Siggy's Blurbs: Siggy's Edge of Country …

‘Songs To Aging Children Come’  This is the title and a line from an early Joni Mitchell song I heard in the late sixties.  In the song she says in beautiful language and this is a paraphrase:  there is all this beauty around and don’t you see it.  I do.  And she ends the song saying:  ‘songs to aging children come.  This is one’.  Back then and now I identified with the song.  Another line was ‘people hurry by so quickly, don’t they hear the melodies…’

I saw all this beauty around me as a young adult and others were not seeing it.  I could not understand that.  Even today.  I starting writing back then to the present to record this marvelous world before me and slow down my pace so I could capture this beauty.  Then she ends the song:  ‘Songs to aging children come.  This is one.’  I had to grow up and still be child-like so I understood her song perfectly.  I was not all alone.

Tags: 1960's, being child-like, growing up, Joni Mitchell, marvelous world, music, seeing beauty around me, sense of wonder, slow down my pace, songs, writing
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Today I am having an afternoon tribute to Jefferson Airplane. They continue to excite me.  They were erudite.  Their harmonies, vocals and instrumentation were powerful.  They wrote great songs.  I had the privilege of seeing them in 1970.  I went down to the Shore to see them.  I knew I would be stranded overnight but I did not care.  I never forgot moving into the aisle when they played “Crown of Creation” and all I could do was sit there mouth open awed.  It is my favorite song of theirs.  It still speaks to me.  The song is timeless and is about your struggle to grow and love those around you.  Thank you, Paul Kantner.  I will continue to listen to this box set I have of them today.  My wife is not home so I can pump up the volume.  I never tire of them.  Their songs were about love, anger and the fight to remain true to yourself despite the forces which tear us apart.  I still identify with those struggles they portrayed so powerfully in music and song.

Tags: "Crown of Creation", bands, concert in 1970, harmonies, instrumentation, Jefferson Airplane, music, my wife, Paul Kantner, songs, vocals, writing music, wrote great songs
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I was appreciating my MP3 player just now.  Two birthdays ago it was a present.  She literally spent hours downloading several hundred songs on it.  She thought I might use it for the cross country train ride we took then.  I really did not appreciate what she did.  Until now.  The fact is I don’t like listening to my MP3 player through my head phones.  Recently we bought a new car that has an auxiliary to the stereo.  Now I can enjoy the music she downloaded almost two years ago through the car stereo.  She knows my musical tastes and she also has her own preferences.  I usually play “DJ” in the house.  Now it is her turn.

Tags: birthday present, car stereo, cross country train, DJ, head phones, MP3 player, music, my wife, new car, songs, stereo
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The music is always about the feelings it engenders.  At an intuitive level.  In songs, there always has to be a balance between the the music (the instrumental part) and the lyrics.  In the best songs the music reinforces the lyrics and the lyrics reinforce the music.

Sure you can fall in love just with the music.  And never care about the lyrics.  “Baker Street” is such an example for me.  I have no idea what the lyricist is talking about but I love the song because the music is so strong but those songs are the exceptions.

And sometimes I love a line here and there of a song, love the music and fall in love with the whole song.  “My Back Pages” written by Dylan and performed by The Byrds is such a song.  I absolutely love that song.

When I listen to a new song it is always the music I listen to first and then the lyrics unless it is a great song and I capture both at the same time.

Usually if I like the music of a song, I eventually listen to the lyrics to see if they have substance and are well written.  I may dismiss the song if the lyrics have no substance and are not well put together.  It all depends how strong the music is.

Nevertheless, it is always about the music.  And that comes first.  Then I pay attention to the lyrics.

Tags: always about the music, Baker Street, Bob Dylan, Gerry Rafferty, God, instrumental, intuitive, lyrics, music, music engenders feelings, musical balance, My Back Pages, songs, the Byrds, well written lyrics
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This (???) is often no need to leave my room.  My music is here.  Each note, each song, each LP, CD and the cassettes I have put together from my vast music collection, they are all universes within universes.  That does not even mention the many books on my shelves.  Then there are the birds I view when the sun comes up and spend hours doing so.  I never have to go too far to explore the next universe.  My mind roams all the time.  And that is just one large room in this house.

Tags: bird-watching, birds, books, cassette, CD, do not have to leave my room, explore the next universe, God, knowledge, learning, LP, music, music collection, my mind roams, nature, songs, time, universes within universes
Posted in beauty, birds, God, knowledge&learning, life, local, music, nature, time, wisdom | 2 Comments »