I stumbled across an article online about the man who inspired Joni Mitchell’s song ‘Carey’. I haven’t heard that song in years but oh how I used to love it! It’s so exotic and carefree and just a fabulous tune.
So of course I had to listen to it again. And it is just as wonderful and fresh as ever.
Provided to YouTube by Rhino Carey · Joni Mitchell Blue ℗ 1971 Warner Records Inc. Unknown: Henry Lewy Guitar, Vocals: Joni Mitchell Producer: Joni Mitchell Drums: Russ Kunkel Guitar: Stephen Stills Bass Guitar: Stephen Stills Writer: Joni Mitchell
The wind is in from Africa Last night I couldn’t sleep Oh, you know it sure is hard to leave here Carey But it’s really not my home My fingernails are filthy, I got beach tar on my feet And I miss my clean white linen and my fancy French cologne
Oh Carey get out your cane And I’ll put on some silver Oh you’re a mean old Daddy But I like you fine
Come on down to the Mermaid Café and I will Buy you a bottle of wine And we’ll laugh and toast to nothing and smash our empty glasses down Let’s have a round for these freaks and these soldiers A round for these friends of mine Let’s have another round for the bright red devil Who keeps me in this tourist town
Come on Carey get out your cane I’ll put on some silver Oh you’re a mean old Daddy But I like you
Maybe I’ll go to Amsterdam Maybe I’ll go to Rome And rent me a grand piano And put some flowers ’round my room But let’s not talk about fare-thee-wells now The night is a starry dome And they’re playin’ that scratchy rock and roll Beneath the Matala Moon
Come on Carey get out your cane I’ll put on some silver We’ll go to the Mermaid Café Have fun tonight
The wind is in from Africa Last night I couldn’t sleep Oh you know it sure is hard to leave here But it’s really not my home
Maybe it’s been too long a time Since I was scramblin’ down in the street Now they got me used to that clean white linen And that fancy French cologne
Oh Carey get out your cane I’ll put on my finest silver We’ll go to the Mermaid Café Have fun tonight I said, Oh, you’re a mean old Daddy but I like you But you’re out of sight
I feel I should be writing loads and loads about the old year and the new one. But I have so much to say that I can’t say anything at all.
So here are two songs that capture my current mood, perhaps best summed up as a defiant, almost joyous “bloody hell, I’m still here, and I’m going to keep at it, you just see.”
UMG (on behalf of Polydor Records); ARESA, BMG Rights Management (US), LLC, LatinAutorPerf, Abramus Digital, LatinAutor – PeerMusic, CMRRA, MINT_BMG, ASCAP, and 4 Music Rights Societies
I won’t post the lyrics as they’re in the video.
WMG (on behalf of Reprise); UMPI, LatinAutorPerf, CMRRA, UNIAO BRASILEIRA DE EDITORAS DE MUSICA – UBEM, UMPG Publishing, SOLAR Music Rights Management, PEDL, LatinAutor – Warner Chappell, LatinAutor – SonyATV, Warner Chappell, Sony ATV Publishing, LatinAutor – UMPG, ASCAP, BMI – Broadcast Music Inc., and 10 Music Rights Societies
I’m like a child looking off on the horizon I’m like an ambulance that’s turning on the sirens Oh, I’m still alive I’m like a soldier coming home for the first time I dodged a bullet, and I walked across a landmine Oh, I’m still alive Am I bleeding? Am I bleeding from the storm? Just shine a light into the wreckage, so far away, away ‘Cause I’m still breathing ‘Cause I’m still breathing on my own My head’s above the rain and roses Making my way away ‘Cause I’m still breathing ‘Cause I’m still breathing on my own My head’s above the rain and roses Making my way away My way to you I’m like a junkie tying off for the last time I’m like a loser that’s betting on his last dime Oh, I’m still alive I’m like a son that was raised without a father I’m like a mother barely keeping it together Oh, I’m still alive Am I bleeding? Am I bleeding from the storm? Just shine a light into the wreckage, so far away, away ‘Cause I’m still breathing ‘Cause I’m still breathing on my own My head’s above the rain and roses Making my way away ‘Cause I’m still breathing ‘Cause I’m still breathing on my own My head’s above the rain and roses Making my way away, away As I walked out on the ledge Are you scared to death to live? I’ve been running all my life Just to find a home that’s for the restless And the truth that’s in the message Making my way away, away ‘Cause I’m still breathing ‘Cause I’m still breathing on my own My head’s above the rain and roses Making my way away ‘Cause I’m still breathing ‘Cause I’m still breathing on my own My head’s above the rain and roses Making my way away ‘Cause I’m still breathing ‘Cause I’m still breathing on my own My head’s above the rain and roses Making my way away My way to you
If you’re looking for Christmas music that isn’t annoying as hell, then I recommend Tori Amos’s album, Midwinter Graces.
I despise wrapping presents and writing cards. I like buying them, I love giving them, it’s just the in between that depresses me. But I now have a tradition which is to play this album while I do it. Makes it bearable.
Here is just one song from it but really, you need to hear the whole thing.
Provided to YouTube by Universal Music Group What Child, Nowell · Tori Amos Midwinter Graces ℗ 2009 Universal Republic Records, a division of UMG Recordings, Inc. Released on: 2009-01-01 Producer: Tori Amos Studio Personnel, Recording Engineer, Mixer: Mark Hawley Studio Personnel, Recording Engineer, Mixer: Marcel Van Limbeek Composer Lyricist: American Folk Song Arranger, Work Arranger: Tori Amos
This is my favourite Florence song, and it’s one that has always resonated with me. I do go through periods of energy and enthusiasm, often to cover up a void, but mostly actually because it’s fun, but I wear myself out. I can feel myself teetering on the brink of a breakdown, ready to collapse from exhaustion, but then I need someone to pull me back, give me a nice herbal tea and tuck me into a cosy bed so I can recover. I am incapable of doing it myself so I blaze onwards until something disastrous happens that totally floors me.
I don’t know whether this is what the song means or is getting at but I always read it that way.
UMG (on behalf of EMI); UNIAO BRASILEIRA DE EDITORAS DE MUSICA – UBEM, UMPI, LatinAutor – UMPG, CMRRA, UMPG Publishing, BMI – Broadcast Music Inc., ASCAP, LatinAutorPerf, Abramus Digital, and 13 Music Rights SocietiesSHOW LESS
[Verse 2] And I can tell that I’m in trouble when that music starts to play In a city without seasons, it keeps raining in LA I feel like I’m about to fall, the room begins to sway And I can hear the sirens but I cannot walk away
Something officially happened this week. I got divorced. In a way it’s no big deal, just a formality. We have been separated for three years. Three years since I realised I would die if I stayed with him, so I walked out, got a job, bought my own house, never looked back.
So in a way it should be a celebration. Finally closing the door on that miserable part of my life. But it’s not something I want to celebrate. It still makes me sad. Because a marriage is a thing of hope, of trust, of promises for the future. It was the foundation on which to build our children’s childhood. And we failed. I can’t say I regret it (that’s perhaps the only bit where this song and I are not aligned). I had to leave because he was destroying me. But it’s not something I ever thought would happen or that I would want. Nobody in my family got divorced and nobody in my circle of friends either. Divorce happens to other people.
Until it happens to you.
And I do feel like I will need to apologise to my kids for it for the rest of my life, something this song understands. The innocence of your children, the perfect life you want for them, and then the chaos and disappointment of the adult world comes crashing in and you brought it in yourself.
Listening to this song, to its tender regret and disappointment delivered by that magnificent voice, had me absolutely bawling and the tears streaming down my cheek.
Dolly Parton, what a legend.
Our little boy is four years old and quite a little man So we spell out the words we don’t want him to understand Like T-O-Y or maybe S-U-R-P-R-I-S-E But the words we’re hiding from him now Tear the heart right out of me.
Our D-I-V-O-R-C-E becomes final today Me and little J-O-E will be goin’ away I love you both and it will be pure H-E double L for me Oh, I wish that we could stop this D-I-V-O-R-C-E.
Watch him smile, he thinks it Christmas Or his 5th Birthday And he thinks C-U-S-T-O-D-Y spells fun or play I spell out all the hurtin’ words And I turn my head when I speak ‘Cause I can’t spell away this hurt That’s drippin’ down my cheek.
Our D-I-V-O-R-C-E becomes final today Me and little J-O-E will be goin’ away I love you both and it will be pure H-E double L for me Oh, I wish that we could stop this D-I-V-O-R-C-E.
A friend recently drew this to my attention and I’m glad he did as it’s awesome. This is a really beautiful cover, but it has prompted me to revisit Neil Young, which is always a trip worth making.
Provided to YouTube by Polyvinyl Records Ambulance Blues · Jeff Rosenstock · Laura Stevenson Still Young ℗ 2019 Polyvinyl Record Co. Composer: Neil Young
[Verse 2] All along the Navajo Trail Burn-outs stub their toes On garbage pails Waitresses are crying in the rain Will their boyfriends pass this way again?
Oh, Mother Goose, she’s on the skids Shoe ain’t happy, neither are the kids
She needs someone that she can scream at And I’m such a heel for making her feel so bad
I saw today in the entertainment section There’s room at the top for private detection To Mom and Dad this just doesn’t matter But it’s either that or pay off the kidnapper
[Verse 4] So all you critics sit alone You’re no better than me for what you’ve shown With your stomach pump and your hook and ladder dreams We could get together for some scenes
Well, I’m up in T.O. keeping jive alive And out on the corner it’s half past five But the subways are empty And so are the cafes Except for the Farmer’s Market And I still can hear him say:
I have been quiet on my blog lately. Partly because life is happening all around me and I can barely keep up, so there’s no time for reflection, or if there is it’s fleeting and I can’t pin it down and put it into words.
But I have been listening to a lot of music. And I have been getting angry about things, which I combat by escaping into music or, if I’m really lucky, into sleep.
It’s Black Friday today, so here’s a brilliant song to mark this sorry occasion.
Director: Oscar J Ryan Production Company: Head & Wrecker EP: Ash Teague Producer: Ellis Fox DOP: Emma Langguth AD: Dave Neale Editor: Beth Roberts Colourist: Jules Willeman Online: James Bradley 1st AC: Davide Scalenghe 2nd AC: Matthew Hollis Camera Trainee: Ben Keeling Sound Op: Charlie Hinde Gaffer: Kian Altmann Spark: Will Jensen Art Director: Annie Harmenston Runner: Freddie Reeve BTS: Daniel Bailey Graphics: Studio 108 Cast: Sean Ryan, Pete Howard, Jack Horwood
The Future’s Not What it Used to Be -The King Blues
Provided to YouTube by Pias UK Limited The Future’s Not What it Used to Be · The King Blues Punk & Poetry ℗ 2011 Transmission Recordings ℗ 2011 Transmission Recordings ltd / V2 Benelux ℗ Transmission Recordings Released on: 2011-04-18 Mixer: Peter Miles Producer: Peter Miles Composer: Jonny Itch Fox Lyricist: Jonny Itch Fox
Well outside on the street at 5am you know the world has a different face And at dawn in the park as the sunbeams break, the drunks sing amazing grace While the ladies of the night take flight as a big bright light comes crashing down You and I put the world to rights, in this forgotten little part of town Well I heard that they say that the traffic wardens dances dick van Dyke does Throwing shapes around parking meters, to adored rapturous applause Singing 5 part harmonies and jumping over cars while others dare to sleep With this city is my playground, yeah my circus is my street Singing now, woah the future’s not what it used to be So will the last one out please turn off the light, turn off the light Woah the future’s not what it used to be So will the last one out please turn off the light, turn off the light When they came to collect the names of the lads who want to sign up for the army They said they wanna grow up to be a G, gave up on trying be like dad the sparky Why run around 360, like a dog chasing his tail Or the schoolgirls dressed like hookers, the hookers dressed like schoolgirls Singing now, woah the future’s not what it used to be So will the last one out please turn off the light, turn off the light Woah the future’s not what it used to be So will the last one out please turn off the light, turn off the light Killing and drilling, well it’s all they understand In the Middle East and Afghanistan They fight over turf, they fight over land If you give them a ting-a-ling While their trigger finger lingers With the second gun slingers They fight over that There’s no unity, just to you and and me Trying to keep our head above the lunacy It’s just the way we’re living And we will never give in To this -ism schism prison That all men and women live in They war over guns, they war over god War over land and they war over drugs They war, they war, they war over love War over which god watches from above They war over oil, they war over race Some of them are warring just to save face They war, they war, they war over debt If it’s a war they want, it’s a war they’ll get Singing now, woah the future’s not what it used to be So will the last one out please turn off the light, turn off the light Woah the future’s not what it used to be So will the last one out please turn off the light, turn off the light
Provided to YouTube by Universal Music Group Ocean to Ocean · Tori Amos Ocean to Ocean ℗ A Decca Records Recording; ℗ 2021 Tori Amos, under exclusive licence to Universal Music Operations Limited Released on: 2021-10-29 Producer, Associated Performer, Hammond B3, Keyboards, Piano, Rhodes, Vocals, Wurlitzer electric piano: Tori Amos Studio Personnel, Mixer, Recording Engineer, Associated Performer, Guitar: Mark Hawley Studio Personnel, Mixer: Adrian Hall Associated Performer, Bass, Studio Personnel, Recording Engineer: Jon Evans Associated Performer, Drums, Percussion, Studio Personnel, Recording Engineer: Matt Chamberlain Studio Personnel, Asst. Recording Engineer: Adam Spry Studio Personnel, Mastering Engineer: Jon Astley Studio Personnel, Mastering Engineer: Miles Showell Composer Lyricist: Tori Amos
Ocean to Ocean – Tori Amos
Ocean to ocean, tales of the sea Tales deeply troubling
Stay with me until we Unravel this fishing net
Ocean to ocean, queen of the sea Warning of these needless killings
Stay with me until we Unravel this fishing net
There are those who don’t give a goddamn That we’re near mass extinction There are those who never give a goddamn For anything that they are breaking There are those who only give a goddamn For the profit that they’re making
Ocean to ocean, where have I been? While all of this has been escalating
There is a way out of this There is a way out of this
There are those who don’t give a goddamn That we’re near mass extinction There are those who never give a goddamn For anything that they are breaking There are those who only give a goddamn For the profit that they’re making
Stay with me until we Unravel this fishing net Stay with me, stay with me
Faith, where have you gone? Gone nature’s sons Faith, will you return? Return nature’s sons
To ocean to ocean To ocean to ocean To ocean to ocean
As I am supposed to be educating my children in our spare time I thought I should start their musical and cultural education in earnest. So today we watched this. Had the whole set on the TV. The kids wandered in and out but mostly they were captivated, stopping by to dance, comment and ask questions. I don’t blame them. Everything about it is fab -the sun soaked atmosphere, the dogs on blankets, the crowd yelling at that photographer to get down!
R said this is his “favourite music ever” and that he wants to learn the guitar. S says the “guitar sounds crunchy and strong”. At one point they were both jumping and spinning round the living room in a mixture of break dancing and wrestling.
I totally blew their minds by saying that the young people in the crowd are Grandma and Grandad’s age and older. “Even the pretty lady?”. “Yes, the pretty lady is about Grandma’s age now”. That got me sceptical, wide-eyed stares. “How old were you mummy?”. “I wasn’t born yet”. Wider eyes “Really? Not at all, not even a little bit born?”
Ah, the passing of time. Tricky one to get your head round.
Abigail's Library 