It’s Saturday Night! (but not LIVE from New York)
Quick note from brandoncalling, who has kindly made us a new Singer / Songwriter playlist for tonight! If you click on the YouTube song that’s embedded above, it will play through the whole list, but if you click the link you can see the list and choose your songs.
“Folks, I don’t have much of a blurb today. By the time you’re reading these words, I will have taken a standardized test, hopefully tidied up my house, had practice for tomorrow’s gig, and (if everything work out right) should be at a birthday party. Maybe I’ll even have time to shower. I hope letter writing goes well this evening, and I sure hope I’ve included something for everyone here. Today’s list is singer/songwriters, which reminds me of a joke.
“What’s the difference between a singer/songwriter and a puppy?”
.
.
.
[wait for it] .
.
“Eventually the puppy grows up and stops whining.”
Thanks, I’ll be here all week.ANYWAY. On this list you’ll find some John Prine and some Joni Mitchell, some Willie Nelson and some Willi Carlisle and some Lilly Hiatt (and her dad John Hiatt too). I threw in a little Jonathan Richman and some Daniel Johnston, Woody and Arlo Guthrie, and a whole bunch of other stuff too. I’ll check in later on, jackals!
And postcards! This is our last Saturday night to write postcards before the last date to mail. Our Tuesday post will be on Monday this week because Tuesday is the last date to mail, unless you are in Wisconsin.
Music and Election Results post will be on Tuesday, April 4!
We have 375 more addresses to hand out in SD-8, which gives us double the bang for the buck because those folks get to vote in two key races – for the WI Supreme Court and to choose their next State Senator in District 8. We already sent one round of postcards to those folks about the state senate race – and this time we want to talk about the Supreme Court race, and add a one-line reminder to vote for Jodi for SD-8!
Remember, 650 of those down, 375 more to go! So if you can do a few postcards it can really make a difference in this district!
Write to watergirl at balloon-juice.com if you would like postcard addresses. If you have any postcard questions, chime in below and one of us will be sure to answer them.
Open thread.
BlueGuitarist
Writing some more postcards for Judge Janet for Justice + Jodi for Senate.
Senate district 8 is like a super swing district, each voter can vote to replace 2 republicans with Democrats, flipping the state Supreme Court and preventing Republicans from having a 2/3 majority in the gerrymandered state senate.
Mousebumples
I’m here – wrapping presents now that the kids are asleep (we have a birthday party for the now 1 year old tomorrow) – but I’ll be writing more Judge Janet postcards to send to the Milwaukee area shortly. 😊
Wyatt Salamanca
Sisters of Mercy – Leonard Cohen
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VT9k5NHCdvQ
500 Miles – Joan Baez
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1a7cW85idMs
Genesis – Jorma Kaukonen
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SU1YASW3rhc
Stoney End – Laura Nyro
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQcBLgo34cw
Alison Rose
OKAY I’M SORRY BUT I WARNED YOU ALL THE OTHER DAY. I won’t be extra annoying and link each one separately but this will take you to the playlist for audio uploads of every track in order* on Depeche Mode’s new album, Memento Mori.
(*in order matters, because the track organization on this album is absolutely exquisite IMO and it deserves to be listened to in the order they wanted it to be)
I fucking love this album so much. It’s their 15th studio album, and I have all the previous 14 in iTunes, and if you’d asked me if I thought something could top Violator or Songs of Faith and Devotion or Sounds of the Universe, I would’ve said probably not. But this one does. I’m blown away by the songwriting (Martin Gore is a literal genius, and Dave Gahan’s entries here are also brilliant), the technical craft of the music and sounds, DAVE’S VOICE which it is amazing that he’s in his early 60s and sounds better than he ever did. The opening track was the second single, and I had one notion of what it meant, but when I heard the closing track, it completely upended it and made me see it totally differently. There are all these subtle little call-and-response moments to earlier songs that are just wicked clever, not just the titles but lines and sounds. I love it so much. Absolutely my new favorite album of theirs.
Since this is BJ I know someone is gonna enjoy needling me and saying it sucks. I WILL NOT TAKE THE BAIT. At least I hope I won’t. Okay anyway bye bye.
Mousebumples
Bordering states (IL, IA, MN, & MI) could probably also mail Wednesday. Just be sure to take the postcards to the post office before their last pickup, so they actually go out in the mail on Wednesday. 📫 (depending on carrier schedules/routes, your outgoing mail may not leave until the next business day, depending on when it gets back to the post office otherwise)
WaterGirl
@Mousebumples: You are correct. I thought that was too complicated, so I kept it simple.
But this is Balloon Juice, so I’m sure they can handle it. :-)
MagdaInBlack
Well, the John Prine album cover at the top, and yes, the song, certainly took me back to my hs pot smoking days. And “Christmas in Prison” on the list is one of my favorites.
Nice playlist, thank you ❤️😊
Eta: and oh YAY! “Lincoln Park Pirates” is on the list. Yo Ho tow them away 🤗
WaterGirl
Mousebumples has been busy!
WaterGirl
@MagdaInBlack: Off to listen to Christmas in Prison.
edit: that was fun.
WaterGirl
Two postcard writers here tonight? Or are there other stealth writers lurking?
MagdaInBlack
@WaterGirl: It’s an oddly sweet little song. ( i think)
WaterGirl
@MagdaInBlack: I liked the line about her heart being bigger than… something.
MagdaInBlack
@WaterGirl: ..this whole gd damn jail..😉
Mousebumples
@WaterGirl: I need to charge my phone, and there isn’t a good outlet near tonight’s writing spot. So I’m “here” but may be quiet for a bit here. 😊
WaterGirl
@MagdaInBlack: I knew I liked that line, I just couldn’t remember why!
NotMax
A little bit of this and a little bit of that pulled at random from the magical musical basket.
Stan Freberg, Banana Boat.
Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov, Procession of the Sardar.
Mama’s Boys, Runaway Dreams/em>.
Zebra, Take Your Fingers From My Hair.
Big Mama Thornton, Hound Dog.
Ian Dury and The Blockheads, Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick.
Variations on Pictures at an Exhibition.
jackmac
“Illegal Smile” is one of my favorite John Prine songs!
Omnes Omnibus
Lincoln Park Pirates right after a live version of The Partisan? All win, all the time.
prostratedragon
17th century grooves with Monteverdi and Melli: Cristina Pluhar and Phillippe Jaroussky
BeautifulPlumage
Been holed up reading, but just sent an email for addresses!
jackmac
@jackmac: I tried to heap more praise on this playlist but I ran out of time to edit. Anyway, two other all-time favorites on there include Steve Goodman’s “A Dying Cub Fan’s Last Request” — (“When the snow melts away do the Cubbies still play in their ivy-covered burial ground?”) — and his “Lincoln Park Pirates.”
Yes, I’m a Chicagoan of a certain age.
trollhattan
Bonnie Raitt caused a few tears in the crowd when remembering John Prine, before singing “Angel from Montgomery” the other night. He warrants a statue somewhere.
raven
And the sky is black and still now
On the hill where the angels sing
Ain’t it funny how an old broken bottle
Looks just like a diamond ring
But it’s far, far from me
raven
You know that old trees just grow stronger
And old rivers grow wilder every day
Old people just grow lonesome
Waiting for someone to say, “Hello in there, hello”
WaterGirl
@BeautifulPlumage: Did Martie come to stay today?
edit: Did you see that she made the front page earlier?
NotMax
Hit the seven link limit above. Couple of bonus tracks.
Emitt Rhodes, My Face on the Floor.
McDonald & Giles, Tomorrow’s People.
raven
Michael Stipe, Natalie Merchant, Billy Bragg – Hello in there
MagdaInBlack
@raven: You’re gonna make me all weepy, aren’t you?
That was one of my husbands favorites. 😊
kalakal
Neil Young – After the Gold Rush
James Taylor – Fire and Rain
Al Stewart – On the Border
Jim Croce – Lover’s Cross
Nick Drake – Pink Moon
raven
@MagdaInBlack: This is his story of working at Skips Fiesta in Maywood. It was an incredible hot rod drive-in where they would block of North Avenue and race on Friday nights.
Omnes Omnibus
Billy Bragg, It Says Here. As searing an attack on the right wing media as there ever was.
BeautifulPlumage
@WaterGirl: I just saw the post & commented. She comes tomorrow and I’m very excited! That is a lovely pic my friend sent, thanks for posting both pics.
schrodingers_cat
Are people in a mood for film noir, Hindi movie style? Made by Gurudutt, they were typically set in and around Mumbai and had great music. Is Steeplejack around? He likes Gurudutt.
NotMax
Ooh, just one more — Ronnie Montrose, Town Without Pity. Really dig this instrumental version.
MagdaInBlack
@raven:A few years ago I lived just a few blocks from there, had no idea it ever existed. Kiddieland was still in existence tho.
WaterGirl
@kalakal:
Jim Croce – Lover’s Cross
I haven’t listened to him in so long, great song.
brendancalling
Howdy folks.
I meant to include Croce. My bad!
I’m at a birthday party. I hate parties. I’m escaping.
WaterGirl
@brendancalling: Not too late to add him. :-)
kalakal
John Martyn – Solid Air
Richard Thompson – Walking the long miles home
Billy Bragg – New England
Roy Harper – Another Day
Cat Stevens – Father and Son
Just remembered how much I love Tea for the Tillerman
Better stop there, some great selections Brendan, thanks.
zhena gogolia
@WaterGirl: Oh, God, you have taken me back to my freshman year. My roommate and I listened to that every night as we went to sleep. One of those record players where you could put several LPs on and they’d drop down and automatically play.
Fabulous song.
schrodingers_cat
I mailed my pack of postcards from the local Indivisible group yesterday!
WaterGirl
Jackson Browne – Lives in the Balance
zhena gogolia
Going to try again.
WaterGirl
@schrodingers_cat: Good job!
zhena gogolia
My favorite singer-songwriter, Isto, Spirit in a Bottle.
schrodingers_cat
@zhena gogolia: For you, Shahrukh Khan’s latest
Zhoome jo Pathaan
geg6
@Alison Rose:
What I have heard so far is lovely. But it’s just the one song. And apparently, it’s a club hit. Just like the good old days. I’ve also read some rapturous reviews.
Raven
@MagdaInBlack: Yea, I left Villa Park in 66 and didn’t really go back so I’m not sure when it closed. Was Maywood Park there when you were there?
WaterGirl
@zhena gogolia: I had never heard of Isto!
kalakal
Ah, one I forgot, in my defense he’s not that well known
Paul McCartney – Blackbird
mvr
One of my favorite John Prine songs is ‘Lake Marie’:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vzCjQwt2rgI
Was lucky enough to have seen him with Steve Goodman back in the 80s in Portland (before this song was written). And lucky enough to have my first real concert be Steve Goodman at a club called Charlotte’s Web when I was barely17 and they let us in despite being relatively underage.
Alison Rose
@geg6: If it was the first single Ghosts Again, yeah, it’s definitely reminiscent of their big hits of the late 80s/early 90s. The rest of the album is different, though still a number of bangers, IMO. But to me, whether or not a song is gonna take off on the radio isn’t important. Each track is impactful.
MagdaInBlack
@Raven: Yes, it was still there. I lived in Melrose Park, 18th and Norwood, in a 2 flat, from 2006 to 2010. “Garden” apartment, flooded in 2010…….good times
zhena gogolia
@schrodingers_cat: STILL TEH HAWT!!!
zhena gogolia
@WaterGirl: Most people haven’t. Let me know if you want more. He does incredible covers.
Mousebumples
Thanks to everyone who’s postcarding! I’m trying to get the messaging at least done on another 30 tonight – with photos to come, hopefully, later. Might get addresses done, but… TBD.
geg6
@Alison Rose:
Oh, I’ll definitely be listening to the whole thing. I was just happy to see that the kids love them, too, all these years later. I’ve been a big fan forever.
schrodingers_cat
@zhena gogolia: 90s Shahrukh
Mehendi lagake rakhna
Raven
@MagdaInBlack: My old man was an admin at Sunnyside School in Berkeley until 78.
zhena gogolia
@schrodingers_cat: My wedding was just like that!
schrodingers_cat
@zhena gogolia: Shahrukh Khan was wooing you? You lucky girl!
zhena gogolia
@schrodingers_cat: lol
Gretchen
I’d love to see how others are doing their cards. Mine feel so plain!
WaterGirl
@kalakal: No need to stop. :-)
MagdaInBlack
@Raven: How a northern Illinois farm kid ended up in a garden 2 flat in Melrose Park is quite the convoluted journey. But I do know that school, a friend lived near there.
WaterGirl
@kalakal:
Such a great album.
WaterGirl
@Gretchen: Ask and you shall receive!
WaterGirl
WaterGirl
schrodingers_cat
@zhena gogolia: This was husband Kitteh’s and my first date movie (Kabhie Haan Kabhi Naan*) So this movie has a special place in my heart. It is also one of SRK’s best movies but not a monster hit like DDLJ.
Deewana dil deewana
(crazy heart is crazy)
WaterGirl
WaterGirl
WaterGirl
delphinium
Singer/songwriter Aimee Mann does a nice cover of Leonard Cohen, Avalanche.
WaterGirl
Sorry I don’t recall whose postcards were whose – I just knew I had included the word “postcard” in the filenames, so I searched for that in the media library.
WaterGirl
@Gretchen: Have you sent me a photo of any of your postcards yet?
Someone mentioned last week that even drawing a few colored lines between sections of information is an easy way to dress them up.
Plain or fancy, they all help!
WaterGirl
@mvr: I got to see Steve Goodman LIVE, too. Great concert in a smallish venue.
Big Mango
good times charlie got the blues charley crockett
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HER-cPV5RJ0
wichita lineman the meters
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dslNNx_EVGI
WaterGirl
@kalakal: I love Blackbird!
You can make me a playlist anytime! :-)
Have you heard the version of Blackbird that Kurt sang on Glee?
delphinium
And here’s a classic from Gordon Lightfoot, If You Could Read My Mind.
MagdaInBlack
@delphinium: It’s just old favorites for me tonight. I loved that one.
mvr
@WaterGirl: Yeah, he was wonderful! Funny but often also poignant.
WaterGirl
@mvr: Yes.
WaterGirl
Wow, I almost put BioFreeze on my toothbrush by mistake, laugh myself just as I was about to squeeze the tube. That could have been ugly!
WaterGirl
First new postcard photo of the night! Mousebumples.
kalakal
@WaterGirl: hah!
Very well then
Al Stewart – Year of the Cat
John Martyn – May You Never
John Renbourn – Ain’t nobody’s fault but mine
cheat, it’s a duet
Gram Parsons & Emmylou Harris – Love hurts
NotMax
@zhena gogolia
Remember you expressing astonishment when I linked to him in the past.
;)
Mousebumples
@WaterGirl: Simplifying messaging above since early voting has started.
I can get the messaging on 30 done in a night (*above), but we’ll see if I can get addresses done before I turn in. It’s the home stretch, so trying to get as many mailed as I can in the time I have!
kalakal
@WaterGirl: I have now, it’s really good! 😀
Omnes Omnibus
Tom Waits, Hope I Don’t Fall In Love With You.
WaterGirl
@kalakal: That live version of Year of the Cat is great!
WaterGirl
@kalakal: “Kurt” has the voice of an angel, I think.
kalakal
@WaterGirl:
Year of the Cat is my guilty pleasure song
Yes he’s got an absolutely beautiful voice
WaterGirl
@kalakal:
Gram Parsons & Emmylou Harris – Love hurts
I had never heard that version. They sound great together.
WaterGirl
@Omnes Omnibus: I had forgotten all about that song. I had that album but when I moved to CDs I never got that one.
I might have to add this back into my collection.
WaterGirl
@kalakal: Why guilty pleasure?
WaterGirl
@Mousebumples:
That makes sense!
WaterGirl
@delphinium: That holds up way better than I would have expected. Nice to hear it again! Music takes me back in time like nothing else. My favorite poetry is music.
kalakal
@WaterGirl: Heh, when it came out all my friends were into Led Zep, Black Sabbath and Deep Purple. Didn’t quite fit in with the peer group with that one 😄
schrodingers_cat
@zhena gogolia: One last one.
Sad Shahrukh from Veer Zaara from the mid aughts, about star crossed lovers separated by a hostile border and religion.
mvr
@WaterGirl:
That’s the version that got me to love the song. First heard it as a cover by Nazereth on the radio when I was a young teen and didn’t like it at all. Then bought a used copy Grevious Angel when I was around 19 and fell in love with it. (Rest of that album is wonderful as well. It doesn’t hurt that they had Elvis Presley’s band on that record.)
WaterGirl
@kalakal: Yeah but now what they think of the music you like doesn’t matter anymore. :-)
WaterGirl
Thanks again to everybody who is writing postcards! And to all the music peeps!
Xavier
It’s been my opinion for a while that we’re living in a songwriting golden age.
zhena gogolia
@NotMax: Yeah!
kalakal
@WaterGirl: Better than that, they all think it’s great. Funny people teenagers 😄
zhena gogolia
@schrodingers_cat: That’s sweet!
zhena gogolia
@schrodingers_cat: I’m going to come back to these tomorrow — have to go to bed!
WaterGirl
Beautiful Plumage used some of the Balloon Juice pet postcards!
edit: You bought 3 of my favorite BJ postcards!
kalakal
@WaterGirl: 👍👍👍
WaterGirl
@mvr: Funny how that happens.
@kalakal: kalakal, trailblazer!
Xavier
Can’t have a singer songwriter list without James Taylor. There’s a good argument that he’s one of the founders of the movement.
WaterGirl
@Xavier: Yes!
Wyatt Salamanca
For Free – Joni Mitchell and James Taylor
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2L7iCOpRDjM
BeautifulPlumage
@WaterGirl: thanks for getting the cards together on cafe press. I’m saving one of each on the fridge. I’m hoping they catch the recievers’ eyes.
First time writing, so used parts of the script and used colored pens on hand.
Mousebumples
@BeautifulPlumage: Thanks for writing! They look great! 🤩
I’ve got mine done and addressed for the night. More tomorrow, and for the Monday night thread! Hope to see some of you there, too.
James E Powell
@mvr:
You Never Even Called Me By My Name – David Allan Coe
The perfect country & western song.
Written by Steve Goodman. There is talk that John Prine was also involved in the composition, but kept his name off of it because he felt it was mocking country music.
mvr
@James E Powell: Yes, just listened to Prine telling the story on a Youtube video (I’d link but I’m listening to another one.) I believe Coe also tells the story somewhere.
This may be the link for Prine’s version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMiLqHTvbKE
James E Powell
@mvr:
Thanks. I always wondered if that story was true.
GibberJack
@jackmac: Mine (if i had to commit to just one): Fish and Whistle
I first heard it at a time in my life where it resonated. Also I love the counterpoint of the chirping piccolo-like penny whistle.
Father forgive us for what we must do
You forgive us, we’ll forgive you
We’ll forgive each other until we both turn blue
And we’ll whistle and go fishing in the heavens
chris green
My favorite cult singer-songwriter Willy Tea Taylor singing about Sam Shephard’s death and watching Paris, Texas.
https://youtu.be/noO9v7PikWA