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The story behind the song(s)...
By now, you've probably read my growing up story. My father called us gypsies, and we stopped our home on wheels just about anywhere at all (but usually in rural areas) as we wandered around the US. The modern term for what we did is "boondocking," but for us it was just everyday life - no modern conveniences, and water was lugged from nearby rivers and streams. Nowadays there are lots of books and online guides with tips for successful boondocking, but we somehow managed to get along without those. In fact, I think we could have written a few of them!
In the confined space of our gypsy wagon, and with 9 children, 2 parents, and several pets, there's wasn't room for toys or games, so we created our fun in different ways. We hiked just about anywhere you could hike. We played with things we found in nature. And, in the evenings after supper, we sometimes sang songs around an outdoor campfire.
My father played the guitar, the fire crackled, the stars shone in the dark night sky over Death Valley or a California beach, and we sang these songs. The Wabash Cannonball is one of my favorites, although I like all of the ones on this playlist. Listening to them on my iPod takes me back to those campfires so long ago, and our times out in the boondocks.
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Showing posts with label iPod Song Stories. Show all posts
Showing posts with label iPod Song Stories. Show all posts
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Saturday, April 18, 2009
iPod Songs: One Love
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We've just finished a delicious snack inside the warm and bustling Castle, after triumphantly finding our way to the Mall on the crowded Metro. After eating, we feel refreshed and begin scoping out where we hope we'll stand during the big event (we didn't end up standing there - see the Inauguration posts to find out why).
The story behind the song...
Every time "One Love" pops up on my iPod, I am immediately transported back to Washington, DC. Here's what I'm seeing in my mind:
Every time "One Love" pops up on my iPod, I am immediately transported back to Washington, DC. Here's what I'm seeing in my mind:
It's the day before Obama's historic Inauguration, and we're walking along the National Mall, near the Smithsonian Castle. It's very chilly but intermittently sunny, and as we stroll, we're marveling at the endless rows of port-a-pottys. There are thousands of bundled up people around us, who have traveled here from all over America, and even from other countries.
We've just finished a delicious snack inside the warm and bustling Castle, after triumphantly finding our way to the Mall on the crowded Metro. After eating, we feel refreshed and begin scoping out where we hope we'll stand during the big event (we didn't end up standing there - see the Inauguration posts to find out why).
At regular intervals along the Mall, we see crazy big trucks with massive TV screens, which we hear others call "Jumbotrons." Next to each screen is a tall crane, dangling sets of 16 huge speakers all connected to each other.
On the Jumbotrons and speakers we see and hear the special event that had taken place at the Lincoln Memorial the day before...speeches, songs, etc. Soon, someone appeared on the screen (I learned later that it was an entertainer named will.i.am.) singing a Bob Marley song that went like this:
One love. One heart.
One love. One heart.
Let's get together and feel alright.
When this song began, people all around us started singing, and if they didn't know the words, they started dancing together. We hugged, and tried to learn the words. It was such a beautiful moment of group happiness...I can't remember another time in my life when I've been in a similar situation - thousands of people all happy at the exact same moment and sharing that feeling with everyone around them. I know it sounds corny, but the moment made me cry because it was so beautiful.
So, when "One Love" pops up on my iPod, back I go to Washington, with a smile of happiness on my lips. As my daughter and her friends say, "Good times."
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Friday, March 20, 2009
iPod Songs: Morning Has Broken
The story behind the song...
This song is red bandanas tied around shoulder-length hair, a cast iron woodstove, the scent of pipe tobacco, a floor lamp with a dim light around its base that stayed on all night, walking to the theatre in the rain and sitting through the show soaking wet and not caring at all, seeing the Po' Boys band at The Villa, cigarettes lit with the candle on the night club table so the light flickers against a profile…too cool for words, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Eric Clapton, and Cat Stevens, ping pong tournaments in the attic game room, yellowed copies of old Steinbeck novels, Tom Robbins’ funky “Jitterbug Perfume” followed by a bowl of beets, and eagerly searching for the answer to life, the universe and everything. 42.
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This song is red bandanas tied around shoulder-length hair, a cast iron woodstove, the scent of pipe tobacco, a floor lamp with a dim light around its base that stayed on all night, walking to the theatre in the rain and sitting through the show soaking wet and not caring at all, seeing the Po' Boys band at The Villa, cigarettes lit with the candle on the night club table so the light flickers against a profile…too cool for words, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Eric Clapton, and Cat Stevens, ping pong tournaments in the attic game room, yellowed copies of old Steinbeck novels, Tom Robbins’ funky “Jitterbug Perfume” followed by a bowl of beets, and eagerly searching for the answer to life, the universe and everything. 42.
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Tuesday, March 10, 2009
iPod Songs: I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing
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The story behind the song...
Way back when, Coke make a pretty cool TV commercial...
It was such a happy, feel-good ad, and everybody sang along to it - I still find it so moving. (I really don't recall how we happened to see that commercial, because we didn't have a TV then!) Anyway, as part of that Coke promotion, you could somehow get a free 45 record of the resulting hit song, "I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing." My big sister, Ruthie, who was 10 years older than me and in high school, got that record!
At this point in our travels, we were parked in Manitou Springs, Colorado. Ruthie was so excited to get this record and have it as her very own. We didn't have the money or the space for lots of possessions, so owning this special personal property was a real treat. She was sooo careful with it and wouldn't allow anyone else to touch it. She'd put that funny looking whirly-shaped little insert into the center of it and set it spinning on the family record player, and we'd sing that song with her.
I added this song to my iPod in remembrance of Ruthie, who is no longer with us but who will always be cherished.
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The story behind the song...
Way back when, Coke make a pretty cool TV commercial...
It was such a happy, feel-good ad, and everybody sang along to it - I still find it so moving. (I really don't recall how we happened to see that commercial, because we didn't have a TV then!) Anyway, as part of that Coke promotion, you could somehow get a free 45 record of the resulting hit song, "I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing." My big sister, Ruthie, who was 10 years older than me and in high school, got that record!
At this point in our travels, we were parked in Manitou Springs, Colorado. Ruthie was so excited to get this record and have it as her very own. We didn't have the money or the space for lots of possessions, so owning this special personal property was a real treat. She was sooo careful with it and wouldn't allow anyone else to touch it. She'd put that funny looking whirly-shaped little insert into the center of it and set it spinning on the family record player, and we'd sing that song with her.
I added this song to my iPod in remembrance of Ruthie, who is no longer with us but who will always be cherished.
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Tuesday, March 3, 2009
iPod Songs: Sweet Surrender
The story behind the song...
“Sweet Surrender” by Bread brings me back to the days when I hung out with my buddy Ronnie during my medic training at Fort Sam Houston, Texas. (Some of you were introduced to Ronnie in one of my 4,000 Questions posts.)
On days off, Ronnie and I would spend rainy afternoons at the base activity center, where there was a room with record players and albums (yup – we were using actual record players, with arms and delicate needles, and big black vinyl records – I think the big ones were 78s?) available free for the soldiers’ enjoyment.
We’d carefully make our album selection, pull the large 12” square cardboard case with its wild graphics from the shelf, and set the record on the player. Using the lightest touch so as not to scratch and ruin the record, one of us would set the needle in place and the record would spin. And then we’d experience the height of technological sophistication for those days…we would each attach a headset into the jack on the player so we could each listen in our own set, but both at the same time! The headsets were huge, similar to what you might picture a helicopter pilot wearing today, but they were very techie back then. We thought we were pretty cool.
Then, we’d sit back and simply listen to music. Sometimes we’d mouth the words (we didn’t call it lip-synching back then) or laugh and smile at each other. It was a happy time. Ronnie introduced me to Bread, and I liked the band from the moment I heard their first song. After that, Bread was always on our selection list.
Nowadays, I create a list of things I’d like for birthdays or holiday gifts, to make things easier on my daughter. For some reason, I had been thinking about Ronnie, and our happy times listening to that music so many years ago. And I added "The Best of Bread" to my gift list. My daughter surprised me with it this past Christmas.
As soon as I put the CD into the player, I was transported immediately back. Back to that sweet happy time of innocence, adventure, new experiences and hesitant daring; a time when anything was possible and only the best could ever happen to any of us.
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On days off, Ronnie and I would spend rainy afternoons at the base activity center, where there was a room with record players and albums (yup – we were using actual record players, with arms and delicate needles, and big black vinyl records – I think the big ones were 78s?) available free for the soldiers’ enjoyment.
We’d carefully make our album selection, pull the large 12” square cardboard case with its wild graphics from the shelf, and set the record on the player. Using the lightest touch so as not to scratch and ruin the record, one of us would set the needle in place and the record would spin. And then we’d experience the height of technological sophistication for those days…we would each attach a headset into the jack on the player so we could each listen in our own set, but both at the same time! The headsets were huge, similar to what you might picture a helicopter pilot wearing today, but they were very techie back then. We thought we were pretty cool.
Then, we’d sit back and simply listen to music. Sometimes we’d mouth the words (we didn’t call it lip-synching back then) or laugh and smile at each other. It was a happy time. Ronnie introduced me to Bread, and I liked the band from the moment I heard their first song. After that, Bread was always on our selection list.
Nowadays, I create a list of things I’d like for birthdays or holiday gifts, to make things easier on my daughter. For some reason, I had been thinking about Ronnie, and our happy times listening to that music so many years ago. And I added "The Best of Bread" to my gift list. My daughter surprised me with it this past Christmas.
As soon as I put the CD into the player, I was transported immediately back. Back to that sweet happy time of innocence, adventure, new experiences and hesitant daring; a time when anything was possible and only the best could ever happen to any of us.
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