Asymmetric Music

First, the "One."

Next, the inspiration for that line (Caution: Profanity.).

These are the relevant parts for Friday. Different versions of the work exist-including one by Mozart (talk about genius on genius), but I asked senator McCain, and he said that Beethoven would often tell him that he liked the original best. For a scholarly analysis, go here. I added the Korean subtitles for my international audience.

Behold the Lamb of God:

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It's out of character for John McCain to laud his own service, but Big Bad John by Jimmy Dean would make a great unofficial campaign song. It isn't only appropriate because of the song character's name; it also approximates a real-life John McCain situation (Dean honored JFK's PT-109 experience with another song.):

Youtube video

Big Bad John Lyrics:

Then came the day at the bottom of the mine,
when a timber cracked and men started crying.
Minors were praying, and hearts beat fast
and everybody thought they had breathed thier last
cept' John.
Through the dust and the smoke of this man made hell,
walked a giant of a man that the minors knew well.
Grabbed a sagging timber and gave out with a groan,
and like a giant oak tree he just stood there alone, Big John

Big John
Big John
Big Bad John
Big John

And with all of his strength, he gave a mighty shove.
Then a minor yelled out, 'theres a light up above!'.
And 20 men scrambled from a 'would be' grave
now theres only one left down there to save, Big John.
With jacks and timbers, they started back down,
then came that rumble way down in the ground.
And as smoke and gas smelched out of that mine,
everybody knew it was the end of the line, for Big John.

McCain Forrestal situation (from Wikipedia):

By then a Lieutenant Commander, McCain was almost killed in action on July 29, 1967, while serving on Forrestal, operating in the Gulf of Tonkin. He was at the epicenter of the Forrestal fire, when a rocket accidentally fired across the carrier's deck and hit planes, including McCain's which had been waiting to launch. McCain escaped from his burning jet and was trying to help another pilot escape when a bomb exploded; McCain was struck in the legs and chest by shrapnel. The ensuing fire killed 134 sailors and took 24 hours to control. As Forrestal headed for repairs, McCain volunteered to join the short-staffed USS Oriskany.

Shuffle All; what it plays nobody knows. And the winner is Bobby Bare's Detroit City. It's a "story song" about a man who goes North for work, but misses the South (At least my primary vote counts in the Ohio!), exactly the opposite migration pattern from the eighties- on. "I want to go home" is a great hook.

Bobby Bare Sings Lullabys, Legends and Lies (And More)

Almost as much as I fantasized about having breakfast with Victoria Principal, as a younger man, I longed to attend one of William F. Buckley's famous get-togethers at his apartment- the Elton John after-parties for conservatives. We would have talked, eaten, lit complementary cigarettes from the tobacco industry with $100.00 bills, laughed at the staff's lack of health coverage. No doubt the assemblage of leading lights would have pestered me with questions on the issues of the day, "You're going to have to ask me later, Mr. Kissinger- I'm trying to eat."

We also would have listened to Bach. For years, Firing Line had as its theme song Bach's second Brandenburg Concerto. Bach, of course, along with Beethoven and Mozart (sorry, Michael Bolton) is one of the top three musical geniuses in music history. Bach was the most "mathematical" of the three, by which I mean the most purely musical in the Pythagorean sense and the least emotional in the Tchaikovskian sense. The counter-melody attack from the second horn is one of the glories of music. Trevor Pinnock is the conductor. The part you're looking for is in movement three.

BMV 1047 No. 1:

BMV 1047 No. 2

BMV 1047 No 3

Johann Sebastian Bach: 6 Brandenburg Concertos / 4 Orchestral Suites - The English Concert / Trevor Pinnock

The Essential Michael Bolton

Finally, one of the fine musicians who'd perform at those soires is great harpsichordist and pianist Rosalyn Tureck. Here's one short work from her fantastic ablum of Bach keyboard works:

Minuet BMV 116

Bach: The Keyboard Album

Corporate rock has a bad name sometimes, but an "in-house" approach (studio band with singers not writing their own songs in most cases) has produced some of the rock era's best music. This is especially true of black music. Memphis- based Stax-Volt had such Soul luminaries as Otis Redding and Sam and Dave, Atlantic featured such performers as Aretha Franklin and Wilson Pickett, and you know about Motown. Taken together, the above labels represent a majority of the quality black music during that era.

In fact, one of the only black performers who had his own band and wrote most of his own songs was James Brown (In this, he was more like Paul McCartney and Wings.). I can't think of a black band (not vocal group) that wrote their own songs and considered each member as an equal.

Given the record above and including classical music and opera, it's odd that some people (i.e., my classic rock brethren) find a self-sustaining band inherently superior.

Anyways, I'll discuss it more at length later. I only bring it up because of this story reporting that Sam Moore asked Barack Obama to stop using its song, Hold On, I'm Coming as his campaign song. It's from Stax, written by Isaac Hayes and Porter, and you may recognize the backing band as Booker T. and MGs. Enjoy:

This is how I'm doing the random song of the day: I fire up my Media Center (the one from Jriver not Microsoft), place it on "random," and press "play." First one up goes on the blog.

Here it is and it's a good one:

Hey Porter by Johnny Cash. Johnny Cash is the second best country singer in modern history behind Hank Williams Sr. His early songs are the best ones, as is usually the case with any popular music artist.

The Essential Johnny Cash

Thanks to Obama-Messiah.

Do I still have to go to mass or does this video fulfill my obligation?

Yesterday, I assembled some Rock and Roll songs that trumpeted conservative values. Today, I'm doing my far left (Kossacks)* brothers and sisters a favor by compiling a list to encourage them as they seek to change America for the better:

1. Sign of the Times, Donna Fargo.

The Best of Donna Fargo

In this song, Donna sings of the American dream turning into a "nightmare." 1863? 1933? 1942? No, the year we'd all like to forget, 1986. Apparently, Donna had access to some detailed census data, as she concluded that Jews suffered proportionately. Unemployment was at 50%

2. Cortez the Killer, Neil Young.

Proving that extremism begs for an opposite, "noble savagery" is an attempt by Europeans to reverse European feelings of superiority over the people whose land they colonized. The problem with those who take the noble savage route, is that, in their desire to make amends, they often lie, distort, or, like Neil Young, are just stupid.

The Cortez in the song is Hernan Cortez, Spanish conquistador. Why sing about Cortez and not, say, other conquests in history like in everywhere else in the world since the beginning of humanity? Because Cortez was white and the Aztecs weren't, I guess.

If you know anything about Aztec civilization, you know how ridiculous this is:

And the women all were beautiful
And the men stood straight and strong
They offered life in sacrifice
So that others could go on.

Hate was just a legend
And war was never known
The people worked together
And they lifted many stones.

3. (tie) Southern Man, Neil Young; Redneck Friend, Jackson Browne.

Southern Man:

Redneck Friend:

Unless, of course, those savages are a group of primitives for whom you don't have any sympathy- like Southern Americans. Judgmental, perhaps? Can you feel the hate?

Relevant Lyrics (Redneck Friend):

Now your daddy's in the den shootin' up the evening news
Mama's with a friend, lately she's been so confused
Little one-
Come on and take my hand
I may not have the answer but I believe I got a plan

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A couple of years ago, John J. Miller from National Review compiled what he thought were the "50 greatest conservative rock songs." It's a thoughtful list, but, quite expectedly, incomplete. Below is my contribution to Miller's fine effort, a conrock addendum, as it were. I'll just second his introduction and dive right in:

1. This Land is Your Land, Peter, Paul, and Mary.

An ode to manifest destiny, Biblically-based dominion over the earth, property rights, and Intelligent Design.

Relevant lyrics:

As I went walking that ribbon of highway
I saw above me that endless skyway
I saw below me those golden valleys
This land was made for you and me!

This land is your land, this land is my land,
From California, to the New York island,
From the redwood forest, to the gulf stream waters,
This land was made for you and me.

The Very Best of Peter, Paul & Mary

2. Two Kinds of Seagulls, Tom Chapin.

Another folk-rockish ballad. Not quite Aquinas, but, still, a rather eloquent case for Natural Law.

Relevant lyrics:

There's two kinds of llamas: papas and mamas.
They wear different pajamas and that's why there's llamas.
Most creatures come in pairs. That's the way they mingle.
One kind only would be lonely. It takes two to tingle.

There's two kinds of peoples: he-puls and she-puls.
He-puls like she-puls. She-puls like he-puls.
And that's why there's me-puls, and you-puls,
And peoples.

Mother Earth

3. Jungle, B.B. King

A musical expression of the phenomenon known as "business flight" ("race to the bottom" for liberals) wherein business and people move from high tax states to more business-friendly ones.

Relevant lyrics:

I work hard everyday
From Monday to Friday night
The wages that they pay me
I swear that they're very light
The take out a little for the state
A little more for Uncle Sam
How can I ever catch up
And get myself out of this jam
Yes, I think I'll move to the jungle
Move way out in the woods
Yes, because the way things are here now
Well, I ain't doin' myself no good

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