Category: Music

Did That Voice Inside You Say I’ve Heard It All Before?

woods I am starting to feel overwhelmed with all of the news reporting of the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut.

Did you hear ’em talkin’ ’bout it on the radio,
Did you try to read the writing on the wall?

There are all of the arguments about gun control. There are the media interviews with the people who knew the troubled briefcase-carrying kid who became the shooter, Adam Lanza, although I know we probably will not use the information about him to gain any new understanding about helping kids like him before these tragedies occur. There are the Internet rumors, where I see over and over again on Facebook and Twitter how Morgan Freeman wrote an essay about the tragedy when it was so obviously a hoax (but he eventually had to waste his time telling us it was a hoax). Others question whether there will be copycat shootings. And then there is the struggle to give some meaning to the fact that around the same time a mentally ill man in China attacked kids at a school with a knife, injuring 22 students.

Day after day another Momma’s crying,
She’s lost her precious child

And there are the heartbreaking stories about all the kids and adults killed in the shooting as the funerals begin. I keep thinking how many of those families go home every night to a Christmas tree with wrapped presents that no longer have a recipient. And then I cannot take any more and I turn off the TV for awhile.

But we also realize that we have been here before, and not only do I not have any answers, nobody else does either.

Did that voice inside you say
I’ve seen this all before?
It’s like Deja Vu all over again.

Creedence Clearwater Revival’s John Fogerty released “DeJa Vu (All Over Again)” as a title track on his album of the same name in 2004, apparently taking the title from the great baseball philosopher Yogi Berra. The song was written to point out similarities between the Iraq war and the Vietnam war, and it stands as one of Fogerty’s best songs in recent years.

Unfortunately, the song’s lyrics fit more than just the war, including the recent tragedy.

Maybe fake Morgan Freeman was right that we should just turn off the news for a little while, perhaps while we crank up the music.

Leave your two cents in the comments.

  • It’s Like Deja Vu All Over Again
  • “The Voice” Brings Out Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” For Sandy Hook Tribute
  • In a School, a School, a Place Where We Send Our Precious Children
  • John Fogerty and Family Gift Us “Green River” from the Campfire
  • John Fogerty Rocks One More Time for Letterman
  • Pop Culture Roundup (Mid-January 2012)

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    In a School, a School, a Place Where We Send Our Precious Children

    So sad, so sad the news
    Come our way this morning;
    Like a bad bad dream,
    A dream that you’d never even talk about;
    In a school, a school
    A place where we send our precious children;
    The only place of innocence the world might ever let them know.

    kidsprayer

    As another heart-breaking story breaks today about a person with a gun shooting kids in a school right after there was another person shooting people in a mall, we see the usual pattern of questions being asked. How many? Who? Why? While we will eventually get some answers on the first two questions, we never find an answer for the last question.

    On days like this, I find some comfort in Dan Bern‘s beautiful song, “Kid’s Prayer.” In the song — written after the Thurston High School shooting in Springfield, Oregon in June 1998 — Bern asks the questions about what leads to such random violence but ultimately concludes that the only thing we can do comes down to taking care of our kids the best we can.

    There are things you know,
    Your kids will never know;
    There’s places they live,
    Where you will never go;
    So dance with your kids,
    Paint with your kids,
    Walk with your kids . . .

    The above Dan Bern performance is from Housing Works on March 26, 2004, available for free download at archive.org. And you may watch the video directed by Peter Franchella below.

    Be safe and hug your loved ones today.

    Leave your two cents in the comments. Picture via Copilot.

  • “The Voice” Brings Out Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” For Sandy Hook Tribute
  • Did That Voice Inside You Say I’ve Heard It All Before?
  • Dan Bern: “Merle, Hank, and Johnny”
  • Limitless Barry Bonds in the Asterisk Nation

    • (Some related Chimesfreedom posts.)

    2012 in Pop

    This mash-up “Pop Danthology 2012” puts together the pop hits of 2012. The music and video was put together by Daniel Kim. Yes, “Gangnam Style” makes an appearance. Check it out.

    It is interesting how well all of the songs work together seamlessly to sound like one song. Kim explains how he put together the music and video on his blog.

    What was your favorite song from 2012? Leave your two cents in the comments.

  • Every Number 1 Song

    • (Some related Chimesfreedom posts.)

    Paul McCartney & Members of Nirvana: “Cut Me Some Slack”

    The big story leading up the the 12-12-12 Concert for Sandy Relief last night was the news that Paul McCartney was going to play with the surviving members of Nirvana — Dave Grohl, Krist Novoselic and Pat Smear.  Although it might have first seemed like an odd pairing, remember that McCartney and the Beatles recorded songs like “Helter Skelter.”  Anyway, if you missed the performance, here the group plays a new song, “Cut Me Some Slack.”

    In addition to appearing on the concert’s soundtrack, “Cut Me Some Slack” will appear in Grohl’s upcoming film, Sound City Movie.

    What do you think of the performance?  Leave your two cents in the comments.

  • Paul McCartney Carries that Weight at 2012 Grammys
  • Why Did Stephen Colbert Sing “Jump Up” With Elvis Costello on the Final “Late Show”?
  • The Latest and Last Beatles Song: “Now and Then”
  • Ringo Starr Records a John Lennon Song (with a little help from Paul McCartney)
  • “MTV Unplugged” Begins
  • Paul McCartney & Bruce Springsteen: “I Saw Her Standing There”
    • (Some related Chimesfreedom posts.)

    Buy from Amazon

    Remembering John Lennon: Watching the Wheels

    Not long after Lennon’s death, the single “Watching the Wheels” was released.

    On December 8, 1980 at around 10:50 p.m., John Lennon was shot outside his New York City apartment building, The Dakota. After being rushed to the hospital, he was pronounced dead on his arrival.  In a world where everything is a commodity, the album Lennon had signed earlier in the day for his killer went up for sale in 2012.

    In the last few months of his life, Lennon was making a comeback with his Double Fantasy album and had songs in constant rotation on the radio and MTV. My favorite single from the album was released as a single not long after his death: “Watching the Wheels.”

    Unfortunately, the song also makes me think of his death, but his death also gives deeper meaning to this song.  Lennon wrote “Watching the Wheels” about his years of retirement from music before returning to it.

    Through my years of watching shadows on the wall since then, I have missed the music he would have continued making, but I appreciate the joy in the music he did give us.

    Every year, there are various events remembering Lennon. For example, The Beatles Story museum in Liverpool remembers the anniversary by holding their annual John Lennon peace vigil.

    What is your favorite John Lennon song or performance? Leave your two cents in the comments.

  • John Lennon and Paul Simon Presenting Grammy for Record of the Year
  • The Latest and Last Beatles Song: “Now and Then”
  • Elton John’s Tribute to John Lennon: Where is the Garden of the “Empty Garden”?
  • Ringo Starr Records a John Lennon Song (with a little help from Paul McCartney)
  • “All You Need Is Love” Worldwide Broadcast
  • Sgt Pepper Documentary

    • (Some related Chimesfreedom posts.)