The Promised Land by Bruce Springsteen

"The Promised Land" live performance

"The Promised Land" studio recording

Do you live to work or work to live?

One of the consequences of the industrial revolution and the fervent economic progress in American history is the fact that many people work to live. Whether it’s a migrant worker traveling across the country to pick fruit or a single mother working two full time jobs to support her family, many people’s lives are nothing but their work. The path to a more fulfilling job that not only provides a reasonable wage and also enriches their lives for many people seems unattainable.

I’m not going to try and blame any group of people or “society” for the fact that some people feel forced to work jobs they hate, but it is undeniable that work for many people including close friends is a necessity, a burden and one of the more depressing parts of life. If everyone only worked because they wanted to, not because they had to the American workforce would look very different and it would reveal the difficult choices and perseverance that keeps people going to work and this country of ours running.

When Bruce Springsteen released “Promised Land” in 1978, America was in the worst decade for economic performance since the 1920s. The misery index (combination of the unemployment rate and the inflation rate) rose to an all time high by the end of the decade. Whether this was due to the growth in the Japanese economy, the oil crisis in 1973 and 1979 or the government’s mismanagement of the economy, people were hurting.

Many musicians in popular music focused on escapism. With disco still central in the culture, many artists focused on joy through excess and creating images of wealth for people to aspire to. So when Springsteen came out, a vision of the working man, looking like a someone who just got off working a night shift in a factory, he spoke out for the struggling working man because that is what he truly was.

This was a man who wore jeans on stage, had scraggily hair and had enough biceps to back you up in a bar fight. He doesn’t sing with the cleaned up tone and he doesn’t sing about their idealized romantic love. What Bruce sings about is the reality of the struggles in people’s lives and expresses them through a spirit of undying hope.

The first verse of “Promised Land” begins speaking about driving through the Utah desert. The narrator is enjoying the freedom of driving thinking back on the fact that he works all day and drives all night “chasing some mirage.” That illusion is that feeling of driving through a open space feeling the cool wind in your hair and for a moment feeling free of responsibility. At the end of the first verse, he assures us that soon he will take charge. A change is coming, something will happen and we get a sense that this is more than a dream. Many people work jobs for years and talk about taking a chance and making big change in their lives and Bruce taps into this idea, this belief.

The chorus speaks to a deep sense of frustration and restlessness.

The dogs on Main Street howl
'cause they understand
If I could take one moment into my hands
Mister I ain't a boy, no I'm a man
And I believe in a promised land

The dogs, are not only the animals but other working people who understand that if the narrator could take one moment and control their destiny, stand up for himself something huge could happen. Bruce sings “mister I ain’t a boy, no I’m a man” like it means something. The fact that he is a man means that he deserves to be treated a respect. This is more then a declaration of adulthood or manhood but a declaration of humanity. The Promised Land alludes to the goal of Israel as Moses led the Jews through the desert from Egypt. It’s not so much that the narrator believe in the promise land that is important but rather that he believes in something. In saying our beliefs, we are stating what we believe in. Moreover we are declaring that we are strong enough because of the fact that we believe in something to change your lives.

The second verse is about the struggle of going to work every day. Bruce sings about doing the best he can, working hard but it hurts. He feels like it is blinding and it makes him feel “so weak, I just want to explode.” It’s doing the same monotonous activity for 8 hours and just wanting to scream at the top of your lungs “let me out!” Doing a job that you hate not only breaks down the spirit but is a physical pain, a cancer and Bruce describes this as something that he can cut form his heart. In the end of this verse like the end of the first verse, there is a call to action and Bruce takes that first step in the last verse.

The narrator takes a journey in the third verse. He sees a storm rising in the desert, and decides to back his bags and head straight into the storm.

There's a dark cloud rising from the desert floor
I packed my bags and I'm heading straight into the storm
Gonna be a twister to blow everything down
That ain't got the faith to stand its ground

There is a tornado coming and the narrator has no realistic hope of fighting the storm but there is something deeper, more powerful at work here. Bruce points out that the storm doesn’t have faith and argues that belief in a single man is stronger then any force of nature. Bruce screams out to the tornado to do its worst.

Blow away the dreams that tear you apart
Blow away the dreams that break your heart
Blow away the lies that leave you nothing but lost and brokenhearted.

In facing the storm, Bruce challenges the twister to take away everything that holds him back. Broken dreams, hoping for things that never come true tear you apart and constantly break your hearts. Letting go of lies is about getting to the truth of our belief, where our perseverance and our power truly lies.

There are times in my life when I need to listen to this song like I need to breathe air. When I’ve worked 12 hour days and have to go to work early in the morning hearing the two drum hits and the harmonica is like opening doors to everything that gets me through the struggles in my day. The organ that dances throughout the song sparkles reminding me that that there will be a sunrise after the night, no matter how dark it is.

As we were reminded that we have nothing to fear but fear itself in the great depression, “Promised Land” assures us that there is nothing we can’t endure as long as we hang on to what we believe.

9 to 5 by Dolly Parton

The first time I worked a 9 to 5 job was after I got out of graduate school. My parents wanted me to focus on school above work in high school so I never got a full time job, but I did work. In high school, I was a piano accompanist, and got gigs playing at weddings and churches. In college, I worked teaching lessons and also made some scratch arranging music. My work often kept me busy but it wasn’t ever structured in a full 8 hour day.

I’m in my third year of work 9 to 5, which is more like 7 to 3 as a teacher, first in high school and now in elementary school and it is a challenge. I love my job, but there are times when the 8 hour, 5 day a week thing gets to you and when a three day weekend roles around it’s like greatest thing ever.

I’m not sure if the 9 to 5 structure is the best thing for productivity but from my observations, mostly from people around my age (twenty-somethings) it can be a grueling and grate at your spirit especially since an 8 hour day is rarely actually 8 hours. This combined with the fact that most people do not have perfect works situations makes just getting from 9 to 5 a struggle.

Dolly Parton released “9 to 5” in 1980 which has became anthem for the struggles of all of us who work. It was featured in the film of the same name that stared Dolly Parton, Lily Tomlin and Jan Fonda. This was a song that people all across America could relate to and topped the pop, country and adult contemporary charts at the same time. “9 to 5” speaks about the every day struggle from getting out of bed to dealing with an annoying boss and she does it a way that comforts us and reminds us of our self-worth.

Through her exuberant personality and hard work, Dolly Parton has made a mark on the popular culture as one of the most well-known and loved musicians. Her influence is so wide that when the first cloned mammal was born on July 5th, 1996, the Roslin Institute in Edinburgh scientists named the sheep Dolly after country singer Dolly Parton. Was this because of Dolly Parton’s scientific contributions? No, of course not, it was because Dolly was cloned from breast tissue and Dolly Parton 40DD’s are some of the most famous breasts in our culture.

Dolly Parton is more then her breasts. She is one of most successful people in popular music history. She is an accomplished composer and musician and have charted on the pop, country and adult contemporary charts. Her most famous song that she composed is “I Will Always Love You,” that Whitney Houston recorded for the 1992 film, The Bodyguard (here's Dolly singing it, which I prefer). She has appeared in film, television shows and been nominated and won for numerous awards for acting accomplishments.

Dolly Parton is incredible business woman who owns a theme park called Dollywood as well as Sand Dollar productions which have produced film and television including Father of the Bride starring Steve Martin and the greatest television ever, Buffy the Vampire Slayer. She is also a philanthropist working with her literacy program “Imaginary Library.”

When people complain about work, sometimes they are angry, sometimes they are sad and other times there is a level of humor. This level of humor can be a result of a situation that is so hopeless that laughing is the only way to cope. Other times, people complain with a quiet a smile. People do this more to point out the good things and the hope in the situation and only complain about the bad things as a way to say “things are hard, but it’s not that bad and we can persevere.” This is exact what Dolly Parton is expressing in “9 to 5”

The song starts describing the start of the day. There is struggle in getting out of bed but also a sense of hope, “cup of ambition.” The upbeat instrumentation and the rising melody line underlines the general optimism in this song that foreshadows the second verse. In the chorus, Dolly describes work, as something that we give to and get little back which is enough to drive you crazy.

In the second verse Dolly reminds us of our dreams and that we are not only in our struggles.

They let your dream
Just a watch the shatter
You’re just a step
On the boss mans a ladder
But you got dream hell never take away

On the same boat
With a lot of your friends
Waiting for the day
Your ship’ll come in
And the tides gonna turn
An its all gonna roll you away

Even though others may shatter dreams, they are something that the boss can’t take away. Also the sense of fraternity, knowing others are going through the same struggle makes us feel better about our emotions knowing that we are not alone. This song has a great supportive feeling that reflects our experiences and our feelings in a brighter light.

This song for woman is a statement of solidarity. In 1980 when Dolly Parton released “9 to 5” singing about work from a woman’s perspective with such a deep understanding of the 9 to 5 workday proved that woman were as just a part of the workforce as men were.

I’m lucky in the fact that no matter how hard my day at least one students does something or says something that makes me smile that helps me get through the day. The little things make the struggle of out of bed in the morning worth it. If you don’t have those little things getting you through the day try to remember that the weekend is always just right around the corner and never forget your dreams.

The Times They Are A Changin’ by Bob Dylan

"The Times They Are A Changin’" lyrics

In 1964, a 23-year-old singer from Duluth Minnesota released his third studio album and called out to the world that change was here. Bob Dylan was able to encapsulate the feelings of urgency, unrest and frustration of a generation not with anger but with honesty.

“The Time They Are A Chagin’” from the album of the same name became an anthem for a generation. It pulled together the folk music movement of the 1960s with the Civil Rights movement. There is a long history of American folk music speaking about the struggles of people and artists like Joan Baez along with Dylan brought that tradition to the forefront of music in the 1960s, reminding America not only of the tradition of American folk music but the power of the genre to impact society.

Critics credit Dylan with many things. In a recent issue of Rolling Stone, Bob Dylan ranked number seven in their list of the 100 greatest singers. While, I don’t necessarily agree with this ranking, his influence on music is undeniable. In Rolling Stone’s list different artist wrote about why the singers were ranked as they were. Bono explained that without Dylan, we would not have singers who sung with a cracked voice including Kurt Cobain, Eddie Veder and Bruce Springsteen.

While the influence of Dylan’s singing is debatable, the voice of Dylan at 23-years-old is truly remarkable. Sam Cooke explained that because of Dylan, singing is “no longer going to be about how pretty the voice is. It’s going to be about believing that the voice is telling the truth.”

Artists create their work within limitations. Paintings have frames and films can’t reach out and physically touch the audience. Great artist acknowledge their limitations and work around and within them, which is the central to what it means to be creative. Dylan does not have an expansive range in his voice, nor does sing with a fantastic tone. However, the songs that Dylan writes that he sings don’t require either of those things.

The melody in “The Time They Are A Chagin’” is made up of a five notes in amajor scale. Most of the melody features repeated notes, with slight rises and drops. The rhythm is close the way most people would speak the lyrics. In some ways, this seems like easy way out and if you think of it compared to more expansive and dynamic melodies, “The Time They Are A Chagin’” seems silly and almost stupidly simple. However if you look at this melody in the tradition of great folk songs like “This Land is Your Land” the artistic choices Dylan makes become clear. Simple melodies are easier for people to sing. Rhythms that match the way people speak are easier to understand and a singer with a voice that sounds like a person you may actually see on the street as opposed to an opera start makes the song not only sound for relevant, but also more accessible.

He starts in the first verse calling out to the whole population talking about how change is an inevitable part of nature. Dylan says that change may not have a good effect on you (“drenched to the bone”) but it is coming and it needs to be recognized. This may seem like a pessimistic view of the future but he speaking more to people who by not acknowledging the coming change are setting themselves up for hardship.

In the second verse, Dylan is more specific calling out to people who write. He explains that their predictions may not necessarily be true. Dylan invalidates their jobs saying that they can no longer predict the future. These writings are out of touch because on a fundamental basis the world has changed beyond what these writers can understand.

Dylan gets political in the third verse and tells politicians how a war is coming. If they don’t change and start moving, they will get run over. Dylan talks about how change necessitates action. This may not seem like a big deal to call out politicians but in a time when it was rare for pop music to even acknowledging that politicians existed, criticizing them was a shocking and unheard of. That doesn’t mean that people weren’t thinking it, Dylan just helped people admit to themselves the truth of the situation.

I’ll always remember when I first listened to this song and heard the opening of the fourth verse, “Come mothers and fathers throughout the land and don't criticize what you can't understand.” At first my jaw dropped, and then I celebrated in my mind thinking ”PREACH ON BROTHER!!!” As a teenager I felt I was misunderstood. I know that it’s human nature to criticize what you don’t understand but that doesn’t mean you should. At school, no one got how into music I was and people constantly seemed to criticize the choices I made in my life.

Dylan was right on that we shouldn’t criticize what we don’t understand. Wait a second, not “don’t understands” but “can’t understand.” No one can truly understand what you are feeling and no parent can completely understand what his or her child is going through. That doesn’t mean you can’t help make situations better but it does mean that we have to acknowledge the uniqueness of people’s feelings and situations which raises the level of relationships from a authoritative parental figure to a mentor who can truly help a child improve his or her life.

The last verse talks about what the result of all this change will bring. Slow will be fast, present will be past, and first will be last. The world will flip over and things that you assume to be true will be false. It is scary to think how correct Dylan. The changes in the past forty years are astounding and the world changed dramatically not only the way we view others but the way we view ourselves.

The power in protest music isn’t to change people’s minds. Do you think that a tyrannical parent is going to listen to “The Time They Are A Chagin’” and decide to give their child independence? Chances are, especially in the 1960s you couldn’t even get the parent to even listen to the song let alone be convinced by its message. What protest music does is validate people’s feeling and help them find others who feel the same way. In the 1960s, Dylan said what many were feeling but weren’t saying either because didn’t know how to articulate their feelings or because they were afraid to speak out.

Is “The Time They Are A Chagin’” still relevant today? Yes, because their will always be people who resist change. In America the change has been moving in the direction of a moral idea that lines up with the way that I view the world and one day it may move away from the way. At that time, should I just accept change? No, change is something that is inevitable but that doesn’t mean we are powerless. It is important to not only recognize change but to be vigilant by helping change move things into a better direction. We all are constantly changing and our society reflects those changes in a positive way if we work for it and in negative ways if we do nothing. Thomas Jefferson said it best when reflecting on government:

"I am not an advocate for frequent changes in laws and constitutions, but laws and institutions must go hand in hand with the progress of the human mind. As that becomes more developed, more enlightened, as new discoveries are made, new truths discovered and manners and opinions change, with the change of circumstances, institutions must advance also to keep pace with the times. We might as well require a man to wear still the coat which fitted him when a boy as civilized society to remain ever under the regimen of their barbarous ancestors."

Yesterday by the Beatles

In an episode of animated show South Park one of the characters takes on the persona of Professor Chaos to get back at those that he feels has shunned him. He has a partner named General Disarray and they go about planning their revenge. Professor Chaos comes up with different schemes and after he explains every one, General Disarray points out his plan was included in an episode of The Simpsons. This becomes a running gag through the show as it becomes clear how much that with a show like The Simpsons around, original plots and ideas are difficult to think of. Also because The Simpsons are have such a central part in our popular culture people are often unknowingly influenced by episodes that they may not have even watched.

The Beatles revolutionized the cultural landscape with their music and redefined what it meant to be a pop star. Anything that pop stars have done since the Beatles, the Beatles probably did it first. Appear in films, make music videos, influence fashion, appear on magazine covers, and sell merchandise, all of these things and more the Beatles did first.

It wasn’t only the business end, as artists they defined the language of pop music. So much of the Beatles music seems unremarkable because of how much what they did has become such an integral part of our modern day pop music. We don’t twice about utilizing a relative minor key in a bridge of a song, but when the Beatles first did this, it was shocking. It’s not a big deal to hear a rock band utilize orchestra instruments but it was revolutionary when the Beatles did this. Now it’s standard for a rock band or a pop singer to have a slow song on an album, but when the Beatles released “Yesterday,” Paul McCartney was embarrassed at the idea of his Beatles a “rock band” releasing such a slow and introspective song.

What makes “Yesterday” a great song doesn’t really have anything to do with the fact that it was one of the first pop songs of its kind. There is a lot of art that is important and has a cultural impact but this doesn’t mean that the piece of art will have a lasting meaning effect or that it will continue to be culturally relevant. There was a photograph called "Piss Christ" by Andres Serrano, which was a photo of a plastic crucifix in a jar of human urine. This was an incredibly controversial piece when Serran released it and forced American culture to reexamine the way that art is funded and the limits of freedom of expression. As important a piece of art this is historically the debate surrounding this work is what most people take away from the work, not a significant personal meaning.

One of the most powerful parts of “Yesterday” is its balanced and nuanced melody. When we think of great melodies they share beautiful contours that move the music forward to peaks that come to places of rest. The melody to “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star” is a great example of a balanced melodic contour. The melody starts with a low note and gets to it’s highest note on “little” and then comes down slowly. The rising and falling in the phrase gives us a sense of stability and predictability and the nuances, the small ups and downs in the overall contour are what gives the melody interest.

The word “yesterday” drops down a note and holds before rising up to “far away.” The melody descends rising up slightly “here” before settling down. The placing of longer note value on “far” draws the listener while also providing a sense of anticipation. In the bridge, there is a similar contour with a different feeling. On the words “why she” McCartney’s delays the rise in contour by staying on the same note. This makes it even more moving when on the text “had to go” the melody rises up and falls down on “I don’t know.” There is a sense of stumbling, holding back tears with “I don’t know” because of the change in rhythm that brings more interest by slightly speeding up the descending arc of the contour.

George Martin, the producer for Beatles got his start recording classical music records and his skills with those instruments and his classical sensibility heavily influenced the Beatles’ records. The string quartet accompaniment to this song fills out the harmony when it first enters and develops interesting counter-melodies as the song goes on. In the second bridge right after the phrase “she wouldn’t say” the cello rises up with a remarkable line that is soulful and yearning. The string quartet is something that so effectively sets an intimate and mournful tone to the song that we don’t really think about it. It’s like great make-up in a film. It should be so believable that you are not ever yanked out of the story and think the person on screen is even wearing make-up. The string quartet in “Yesterday” is similar in that it doesn’t draw attention to itself but instead contributes to the emotional meaning of the song.

Paul McCartney is one of the great lyricists in popular music. His lyrics speak to emotions and not situations. We don’t know much about what this person is talking about besides the fact that a girl left him. We may not know his relationship to this girl but the emotional meaning is so genuine, the specific subject becomes irrelevant.

Different mediums of art are different ways of communication. Music is not a good way to communicate facts. The written word does a far better job at telling objective truths. What music does best is describe feeling with a sense of time and motion. Great popular musicians understand this and work to reach the heart more then the minds and it is that which makes music a essential in the our lives.

The line that always gets to me is “suddenly, I’m not half the man I used to be, there’s a shadow hanging over me, oh, yesterday came suddenly.” The figurative language of being half a man and feeling a shadow is so direct and insightful. It is just that moment when things change and you don’t understand the world, when darkness that comes over us. It is scary and frightening and when I hear this line, I think of moments in my life like early my college years where I felt both alone and lost. The amazing thing about this song is that the melody and the simplicity in Paul McCartney’s voice reminds us that we are not alone in our sadness and that somehow that is enough to make us feel better.

This song is not about wishing that the past could last forever and that change would never come. Yes, there are things in my past that I wish could have back. There are feelings and moments that I hope I will never forget that not only sustain me through the trials of the day but comfort me in the night. This song reminds us that yes, yesterday may have been simpler and it’s okay to mourn that.

I believe that our future is meaningless without examining where we have come from. I believe that it is only through reflecting on what we’ve done that we can grow and make better choices in the future and I believe in yesterday.

A Change Is Gonna Come by Sam Cooke

When we think of music that we love, we often think of specific events that our memories have intertwined with certain songs. The interesting thing is that often when we think of memories songs come to mind as well. Because music has the ability to capture feelings, tying music to memories helps preserve how moments feels which in some ways is more meaningful then what actually happened.

The inauguration of Barack Obama as president of the United States is without a doubt a significant historical event. In some ways, the inauguration of all of our presidents are historical but for many people Obama’s inauguration is different.

There has been a lot said about the significance this event has on Civil Rights in America. It is clear whenever I hear African Americans who are passionate about Obama talk about the inauguration, that this is for them a deeply emotional moment in their lives

I don’t know anyone who marched in the Civil Rights protests in the 1960s. My parents came to America in 1978, after the Civil Rights act had been past. I’m not saying that when my parents came to America there weren’t Civil Rights issues, I agree that they are still present today, but it they my parents were not connected to the Civil Rights movement and did not suffer threw institutionalized segregation.

I do have some understanding of the issues that the African American community deal with as my parents have been discriminated against and stereotype but not to a degree that it has significantly affected their lives. My parents have a different perspective as they voluntarily immigrated to the United States while many African Americans were forced to come to American.

I’ve never faced open discrimination or been called racial slurs and I don’t ever feel that people truly judge me on my race. I understand that having an African-American president is historical and represents our development as a country but I don’t fully feel the power of this event in my heart.

In the same way, I will never understand why “A Change Is Gonna Come” is considered one of the most powerful and significant songs for the African-American community. Some have called it the “Black National Anthem” but all agree that it is one of the greatest songs by Sam Cooke, a pivotal and powerful force in popular music.

I came to know Sam Cooke through his earlier works, which were harmless, fun, soul music. The first song that I remember associating with Sam Cooke was “Wonderful World.” When I bought a collection of Sam Cooke’s songs on CD, most of the songs had this cleaned up shimmer to them. It was clear that Cooke had a beautiful voice that was effortless but still had weight and depth to it. Cooke didn’t so much sing the notes but dance around the melody. However, every once in a while at the end of a long note or towards the end of a song, you could hear a slight edge and a deeper emotion then the song portrayed. That soulfulness, the expression and passion that you could sense in his music came to the forefront with his last recorded song “A Change Is Gonna Come,” and to a teenage Asian boy in Seattle Washington, soul music came alive.

You don’t have to listen very far into “A Change Is Gonna Come” to be struck with the impact of Cooke’s voice. The way that he floats up to “born” in the first line and grows through the note is perfect. It balances just right amount of clarity to hear the pitch and feel his dark tone with a gravel and edge in his voice to understand the desperation and pain in the retelling of his circumstances.

“Just like the river, I’ve been running ever sense” is one of my favorite lines in pop music. It gets to me every time. There is something so sad about comparing oneself to the never-ending motion of a river. Metaphors are somewhat strange in the way that by comparing two things that aren’t related, making unnatural comparisons, we make the meaning more clear. So often in music metaphors are clever, or finish a rhythm but rarely are they as powerful as in the first verse of “A Change is Gonna Come.”

The words “ a change gonna come” appears at the ends of the verses. They are not sung at the peak of phrases but at the last part of the phrase after the energy of the phrase has been settled. It feels that Cooke is more trying to convince himself that change will come than that he actually believes it.

There is no hope in the other lyrics in the song. Cooke doesn’t even find solace in the afterlife. He openly admits to not know what’s beyond the sky. This is not so much a commentary on not being Christian but rather Cooke being completely honest telling us what he actually believes and not what he wants to believe.

The background features a full orchestra, which not only provide a palette for Cooke’s emotions but also supports the text of the song. When Cooke sings about going to a movie the brass and the timpani have an almost marching like rhythm that comes to the foreground while transform into an angrier tone that represents the person who told him not to hang around.

Throughout the bridge, a single French horn responds to Cooke’s pleads illustrating the conversation his is having. At the end of the bridge, the strings illustrate Cooke fall to his bended knees starting on a high note and dropping to a low suddenly and dramatically. In the last verse, Sam Cooke sings about thinking that he can carry on. The instruments take over after he sings “change gonna to come” for the last time and the music rises to bright color like sunlight breaking through a cloud. These touches add an almost subliminal meaning to the music enriching the emotions that Cooke expresses.

Cooke was singing about the struggles of African Americans in American in the 1960s and for people who went through that struggle and heard this song when it first came out, I can understand how Barack Obama becoming president is that sunlight at the end of this masterpiece.

Understanding this song and relating our own life struggles brings us closer to what Sam Cooke is talking about in this song. It’s important that we try as we can to relate to each other while acknowledging that our understanding of each other’s feelings can be never be complete, but that doesn’t mean it’s not worth trying.

If you weren’t crying when Obama won the election or when he was inaugurated that’s fine, but when something means so much to so many people I think we own it not to them but to ourselves to try to share in that feeling to get a better sense of our shared humanity



On the Saturday, before the inauguration Bettye LaVette and Jon Bon Jovi performed "A Chang Is Gonna Come" in front of the Lincoln Memorial as part of the We Are One concert. At the end of the song, they changed the last line to “I know a change has come.”

Whatever your political beliefs are, a change has come to America and it is for to see if this is the change Sam Cooke was hoping for. I hope that it is, not because I want to be validated in my support of Obama, but because I want to believe that our world can be a better place, not because of one man, but because all of us.

Margaritaville by Jimmy Buffet

I have been to Margaritaville.

It is a magical place that teleports you to a tropical paradise. There is indeed a state of mind that you sense when you see not only half a pirate ship jutting out of the wall but also half of a small two-engine airplane hanging from the ceiling. There are indeed Margaritas at Margaritaville and the food captures the tropical culture with such dishes as buffalo wings, Caesar Salad, Chicken and Broccoli pasta and my choice for my visit, Steak Fajitas. There are ten different locations where Margaritaville lies and my adventure into this tropical state of mind was during my last visit to Las Vegas.

I cannot think of any other songs that have become a chain of restaurants except for maybe “Ruby Tuesday” (however, that restaurant does not have as strong a connection to the Rolling Stones as “Margaritaville” has to Jimmy Buffet). I enjoyed Margaritaville. It was a little gaudy but the food was a good value and I had a great time.

When I was researching songs that have alcohol as the subject “Margaritaville” showed up again and again on people lists of best song about drinking as well as lists of drinking songs. It’s hard to take seriously a song that is a restaurant chain and it’s a challenge to take seriously an artists whose second biggest hit behind “Margaritaville” is “Cheeseburger in Paradise.” I mean, seriously what’s next, “Side of fries in the Sand”?!?

I don’t judge the quality or worth of music on its popularity but if enough people love a song and it means a lot to them, I’m intrigued to find out why. “Margaritaville” is a song that seems to be merely a novelty song but has an interesting journey of self-realization linked directly to the way alcohol not only influences the way act, but the way we think.

There are three verses. The first sets the image of a tropical paradise, watching the sun on the back porch, playing guitar and watching tourist be silly. The second verse starts to paint a different picture. He doesn’t know why he’s been there all season and has nothing to show for being there except a tattoo he doesn’t remember getting. We get a funny drinking story but there is a slight edge of regret with getting a tattoo. The last verse is the end of the visit to paradise. He injures his foot when his flip-flop “blows out” and he has to go home, but what has to look forward to is alcohol, which he feels will comfort him. He gets no consolation in the memories of being in paradise or looking forward to coming back next year. He gets that from knowing that he can get drunk.

I’m not saying that going to a tropical place, getting drunk and having a good time is a bad thing, but I do agree with the song that having nothing to show for that experience except a tattoo that you don’t remember getting is a little sad. We do take vacations to escape, but if that escape is more in a bottle then in the actual environment that you are in, well then just do that at home and save some cash.

The three chorus have an interesting progression that mirrors the verses. The fist four lines of the choruses are the same each time.

Wastin’ away again in Margaritaville
Searching for my lost shaker of salt
Some people claim that there’s a woman to blame.

I picture a guy at bar, drunk crawling under a table looking for a shaker of salt that he thought he dropped that is actually on top of the table. Then he goes over to the bar tender and asks, “what am I doing here? How did I get to this point?” and bar tender tries to explain to this guy that there something that happened with a woman that drove him to this low in his life.

Each chorus ends differently:

End of 1st chorus: But I know its nobody fault.
End of 2nd chorus: Hell, it could be my fault.
End of 3rd chorus: And I know it’s my own damn fault.

He’s working through the stages of guilt. If you’ve ever tried to convince someone of something that you know is there fault at first they start not thinking it’s no one’s fault and hopefully, they get to admitting their role in the situation. It’s like he’s slowly sobering up throughout this song. His mind clears and we get a better sense of what is happening in his life.

Now if you look at this song that way, it’s really kind of depressing but if you watch that youtube.com performance at the top of the page, Jimmy Buffet doesn’t look sad and NO ONE in the audience is experiences a deep introspect reflection of the role of alcohol in their lives. What comes across in this songs is “wastin’ away again in Margaritaville.” There is something comforting in this idea of being in this place where you can go and drink, a place like the bar in Cheers where everyone knows your name.

As sad as this story is, because melody is so optimistic it has a feeling of “well, bad things, happen, it’s probably my fault, but y’know life goes one and we should enjoy ourselves and have a good time.” That feeling of moving on through bad things happening and looking forward pass tragedy to something that brings hope connects to people. It’s not that strange that the thing that this guy looks forward to is booze because well, I admit I’ve had days where I’ve had a hard day at work and I can’t wait to get home and have a beer.

When you have a relaxing drink the world floats away and you go to wonderful place like Margaritaville, but only for a moment. What this song reminds us, is that even though booze can take us there, reality is waiting for you unchanged since you started drinking as soon as you sober up.

Escapism hopefully gives us time, perspective and a renewed strength to face our lives as we all continue to work to make Margaritaville more about a feeling of joy that we face our day with, than a drink in a blender.

Alcohol by Brad Paisley

"Alcohol" music video

I attended a friend’s wedding that was at a hotel in downtown Chicago. I got a room in that hotel with a couple friends so we wouldn’t have to worry about driving in the evening. My good friend was gracious enough to have an open bar at his wedding and as a guest I felt that I should help my friend get his money’s worth out of that open bar. After all, weddings are not cheap, if you can’t lower the price, then you might as well get the best value that you can.

I don’t remember how many Gin and Tonics I drunk, but it became clear later that I had too many. I vaguely remember getting into bed and then waking up the next morning thinking “y’know I feel fine, I need to go to the bathroom badly, but I feel ok, dodged another hangover, awesome.” Then the instant I got up out of bed, I felt the headache, nausea and general of feeling wanting to die that is a hangover. So hung-over were my friends and I that we just laid in our beds and watched Bring It On Again (otherwise known as Bring It On Again 2) and at the time it didn’t seem that bad, which really shows how out of I we were.

Then there was that other time with my brother in law (not the high school senior but the one who is a senior in college) when we decided to do a whiskey tasting at my place and use shots Jagermeister to cleanse our palettes between drinks. Yeah, that next morning was um. . . yeah, not a good time.

When I think about these experiences, I can’t help be embarrassed. It’s completely my fault and it’s idiotic, but it’s also kind of funny. Why are the stupid things that people do when they are drunk that they wouldn’t do when they are sober often funny? Partially because it’s something that a person normally wouldn’t do but in some ways we laugh at these things to make ourselves and each other feel better about our mistakes.

As much as the consequences of drinking is our fault, alcohol has got to take part of the blame and Brad Paisley shows us that alcohol not only acknowledges it’s effect on our lives but that it finds the things we do when we drink it hilarious.

One of my friends in college, the same girl who taught me how to take shots with Southern Comfort, loved Brad Paisley. If you really care about someone, exploring what they love is a great way to get to know them better. Paisley’s music in this case gave me an interesting perspective in the way my friend viewed the world and introduced me to one of the most astounding artist in popular music.

Brad Paisley composes some of the most clever, interesting and overall fun music in pop music today. The concepts in his songs are unique and entertaining. His lyrics are witty and insightful and his catchy melodies and well-crafted songs reflect his optimistic viewpoint on relationships and the world. Paisley sings with a conversational quality that is both un-pretentious and honest. He is an unassuming artists who is an gracious and engaging performer who also happens to be one of the finest guitar players in music today.

Country music has a long history of writing songs about alcohol. There are songs about almost every imaginable human experience with alcohol including alcohol induced amnesia and drinking whiskey as a post-modern reinterpretations of the feminist identity (oh and you thought Toby Keith wasn’t culturally relevant? Well, he’s not the most influential mind in modern music but he does reflect an “interesting” way of thinking).

Paisley takes a unique perspective on the effect of alcohol itself as if it was a living entity. When you first listen to this song, it is not explicitly clear that this is how this song is set up. You get the idea that this is some kind of magical and wonderful being that can change our lives, but Brad puts little kickers every couple lines to clue us into what this song is really about.

When this thing says it “can make anyone pretty,” that sounds alright. “I can make you believe anyone lie,” wait that’s not good at all. “I can make you pick a fight with someone twice your size,” oh dear. Wow, this thing can help me make new friends and get me fired from work? Alcohol is like the worst best friend on the planet. It’s that family member who trouble always seems to follow but you just can’t turn you back on them for one reason or another.

Paisley’s jokes and rhymes are smooth and subtle. There is an effortless quality in the way that the lyrics work together and naturally fit with the melody. In the last part of the second verse he starts talking about alcohol influencing world leaders and Hemmingway and then flips to betting that alcohol can make you put a lampshade on your head. Paisley is able to work around these lines with not only the way he constructs the lyrics but also the understated way he sings. He makes observations, which are partially true and describes them to us in a different light that points out the ridiculousness of our behavior.

If you listen closely to the about 3 minutes in and the second part of second verse you can hear what makes Brad Paisley’s guitar playing amazing. He fills in space between the phrases to add to the momentum of the music. His guitar playing always have direction and interesting musical ideas which is enabled by his incredible technique. Like his lyrics, Paisley often underplays his guitar playing not bringing attention to itself but utilizing it as another ingredient to add to the overall song. Having an amazing guitar solo is great and Paisley often does have them in his songs but if they don’t fit the song itself and serve a musical purpose it can seems gratuitous and out of place.

“Alcohol” helps us laugh at ourselves. It really is a funny state of affairs to think about the fact alcohol really does kind of help not only white people but also all of us to dance. Getting hangovers and all the stupid things that come from booze really are more about ourselves and our silliness which makes life that much more entertaining.

We should be having fun at alcohol’s expense and not the other way around. The funny entertaining drinking stories will keep coming and we will continue to laugh at the stupidity in life. What Brad Paisley does and alcohol should do is enrich our lives and help us to not take ourselves too seriously.

Hopefully, at the end of it all, it is us not alcohol who gets the last laugh.