I Got the Gift of Music

I got a couple of iTunes gift cards for Christmas. I've kinda sorta fallen in love with cherry-picking favorite songs. They don't have to be great songs, just songs that appeal to me. My number one criterion is they have to be mood-changers. Whatever mood I happen to be in, any one of those songs should be able to take me where it's going emotionally. I had $30 to play with this time, and here's what I've gotten so far:

1. The Weight-The Band
I honestly didn't even know about this song until the last few years, which is surprising considering how much 'oldies' radio my parents listened to as I grew up. As soon as I heard it, though, I knew why it was a classic.

2. The Worst that Could Happen-Brooklyn Bridge
I'm a sucker for songs like this. The guy is mourning his lost love, but glad that she is finding happiness. I'm pretty sure this was Brooklyn Bridge's only hit.

3. Oh Girl-The Chi-Lites
Another 'lost love' song. Nice and melancholy.

4. Fox on the Run (Live)-The Country Gentlemen
This is probably my favorite bluegrass song. If you'll notice, it also has a bit of a melancholy, lost love element. This was taken from a live concert from their tour of Japan.

5. Old Salty Dog Blues-Flatt and Scruggs
I first heard this bluegrass tune at my Aunt Sue's birthday party more than a decade ago. I loved it instantly, but never put forth the effort to track down a copy. The situtation has been rectified.

6. Sweet Child o' Mine-Guns 'N' Roses
Contrary to what Rex Queems might think, this song has one of the best opening riffs in rock music.

7. Don't Pull Your Love-Hamilton, Joe Frank, and Reynolds
Another one hit wonder, another 'lost love' song. I also really enjoy the harmony in the chorus. This one is very fun to sing along with.

8. With a Little Help From My Friends-Joe Cocker
There are not many Beatles covers that surpass the original, but Joe Cocker does it easily with this one.

9. The Letter-Joe Cocker
Hear me now: This is the definitive version of this song. Don't get me wrong; I liked The Box Tops' version. It's remembered for a good reason. However, Cocker's cover from Mad Dogs and Englishmen is powerful and dynamic in a way that The Box Tops can't approach.

10. Take Me Home Country Roads-John Denver
I'm from the WV, man! How can I not love this song?! Don't give me that "the song's really about Virginia 'cause the 'blue ridge mountains, shenandoah river' line." Almost Heaven, West Virginia.

11. Ave Verum Corpus-London Festival Orchestra
We did this in my 'Wayne Singers' class back in high school. Great harmony and beautiful in a way I don't have the musical vocabulary to describe

12. Brandy (You're a Fine Girl)-Looking Glass
A pure fun song. Great for singing at the top of your lungs in the car.

13. Mr. Bojangles-Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
Probably one of the saddest songs I know. A true, tragic, story about a popular culture icon from the early 20th Century. NOTE: Thos ain't true. See comments

14. Sea of Love-Phil Phillips
I vacillated over whether I'd buy this version or The Honeydrippers' version, but I went with the original. I'm glad I did. Both are good, but I just like Phillips vocals more than Robert Plant's.

15. Handle With Care-The Traveling Wilburys
It was a shame Roy Orbison passed away so soon after The Traveling Wilburys recorded their first album. I would have loved to hear more from this most super of super groups.

16. Buddy Holly-Weezer
A '90s classic. One of the most fun songs Weezer ever recorded, though I can't say that I followed their career. Not a huge fan, but I appreciated what they did.

That leaves me with $14.39 to play with. I'm open to suggestions, but my list is going to be very idiosyncratic. Don't be offended if I don't pick songs you like!

Calling Brent Bourgeois . . .

Bourgeois Tagg. Obscure '80s band. Remember them? They had a couple of top 40 hits and then vanished, like a lot of pop groups. The thing is, they had this one song that has been stuck in my head for more than 20 years. It was called "I Don't Mind at All" and it had this melancholy, string quartet feel to it. Now, in this age of iTunes you'd think I'd be able to find a digital copy and download it quick as you please, but such is not the case.

Perhaps if Bourgeois Tagg had continued their rise, their entire catalogue would be available. Sadly, they did not. The 'Bourgeois' part of the duo developed a nasty drug habit, and things began to fall apart. The happy part of the story is that Brent Bourgeois kicked the habit when he became a Christian. Bourgeois Tagg finally broke up in the aftermath because Brent's lyrics were increasingly Christian (at least that's my understanding), so they faded into the '80s history.

So here's my plea to Mr. Brent Bourgeois: I want to download "I Don't Mind at All." Legally. Help me remember that I was just as melancholy before I was 10 as I am now. Put it on iTunes!

Trinity Art Conference: Ruminating on Art and Change

I have now looked at my notes from the Trinity Arts Conference.  As I suspected, they're bad.  In fact, after the second lecture they become non-existent.  I did alright in the first lecture, which is nice because that was given by Greg Wolfe.  Greg is a brilliant guy so he had a lot to say.  The topic of the conference was 'Change.'  One thing that Greg said is that people tend to hate change in art because they want to shoot the messenger.  Society changes, artists respond by expressing that in word, music, paint, etc.  This 'new art' is decried, called non-art, and sometimes anti-Christian (depending on the context).  In reality, the artist is often just holding up a mirror to society.  Understand, I'm saying what Greg said only as I understand it now from my notes.  Don't hold him responsible if I misrepresent his ideas.

The main point of Greg's lecture, I think, was contained in a quote from Walter Brueggemann, which I think I copied down correctly:

"Truthful statements must be continually stated to remain truthful."

This might sound scandalous to ears suspiciously seeking postmodern ideas, but I believe it is true.  To use a silly example:  Many years ago if you called a girl 'cute' she might have sucker-punched you.  Why?  Because 'cute' used to mean 'bow-legged.'  In order for 'that girl is cute' to be true in its original sense, we must restate the proposition:  'that girl is bow-legged.''

On a deeper level we can look at the word 'Gospel.'  One of the speakers at the conference made reference to this.  It was either Greg or one of the guys who did a devotion.  Anyway, the word 'euangellion,' which is Greek for 'gospel,' literally meant 'good news,' but in its context it was good news of a particular type.  One could tell 'the gospel of Caesar,' which would extol his good works and the wonderful things that resulted from his reign.  This affected the way 1st Century people would have understood the phrase 'the Gospel of Jesus Christ.'  It did not mean 'Jesus died for our sins and rose again' to them.  That would be part of it, but not nearly all.  That is how most people understand the word 'Gospel.'  It's either the formula I mentioned or a reference to a genre of music.  In order to help people understand what 'gospel' originally meant, we must restate it.

Greg used an Ezra Pound quote to translate this need for restatement into the realm of art.  Pound said, "the artist's motto is 'make it new'."  The IT, said Greg, is something unchanging.  Great art is still working with the fundamental data of this world.  That statement resonates with me.  I see it in both Rembrandt and Picasso.  Sometimes they might come from vantage points I reject, but even if the images in a painting do not match the world I see in my eyes, I can understand the lens through which it is interpreted and thank God for the truth and beauty contained in the changing form.

Oddments, Part I

I found a copy of The New Yorker in a Ladies' restroom. It was there two days in a row, which constitutes abandonment. If a magazine is in a public restroom two days in a row it's fair game. Bonus: It was the winter fiction issue. I know what you're thinking, but don't worry; I was in the ladies' room for a good reason. I'm a janitor by trade, you see, scrubbing toilets for a living. I tell people I don't mind because the bathrooms I clean are used by conscientious people. There's hardly ever a mess left behind. The worst I usually get is a toilet that was in need of a double-flush. People are impatient.

I like The New Yorker. That probably sounds funny coming from a conservative Christian, but I don't mind. I like making people laugh even more than I like the New Yorker. I enjoy the cartoons very much. Who doesn't? But the best part so far (I'm not finished yet) has been Louise Erdrich's story "Demolition". I keep trying to figure what I like so much about the story. I know the story hangs together well. She actually uses honey to unify it from beginning to climax to end. Not that there is actual honey stuck to the pages 70-81 of The New Yorker. That wouldn't ship well. I fell in love with her closing sentence as well. I don't want to spoil it in case you want to read it so I will say no more. But I recommend the story highly.

A friend,whose last name is Honey (no lie) has worked with our cleaning crew for the last two days. He temporarily replaced Pablo, who went home to Peru. Temporarily. Pablo's last name is not Honey. That's a Radiohead album. Mr. Honey and I are both displaced West Virginians living in St. Louis. Earlier tonight we were discussing the finer points of the song "Take Me Home, Country Roads", which was popularized by John Denver. He didn't write it, though. That honor belongs to Bill Denoff and Taffy Nivert.

Mr. Honey was singing the song as he emptied trashcans, and I wondered aloud about the lines, "Life is old there/Older than the trees/Younger than the mountains". Did Bill and Taffy mean that the mountains are older than trees in general? That struck me as false. Shawn said he had asked himself the same question earlier that day when he heard the song on the radio. He wasn't kidding. Sometimes hillbillies are weird.