Imaginary Landscape

 #21 Monday, Monday -- The Mamas and Papas 1966 The past several entries have been so emotional that I thought I’d pull back a bit and tell a story about my dad and stepmom, Tudy, and why this song reminds me of them. First, some background – My dad and mom were divorced when I was in grade seven, about 1963-1964. My dad had custody, which was unusual at that time. But that’s a story for another day. About that same time, he started his own business with three partners. He was on the road all the time and had little time for a social life. He made a few attempts. The first we knew about involved an “exotic dancer” from a club in Clear Lake. Maybe I shouldn’t bring it up because years later, he was embarrassed about it, and Tudy hated it when we brought it up. But the dancer --Lois, I think her name was -- was nice. Anyway, after a few years, he started dating Tudy. (Her real name is Edna, but she had a twin, Edward, and growing up, they were called Tudy and Buddy, and it stuck.)  Now,

#20 I Grieve – Peter Gabriel 1998/2002  AdFair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=15196688d I wrote this post on June 30, 2020, which would have been John “Yardhippie” Rogers’ 44th birthday, but like his last eight birthdays, he has not been here to celebrate with us, having been taken from us on December 15, 2011. There are many songs that remind me of him, of that day, of his ash dive, his life, but I chose this one to share with that day. It was only one hour ago It was all so different then Nothing yet has really sunk in Looks like it always did This flesh and bone Is just the way that we are tied in But there's no one home I grieve, for you You leave, me So hard to move on Still loving what's gone They say life carries on Carries on and on and on and on One moment, I was planning to spend Christmas with him, and the next minute, the Food Guy was telling me, “There’s been an accident.” Life floats on such fragile wings. Peter Garbriel released “I Grieve” on his

 #19 This Nearly Was Mine (from South Pacific) – Brian Stokes Mitchell performance (2006) There are a lot of memories and related ideas with today’s song, so let me see where to start. I guess we should start with the musical South Pacific first. Composed by Richard Rodgers, with music by Oscar Hammerstein II and book by Hammerstein and Joshua Logan, this musical is about racism – premiering on Broadway in 1949. The story was based on stories from James Michner’s Tales of the South Pacific . Briefly (I hope), an expatriate plantation owner and a Navy nurse fall in love, but she struggles to accept his mixed-race children. In a subplot, a Marine lieutenant falls in love with a Tonkinese girl (Liat) on the island but worries about the reaction if he returns to Philadelphia with an Asian wife. Two comic characters, a wily Navy chief petty officer and the Tonkinese girl’s mother, tie the stories together. Nothing is spared as racism is explored, especially in the lieutenant’s song, “You’v

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 #18 And So It Goes – Billy Joel 1990 Most Billy Joel tunes meet all my criteria – meaningful lyrics, professional instrumentation, melody, and of course, a piano. “And So It Goes” was released on Joel’s emotional Storm Front album in 1990, although Joel had written the song back in 1983 about his relationship with then-girlfriend Elle McPherson. In 1990, if I wasn’t commuting, I was working at a proprietary post-secondary school, and I hated it. There was night class, so I didn’t get home until late, which meant I didn’t see much of my boys except on weekends, when they were usually busy. I think I heard “We Didn’t Start the Fire” on the radio, so I went out and bought the album. Arriving home from work about 10 or 10:30 meant everyone was already in bed, and I was too wired to go to sleep. So, I listened to music or watched movies and wrote a lot. The first time I listened to Storm Front all the way through, I heard “And So It Goes” – the last track on the album  -- and thought, this

  #17 All I Know – Art Garfunkel 1973 I said these posts would comprise something of a trilogy, so today is the second installation of that trilogy. Some of you already know this story, so you’ll recognize that I’m leave a lot out. When we last left our young lovers, the dashing Marine had returned to Camp Lejeune to prepare to “cruise” the Mediterranean with his Force Recon unit. I had already planned to take about a week’s leave after he Key West, as it was the July 4th holiday, and I went back to Iowa. Everyone I saw, it seemed, was a couple. My brother-in-law had brought some fireworks, but I pretty much kept to myself. When I returned to Key West, I started a letter to the Food Guy, and we wrote often, back and forth. Not too long after that, I learned they had “cut my billet,” that is, eliminated my position, as a non-commissioned officer in the Key West Air Station public affairs office, and while I had several options, I really didn’t care where I went, so I chose Orlando Nava

These are taken from various sources and cover (roughly) his term in office, although one or two may include the campaign for the 2016 election. I had to stop at 50. I have a life, after all. Bleach, taken internally, will kill coronavirus. A light inside the body will kill coronavirus. Hydroxychloroquine is a good therapeutic treatment for Covid-19. Heat and humidity will help fight the coronavirus. The sound of wind turbines gives you cancer. We could nuke hurricanes. We should buy Greenland. Puerto Rico is a separate country from the U.S. He said he met the president of the U.S. Virgin Islands. Mexico will pay for the wall. “The buck stops with everybody.” "How about the word 'caravan?' Caravan? I think that was one of mine."  Says he also invented the financial phrase, “prime the pump.” Wind power won’t work because the wind blows only some of the time.  Wind turbines kill “millions of birds.” "Nobody's ever been treated badly like me." "We will

#16 Goodbye Again -- John Denver 1972 I see how you people are – you love the sappy stories. Well, I can’t blame you; a lot of the time, this is why we listen to music – because of the memories it conjures. There are some songs I play to recall a memory more clearly. There are other songs I can’t even listen to because they break my heart (Lennon’s “Beautiful Boy” is one of them). So, I have a trilogy of tunes that I’ll offer over the next few days that tell a little bit about the Food Guy and me. John Denver rose to prominence in the early 70s, and practically every single he released was a hit. At the time, I was a disillusioned sophomore at the University of Northern Iowa, and I wanted to quit. My dad said, “Get a job or don’t come home.” So I ended up in the Navy, and after boot camp and an extended stay training as a journalist/broadcaster, I was transferred to Key West, Florida in 1972, the first enlisted WAVE on the air base on Boca Chica. I met the Food Guy on a blind date – a