Favorite Entries
Nothing But Nets...on Colbert, and in honor of Russ
Sep/20/2008 06:56 AM | Permalink
Many of you know that I've become a huge fan of
"Nothing But Nets"
the past few years. The other night, there was a
great confluence of this favorite charity of mine
and the Colbert Report.
Below is Rick Riley's appearance with Stephen Colbert, as they talk about the project, and even do a demonstration. I hope you'll watch not only because it's a great charity, but because you'll help me honor my friend, Russ Noland.
(link is here)
I'm honor to be able to say that Connections Band has raised tens of thousands of dollars for "Nothing But Nets."
Right now, the band is hoping to honor the memory of our friend and bandmate, Russ Noland, by having an online "200 Net Night. You can donate a net RIGHT NOW, to save a family in Africa, and honor Russ, by clicking right here.
Hope you'll do it.
Below is Rick Riley's appearance with Stephen Colbert, as they talk about the project, and even do a demonstration. I hope you'll watch not only because it's a great charity, but because you'll help me honor my friend, Russ Noland.
(link is here)
I'm honor to be able to say that Connections Band has raised tens of thousands of dollars for "Nothing But Nets."
Right now, the band is hoping to honor the memory of our friend and bandmate, Russ Noland, by having an online "200 Net Night. You can donate a net RIGHT NOW, to save a family in Africa, and honor Russ, by clicking right here.
Hope you'll do it.
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Eric's Top 25 iPod Songs for 2007
Dec/28/2007 01:52 PM | Permalink
It's the last week of the year, that means that it's
"End of the Year List" time.
As per with last year, there's just one I'll offer you. It's the list of songs below which --for whatever it's worth-- ended up as the most played songs on my iPod this year. I know this, because I intentionally reset the song count on my iTunes somewhere during the first week of last January.
It's a fun exercise, actually. I highly recommend giving it a shot. Because it gives you a little musical snapshot of your year...the things that were happening...what you were going through.
In the case of these songs, there are only two or three that ever got any airplay as "hits." (What does that say about me?!) You will also note that although this is advertised as a "Top 25," there are not twenty-five entries. Apparently, this is because iTunes will not include songs that are not also for sale at their store. Which is really just as well...since the most of the excluded ones are demos of my own songs and only got lots of plays just because I was listening for ways to improve them.
So, without further delay:
Eric's Most Played iPod Songs for 2007
Song Artist Album
1. Lullaby Dixie Chicks Taking the Long Way
Here's a general rule of thumb for songs on my iPod: If it's a song that I like, Dennise likes, and Maria likes, it's no brainer that it's gonna get a lot of plays. Even though we all three have iPods, mine's the one we listen to most on long trips. Point of this being, that this where all the Dixie Chick songs on this list came from.
The album is actually well over a year old. But we ran it into the ground listening to it this year. And this sweet song is everybody in the family's favorite among all of them. Of course, Dennise and I like it for the obvious reasons of how it makes us think of Maria.
2. Breathe Me Sia Colour the Small One
Right before Christmas last year, Dennise and I got on a kick of watching episodes of "Six Feet Under." We got so obsessed with the show that we went out and bought all the box sets. And around the holidays last year, we were on a serious "Six Feet Under" binge on our DVD player...sometimes staying up far too late watching "just one more" episode. In retrospect, it's an odd way to spend your holidays, watching a show about morticians and death. But we found ourselves obsessed.
Fans of show argue that the final episode is perhaps the greatest last episode of any show in television history. That's saying a lot. But I have to agree. It wraps things up better than perhaps any other show I've ever seen, pushing out the plotlines long enough so that you get to see just what happens to each character at their end. It was as fitting an end to any show --and especially that one-- as I've ever seen. Having been total steeped in the show for several weeks, when we finally watched that last show, I found myself bawling at the lyricism of it.
This song from Sia is the wordless soundtrack to the final minutes of the show...the final minutes that fans of the show rave so much about.
"Six Feet Under" probably used music better than almost any other show I know of. This hauntingly beautiful song was a marvelous "Coda." So, long after we stopped watching the episodes, I kept listening to this song.
3. The Long Way Around Dixie Chicks Taking the Long Way
Another from the Chicks. The opening CD track, so it also got a lot of play in the car this year. Many times, we all found ourselves singing along at the tops of our lungs while this one played.
4. Not Ready to Make Nice Dixie Chicks Taking the Long Way
Ditto for this song. It's such an angry song, but such an honest one. I really did like the "Taking the Long Way" CD, and I hope the new fans that found the Chicks find stay with them. As you may remember, I blogged about them in my "Things to Like About Texas" section. The things they went through seem more surreal all the time as the time passes. But it was all real, and all quite disturbing that it happened in modern day America.
5. A Remark You Made Jerry Douglas The Best Kept Secret
Charles and Mary invited us to go see Paul Simon at the Nokia sometime back. That would have been cool enough by itself...and it was a great show. But Jerry Douglas was the opener. It was actually an odd pairing...but I'm glad whoever thought of it did...because he and his band were fantastic.
I bought this CD during the intermission. Apparently, folks in know know that Douglas is one of the best slide players in the world, and he's done session work on an array of other star's CD. (Including Fogelberg's "High Country Snows," as I noticed earlier this week...) This song, as you may know, is actually a Spirogyra song, and I have that original CD and loved it for years. It's a really cool and creative cover on the slide guitar.
6. Souvenirs Gretchen Peters Gretchen Peters
Gretchen Peters is my biggest Columbus discovery for this past year. I bumped into her via MySpace, and then went out and bought several of her CDs. Her writing is smart and her voice is golden. I am always attracted to smart, nice lyrics that make you think...or at least give you permission to. Gretchen Peter's songs do just that.
Since my Columbus discovery of her, I now seem to see her name everywhere. I believe she even played Uncle Calvin's back a couple of months ago.
This song is a really fine tune about collecting both metaphorical and real "Stuckey's" souvenirs. My favorite line is:
"They got Mount Rushmore on a cup,
Everybody needs one of those.
For a dollar more, they'll fill it up,
And you can drink out of Lincoln's nose."
Brilliant.
If you haven't discovered her, consider this my high recommendation that you do.
7. Picasso And Me Gretchen Peters Gretchen Peters
A second song from Gretchen Peters. This one written, I assume, from the perspective of Picasso's longtime lover. Very nice.
8. The Aviator's Song Gretchen Peters Halcyon
This one made me cry. I think it was the first song I heard from her on her Myspace page.
Don't know how autobiographical it is, but it's about a pilot is his relationship to the writer. He's always off flying, and his family/loved ones are left on the ground and left behind. Very, very poignant bridge...and, again, very smart, nice lyrics.
9. Lightly Tread Billy Jonas Get Real
This one is the first cut from my good friend Billy Jonas' newest CD. Billy's another one who always offers up some tasty, thoughtful lyrics, and tackles issue of spirituality and life without become dogmatic. If you liked "Life So Far," you will love "Get Real." (And if you don't have "Life So Far," you should run out and get it.)
10. Hanalei David LaMotte Spin
Another one from a friend of mine. Like Billy, David is one of the great songwriters from Asheville, NC. This is not a deep song, but I love the feel, the music, and especially the way it builds to the closing chorus. David: if you ever sing this live and I'm around, I want to sing background with you.
11. Imogene Gretchen Peters Halcyon
Yet another from Gretchen Peters. This song ties her as the artist who appears most often in this year's top twenty-five list. A tasty song about a no-nonsense woman who wins the jackpot at the slot machines, but still keeps her life-bearings. Very, very catchy song, without being too "hook-y."
12. Sir Aly B Jerry Douglas The Best Kept Secret
Another one from Jerry Douglas, from that same CD. Beautiful production and playing.
13. The Calling Mary Chapin Carpenter The Calling
The title track from Mary Chapin-C's new CD. This is great CD. And this song is classic Mary Chapin-Carpenter. If you've ever been a fan of hers, this CD will not disappoint. I like the way this song tackles the whole issue of people being "called," but broadens it out to be very inclusive.
14. To the Morning Dan Fogelberg Home Free
Before December 16th, there were no Dan Fogelberg songs in my Top 25. This one was must have been lurking just below the cut off. (Maybe in the 30s or 40?) Anyway, a few plays, and suddenly it appears at number 14. I'm so pleased about this. It's terribly fitting that Dan song or two make this list, and this is one of my all-time favorites...from him or anyone else.
This is the very first song on his very first CD. It's a song that I blogged about before, so I won't rehash all that here. But sufficed to say it's been a "desert island" song of mine for 25 years....and I was honored to be able to sing it at the Tribute show. (Seen here.)
"And maybe there are seasons,
And maybe they change,
And maybe
True love is not so strange."
15. Babylon David Gray White Ladder (Extra Tracks)
LIke the last entry, this is also not a new song. I first had my Columbus moment --with the song, and David Gray-- way back on the old "Mp3.com." And I loved the song ever since. Can't really tell you while. Just like it.
16. Paris in a Day Ellis Paul A Carnival of Voices
Once again, as with the last two, not a new Ellis Paul song. But it's my personal favorite. The joy of the music and the joy and spontaneity of the lyrics are infectious. The song is about two lovers --"foolish Americans" -- who try and see all of Paris in one day. Something about that just sounds like such a fun idea. And, actually, my one and only visit to Paris was very close. It was an about eight-hour layover where we did much the same thing....we checked out bags, took the train in from the airport, and rushed about from the Eiffel Tower, to Notre Dame, trying to cram as much into those hours as we could.
So, I've always really identified with the song and how fun it was to be in Paris, trying to cram as much in as we could. As with everything from Ellis Paul, the man really knows how to weave out a story in three to four minutes.
17. Marigolds Beth Wood Marigolds
This one's from my friend, Beth Woods, who lives just across town in Arlington, but whom I never see. It's title track of her great CD that came out around the time she won Kerrville New Folk.
18. Easy Silence Dixie Chicks Taking the Long Way
This is my personal favorite on the Chick's CD. I love it because it describes how I feel about Dennise. Both of us have such public lives, and the truth is that we're both incredible introverts that can often be misunderstood by those on the outside. But we're able to give each other a private space, and an "easy silence," that "keeps the world at bay."
This song ties the Chicks with Gretchen Peters for most-played-artist of 2007.
19. On With the Song Mary Chapin Carpenter The Calling
This song is a dedication to the Dixie Chicks from Mary Chapin-C's new CD. It takes on the reflexive "patriotism" of the early war period...when the Chicks were in the midst of such controversy. Interesting to note that things have changed enough that such a song by a country artist barely causes a "ripple" in the public's imagination now. But if you've been worried about the direction of this country, and concerned about free speech and free expression, you'll like this one.
20. Stars Dan Fogelberg Home Free
The second track from Dan's first CD. In the tribute show, Rusty and I sang this one back to back (as seen here). So, to me it's fitting that it also makes the list. Not my favorite Fogelberg song. But what it probably means was that I listened to "Home Free" more than I realized this year.
21. Free In You Indigo Girls All That We Let In
An old one from the Indigo Girls from my favorite CD of theirs in the past few years. Really fine CD, and a really fine song. It's a love song, talking about how love makes one free. But it also make a nice metaphor for the God/human connection too. This is one I play a lot because it's become a favorite of me and Dennise to describe our relationship.
Hope you enjoyed this list. If any of you post your own Top 25, let me know. I'd love to learn something new, and have some more Columbus discoveries.
As per with last year, there's just one I'll offer you. It's the list of songs below which --for whatever it's worth-- ended up as the most played songs on my iPod this year. I know this, because I intentionally reset the song count on my iTunes somewhere during the first week of last January.
It's a fun exercise, actually. I highly recommend giving it a shot. Because it gives you a little musical snapshot of your year...the things that were happening...what you were going through.
In the case of these songs, there are only two or three that ever got any airplay as "hits." (What does that say about me?!) You will also note that although this is advertised as a "Top 25," there are not twenty-five entries. Apparently, this is because iTunes will not include songs that are not also for sale at their store. Which is really just as well...since the most of the excluded ones are demos of my own songs and only got lots of plays just because I was listening for ways to improve them.
So, without further delay:
Eric's Most Played iPod Songs for 2007
Song Artist Album
1. Lullaby Dixie Chicks Taking the Long Way
Here's a general rule of thumb for songs on my iPod: If it's a song that I like, Dennise likes, and Maria likes, it's no brainer that it's gonna get a lot of plays. Even though we all three have iPods, mine's the one we listen to most on long trips. Point of this being, that this where all the Dixie Chick songs on this list came from.
The album is actually well over a year old. But we ran it into the ground listening to it this year. And this sweet song is everybody in the family's favorite among all of them. Of course, Dennise and I like it for the obvious reasons of how it makes us think of Maria.
2. Breathe Me Sia Colour the Small One
Right before Christmas last year, Dennise and I got on a kick of watching episodes of "Six Feet Under." We got so obsessed with the show that we went out and bought all the box sets. And around the holidays last year, we were on a serious "Six Feet Under" binge on our DVD player...sometimes staying up far too late watching "just one more" episode. In retrospect, it's an odd way to spend your holidays, watching a show about morticians and death. But we found ourselves obsessed.
Fans of show argue that the final episode is perhaps the greatest last episode of any show in television history. That's saying a lot. But I have to agree. It wraps things up better than perhaps any other show I've ever seen, pushing out the plotlines long enough so that you get to see just what happens to each character at their end. It was as fitting an end to any show --and especially that one-- as I've ever seen. Having been total steeped in the show for several weeks, when we finally watched that last show, I found myself bawling at the lyricism of it.
This song from Sia is the wordless soundtrack to the final minutes of the show...the final minutes that fans of the show rave so much about.
"Six Feet Under" probably used music better than almost any other show I know of. This hauntingly beautiful song was a marvelous "Coda." So, long after we stopped watching the episodes, I kept listening to this song.
3. The Long Way Around Dixie Chicks Taking the Long Way
Another from the Chicks. The opening CD track, so it also got a lot of play in the car this year. Many times, we all found ourselves singing along at the tops of our lungs while this one played.
4. Not Ready to Make Nice Dixie Chicks Taking the Long Way
Ditto for this song. It's such an angry song, but such an honest one. I really did like the "Taking the Long Way" CD, and I hope the new fans that found the Chicks find stay with them. As you may remember, I blogged about them in my "Things to Like About Texas" section. The things they went through seem more surreal all the time as the time passes. But it was all real, and all quite disturbing that it happened in modern day America.
5. A Remark You Made Jerry Douglas The Best Kept Secret
Charles and Mary invited us to go see Paul Simon at the Nokia sometime back. That would have been cool enough by itself...and it was a great show. But Jerry Douglas was the opener. It was actually an odd pairing...but I'm glad whoever thought of it did...because he and his band were fantastic.
I bought this CD during the intermission. Apparently, folks in know know that Douglas is one of the best slide players in the world, and he's done session work on an array of other star's CD. (Including Fogelberg's "High Country Snows," as I noticed earlier this week...) This song, as you may know, is actually a Spirogyra song, and I have that original CD and loved it for years. It's a really cool and creative cover on the slide guitar.
6. Souvenirs Gretchen Peters Gretchen Peters
Gretchen Peters is my biggest Columbus discovery for this past year. I bumped into her via MySpace, and then went out and bought several of her CDs. Her writing is smart and her voice is golden. I am always attracted to smart, nice lyrics that make you think...or at least give you permission to. Gretchen Peter's songs do just that.
Since my Columbus discovery of her, I now seem to see her name everywhere. I believe she even played Uncle Calvin's back a couple of months ago.
This song is a really fine tune about collecting both metaphorical and real "Stuckey's" souvenirs. My favorite line is:
"They got Mount Rushmore on a cup,
Everybody needs one of those.
For a dollar more, they'll fill it up,
And you can drink out of Lincoln's nose."
Brilliant.
If you haven't discovered her, consider this my high recommendation that you do.
7. Picasso And Me Gretchen Peters Gretchen Peters
A second song from Gretchen Peters. This one written, I assume, from the perspective of Picasso's longtime lover. Very nice.
8. The Aviator's Song Gretchen Peters Halcyon
This one made me cry. I think it was the first song I heard from her on her Myspace page.
Don't know how autobiographical it is, but it's about a pilot is his relationship to the writer. He's always off flying, and his family/loved ones are left on the ground and left behind. Very, very poignant bridge...and, again, very smart, nice lyrics.
9. Lightly Tread Billy Jonas Get Real
This one is the first cut from my good friend Billy Jonas' newest CD. Billy's another one who always offers up some tasty, thoughtful lyrics, and tackles issue of spirituality and life without become dogmatic. If you liked "Life So Far," you will love "Get Real." (And if you don't have "Life So Far," you should run out and get it.)
10. Hanalei David LaMotte Spin
Another one from a friend of mine. Like Billy, David is one of the great songwriters from Asheville, NC. This is not a deep song, but I love the feel, the music, and especially the way it builds to the closing chorus. David: if you ever sing this live and I'm around, I want to sing background with you.
11. Imogene Gretchen Peters Halcyon
Yet another from Gretchen Peters. This song ties her as the artist who appears most often in this year's top twenty-five list. A tasty song about a no-nonsense woman who wins the jackpot at the slot machines, but still keeps her life-bearings. Very, very catchy song, without being too "hook-y."
12. Sir Aly B Jerry Douglas The Best Kept Secret
Another one from Jerry Douglas, from that same CD. Beautiful production and playing.
13. The Calling Mary Chapin Carpenter The Calling
The title track from Mary Chapin-C's new CD. This is great CD. And this song is classic Mary Chapin-Carpenter. If you've ever been a fan of hers, this CD will not disappoint. I like the way this song tackles the whole issue of people being "called," but broadens it out to be very inclusive.
14. To the Morning Dan Fogelberg Home Free
Before December 16th, there were no Dan Fogelberg songs in my Top 25. This one was must have been lurking just below the cut off. (Maybe in the 30s or 40?) Anyway, a few plays, and suddenly it appears at number 14. I'm so pleased about this. It's terribly fitting that Dan song or two make this list, and this is one of my all-time favorites...from him or anyone else.
This is the very first song on his very first CD. It's a song that I blogged about before, so I won't rehash all that here. But sufficed to say it's been a "desert island" song of mine for 25 years....and I was honored to be able to sing it at the Tribute show. (Seen here.)
"And maybe there are seasons,
And maybe they change,
And maybe
True love is not so strange."
15. Babylon David Gray White Ladder (Extra Tracks)
LIke the last entry, this is also not a new song. I first had my Columbus moment --with the song, and David Gray-- way back on the old "Mp3.com." And I loved the song ever since. Can't really tell you while. Just like it.
16. Paris in a Day Ellis Paul A Carnival of Voices
Once again, as with the last two, not a new Ellis Paul song. But it's my personal favorite. The joy of the music and the joy and spontaneity of the lyrics are infectious. The song is about two lovers --"foolish Americans" -- who try and see all of Paris in one day. Something about that just sounds like such a fun idea. And, actually, my one and only visit to Paris was very close. It was an about eight-hour layover where we did much the same thing....we checked out bags, took the train in from the airport, and rushed about from the Eiffel Tower, to Notre Dame, trying to cram as much into those hours as we could.
So, I've always really identified with the song and how fun it was to be in Paris, trying to cram as much in as we could. As with everything from Ellis Paul, the man really knows how to weave out a story in three to four minutes.
17. Marigolds Beth Wood Marigolds
This one's from my friend, Beth Woods, who lives just across town in Arlington, but whom I never see. It's title track of her great CD that came out around the time she won Kerrville New Folk.
18. Easy Silence Dixie Chicks Taking the Long Way
This is my personal favorite on the Chick's CD. I love it because it describes how I feel about Dennise. Both of us have such public lives, and the truth is that we're both incredible introverts that can often be misunderstood by those on the outside. But we're able to give each other a private space, and an "easy silence," that "keeps the world at bay."
This song ties the Chicks with Gretchen Peters for most-played-artist of 2007.
19. On With the Song Mary Chapin Carpenter The Calling
This song is a dedication to the Dixie Chicks from Mary Chapin-C's new CD. It takes on the reflexive "patriotism" of the early war period...when the Chicks were in the midst of such controversy. Interesting to note that things have changed enough that such a song by a country artist barely causes a "ripple" in the public's imagination now. But if you've been worried about the direction of this country, and concerned about free speech and free expression, you'll like this one.
20. Stars Dan Fogelberg Home Free
The second track from Dan's first CD. In the tribute show, Rusty and I sang this one back to back (as seen here). So, to me it's fitting that it also makes the list. Not my favorite Fogelberg song. But what it probably means was that I listened to "Home Free" more than I realized this year.
21. Free In You Indigo Girls All That We Let In
An old one from the Indigo Girls from my favorite CD of theirs in the past few years. Really fine CD, and a really fine song. It's a love song, talking about how love makes one free. But it also make a nice metaphor for the God/human connection too. This is one I play a lot because it's become a favorite of me and Dennise to describe our relationship.
Hope you enjoyed this list. If any of you post your own Top 25, let me know. I'd love to learn something new, and have some more Columbus discoveries.
Columbus Discovery
Dec/18/2007 08:15 AM | Permalink
Columbus Discovery:
"An artist, musician, writer, cultural figure who Eric stumbles on as if he's the first person to ever know about them.
Like Columbus, he's usually thrilled to have "discovered" this new and creative talent. Like Columbus, he usually later realizes that many of these people have been known for years --thank you very much-- and are only "new" to him.
Given how many times this has happened, Eric no longer assumes anything, and simply generically calls these moments "Columbus Discoveries," confessing ahead of time that, while they are new to him, he might just be the last clueless person to learn about them."
"An artist, musician, writer, cultural figure who Eric stumbles on as if he's the first person to ever know about them.
Like Columbus, he's usually thrilled to have "discovered" this new and creative talent. Like Columbus, he usually later realizes that many of these people have been known for years --thank you very much-- and are only "new" to him.
Given how many times this has happened, Eric no longer assumes anything, and simply generically calls these moments "Columbus Discoveries," confessing ahead of time that, while they are new to him, he might just be the last clueless person to learn about them."
Brand New, Super Cool, Email Blog Thingy...
Jun/20/2007 06:18 PM | Permalink
Every so often, as I'm doing routine blog
maintenance, I stumble on a cool new feature that
would be great to have.
That happened again recently. And so today I am pleased to announce the latest brand-new, super cool, blog feature: Blog entries via email.
That's right.
Let's say you want to keep up with "When EF Talks," but you just can't seem to remember to check back here as often as you'd like. Then, when you finally do, you feel like you've missed something.
Well, sign up with your email address today, and each future entry to this blog will be conveniently emailed straight to your inbox. Best of all, it comes to you as "rich html," meaning that all the formatting, pictures, and links are retained. (About the only formatting difference I can see is that the background is white instead of grey...) Or, you can click a url at the top of the email message you get, be directed back here to the blog itself, and read it on the web.
Your choice.
Either way, you won't miss a single new entry from now on. Think of it as your own personal "When EF Talks" TiVO.
So if you'd like to sign up, scroll down the right-hand navigation menu to here:
Enter your email address in the box, do a quick email verification, and presto-chango, you're all set.
I'm tellin' ya, this internet is a cool thing.
(ps: We promise not to use your email address for any other purpose than sending these blog entries, and you're free to unsubscribe at anytime...)
That happened again recently. And so today I am pleased to announce the latest brand-new, super cool, blog feature: Blog entries via email.
That's right.
Let's say you want to keep up with "When EF Talks," but you just can't seem to remember to check back here as often as you'd like. Then, when you finally do, you feel like you've missed something.
Well, sign up with your email address today, and each future entry to this blog will be conveniently emailed straight to your inbox. Best of all, it comes to you as "rich html," meaning that all the formatting, pictures, and links are retained. (About the only formatting difference I can see is that the background is white instead of grey...) Or, you can click a url at the top of the email message you get, be directed back here to the blog itself, and read it on the web.
Your choice.
Either way, you won't miss a single new entry from now on. Think of it as your own personal "When EF Talks" TiVO.
So if you'd like to sign up, scroll down the right-hand navigation menu to here:
Enter your email address in the box, do a quick email verification, and presto-chango, you're all set.
I'm tellin' ya, this internet is a cool thing.
(ps: We promise not to use your email address for any other purpose than sending these blog entries, and you're free to unsubscribe at anytime...)
Current Favorite iPod Songs
Apr/13/2007 08:30 AM | Permalink
File this under, "Why didn't I think of this years
ago?!"
I have created an "iMix" of my current favorite iPod songs. These are the songs that are getting the most ear-play on my own iPod.
You can find it here.
I've also added this link to the navigational window to your right, so that you can find it in the future too. Because I will update the songs list every-so-often, as the mood strikes.
Enjoy
I have created an "iMix" of my current favorite iPod songs. These are the songs that are getting the most ear-play on my own iPod.
You can find it here.
I've also added this link to the navigational window to your right, so that you can find it in the future too. Because I will update the songs list every-so-often, as the mood strikes.
Enjoy
Rising Like the Phoenix: The Rebirth of My Website
and Blog
Jul/31/2006 07:54 PM | Permalink
"Found deep water...for I even learned to swim
Found deep water...for I even learned to swim
Never thought I'd see the sun again."
Like an honest fool, I first turned to technical support. I tried the message boards associated with the software because that's what the company suggested. The software is called iBlog. And while I will name it for you, for reasons that must surely be dawning on you, I will not give you a link.
After a week of complaining there --all the while having the hunch that my issue was deeper than a message board could handle-- the actual tech support people from the actual company finally called me back.
Turns out it's one guy. That's the whole tech support department. That should have also been a big honkin' "Warning Will Robinson!" moment for me.
But no, I'm a sucker and he was a nice guy. He tried everything he could. I emailed him files. He emailed them back. He rebuilt the entire database and sent it back. He spent two evenings operating my computer remotely (from India?) trying to get the software to work. (It's weird to watch someone else move your cursor...)
But nothing ever worked, no matter what he tried.
Eventually, he just quit calling me back.
So, I went from cursing him...to being impressed by him...to cursing him again.
With no good solutions, and no returned phone calls, I decided enough was enough.
"Like a Phoenix...I have risen from the flames
Like a Phoenix...I have risen from the flames
No more living...
Someone else's dreams."
In the course of trying to figure how to port my messages to some other software (found there was no easy way to do that...) I stumbled on some software called "RapidWeaver." It's an all-in-one website/blogging solution. It's Mac-based, intuitive, and has GREAT technical support. It seems to be created by some really cheery folks in England. And for the past week, I've been pelting their message boards with questions, and I have gotten a great answer every time. And quickly.
So, this past week has been "rising from the flames" week. While it's still looked like radio-silence on your end, I've been busily converting my entire website to RapidWeaver on my end.
I've had the www.ericfolkerth.com website for almost eight years now. I've had the blog for three, going on four. Converting it over is a big job. RapidWeaver makes very easy. But with that kind of history, it's still a big job.
It's not really like cleaning your closets (the first analogy I thought of...). It's really more like moving to a whole new house. It's still all your old stuff, you just have to figure out where it all goes, what you want to keep, and what you need new.
I'm mostly done now. And the result, I am happy to report, is a fully integrated website and blog, with an eye-popping new design, and cool new features my old house/site never had.
Take the picture pages, for one. They're really, really cool. Check them out. Same old pictures. But they look a lot better here.
And, the blog is fully integrated with the website. So, if you find the blog, you'll find the website, and vice versa.
The new blog address, at least the main blog page, is a much easier url too:
http://www.ericfolkerth.com/wheneftalks/blog.html
That's a permanent new address. So, save it as a "favorite" now, and subscribe to the rss feed with this link. You'll have the ability to leave comments just as before, and I think that overall you'll come to enjoy it as I have this past week.
As for what I still need to do, I am still porting over the blog entries to the new system. That way, if you want to peruse old entries, you'll be able to do so within the new system, and ingore the old blog. Don't know how long that will take. I'll let you know when it's done.
So, welcome to the rebirth of my website/blog.
If you're a regular reader, I'm really glad you managed to find me again. I didn't leave you hanging on purpose. The old site will stay out there, like some dead satellite drifting around earth. It's not going to be updated. But there are too many folks who have linked to it through the years for me to take it down either.
So, sorry for the radio silence. As Han Solo used to say, "It's not my fault!!"
Disclaimer
Jul/29/2006 08:11 PM | Permalink
It goes
without saying (of course, if it really
did, I would not be writing
this) but....
The thoughts, opinions, ideas, stories, rants, meditations, information written anywhere on this this blog are totally and completely my own, and do not reflect the views of any church, denomination, political party, elected official, close friend, relative, musical group, sports team, city, state, county, nation, artist or musician friend, other blogger, or anybody else you can think of.
They're my thoughts, written as the human being that --first and foremost, and before anything else-- I am.
The thoughts, opinions, ideas, stories, rants, meditations, information written anywhere on this this blog are totally and completely my own, and do not reflect the views of any church, denomination, political party, elected official, close friend, relative, musical group, sports team, city, state, county, nation, artist or musician friend, other blogger, or anybody else you can think of.
They're my thoughts, written as the human being that --first and foremost, and before anything else-- I am.
Welcome to "When EF Talks!"
Jul/29/2006 07:23 PM | Permalink
Welcome to "When EF Talks!" Eric Folkerth's blog on
music, religion, politics and life.
This blog started as an appendage of my music website. Serving as a vehicle for promoting my music is still one of the main goals of these pages. But a lot of folks stumble on this site via the blog these days. So, if you're finding me this way, I hope you'll check out my whole site too.
The blog is organized into several categories, meant to be browsed. After reading about them here, you can click on the links below to browse by category (You'll also find them in the navigational menu, about half way down the main page...):
Categories on "When EF Talks"
Favorite Entries
These are entries that either mean a lot to me, or have meant a lot to other people. Sometimes they start out in other categories, and I move them into this one. Therefore, these entries are likely to cover a gamut of topics, and be something of a grab-bag.
Music News
A category for general info, news, gig announcements, about me and my music. I write about upcoming shows here, decompress about shows that have passed, talk about recording I'm doing, and pass along info. about musician friends too.
Angels and Pins
I have enough theological training to be dangerous. And this is the place for me to opine about all things theological, ethical, moral, and philosophical. Hopefully with words that most human beings can understand (Not something all theologians do all of the time....) Also, I used to write a weekly email devotional that, once upon a time, was read by more than 3,000 people worldwide. I don't write it anymore. But, now and then, you'll find something like those old devotionals in this section too.
Life Happens
To me. To my family. To those around me. So....these are entries about stuff that happens that I feel the need to put into words. Or, it's stuff that doesn't seem to fit anywhere else.
Balcony People
Joyce Landgraff invented the term over twenty years ago to describe folks in her life that were in her corner...cheerleaders, supporters, personal saints, heroes from history. She said that anytime she spoke or performed in public, she imagined that these folks with with her, "in the balcony," watching over her.
So, this category is to honor those who've meant something to me. Anybody who appears in this category is likely to be someone --living or dead, personal friend or hero from afar-- that has touched my life in some way.
Thoughts from Purple Land
Just after the 2004 election, I wrote a song called "Purple Land." We DO live in a Purple Land in that every state is both all both "blue" and "red." We are never just one or the other. I happen to personally trend more blueish than reddish, and the writing here will make that plain. But, in my life, I know a lot of truly fine, upstanding red folks too. This category is for political ramblings of my own imaginings, or to pass along stuff I've found other places. The opinions are my own, and do not represent the views of any church or other organization. (Just felt the need to say that...and I say it even more strongly here.)
My Own Amazing Race
I've been blessed to travel a lot of really interesting places in my life. I have a lot of pictures and memories, and I'm working on some entries that will be travelogues of some of the fascinating places and people I've met over the years. Stay tuned...
Things to Like About Texas
Lots of folks don't like our state these days. I know that. And I'm not at all an apologist. I can agree with a lot of the critique. But before you throw the baby out with the bath water, please read some of the things I've found to like about this state. You might be surprised. Or, even if you do still hate Texas, you might see us more as nuisance than anathema. And that'd at least be a step in the right direction.
HSO's from a Bitter P1
In 2006, I found myself blogging on sports far more than I ever imagined I would. This culminated during the Mavs playoff run, when my observations about Dwyane Wade got the attention of about 25,000 bloggers around the net, and got me the moniker "Bitter P1" from the "BaD Radio Show" on "The Ticket." It's a nickname I embrace with pride. (If you have to ask what an "HSO" or "P1" is, go here.) So, this is the category for all sport-related blogs.
Things I Meant to Write
Fairly self-explanatory. This is when enough time passes and it seems strange, in the fast-moving world of a blog, to bring something up. But, that "something" sticks in my craw, and I have to write about it anyway.
Synapse Clippings
This is a category filled with the stuff that most blogs have...quick hitting, short entries that link you to somewhere else. I've just found, over the years, that there is some benefit to brevity at times...at least in a blog. So, this is where all the quick thoughts that dash across my brain's white-matter go.
---------------------------------------
Navigation Menu
Note the navigational menu to your right. First, you'll see my blog roll. "Close to My Heart" are sites that I either have a personal/professional connection to, or sites that someone in my immediately family has a personal/professional connection to.
Next, you'll find "Musician Friends." I have a lot of musician friends, and I've been blessed by them all. But these folks I've shared gigs with, written songs with, recorded with, or had some other close connection. They are all incredible talents, and if you get nothing else from my blog, getting to know them better would make the visit worth your time.
"Writers and Other Artist Friends" is exactly like the last category, but are other kinds of art.
"Sites that Keep Me Sane" are sites that give political analysis that doesn't seem insane to me. "Sites That Feed Me" are sites that speak to the human soul, and issues of spirituality. "Passionate Causes" are groups I have either done volunteer work with personally, or actual agencies in Dallas I have a connection with.
"Hear it Here First" are political blogs and media watchdogs that, it seems to me, do a very good job breaking stories that the rest of us will be talking about as soon as they infiltrate the MSM.
Finally, as you can see, you can syndicate this site via "RSS" if you like, or sign up to get each new entry via email, so that you're always updated when I've written something new.
Well, that's about it. Still haven't told you much about me. But I'm assuming most of it will become self-evident through the reading itself. In the menu to your right, you can peruse my favorite iPod songs, and snoop through my bookshelf. If you like, you can read my music site biography here. You can also tell a lot about a person by the quotes they live their life by. So here are some that mean a lot to me. Finally, you can learn a lot about me by reading this long blog entry too.
Leave me a comment or two. And thanks for taking the time to stop by.
Eric Folkerth
This blog started as an appendage of my music website. Serving as a vehicle for promoting my music is still one of the main goals of these pages. But a lot of folks stumble on this site via the blog these days. So, if you're finding me this way, I hope you'll check out my whole site too.
The blog is organized into several categories, meant to be browsed. After reading about them here, you can click on the links below to browse by category (You'll also find them in the navigational menu, about half way down the main page...):
Categories on "When EF Talks"
Favorite Entries
These are entries that either mean a lot to me, or have meant a lot to other people. Sometimes they start out in other categories, and I move them into this one. Therefore, these entries are likely to cover a gamut of topics, and be something of a grab-bag.
Music News
A category for general info, news, gig announcements, about me and my music. I write about upcoming shows here, decompress about shows that have passed, talk about recording I'm doing, and pass along info. about musician friends too.
Angels and Pins
I have enough theological training to be dangerous. And this is the place for me to opine about all things theological, ethical, moral, and philosophical. Hopefully with words that most human beings can understand (Not something all theologians do all of the time....) Also, I used to write a weekly email devotional that, once upon a time, was read by more than 3,000 people worldwide. I don't write it anymore. But, now and then, you'll find something like those old devotionals in this section too.
Life Happens
To me. To my family. To those around me. So....these are entries about stuff that happens that I feel the need to put into words. Or, it's stuff that doesn't seem to fit anywhere else.
Balcony People
Joyce Landgraff invented the term over twenty years ago to describe folks in her life that were in her corner...cheerleaders, supporters, personal saints, heroes from history. She said that anytime she spoke or performed in public, she imagined that these folks with with her, "in the balcony," watching over her.
So, this category is to honor those who've meant something to me. Anybody who appears in this category is likely to be someone --living or dead, personal friend or hero from afar-- that has touched my life in some way.
Thoughts from Purple Land
Just after the 2004 election, I wrote a song called "Purple Land." We DO live in a Purple Land in that every state is both all both "blue" and "red." We are never just one or the other. I happen to personally trend more blueish than reddish, and the writing here will make that plain. But, in my life, I know a lot of truly fine, upstanding red folks too. This category is for political ramblings of my own imaginings, or to pass along stuff I've found other places. The opinions are my own, and do not represent the views of any church or other organization. (Just felt the need to say that...and I say it even more strongly here.)
My Own Amazing Race
I've been blessed to travel a lot of really interesting places in my life. I have a lot of pictures and memories, and I'm working on some entries that will be travelogues of some of the fascinating places and people I've met over the years. Stay tuned...
Things to Like About Texas
Lots of folks don't like our state these days. I know that. And I'm not at all an apologist. I can agree with a lot of the critique. But before you throw the baby out with the bath water, please read some of the things I've found to like about this state. You might be surprised. Or, even if you do still hate Texas, you might see us more as nuisance than anathema. And that'd at least be a step in the right direction.
HSO's from a Bitter P1
In 2006, I found myself blogging on sports far more than I ever imagined I would. This culminated during the Mavs playoff run, when my observations about Dwyane Wade got the attention of about 25,000 bloggers around the net, and got me the moniker "Bitter P1" from the "BaD Radio Show" on "The Ticket." It's a nickname I embrace with pride. (If you have to ask what an "HSO" or "P1" is, go here.) So, this is the category for all sport-related blogs.
Things I Meant to Write
Fairly self-explanatory. This is when enough time passes and it seems strange, in the fast-moving world of a blog, to bring something up. But, that "something" sticks in my craw, and I have to write about it anyway.
Synapse Clippings
This is a category filled with the stuff that most blogs have...quick hitting, short entries that link you to somewhere else. I've just found, over the years, that there is some benefit to brevity at times...at least in a blog. So, this is where all the quick thoughts that dash across my brain's white-matter go.
---------------------------------------
Navigation Menu
Note the navigational menu to your right. First, you'll see my blog roll. "Close to My Heart" are sites that I either have a personal/professional connection to, or sites that someone in my immediately family has a personal/professional connection to.
Next, you'll find "Musician Friends." I have a lot of musician friends, and I've been blessed by them all. But these folks I've shared gigs with, written songs with, recorded with, or had some other close connection. They are all incredible talents, and if you get nothing else from my blog, getting to know them better would make the visit worth your time.
"Writers and Other Artist Friends" is exactly like the last category, but are other kinds of art.
"Sites that Keep Me Sane" are sites that give political analysis that doesn't seem insane to me. "Sites That Feed Me" are sites that speak to the human soul, and issues of spirituality. "Passionate Causes" are groups I have either done volunteer work with personally, or actual agencies in Dallas I have a connection with.
"Hear it Here First" are political blogs and media watchdogs that, it seems to me, do a very good job breaking stories that the rest of us will be talking about as soon as they infiltrate the MSM.
Finally, as you can see, you can syndicate this site via "RSS" if you like, or sign up to get each new entry via email, so that you're always updated when I've written something new.
Well, that's about it. Still haven't told you much about me. But I'm assuming most of it will become self-evident through the reading itself. In the menu to your right, you can peruse my favorite iPod songs, and snoop through my bookshelf. If you like, you can read my music site biography here. You can also tell a lot about a person by the quotes they live their life by. So here are some that mean a lot to me. Finally, you can learn a lot about me by reading this long blog entry too.
Leave me a comment or two. And thanks for taking the time to stop by.
Eric Folkerth
--30--
Merry Christmas from Eric and Dennise!!! (Read our
yearly e-Christmas card)
Dec/30/2005 05:11 PM | Permalink
Merry
Christmas from Eric and Dennise!!! (Read our yearl
e-Christmas card)
The past few weeks have been absolutely crazy-busy for me. That adds on to the past two months that were also, by themselves, crazy-busy. That's a whole lot of busy-ness goin' on....
But, this week, it slowed down some, and I was able to get our yearly e-Christmas card done. For those unfamiliar, it's been about five years since we actually sent out a paper card. We send a combination card/letter that's packed with links to pictures, mp3s, websites, and quicktime home movies. It's a little multimedia snapshot of our year in review.
Download it here
Feel free to download to your little heart's content. It's in Adobe pdf version. And to enjoy it fully, we assume you have Quicktime, an mp3 player, and an image viewer. (most folks have all that stuff these days...)
Hope you're all having a safe holiday.
The past few weeks have been absolutely crazy-busy for me. That adds on to the past two months that were also, by themselves, crazy-busy. That's a whole lot of busy-ness goin' on....
But, this week, it slowed down some, and I was able to get our yearly e-Christmas card done. For those unfamiliar, it's been about five years since we actually sent out a paper card. We send a combination card/letter that's packed with links to pictures, mp3s, websites, and quicktime home movies. It's a little multimedia snapshot of our year in review.
Download it here
Feel free to download to your little heart's content. It's in Adobe pdf version. And to enjoy it fully, we assume you have Quicktime, an mp3 player, and an image viewer. (most folks have all that stuff these days...)
Hope you're all having a safe holiday.
--30--
Video of Prairie Chapel Road: Using my song as the
soundtrack (Very, very cool...)
Aug/20/2005 05:16 PM | Permalink
Prairie Chapel Road: A Song Inspired by Camp Casey
and Cindy Sheehan
Aug/16/2005 11:31 PM | Permalink
In August of 2005, I had the great good fortune to be
a part of "Camp Casey," the organic and grassroots
peace movement inspired by Cindy Sheehan. During some
of my trips there, I was inspired to write a song
called "Prairie Chapel Road," which has now become
one of two great songs to come out of that movement.
It's been downloaded almost 3,000 times since then.
I've revised this original blog entry several times, and now it's sort of a "one stop" place to find all the other writing I've done about Camp Casey. The entry below tells the story of how "Prairie Chapel Road" first got written, and will give you the links so you can download/stream it yourself.
But I thought you might also be interested in some of the OTHER writing I've done about Camp Casey and what's happened since I wrote the song....
So, you can learn about my second visit to Camp Casey 1 here, where I played PCR for family members the very first time, at a Friday prayer vigil.
You can see an incredible video that uses PCR as the soundtrack at this second link.
This third blog entry tells about how BBC Radio used a clip of the song in a that aired on Public Radio in the states.
Fourthly (is this a word?), you can learn about my final visit to Camp Casey last August, on the last incredible Saturday, when 2,000 people were gathered there and I got to play the song on the big main stage at Camp Casey II, here .
Last but not least, you can read here how my musician friend, Jesse Dyen, has covered "Prairie Chapel Road."
But, before you read any this, you might want to start with what's below. It's the very first "Prairie Chapel Road" blog entry that tells the story of the song, and of how all this got started. Perhaps give it a read, and then explore some of these other links I've just mentioned....EF
---------------------------------------------
I went down to Camp Casey yesterday. It's only an hour and a half from home, and I'd been moved by what I'd been reading of the powerful questions she hopes to ask the President. So, me and two others from our church went down for the day.
We got off the shuttle at Camp Casey about 2 minutes before a HUGE gully-washer rainstorm blew through. (Reminded me of Kerrville, actually...) I ran to the nearest shelter which, as it turns out, was the Veterans for Peace shelter where Cindy's original tent had been. (According to woman named Ann, who was nice enough to let me keep out of the rain with her...)
After the rain, Ron, Kim, and me went down the entire row of 800-plus crosses. The storm had toppled over some of the American flags that were next to them, and some of the names had blown off. So, as we walked down, just soaking in all the crosses in the soaked ground --a little less than half of the actual US casualties-- we did our best to put them back in order.
Imagine my shock, then, when I awoke this morning to find that the crosses had been mowed down by some Crawford local the night before. Apparently, he'd tied a metal pole to the back of his truck, and just plowed through them, like he was plowing up corn. Beside the violence of his act, it seems to me that despite his claim to be a "good Christian," the whole crucifixion thing must be lost on him. I mean, thinking theologically here, how completely metaphorical IS it for him to RUN OVER a bunch of CROSSES?!!!*
There are just whole levels of powerful metaphor to this senseless act. Even some of the pro-war (or pro-Bush) folks had been moved by the display of crosses. I heard stories that some of them "crossed the road" to walk up and down the line. Some of them left American flags. Some of them left flowers.
I heard the story that there was a local guy who drove by, who was very much pro-war (or pro-Bush). He had lost his son in the war, and he came up, angry and wanting to talk to someone. After a while, he noticed the crosses, and decided to check and see if his son was among the names. Turns out, he was. And the man melted into tears, in the hands of a peace advocate whose name he barely even knew.
Such were the stories of power that I heard while at Camp Casey. These don't seem to be making into the mainstream press.
There was so much more that I wanted to blog today about the trip to Crawford. But somehow this thing with the crosses stayed in the front of my brain, and wouldn't leave me alone.
So, although I had bloggers block, I didn't seem to have songwriters block. And I've got a new song called "Prairie Chapel Road"
On the way home today, these words of hope just came tumbling out.
It's been said that there's no good protest songs being written these days. Well, maybe it's because there are very few good protests. I don't know if this is a good song, but I DO know this is a powerful protest that deserves good songs.
And so, this song goes out to Cindy Sheehan, and to all the others who camp there in non-violence, and who believe that their witness CAN make a difference in people's lives. They've inspired me, and they've inspired countless others.
And, as this witness goes on, and the tensions mount, we all need to believe in the hope that was ignited by their original willingness to speak up and speak out.
Prairie Chapel Road
Download it here
Stream it here
Lyrics
Prairie Chapel Road
The grieving mother pitched her tent,
On Prairie Chapel Road...
With questions for the President
On Prairie Chapel Road...
A host of pilgrims came along
To Prairie Chapel Road...
Raised their voices, sang their songs
On Prairie Chapel Road...
You can mow down the crosses,
but you can’t mow down our hope,
‘Cause the truth will always greet
The light of day.
And we know what the cost is,
In this darkness, where we grope,
But we know that peace
Will be the better way...
On Prairie Chapel Road...
Around the nation, all eyes turned
To Prairie Chapel Road...
To mark the lessons we had learned
On Prairie Chapel Road...
People who had found their voice
On Prairie Chapel Road...
Millions more who joined their choice
On Prairie Chapel Road...
---------------------
In every city, and small town,
There’s a Prairie Chapel Road
Where two sides of the road are found,
On Prairie Chapel Road...
And we may always disagree
On Prairie Chapel Road...
But the right to do keeps us free
On Prairie Chapel Road...
----------
The grieving mother pitched her tent,
On Prairie Chapel Road...
With questions for the President
On Prairie Chapel Road...
Copyright, Eric Folkerth © 2005
All Rights Reserved.
* I should note that there were also several Stars of David, and at least one Crescent Moon too...
I've revised this original blog entry several times, and now it's sort of a "one stop" place to find all the other writing I've done about Camp Casey. The entry below tells the story of how "Prairie Chapel Road" first got written, and will give you the links so you can download/stream it yourself.
But I thought you might also be interested in some of the OTHER writing I've done about Camp Casey and what's happened since I wrote the song....
So, you can learn about my second visit to Camp Casey 1 here, where I played PCR for family members the very first time, at a Friday prayer vigil.
You can see an incredible video that uses PCR as the soundtrack at this second link.
This third blog entry tells about how BBC Radio used a clip of the song in a that aired on Public Radio in the states.
Fourthly (is this a word?), you can learn about my final visit to Camp Casey last August, on the last incredible Saturday, when 2,000 people were gathered there and I got to play the song on the big main stage at Camp Casey II, here .
Last but not least, you can read here how my musician friend, Jesse Dyen, has covered "Prairie Chapel Road."
But, before you read any this, you might want to start with what's below. It's the very first "Prairie Chapel Road" blog entry that tells the story of the song, and of how all this got started. Perhaps give it a read, and then explore some of these other links I've just mentioned....EF
---------------------------------------------
I went down to Camp Casey yesterday. It's only an hour and a half from home, and I'd been moved by what I'd been reading of the powerful questions she hopes to ask the President. So, me and two others from our church went down for the day.
We got off the shuttle at Camp Casey about 2 minutes before a HUGE gully-washer rainstorm blew through. (Reminded me of Kerrville, actually...) I ran to the nearest shelter which, as it turns out, was the Veterans for Peace shelter where Cindy's original tent had been. (According to woman named Ann, who was nice enough to let me keep out of the rain with her...)
After the rain, Ron, Kim, and me went down the entire row of 800-plus crosses. The storm had toppled over some of the American flags that were next to them, and some of the names had blown off. So, as we walked down, just soaking in all the crosses in the soaked ground --a little less than half of the actual US casualties-- we did our best to put them back in order.
Imagine my shock, then, when I awoke this morning to find that the crosses had been mowed down by some Crawford local the night before. Apparently, he'd tied a metal pole to the back of his truck, and just plowed through them, like he was plowing up corn. Beside the violence of his act, it seems to me that despite his claim to be a "good Christian," the whole crucifixion thing must be lost on him. I mean, thinking theologically here, how completely metaphorical IS it for him to RUN OVER a bunch of CROSSES?!!!*
There are just whole levels of powerful metaphor to this senseless act. Even some of the pro-war (or pro-Bush) folks had been moved by the display of crosses. I heard stories that some of them "crossed the road" to walk up and down the line. Some of them left American flags. Some of them left flowers.
I heard the story that there was a local guy who drove by, who was very much pro-war (or pro-Bush). He had lost his son in the war, and he came up, angry and wanting to talk to someone. After a while, he noticed the crosses, and decided to check and see if his son was among the names. Turns out, he was. And the man melted into tears, in the hands of a peace advocate whose name he barely even knew.
Such were the stories of power that I heard while at Camp Casey. These don't seem to be making into the mainstream press.
There was so much more that I wanted to blog today about the trip to Crawford. But somehow this thing with the crosses stayed in the front of my brain, and wouldn't leave me alone.
So, although I had bloggers block, I didn't seem to have songwriters block. And I've got a new song called "Prairie Chapel Road"
On the way home today, these words of hope just came tumbling out.
It's been said that there's no good protest songs being written these days. Well, maybe it's because there are very few good protests. I don't know if this is a good song, but I DO know this is a powerful protest that deserves good songs.
And so, this song goes out to Cindy Sheehan, and to all the others who camp there in non-violence, and who believe that their witness CAN make a difference in people's lives. They've inspired me, and they've inspired countless others.
And, as this witness goes on, and the tensions mount, we all need to believe in the hope that was ignited by their original willingness to speak up and speak out.
Prairie Chapel Road
Download it here
Stream it here
Lyrics
Prairie Chapel Road
The grieving mother pitched her tent,
On Prairie Chapel Road...
With questions for the President
On Prairie Chapel Road...
A host of pilgrims came along
To Prairie Chapel Road...
Raised their voices, sang their songs
On Prairie Chapel Road...
You can mow down the crosses,
but you can’t mow down our hope,
‘Cause the truth will always greet
The light of day.
And we know what the cost is,
In this darkness, where we grope,
But we know that peace
Will be the better way...
On Prairie Chapel Road...
Around the nation, all eyes turned
To Prairie Chapel Road...
To mark the lessons we had learned
On Prairie Chapel Road...
People who had found their voice
On Prairie Chapel Road...
Millions more who joined their choice
On Prairie Chapel Road...
---------------------
In every city, and small town,
There’s a Prairie Chapel Road
Where two sides of the road are found,
On Prairie Chapel Road...
And we may always disagree
On Prairie Chapel Road...
But the right to do keeps us free
On Prairie Chapel Road...
----------
The grieving mother pitched her tent,
On Prairie Chapel Road...
With questions for the President
On Prairie Chapel Road...
Copyright, Eric Folkerth © 2005
All Rights Reserved.
* I should note that there were also several Stars of David, and at least one Crescent Moon too...
--30--
My Persistent Schizophrenia. I muse on the
bifurcation of my two loves, and the paranoia I've
always had about it.
Jul/13/2005 04:20 PM | Permalink
The two loves of my life are working in the church and playing music.
I have never done a very good job at bringing them together. And I'm about at a point in my life where I've pretty well decided I never will. That doesn't trouble me the way it used to. In some ways, it's because I'm somewhat more comfortable in my own skin than I used to be. But this is an essay I've needed to write for a while, and it's time to do it now. I blog a lot of stuff, but this one's really close to the heart, and is probably going to be VERY long. So, bear with me....
For those few who have never realized it, my "day job" (there are people who hate that I call it that, even in jest...) is that I'm a United Methodist Minister. I serve a church in Dallas, Texas. It's a wonderful place, really....full of lots of musicians, artists, poets, writers, etc. Many of them love the fact that I have this other love in my life: music.
And, as I'm sure you know if you're reading this website, the other love of my life IS music. I can't really even remember a time when the two weren't woven together in some ways; church and music. And I can't really remember a time when they ever "meshed" 100 percent either.
I first learned to play the guitar in the seventh grade. Took a class at Westwood Junior High, and then took private lessons from a teacher at a strip mall music store up the road. Only took lessons for a few months. Most of the rest I've picked up through the careful study of others. Once I learned to play guitar, the first regular "gig" I ever had was playing songs for our church youth group. They were mostly "Christian songs." And I still love much of that music from those late-70s youth groups. But, I've also found that my musical interests have moved away from "Christian" music, and that Christian music has moved away from me too.
In fact --and I know this will probably stun some folks reading this-- I don't really like "Christian" music too much. I'm talking popular music here...you know, the stuff known as "CCM." There have only been a few artists that I've ever been able to really listen to, and I just don't really care for the rest. Years ago, an old friend summed it up by calling it "Jesus is my boyfriend music."
I shared this with my good friend, Bill Nash, and he's come up with a good description for why he thinks this is so. He said that most of the "CCM" he hears assumes that the listener has already "arrived" somewhere...as if the listener and the musician share some secret handshake of faith. The music doesn't as much tell good stories as it makes declarations.
That's a compelling insight. It's always seemed to me that there are a lot of good stories that COULD be told by CCM music, but that the chasm between "telling stories" and "singing praises" never gets bridged very well. For example, instead of a "praise and worship" style, a CCM writer could tell us a story of how a person got from some low point in their life, to some point of faith. Or, tell us a story about how they fell from a point of faith to a place of doubt. Or, tell us a story about how they struggle every day to resolve faith and doubt. All these would be good story songs, and could have very interesting "character development" in them.
Part of the problem (and I'm digressing here, bear with me...) is the whole CCM world. From the little I know of it, talking to musician friends, it's a very closed and insular world and there is a very narrow range of topics that are tolerated. One really talented person I know, who is loved by thousands of fans, once shared with me his frustration at having written some powerful story songs on edgy social topics (war, homosexuality, etc...). In fact, he once played me a really wonderful story song about a man "coming out" to his adult parents. It was a powerful song. But after he got done playing it for a small group of friends --who all loved it-- he said to me, "and where else can I play this song!?"
One answer, of course, is the folk/acoustic music world. Such amazing story-songs are what makes that world go round. And it's what attracts me to it. Somewhere in the mid-80s, I found that the singer-songwriters of the 70s that I had so loved had completely fallen off the radio dial. Everything was syntho-pop (with perhaps an occassional Tom Petty or Don Henley song for old time's sake..). Then, during the late 80s and early 90s, there was a powerful resurgence of what I call singer-songwriters, but what many others called "new folk" artists.
Suddenly, after years in the wilderness, it seemed like there was a home for the music I loved again.
But in the meantime, my life had changed. I had gone off to college playing guitar and writing songs. I even had a few gigs now and then...even played at the Student Union at UT one time. But I also had an experience in a dormitory stairwell where a woman criticized a song I'd written, leaving me so wounded that I never played the song again, and never played ANY songs for a couple of years.
In the meantime, I was feeling the tug of seminary and the call of ministry. I kept writing songs, but was too afraid to play them for anyone. For some crazy reason, though, it was easy to preach in front of large groups (easier...). That's still the case to this day. I can speak before a group of thousands (and have) but a song circle of eight terrifies me. (Jay Mankita and I talked a lot about this on the way to Kerrville this year...he's a pretty good therapist, actually...)
So, I went to seminary. But I also kept writing songs. They weren't "CCM" songs, they were "singer-songwriter/folk songs. That really IS the music I love. I certainly write songs that speak of spiritual matters, there's no questioning that. But I try to NOT write "sectarian" songs because I usually don't enjoy hearing them.
You see, the truth is that the acoustic/folk world --really the world of artists as a whole-- is highly suspicious of organized religion. They have good reason to be. There are a lot of Christian folk who pretend to be nice to others, while all the while judging them or trying to "convert" them. A lot have artists have suffered mightily at the hands of Christians.
But, for some artists, that means a distrust of ALL religious people. I remember I did a wedding for a friend in Little Rock, and I was placed next to a ballerina from Boston for the rehearsal dinner. We were having a delightful conversation about art, music, dance, etc....until she asked me what I did for a living. When I said "I'm a minister," immediately the defenses went up and things were tense between us the rest of the night.
I've seen that happen a hundred times. I'll be having a perfectly wonderful conversation with someone, and then they'll ask me about what I do. And, when I say I'm a minister, it's like the whole room changes temperature. Suddenly, their eyes roll to one side, as they try to remember whether or not they've cussed or said something offensive.
They look at you, and you can tell that they're thinking, "Are you judging me right now?" It freaks some people out. It pisses others off. It almost always changes how folks treat you. Some folks treat you better...with a kind of smarmy deference you certainly don't deserve. Others treat you with a distance....as if you're a vial of slimy green toxic waste.
In either case, what happens is the same: they stop treating you like a normal person.
(There is a very clear reason for why this happens. For whatever reason, people "project," or lay on top of you the experiences they have had --positive or negative-- with other ministers elsewhere. They quite literally DON'T see you as a regular person, but they see you through the lense of these others they've known. They put you in a box...)
So, to combat this, for years I simply refused to tell folks in the music world that I was a minister. I didn't want to go through the hassle of either needing to make them comfortable, or needing to justify myself to them.
All this reminds me of a story my friend Doug, a minister from Kansas, once told me about the time after his divorce. He was minister at a very small church in a very small town, and had begun to get very lonely. And so, he would drive several hours to Kansas City --to bars there-- in an attempt to meet women. Only he was so afraid of being rejected as a minster that told women he was an elementary school principal. It never lasted, of course. Eventually, if they progressed past a date or two, they'd figure out what he really did, and were usually more freaked out about the deception than they were about the minister part.
But I so identify with that story! The first few times I went to the Kerrville Folk Festival, I lived in terror that folks would find out that I was a minister. And so, if folks were just sitting around a camp, talking, I would never linger more than ten minutes or so. I would leap up and run away, in the fear that the conversation might turn toward me. I would talk all day about someone else, but if the conversation turned to me, I would quickly turn it elsewhere. (Paradoxically, of course, this meant I never got to talk about my music either!!) To this day, I wonder if some Kerrville-folks think I have some kind of strange "ADD" because of how I used to act.
A couple of things have happened in the past few years that have helped me work on these issues:
1) I did a wedding for Michael and Kendra at Uncle Calvin's
2) I did the funeral for Bruce Rouse ealier this year
After both of these things, I found that the sky didn't fall, and folks didn't shun me as a pariah. Such is the case for many of the things we fear, I suppose. It's obviously now become clear to a lot of folks in my music-world that I am a minister. I STILL believe that this eventual acceptance of me might not have happened if I hadn't kept it quiet for several years, and allowed folks to just see ME as ME. But who knows?
But, my persistent schizophrenia...er...persists.
I find myself on the margins of both worlds much of the time. Among the folk music world --which is as much a spiritual family to me as the church-- I still find those who either look at my funny, as if I'm some foreign spy, or who simply don't take me seriously. And still, with knew folks I meet, I worry that if they find out I'm a minister too soon, they'll never "hear" my songs, really. But will only hear it through their lenses.
Then, in the church world, I find those who don't "get" why I play folk music, and wonder why I don't play "Christian music." They wonder if I've lost my faith, or if I'm some sort of closet secularist.
In some ways, it's sometimes a lonely place to live, in both these worlds. In other ways, it's a GOOD place to be in both worlds, because it's MY place. It's who I am. And, increasingly (despite the length of this essay, or maybe because of it) I'm more comfortable, and less defensive about who I am.
Behind this whole essay, behind all this discussion (which may still strike some of you as needlessly tortured) is this simple desire:
What I want, more than anything, is for people to enjoy my music for what it is.
What I want, more than anything, is for audiences to forget the me in the songs, and to just hear themselves in the songs. Because of who I am, that's harder for me to accomplish than it is for many artists. But I try to work hard at it, trying to write and play the best songs I know how.
It's one of the reasons I've never, before this blog entry, written or spoken about this publicly...it's too hard and complicated to explain away quickly or to reduce down to a solitary soundbyte. And, for many years, it's been too personally confusing to write about.
But it's who I am.
And I hope, if you've read this whole entry, that it helps you understand where I come from a little better.
Credo-bytes
Jun/25/2005 05:20 PM | Permalink
An ever-expanding list of quotable quotes that shape
my thinking and belief...
"The most important one," answered Jesus, "is this: 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these."
-- Jesus of Nazareth
"Religion is a picture window,
Life is not a pretty picture..."
-- Patty Larkin
"I don't know if everyone has to come to terms with religion, but everyone has to come to terms with mystery, which is the business of religion."
-- Patricia Hempl
"God has no hands and feet but ours"
-- Theresa of Avila
"Distant nation...my community.
Street person...my responsibility.
If I have a care in the world, I have a gift to bring."
-- Indigo Girls
"Theology is the study of God and his (sic) ways. For all we know, dung beetles may study man (sic) and his (sic) ways and call it humanology. If so, we would probably be more touched and amused than irritated. One hopes that God feels likewise."
-- Frederick Buechner
"Logic lives in a bucket of paint,
Maybe I'm wrong, but maybe I ain't
Cause both can be spread with no trouble at all."
-- Darden Smith
"Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that"
-- Martin Luther King, Jr.
"Still you argue for an option,
And you angle for your case.
Like you wouldn't know a burning bush,
If it blew up in your face...
Don't ask what you are not doing,
Because your voice cannot command.
In time, we will move mountains.
And it will come, through your hands."
-- John Hiatt
"Why do you worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear? Is not life more important than food and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?"
-- Jesus of Nazareth
“Pay mind to your own life, your own health, and wholeness. A bleeding heart is of no help to anyone if it bleeds to death.”
-- Frederick Buechner
"I don't like going to bed at night, and I don't like getting up in the morning."
-- Snoopy the Dog
"Don't be tempted by the shiny apple; Don't you eat of the bitter fruit.
Hunger only for a taste of justice; Hunger only for a world of truth,
'Cause all that you have is your soul."
--Tracy Chapman
"Be the change you want to see in the world."
-- Mahatma Gandhi
"Do all the good you can,
By all the means you can,
In all the ways you can,
In all the places you can,
At all the times you can,
To all the people you can,
As long as ever you can."
-- John Wesley
"Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away."
--George Carlin
"Life is what happens to you while you are busy making other plans."
-- John Lennon
"The greatest tragedy of theology in the past three hundred years has been the divorce of the theologian from the poet, the dancer, the musician, the painter, the dramatist, the actress, the movie-maker."
-- M.D. Chenu.
"But don’t confuse caring for weakness
You can’t put that label on me
The truth is my weapon of mass protection
And I believe truth sets you free"
-- Willie Nelson
"Love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you."
-- Jesus of Nazareth
"People with no hope will steal yours."
-- Martin Luther King Jr. *
"We wouldn't worry so much about what people think of us, if we knew how seldom they do."
-- Oscar Wilde
"May we all find salvation in professions that heal."
-- Shawn Colvin
"You got to sing, like you don't need the money,
Love like you'll never get hurt,
You've got to dance, dance, dance, like no one is watching,
It's got to come from the heart, it you want it to work."
-- Guy Clark
"Like an unchecked cancer, hate corrodes the personality and eats away its vital unity. Hate destroys a man's sense of values and his objectivity. It causes him to describe the beautiful as ugly and the ugly as beautiful, and to confuse the true with the false and the false with the true."
-- Martin Luther King Jr.
"Until long after it matters,
you don't know if you're good enough.
You can bet your dreams will be battered,
So just go after what you love."
-- John Gorka
"Listen to your life. See it for the fathomless mystery that it is. In the boredom and pain of it no less than in the excitement and gladness: touch, taste, smell your way to the holy and hidden heart of it because in the last analysis all moments are key moments, and life itself is Grace."
-- Frederick Buechner
"The antidote for too much free speech is always more free speech."
-- Molly Ivins
"Oh how I wish I were a trinity,
So if I lost a part of me,
I'd still have two of the same to live."
-- Indigo Girls
"The left has forgotten that every major social movement in American history --whether the abolition of slavery or women's sufferage or child labor reform or, most famously, civil rights-- was fueled and driven in large part by religion....Just as the right's been controlled by a bunch of religious fundamentalists, the left's been controlled by a group of secular fundamentalists. The left doesn't get it, and they're disrespectful and disdainful and they forget their own progressive history."
-- Jim Wallis
"May your love be there to guide us,
May it always keep us strong,
May we walk within your footsteps,
As you lead us ever on."
-- Dan Fogelberg
* I cannot find the exact citation for this quote, and would love for somebody to contact me with it....
"The most important one," answered Jesus, "is this: 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these."
-- Jesus of Nazareth
"Religion is a picture window,
Life is not a pretty picture..."
-- Patty Larkin
"I don't know if everyone has to come to terms with religion, but everyone has to come to terms with mystery, which is the business of religion."
-- Patricia Hempl
"God has no hands and feet but ours"
-- Theresa of Avila
"Distant nation...my community.
Street person...my responsibility.
If I have a care in the world, I have a gift to bring."
-- Indigo Girls
"Theology is the study of God and his (sic) ways. For all we know, dung beetles may study man (sic) and his (sic) ways and call it humanology. If so, we would probably be more touched and amused than irritated. One hopes that God feels likewise."
-- Frederick Buechner
"Logic lives in a bucket of paint,
Maybe I'm wrong, but maybe I ain't
Cause both can be spread with no trouble at all."
-- Darden Smith
"Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that"
-- Martin Luther King, Jr.
"Still you argue for an option,
And you angle for your case.
Like you wouldn't know a burning bush,
If it blew up in your face...
Don't ask what you are not doing,
Because your voice cannot command.
In time, we will move mountains.
And it will come, through your hands."
-- John Hiatt
"Why do you worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear? Is not life more important than food and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?"
-- Jesus of Nazareth
“Pay mind to your own life, your own health, and wholeness. A bleeding heart is of no help to anyone if it bleeds to death.”
-- Frederick Buechner
"I don't like going to bed at night, and I don't like getting up in the morning."
-- Snoopy the Dog
"Don't be tempted by the shiny apple; Don't you eat of the bitter fruit.
Hunger only for a taste of justice; Hunger only for a world of truth,
'Cause all that you have is your soul."
--Tracy Chapman
"Be the change you want to see in the world."
-- Mahatma Gandhi
"Do all the good you can,
By all the means you can,
In all the ways you can,
In all the places you can,
At all the times you can,
To all the people you can,
As long as ever you can."
-- John Wesley
"Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away."
--George Carlin
"Life is what happens to you while you are busy making other plans."
-- John Lennon
"The greatest tragedy of theology in the past three hundred years has been the divorce of the theologian from the poet, the dancer, the musician, the painter, the dramatist, the actress, the movie-maker."
-- M.D. Chenu.
"But don’t confuse caring for weakness
You can’t put that label on me
The truth is my weapon of mass protection
And I believe truth sets you free"
-- Willie Nelson
"Love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you."
-- Jesus of Nazareth
"People with no hope will steal yours."
-- Martin Luther King Jr. *
"We wouldn't worry so much about what people think of us, if we knew how seldom they do."
-- Oscar Wilde
"May we all find salvation in professions that heal."
-- Shawn Colvin
"You got to sing, like you don't need the money,
Love like you'll never get hurt,
You've got to dance, dance, dance, like no one is watching,
It's got to come from the heart, it you want it to work."
-- Guy Clark
"Like an unchecked cancer, hate corrodes the personality and eats away its vital unity. Hate destroys a man's sense of values and his objectivity. It causes him to describe the beautiful as ugly and the ugly as beautiful, and to confuse the true with the false and the false with the true."
-- Martin Luther King Jr.
"Until long after it matters,
you don't know if you're good enough.
You can bet your dreams will be battered,
So just go after what you love."
-- John Gorka
"Listen to your life. See it for the fathomless mystery that it is. In the boredom and pain of it no less than in the excitement and gladness: touch, taste, smell your way to the holy and hidden heart of it because in the last analysis all moments are key moments, and life itself is Grace."
-- Frederick Buechner
"The antidote for too much free speech is always more free speech."
-- Molly Ivins
"Oh how I wish I were a trinity,
So if I lost a part of me,
I'd still have two of the same to live."
-- Indigo Girls
"The left has forgotten that every major social movement in American history --whether the abolition of slavery or women's sufferage or child labor reform or, most famously, civil rights-- was fueled and driven in large part by religion....Just as the right's been controlled by a bunch of religious fundamentalists, the left's been controlled by a group of secular fundamentalists. The left doesn't get it, and they're disrespectful and disdainful and they forget their own progressive history."
-- Jim Wallis
"May your love be there to guide us,
May it always keep us strong,
May we walk within your footsteps,
As you lead us ever on."
-- Dan Fogelberg
* I cannot find the exact citation for this quote, and would love for somebody to contact me with it....
--30--
MLK Day
Jan/17/2005 06:18 PM | Permalink
What follows
is an absolutely true MLK Day story...
"So, how was school today, Maria?"
"Fine, Daddy."
"What did you learn today, sweetie?"
"We learned about Mar....Martin....Martin Luther..."
"Martin Luther King?"
"Yes! We learned about Martin Luther King."
"What did you learn about Martin Luther King, sweetie?"
"Well....there was this woman. And she got on the bus.......
And she sat down....she sat down on the front of the bus....."
"Yes, that's right, sweetie."
"And when the bus stopped, they ARRESTED HER!"
"Yes...yes, they did, sweetie. But what did Martin Luther King do?"
"Well, he led the protests."
"Yes, that's right, sweetie."
"You see, there were these signs....on the water fountains. And they said 'WHITES ONLY.'"
"Yes, it's sad, but that's true. Back in those days, there were those kind of signs."
"And...and...there were signs on the restaurants that said "WHITE ONLY."
"Yes, yes there were."
"And even on the schools! There were schools where they said "WHITE ONLY."
"Yes, yes, it's hard to believe, sweetie. But that's true."
"But Martin Luther King......he died....."
"Yes, he did, sweetie."
"Somebody SHOT him."
"Yes, they did. But you know, sweet pea, he did a really great thing. He made life better for all of
us. And sometimes, it's important to do the right thing...even if it's hard or painful."
"Yes! Because.....well, because if he didn't do those protests, then Mommy.....well, Mommy couldn't live with us!!"
"Well, I've never thought of it that way, Maria. But you may be right about that...."
"And if Mommy couldn't live with us.....then I.....then I......then I would be CANCELLED!"
"Oh no, sweetie! Nobody as beautiful as you could ever be cancelled."
--------------------------------------------------
Every year at time time, I whip out my favorite MLK song, from the great songwriter, Don Henry. I re-learn the chords again, and if I have gig that week, it's in the set.
It's called "Beautiful Fool."
The song haunted me for years. I first heard it on KERA, back when they actually played music
during an hour when anyone was listening. It was one of those "stop the car, pull over, and listen" moments for me. And after the song was over, all I caught was that the guy's name was "Henry." (This was back before cell phones, and so I couldn't call right in to find out what it was....)
I searched for that song for years, every single time I was in a record store. I had only heard it
once, but the gist of it had stayed with me all that time. Finally, a couple of years ago, I stumbled on a Steve Seskind CD, which had the cut on it, and finally the mystery was solved. It was as amazing a song ten years after the first time I heard it....
Interestingingly, when Erik Balkey was here the other day, he told a similar tale of being haunted by the song. He talked of a show he went to in the early 90s where David Wilcox, Don Henry, and The Billy's were the bill for the night. (What a show!!)
Before Erik left, I played it, and we both sang.
It's an amazing song, and I hope you will come to love it as much as I do.
You can hear Steve Seskin's version here.
Here's to all the "beautiful fools"still out there....
BEAUTIFUL FOOL
by Don Henry
"Martin Luther, who did you think that you were
Appointed by some higher up?
Merely mortal, your plans were unaffordable
No one wants to pay for love
Oh, you beautiful fool, swimming upstream,
kicking up waves
Dreams weren't meant to come true
That's why they call 'em dreams
Oh, you beautiful fool
Walter Cronkite pre-empted Disney one night
And all us kids were so upset
We thought that you were a trouble instigator
Marching through our TV set
Oh, you beautiful fool, swimming upstream,
kicking up waves
Dreams weren't meant to come true
That's why they call 'em dreams
Oh, you beautiful fool
To fight a fight without a fist
All human instinct puzzles this
How dare you question our existence
Mahatma Gandhi, Jesus Christ,
history repeats itself so nice
Consistently we are resistant to love
I saw you on the black and white
With blacks and whites applauding you
I saw you on another time
without a sign of life in you
Oh, you beautiful fool, swimming upstream,
kicking up waves
Dreams weren't meant to come true
That's why they call 'em dreams
Oh, you beautiful fool
Oh, you beautiful fool"
- Don Henry
"So, how was school today, Maria?"
"Fine, Daddy."
"What did you learn today, sweetie?"
"We learned about Mar....Martin....Martin Luther..."
"Martin Luther King?"
"Yes! We learned about Martin Luther King."
"What did you learn about Martin Luther King, sweetie?"
"Well....there was this woman. And she got on the bus.......
And she sat down....she sat down on the front of the bus....."
"Yes, that's right, sweetie."
"And when the bus stopped, they ARRESTED HER!"
"Yes...yes, they did, sweetie. But what did Martin Luther King do?"
"Well, he led the protests."
"Yes, that's right, sweetie."
"You see, there were these signs....on the water fountains. And they said 'WHITES ONLY.'"
"Yes, it's sad, but that's true. Back in those days, there were those kind of signs."
"And...and...there were signs on the restaurants that said "WHITE ONLY."
"Yes, yes there were."
"And even on the schools! There were schools where they said "WHITE ONLY."
"Yes, yes, it's hard to believe, sweetie. But that's true."
"But Martin Luther King......he died....."
"Yes, he did, sweetie."
"Somebody SHOT him."
"Yes, they did. But you know, sweet pea, he did a really great thing. He made life better for all of
us. And sometimes, it's important to do the right thing...even if it's hard or painful."
"Yes! Because.....well, because if he didn't do those protests, then Mommy.....well, Mommy couldn't live with us!!"
"Well, I've never thought of it that way, Maria. But you may be right about that...."
"And if Mommy couldn't live with us.....then I.....then I......then I would be CANCELLED!"
"Oh no, sweetie! Nobody as beautiful as you could ever be cancelled."
--------------------------------------------------
Every year at time time, I whip out my favorite MLK song, from the great songwriter, Don Henry. I re-learn the chords again, and if I have gig that week, it's in the set.
It's called "Beautiful Fool."
The song haunted me for years. I first heard it on KERA, back when they actually played music
during an hour when anyone was listening. It was one of those "stop the car, pull over, and listen" moments for me. And after the song was over, all I caught was that the guy's name was "Henry." (This was back before cell phones, and so I couldn't call right in to find out what it was....)
I searched for that song for years, every single time I was in a record store. I had only heard it
once, but the gist of it had stayed with me all that time. Finally, a couple of years ago, I stumbled on a Steve Seskind CD, which had the cut on it, and finally the mystery was solved. It was as amazing a song ten years after the first time I heard it....
Interestingingly, when Erik Balkey was here the other day, he told a similar tale of being haunted by the song. He talked of a show he went to in the early 90s where David Wilcox, Don Henry, and The Billy's were the bill for the night. (What a show!!)
Before Erik left, I played it, and we both sang.
It's an amazing song, and I hope you will come to love it as much as I do.
You can hear Steve Seskin's version here.
Here's to all the "beautiful fools"still out there....
BEAUTIFUL FOOL
by Don Henry
"Martin Luther, who did you think that you were
Appointed by some higher up?
Merely mortal, your plans were unaffordable
No one wants to pay for love
Oh, you beautiful fool, swimming upstream,
kicking up waves
Dreams weren't meant to come true
That's why they call 'em dreams
Oh, you beautiful fool
Walter Cronkite pre-empted Disney one night
And all us kids were so upset
We thought that you were a trouble instigator
Marching through our TV set
Oh, you beautiful fool, swimming upstream,
kicking up waves
Dreams weren't meant to come true
That's why they call 'em dreams
Oh, you beautiful fool
To fight a fight without a fist
All human instinct puzzles this
How dare you question our existence
Mahatma Gandhi, Jesus Christ,
history repeats itself so nice
Consistently we are resistant to love
I saw you on the black and white
With blacks and whites applauding you
I saw you on another time
without a sign of life in you
Oh, you beautiful fool, swimming upstream,
kicking up waves
Dreams weren't meant to come true
That's why they call 'em dreams
Oh, you beautiful fool
Oh, you beautiful fool"
- Don Henry
--30--
Goodbye, Cruel Year (Adios to a rough year for the
world)
Dec/31/2004 06:15 PM | Permalink
Goodbye,
Cruel Year (Adios to a rough year for the world)
Hard to believe how quickly the time continues to turn. I write today on the last day of the year. Those of you who've been following our personal lives know that Dennise won here election. I need to give a big thanks to all of you who voted, volunteered, and helped out.
Judge Dennise Garcia was sworn in on this past Monday, and has been working this week to organize her office and staff. I am here at home with Maria today and am spending a few minutes journaling and blogging about the year that has past.
And on this the last day of the year, I pause to reflect that I have never been quite so glad to see a year end. Don't get me wrong: things are going pretty well in my life, actually. The election of Dennise, for one, was awesome.
Things at church are going well. We're in the midst of a large construction project, and that's been very, very exciting.
It's the world that's a mess. And if each old year is an old man that leaves us, the newborn can't get here quick enough, far as I'm concerned. Let's put this year to bed and never think of it again...
Just about everyone I hang around, day in and day out, feels the same way. From the horrors of an unjust war, and the shameful behavior of Abu Ghraib (warning! graphic link...) ; to the ongoing insurgency in Iraq and a divisive presidential campaign that leaves half of the country feeling hopeless. And, to top it all off, a giant tsunami in South East Asia....as if some horrible exclamation point on a horrible, horrible year.
It can't end too soon.
The war just seemed to get worse and worse the more the year rolled on. More American troops died in the 11th month of this year than in any other month of the entire war. One thousand, three hundred and thirty-one Americans have died altogether, and the wounded may be ten times that many. The Iraqi dead have been estimated at perhaps one hundred times that many. The war has cost, as of this minute, something like 171 billion dollars. (What could THAT money do for South East Asia?)
The incredibly predictable insurgency is growing all the time, and engaging in barbaric, senseless, and horrific acts that shock the world. It's war, of course, and the thing that always "gets ya"in a war are the unintended consequences. Who expected this kind of insurgency?
Well, actually, I did....because violence begets violence every single time.And while I certainly didn't expect the specifics of the insurgency, the insurgency itself is absolutely no surprise to me. And it's one of the reasons I end this year so depressed...because it's all so damn predictable. And the frustrating thing is? I've got a good sense I'll be writing much the same thing at the end of next year too.
Closer to home, the Presidential campaign tore friendships apart, and costs hundreds of millions of dollars. (Will we individually contribute as much to South East Asia as we collectively spent on campaigns this year? It'll be interesting to see...) Half the nation sees little reason for hope, and little desire on the part of the victors to even acknowledge that their half still exists. The other half is frustrated by a lack of a real mandate and the continuing protesting of the "loyal opposition."
Gays and lesbians were used as political footballs by people on all sides of the political debate. And in the midst of it all, we wasted more time thinking about such weighty matters as Martha Stewart's prison cell, the Olsen Twin's drug addiction, and Janet Jackson's boob.
It can't end too soon.
And while we're preoccupied with such asinine things, hundreds of thousands are dead and dying in South East Asia. How about a War on Tsunamis?
Anyone? Bueller?
In the midst of all this reflection on the negative energy I hope and pray is released away from our world, I found myself listening to a Peter Mayer CD in the car the other day. He was the headliner at the 5th Street Festival back in November, where I was a songwriter contest finalist. We traded CDs, and I've been listening to his on and off during the holiday season. On the way home from the lakehouse, the day after Christmas, one song realy struck me.
I found myself drawn to a song called "The Play." It's sort of a cross between "Holy Now"and David Wilcox's "Show the Way" in a Unitarian sort of way....
What it reminded me of is that, even in the midst of great human tragedy and pain, there is a bigger picture. And the bigger picture is that we are all small, tiny parts of a huge drama of the universe's unfolding. Our sufferings, while great and all-encompassing to us, are but a small part of everything that's going on around us.
So, I'll share with you that, as the year ends, I'm listening to "The Play" today. And I'm thinking about the REALLY big picture.
Hope you all have a good and blessed New Year.
"The Play," by Peter Mayer
words and music, copyright Peter Mayer
When I go outside at night,
and look up and the stars are bright
Sometimes I lay on the ground
and imagine that the sky is down
And if the earth should then let go,
I'd fall into the stars below
Fall into the stars below
And when I see the red sunset
in its quiet splendor, I reflect that
The sun's not going down at all,
but the earth is turning somersaults
And through a sunlit sea it trails,
and we are on that great big whale
We're riding on that great big whale
When I try to grasp the simple fact of this existence
And think of all the fantasies, fairy tales and wishes
None strike me as more unlikely or magnificent than this is
Hands and faces seen up close,
galaxies through telescopes
Crimson hillsides in the fall,
and more astounding than them all
Are pondering minds with eyes that see
these are deep mysteries
Deep mysteries, mm
When I try to grasp the simple fact of this existence
And think of all the fantasies, fairy tales and wishes
None strike me as more unlikely or magnificent than this is
Like a strange, enchanting play of impossible dimensions
The setting and the stage run light years in all directions
And the breathless scenes and the story line defy comprehension
And when I think of all the roles
in this production, all I know
Is I'm in the cast, but could it be,
I'm also in a front row seat
To sit in my amazement, gazing,
to ooh and ahh and sigh and say
My, what a wonderful play
My, my, my - my"
Hard to believe how quickly the time continues to turn. I write today on the last day of the year. Those of you who've been following our personal lives know that Dennise won here election. I need to give a big thanks to all of you who voted, volunteered, and helped out.
Judge Dennise Garcia was sworn in on this past Monday, and has been working this week to organize her office and staff. I am here at home with Maria today and am spending a few minutes journaling and blogging about the year that has past.
And on this the last day of the year, I pause to reflect that I have never been quite so glad to see a year end. Don't get me wrong: things are going pretty well in my life, actually. The election of Dennise, for one, was awesome.
Things at church are going well. We're in the midst of a large construction project, and that's been very, very exciting.
It's the world that's a mess. And if each old year is an old man that leaves us, the newborn can't get here quick enough, far as I'm concerned. Let's put this year to bed and never think of it again...
Just about everyone I hang around, day in and day out, feels the same way. From the horrors of an unjust war, and the shameful behavior of Abu Ghraib (warning! graphic link...) ; to the ongoing insurgency in Iraq and a divisive presidential campaign that leaves half of the country feeling hopeless. And, to top it all off, a giant tsunami in South East Asia....as if some horrible exclamation point on a horrible, horrible year.
It can't end too soon.
The war just seemed to get worse and worse the more the year rolled on. More American troops died in the 11th month of this year than in any other month of the entire war. One thousand, three hundred and thirty-one Americans have died altogether, and the wounded may be ten times that many. The Iraqi dead have been estimated at perhaps one hundred times that many. The war has cost, as of this minute, something like 171 billion dollars. (What could THAT money do for South East Asia?)
The incredibly predictable insurgency is growing all the time, and engaging in barbaric, senseless, and horrific acts that shock the world. It's war, of course, and the thing that always "gets ya"in a war are the unintended consequences. Who expected this kind of insurgency?
Well, actually, I did....because violence begets violence every single time.And while I certainly didn't expect the specifics of the insurgency, the insurgency itself is absolutely no surprise to me. And it's one of the reasons I end this year so depressed...because it's all so damn predictable. And the frustrating thing is? I've got a good sense I'll be writing much the same thing at the end of next year too.
Closer to home, the Presidential campaign tore friendships apart, and costs hundreds of millions of dollars. (Will we individually contribute as much to South East Asia as we collectively spent on campaigns this year? It'll be interesting to see...) Half the nation sees little reason for hope, and little desire on the part of the victors to even acknowledge that their half still exists. The other half is frustrated by a lack of a real mandate and the continuing protesting of the "loyal opposition."
Gays and lesbians were used as political footballs by people on all sides of the political debate. And in the midst of it all, we wasted more time thinking about such weighty matters as Martha Stewart's prison cell, the Olsen Twin's drug addiction, and Janet Jackson's boob.
It can't end too soon.
And while we're preoccupied with such asinine things, hundreds of thousands are dead and dying in South East Asia. How about a War on Tsunamis?
Anyone? Bueller?
In the midst of all this reflection on the negative energy I hope and pray is released away from our world, I found myself listening to a Peter Mayer CD in the car the other day. He was the headliner at the 5th Street Festival back in November, where I was a songwriter contest finalist. We traded CDs, and I've been listening to his on and off during the holiday season. On the way home from the lakehouse, the day after Christmas, one song realy struck me.
I found myself drawn to a song called "The Play." It's sort of a cross between "Holy Now"and David Wilcox's "Show the Way" in a Unitarian sort of way....
What it reminded me of is that, even in the midst of great human tragedy and pain, there is a bigger picture. And the bigger picture is that we are all small, tiny parts of a huge drama of the universe's unfolding. Our sufferings, while great and all-encompassing to us, are but a small part of everything that's going on around us.
So, I'll share with you that, as the year ends, I'm listening to "The Play" today. And I'm thinking about the REALLY big picture.
Hope you all have a good and blessed New Year.
"The Play," by Peter Mayer
words and music, copyright Peter Mayer
When I go outside at night,
and look up and the stars are bright
Sometimes I lay on the ground
and imagine that the sky is down
And if the earth should then let go,
I'd fall into the stars below
Fall into the stars below
And when I see the red sunset
in its quiet splendor, I reflect that
The sun's not going down at all,
but the earth is turning somersaults
And through a sunlit sea it trails,
and we are on that great big whale
We're riding on that great big whale
When I try to grasp the simple fact of this existence
And think of all the fantasies, fairy tales and wishes
None strike me as more unlikely or magnificent than this is
Hands and faces seen up close,
galaxies through telescopes
Crimson hillsides in the fall,
and more astounding than them all
Are pondering minds with eyes that see
these are deep mysteries
Deep mysteries, mm
When I try to grasp the simple fact of this existence
And think of all the fantasies, fairy tales and wishes
None strike me as more unlikely or magnificent than this is
Like a strange, enchanting play of impossible dimensions
The setting and the stage run light years in all directions
And the breathless scenes and the story line defy comprehension
And when I think of all the roles
in this production, all I know
Is I'm in the cast, but could it be,
I'm also in a front row seat
To sit in my amazement, gazing,
to ooh and ahh and sigh and say
My, what a wonderful play
My, my, my - my"
--30--