Determined to Escape

Song 393: This week the playlist features Rusty Cage by Soundgarden, written by Chris Cornell, and you can find a YouTube video of it by clicking on the title. I added a copy of the A-Sides CD to my collection not long after it came out in late 1997, and it immediately became a regular spinner on the player. Maybe I didn't listen to it every day, but I did have it playing at least every other day for a couple of years. The Rusty Cage that the singer intends to escape could signify a restrictive romantic entanglement or an oppressive employment trap, and I would bet he sketched the scene that way intentionally, giving listeners involved in either situation a good reason to scream along with him. While I've never been outside when it's raining icepicks, I do feel like I have broken out of a Rusty Cage a few times over the years, and I would imagine most listeners feel that way as well, even if they've never been hit with a hand of broken nails. That particular line might make you wonder, though, if there are any surviving photos of Mr. Cornell's partner's hands after a visit to a nail spa that went horribly wrong.

An Update on That Old Dance

Song 392: This week the playlist frolics to The Brand New Tennessee Waltz by Jesse Winchester, who also wrote the song, and you can find a YouTube video of it by clicking on the title. The early 1970s singer-songwriter trend didn't shower Jesse with the kind of attention shown to artists like James Taylor and Jackson Browne, but I liked what I heard from him, so before too long I added his eponymous debut LP to my collection, and that album included this cut. Having grown up listening to Pee Wee King's waltz (see last week’s post), this number became its obvious companion, and the new lyrics soon occupied a space in my memory quite close to the original set. Just as the first song became part of a classic country music foundation for me, so too did this one join a small core group of singer-songwriter recordings that informed and influenced my pursuit of the craft. If listening can make you feel like You're literally waltzing on air, you'll probably have a lot of respect for the man who penned the lines, even when he admits that There's no telling who will be there when you dance.

The Tune That Moves the Dancers

Song 391: This week the playlist swings to The Tennessee Waltz by Pee Wee King, written by Pee Wee King and Redd Stewart, and you can find a YouTube video of it by clicking on the title. I learned this tune well before my first double-digit birthday, thanks to the OH relatives with their extensive country music collection. On our summer visits, they gave me complete access to their LPs and turntable, so I quickly got to know a bunch of country classics. I heard this original record first, and later got acquainted with the Patti Page hit version, liking both of them, though of the two, I still preferred King's recording, not knowing, or caring, that for much of the rest of the world, Patti had far outsold Pee Wee. In those years before The Beatles rocked my world and got me focussed on music with a back beat that you can't lose, this cut existed as part of a core group of about two dozen country tracks that animated my musical spirit. I knew the melodies and all of the words, I would often sing along with the records, and would also sometimes sing them to myself at times when I wasn't close to the LP stack. In addition, they might appear in my dreams, so well before the British Invasion awakened an interest in RnR and songwriting, I already had a country foundation to build on, which included a very catchy dance in 3/4 time that was truly stronger than drink and that offered a warning about what could happen if you let an old friend cut in with your partner.

Quantity Vs. Quality

Song 390: This week on the playlist you’ll find Too Much Of Nothing by Peter, Paul and Mary, written by Bob Dylan, and you can check out a YouTube video of it by clicking on the title. I first encountered this tune a few years after its release, during the height of my Dylan obsession, by hearing tracks from The Basement Tapes on the radio at the point in the early 1970s when they existed only as bootlegs. Bob's version pegged my meter, but I found the PPM record quite pleasing as well, and as the one version of the piece that I could buy at the time, I got to liking it even more when it became a regular spinner on my turntable. Four decades later, the lyrics can apply to the current era when a certain president can walk the streets and boast like most But he wouldn't know a thing (and he clearly doesn’t). Many workers, including some who expected the man to save their jobs, have already gotten Too Much Of Nothing from him, and I don't expect that pattern to get better any time soon.

That Question May Have Been Answered

Song 389: The question on the playlist this week is Should I Stay or Should I Go by The Clash, written by Topper Headon, Mick Jones, Paul Simonon and Joe Strummer, and you can find a YouTube video of it by clicking on the title. A full week into the new year, following a couple of weeks of brutal cold weather along the East Coast, coupled in some places with a sizable snowfall, this particular question might have occurred to a number of residents in the affected areas. Back in the early 1980s, I generally didn't get that excited by releases from The Clash, but I thought this one justified all of the attention it triggered. That attention continued through a number of reissues for a few years, plus one in 1991, and then the cut had a huge resurgence in 2016 via its inclusion in the Netflix sci-fi drama Stranger Things, so while it may or may not be here 'til the end of time, listeners have for the most part answered the question by having it stick around, evidently because they like the sound of it.

A Song With a Muscular Subject

Song 388: The Butt Song by The Fast Folk Ensemble, written by John Gorka, seems like a fun way to start out the new year, featuring a live ensemble from 25 years ago. 7 weeks after my last personal friend song post, the performers here include some old friends, 3 of whom - vocalists Wendy Beckerman, Kelly Flint and Richard Julian - have appeared on this list before. I played a role in Fast Folk during this era, though I didn't actually make this particular show in February of 1993, but my name appears on the masthead (under GENERAL STAFF) of the FF 702 print issue that accompanied the CD, as does the moniker of my recording partner David Seitz (under RECORDING ENGINEERS). A friend had told me a few years earlier about watching the writer John Gorka perform this opus, and in describing the lyrics a certain way, he conveyed a sense that the piece didn't impress him, but I suspected that I would like it, and when I got to hear it, within moments it had me smiling. I also found it particularly inspiring because it didn't actually go the way I had pictured from my friend's description, so I ended up crafting the jewel that would eventually shine on The But Single CD a few years later (and my website daveelder.com contains some hidden gems in the form of newsletters about that record, on the Stuff page). If you're curious, you can find the video for my But But But recording by clicking on the title. David Hamburger, who played pedal steel guitar with the Fast Folk Ensemble on The Butt Song, later added his golden tones to As Long as Merle is Still Haggard and you can likewise hear that by clicking on the title. Happy New Year! May the wisdom of 25 years ago bring you a smile today: “Some butts wind up as presidents who wish they could be kings.” Enjoy! Laughter is the best remedy!

A Very Different Leader of the Pack

Song 387: This week on the  playlist you’ll find Leroy The Redneck Reindeer by Joe Diffie, written by Stacey Slate, Joe Diffie and Steve Pippin, and you can find a YouTube video of it by clicking on the title. I only recently discovered this cut a couple of years ago, though it dates from the middle of the 1990s, but I find it a highly-entertaining take on the flying reindeer tale, and a welcome alternative to the ever-present repetitive background music you'll get in the stores at this time of the year. Personally, I'd much rather catch Joe blabbing about Leroy leading the pack than Gene crooning about Rudolf, but it hasn't happened yet. Even though that down home party animal Leroy might have made history that night, perhaps not enough people know About that crazy Christmas That the North Pole can't forget. On a side note, this track is a first sly reference to the third (and final) verse of my own song As Long as Merle is Still Haggard. Leaving aside the first 3 references in it, the middle of the third verse begins with the line and would Joe know the Diffie, and you can find the Merle video by clicking on the title.