The following is a song I recently stumbled upon on YouTube.com. It’s not one I remember, so obviously it never changed my life, but I like it so much I’ve added it to the lyrics on my “poems” page. Enjoy the song, then read the lyrics…
Both of these songs are songs which just popped into my head when I woke up and stuck there for the rest of the day. Both are from my earlier years – the first (“Lydia“) before I understood the “implications” of being a female in the circus and “tattooed”. While humorously presented, it has a quite serious side.
The second song is from one of my all time favorite groups as an early youth: “The Young Rascals“, later shortened to just “The Rascals“. These guys had a string of hits, and this is one of my favorites. I’m sure there will be more to come…
My favorite lines are:
“Ask me my opinion, My opinion will be It’s a natural situation For a man to be free“
If you don’t know these songs or haven’t read the lyrics lately, you owe it to yourself to check them out. Then you can drop down to the bottom of the page to enjoy the performance.
As always, read the lyrics, enjoy the performances, then go support these artists or the artists of your choice. Participate in supporting the Arts locally! Keep Art alive in your community!
Thomas Robert “Tom” Laughlin (August 10, 1931 – December 12, 2013)
Before Steven Seagal (all three word title movies), before John Rambo (“Rambo” series), before John McClane (“Die Hard” series), before Paul Kersey (“Death Wish” series), before Kwai Chang Caine (“Kung Fu” TV series) – there was Billy Jack in “Born Losers” (1967). Tom Laughlin brought to the big screen the start of the modern vigilante movie genre with the character of Billy Jack. It seems strange how a little martial arts on the big screen, mixed with some social awareness and righteous indignation can affect people’s lives.
As a twelve year old kid I remember thinking, “Wow, I’ve got to learn how to do that!” What I was looking at was Hapkido – a Korean form of Karate (open hand fighting). Ten years later, I found a Hapkido dojo in Germany and studied it for almost a year during my off hours (I was in the Army). That was set aside once I returned to civilian life… Until I found Judo, while I was in college. I took that for a semester, too. When I moved to England in the ’90’s, a friend from work (who was a black belt in judo) said he’d love to get me on a mat and asked if I was interested in going to a dojo to learn Aikido. My friend (Dave) and I found a local dojo and began our lessons. We continued on with that for about two years. It was great having someone who was a lifelong martial artist as a co-student because he could explain things in much greater detail than I could ever have gotten (except in one-on-one personal lessons). For his side, he got someone who was bigger and heavier who he could throw around for a couple of hours twice a week. We both moved on and I stumbled on to a Philippine “combat” style of Aikido while I was in Saudi Arabia which I tried for another year. And then finally, once back home in America, I was back to traditional Aikido at a local dojo for several years (until I developed AFib and went on blood thinners).
Practicing martial arts, of course, lead me to read about martial arts, which in turn lead to me reading about martial philosophy and then philosophy in general.
Did I ever “become” a martial artist? No. Did I ever learn how to do that? Not hardly. I never took it seriously enough to be more than what I was – a novice and a bit of a dojo sampler. Did I enjoy it? Yes, very much. Did it affect me? Yes! And for at least some small part of that, I have to thank Billy Jack (Tom Laughlin).
Beyond the enjoyment of playing Aikido itself, I learned timing, balance, grace, philosophy, and I gained a certain amount of inner peace. For all of which, I will always be extremely grateful.
Today, I took Hil and my mom to my sister’s so I could watch the football game with her husband, while the ladies went out for some wine tasting. On the way home, my mom asked me if I remembered “Old Uncle Joe”. Joe wasn’t really our uncle. He was just an elderly man who lived in the same apartment building we did. Joe was a World War I veteran. He used to sing us little songs from the early days of radio and phonographs. My mom’s comment was that not many people can say they grew up actually knowing someone who fought in World War I (tomorrow is Veterans Day).
I said that I did remember Joe and I asked if she remembered that little song about the Irishman which he taught us. She said she did not. After a few minutes, some of it came back to me and I started singing it for them. I didn’t remember all of it. Just the part after “rigged him out so gay”…
As usual, curiosity got the better of me and I looked the song up on Google… The first verse and chorus follow:
Jim O’Shea Was cast away Upon an Indian Isle The natives there They loved red hair They loved his Irish smile They made him Chief Panjandrum The Nabob Of them all They called him Jij-i-bob Jhai And rigged him out So gay He wrote To Dublin Bay To His Sweet- Heart, Just To Say
Sure, I’ve got Rings on my fingers, And bells on my toes Elephants To ride upon, My little Irish Rose So come to Your Nabob, On next Patrick’s Day Be Missus Mumbo Jumbo Jij-i-bob J. O’Shea
Song Title: “I’ve Got Rings On My Fingers”
Written by: F. J. Barnes and R. P. Weston
Originally written in 1909
I didn’t know this was a “proper” song or that it was fairly popular in its day. I also didn’t know there were other verses. At least I don’t remember ever hearing them or singing them. You can Google the song title and the lyrics are available on multiple sites and a couple of recordings are available on YouTube – including one version on a scratchy gramophone.
Hil commented (while we were in the car) she was surprised I remembered so much of the song since I obviously learned it quite young. I admitted I was pretty surprised too.
This week I was driving to work, bored with sports and political radio, I switched over to some easy listening and lo and behold heard two great songs! One I’d heard before and the other I don’t remember hearing before.
Anyway, they were both so terrific I immediately committed to remembering their catch lines (not all that easy for someone who’s getting on in years) and wrote them down when I got to work so I could listen to them when I got home. (We are not allowed to listen to internet music at work…)
The two songs are: “Bruises“, performed by Train (featuring Ashley Monroe) and “Should’ve Gone To Bed“, performed by Plain White T’s. They are both easy listing cross-overs between Pop and Modern Country sounds. Very enjoyable with ear-candy / stick in your head hooks. Bruises is another classic song about boy and girl meeting ten years later and asking about what’s been happening. The interesting thing is although there is an obvious “connection” happening in the song, both are “once burned, twice shy” and nothing may happen except the “promise” to keep in touch. My favorite verse is:
These bruises Make for better conversation Loses the vibe that separates It’s good to let you in again You’re not alone and how you’ve been Everybody loses We all got bruises We all got bruises
The second song (“Should’ve Gone To Bed“) is the new one for me. On the radio, it sounds as if it’s a song about regrets and calling some number of “Ex’es” after the relationships are over. In the “official” video, it appears to be a song about a man who’s afraid to tell his girlfriend how he feels until he’s on the verge of losing her. …And then they make up (to presumably live happily ever after). It surprised me to come away with the two completely different reactions to the same song depending on if you were listening to it, listening to it and following the lyrics, or watching the official video. I guess the line which strikes me is most of us have broken up in our relationships, tried to move on and then when there’s a problem (or were just feeling lonely), we pick up the phone and call the “Ex”. Sometimes they answer and the cycle starts again. Sometimes they answer but the cycle doesn’t restart. Sometimes it ends just as badly as before; and sometimes everyone is spared the drama because the other party just doesn’t answer the phone or return the call. Being human, we assume it’s because they don’t want to talk to us anymore.
Someday the geezer’s among us will be telling the kids how (in our day) people didn’t have caller ID or voice mail or home answering machines, and sometimes relationships didn’t work out – not because one or both sides didn’t reach out to the other to make up – but simply because one party wasn’t there to answer the call. The concept seems “funny” in this age of always-on connectivity… Sometimes things just happen (or don’t happen) for no particular reason.
As always, check out the lyrics off of my Poems page, then go listen to the recordings – and in this instance, make sure you go find the “official” video for “Should’ve Gone To Bed“. Let me know if you got the same reaction to the lyrics versus the song versus the video. And remember to support the Arts in your local community.
Way back when (in the ’70’s), I got a chance to go to Frankfurt to see Pink Floyd live in concert. It was a terrific event and I really enjoyed both the music and the show. I guess this was a famous tour and I remember it distinctly because it had a giant pig come out from the stage and circle over the crowd. They also had a large circular screen which showed artistic depictions of images from their albums including “rock dinosaurs” and prisms.
One of the songs I’ve always liked by them is a hauntingly melancholy plea to a lost friend, “Wish You Were Here“.
Sometimes I feel like a another lost soul livin’ in a fishbowl…
My mother-in-law fell recently and is now in the hospital with a fractured bone in her back. My wife is upset that she can’t be there for her mum, so I’m upset for her, too. If you pray, please offer up a prayer for her mum to get better soon. If you don’t pray, be nice to someone and (I believe) the positive energy will still reach her.
I hope you’ll check out the lyrics on my Poems page and then go listen to the song on your favorite music provider. Remember to go listen to as much live music as you can and support your local arts.
