The Nature of Things

I've had this song rattling around in my brain for the last couple of weeks, so it's time to get it out! Maybe if I share it with you as my poem of the week... It's an old Jimmy Webb song that was very popular back in the day. That day was the late '70s, early '80s. It was recorded by a number of artists, including Webb himself in 1977, but the most popular cover of it was probably that done by Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, and Kris Kristofferson in 1984. It's an unusual lyric about reincarnation - not a subject that is often written about in a pop lyric - but for those of us who believe that nothing is ever really destroyed but only changed, matter into energy or energy into matter, it is very meaningful.      Highwayman       by Jimmy Webb I was a highwayman. Along the coach roads I did ride With sword and pistol by my side Many a young maid lost her baubles to my trade Many a soldier shed his lifeblood on my blade The bastards hung me in t...

Long ago, in what now seems like another lifetime, I was enthralled with the movie "Camelot." I was living in Atlanta at the time and I spent every free day that I had at the movie theater watching that movie - over and over and over again. I must have seen it at least twenty times. I had all the dialog and all the songs memorized. One of those songs speaks of this new month, the "Lusty Month of May." In memory of my youth, misspent in too many darkened theaters, let's make the lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner (Music by Frederick Loewe) the poem of the week. Lusty Month of May Tra la, it's May, the lusty month of May That lovely month when everyone goes blissfully astray Tra la, it's here, that shocking time of year When tons of wicked little thoughts merrily appear It's May, it's May, that gorgeous holiday When every maiden prays that her lad will be a cad It's mad, it's gay, a libelous display Those dreary vows that everyone takes, everyone br...

When I was a little girl growing up on a farm in Northeast Mississippi, my family did not own a television set. In fact most of the people in our neighborhood did not own televisions. What we had was a radio and we listened to that quite a lot. It was our link to the world. One show that my parents - and, hence, I - never missed was the Grand Ole Opry, broadcast from WSM in Nashville on Saturday night. Those were the days of people like Kitty Wells, Roy Acuff, Cowboy Copas, the Louvin Brothers, the Carter Family, and, a little later, Patsy Cline, Loretta Lynn, Tammy Wynette, and on and on, a seemingly endless progression of country music - REAL country music, not what goes by that name today - stars. And the songs were all about lost love, drinking, cheating, trains, honky tonkin', all the classical themes of country music. That was the Grand Ole Opry that I knew. The Opry is still there, still broadcasting on WSM, but it has changed slowly with the times and not always for the bet...

Seventy-two years ago today Robert Allen Zimmerman was born in Duluth, Minnesota. Yes, the musical icon of  my generation, Bob Dylan, is 72 years old today. Back in the '60s when we both were young, 72 seemed far, far away and ancient. Today, it gets closer every year and seems quite young actually. Maybe 70 is the new 50. Anyway, over the years, Bob has said it all in song. His songs are the background music of my life. And one of his songs that I have always loved seems particularly appropriate today. He wrote it for his children but it has meaning for all of us. Here he is in a performance of "Forever Young," backed up by his friend Bruce Springsteen. Thanks for all the music, Bob, and happy birthday. May your song always be sung.

The beginning of this month always brings to mind this song from Camelot. So, let's all dance around the Maypole and think lusty thoughts! Happy May!

George Jones 1931 - 2013 R.I.P

Here's something to end our week on a positive note.  The singer is Mary Black, with Emmy Lou Harris on harmony. Enjoy. By the time it gets dark lyrics - By Sandy Denny Baby, every cloud has a silver lining Baby every dog really has his day And it matters to me to see you smiling Why don't we blow all your cares away ? Yesterday is gone and will be forgotten And today is where every new day starts Got to be free as the leaves in Autumn You may be sad but it never lasts. And maybe, by the evening we'll be laughing Just wait and see All the changes there'll be By the time it gets dark. We could go walking out in the sunshine Look at all the people out in the street Hurrying away to a business luncheon Waiting for a taxi for aching feet. Light up your face, baby, let's get going Want to see a change in those weary eyes We'll have some fun, take a boat out rowing Why on earth should life be so serious? And maybe, by the evening we'll be laughing Just wait and se...

The best song lyric ever written? Maybe. Certainly among the most evocative. Music by Hoagy Carmichael Lyrics by Mitchell Parish Sung by Nat King Cole Images from space by the Hubble Telescope

A song for the season and for the September of our years... September Song by Maxwell Anderson/Kurt Weill Well, it's a long, long time From May to December. But the days grow short, When you reach September. And the autumn weather Turns the leaves to flame And I haven't got time For the waiting game. And the days dwindle down To a precious few September, November And these few precious days I'll spend with you. These precious days I'll spend with you. © 1938