Man, this Highveld heat wave is torture. If this is any portent of what to expect this summer, I’m packing my bags for Oymyakon.
Time to shake the dust off an oldish record: Queens of the Stone Age. And oh, if you’re planning to take any of these substances over the weekend, stay off the goddamned roads. Have a good one…
I know some of you think cover versions of songs are a sacrilege. I don’t. I’ve admitted to liking one so much, I think it could challenge the original, namely Pink’s Bohemian Rhapsody (and some might consider me insane for thinking so).
No doubt there are bad covers, but there have been many good ones over the years. This cover of Cypress Hill’s Insane in the Membrane might not please many a purist; indeed it might please no one, but I’m just mad over it. I give you Richard Cheese:
I love the feeling when we lift off
Watching the world so small below
I love the dreaming when I think of
The safety in the clouds out my window
I wonder what keeps us so high up
Could there be a love beneath these wings
If we suddenly fall should I scream out
Or keep very quiet and cling to my mouth as I’m crying
So frightened of dying
Relax, yes, I’m trying
But fear’s got a hold on me
The fear’s all gone today. Live life.
Have a great week.
While I strongly support freedom of expression, I won’t condone abusing someone or their work to further a cause or argument without their explicit consent. Further, it would be just plain dishonest to present the person or their work in a manner not congruent with their known beliefs. Yet, it happens all the time.
There were two incidences this week in the USA where music was abused by bigoted people to highlight their bigoted causes.
Frankie Sullivan, guitarist and songwriter had every right to be outraged when his song Eye of the Tiger written for Survivor was played at a sympathy rally supported by presidential candidate Mike Huckabee, when Kim Davis was released from a Kentucky jail. Kim, a born-again Christian, was tossed in jail by U.S. District Judge David Bunning for refusing to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
Sullivan had previously filed suit against Republican candidate Newt Gingrich who had used the song during his campaign.
In the second incident, Donald Trump used R.E.M.’s song It’s the End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine) at a Republican rally in the Capitol. Needless to say R.E.M. were not amused and released a statement on Facebook condemning the abuse of their music.
It is being reported on Salon that band member Mike Mills released a further statement from lead singer Michael Stipe which was much more explicit:
Go fuck yourselves, the lot of you–you sad, attention grabbing, power-hungry little men. Do not use our music or my voice for your moronic charade of a campaign.
Neil Young and the Dropkick Murphys have also expressed anger over the use of their songs by Donald Trump.
Surely there are many artists whose outlook on life might lend itself to prejudice, who would not mind their songs being used by bigots like Trump and Davis? How hard can it be it be for bigots to find them?
Update: R.E.M. posted this to their Facebook page today, 11 September 2015. Political Campaigns and Music Licensing.
With apologies to Tears For Fears…
High time we made a stand and shook up the views of the common man,
and the love train rides from coast to coast.
D.J.’s the man we love the most.
Could you be, could you be squeaky clean and smash every hope of democracy as
the head line says you’re free to choose
There’s egg on your face and mud on your shoes.
One of these days they’re gonna call it the blues yeah, yeah
John Oliver’s made a stand. He’s shown us how easy it is for preachers to take money from people who willingly buy into a religious belief system – by setting up his own Church. Yes, Our Lady of Perpetual Exemption was given birth on live television, a medium so beloved of evangelists out for the kill.
The video above is 20 minutes long, but hilarious from start to finish. I promise, but unlike the preachers, I keep mine. See for yourself.
There you go, I am true to my word, aren’t I? So, are you going to continue funding these charlatans’ private jets and ranches, or will you help shake up the views of the common man?
Heard about the Texan who got shot by an armadillo?
Actually this guy from down Texarkana way, fired three shots at an armadillo with his .38 revolver and one bullet managed to ricochet off the poor creature, to hit him right smack in the jaw. He’s in hospital so he misses out on a Darwin Award. There’ no word about the armadillo though. I hope he got away unhurt.
While laughing my way through that, it suddenly occurred to me that that armadillo sounded like an armed dildo, and thus my wicked thoughts strayed from Texarkana to La Grange. It happens quite often, these crazy associations. [Imagine the headline, “Texan fucked by armed dildo”].
This brilliant ZZ Top song is about a brothel outside La Grange, Texas which became known as the Chicken Ranch. It’s off course more (in)famously known as the Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. I have had the great pleasure of watching ZZ Top guitarist and lead vocalist Billy Gibbons live in concert with the Kings Of Chaos outfit. You’d never guess he’s been rocking with the same crew for more than 40 years.
And with that piece of useless trivia, have a fabulous week ahead.
You drive west on 80 and it won’t take too long
‘Til the road starts climbing up to mountain time
There’s a girl I know there, she lives free and easy
And she shows me wonders and she takes my mind
And she’s wild as eagles
She’s as sweet as honeysuckle
Her life’s flowing like a mountain stream
And she takes me somewhere
And it’s good to be there
And she pulls me into her bright golden wing
Now I hate the city and I love the country
And I love that feeling on that mountain high
And that girl is waiting, but she won’t wait too long
So I drive all night to that clear blue sky
And she’s wild as eagles
She’s as sweet as honeysuckle
Her life’s flowing like a mountain stream
And she takes me somewhere
And it’s good to be there
And she pulls me into her bright golden wing
I can feel it in the wind blow
I can feel love flow
And I’ll be there when the morning comes, yeah
And she’s wild as eagles
She’s as sweet as honeysuckle
Her life’s flowing like a mountain stream
And she takes me somewhere
And it’s good to be there
And she pulls me into her bright golden wing
Bright golden wing
And she’s wild as eagles
She’s as sweet as honeysuckle
Her life’s flowing like a mountain stream
And she takes me somewhere
And it’s good to be there
And she pulls me into her bright golden wing
Bright golden wing
Middle of the week. Monday’s a distant memory. The weekend’s almost here.
And I’m feeling baroque-ish…
That period before dawn or dusk when the sun is 6 degrees below the horizon and Venus, the brightest observable planet from earth appears in all its magnificence.
Or…
An awesome 4-piece rock band out of Cape Town South Africa, singing Letters From The Sky.
The first in a series of short videos uploaded to YouTube by Wireless Philosophy. Another valuable tool in the bullshit detection kit made famous by Carl Sagan.
Lenny Says 