Songs

HB, RN

65 Comments

I’m a Randy Newman fan, and today is his birthday.
It’s a good reason to spend too much time online listening to amazing songs with wonderfully catchy piano riffs, like this one.

http://youtu.be/9jiLL2d-alc

Newman writes about religion more than any songwriter I know, and with more nuance than anyone who addresses the topic, period. All in just over three minutes.

http://youtu.be/vEKuGcmW70I

But lest you think Randy Newman blames God for all our problems, here’s one where he makes a point of NOT pointing a finger heavenward.

http://youtu.be/7SKGIwsXuA0

Newman’s song about his upbringing in L.A. And New Orleans is called Dixie Flyer, after a train linking the cities.

What name would you give to a song about your childhood?

65 thoughts on “HB, RN”

  1. Good morning. Most of my childhood years occurred during the fifties so i would call a song about my youth Fun in the Fifties. I did have fun growing up. I also suffered through some not so wonderful things that happen in that decade. In my song I would include some sarcastic uses of the word fun to tell about some not so fun things from that time.

    It was a good time because I played outside a lot instead of being glued to a TV or video games like some kids are today. It was also not a very progressive era. My parents were Republicans and I still have some “I Like Ike” political buttons of theirs’. The Sixties were a big awakening for me when I became aware that the American Dream that everyone seemed to believe in the Fifties some times turns out to be a night mare.

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  2. “Rhapsody to Reading” I lived in and for books as soon as I learned to read. There was no music in my tone deaf childhood so I would compensate with a rich rhapsody.

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  3. My song would be “I did it my way” as an only child growing up in the 60’s and 70’s. I will be off the trail for a few days now. We are travelling to Luverne to usher my father home from the nursing home. He has partially given up the idea of driving for the present, by the way. That rascal has been trying to convince my mom that she can drive him around where he needs to go. She decided to not drive much anymore, and now he almost has her convinced!

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  4. My long-time Lake Superior Trail hiking partne,r and good friend Jim until I moved away, turns 80 today. I bet we did 150 miles or more on LST. For those of you who read my book, Jim is Charlie’s grandson. (I am not off topic; wait; I’ll get there.)
    Well, I did name a novel based on my childhood, and it would work as a song title. “Beneath a Quilted Sky.” But something like “Up on Jake’s Hill” would work too. That was the local name all my childhood. Jake was the first person to live on the hill. And as it turns out the husband of Jake’s grand daughter ran off with my friend Jim’s wife. So maybe it could be a song called “Just Another Small Town.”
    Someone else will have to write any of these songs. I’m tone-deaf and utterly devoid of musicality.

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  5. Dale, I agree about Randy Newman’s religious outlook–very interesting. Rather Old Testament, but his father was Jewish. I checked that out a few years ago to see if he was. Don’t know what he is now. But his religious songs have a delightfully Jewish sensibility I think.

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      1. refresh my memory-do the Roches do the song about the Christians and the pagans celebrating Christmas/Solstice together? I’ve always rather loved that one.

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        2. Nope, that’s Dar Williams’ “The Christians and the Pagans”. My ex-girlfriend was very into women singer-songwriters and introduced me to that song–the only thing worth remembering about that particular relationship.

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        4. I just checked, the song I am thinking of is sung by well-known pagan, Dar Williams. It is on youtube, but I lack the internet mojo to embed it this morning.

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      2. I have Peter Mayer’s song “Easy Street” on a CD I got from a thrift store and I about die laughing every time I hear it. It sums up what some religious people really think (but wouldn’t admit) in a hilarious way.

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        1. Easy Street
          I’ve played it out in my head so many times before
          I’m fixing dinner at home and there’s a knock on the door
          He holds the check out in his hand
          Oh my God, it’s Ed MacMahon!

          CHORUS: Every night I pray to God above me
          To send his love along with lots of money
          Because in my heart I feel him calling me to
          Easy Street

          Swimming down at the Y for exercise is hard
          When I know God could provide me with a pool in my yard
          And I could meet my deeper needs
          With a couple thousand more square feet

          CHORUS:

          A masterbath with double sinks would help me out for sure
          A TV screen as high as me might be the only cure
          For this middle class depravity, the sacrifices I endure
          Deliver me Oh Lord!

          And so I dream of the day when all my worries are gone
          The lotteries and the sweepstakes, man, I play ‘em all
          And though my faith has made me strong
          These days I’m barely hanging on

          CHORUS:

          Grant us peace oh God and feed the hungry
          And don’t forget to give me lots of money
          Because I believe you have a plan for me
          On Easy Street

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  6. I would name my song “Ford Anglia” after the car that sat in my best friend’s back yard. The Anglia (which we pronounced “Angela”) didn’t work, which made it an excellent car for playing in – we had some lovely adventures in that car and went to grand places. Friend Lisa and I had Barbies who worked at NASA (and went to fabulous balls in the evening – my Barbie dated Parker Stevenson – the Hardy Boys vintage Parker – who made a lovely escort to the balls where they would waltz the night away), and Lisa’s basement easily became a pioneer house and school (a la “Little House on the Prairie”). Also in the basement was a refrigerator that contained ginger beer brewed by Lisa’s dad. On days when either a “Pink Panther” movie or a Marx Bros. feature was on TV, it meant there had to be a sleepover either at my house or hers. If we were at Lisa’s, we sometimes got hamburgers from Westrum’s (a nearby restaurant/bar) for dinner – at mine, frozen Totino’s “party” pizzas. So “Ford Anglia” for it’s poetic name and all it is tied to in my memory.

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  7. I’ll circle the topic a bit, but this is all (believe it or not) relevant:

    When I was a teen, there was a city park just below the hill on which my home sat, The park had trails (including the Low Devil’s Trail and High Devil’s Trail) that led away from town toward exotic destinations in the woods along our creek north and west of my home. When I was lonely or feeling unfit for the company of others, this is where I would go to leave myself and walk in beauty.

    There was a library within walking distance of my home. It was a place characterized by silent magic. You heard nothing when you were there, but the library shelves were loaded with books that dazzled the mind with all their unpredictable delights. Later I discovered that my little ivory radio was a magic carpet (like the library) that could take me out of myself.

    Throughout my young years, my dad yearned to have me accompany him on fishing trips. I didn’t always want to get out of a warm bed to sit on a chilly, wet boat seat early in the morning, but I went time after time because I could tell he wanted me there so much it would have embarrassed him to say it. He never once let me down by being impatient or unkind. My mother’s love was probably just as strong, but she was not able to be as steady as my dad.

    If I wrote a song about growing up, its title would be “Always There For Me.” I often didn’t like myself much as a kid, but I could always escape into nature, in books or into the sheltering arms of my father. They were always there for me.

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    1. This is a great gift, Steve: “When I was lonely or feeling unfit for the company of others, this is where I would go to leave myself and walk in beauty.” Wish more kids had this opportunity.

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  8. Morning all!

    My song would have to be “Hit the Road Jack”. My childhood was shaped by the number of times that we moved; until I got to high school, I had never stayed in the same school for more than a year and a half, and many of them a much shorter time. If I could still be the person I am today, it’s something I would change if I could. My poor teenager will be the opposite – she’ll probably tell people that she was stuck in the same house her whole life!

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  9. I don’t think I can answer this one. I have some good “place” memories from my childhood, but the more I look back on it, the less lovely it seems, especially when I contrast it with how I hope to raise the s&h.

    We reviewed our year at Thanksgiving, and he said possibly the nicest thing any 13-year-old could say to their mother, “sure you’re weird, Mom, but in a good way”.

    My work here is done.

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    2. Fabulous. I’m feeling a similar glow this week… Teenager finally shared her essay for college apps…. it’s about being a single child of a single mom and ended on a very positive, life-affirming note!

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      1. ok, now I am tearing up. How awesome. Nicely done both Verily and Teenager.

        I really do believe successfully raising a child often involves a good working relationship between parent(s) and child. It’s not the only way to do it, but I think it is a good way.

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        1. you ladies have done a great job. s& h and the teenager are special people and the cudos go to you for being there for them. congrats.
          my children are doing good in spite of me. i am proof that if you have good kids you can do it all wrong and they still come out pretty well. i have put the wrong stuff in the priority list and been only half there when i am there and they seem to be figuring it out o their own. my old theory about learning from how not to do it as much as how to do it. i think i have gifted kids in that regard.

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  10. Like mig, my childhood memories are a very mixed bag. I lived in constant fear. Yet, there are so many wonderful moments as well. On balance, it’s difficult for me to think of my childhood as a happy time, yet when I do think about it, I dwell more on the small everyday joys that complete the picture. I’d probably have an easier time depicting my childhood in a painting (despite the fact that I can’t paint or draw) because I think color can better express the tumult of it all. Perhaps “It Takes A Village” would be a song title that would reflect how many, many people outside of my family were instrumental in nurturing and protecting me.

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    1. For what it’s worth pj my painting involves putting color on the canvas without making it look like a particular object but rather a feeling. Abstract expressionism r us, Kline pollack dekooning Hoffman Rothko draw schmaw I love doingbart

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  11. my childhood was like falling out of bed. it was so easy it never occured to me there was another way to do it. the friends the trails the paths chosen the directions and options all just kind of happened. from baseball to bike riding to hiking the river banks to the angst of cathoilc school to the pure delight of freedom in public high school to the travels of a post haight ashbury hippy, it all turned out to be so natural and seemed like he only way to go. my song title would be “huh?” there wasnt a lot of predetermined stuff going on. just kinda going with the flow.

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  12. randy newmans musical heritage is good his grandfather wrote for the movies and his uncle did too. i started going to see randy at the guthrie in the 60’s and he was such a kick with his god and redneck songs and littel vignettes no one does a better job than randy at little vignettes. then h would wrap up with lonely at the top for his encore and bring down the roof. great performer
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qlmGJQq3AlM

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  13. ok, the preceding digression about child-rearing has given me the song title-it is a phrase I often use to describe my childhood: I Was Born Unto Strangers. Visually, I look a lot like my family, but most of my encounters with them can best be described, I think, as “confusing”. Weird, but true, I spent the first 18 or so years of my life with people I can only make polite conversation with.

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    1. Me, too, except now and then my sister, when she can take her mind off herself. I am not sure how alone we are in that regard.

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      1. Sure we all have stuff we overcome to become the model specimens we exhibit here on the trail. Loneliness and unsure of yourself … Heck I still have that

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  17. My childhood might be summed up by a combination of two songs, neither of which has been written:
    “I’d Do Anything to Please You”,
    and then later on
    “Ask Me No Questions, I’ll Tell You No Lies.”
    Will think more on this – there must be others…

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  18. the Bangles:
    If I told you I don’t mind
    Would you believe me?
    When I say to you, you’re not my kind
    Do I deceive you with this fragile disguise?
    Ask me no questions
    And I will tell you no lies
    If you could read my heart I would not deny
    But I pretend

    All these tears on my face don’t imply
    That I’m not happy just to see you with her
    One small voice that will never be heard
    I’m in love with you
    Oh, I’m in love with you
    But I turn away when you look in my eyes
    Ask me no questions I’ll tell you no lies
    I’m in love with you

    I’m in love with you
    Oh, I’m in love with you
    Trying to smile with a hole in my heart
    No one knows I’m falling apart
    I’m in love with you
    Oh, I’m in love with you
    But I turn away when you look in my eyes
    Ask me no questions I’ll tell you no lies
    I’m in love with you

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  19. One of my former students, son of a close friend and by himself a close friend of mine, more than just my student. Anyway, he is an ordained Lutheran pastor who has started working on a special ministry in which he does a one-man acting performance. He does not write the dramas; a friend of his does. They are very well done. They have a sort Randy Newman spin to them, as I think about it. None are Biblical characters as such, rather they are modern versions of Biblical characters or fictional characters who encountered events or characters from the Bible.Sometimes he interacts with the audience; sometimes not. Usually he does 2 to 6 characters in a set. He is coming back to our church for the second time tonight, this time to do our opening Advent service. Going to be fun.

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  21. Evening-

    Thanks Dale and everyone for the music and stories today.
    I think this might be my favorite:
    http://youtu.be/W-fIIqyQB7Y

    It’s a sad song, but I think it’s a simple enough song that I actually can listen and understand the words so maybe that’s why I appreciate it.
    Otherwise, mostly I don’t listen to the words of songs. I mean I hear them, but its just in one ear and out the other. Sort of like church. And my childhood.
    I was so busy rushing through it I didn’t pay attention to what was going on around me and I’m fighting to remember things.
    Somedays I feel like I’m floating through life and it’s all just somewhere in the mist behind me. And I don’t think that’s good. Certain memories will remind me of things… but otherwise… nope, just a hazy fog of probability.
    Working on that.

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  24. Hm. I might call my song about my childhood something like, “When Will This Be Over?”. That’s not very positive, I know, but the story is far from pleasant. Children who are raised in supportive, loving, non-suffocating families are truly blessed. The dual messages that came from my father on a daily basis left me confused and wondering who I was – who I was supposed to be. I was only able to be myself and that was never right. Every day was a new opportunity to disappoint my father. I didn’t know how to do anything else.

    I’m still not what my dad would have wanted me to be. I’ve never been anything close to what he wanted. I am happy now – to be just who I am.

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