Caryn's in Bolivia Again...reflections

 As long time fans no doubt know that I am interested in fictional bands celebrated in song.  

BTW, my top 5:

1. Uncle John's Band

2. Sultans of Swing

3. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band

4. Benny and the Jets

5. Alexander's Ragtime Band

This tune (CLICK HERE FOR THE SONG) celebrates a band with no name who is missing their lead singer. Similar to "We Lost Our Drummer in Guangzhou" the song also has some geographical and tourist information. Part of the Don's Basement mission is to educate as well as entertain. Also to take up time between lunch and dinner. 

As usual there is blatant plagiarism-- stealing a line from Deja Vu, a 1970 thing from C, S, N,Y, T &R

Joey....

When they asked him why it had to be that way, “Well,” he answered

“Just because”

As very astute...and very few fans will notice the use of The Blues Brothers and Animal from the Muppet Show in both Guangzhou and Bolivia. They are video gifts  (gifs) that keep on giving.

I followed a song structure from the Internet so you know it's valid.

For those who are heat challenged today, here is the forecast for La Paz this week.

Thanks for watching. Forward to a friend....

"Open Arms" explained and deconstructed or not

Carmelita is a beautiful song by Warren Zevon. Produced by Jackson Browne in 1976 with stellar back ups:  Glenn Frey and David Lindley both played guitar on this track and Frey added harmony vocals as well. Session stars Waddy Wachtel (guitar), Bob Glaub (bass) and Larry Zack (drums) also played on it.

The guy in this song has hit rock bottom. He's broke, strung out on heroin, cut off from Methadone and his lover Carmelita's welfare checks have run out. Zevon called it "a cheerful number about heroin, a substance with which, happily, I had only a brief flirtation and not a tragic love affair."

It has beautiful Spanish style guitar lines, a Desolation Row vibe and is clearly a picture of Zevon's 1970s LA. 

"And I'm there with her in Ensenada/And I'm here in Echo Park"

"Well I  pawned my Smith Corona/And I went to meet my man,                                                               He hangs out down on Alvarado Street/by the Pioneer Chicken Stand. 

Echo Park 1970s

Pioneer Chicken (on Alvarado St) 1962-1993

Family with dog, Echo Park, 2023

The song is too damn depressing...also impossible for me to play. Thanks Waddy. So it is not on my personal setlist.  

However, when thinking about what is happening on the Southern Border, this tune sounds appropriate.

My first approach was to use the Karaoke version of this song from Youtube. There is one video that has the lovely instrumental with the vocals taken out on the verse but you can hear Zevon's vocal on the chorus. So, the playing is all mine....

The title of the song comes from Chicago's initial reaction to the Texas governor busing migrants up here. Then Mayor Lori Lightfoot  called  Abbott, a “cheap politician” and “a man without any morals, humanity or shame”. She welcomed the 79 migrants with "open arms." 

Now that there are 8,000 migrants in Chicago, Lightfoot and new Mayor Brandon Johnson have called the situation a "crisis."

Mayor Johnson and former Mayor Lightfoot:
The long and short of it.

                             CLICK HERE FOR VIDEO OF OPEN ARMS

The video is in black and white because it has a definite 1960s folk club feel and sound despite its contemporary subject matter.

Open Arms 

There’s a crisis at the border of our hearts and mind,

We keep looking for answers that are hard to find.

Hearts and Minds is the title of a 1974 documentary about the Vietnam war. The title comes from a quote by Lyndon Johnson, "So, we must be ready to fight in Vietnam; but, the ultimate victory will depend upon the hearts and the minds - of the people who actually live out there."

My recollection of the title is a quote by Charles Colson? John Wayne? Teddy Roosevelt? "When You've got them by the balls, their hearts and minds will follow."

We want to welcome you with open arms, lay your burdens down

Can we all reach out as brothers and share our common ground?

Some politicians put on a show pleasing to their base

They’re not solving problems they’re just saving face.

I had difficulty with this line about the politicians. I added a modifier because not all officials are pandering on immigration. What is undeniable is that "the last extensive (immigration) package came under President Ronald Reagan in 1986, and President George H.W. Bush signed a more limited effort four years later." That is 33 years ago!

We want to welcome you with open arms, lay your burdens down

Can we all reach out as brothers and share our common ground?

Heard of a guy who talked about a shining city on a hill.

If we’re not climbing toward it, we’re just standing still.

Another inspiration by (or ripoff of) Dylan from his beautiful song, Red River Shore.

"Now I heard of a guy who lived a long time ago, a  man of sorrow and strife.                                  That if someone around him died and was dead/He knew how to bring 'em on back to life."

"The Shining City on a Hill" is a phrase attributed to John Winthrop (1587-1649) from a speech he made to his fellow Puritans in 1630. Political figures including JFK, Barack Obama, and most notably Ronald Reagan used the phrase in his farewell address in 1989." I've spoken of the shining city all my political life, but I don't know if I ever quite communicated what I saw when I said it. But in my mind it was a tall, proud city built on rocks stronger than oceans, wind-swept, God-blessed, and teeming with people of all kinds living in harmony and peace; a city with free ports that hummed with commerce and creativity."

We want to welcome you with open arms, lay your burdens down

Can we all reach out as human beings and share our common ground?

Thanks for reading, watching and listening.

FYI...Youtube recognized the melody!

"Waiting for My Feelings to Get Hurt."

The 'I" in any song is not necessarily the songwriter or the singer. E.G., Neil Young did not shoot his baby "Down by the River." Or Bob Dylan did not marry "Isis" on the 5th day of day.

The "I" in this song is a troubled, anxious character and not the happy-go-lucky chill dude that I really am. I  wrote the words "I'm waiting for my feelings to get hurt," to a friend and it sounded like a good start to country flavored song. So here it is....

CLICK HERE FOR THIS NICE VIDEO

 The chord progression for the verse is I-V-bV11-IV. This is a popular progression. You can hear it in "Satellite of Love (Lou Reed), Rio (Duran Duran), Linger(Cranberries) and "Build Me Up Buttercup (The Foundations) and now "Waiting for My Feelings to Get Hurt (Don Shearn)

My latte didn’t taste that good (1)/seemed light on the foam
Had to wonder if I could/ leave well enough alone
What was the likelihood / that they would have known
My order had been misunderstood/I should just go home
Or kill another afternoon/scrolling on my phone

And accept it that soon/you may eat another scone  (2)

1. Amy Shearn, novelist and Jello mold aficionado, wrote in the novel, Unseen City  about New York denizen "with their espressos and flat whites..." This lead to an e-mail chain with an old friend (I mean a really old friend, like 50 year type) about the distinction between flat white and latte. In general, a flat white has thinner layer of foam than a latte. 

2. One of the common criticisms of my writing since grade school has been the tendency to insert a joke-pun-smart aleck remark which can be a distraction from the piece. I got the same critique when I took improv classes. Trying to come up with the joke instead of advancing the story.  Well, I did it again.  Maybe the times aren't a-changing.

I’m waiting for my feelings to get hurt

I keep my defenses / all on high alert

An eye roll or inflection   

Can’t escape my detection

When I’m waiting for my feelings to get hurt

Seems to happen every day/every place I go

I get dissed in every way/by people I don’t know

It might be a game they play/ to find a stone to throw

I just want to hideaway/ but don’t know where to go

It could be a stranger (3)/ that I read online

That makes me feel a danger/ to my peace of mind

I look back in anger (4)/at the folks who’ve been unkind

I have to let it linger (5)/I don’t leave these things behind

3. Clip in the video is from the 1967 film, "The Stranger. impressively depressing film of an impressively depressing book.

4. "Look Back in Anger," a depressing play and movie from the 1950s.

5. See Cranberries above.

I’m waiting for my feelings to get hurt

I keep my defenses / all on high alert

An eye roll or inflection   

Can’t escape my detection

When I’m waiting for my feelings to get hurt

Last time out I wrote a song/and sent it to a friend

I didn’t have to wait too long/ and he did not pretend

Your Geetar has a pleasant twang/but the song you penned

Didn’t too that much for me/and I can’t recommend (6)

6. It turns out that  a young woman, Madilyn Bailey wrote and performed a song on America's Got Talent where the lyrics are "hate comments" that she got on youtube. Like "my mom thinks you just got killed by a cat." Maybe I'm too sensitive (or else I'm getting soft.)

I never asked for his critique/ Or the words he had to say

But it hurt me for that week/ and still hurts today

The situation’s not unique/ I can find a way

To turn a conversation bleak/it’s really child’s play

You’d think I’d stop the storming/and let the feelings pass

Yet, I’m not reforming/my outlook stays downcast

In the evening or the morning (7)/if you cross my path

If you wonder how I’m feeling/ don’t have to ask.

Genesis, Chapter 1, Verse 5 'And God called the light day, and the darkness He called night, and it was evening and it was morning, one day. ' There is considerable exegesis regarding the 'evening-morning' construction of this verse. Here is 14 pages in very small print. The question revolves around when does the Jewish day begin. For me, the day begins in the morning. After coffee, the New York Times and Wordle. 

I’m waiting for my feelings to get hurt

I keep my defenses / all on high alert

An eye roll or inflection   

Can’t escape my detection

When I’m waiting for my feelings to get hurt

"In the Trance"

In 2017, I was in treatment with Dr. William S. Levin (of blessed memory). In the introduction to his excellent book, "Finding the Ease,, Dr. Levin wrote....

Dr. Levin believed that without being aware of it we all live in a trance which began at birth. The helplessness of our very early childhood leaves emotional scars. When as adults we are frustrated or frightened, our "baby brain" can trigger those feelings of helplessness. 

In the course of our sessions. Dr. Levin reminded me that I was a grown person (about 65 at the time) and had the power to make changes in the my life. I had resources, assets and abilities to deal with adversities (real and/or imagined).

Our final sessions took place during the early days of the Trump administration. Dr. Levin asserted that our whole country was in a trance brought on by the election.

That thought has been bouncing around in the years since. There is unfinished novel somewhere around with this theme.

Now, there is a song. 

The melody for "In the Trance" borrows liberally (maybe even radically) from "Workingman's Blues #2" from Bob Dylan's 2006 album, Modern Times. That song has been on my nighttime playlist for the last 5 months. 

Dylan borrows his title from Merle Haggard's 1969 hit, "Workin' Man Blues." Haggard opened for Dylan during the Noble Laureate's 2005 tour. 

"Take what you have gathered for coincidence?"

The line "sleep is like a temporary death" is from "Two Portraits" by Henry Timrod.

Henry Timrod  (1828-1867)

It's the folk process. Also, "Love and Theft."

I used three tracks to record the song in Garageband.  For the the guitar track, I played an acoustic on the "crunch guitar/double driven" setting.  The drum track is a preset...(Darcy, blue ridge). I used the 'dance vocal" setting for the vocal track. This turned out to be an up tempo recording by my standards anyway. 

Film fans will notice clips from "Spellbound", the 1945 film by Alfred Hitchcock with a dream sequence designed by Salvador Dali. There is also a clip from Inception, the 2010 film by Christopher Nolan.

Thanks to Will Schutze aka Mr. Bonetangles, Willy James et al for use of his "Seventh Seal" clips.

CLICK HERE FOR EXCITING AND THRILLING VIDEO