Male Rhymer

 Song 809: This week the playlist recognizes Poetry Man by Phoebe Snow, who also wrote the song, and you can find a YouTube video of it by clicking on the title. In February of 1974 my wife and I moved from the frigid Windy City area down to a much warmer spot in Atlanta, GA, but when summer came along, we headed back north and ended up returning to Evanston, IL. This time, though, we split up and found separate places to reside, mainly because I mistakenly thought at the time that our relationship lacked a key element that my previous romance had had. At the end of that year a really cool female started celebrating a creative male writer and we got to hear her inform him that his eyes would light the night as she also told him that she knew he was hiding something sweet and she requested him to give it to her, because, if he did, that would make things all right.

Encarcerated While Childbearing

 Song 808: This week the playlist puts the spotlight on Pregnant and in Jail by Carol Denney, who also wrote the song, and you can find a YouTube video of it by clicking on the title. Seven weeks after my previous personal friend song post, this week's capturing anthem comes from one of my Berkeley song mates and former housemates. I first heard her do a set at a pizza joint there in late 1978, a few months after I had gotten a lift to the West Coast, and I really liked what I heard. I soon had the pleasure of developing a friendship with her, and I let her know how much I enjoyed hearing her musical excursions. Later we would become housemates for a few years before I had to return to the East Coast in September of 1988. We have kept in touch, and I've had the pleasure of hearing her more recent compositions. In fact, not long ago, a copy of her latest CD arrived in my mail box, and among the interesting rides on it, my current housemate and I chuckled a bunch of times when we got to hear the record's title track. Of course we both understand that a woman scorned in one thing since she can get pretty mad but maybe these male supremacist types don't know that if you all get in her way she's going to kick your butt!

A Passionate Conveyance

 Song 807: This week on the playlist you can hear From Me to You by The Beatles, written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, and you can find a cool YouTube video of it by clicking on the title. On the second week of February in 1964, I started hearing my junior high classmates using a word that I thought referred to insects and I didn't know why they would discuss something like that in the middle of winter, though I also considered the possibility that a top VW form had reached a landmark moment that I hadn't yet found out about. When I asked my neighbor playmate buddy about the word I'd been hearing, he found it amusing that his supposedly-smart A+ pal didn't have a clue about that moment's biggest news. My family and I often watched the Ed Sullivan Show, but I found out that we had all missed one of its most historic sequences. We then decided to stay home for the upcoming one, rather than going to church, and while my religious parents and grandparents had no interest in the sounds that the tube conveyed that night, my younger brother and I quickly became fans of the Fab Four as they performed this classic lift and a few other memorable rides. Before we witnessed that sequence, I probably would not have known if the group had anything that I might want, but after seeing and hearing them, I soon felt that their music could help to keep me satisfied.

Hopeful Expectancy

 Song 806: This week the playlist applauds Anticipation by Carly Simon, who also wrote the song, and you can find a cool YouTube video of it by clicking on the title. I spent the warm season after my sophomore year at Northwestern University working as a summer missionary in Atlanta, GA, for the Southern Baptist Church, and in September of 1971 I returned to my apartment in Evanston, IL, even though I had decided to end my college education. A friend introduced me to an attractive young woman that he thought I would like, and I soon began a passionate connection with her. I could have mentioned to her how easy it felt to be with her, as the radio would sometimes remind us in the background during our moments together, since I could tell how right her arms did feel around me. At the time, I thought I did know about the days to come, when, in the near future, my musical talent would bring me fame and fortune. However, I was not a prophet, and despite my anticipation, that magical reality didn't arrive, but even so, I do not look back on that era as being the good old days.