2023, animals, Family, Farming Update, Music, Nature, Uncategorized

One More Time, Once

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The weekend Farm Report comes to us from Ben.

It has been a busy week. Monday, I hauled some equipment to Plainview for an online auction, made two trips, the first hauling our old rear blade, a fertilizer auger, and some smaller stuff. And a second with the forage chopper, and other stuff that I think, if they market it as ‘vintage,’ it could do well. The auctioneer wasn’t even sure they had ever sold any before, but he finally agreed to put it on a pallet and see what happens. (Details after the auction in April).
Tuesday I had one more clinic appointment: I have now been dismissed by the shoulder doctor, the knee doctor, the toe doctor, and the foot doctor. It’s a pretty good feeling.

I also had a meeting in the Cities on Tuesday.
Plus the week was busy at the college working on a set.

I have the song, ‘Mercy, Mercy, Mercy’ by the Cannonball Adderley Quintet in my iTunes, and in the opening, Cannonball says, “You know, sometimes we are not prepared for adversity. When it happens, sometimes, we’re caught short; We don’t know exactly how to handle it when it comes up. Sometimes we don’t know just what to do when adversity takes over. And I have advice for all of us. I got it from my pianist, Joe Zawinul, who wrote this tune, and it sounds like what you’re supposed to say when you have that kinda problem. It’s called, “Mercy Mercy Mercy”.

I think that’s true. We talk a lot about how we don’t know how to deal with conflict and how it is hard to learn that a little conflict can be OK — when you know how to handle it. I started to learn that 40 years ago at one of the theaters, and the founders would get into some pretty big arguments behind the closed- but not soundproof door- And then they would come back out, and we are all shuffling our feet and looking at the floor. ‘Conflict is OK’, they would say, ‘You gotta learn to work things out’.
I also have the Buddy Rich Big Band doing a version of ‘Mercy Mercy Mercy’. They are both good.

I have three versions of the song ‘Jessica’; The original, plus two bluegrass versions. I have two versions of ‘Layla’ (the original and the unplugged), ‘As Time Goes’ by Maynard Ferguson and Tony Bennett, ‘El Paso’ by the Grateful Dead and Marty Robbins. Again, so different and both so good. ‘Eli’s Coming’ by Three Dog Night and Maynard Ferguson, ‘The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly’ theme, the original and a version by The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain. ‘Limehouse Blues’ by Jerry Reed & Chet Atkins and also by The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain; they are strikingly different versions. ‘Mama Told Me Not To Come’ by Three Dog Night and Randy Newman. Two versions of ‘Sing, Sing, Sing’ by Benny Goodman, and James Horner & Orchestra. ‘Tangled Up In Blue’ by Joan Osborne and Bob Dylan (The Joan one is really good. Nothing against the Dylan version either!), a couple versions of  ‘Stairway to Heaven’ by Led Zeppelin and Rodrigo y Gabriela.
A song called ‘There’ll Be Some Changes Made’ from the movie, ‘All That Jazz’, which I thought was original to the movie, until I heard Gene Krupa doing it on the 40’s station. And then, as I googled it for this blog, realized I have Mark Knopfler and Chet Atkins doing a version that is SO different I didn’t even make the connection it was the same song. Prior to this revelation, I didn’t realize there were other versions of that song.

Chickens and ducks are still fine, but the coyotes are back. Kelly chased one away Wednesday morning. We’re keeping our eyes open. Bailey needs back up; she won’t engage when alone. She’s a lover, not a fighter.

I spread two bales of straw out for the chickens. They enjoy scratching in that, and it covers up some of the mud.

WHAT DO YOU SAY WHEN FACED WITH ADVERSITY?

HOW MANY VERSIONS OF SONGS DO YOU HAVE?

65 thoughts on “One More Time, Once”

  1. Appropos to a different discussion a few days ago, the statement about “when you face adversity” has the same answer. “I’ll cope.” That’s not the same as “I’ll win,” or “prevail” or something like that. So, “This adverse situation may well lead to my utter defeat, but even so, I’ll cope.”

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  3. I used to make themed cds. I collected the material from library borrowed albums. For a while, I was picking up 10 albums a day. Can you say, “obsessed?” The external hard drive collection is over 40,000 song titles which is now insignificant considering availability on the internet. One CD is 18 versions of Besame Mucho.
    It includes The Beatles, The Coasters, Diana Krall, Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Andrea Bocelli, Lawrence Welk, and Jimmy Dorsey.
    As I understand it, nowadays anyone can do the same on their phone.

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  4. 1. Depends on the adversity.
    2. Thinking about the music I have on my phone, there are several that come immediately to mind. I have at least two and maybe three versions of Limehouse Blues— for certain one by Bob Brozman and Mike Auldridge and one by Pearl Django. Possibly a third by Birelli Lagrene. I have two versions of Crazy Rhythm, by Nelly McKay and Bob Brozman and Mike Aldridge, versions of But Not for Me by both John Pizzarelli and Chet Baker, versions of If I Had You by Cliff Edwards and by the Ink Spots. Nelly McKay also does a nice version of that. I have versions of Nuages by both the Gary Potter Quartet and Pearl Django. The Dimming of the Day by both Maura O’Connell and Bonnie Raitt. I’m sure there are others.

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  6. When faced with adversity, I’m trying to learn to say “Help!” There are a lot of times when help would be available if I know where to look. If not, I usually say “OK, we’ll get through this.”

    Since I’ve never had my own iPod, or put together an online collection of music, I have just the few dozen CDs, and several small boxes of old tapes! I’m sure there are multiple versions of things in there somewhere; I’ll let you know if one surfaces…

    I rely on Youtube if I want to hear a particular song that’s not in my collection, and I almost always find it!

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  7. Rise and Shine, Baboons,

    When there is adversity my first response is “OH S***. F***!” And I do that for awhile, then I get to the options: Can this be fixed? Do I need to just accept this? Is there a problem to solve?

    Then I am off on whatever I think is the answer. I am actually a good problem-solver. Acceptance of whatever the adversity is poses a much more difficult process. Grief and that goes with it.

    What the baboons are reporting as song versions—whatever that is, I don’t do that.

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      1. Made me think of a cartoon I saw yesterday. Two hens meet as they are out taking a stroll. One of them is pushing a stroller. The other hen, peering into the stroller where there are two dyed eggs and says: “Oh how pretty. You have them all dressed up for Easter.”

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    2. Maybe I’m reading too much into the term “adversity,” but I really don’t think of very many things as adversities. Mostly I have garden variety, everyday problems that I do my best to solve or cope with. Occasionally, something more serious will crop up, and the problem causes longer term consequences, or become chronic. That’s when adaptive skills become important, when you have to learn to live with a new reality. As we age, such problems are often health related.

      Maybe I just don’t understand what adversity is, but I think of adversity as something that casts you as a victim. Pity party time. Am I way off here? Wouldn’t be the first time.

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        1. I’m clear on what the definition of adversity is. It’s just that I perceive it as a word used by people who want to absolve themselves or others of the responsibility of dealing with whatever “adversity” they are facing. To me it has a very subtle nuance that carries overtones of “poor me.” I rarely use it, and I’m on high alert when others do, alert to the possibility that they’re attempting to manipulate my emotions.

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        2. I don’t have the same interpretations of the word that you do. You must have encountered people who use the word in combination with self-pity. In therapy no one presents saying “I encountered adversity.” Rather they say “I am miserable.” I think when I wear my therapist hat, I am more likely to say “this is adversity.”

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        3. I’d be interested to know, Jacque – and Renee, if there are terms you use or think of differently when you use them in your private life and when you’re wearing your therapist hat? I imagine that some terms take on a more specific meaning when wearing the therapist hat?

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        4. In my therapist hat I am apart from the adverse event of whatever type. When it happens to me and I experience it, the emotion is all there.

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  8. I guess the closest I come to the versions of songs question is my Misirlou CD. Misirlou is a Greek-ish folk dance, basic and popular esp. in beginner circles. One dance group had figured out that you could do the dance to several other familiar songs, so they put together a collections of things we could dance Misirlou to, which including Heard It Through the Grapevine, theme from Zorba the Greek, and a couple I don’t know: Feets Too Big, and That Bear Makes Me Crazy.

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  9. My response to adversity depends on a couple of things. Did I just learn of this adversity? Are there other people in proximity to me? If it’s the first inkling of adversity and nobody’s around, then like Jacque, I swear like a longshoreman. But I am my mothers daughter, so after the initial explosion, then it’s get on with it, solve it, deal with it.

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    1. I like this discussion of what exactly is adversity. I sort of just lumped it in with conflict, or at least that general category. Certainly it can be refined more than that and that’s what’s so interesting.
      I see adversity as any kind of hardship. It could be minor or major and it may come suddenly, or build up over a time.
      I swear too, when it becomes apparent. But then yep, we figure it out.

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  10. I guess I lean on gratitude when I’m faced with adversity. It helps me to be grateful for everything I have been through to prepare me for the current situation, and for my natural strengths and insights which will also help.

    You all probably know that I am loyal to John Prine and Bob Dylan. I have covered songs written by both of them. I try to learn their version so that I understand, if possible, their take on it. There are a few exceptions. One exception to John Prine is “Angel from Montgomery.” Bonnie Raitt popularized it and almost put John on the map. I learned her version and I do it in the same key as she does. I can’t do it in G, which is JP’s version. She just does the song so much justice.

    The other song will be recognized here but most people don’t know it. It is Joni Mitchell’s “Urge for Going,” a staggeringly beautiful song that she didn’t release until recently (within the last 20 years is recent for me.) I learned it from Mary Black’s version many years ago and I’ve always loved that version.

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  11. OT – Just observed a small plane flying over our neighborhood trailing a big banner that spelled T R U M P. I hope to see it followed by another trailing a banner that spells: L O C K H I M UP.

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    2. There is a neighbor here about 1 block away, who just put up a giant “Trump 2024” flag in her front yard. I am watching to see what happens to it. One block in the other direction there is a “Black Lives Matter” flag that I much prefer.

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  12. There are several songs and pieces of music that I have different renditions of, including “classical” music.

    It seems like everyone who has ever carried a note has covered Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah,” I don’t own any of them.

    Some songs that I have multiple versions of have already been mentioned by others, here are a few more: “The City of New Orleans” has been covered by a lot of pretty high profile artists, and some of them are very good, but my favorite version is Steve Goodman’s own (and he has several recordings of it). Of the covers, perhaps Arlo Guthrie’s is best known. So well known, in fact, that lots of people think he wrote it.

    Joni Mitchell is one of my favorite musicians, and I have several recordings of several of her songs. Some of them are her own reinterpretation of the same song. Heaven only knows there’s a lot of great songs to choose from. Not surprisingly, her own interpretations stand out.

    Shawn Colvin’s album “Cover Girl” is a lovely album with some really great covers of an eclectic mix of other artists’ songs. A good cover can make you hear something completely different in a song, or make you listen to the lyrics with a new set of ears; I love it when that happens.

    Sometimes, when I first hear a song, it makes such a deep impression that I’ll listen to it repeatedly. Then I’ll search for different renditions of it on the internet. I sometimes spend hours doing that. That’s one admittedly not very organized way of discovering new songs and new artists, but it suits my temperament.

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        1. I’m assuming you’re talking about Hallelujah? I agree, k.d. lang’s version is excellent, as are any number of others, including Jeff Buckley’s. At this stage of the game, however, I feel as if I have been overexposed to the song itself; I want a break from it.

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    1. We are having a lovely visit punctuated by strategic naps. I am finishing the pork roast and risotto. We decided to skip the spaetzle until next weekend. Puppy wants to be alpha over Daughter, but she is setting boundaries and dominance.

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  16. i’ve never charted numbers of artists i have covering a specific song
    i tend to have lots because artists i like often times like each other and share my taste
    dylan doesn’t do a lot of other peoples tunes but he did when he started
    i remember being very surprised how many people did bob dylans stuff when i checked into it years ago
    i bought the bob dylan songbook and saw that in 1967 500 people had recorded blowing in the wind
    250 mr tamborine man
    120 it ain’t me babe etc

    then the beatles complete songbook
    yesterday 1 million artists
    michele 1 million artists
    while my guitar gently weeps lots of artists
    here comes the sun

    townes van zandt poncho and lefty
    dead flowers

    paul simon just about everything

    my son who is now 36 got the first ipod in our lives completely filled with moon river variations

    i love comparing and pandora apple music and you tube have made life wonderful

    adversity

    there it is at every turn
    i tend to deal with life as a crapshoot and past mismanaged opportunities lead me toward yes or no choices that matter regularly
    i screw it up sometimes but continue to move forward doing my best in the face of todays option
    maybe someday i can put my feet up and enjoy watching the world go by from a spectators seat
    not today
    or tomorrow

    look at options
    decide what to decide
    do it and live with it and move on

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