On occasion, I’ve heard people refer to various things they indulge in – foods and beverages, mainly – as acquired tastes. Also on occasion, I’ve tried whatever it was they were rhapsodizing about and said, whether to myself or out loud, “Why on earth did you want to acquire it?” This has caused me …
Category: music
Aug 23 2024
Pie In The Sky By And By
Given how many of us Baby Boomers there are, there’s always someone whose 50th anniversary of something has come around. And there are quite a few old rockers and folkies available to reminisce about their golden years. The combination can be cloying, if not worse. For example, not everyone’s memory of certain musical …
Aug 21 2024
That Lucky Old Sun
Way back when I had long hair and things didn’t hurt, I was actually a pretty good musician. I played drums and saxophone, and I sang. That fell by the wayside as my military career started taking bigger and bigger chunks out of my life. There were other considerations as well, some valid and some …
Aug 14 2024
Some Music For Our Times… And All Others
Have a little music on your Curmudgeon: one of the most heart-wrenching songs in the Child Catalogue, from British folk greats Maddy Prior and Tim Hart: It’s fifty long springtimes Since she was a bride But still, you may see her At each Whitsuntide In a dress of white linen And ribbons …
Aug 04 2024
Some Time Ago…
…four musicians got together to make a little music. It’s not like they hadn’t done so already. Indeed, each of the four was a member of a rather successful group. Nevertheless, they wanted to stretch their wings in new ways, and they felt a certain commonality of purpose. So they recorded a couple of …
Jun 27 2024
Upbeat… Cynicism?
I don’t know what became of Juice Newton. Her first album did well, with the song below as its “hit.” But I haven’t heard anything about her since that first disc. Anyway, have a little remembrance, followed by one from the “other side” – of the sex wars, that is: Now, a man …
Jun 23 2024
A Hymn From Across The Pond
If you’re unfamiliar with British composer Ralph Vaughan Williams, you can surely be forgiven. He never achieved much popularity outside his homeland. Yet his choral works are among the most beautiful things to come out of the Sceptered Isle. Here’s my favorite: May you have a blessed Sunday and a glorious summer.
Apr 28 2024
Some Sixties Music
Not many will recall the Sons of Champlin: Every now and then I need to spend a little time in the Sixties. No, not for the “Summer of Love” BS. (Dear God, what an unhygienic concept!) Just for the music. Oh, here’s a little more, from Procol Harum’s glorious second album, Shine On …
Apr 16 2024
Once Upon A Time…
There was a band made up of session musicians who got together for a few drinks. Some of them were very well known for their studio work. Others were “invisible” despite their many contributions to the oeuvre of better-known artists. To make a long story short, they decided that they had something to contribute …
Apr 04 2024
For The “Post-Humorists”
The Left is rabidly opposed to a huge fraction of our cultural heritage. Possibly all of it, really. Historical totalitarians have usually striven to destroy their subjects’ cultural memory. The contemporary Left is as totalitarian as any of its ideological predecessors. Why let it happen? Preserve what you can. Make sure your children …
Feb 16 2024
Beautiful Music About Something Horrible
Have a little: He was just a social drinker but social every night He enjoyed a pint or two or three or four She was just a silent thinker, silent every night He’d enjoyed the thought of killing her before Well he was very rarely drunk but very rarely sober And he didn’t think …
Feb 12 2024
They say that innocence is bliss
It’s not Lent yet. But still, in my life I find myself recognizing that I’m not the person that God wants me to be. Some of the most beautiful music is when we fallen sinners acknowledge that we are imperfect, and we ask God for forgiveness. I guess I’m not as ignorant as I want …
Jan 31 2024
Music For An Unexpected Reverie
For no clear reason, just a little while ago I found myself remembering a friend from my high school years. I didn’t have many friends back then – prodigies seldom do – so I held on tight to those I managed to acquire. But this particular friend proved to be a mistake. He proved …
Jan 18 2024
Music From A Great Old Movie
My favorite two tracks from the 1981 animated classic Heavy Metal: Ah, to be young and stupid again!
Jan 12 2024
For Peace
This is the twelfth movement of Sir Karl Jenkins’s Mass The Armed Man. It’s titled “Benedictus.” And yes, that’s Stjepan Hauser of “2Cellos” on solo cello. If only.
Nov 20 2023
For Those A Great Distance From Their Loves
A little something from the great Tom Rush: To those who have their loves close by: Be grateful.
Nov 08 2023
Have A Little Afternoon Music
…for lovers in the afternoon of life: Dan Fogelberg wrote it; Glass Hammer raised it to glory.
Oct 30 2023
Stories Told In Song
I love a song that tells a good story. Here’s a traditional, performed by Pentangle: In Bruton town there lived a farmer Who had two sons and one daughter dear. By day and night they were contriving To fill their sister’s heart with care. One told his secrets to no other, but to his …
Oct 26 2023
Things Have Been Getting Too Heavy
…so let’s have some music. Here’s Emmylou Harris, from her Stumble Into Grace album: God bless you, Emmylou.
Sep 23 2023
A Musical Reminiscence
The older I get, the more my thoughts are occupied by my past. That’s hardly unusual. Neither is it difficult to explain. After all, more of a septuagenarian’s life lies behind him than ahead of him, exceedingly unlikely advances in human longevity excepted. Besides, a man in his seventies hardly has the range of …
Fran’s Recent Novels
Margaret’s Recent Novels
