A Lack of Necessary Warmth

 Song 531: This week the playlist features Cold Cold Heart by Hank Williams, who also wrote the song, and you can find a YouTube video of it by clicking on the title. I got to hear and relish this CnW gem during my elementary school days, thanks to the country music collection that my father's Ohio relatives had compiled. On the yearly family summer visits in the late 1950s, my aunt and uncle gave me complete freedom to choose the LPs I wanted to listen to, and since they had a couple of greatest hits 33s that featured timeless classics like this cut, I’d spin those albums on the turntable a lot, and I quickly got to know and appreciate the resounding legacy of Hank Williams, who had died well before my second birthday. This marks his 6th appearance on this list, with Honky Tonkin'  (Song 301) being the first, and Jambalaya (On the Bayou) (Song 471) being the most recent, previous to this one. At some point, as the 1960s unfurled, I got to see a TV movie about HW, which made me respect him even more. Last week's song was written by Tom Paxton, and in researching the piece I learned about his role in the singer/songwriter phenomenon which unfolded in the 1960s, but I also think Mr. Williams played a major part in laying the groundwork for that trend as well. I would say that now, almost 7 decades after this hit climbed the country charts, in the year of my birth, it's still true that if you run and hide from life, doing so just ain't smart, as Hank figured out a long time ago.

Learning the Wrong Lessons

 Song 530: This week on the playlist you can hear What Did You Learn In School Today? by The Chad Mitchell Trio, written by Tom Paxton, and you can find a YouTube video of it by clicking on the title. When I heard this track for the first time today featured on a podcast, I quickly decided it belonged on this list, and I plan to listen to it a lot more in the near future. This also marks the first appearance of both The Chad Mitchell Trio and Tom Paxton on this list. I had known a few TP songs, like Bottle of Wine (which I intend to add one of these days), but I learned quite a bit more about him today, and it greatly increased my respect for him. Dave Van Ronk said that while Bob Dylan became the most visible standard-bearer of the new song movement that began in the 1960s, he credits Paxton as the one who started the whole thing. Hearing this cut, I can certainly believe that characterization. Trump recently expressed the idea that U.S. public schools propagandize American kids with liberal ideas, but in reality, the lessons that have routinely come their way have a strong militaristic angle. When this record came out in 1964, I was in junior high, and of course I didn't hear it, but I learned that war is not so bad, I learned about the great ones we had had, that we fought in Germany and in France and that someday I might get my chance. In addition, I learned that Washington never told a lie, and I learned that soldiers seldom die. Not only that, but I learned our government must be strong because it’s always right and never wrong, and we can be thankful that our leaders are the finest men, which is why we elect them again and again. These lyrics from 56 years ago resonate more strongly in the present moment than possibly any other tune I could suggest.

The Image That Attracts Attention

 Song 529: This week the playlist puts the spotlight on The Cover of Rolling Stone by Dr. Hook and The Medicine Show, written by Sheldon Silverstein, and you can find a YouTube video of it by clicking on the title. Given how many times I've mentioned my subscription to Rolling Stone in this blog, and how much information I got from the publication in the early 1970s, it makes sense to finally get around to including this hit on the list. When it came across the airwaves in late 1972, I had already read the magazine regularly for 3 years and felt highly enlightened about RnR due to that source, plus, it also filled in some of the space on politics as well. I always savored the tongue-in-cheek mood of the lyrics on this cut, even though I'm not the type who would take all kinds of pills to get all kinds of thrills, but I would definitely relish the thrill I've never known which is the thrill that'll get ya when you get your picture on the cover of the Rolling Stone. Sadly, I wouldn't wanna buy five copies for my mother because she died back in 2010, but I have plenty of other folks I could send copies to, and I would truly enjoy it if I got to see my smilin' face on the the cover of the Rolling Stone.

An Expensive Destructive Set of Wheels

 Song 528: Seven weeks after my previous personal friend song post, this week's entertaining opus Smashed Up Cadillac comes from my NJ buddy Joe Canzano (AKA Happy Joe) who also wrote the song, and you can find a YouTube video of it by clicking on the title. I lived in his neighborhood when I released Elder Street in 2009, and not long after, in 2010, he released Big Mouth, which features this track, along with a number of other standouts, like Song for the Next War (Song 10) and Workers (Song 444). I soon added the CD to my iPod, and it quickly became one of my favorites. Ironically, Joe had once said to me that musicians' friends usually don't listen to the personal acquaintance CDs given to them, and that might often be true, but I know that I have listened to Big Mouth a lot over the last decade, and I really appreciate the record. This cut outlines a nefarious character who has million-dollar donors, who drives an expensive big car and who can't wait to run over all your stuff. Joe told me that Dick Cheney inspired the driver image, although these days, I guess he'd agree with me that the U.S. political stage has a number of others who could fit the description of someone having bodies scattered across his hood while he himself is feeling like a man who's sure that acts of his are always pure. Can you think of someone besides Cheney who has got flags and bumper stickers and a God who's on his side as he puts a whole town in terror? I would bet you probably can.