Jeff Pophistory

“Bird on a Wire” and the Return of the Bald Eagle

Last year, along with John Fullbright’s cover of Steve Earle’s “Me and the Eagle,” we posted a live feed of a bald eagle and its eaglets in a nest in Iowa. Well, those babies have flown off, but the feed now has a bald eagle with some new eggs, so we check in on the new babies while we also listen to a Johnny Cash song on a day that would have been the country legend’s eightieth birthday. First, check out the live feed from Decorah, Iowa below.

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February 2013 Update: In case you find this page in the off-season for bald eaglets in Iowa, here is a live feed of an eagle cam in Florida.

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The nest seems fairly secure for the high winds, but seeing the family so high up reminds me of one of Leonard Cohen’s most covered songs, “Bird on a Wire.” Cohen originally recorded the song in 1968 for the album Songs from a Room (1969). The song has been covered by The Neville Brothers, Willie Nelson, KD Lang, and others. My favorite cover is the one made by Johnny Cash for the 1994 album that marked a comeback for him, American Recordings. The weariness of his voice goes perfectly with the song.

A version of Cash singing the song with an orchestra appeared on Unearthed (2003), and Cohen has also performed his song with an orchestra. But I like the sparse instrumentation versions.

The song is so beautiful that Kris Kristofferson, who has written many beautiful songs, has stated that he’d like the first three lines of “Bird on a Wire” on his tombstone.

Like a bird on a wire,
Like a drunk in a midnight choir,
I have tried in my way to be free.

The song has been described as a “bohemian My Way,” and one can sense a more realistic and darker life appraisal in Cohen’s song than the Frank Sinatra classic. While “My Way” is underscored with pride, “Bird on a Wire” is tempered with regret (“I have torn everyone who reached out to me”). There are some reports that the song inspired the title of the Mel Gibson and Goldie Hawn movie, Bird on a Wire (1990), but it is hard to see the meaning of the song in the action-comedy film, so I hope that story is not true.

For today, here is to the Iowa bald eagles who unlike us, live free without regret. And here is to Johnny Cash on his birthday, because his music helped us comprehend freedom as well as sorrow, atonement, and grace.

What is your favorite version of “Bird on a Wire”? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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Oscars Show Snubs Best Song Nominees

The Academy Awards show organizers have decided not to schedule the traditional musical numbers for the best song nominees this year. The Academy had already shown disdain — or disappointment — in the film songs this year by only nominating two tunes out of thirty-nine possible choices through a criticized nominating process. But now even those two songs will not get to take the stage. And we lose the chance to see Muppets singing on stage.

So, you will have to enjoy the nominated songs here. Below is “Man or Muppet,” featuring Jason Segel, from The Muppets (2011).

And here is “Real in Rio” from Rio (2011).

Which song do you prefer? Should the Academy allowed the songs to be performed Sunday night? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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The “I Shoulda Won” Best Picture Oscar Quiz

While we anticipate the winners of this year’s Academy Awards, it is a good time to look back on the history of the Oscars. This quiz will test your knowledge of some of the most controversial years.

There are several years where a general consensus has challenged the Academy’s choice, for example many wonder how Dances With Wolves beat Goodfellas for 1990 Best Picture or how Crash beat Brokeback Mountain for 2004 Best Picture. But those are not the only years where many criticized the Best Picture award.

See how well you remember those controversial choices. Answer these ten questions about which film won the Best Picture these years, where in retrospect, many believe another film should have taken home the gold statue.

How did you do? Which year do you think the Academy was most wrong in its Best Picture choice? Who will win this year? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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Pres. Obama Sings With B.B. King

One advantage to being a sitting president is that you do not have to go through the party debates. Instead of standing on stage with people attacking you, you get to do cool things like sing with B.B. King. This clip is from an tribute to the blues yesterday at the White House, which included Buddy Guy, Mick Jagger, and Booker T. Jones. At the end, Pres. Barack Obama gave in to the requests to sing a few lines of “Sweet Home Chicago,” his follow-up single to his cover of Al Green’s “Let’s Stay Together.”

White House press secretary Jay Carney commented on Pres. Obama’s impromptu songs by noting that the president has “a hidden talent that we’re just getting to hear.”

Which former president would you like to hear sing? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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Woody Guthrie’s “So Long It’s Been Good to Know You”

Folksinger and songwriter Woody Guthrie was born on July 14, 1912 in Okfuskee County, Oklahoma. In honor of his birthday, Chimesfreedom will consider some of the songs and life events of this man who looms large in both the American songbook and in our concepts of a period of American history.

Guthrie is a part of our past, but also our present and future, as his spirit lives on in many musicians, including the young disciple he met before he died, Bob Dylan. Guthrie’s songs reflect both the American spirit and the American struggles of his time, so it seems appropriate that we celebrate his life this year as the world has been struggling through economic hard times. But he is always relevant, as a large number of people suffer even when times are “good.”

“So Long It’s Been Good to Know You”

We start with one of Guthrie’s earliest songs, “So Long It’s Been Good to Know You.” According to Woody Guthrie: A Life, by Joe Klein, Guthrie wrote the song not long after dust storms hit Guthrie’s home in Pampa, Texas in spring 1935 (“In a month called April, a county called Gray”).

Out of the experience, Guthrie, who recently became a father, wrote the song. Originally, he called the song “Dusty Old Dust” and would sing in the local saloons.

Rob Tepper does this video of “So Long It’s Been Good to Know You” using his best Woody Guthrie imitation showing what a Woody Guthrie video might look like had they had videos back in Guthrie’s days. Tepper is a talented actor who does a one-man show portraying Woody Guthrie, and he appeared in the short film Been Good To Know Yuh – a Woody Guthrie Story. Check out his video of the song.

Inspirations for the Song

Guthrie took the melody for “Dusty Old Dust” from Carson Robison’s “Ballad of Billy the Kid.” But the chorus was Guthrie’s original work. Below is Marty Robbins singing “Ballad of Billy the Kid.”

When Guthrie wrote “So Long It’s Been Good to Know You,” Guthrie was still a young man in his early 20’s yet to do most of his travels. Despite his youth, his song shows a skill in using a happy-sounding song to express subtle anger.

Guthrie remembered local townspeople who raised prices to capitalize on the natural disaster. And he recalled the response of Preacher McKenzie, who “could not read a word of his text,/An’ he folded his specs, an’ he took up collection.”

Recordings

Years after Guthrie left Texas and ended up in New York City, he recorded the song for an album, Dust Bowl Ballads.

Later, Guthrie wrote another version of the song specifically about World War II. This other version included the lyrics, “So it won’t be long till the fascists are gone/ And all of their likes are finished and done.” Here is Guthrie singing the WWII version of the song.

As is the case with many of Guthrie’s songs, “So Long” seems like a tune I have known since birth. So I cannot remember when I first heard it. It just always was there.

Like many people, my introduction to “So Long” probably came through the Weavers, who polished up the song with some harmonies. I believe this video of the group, including Pete Seeger, is from a B-movie musical, Disc Jockey (1951), (Video begins at start of song)

So long, but only for now.

What’s your favorite version of “So Long”? Leave your two cents in the comments.

[Correction: An earlier version of this post incorrectly stated that Rob Tepper is the same Robert Tepper who sang the theme song from Rocky IV. Thanks to Julian Tepper for the correction.]