It’s a holiday and there is not a whole lot to write about. So, let’s talk music. What are some good songs that mention the president?
Here’s one:
And, related:
Worked the bars and sideshows along the twilight zone
Only a crowd can make you feel so alone and it really hit home
Booze and pills and powders, you can choose your medicine
Well here’s another goodbye to another good friendAfter all is said and done gotta move while it’s still fun
Let me walk before they make me run
After all is said and done I gotta move, it’s still fun
I’m gonna walk before they make me runWatched my taillights fading, there ain’t a dry eye in the house
They’re laughing and singing, started dancing and drinking as I left town
Gonna find my way to heaven, ’cause I did my time in hell, oh yeah
I wasn’t looking too good but I was feeling real wellAfter all is said and done I gotta move, I had my fun
Let us walk before they make us runAfter all is said and done, I did alright, I had my fun
I will walk before they make me run
I will walk before they make me runAfter all is said and done gotta move while it’s still fun
Let me walk before they make me run
Let me walk before they make me run
I wanna walk before they make me run
It took Gram Parsons, but somehow not Keif.
But the most interesting story is what happened to Gram Parsons after he died.
Another version of the Gram Parsons corpse story.
Hmmm…I was entertained by the part where, in their extremely drunken stupor after they burned Parsons’ body, they rear-ended someone on an L.A. freeway, the cop cuffed two of them together in the hearse, and one of the dudes has a wrist so thin that he slips the cuffs and the two run away down the nearest off-ramp.
Another thing I learned is that the people who led the poly-drug taking that night were from wealthy families. Don’t know why that was striking to me.
Reading about the caper in this detail is amusing, but the episode comes off more pathetic than romantic.
“Strange days indeed…”
Not music, but a story about one of the greatest musicians the US ever produced, and a president (Nixon), who was vice president at the time this happened):
“A lesser-known story concerns Satchmo’s return to America after a state-sponsored good will mission. The story goes this way: Nixon was on the same plane going into Dulles Airport in Washington D.C.. Vice President Richard Nixon was a big fan, and chatted with Satchmo throughout the flight back from (probably Britain). When they finally landed, Armstrong said he was tired and could the vice president please help him carry some of his luggage. Nixon carried his trumpet case, which was filled with ganja. Armstrong loved marijuana and smoked it everyday, including during his trip to Ghana.
For the record, Snopes has confirmed this account.”
(lifted off of http://blogs.kcrw.com/rhythmplanet/state-departments-new-musical-diplomacy/)
Satchmo also loved laxatives, and was an outspoken evangelist for them. He doesn’t appear to have offered his President a medicinal toke, but he very well might have offered Tricky Dick some Swiss Kriss.
Still on my XTC kick, apparently:
…Here comes President Kill again.
Broadcasting from his killing den.
Dressed in pounds and dollars and yen,
President Kill wants killing again.
Hooray, hang out the flags,
Queen Caring is dead.
Hooray, we’ll stack body bags,
For President Kill instead.
Ain’t democracy wonderful?
Them Russians can’t win!
Ain’t democracy wonderful?
Lets us vote someone like that in.
Here comes President Kill again,
from pure White House to Number 10.
Taking lives with a smoking pen,
President Kill wants killing again…
Not about the president, but very patriotic just the same … NOT
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qga5eONXU_4
Nasty!
JB wrote that one to salute Gerald Ford. That’s what he said, anyway. James was using in 1974, apparently.
Not really related to President’s Day … but had to share anyway
Gotta go with Pops and Mavis:
Respect Yourself!
Absolutely knockout performance of a truly great composition. Really digging Pops here, but Mavis and the band are tight as well.
Glad you liked it. I didn’t mean to discredit the band, but those two voices knock me out despite the different styles.
It was great to hear that. I think it’s even better than the studio version.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=brNby5IFDnA
While preachers preach of evil fates
Teachers teach that knowledge waits
Can lead to hundred-dollar plates
Goodness hides behind its gates
But even the president of the United States
Sometimes must have to stand naked
An’ though the rules of the road have been lodged
It’s only people’s games that you got to dodge
And it’s alright, Ma, I can make it
Read more: http://www.bobdylan.com/us/songs/its-alright-ma-im-only-bleeding#ixzz2tduhhS1Q
OK, he didn’t actually use the words “President” or “Nixon,” but we know who Stevie was snarling at:
And it most certainly is a good song. Even Andy Williams, Tony Orlando and Marvin Hamlisch are seen finding the beat on this one.
It’s a great song. Stevie can be as funky as anybody and still have melody and a harmonic structure that goes somewhere. It’s also a great performance. He’s like a jazz singer in that he approaches the material like he’s singing it for the first time.
OK, here’s one from perhaps rock’s greatest wit:
And how about some classic 80s style snark.
Can we broaden it to include attacks on the Prime Minister? Like this one:
Or here are some people dancing on, well, not her grave, but her resignation (in England, The English Beat were known simply as The Beat).
Even though I thought that video was cool, maybe I should have chosen another. The sound doesn’t start for about 18 seconds and seems to cut out well before the end. Here’s a more straightforward version, in medley with Whine and Grine.
I met the Road Mangler, aka Phil Kaufman, about 10 years ago at the 5 Spot in Nashville after a set. He is quite a character.
Oh, let’s not forget that in 2004, when we were fighting and had hope, this man gave us the anthem. The video is classic, but everyone’s seen it, and on Youtube it comes with commercials. Here’s a live version.