Eastern Bluebird — Photo-Artistry by kenne
He had a blue wing tattooed on his shoulder
Well, it might have been a bluebird, I don’t know
but he’d get stone drunk and talk about Alaska
The salmon boats and 45 below
Well, he got that blue wing up in Walla Walla
and his cellmate there was a Little Willy John
and Willie, he was once a great blues singer
so Wing & Willie wrote him up a song
— from Blue Wing by Tom Russell
“Listen and I will Tell You A Story” — Photo-Artistry by kenne
Listen up and I’ll tell a story
About an artist growing old
Some would try for fame and glory
Others aren’t so bold
Everyone, and friends and family
Saying, “Hey! Get a job!”
“Why do you only do that only?
Why are you so odd?
We don’t really like what you do.
We don’t think anyone ever will.
It’s a problem that you have,
And this problem’s made you ill.”
Listen up and I’ll tell a story
About an artist growing old
Some would try for fame and glory
Others aren’t so bold
The artist walks alone
Someone says behind his back,
“He’s got his gall to call himself that!
He doesn’t even know where he’s at!”
The artist walks among the flowers
Appreciating the sun
He does this all his waking hours
But is it really so wrong?
— from The story of an Artist – Daniel Johnston
Another Glass Of Wine My Dear (April 5, 2007) — Image by kenne
Have Some Medeira, M’dear
She was young, she was pure, she was new, she was nice
She was fair, she was sweet seventeen.
He was old, he was vile, and no stranger to vice
He was base, he was bad, he was mean.
He had slyly inveigled her up to his flat
To view his collection of stamps,
And he said as he hastened to put out the cat,
The wine, his cigar and the lamps:
Have some madeira, m’dear.
You really have nothing to fear.
I’m not trying to tempt you, that wouldn’t be right,
You shouldn’t drink spirits at this time of night.
Have some madeira, m’dear.
It’s really much nicer than beer.
I don’t care for sherry, one cannot drink stout,
And port is a wine I can well do without…
It’s simply a case of chacun a son gout
Have some madeira, m’dear.
Unaware of the wiles of the snake-in-the-grass
And the fate of the maiden who topes,
She lowered her standards by raising her glass,
Her courage, her eyes and his hopes.
She sipped it, she drank it, she drained it, she did!
He promptly refilled it again,
And he said as he secretly carved one more notch
On the butt of his gold-headed cane:
Have some madeira, m’dear,
I’ve got a small cask of it here.
And once it’s been opened, you know it won’t keep.
Do finish it up.
It will help you to sleep.
Have some madeira, m’dear.
It’s really an excellent year.
Now if it were gin, you’d be wrong to say yes
The evil gin does would be hard to assess..
Besides it’s inclined to affect me prowess,
Have some madeira, m’dear.
Then there flashed through her mind what her mother had said
With her antepenultimate breath,
“Oh my child, should you look on the wine that is red
Be prepared for a fate worse than death!”
She let go her glass with a shrill little cry,
Crash!
Tinkle! it fell to the floor;
When he asked,
“What in Heaven?”
She made no reply,
Up her mind, and a dash for the door.
Have some madeira, m’dear.
Rang out down the hall loud and clear
With a tremulous cry that was filled with despair,
As she fought to take breath in the cool midnight air,
Have some madeira, m’dear.
The words seemed to ring in her ear.
Until the next morning, she woke in her bed
With a smile on her lips and an ache in her head…
And a beard in her lug ‘ole that tickled and said:
Have some madeira, m’dear!
—Flanders and Swann
Fishing Boats Docked at Galveston Bay, Texas — Image by kenne
[Verse 1]
Sittin’ in the mornin’ sun
I’ll be sittin’ when the evenin’ come
Watching the ships roll in
And then I watch ’em roll away again, yeah
[Chorus]
I’m sittin’ on the dock of the bay
Watching the tide roll away
Ooo, I’m just sittin’ on the dock of the bay
Wastin’ time
[Verse 2]
I left my home in Georgia
Headed for the ‘Frisco bay
‘Cause I’ve had nothing to live for
And look like nothin’s gonna come my way
[Chorus]
So I’m just gonna sit on the dock of the bay
Watching the tide roll away
Ooo, I’m sittin’ on the dock of the bay
Wastin’ time
[Bridge]
Look like nothing’s gonna change
Everything still remains the same
I can’t do what ten people tell me to do
So I guess I’ll remain the same, yes
[Verse 3]
Sittin’ here resting my bones
And this loneliness won’t leave me alone
It’s two thousand miles I roamed
Just to make this dock my home
[Chorus]
Now, I’m just gonna sit at the dock of the bay
Watching the tide roll away
Oooo-wee, sittin’ on the dock of the bay
Wastin’ time
[Outro]
*Whistling*
Galveston Bay — Image by kenne
Let’s Dance — Image by kenne
Let’s dance
Let’s dance
For fear your grace should fall
Let’s dance
For fear tonight is all
Let’s sway
You could look into my eyes
Let’s sway
Under the moonlight, this serious moonlight
— from Let’s Dance by David Bowie
John Lennon — Photo-Artistry by kenne
“Where were you when . . .?”
I first asked this question ten years ago on the thirty anniversary of John Lennon’s death.
Whether asked the question or thinking to yourself, we often recall years later what we were doing when we first heard of a sad happening. With today being the 40th anniversary of John Lennon’s death, thoughts on time and place are reviewed. I was in my small apartment on a rainy, cold night, just off the campus of Western Kentucky University, where I was teaching. If I had a TV, I don’t recall because I was usually listening to music on the radio. Then, as now, music is a part of my daily existence, and the beauty of Lennon’s music is its ability to make you think and help you answer questions.
In December of 1980, Lennon had only recently turned forty, and I was about to reach the same age. We shared little besides years of life and his music. Now, forty years out, I wonder what John Lennon would be like if he were still a part of our existence. We both would be fifty years into the age Lennon, as a young flower-child rebel, famously labeled, “Never trust anyone over thirty!”
Imagine
Imagine there’s no Heaven
It’s easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today
Imagine there’s no countries
It isn’t hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace
You may say that I’m a dreamer
But I’m not the only one
I hope someday you’ll join us
And the world will be as one
Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world
You may say that I’m a dreamer
But I’m not the only one
I hope someday you’ll join us
And the world will live as one
May the spirit of John Lennon always be with us.
— kenne
“I believe in God, but not as one thing, not as an old man in the sky.
I believe that what people call God is something in all of us.
I believe that what Jesus and Mohammed and Buddha and all the rest said was right.
It’s just that the translations have gone wrong.”
Kae Tempest (formerly Kate Tempest) — Source: scenestr.com
Kenne & Joy In New Orleans (12/26/07) — Photo-Artistry by kenne
Decatur Street, New Orleans (12/26/07) — Photo-Artistry by kenne
Heart Within A Heart
Rainbow In The Catalina Foothills — Image by kenne
I still believe that someday we’ll find the Rainbow Connection.
Creekside: Standing by Peaceful Waters — Photo-Artistry by kenne
“We were standing
Standing by peaceful waters
Standing by peaceful waters
Whoa, wah, oh wha, oh
Whoa, wah, oh wha, oh”
— from Lake Marie by John Prine
John Prine — Lake Marie
“Love Is In The Air” — Image by kenne
Walk A Mile In My Shoes — Photo-Artistry by kenne
“Walk A Mile In My Shoes”
— Joe South
This song is a train song
It’s a song about a train
Not the Atchison and Topeka
Not the Chattanooga Choo-Choo
Nor the one that leaves at midnight
For the state of Alabam’
This song is a train song
Where the engineer is Uncle Sam
Here comes the Freedom Train!
You better hurry down
Just like a Paul Revere
It’s comin’ into your hometown
Inside the Freedom Train
You will find a precious freight
Those words of liberty
The documents that made us great
You can shout your anger from a steeple
You can shoot the system full of holes
You can always question “We the People”
You can get your answer at the polls
That’s how it’s always been
And how it will remain
As long as all of us
Keep riding on the Freedom Train
Riding’ all across this country
Playing music for the people
With the fellows in the band
We’re singin’ of the liberty
And freedom through the land
You can write the President a letter
You can even tell him to his face
If you think that you can do it better
Get the votes and you can take his place
If you hate the laws that you’re obeying
You can shout your anger to the crowd
We may disagree with what you’re saying
But we’ll fight to let you say it loud
That’s how it’s always been
And how it must remain
As long as all of us
Keep riding on the Freedom Train
Keep ridin’ that Freedom Train!
— Maria Muldaur
The Freedom Song — Maria Muldaur
Joy on Galveston Island (She’s still in Houston with family and I’m here in Tucson.) — Image by kenne
