Birthday Presence

September 7, 2012


My grandson turned 2 this week, and the entire family is gathering tomorrow for a birthday party for him. Since my youngest daughter and I share a birthday next week, we're planning a back-to-back birthday celebration; afternoon for the little guy and evening for those of us he calls "Pa-pa" and "Ant Inz."  Good food, good fun, good times.

Why do we celebrate birthdays? It's like we're being honored for something we had no control over, something we didn't cause to happen. We just showed up. Why don't we instead celebrate those who were responsible for our birth?

Some think a birthday is an opportunity to celebrate the gift of life. We know, of course, that this particular gift varies in terms of how long, how hard, and how fulfilling life might be.

Maybe we celebrate birthdays because, if only for one day, the "me" that once wasn't, now is, and someday won't be again can be acknowledged, cared about, and  valued.  And one of the ways we celebrate is through music.

I'm sure my 2 year old grandson has heard the "Happy Birthday" song many times already, and I'm sure he'll realize tomorrow that we're singing it to and about him. Did you know that this song was written in 1893 by two sisters -- one an elementary school teacher and one a pianist?  The original title of the song is "Good Morning To You," with a melody easily mastered by children. The lyrics of "Happy Birthday to You" were added by 1912, although the song wasn't copyrighted until 1935. Technically, we're supposed to pay royalties for public performances of the song, but I'm guessing more often than not this doesn't happen.

The Beatles' song, "Birthday" may someday rival "Happy Birthday to You," but you may not be aware that before the Beatles recorded their song on the White Album, they whipped out a version of the old song.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=glNjsOHiBYs



Contrast that with the 1968 "Birthday." Wouldn't you rather be going to a party-party? And since my daughter and I share the same birthday, the lyrics, "Yes, it's my birthday too, yeah," has special significance at our house. This version is done by Paul McCartney.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjF1bG5LUcs

I spent my 33rd birthday in the maternity ward of St. Mary's Hospital in Knoxville, Tennessee, waiting to meet my third daughter. The nurses thoughtfully brought me a cupcake after she was born. Since it was the only thing I ate that day, it was both symbolic and delicious. My daughter has graciously shared her birthday with me, every year for the past 25 years. WE call each other "birthday buddies."

There are several birthday-themed songs out there from 50s crooners to 90s rap and beyond. One of my favorites doesn't even include the word "birthday," but it captures the agelessness of childhood, wonder, and the awe of living. Here is the Band singing Bob Dylan's "Forever Young."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jtFEzhaNrT4

Paul Simon, in "Have A Good Time," sang, "Yesterday, it was my birthday; I hung one more year on the vine. I should be depressed, my life is a mess, but I'm havin' a good time..."  To everything there is a season, someone wrote a long time ago.  Birthdays are one of those times that we can, if we choose, forget about past regrets and future fears, and take a moment to thank those who bless our lives with their birthday "presence."  Happy birthday, grandson. Happy birthday, daughter. Happy birthday, me.

Old Wine From An Old Wineskin.

"My home ain't in the hall of fame; you might go there, but you won't see my name.
And my songs don't belong on top 40 radio; I'll keep my old back 40 for my own."

Robert Earl Keen

Recently, my son-in-law introduced me to the music of Guy Clark.  I'd heard the name before -- even knew that he wrote "Desperados Waiting for A Train," recorded by Jerry Jeff Walker -- but I'd never heard that voice until I borrowed a couple of CD's with Clark's own style of West Texas country/folk/cowboy/poet music.  It can't be adequately described; it must be heard to be seen. "The Dark" is the title song from a 2002 album by the then-61-year-old Clark. Have a hear:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0VQC2cX9h0

Guy doesn't talk through all of his songs, but when he does, you have to listen to this voice of age, wisdom, experience, and insight.

In one of the parables attributed to Jesus of Nazareth, it's a mistake to put new wine into an old wineskin; the fermentation process would burst the already stretched or brittle wineskin, destroying both the wine and the wineskin in the process.  Maybe so, but old wine in old wineskins is vintage, the good stuff.  Like Guy Clark's music.

Just listen once again to Clark's "Desperados Waiting For A Train," this version from Nancy Griffith and an all-star band led by none other than Guy Clark.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQW9Y9frows

It can't get much more Americana and vintage than that.  

Clark's songs tell stories. Those of us who grew up in the west have the privilege of understanding the power of the wide-open sky, the endless horizon, and the endless possibilities inherent in wide-open spaces, the fine line between a hero and an outlaw.

Listening to "The Dark," with its powerful imagery of it being "so dark the wind gets lost," and "too dark for goblins," and "so dark you can smell the moon;" the sounds of a house a night, the end or beginning of the day, depending on how you look at it, and the fact that some things can only be seen in the dark -- all set to simple instrumentation, with the voices reaching a crescendo shortly before the end of the song -- a song like that can help you breathe.

I may never write a song to match those of Guy Clark's; I have yet to hear one that doesn't make me smile, think, laugh, or cry -- sometimes all in the same song.  Still, I can see the value in singing about simple, common things. Grandfathers and grandsons (now that I am one and have one). "This old bag of bones ain't really me." Youthful love and well-seasoned love.  "The only difference between men and boys is the size of their feet and the price of their toys."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AmLIv8HwRSc

Recently, while my wife was working on an installation with her interior design company, I had some time to wander around downtown Charlottesville. There's a bridge that spans the railroad tracks near the downtown mall and performing arts Pavilion and, like the proverbial gold at the end of the rainbow, sits a Spudnuts Donut Shop. I hadn't seen such a shop since my childhood in Colorado in the 1960s; I had no idea they were still in existence.  Donuts made with potato flour, a German idea. The company was formed in 1946 by a couple of brothers in Salt Lake City. Franchises were originally sold for $50 plus the cost of 100 sacks of flour. At one time, it was the largest doughnut franchise in the United States, with over 600 stores in the US and 170 in Japan. The parent company closed in 1980, leaving the individual franchises on their own. Currently, their are 35 stores in nine states using the name.

One of those is in Charlottesville.

I had to go in.

It was 1964 again, from the aromas to the faded sign outside. I hadn't seen a maple-covered donut since I was 10. I had to have one. And another. And a couple more.  The coffee pot on the counter was it; no cappuccino maker, no fancy teas. Just regular coffee with cream and sugar.  I had my iPad with me, so I took a seat in the corner and wrote down my observations. It was a Guy Clark moment for me; "Where Donut Dreams Come True" came together as a song about how it used to be and, at least in this one place, how it still was.  A cross section of humanity came and went while I watched and munched.  They say you can't go home again, and maybe they're right (although Mr. Clark might disagree), but for 3/4 of an hour, I got a glimpse and a taste.

In the television show, "Mad Men," there's a wonderful scene where ad-man (mad-man) Don Draper is doing a pitch to Kodak about something they called "the wheel" and something he dubbed "the carousel." Using Kodak's slide projector, he sells them on the idea that the carousel gives you the chance to take a ride to a place you can't return to -- the past.  For me, the "mom and pop old donut shop where donut dreams come true" was such a ride.  Old wine in an old wineskin.

http://www.bandizmo.com/user/player.php?page=songs&member=2819&nr=0

They Call It A Party: It's More Like A Mob...

It's March 6, 2012: SUPER TUESDAY, as it's known in political circles. Republican presidential candidates are finding new, more effective ways to wallow deeper in the mud that they themselves have created, tearing each other down while occasionally redirecting some of their venom for each other onto the incumbant Democrat president they hope to unseat so the cycle can begin again.


Politics ain't pretty, and it seems the worse they get, the more people watch.


I still don't have a clue what the candidates stand for, but it's clear that each of them want us to believe that their opponents are less than the salt of the earth.


Too rich. Not religious enough. Too conciliatory. Not patriotic enough. Too willing to compromise with the other side. Not well-enough armed. Too soft on terrorism. Not respectful of traditional values. Too ... too ... too not me!


I'm being much kinder than I intended. Personally, I've never seen a worse slate of candidates for the highest office in the land. The politics of rage, expressed by wealthy white men who have very little reason to be so personally upset.  Party politics is the new fundamentalist religion; the party is paramount, slightly below God -- their definition of God, of course -- and more important than country, collaboration, compromise, and the greater good for the greatest number.


The world is made up of conservatives and liberals, and all who fall in between those labels. The nation is made up of Republicans, Democrats, and Independents, and all who fall in between those labels.  And guess what: no one, no side, is the keeper of all knowledge and wisdom.  It takes all of us to make up a society, and my own definition of hell would be a place where everyone agreed with me, all of the time, all of the way.  Differences are what make us human. Differences are what make us special.  Differences are what make us learn and grow.


What's missing in this current climate is the expression of ideas -- the exchange of possibilities and opportunities. Rather than hearing a candidate criticize another candidate -- and doing so with fervor -- I would rather hear each candidate share their ideas and never say anything about their opponents. Forget about telling us what you think about the other candidates; tell us what you think, what you feel, what you'll do. Give us your ideas, hope, and encouragement -- and challenge us, the voters, to do our part. Run FOR SOMETHING rather than AGAINST SOMEONE. Bring back dignity, integrity, and responsibility to the political process. Don't worry about the other guy or gal; tell us your dreams.


In the spirt of this, the seemingly longest campaign season ever, I wrote this song, "Only A Game," using an old melody I had lying around.


http://www.bandizmo.com/user/player.php?page=songs&member=2819&nr=2


"Only A Game"
c. 2012
Randy Lynn Mitchell


I turned on my TV to watch the debate
I wanted to know what they thought
Why he or she would be the best candidate
And not why the other guy was not


I foolishly felt that ideas should win
Not slander and libel and fear
But blaming each other's original sin
Became the only thing that I could hear


And it's only a game to be won
It's only a race to be run
The strong will survive, that's the way that it's done
And it's only a game to be won


They call it a party; it's more like a mob
Where everyone dresses the same
And nothing else matters but getting the job
Do anything it takes to win the game


And it's only a game to be won
It's only a race to be run
The strong will survive, that's the way that it's done
And it's only a game to be won


Another election, another campaign
To show us how low we can go
We'll crawl to the polls and we'll vote once again
For strangers we don't really know


And it's only a game to be won
It's only a race to be run
The wrong will survive, that's the way that it's done
And it's only a game to be won


As Mac McAnally once wrote, "Some kinds of parties are lots of fun, but right now I can't think of one..."  Someone else said that to win the rat-race, you have to be a rat.  Maybe that's the problem...  I don't have the answer.  In the meantime, I'll just keep watching for Jackson Browne's "Everyman."


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GgXzWhexJh0

The Emperor's New Instruments

A year ago on a business trip to China, I had an experience that few Westerners have had -- and a relatively small number of Easterners as well.  The Hubei Provincial Museum in Wuhan houses an exhibit containing the tomb of Marquis Yi, the King of the Zeng state (buried around 2400 years ago) along with an extensive set of ancient musical instruments that were buried with the emperor. I was shocked to learn that the musicians, believed to be between 15-23 years old, were also buried in their own coffins in the outer chambers of the tomb.

Must have been a bummer to be a musician back then!

Because the instruments were preserved in such excellent condition, the museum has crafted replicas of the bells, drums, flutes, and stringed instruments resembling pianos and guitars. Music and dancing from the era is performed daily in an auditorium nearby. As far as I can tell, these musicians have a better shot at longevity than their ancestors. For an example, click on the link below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bGH24QepCRE&feature=related

The instruments were found in formation in the tomb. The largest bronze instrument ever found, the Chime Bells, includes 64 bells in varying sizes and tones. Inscriptions on the bells provide a great deal of information about the instruments and the music played in that era.  The arrangement of the bells, as found in the tomb, can be seen at:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomb_of_Marquis_Yi_of_Zeng

The tomb was discovered in 1977 by accident as the Chinese army attempted to flatten a hill for the construction of a factory. The tomb contained a chamber for military artifacts, a chamber with the Marquis' elaborate coffin within a coffin with eight smaller coffins nearby, a chamber with thirteen additional coffins, and a final chamber containing the full ensemble of musical instruments. Excluding the Marquis' coffin and one containing a dog, all of the remaining coffins held young women.

The tomb was an important archeological discovery that depicted the sophistication to which the Chinese had developed music more than 2500 years ago.  I had only a short time to visit the museum and this exhibit; I could have spent days there. I haven't even come close to describing the incredible exhibit displayed by the Hubei Provincial Museum, the amazing performance of ancient music on ancient forms of instruments, and the process by which all of this was researched. I wondered why I had never heard of this, one of the most significant archeological discoveries of my lifetime? Chinese control of information, western indifference to oriental history, my own lack of attention, all of the above?

On the same trip, I had a Peking Duck in an authentic tea house, followed by an evening in a Chinese Opera -- more like a variety show with magicians, comedians, a couple of men who made amazing sounds vocally, and a long operatic piece about a maiden (sung by a man) who went down to the sea for a sea cucumber and never came back.  The music, though unfamiliar, enterained my ears just as the incredible food entertained my palette.

Later this year, I'll have an opportunity to return to China. In my spare time, I'll be looking for music. Foreign to my western ears, perhaps, but enriching and entertaining as well. And just like that amazing Chinese food I had on the last trip -- unlike anything I'd ever had on this side of the Pacific -- I'm hoping that no matter how much I consume, I'll still be hungry for more.

Here's a little Bob Dylan, ringing them bells.

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEFBNw1Kpss

Credits:  wikipedia   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomb_of_Marquis_Yi_of_Zeng