Blowin' in the wind

Thoughtful words set to music can send a message people remember.

 

How many violent ICE attacks on our streets before we vote for change?

I hope the answer blows into the voting booth this fall. 

the conversion doesn't work

Win a free trip to the land of milk and honey.

Now typically every grocery store has milk and honey, so do we already live in the land of milk and honey? Also, do any of you know of a popular meal that combines milk and honey? 

As you probably know the phrase comes from the Bible, so maybe the translation got messed up.

Tower Bridge towering over the others.

 

Moving on to the land of fish and chips, I'll share my wasted thinking about measurement standards.

I'm interested to get your opinion. What if The Metric Conversion Act of 1975 had really taken hold and Americans gave up miles for kilometers?

But I would walk five hundred miles
And I would walk five hundred more
Just to be the man who walked a thousand miles
To fall down at your door

Those words about walking are the chorus lines from "I'm Gonna Be" by the Scottish rock duo, The Proclaimers. Substitute miles with kilometers and it just doesn't work.

But I would walk five hundred kilometers
And I would walk five hundred more
Just to be the man who walked a thousand kilometers
To fall down at your door

Those of you who think in metric terms know that 500 kilometers of length is shorter than 500 miles.

With that fact in mind, I conclude that if you walked a kilometer in my shoes you still wouldn't have walked a mile in my shoes. Of course, I'm not giving up my shoes but I have some old slippers that you can have for free. Walk a mile in my old slippers.

 

better than a sharp stick in the eye

Even a dull stick in the eye hurts more than I want to know. But what about eyes in song titles? There are plenty of them.

it moose be done

My old ears have listen to many songs about these eyes. These eyes have also watched many video music clips of eye related songs.

I'm not including These Eyes. Instead I'll start my eye list with a more recent song by Coldplay, Green Eyes.

I can't complain, I eat well enough. Of course, we know you can be hungry for more than food. I don't have Hungry Eyes but I do remember the dancing movie that made the song a hit. 

My listening of eye songs lead me to this great titled song written and sung be Willie Nelson, Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain.

There are many good songs with references to the emotional impact of looking into an other's eyes. The song that can get my eyes a little watery is Eric Clapton's My Father's Eyes. 






Hopefully all the eye song listening will help to remind me to get my eyes checked soon (Doctor My Eyes?). I might be low on insight but want to keep my sight focused.

Contagious smiles

Breathe, breathe in the air
Don't be afraid to care
Leave, but don't leave me
Look around
Choose your own ground
Long you live and high you fly
And smiles you'll give and tears you'll cry
And all you touch and all you see
Is all your life will ever be
(from Breathe by Pink Floyd)

The best of lives have a surplus of smiles. The tears you’ll cry are an essential part of the big picture but sharing smiles will wipe them away at least for awhile.

Do these lyrics provide some guidance? I think so, but you need to ponder over the ideas behind the words. Life is not so simple especially as we become adults and struggle to make our way through many obstacles and sad times. Life is simpler when we are very young and naive about problems.

Getting a child to laugh is so rewarding. Often the younger ones’ laughing spreads and those around them laugh or at least break a big smile. The simple fun of knocking over a stack of empty boxes at the library provided our granddaughter laughs. Her picture gives me a smile.

simple laughs and smiles

Two song clips for your enjoyment. First is the Pink Floyd song from their The Dark Side of the Moon album. The song starts quietly and slowly so I started it after the one minute mark (I tried but it doesn't seem to work so slide the control over past the 1 minute mark). The album's songs really should be played sequentially.

The second song is a cover of "Smile" which I learned goes back to Charlie Chaplin. I discovered this cover by Trinidad "Trini" López III on Ms. Scarlet's blog, Wonky Words.

get out of our lives Donny John

Disclaimer: Now I'm a disclaimer, not a trace of truth in my mind. Perhaps my twisted words have more truth.

I know you're hopin' to find
Someone who's gonna give you piece of mind
When times go bad
When times go rough
Won't you lay me down in tall grass
And let me do my stuff

I'm just second hand news
I'm just second hand news

Second hand news is better than fake news. Get ready, I’m going to bounce from Fleetwood Mac to Carly Simon to Simon and Garfunkel. I found a great parody of a classic song used to satirize Donny John (oh I decided to start using “Donny John” for our can-you-believe-it president - Thank you Tina Fey). 

don't know if I want to try this beer

Before I get to this brilliant piece of satirical work I would like remind you (and myself) that back in the fall of 2015 I based a parody on “You’re So Vain”. Back then I just thought Donny John’s campaign was a PR stunt. Here’s a link to that old post.

Now that (can you believe it?) he hangs out at the White House when he isn’t at one of his resorts I’ve updated a few lines my parody.

You walked into the party
Like you were walking onto a yacht
Your HAIR strategically dipped below one eye
Your scowl was taut
You had one eye in the mirror
As you watched yourself cavort
And ALT RIGHT dreamed that they'd be your partner
They'd be your partner, and

You're so vain
You probably think this NATION is about you
You're so vain
I'll bet you think this NATION is about you
Don't you? Don't you? 

starting the world glowing

But my parodies don’t fly too well without a band and singer. This parody I found on Fakebook has it all - great words, and good singing voices. Check it out: