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  #121  
Unread 10-15-2017, 05:01 PM
Jesse Anger Jesse Anger is offline
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That Dylan song is one of his greats - cried my eyes out in a videoshop first time I heard it. I'm a bit surprised no one's mentioned Ani DiFranco yet. She's top five all time lyrically, and has crazy chops to boot.

Think I'm going for a walk now
I feel a little unsteady
I don't want no one to follow me
Except maybe you
I could make you happy, you know
If you weren't already
I could do a lot of things
And I do

Tell you the truth I prefer the worst of you
Too bad you had to have a better half
She's not really my type
But I think you two are forever
And I hate to say it, but you're perfect together

So fuck you
And your untouchable face
Fuck you
For existing in the first place
And who am I
That I should be vying for your touch
Who am I
Bet you can't even tell me that much

2:30 in the morning
My gas tank will be empty soon
Neon sign on the horizon
Rubbing elbowes with the moon
Safe haven of the sleepless
Where the deep fryer's always on
Radio is counting down top 20 country songs

Out on the porch the fly strip is
Waving like a flag in the wind
You know I really don't look forward
To seeing you again
You look like a photograph of yourself
Taken from far far away
And I won't know what to do
And I won't know what to say
Except fuck you

I see you when I'm so perplexed
What was I thinking
What will I think of next
Where can I hide

In the back room there's a lamp
That hangs over the pool table
And the fan that's on it swings
Gently side to side
There's a changing constellation
Of balls as we are playing
I see Orion and say nothing
The only thing I can think of saying is
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  #122  
Unread 10-15-2017, 05:57 PM
Roger Slater Roger Slater is offline
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"Boots of Spanish Leather" is indeed a great song. Do you know this Nanci Griffith cover? It's great.
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  #123  
Unread 10-15-2017, 11:11 PM
John Isbell John Isbell is offline
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Lovely. My sister introduced me to Nanci Griffith, some years ago now, but all I know is the album she gave me: Lone Star State of Mind. That contains these lines about the Dust Bowl:

Well our children live in the city
And they rest upon our shoulders
They never want the rain to fall
Or the weather to get colder.

Thank you for sharing her Dylan tribute, Roger. The orchestration is fine.
I also like the Ani DiFranco a good deal, without knowing her. I will check that song out.

Cheers,
John

PS I played my intro to lit class "Blind Willie McTell" to make the case for rock poetry, and they were a bit at sea. I may play them the Nanci Griffith tomorrow, we're in Texas after all. And it's a love poem.
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  #124  
Unread 10-21-2017, 11:42 AM
Aaron Novick Aaron Novick is offline
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Tom Waits, “9th and Hennepin”:
And the clock ticks out like a dripping faucet
Till you're full of rag water, bitters, and blue ruin,
And you spill out over the side to anyone who will listen
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  #125  
Unread 10-23-2017, 12:38 AM
Damian Balassone Damian Balassone is offline
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Great post. Here's a few images from songs that spring to mind for me (I could pick dozens for Dylan and Zevon, but will limit to just one each here):

I wandered out in the world for years
While you just stayed in your room
I saw the crescent
You saw the whole of the moon

- The Waterboys (Mike Scott), The Whole of the Moon

I can saw a woman in two
But you won't want to look in the box when I'm through

- Warren Zevon, For My Next Trick I'll Need a Volunteer

Pick up a flat rock, skip it across Green River
- Creedence Clearwater Revival (John Fogerty), Green River

You have never been in love,
Until you've seen the stars,
Reflect in the reservoirs

- Morrissey, First of the Gang to Die

He went to get the hangin’ judge, but the hangin’ judge was drunk
As the leading actor hurried by in the costume of a monk

- Dylan, Lily, Rosemary And The Jack Of Hearts

Pretty women out walking with gorillas down my street
- Joe Jackon, Is She Really Going Out With Him
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  #126  
Unread 10-23-2017, 06:55 AM
John Isbell John Isbell is offline
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Good morning Damian,

And welcome to the Sphere! You quote a lot of great stuff. Morrissey's reservoirs remind me of "Dirty Old Town", as sung by The Pogues:

I met my love by the gas works wall
Dreamed a dream by the old canal
I kissed my girl by the factory wall
Dirty old town
Dirty old town


CCR have some great down-home lyrics. From that same song:

Up at Cody's camp I spent my days, oh,
With flat car riders and cross-tie walkers


Nothing quite like John Fogerty's voice. And I guess my favorite Joe Jackson song opens:

What the hell is wrong with you tonight?
I can seem to say or do the right thing.


Cheers,
John
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  #127  
Unread 10-23-2017, 11:56 AM
R. S. Gwynn's Avatar
R. S. Gwynn R. S. Gwynn is offline
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https://www.theringer.com/platform/a...op-music-canon
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  #128  
Unread 10-23-2017, 05:20 PM
John Isbell John Isbell is offline
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Interesting Joni Mitchell article! Fred (?) Mitchell does not come out smelling of roses.

Cheers,
John
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  #129  
Unread 10-23-2017, 06:31 PM
R. S. Gwynn's Avatar
R. S. Gwynn R. S. Gwynn is offline
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Do you mean Chuck, her ex-husband? He was a traditional, wheat-jeans folkie. I spent a day with him years ago when he was doing the college union circuit. He was not a happy man, but he put on a good enough show. He closed with "Life is a Cabaret." He published one book of poems way, way back.
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  #130  
Unread 10-23-2017, 10:02 PM
John Isbell John Isbell is offline
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Yup, Chuck. It sounds from the article as though he did not seek to foster his wife's self-confidence. But obviously I've never met him.

Cheers,
John
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