Right now I’m still nursing the big daddy of all hangovers. It seems to be a regular thing lately; this time every week.
Weekends are so good to me. But Mondays are such a bitch. Don’t know why I still do it. Moth to a flame and all that.
But I’m still alive… Until next week that is. Have a great one.
Is something wrong she said
Of course there is
You’re still alive she said
Oh do I deserve to be?
Is that the question?
And if so, if so
Who answers, who answers?
Not that kinda black. Way better…
Hey… oooh…
Sheets of empty canvas, untouched sheets of clay
Were laid spread out before me as her body once did.
All five horizons revolved around her soul as the earth to the sun
Now the air I tasted and breathed has taken a turn
Ooh, and all I taught her was everything
Ooh, I know she gave me all that she wore
And now my bitter hands chafe beneath the clouds of what was everything.
Oh, the pictures have all been washed in black, tattooed everything…
I take a walk outside, I’m surrounded by some kids at play
I can feel their laughter, so why do I sear?
Oh, and twisted thoughts that spin round my head, I’m spinning, oh,
I’m spinning, how quick the sun can drop away
And now my bitter hands cradle broken glass of what was everything
All the pictures have all been washed in black, tattooed everything…
All the love gone bad turned my world to black
Tattooed all I see, all that I am, all I’ll be… yeah…
Uh huh… uh huh… ooh…
I know someday you’ll have a beautiful life,
I know you’ll be a star in somebody else’s sky,
But why, why, why can’t it be, can’t it be mine?
Aah… uuh..
Too doo doo too, too doo doo
Daddy didn’t give affection, no!
And the boy was something that mommy wouldn’t wear
King Jeremy The Wicked
Ruled his world
I love cars. Which is why I love Top Gear.
But I soon discovered that Top Gear is not all about cars. Oh no, it’s about Jeremy Clarkson. It’s not a one-man show, but his sidekicks Richard Hammond and James May, proficient though they are in their own right, are like the cars they feature, little more than beautiful (and did I say accomplished?) props.
Top Gear is almost all about Jeremy. Funny, irritating, laughing, teasing, politically incorrect, offensive, shameless, devilish Jeremy. There was a time the only reason I bothered to watch the telly, apart from sport off course, was because of Top Gear.
And now he’s in trouble again.
This time, suspended for allegedly throwing a punch at a BBC producer. The reason does not matter. Producers after all are supposed to serve gods actors food on time… and take a punch or two for the greater good.
There’s a litany of indiscretions that’s got him into trouble before, but the BBC knowing what a treasure he is, sensibly did not let those mundane distractions keep him off the box. But now it appears to be different. Two whole shows have been postponed. That’s pretty darned alarming.
So he’s alluded to truck drivers being murderers of prostitutes, and called former Prime Minister Gordon Brown a “one-eyed Scottish idiot.” So fucking what? I despise truck drivers who’s only mission in life seems to be to cause traffic chaos, and everyone knows Gordon Brown is an idiot. Surely we don’t need to be convinced.
But it’s also alleged that Clarkson has offended various race groups, nationalities and religious denominations around the world, including Mexicans, Argentinians, Asians, Muslims and Indians. Boo fucking hoo! People are just too darn sensitive.
Hey, I’m Indian (South African), and I was not at all offended by Clarkson’s remark about Indians being unsanitary. India is on my bucket list of places NEVER to visit, up there with Saudi Arabia (practically all of the Middle East actually), North Korea, Pakistan, Malaysia and 98% of Africa. No, not even when I’m dead and my atoms return to star-dust.
The guy’s a gifted comedian for fuck’s sake. The world needs more of them really badly.
Yes, there’s a much more selfish reason why Jeremy just has to come back. The Top Gear Live Show is scheduled to return to Johannesburg, South Africa in a couple of months, and I DO NOT want to miss that. It just won’t be the same. It would be Stuck In Gear.
Yep, Pearl Jam again. This time, it’s a song with a curious history… and great guitar riffs at the beginning and end.
As I’ve mentioned previously, guitar riffs drive me wild. The riffs at the beginning and end has a striking resemblance to Jimi Hendrix/Stevie Ray Vaughn’s rendition of Little Wing.
Yellow Ledbetter never featured on any of Pearl Jam’s studio albums. It was an outtake from their debut album 10, and was released as a B-side on the released single Jeremy. It did however feature on a B-sides and Rarities album, and their Greatest Hits album.
And it seems that nobody really knows precisely, the lyrics to the song. Lead singer Eddie Vedder is known to change the lyrics at nearly every live performance. Vedder once jokingly replied in response to a question from a live audience, “Wait…you mean there’s lyrics?”
Not surprisingly this lyrical ambiguity has stirred up some ingenuity in elucidation by others – the famous misheard lyrics videos. Catch a load of this:
Another in my series on cool guitar riffs, this time by Pearl Jam, one more of my (many) favorite bands of all time.
Released in 1994, this song really speaks to me as I consider myself to be something of a dissident in my own country. From reading this blog, you will have noticed that I’m an outspoken critic of the political masters in charge, and I judge the democracy we are told we have, as a lie and a sham.
I dedicate this song to other dissidents in South Africa, and all over the world who stand up to political tyranny, and other forms of oppression.
Dissident
she nursed him there, over a night
i wasn’t so sure she wanted him to stay
what to say…what to say
but soon she was down, soon he was low
at a quarter past…a holy no…
she had to turn around
when she couldn’t hold, oh…she folded…
a dissident is here
escape is never, the safest path
a dissident, a dissident is here
and to this day, she’s glided on
always home but so far away
like a word misplaced
nothing said, what a waste
when she had contact…with the conflict…
there was meaning, but she sold him to the state
she had to turn around
when she couldn’t hold…she folded…
a dissident is here
escape is never, the safest path
a dissident, a dissident is here
she gave him away when she couldn’t hold…no…she folded…
a dissident is here
escape is never, the safest path
a dissident, a dissident is here
couldn’t hold on…she couldn’t hold…no…she folded…
a dissident is here
escape is never the safest place
a dissident is here
Another in my series on great guitar riffs…
Little Wing
The original song was written by none other than the legendary Jimi Hendrix. It has been covered by guitar playing greats such as Eric Clapton, the Allman Brothers Band, Def Leppard, Santana, John Mayer, and Pearl Jam, among many others. However, my personal favorite cover is the instrumental version by another legend who has sadly also passed on – Stevie Ray Vaughan.
Watch, listen and be moved with this live YouTube version:
The Original by Hendrix
Lenny Says 