LOL now that I have a blog I’m compelled to write again.
It’s 7:06 PM as I write this, sitting in my office looking out on another evening in the country. It’s the time of year where it’s daylight for an eternity so I usually don’t get anything productive done until after 9 PM when the sun goes down.
Thrashie the diabetic cat is at my side. It’s almost time for her 8 PM ritual of food and a shot. Before she was diagnosed I could never imagine giving anyone a shot or even touching a needle. Heck, I’d turn green if the subject was brought up. Now I’m giving her two shots a day. Strange how life works that way. Still turning green when I talk about it, but it’s not hampering her schedule.
Right now I’m burning a friend’s copy of Dire Straits “Making Movies” into MP3 file format. I love Dire Straits. They have some of the most haunting little songs that I’ve ever encountered. This album is special to me for the song “Skateaway.” I remember it was one of the first videos I ever saw on MTV. It was late late night and I couldn’t sleep, popped on MTV to find a girl roller skating through life to a very haunting little video. Didn’t catch the name of the group or the name of the song, but it stuck with me because the words and the music fit each other so well. Great video, great song.
“She gets rock n roll, on a rock n roll station, and a rock n roll dream … she’s making movies, on location, she don’t know what it means … and the music makes her want to be the story, and the story was whatever was the song, what it was … roller girl don’t worry, dj plays the movies … all night long, all night long …”
Hey it’s my blog, I can be silly if I want to.
Another current favorite artist is Eva Cassidy. Hopefully you’ve heard that name by now.
Basic story is that she was a relatively unknown singer who died of cancer a few years ago. A radio executive in England heard one of her albums last year and was compelled to put her version of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” on the air. It went to #1 almost overnight. I can’t put words to how that song sounds. Forget every cheesy rendition of that song you’ve ever heard — and that goes to you tough guys out there who rolled your eyes when I brought up the song name — you will never forget her voice after hearing that song. If Tori Amos can make you shed a tear, Eva Cassidy will make you openly weep, big guy.
It makes you wonder a lot about how the music industry works these days. I mean, seriously, the immediate reaction when I play her songs for people is “wow, why didn’t she make it?” or “where can I get more of this?” I guess she was hard to classify — she did everything from torch songs to rock to jazz and blues — her voice just fit nearly anything it touched. From most accounts she was just one of those people who enjoyed what she did and never pushed for fame or to be a star. She was just happy to be her and happy to be making music for better or for worse.
Other good songs by Eva Cassidy include “Anniversary Song” (it literally gives me cold chills), and her renditions of “Time After Time,” “Fields of Gold,” “People Get Ready” and “What a Wonderful World.” They simply blow any other rendition of those songs away. They become hers and you’ll never forget them.
Sun starting to set, thankfully, still have an allergy headache from earlier so I’m going to let the Eva’s version of “Somewhere over the Rainbow” take me out for another night.
Take care all,
k9