. For this week’s Fibbing Friday, Di has asked Jim Adams to choose the questions for her while she’s off celebrating her birthday. Jim, of course, chose a musical theme.
1. Why did Don Mclean drive his Chevy to the levy?
Some little Dutch boy had to stick his finger in the dike.
2. Who will stop the rain?
A pissed off Mother Nature.
3. Where does the love go?
Down the hatch.
4. Why was nobody getting fat except Mama Cass?
She was hogging all the food.
5. Who shot the deputy?
The health worker at the town COVID vaccination station when the deputy volunteered to get jabbed.
6. How did the blackbird break its wings?
It flew directly into the sliding glass doors at the back of my family room.
7. What did the Traveling Wilburys find at the end of the line?
Desolation, destruction, and death.
8. What instrument did Mr. Bojangles play?
The didgeridoo.
9. Who lived on Desolation Row?
The survivors who the Traveling Wilburys found at the end of the line.
10. Why couldn’t the Rolling Stones get any satisfaction?
My theme for this year’s A to Z Blogging Challenge is classic rock songs. Each day during the month (except for the first four Sundays, I will post a classic rock song: a video from YouTube, along with a brief bit of background about the song and the recording artist(s).
This is much more difficult than I thought it would be. For every letter of the alphabet there are dozens of fantastic classic rock songs to choose from and picking just one song for each letter is maddening. But this is what I signed up for. My F song is Joni Mitchell’s “Free Man in Paris.” I love Joni Mitchell and I could not complete this challenge without including at least one of her songs.
“Free Man in Paris” appeared on Joni Mitchell’s 1974 album Court and Spark. It reached number 22 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 2 on the Easy Listening chart. Rolling Stone ranked “Free Man in Paris” as number 470 on its list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
The “free man” in the song is David Geffen, who was in charge of Mitchell’s record label. The song is about the pressures the music industry puts on their artists. In the late ’60s, Geffen was establishing himself as an agent and Mitchell was making a name for herself with her music. They became good friends, and when Geffen started Asylum Records, Mitchell recorded for the label.
The two confided in each other, and Geffen would often talk about the extraordinary pressures he faced as a high-powered music mogul. Mitchell wrote the song when she and Geffen took a trip to Paris. Although Geffen is never mentioned by name, Mitchell describes how hard he worked creating hits and launching careers but was able to find some peace while vacationing in Paris. Geffen told her that he felt most alive and unencumbered when he was in Paris, where nobody could call him up and ask for favors and he had no futures to decide.
David Crosby and Graham Nash, who were good friends with Mitchell, and also Geffen clients, sang backup on this track. José Feliciano played guitar on this track.
Geffen didn’t think this song had hit potential, but was convinced to release it as a single. Issued as the follow-up to the album’s first single, “Help Me,” it became one of Mitchell’s most popular songs.
Here are the lyrics to “Free Man in Paris.”
The way I see it, he said, you just can't win it Everybody's in it for their own gain You can't please 'em all There's always somebody calling you down
I do my best And I do good business There's a lot of people asking for my time They're trying to get ahead They're trying to be a good friend of mine
I was a free man in Paris I felt unfettered and alive There was nobody calling me up for favors And no one's future to decide You know I'd go back there tomorrow But for the work I've taken on Stoking the star-maker machinery Behind the popular song
I deal in dreamers And telephone screamers Lately I wonder what I do it for If I had my way I'd just walk out those doors And wander down the Champs-Élysées Going café to cabaret Thinking how I'll feel when I find That very good friend of mine
I was a free man in Paris I felt unfettered and alive Nobody was calling me up for favors No one's future to decide You know I'd go back there tomorrow But for the work I've taken on Stoking the star-maker machinery Behind the popular song
My theme for this year’s A to Z Blogging Challenge is classic rock songs. Each day during the month (except for the first four Sundays, I will post a classic rock song: a video from YouTube, along with a brief bit of background about the song and the recording artist(s).
This is much more difficult than I thought it would be. For every letter of the alphabet there are dozens of fantastic songs to choose from and picking just one classic rock song for each letter is maddening. But this is what I signed up for. My E song is “Every Picture Tells a Story” from Rod Stewart.
“Every Picture Tells a Story” was written by Rod Stewart and Ronnie Wood and was initially released as the title track of Stewart’s 1971 album Every Picture Tells a Story. It has since become one of Stewart’s signature songs.
This song recounts a series of misadventures endured by Stewart’s globetrotting protagonist, culminating with his torrid romance with a “slit-eyed lady.” In an interview about the song in 1995, Stewart said, “I can remember the build up. You know what the song’s about — your early teenage life when you’re leaving home and you’re exploring the world for yourself.”
Despite being a hard rock song, the song primarily uses acoustic instruments, although guitarist Ron Wood does use an electric guitar occasionally. The sounds of the mandolin and violin can also be heard.
The song’s lyrics are entirely free-form in that they do not follow any consistent rhythmic meter and read almost like prose. Rhyming only appears occasionally and irregularly. Some of the lyrics have also been criticized as racist and sexist (e.g., describing an Asian woman as a “slit-eyed lady”). But the song was written and performed at a time when rock singers often didn’t worry about what it meant to be rude, crude, or politically correct.
An interesting tidbit: The song’s title doesn’t appear in the lyrics until the end, where it is repeated 24 times! (“Every picture tells a story, don’t it?”)
Here are the lyrics to “Every Picture Tells a Story.”
Spent time feelin' inferior standing' in front of my mirror Combed my hair in a thousand ways, but I came out lookin' just the same Daddy said, son, you better see the world I wouldn't blame you if you wanted to leave But remember one thing, don't lose your head to a woman that'll spend your bread So I got out
Paris was a place you could hide away, if you felt you didn't fit in French police wouldn't give me no peace, they claimed I was a nasty person Down along the left bank, minding my own Was knocked down by a human stampede Got arrested for inciting a peaceful riot, when all I wanted was a cup of tea I was accused
I moved on Down in rome I wasn't getting enough Of the things that keep a young man alive My body stunk, but I kept my funk at a time when I was right out of luck Getting desperate, indeed I was looking like a tourist attraction Oh, my dear, I better get out of here for the vatican don't give no sanction I wasn't ready for that, no, no
I moved right out east, yeah On the peking ferry I was feeling merry, sailing on my way back here I fell in love with a slant-eyed lady by the light of an eastern moon Shanghai lil never used the pill, she claimed that it just ain't natural She took me up on deck and bit my neck Oh, people, I was glad I found her Oh, yeah, I was glad I found here
I firmly believed that I didn't need anyone but me I sincerely thought I was so complete Look how wrong you can be The women I've known I wouldn't let tie my shoe They wouldn't give you the time of day But the slant-eyed lady knocked me off my feet God, I was glad I found her
And if they had the words I could tell to you To help you on your way down the road I couldn't quote you no dickens, shelley or keats 'Cause it's all been said before Make the best out of the bad, just laugh it off You didn't have to come here anyway, so remember
Every picture tells a story don't it? Every picture tells a story don't it? Every picture tells a story don't it? Every picture tells a story don't it? Every picture tells a story don't it? Every picture tells a story don't it?
It’s time for this year’s A to Z Blogging Challenge to get underway. My theme is classic rock songs. Each day during the month (except for the first four Sundays, I will post a classic rock song: a video from YouTube, along with a brief bit of background about the song and the recording artist(s).
My D song is “Do It Again” from Steely Dan. I have been a long time fan of Steely Dan. I enjoy the band’s music because I like new age/light jazz music as well as classic rock, and I consider Steely Dan’s sound to be a fusion of rock, jazz, and blues.
“Do It Again” was written and composed by Walter Becker and Donald Fagen and performed by the group they founded together. The song was released as a single from their 1972 debut album Can’t Buy a Thrill. This was Steely Dan’s first single. It became a hit in both the U.S. and the UK, earning the group a lot of press coverage. It reached number 6 on the U.S. charts in 1973, making it Steely Dan’s second highest charting single, behind “Rikki Don’t Lose That Number.”
Becker and Fagen met while they were students at Bard College in upstate New York. You can hear references to these times in their song “My Old School.”
Some critics claim that it’s hard to make sense of the lyrics of most Steely Dan songs. This songs seems to be about some combination of addiction, second chances, and the inevitability of fate. It’s another example of a Steely Dan song that doesn’t make literal sense, but creates a mood. The group’s sound has always been considered to be unusual, and when asked to explain it, they sometimes described it as “smart rock.”
Unfortunately, Walter Becker died in September 2017 at the age 67. Donald Fagen is still performing under the name Steely Dan.
Steely Dan was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001, four years after the band eligible.
By the way, an interesting factoid: Steely Dan was named after a dildo in William Burroughs’ 1959 novel, “Naked Lunch.” According to Fagen, the name had less to do with sex than a rebel spirit, a beat consciousness that they grew up with.
Here are the lyrics to “Do It Again.”
In the mornin you go gunnin’ For the man who stole your water And you fire till he is done in But they catch you at the border And the mourners are all sangin’ As they drag you by your feet But the hangman isn’t hangin’ And they put you on the street
You go back, Jack, do it again Wheel turnin’ ’round and ’round You go back, Jack, do it again
When you know she’s no high climber Then you find your only friend In a room with your two timer And you’re sure you’re near the end Then you love a little wild one And she brings you only sorrow All the time you know she’s smilin’ You’ll be on your knees tomorrow
You go back, Jack, do it again Wheel turnin’ ’round and ’round You go back, Jack, do it again
Now you swear and kick and beg us That you’re not a gamblin’ man Then you find you’re back in Vegas With a handle in your hand Your black cards can make you money So you hide them when you’re able In the land of milk and honey You must put them on the table
You go back, Jack, do it again Wheel turnin’ ’round and ’round You go back, Jack, do it again
This, That, and the Other 