Cathartic post of the day

Seems like my past exposure to teen pop music is a fun mental exercise these days of reflective middle age.  Lyrics from two songs I intermixed as I woke up this morning while contemplating a new short story to pen/type:

“Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band”

It was twenty years ago today
Sgt. Pepper taught the band to play
They’ve been going in and out of style
But they’re guaranteed to raise a smile
So may I introduce to you
The act you’ve known for all these years
Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band

We’re Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
We hope you will enjoy the show
We’re Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
Sit back and let the evening go
Sgt. Pepper’s lonely, Sgt. Pepper’s lonely
Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
It’s wonderful to be here
It’s certainly a thrill
You’re such a lovely audience
We’d like to take you home with us
We’d love to take you home

I don’t really want to stop the show
But I thought that you might like to know
That the singer’s going to sing a song
And he wants you all to sing along
So let me introduce to you
The one and only Billy Shears
And Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band

Writer(s): John Lennon, Paul McCartney
Copyright: Sony/ATV Tunes LLC

= = = = =

Songwriters: TREVOR RABIN, JON ANDERSON, CHRIS SQUIRE, TREVOR HORN
(Rabin/Anderson/Squire/Horn)

Move yourself
You always live your life
Never thinking of the future
Prove yourself
You are the move you make
Take your chances win or loser

See yourself
You are the steps you take
You and you – and that’s the only way

Shake shake yourself
You’re every move you make
So the story goes

Owner of a lonely heart
Owner of a lonely heart
Much better than – a
Owner of a broken heart
Owner of a lonely heart

Say you don’t want to chance it
You’ve been hurt so before

Watch it now
The eagle in the sky
How he dancin’ one and only
You lose yourself
No not for pity’s sake
There’s no real reason to be lonely
Be yourself
Give your free will a chance
You’ve got to want to succeed

Owner of a lonely heart
Owner of a lonely heart
Much better than – a
Owner of a broken heart
Owner of a lonely heart

Owner of a lonely heart

After my own decision
They confused me so (Owner of a lonely heart)
My love said never question your will at all
In the end you’ve got to go
Look before you leap (Owner of a lonely heart)
And don’t you hesitate at all – no no

Owner of a lonely heart
Owner of a lonely heart
Much better than – a
Owner of a broken heart
Owner of a lonely heart
(repeat)

Owner of a lonely heart

Sooner or later each conclusion
Will decide the lonely heart (Owner of a lonely heart)
It will excite it will delight
It will give a better start (Owner of a lonely heart)

Don’t deceive your free will at all
Don’t deceive your free will at all (Owner of a lonely heart)
Don’t deceive your free will at all
Just receive it, just receive it (Owner of a lonely heart)

Owner Of A Lonely Heart lyrics © CARLIN AMERICA INC, DCTM BLVD OBO TREMANDER SONGS, DOWNTOWN MUSIC PUBLISHING LLC, Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.

Retro lyrics for today…let’s go crazy!

Dearly beloved, we have gathered here today
To get through this thing called life
Electric word life it means forever and that’s a mighty long time
But I’m here to tell you there’s something else
The afterworld, a world of never ending happiness
You can always see the sun, day or night

So when you call up that shrink in Beverly Hills
You know the one Dr. Everything’ll Be Alright
Instead of asking him how much of your time is left?
Ask him how much of your mind, baby
‘Cause in this life things are much harder than in the afterworld
This life you’re on your own

And if the elevator tries to bring you down
Go crazy punch a higher floor

If you don’t like the world you’re living in
Take a look around you at least you got friends
Come on lady for friendly word
She picked up the phone, dropped it on the floor
Ahh, ahh is all I heard

Are we gonna let the elevator
Bring us down, oh, no let’s go
Let’s go crazy, let’s get nuts
Look for the purple banana
‘Til they put us in the truck, let’s go

All excited but we don’t know why
Maybe it’s ’cause we’re all gonna die
And when we do, what’s it all for
Better live now before the grim reaper
Come knocking on your door

Are we gonna let the elevator
Bring us down, oh, no let’s go
Let’s go crazy, let’s get nuts
Look for the purple banana
‘Til they put us in the truck, let’s go

Come on baby let’s get nuts
Yeah, crazy

Let’s go crazy

Are we gonna let the elevator bring us down
Oh, no let’s go, go crazy
I said let’s go, go crazy
Let’s go, let’s go, go, let’s go

Dr. Everything’ll Be Alright
Make everything go wrong
Pills and thrills and daffodils will kill
Hang tough children

He’s comin’
He’s comin’
Comin’

Take me away

Songwriters
NELSON, PRINCE ROGERS

Read more: Prince – Lets Go Crazy Lyrics | MetroLyrics

A musical note

The thing about getting older — a three-year old talking about when she was two, or a 51-year old talking about when he was 14 — is the mental taste, the texture, the feel of the memory.

We can consider ourselves fortunate to be alive during our times or not.

I am fortunate.

I got to hear some of the jazz greats while they were alive, even if they were past their prime and out of the mainstream media spotlight.

My memories feel so good!

And one set of those memories centers on the brass section.

Hey, I was a baritone horn player (and euphonium, too!)…what can I say except I’m biased toward cold mouthpieces and valved musical instruments?

Take some of these jazz players I heard, regardless of instrument — Sun Ra, Pete Fountain, for instance.  They were all great.

But the trumpet…well, it’s a special instrument.  Sure, I’ve written about this before but some topics are worth remembering again and again, especially hearing live performances.

Maynard Ferguson

Doc Severinson

and now John Harner.

Imagine the ones I’ve/you’ve missed.  The best thing about missed opportunities?  Well, more room for opportunities ahead of you!   The legacy continues, thank goodness.

One more time — Maynard Ferguson!

Does a Thatcher thatch roofs of mouths?

After a few rounds of “cough medicine,” Tom and Huck commenced to trading stories about their years apart from each other’s friendship.

“Why, Huck, there wasn’t a day that went by I didn’t think of Becky.”

“That ol’ girl? Why’n’t you find someone else to interest you, Tom?”

“I don’t reckon I know. It was like she was the girl what made my dreaming and carrying on worthwhile.”

“Uh-huh. What about now?”

“What do ya mean?”

“Is she still your girl?”

“That, Huck, is a story I can’t rightly tell in my condition. This ‘shine has turned me plumb sideways with sentimentality. But there is this one time I can ‘member clear a blue sky…”

“Tell me more!”

“Well, you see, Becky, being wiser ’bout some things than me, she convinced me to invite her to St. Louis for the annual fair. Thing about it is she had already arranged for us to have dinner at a fancy restaurant down by the River. There was dinner, of course. But at the end of the meal, a band started playing the most peculiar music. You shoulda been there, I tell you.”

“Yes?”

“Better yet, let me show you!”

TO BE CONTINUED…