To quote my nephew Will, “people who don’t listen to music are leading a sub-optimal life”.
And if bacon and butter make everything better, then music does too.
Music has multiple reported health benefits: stress reduction, managing and easing pain, helping with depression. It may even help with adult acne (fingers crossed).
Recent studies suggest it even helps with Alzheimers. Primarily for musicians (I’ve taken up the triangle as a result), but also for listeners. A playlist of an Alzheimer patient’s favorite music will help their reality orientation. At least that’s what I think I remember reading.
And while I know everyone now streams their music, I am a non-streaming luddite. I am one of the 17 remaining IPOD users – Apple is waiting for our machines to die – or us, I get the occasional phone call from a SF number – so they can quit supporting I-Tunes. But even among luddites I am a luddite.
My IPOD is old, large (18,000+ songs loaded) and non-wireless compatible, so it pretty much only works with headphones, or as a paperweight.
And I listen on random, as playlists are beyond my technical capability.
My Captor insists that I should replace my IPOD with a streaming service, which places this innocent device at the center of our primary marital dispute: Replacing things that still work.
I am a staunch defender of items that may be on their last legs, but still work. My Captor is comfortable with kicking their legs out from under them, and moving on to what’s new.
Her tendency makes me nervous, when at parties I overhear her asking other men: “Do you still have your original teeth? Can you hear out of your left ear? Is your car paid for?”
Regardless of how you get your music, Will is right, it has the power to make life better.
And my old school IPOD recently randomly reminded me of that.
It dished out Doctor Wu by Steely Dan, one of my fave raves (as an aside, the Alto Sax solo was by Phil Woods an accomplished sax player, who studied at Julliard, and played the solo on “Just the Way you Are”). Music has the power to revive great memories…
Next was Naked Man by Randy Newman, which reminds that music has the power to make your grandkids think you’re nuts. Once you’ve listened, you’ll sing it whenever you get out of the shower. They now do.
It followed with Tangerine by the Atlanta Seventeen, an avocational big band from the ‘60s whose lead singer was our friend David Blackshear. He was an accomplished businessman, and a world class raconteur. It reminded me of music’s power to bring friends and family back. If only for a little while…
And it is only available on my IPOD – – bite me Spotify!
Next was UnDefund the Police by Lil’ Lil’. The power to deliver political irony…
And of course, Christmas music makes the season special, helping renew memories and make connections.
Music has the power to provoke debate, to give us something to talk/argue about when we’re out with friends, adult libating.
What are your deserted island albums? Start with Change by Dismemberment Plan…
Favorite concerts? Lucky enough to see Muddy Waters, Tony Bennett and Stevie Ray Vaughn…
Guilty Pleasures? Mope Rock… Half Right by Elliott Smith.
As an aside, why is the obnoxiously loud music played in a passing car always the most obnoxious? And never Tchkaikovsky?
Or My Favorite Things by Julie Andrews?
A song, and musical, I wasn’t too fond of when I met my Captor. But her family watched it every Thanksgiving, and with time I grew to love it.
First tolerance, then acceptance. Or at least understanding.
A model for our divided times?
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TO ENHANCE YOUR ENJOYMENT OF THIS POST, PAIR IT WITH THE FOLLOWING SONGS:
Doctor Wu Steely Dan
Katy tried
I was halfway crucified, I was on the other side
Of no tomorrow
You walked in, And my life began again
Just when I’d spent the last piaster, I could borrow
All night long, We would sing that stupid song
And every word we sang, I knew was true
Are you with me Doctor Wu
Are you really just a shadow, Of the man that I once knew
Are you crazy are you high, Or just an ordinary guy
Have you done all you can do, Are you with me Doctor
Don’t seem right, I’ve been strung out here all night
I’ve been waiting for the taste, You said you’d bring to me
Biscayne Bay, Where the Cuban gentlemen sleep all day
I went searching for the song, You used to sing to me
Katy lies, You could see it in her eyes
But imagine my surprise, When I saw you
Are you with me Doctor Wu. Are you really just a shadow
Of the man that I once knew
She is lovely yes she’s sly, And you’re an ordinary guy
Has she finally got to you, Can you hear me Doctor
My Old School Steely Dan
I remember the thirty-five sweet goodbyes, When you put me on the Wolverine up to Annandale
It was still September, When your daddy was quite surprised
To find you with the working girls in the county jail
I was smoking with the boys upstairs when I Heard about the whole affair, I said oh no, William and Mary won’t do
Well, I did not think the girl, Could be so cruel
And I’m never going back, To my old school
Oleanders growing outside her door, Soon they’re gonna be in bloom up in Annandale
I can’t stand her, Doing what she did before
Living like a gypsy queen in a fairy tale, Well, I hear the whistle but I can’t go, I’m gonna
Take her down to Mexico, she said oh no, Guadalajara won’t do
California tumbles into the sea, That’ll be the day I go back to Annandale
Tried to warn you, About Chino and Daddy Gee
But I can’t seem to get to you through the U.S. Mail
Well I hear the whistle but I can’t go, I’m gonna
Take her down to Mexico, she said oh no, Guadalajara won’t do
Well, I did not think the girl
Could be so cruel
And I’m never going back
To my old school
(You may wonder about the sax solo from “My Old School”. It was Pete Christlieb. The song was about a 1969 drug bust at Bard College (Annandale substituted for Bard), where Becker and Fagen met. Becker was arrested in the bust; while in jail they cut off his hair. The local prosecutor was G. Gordon Liddy.)
Naked Man Randy Newman
Old lady lost in the city, In the middle of a cold cold night
It was fourteen below and the wind start to blow There wasn’t a boy scout in sight
Pull down the shades cause he’s comin’
Turn out the lights cause he’s here, Runnin’ hard down the street
Through the snow and the sleet, On the coldest night of the year
Beware beware beware of the Naked Man
Old lady head up toward Broad Street, Shufflin’ uptown against the wind
She had started to cry-wiped a tear from her eye, And looked back to see where she had been
Old lady stand on the corner, With a purse in her hand
She does not know but in a minute or so, She will be robbed by a naked man
Beware beware beware of the Naked Man
Old lady lean against a lamppost, Starin’ down at the ground on which she stand
She look up and scream, For the lamplight’s beam
There stood the famous Naked Man
He say, “They found out about my sister, And kicked me out of the Navy,
They would have strung me up if they could., I tried to explain that we were both of us lazy
And were doing the best we could.”
He faked to the left and he faked to the right, And he snatched the purse from your hand
“Someone stop me, ” he cried, As he faded from sight,
“Won’t nobody help a naked man?”
“Won’t nobody help a naked man?”
Tangerine Jimmy Dorsey Helen O’ Connell (and of course David Blackshear)
Tangerine
When she dances by, Señoritas stare and caballeros sigh
And I’ve seen, Toasts to Tangerine
Raised in every bar across the Argentine
Yes, she has them all on the run, But her heart belongs to just one
Her heart belongs to Tangerine
Tangerine, She is all they say
With mascara’d eye and chapeaux by Daché
Tangerine, With her lips of flame
If the color keeps, Louis Philippe’s to blame
And I’ve seen, Clothes on Tangerine
Where the label says “From Macy’s Mezzanine”
Yes, she’s got the guys in a whirl, But she’s only fooling one girl
She’s only fooling Tangerine
UnDeFund the Police Lil’ Lil’
When we said we didn’t need you around, Just kidding, Hopefully you haven’t found other work, or will unretire, If you hurry back, you might be just in time, To save the part of downtown that hasn’t been burned down.
My Favorite Things Julie Andrews (and many others) By Rodgers and Hammerstein
Raindrops on roses
And whiskers on kittens
Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens
Brown paper packages tied up with strings
These are a few of my favorite things
Cream-colored ponies and crisp apple strudels
Doorbells and sleigh bells
And schnitzel with noodles
Wild geese that fly with the moon on their wings
These are a few of my favorite things
Girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes
Snowflakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes
Silver-white winters that melt into springs
These are a few of my favorite things
When the dog bites
When the bee stings
When I’m feeling sad
I simply remember my favorite things
And then I don’t feel so bad
Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens
Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens
Brown paper packages tied up with strings
These are a few of my favorite things
Cream-colored ponies and crisp apple strudels
Doorbells and sleigh bells and schnitzel with noodles
Wild geese that fly with the moon on their wings
These are a few of my favorite things
Girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes
Snowflakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes
Silver white winters that melt into springs
These are a few of my favorite things
When the dog bites
When the bee stings
When I’m feeling sad
I simply remember my favorite things
And then I don’t feel so bad
My favorite ‘My Favorite Things’, John Coltrane ❤️