Sad and Beautiful World (2025) – Mavis Staples

Posted on January 29, 2026 by observationblogger — 2 Comments

There are two things I find so alluring about this meditative and sombre song. Firstly, Mavis Staples’ vocals carry profound emotional depth and feel timeworn and soulful, shaped by decades of lived experience. Critic C.J. Fox once described it as “a voice as warm and welcoming as a mama’s hug.”
Secondly, the sparse instrumentation – particularly the interlacing slide guitar – evokes a deep sense of nostalgic Americana – visions of breezy air and open terrain, adding rich texture to the song’s melancholy mood.

Together, the music and Staples’ voice embody the song’s oxymoronic title – sad and beautiful at the very same time. She finds beauty even amid the grief over everything that’s been lost.

Sad and Beautiful World was original written by Mark Linkous a.k.a. Sparklehorse. It is the title track from Mavis Staples 14th studio album released in November 2025.

Martin Anderson from WNCW 88.7 said this about the album:
The album spans seven decades of the American songbook – a range nearly as vast as Mavis’ career – and includes reinventions of timeless songs as well as original music. It also includes cameos by artists who have become part of Mavis’ world, many of whom are legends in their own right: Buddy Guy, Bonnie Raitt, Jeff Tweedy, Derek Trucks, Katie Crutchfield, MJ Lenderman, Justin Vernon, and others shine a light on her while Mavis does what only she can do. Embracing vulnerability, she sings close and deep here, drawing the listener into a circle filled with her unforgettable presence.

Mavis Staples is an American singer born on July 10, 1939, in Chicago, Illinois. She began her career singing gospel music with her family group, The Staple Singers, formed by her father Roebuck “Pops” Staples. The group gained national attention in the 1950s and later moved into soul and folk music during the 1960s and 1970s, recording songs that reflected social and political themes of the civil rights era. Mavis Staples launched a solo career in 1969 and has continued recording and performing into the 21st century. She has worked with a wide range of artists and producers across gospel, soul, R&B and folk music.

[Verse 1]
Sometimes I get so sad
Sometimes you just make me mad

[Chorus]
It’s a sad and beautiful world
It’s a sad and beautiful world

[Verse 2]
Sometimes I just won’t go
Sometimes I just won’t say no

[Chorus]
It’s a sad and beautiful world
It’s a sad and beautiful world

[Verse 3]
Sometimes days go speeding past
Sometimes this one seems like the last

[Chorus]
It’s a sad and beautiful world
It’s a sad and beautiful world

References:
1. Mavis Staples – Sad and Beautiful World – WNCW 88.7

Mr Rock & Roll (2007) – Amy Macdonald

Posted on January 28, 2026 by observationblogger — Leave a comment

With family ancestry that partly originates from Scotland, I’ve always had a soft spot for anything Scottish, and that definitely includes Amy Macdonald’s music. Her whole folk-indie rock sound is right up my alley, which probably comes as no surprise to anyone here. When I saw her sing the Scottish anthem Flower of Scotland in near-freezing temperatures in a football stadium – my god, did she have the vocal chops. It still sends shivers down my spine whenever I see it.

Now onto today’s song, Mr Rock & Roll. I’ve heard my fair share of catchy songs that grab you from the get-go, but to these ears, Mr Rock & Roll operates on a whole other level of infectiousness. The immediacy of its appeal lies in that buoyant, jangly guitar rhythm – it’s really the backbone of the song.

Then you’ve got Macdonald’s super-cool Scottish accent. She sings so clearly, confidently, and with some rawness. There’s a real narrator aspect to her voice and what she’s saying is top-notch storytelling. From the lyrics, you realise in life you meet people that are great in your life, then they become strangers, then same thing repeats again and again.

The arrangement perfectly complements her lyrical tales of quirky characters and emotional longing. Overall, Mr Rock & Roll is upbeat, punchy, and effortlessly melodic. Along with This Is The Life – another song recently featured here – it marked Amy Macdonald’s breakthrough moment.

The following was abridged from the Wikipedia article below:

Mr. Rock & Roll is the first track on Macdonald’s debut album, This Is the Life (see image inset) and was released in the UK on 16 July 2007. The song is to date her most successful in the UK, charting at No. 12 in the UK and No. 1 in Scotland.

Curious trivia for you – This song was featured on the BBC Olympics 2008 programming, where it was played as the show looked over the day’s events.

[Verse 1]
So-called Mr. Rock and Roll he’s dancing on his own again
Talking on his phone again
To someone who tells him that his balance is low
He’s got nowhere to go, he’s on his own again

Rock chick of the century is acting like she used to be
Dancing like there’s no one there
Before she ever seemed to care, now she wouldn’t dare
It’s so rock and roll to be alone

[Chorus]
And they’ll meet one day far away, and say
“I wish I was something more”
And they’ll meet one day far away and say
“I wish I knew you, I wish I knew you before”

[Verse 2]
Mrs. Black and White, she’s never seen a shade of grey
Always something on her mind, every single day
But now she’s lost her way
And where does she go from here?

Mr. Multicultural sees all that one could see
He’s living proof of someone very different to me
But now he wants to be free
Free so he can see

[Chorus]

[Bridge]
He’ll say, “I wish I knew you
I wish I met you when time was still on my side”
She’ll say, “I wish I knew you
I wish I loved you before I was his bride”

[Verse 3]
And so they must depart, too many more broken hearts
But I’ve seen that all before
In TV, books, and film and more
And there’s a happy ending, every single day

References:
1. Mr Rock & Roll – Wikipedia

Tagged with: amy macdonald, Mr Rock & Roll, scotland, this is the life
Posted in Music

Tomorrow Is a Long Time (1963) – Bob Dylan

Posted on January 27, 2026 by observationblogger — 2 Comments

Recently I wrote how Donovan’s Catch the Wind was one of the most impactful folk love ballads I had ever heard, and certainly one of the most cherished songs of my youth. Well, here comes another that I would place just as highly and that held a similarly special place in my early teenage years. I first heard Tomorrow Is a Long Time when I picked up Bob Dylan’s Masterpieces (the triple-LP greatest hits album), and it floored me from the get-go. I felt like I was listening to an English traditional romantic ode from a bygone era. Dylan’s voice projects loneliness and longing, yet it remains modest and restrained as he pines for his love. It is one of his few early songs where he reveals fragility and tenderness with such openness and humility:

I can’t see my reflection in the waters
I can’t speak the sounds that show no pain

It is here – through inward recognition and reflection – that Dylan presents himself as a young, idealistic man, washed far from shore, with “no direction home.” He stands alone with little more than faith that his “true love” – the thing he seeks and prays for- might be both a real love on whom he can finally rest his head, and a quiet appeal to the music goddess herself: a plea to be set upon a path of artistic fulfilment, to give his life meaning, and to ensure he is never again lost or untethered from his moorings.

It is also timely that just a week ago, when I presented The Smashing Pumpkins’ song Today, there was the same futile resignation that “tomorrow’s much too long” to reach. The same sense of pain runs through Tomorrow Is a Long Time, where suffering and longing in the present stretch time itself, making every passing minute feel like an eternity. Despite what seems like a hopeless state – I can’t hear the echo of my footsteps / Or can’t remember the sound of my own name – the final verse ends with quiet assurance, recognising not only the beauty of nature, but the infinite beauty found in his true love’s eyes.

The following was mostly abridged from the Wikipedia article below:

Tomorrow Is a Long Time is yet another previously unreleased masterpiece Bob wrote in his very early days which didn’t see the light of day until it was released 8 years later in 1971 on his Greatest Hits Vol II. It was subsequently included in the triple LP compilation, Masterpieces. The song is actually a live performance recorded from his Town Hall show in April 12, 1963. Dylan originally recorded the song in December 1962 as a demo for M. Witmark & Sons, his publishing company which was long available as a bootleg. It was released by Columbia in 2010 on The Bootleg Series Vol. 9: The Witmark Demos, 1962–1964.

Elvis Presley recorded the song on May 26, 1966, during a session for his album How Great Thou Art. The song originally appeared as a bonus track on the album Spinout. Dylan once said that Presley’s cover of the song was “the one recording I treasure the most.”

[Verse 1]

If today was not a crooked highway
If tonight was not a crooked trail
If tomorrow wasn’t such a long time
Then lonesome would mean nothing to you at all
Yes, and only if my own true love was waiting
And if I could hear her heart a-softly pounding
Yes, and only if she was lying by me
Then I’d lie in my bed once again….

[Verse 2]
I can’t see my reflection in the waters
I can’t speak the sounds that show no pain
I can’t hear the echo of my footsteps
Or can’t remember the sound of my own name
Yes, and only if my own true love was waiting
And if I could hear her heart a-softly pounding
Yes, and only if she was lying by me
Then I’d lie in my bed once again…

[Verse 3]
There’s beauty in that silver, singing river
There’s beauty in the sunrise in the sky
But none of these and nothing else can touch the beauty
That I remember in my true love’s eyes
Yes, and only if my own true love was waiting
And if I could hear her heart a-softly pounding
Yes, and only if she was lying by me
Then I’d lie in my bed once again…

References:
1. Tomorrow Is a Long Time – Wikipedia

Tagged with: Bob Dylan, Greatest Hits Vol.II, Masterpieces, The Witmark Demos, Tomorrow Is a Long Time, Town Hall
Posted in Music

19/01/26 – 25/01/26 – Operation Barbarossa and Stalingrad Special

Posted on January 26, 2026 by observationblogger — 2 Comments

Welcome to Monday’s News on the March – The week that was in my digital world.

Stalingrad: The Deadliest Battle in History

– Audio Presentation at War Historian Sleepy

In yesterday’s article I mentioned that I had been listening to audio presentations about one of World War II’s deadliest and most decisive battles – the Battle of Stalingrad. This particular presentation which is AI-rendered, titled The Deadliest Battle in History, could hardly have portrayed the event more vividly. The events are broken down with such precision and nerve-wracking detail that you almost feel worn out by the end.

The irony is that the AI narrator’s voice is designed to induce sleep. It is calm, slow, and soothing. Yet despite this, I found myself completely immersed in the telling of this extraordinary battle and had to turn it off to get to sleep – and then hold out to revisit it the next day.

Before turning to the battle of Stalingrad itself, it is worth outlining Operation Barbarossa – Hitler’s invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941. I have always been perplexed, like so many others, by Hitler’s decision to invade Russia at all. Why launch such a massive campaign while already fighting across much of Europe? Why knowingly commit to a two-front war, leaving German forces stretched, exposed, and vulnerable? And why not wait until western Europe was fully secured, or focus more decisively on Britain?

Even Joseph Stalin, the Soviet leader, was caught off guard by the invasion. Germany and the USSR had signed the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, a non-aggression treaty, and Hitler’s attack shattered that uneasy agreement. Stalin was reportedly so shocked that he delayed mounting an effective response. In the early stages of Barbarossa, Soviet defences were disorganised, and German forces advanced with alarming speed – in some areas reaching the outskirts of Moscow itself.

One of the most astonishing aspects of the campaign is how close the Wehrmacht came to Moscow. German troops were within viewing distance of the Kremlin’s towers. What many historians consider Hitler’s most costly mistake was his decision not to concentrate his forces on capturing Moscow. Instead, he diverted major resources southward, aiming to seize oil fields in the Caucasus and the industrial city of Stalingrad. This decision left German forces overextended, poorly supplied, and increasingly vulnerable – especially as winter set in.

By late 1942, Stalingrad had become the focal point of the German advance. The initial German air and artillery bombardment was devastating. On the first day alone, an estimated 40,000 civilians were killed. Large parts of the city were reduced to rubble. Those who survived – soldiers and civilians alike – sheltered in basements, ruins, and sewers, defending what remained of their city under unimaginable conditions.

What makes the defence of Stalingrad so remarkable is how long these starving, exhausted, and badly supplied Soviet forces held out against a technologically superior enemy. The Germans possessed overwhelming air power, heavy armour, and experienced troops – yet they struggled to break Soviet resistance.

Faced with near-impossible odds, Soviet defenders relied on urban and guerrilla warfare. Snipers became a serious threat, forcing German troops to move cautiously. However, once sniper positions were suspected, entire sections of buildings were often destroyed by artillery or air strikes to eliminate them.

The fighting descended into chaos. Combat took place street by street, room by room, basement by basement, and sewer by sewer. The Soviets relied on patience, stealth, and intimate knowledge of their surroundings. In some cases, soldiers lay hidden in rubble, waiting for German units to pass before striking. A single Soviet soldier could disable or destroy a group of enemies using explosives at close range, often at the cost of his own life. They had the advantage of stealth through urban chaos and local knowledge and terrain.

Stalingrad ultimately became the turning point of the war on the Eastern Front – a battle defined by unimaginable loss, endurance, and sacrifice.

I’ll leave the remainder of this truly bloody, horrifying, and history-shaping battle to the audio presentation itself. It is a compelling account, and I recommend it highly.

That is all. Thank you for reading.

Tagged with: Barbarossa, germany, hitler, Soviet Uniion, stalin, Stalingrad
Posted in News, politics

Done With Bonaparte (1996) – Mark Knopfler

Posted on January 25, 2026 by observationblogger — 1 Comment

Mark Knopfler’s Done With Bonaparte comes from his 1996 debut solo album Golden Heart, released shortly after the second and final break-up of Dire Straits in 1995. He supported the release of the album with the Golden Heart Tour of Europe. One of the early shows was recorded and released as a DVD titled A Night in London which features Done With Bonaparte at the end of this post. The tour marked a clear turning point for Knopfler. He stepped away from the role of arena-rock bandleader and into something more personal and understated. The performances leaned toward intimacy and nuance rather than spectacle.

Done With Bonaparte is arguably one of the album’s strongest tracks (along with Darling Pretty), largely because Knopfler’s distinctive guitar work blends so naturally with the traditional and folk instruments that underpin the song.

When I first heard Done With Bonaparte, I assumed Knopfler had adapted an old nineteenth-century folk ballad and given it a Celtic flavour. In fact, the song is entirely his own composition. Knopfler is rightly celebrated as one of the great guitarists, but his gift for lyrical storytelling is often overlooked. This song is a good reminder of that strength.The lyrics are told from the perspective of a war-weary soldier who has survived the brutal realities of Napoleon’s Russian campaign. The language and imagery deliberately echo the era and feel as though the song could have been written at the time.

The song is especially timely for me, as I have been listening recently to accounts of the Wehrmacht’s defeat at Stalingrad during World War II. While Done With Bonaparte is rooted firmly in the Napoleonic wars, its emotional core feels universal. It even brings to mind the story of General Heinz Guderian visiting Hitler after the failure before Moscow and noticing Hitler’s extensive reading on Napoleon’s Russian campaign – lessons that clearly went unlearned. Knopfler’s song could just as easily speak for the countless German soldiers lost on the Eastern Front, or for soldiers in any war where history repeats itself and ordinary men pay the price.

Golden Heart reached the top -10 position on charts in Austria, Belgium, Finland, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. The album peaked at 105 on the Billboard in the United States.

[Verse 1]
We’ve paid in hell since Moscow burned
As Cossacks tear us piece by piece
Our dead are strewn a hundred leagues
Though death would be a sweet release
And our grande armée is dressed in rags
A frozen, starving, beggar band
Like rats we steal each other’s scraps
Fall to fighting hand to hand

[Chorus]
Save my soul from evil, Lord
And heal this soldier’s heart
I’ll trust in thee to keep me, Lord
I’m done with Bonaparte

[Verse 2]
What dreams he made for us to dream
Spanish skies, Egyptian sands
The world was ours, we marched upon
Our little Corporal’s command
And I lost an eye at Austerlitz
The sabre slash yet gives me pain
My one true love awaits me still
The flower of the Aquitaine

[Verse 3]
I pray for her who prays for me
A safe return to my belle France
We prayed these wars would end all wars
In war, we know, is no romance
And I pray our child will never see
A little Corporal again
Point toward a foreign shore
Captivate the hearts of men

References:
1. Golden Heart – Wikipedia

Tagged with: Done With Bonaparte, golden heart, mark knopfler
Posted in Music

Curious (2002) – My Friend the Chocolate Cake

Posted on January 24, 2026 by observationblogger — 2 Comments

Today I present yet another track from one of my favourite Australian albums – Curious by My Friend the Chocolate Cake (image inset). Today’s reflective and ambient instrumental is the title track from the band’s 2002 album. I received the album as a gift in the mail after seeing the band’s founder, pianist and singer-songwriter David Bridie perform in Melbourne alongside the late, great Aboriginal singer Archie Roach. Both artists have featured here prominently, and Archie will be making a reappearance in the coming week or so.

The title track, Curious, is a sombre, graceful, and understated piece, and captures the sensibilities of the record very well. The track gently reaches out, almost tentatively – a curious entity of sorts – and hovers without making any splashes or grand statements. Each instrument takes its turn to surface, sometimes merely tinkering or prodding before drifting away, and at other times lingering, like a leaf gently drifting in the wind. It is a modest piece, appropriately curious in tone, and it leaves me in a calm yet contemplative headspace.

Anyone even vaguely familiar with my blog will know what a huge fan I am of David Bridie and the Cake. I saw Bridie perform solo on multiple occasions, as well as with the band. One of my most cherished memories of Melbourne will always be seeing these musicians live. They remain somewhat enigmatic to me, largely because they were never regular fixtures – more like a carnival that passed through every now and then. But when they did arrive, they went all out. Their shows had a baroque, festival-like atmosphere – at least as I remember them – and I was left in awe of their musicianship and their curious, often flamboyant presentation.

Below are a few snippets from the band’s Wikipedia page:
The Australian chamber pop group were formed in 1989 by David Bridie and Helen Mountfort on cello.

My Friend the Chocolate Cake took their name from a song title by an obscure Sydney band, Ya Ya Choral. Bridie admitted that one reason they chose an all-acoustic act was so they did not have to carry around amplifiers.

Curious is the album’s 4th studio album and it peaked at No. 14 on the ARIA Australasian Artists Albums chart. My Friend the Chocolate Cake’s music can be seen to straddle the worlds of ambient and world music, with an emphasis on piano and violin-led acoustic music.

References:
1. My Friend the Chocolate Cake – Wikipedia

Tagged with: curious, David Bridie, My Friend the Chocolate Cake
Posted in Music

I’m Your Man (1988) – Leonard Cohen

Posted on January 23, 2026 by observationblogger — 9 Comments

Cohen, who was infamously known as a “ladies’ man,” was never short on romantic and lustful songs. He could paint desirous and appetising scenes with rich imagery – you only have to revisit one of his most beloved songs, Suzanne, to see just how dazzling he was at that. I have always considered Leonard a poet first and foremost. Yet as easily as he could swoon listeners with exquisite prose about love’s allure and magic, he could just as easily frighten you away from it, as if love itself were an ejection seat. Again, you don’t have to look far to find tragic romance running through his catalogue – Ain’t No Cure For Love is a good place to start.

Today’s featured song, I’m Your Man, finds Leonard at his most seductive –
“And if you want a doctor / I’ll examine every inch of you” –
but also at his most desperate –
“And I’d howl at your beauty / Like a dog in heat.”

To put it plainly, there is almost nothing Leonard won’t do to lure and secure his partner. It can be exhausting to take in the lengths he is willing to go to prove his devotion and see the relationship through. At times it feels manic and pushed to brutal extremes, yet there is comical wit in the darkness of his infatuation and fantasy, often prompting a wry smile.

Cohen said of the track:
“I sweated over that one. I really sweated over it. I can show you the notebook for that. It started off as a song called ‘I Cried Enough for You’. It was related to a version of ‘Waiting for a Miracle’ that I recorded. The rhyme scheme was developed by toeing the line with that musical version that I put down. But it didn’t work.”

I’m Your Man is the title track from Cohen’s 1988 album (image inset). It was released as the second single from the album but failed to chart at the time. Curiously, after Cohen’s passing in 2016, the song was re-released and reached No. 57 on the French charts. What once made little commercial impact later became a concert staple. At the time this article was written – his 2013 live performance from Dublin attracted around 32 million views, far surpassing the roughly 2.4 million views of the original studio recording.

Wikipedia on the album ‘I’m Your Man‘:
The album marked Cohen’s further move to a more modern sound, with many songs having a synthesizer-oriented production. It soon became the most successful studio album which Cohen had released in the US, and it reached number one in several European countries, transforming Cohen into a best-selling artist.

I’m Your Man was also the title of a 2005 tribute concert film (image inset), which served as my first proper introduction to Leonard Cohen’s music and history. More broadly, that film – watched more times than I care to admit – had a major influence on my growing appreciation of the artist and sent me down countless rabbit holes across his many musical periods. Although I came to Leonard’s work relatively late, I now count him among my favourite singer-songwriters, alongside Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen. He remains, for me, a singular contemporary spiritual artist, responsible for anthemic masterpieces such as Hallelujah and Come Healing.

[Verse 1]
If you want a lover
I’ll do anything you ask me to
And if you want another kind of love
I’ll wear a mask for you
If you want a partner
Take my hand
Or if you want to strike me down in anger
Here I stand
I’m your man

[Verse 2]
If you want a boxer
I will step into the ring for you
And if you want a doctor
I’ll examine every inch of you
If you want a driver
Climb inside
Or if you want to take me for a ride
You know you can
I’m your man

[Bridge]
Ah, the moon’s too bright
The chain’s too tight
The beast won’t go to sleep
I’ve been running through these promises to you
That I made and I could not keep
Ah, but a man never got a woman back
Not by begging on his knees
Or I’d crawl to you baby
And I’d fall at your feet
And I’d howl at your beauty
Like a dog in heat
And I’d claw at your heart
And I’d tear at your sheet
I’d say please (Please)
I’m your man

[Verse 3]
And if you’ve got to sleep
A moment on the road
I will steer for you
And if you want to work the street alone
I’ll disappear for you
If you want a father for your child
Or only want to walk with me a while
Across the sand
I’m your man

[Outro]
If you want a lover
I’ll do anything that you ask me to
And if you want another kind of love
I’ll wear a mask for you

References:
1. I’m Your Man (Leonard Cohen song) – Wikipedia
2. I’m Your Man (Leonard Cohen album) – Wikipedia

Tagged with: I'm Your Man, leonard cohen
Posted in Music

Todo lo Demás También (1997) – Andrés Calamaro

Posted on January 22, 2026 by observationblogger — 1 Comment

Andrés Calamaro - Todo lo demás (audio en vivo / año 2008) - YouTube

My favourite Latin-rock singer-songwriter and Argentine great, Andrés Calamaro, is back this time with Todo lo Demás También (Eng: And Everyone Else as Well). I was first introduced to his music by my daughter Katherine when she was seven years old, and I’ve been a fan ever since. She played his tremendous Flaca (Eng: Skinny) over and over, and from there we explored more of his catalogue using the bus service’s music offerings during a trip to Colombia’s Caribbean coast. I remember feeling almost dizzy listening for the first time to so many songs that truly floored me – many of which I’ve already written about here.

Another aspect of Calamaro’s image, singing, and music that I find so appealing is his clear Bob Dylan influence – not in a false or gimmicky way, but as an honest tribute. Kat also put me onto Calamaro’s Te Quiero Igual (I Love You Just the Same). I’ll never forget seeing the video for the first time – I shouted out, “That’s Dylan!” Calamaro performs a bold Dylan homage there, even recreating the cue-card imagery from Subterranean Homesick Blues. Crucially, though, he has the songwriting talent to back it up. Many of his songs, including today’s feature, carry a strong Dylanesque spirit. For that reason, I think he earns my unofficial label: “the Dylan of Latin America.”

What I love about Todo lo Demás También is the rollicking, slightly distorted guitar, which reverberates like a flighty, yet nervous heartbeat – as if the music itself reflects a fractured yet warm soul. I find it very catchy and oddly comforting at the same time. Then there’s Calamaro’s writing: sharp, witty, often humorous, sometimes snarky, and self-deprecating – “I have little to boast about / because everything I touch breaks.”

Calamaro frequently sings from the position of the wounded or displaced lover, caught in precarious relationships and left to unpack his own fickle, scattered thoughts. Here, he lays out small moments and observations that show him holding the losing hand once again. One comment I saw summed it up perfectly: “When you’re sent to the friend zone, but you’re noble and, like any gentleman, you accept defeat.”

So do yourself a favour and take in the amusing, intelligent lyrics below. It took me ages to organise the translation, so they may as well be put to good use.

Todo lo Demás También appears on Andrés Calamaro’s 1997 album Alta Suciedad (High Dirt), widely regarded as one of his finest and most beloved records. The album was recorded in the United States under the guidance of producer Joe Blaney and went on to become one of the best-selling albums in the history of Argentine rock.

I’ve also included an outstanding live version below the original studio recording. I hope Calamaro’s music leaves its mark on you as deeply as it did on me.
Thanks for reading.

Te vi quemando el pasaporte con rabia / I saw you burning your passport in anger
En la fuente de la Plaza Real / At the fountain in the Plaza Real
Entre fuegos artificiales pobres de pueblo / Amidst the cheap fireworks of a small town
Y palomas que nos ven pasar / And pigeons watching us pass by
Y todo lo demás también / And everyone else as well

Parecía el cielo porque estabas conmigo / It felt like heaven because you were with me
Todavía soy tu amigo, pero te deseo el bien / I’m still your friend, and I wish you well
O lo que quieras, pero por lo que más quieras / Or whatever you want – but for heaven’s sake
No me pises los zapatos de piel / Don’t step on my leather shoes
Y todo lo demás también / And everyone else’s as well

Puedo presumir de poco / I have little to boast about
Porque todo lo que toco se rompe (Uh-uh) / Because everything I touch breaks (uh-uh)
Te presté un corazón loco / I lent you a crazy heart
Que se dobla con el viento y se rompe (Uuh-uh-uh) / That bends with the wind and breaks (uuh-uh-uh)
(Uuh-uh-uh)

Yo te prometí hacer deporte / I promised I’d start exercising
Pero era una mentira para robarte un “tal vez” (Uuh) / But it was a lie, just to steal a “maybe” from you (uuh)
El fuera de juego era evidente / The offside was obvious
Y en la frente me escribí tu nombre por primera vez / And on my forehead I wrote your name for the first time
Y todo lo demás también / And everyone else’s as well

Puedo resumir un poco / I can sum it up a bit
Porque todo lo que toco se rompe (Uuh-uh) / Because everything I touch breaks (uuh-uh)
Te presté un corazón loco / I lent you a crazy heart
Que se dobla con el viento y se rompe / That bends with the wind and breaks (uuh-uh-uh)
(Uuh-uh-uh)

(Aah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-uuh-auh)
(Aah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah)
(Y todo lo demás también) / And everyone else as well
Puedo presumir de poco / I have little to boast about
Porque todo lo que toco se rompe (Uuh) / Because everything I touch breaks (uuh)
Hablo de un corazón loco / I’m talking about a crazy heart
Que se dobla con el viento y se rompe / That bends with the wind and breaks
(Aah-ah-ah, aah-ah-ah)
Y todo lo demás también / And everyone elses as well

References:
1. Andrés Calamaro – Wikipedia

Tagged with: Alta Suciedad, And everyone else as well, Andrés Calamaro, Todo lo demás también
Posted in Music

Today (1993) – The Smashing Pumpkins

Posted on January 21, 2026 by observationblogger — 12 Comments

Today by The Smashing Pumpkins sounds on the surface – uplifting and effervescent for a grunge-leaning alternative rock band that broke through during the mainstream embrace of alternative music in the early 1990s. However, the song comes in waves, capturing fleeting moments of exhilaration and sadness – the feeling of fully engaging with the present and soaking it up for all it’s worth, a sentiment that later reveals its irony, while knowing that tomorrow will arrive too, even if “tomorrow’s much too long” to get to.

From the gentle, chiming opening guitar riff, the song suddenly surges forward as a wall of distorted guitars crashes in. This shift sets up the song’s defining dynamic: the contrast between the delicate, almost siren-like lead guitar and the thick, bursting grunge sound that follows. Somehow, that tension lifts you up rather than drags you down. It certainly did for me the first time I heard it.

Lead singer, guitarist, and principal songwriter Billy Corgan – who also appears as the central figure in the video – once explained the song’s transformation: “When I added the opening riff, it completely changed the character of the song. Suddenly, I had a song that was starting out quiet and then got very loud.”

It surprised me to learn, while researching this article, that Billy Corgan wrote Today during a period when he was experiencing suicidal thoughts. Given the song’s ironic lines – such as “Today is the greatest day” – and its soft, gentle verses, many listeners, myself included, were likely unaware that the song reflects a deeper sense of depression and desperation tied closely to the narrator’s state of mind.

Corgan said, ‘I just thought it was funny to write a song that said today is the greatest day of your life because it can’t get any worse‘. Corgan later compared writing the lyrics of Today and “Disarm” to “ripping [his] guts out“.

I remember buying and listening to The Smashing Pumpkins’ second album, Siamese Dream, repeatedly when it was released in 1993. Today was issued as the album’s second single and achieved moderate success beyond the alternative charts, reaching No. 28 on the US Billboard chart and No. 44 in the UK. It has now recognized as one of the first songs that brought the Pumpkins into the mainstream.

Corgan said, “The day after I wrote ‘Today’, my manager heard it and said, ‘It’s a hit’, and I guess in a way, it was.” A Blender article described Today as having “achieved a remarkable status as one of the defining songs of its generation, perfectly mirroring the fractured alienation of American youth in the 1990s“.
The song ranked No. 63 in a 2006 poll at WOXY.com of the 500 Best Modern Rock Songs of all time.

Apart from today’s featured track, the record had some other fantastic songs which I listened to often, like Mayonaise, Tonight, Tonight & Disarm. The album received widespread acclaim and is often regarded as one of the best records of the genre. More broadly, my friends and I in Canberra were swept up in the alternative music wave coming out of Seattle, which was taking the music world by storm at the time. The Smashing Pumpkins were just one of many pioneering alternative rock bands helping to shape this new musical landscape. Our fascination with the scene ran deep – we even frequented obscure, grungy venues showcasing garage-style alternative bands that were only just starting out.

The accompanying music video below is pretty animated and sweet and contrasts with some of the dynamic shifts in the instrumentation. The description states: Corgan said that the plot of the video for “Today” was inspired by a memory he had of an ice cream truck driver who, upon quitting his job, gave out his remaining stock of ice cream to the neighborhood children.

The video brought even more mainstream success to the band through repeated airplay on MTV. Debuting in September 1993, it was shot with low quality photographic equipment, which, like several other early Pumpkins videos, was an intentional stylistic decision.

Today is the greatest
Day I’ve ever known
Can’t live for tomorrow
Tomorrow’s much too long
I’ll burn my eyes out
Before I get out

I wanted more
Than life could ever grant me
Bored by the chore
Of saving face

Today is the greatest
Day I’ve ever known
Can’t wait for tomorrow
I might not have that long
I’ll tear my heart out
Before I get out

Pink ribbon scars
That never forget
I tried so hard
To cleanse these regrets
My angel wings
Were bruised and restrained
My belly stings

Today is
Today is
Today is
The greatest day, ooh
Ooh, oh, oh, ooh

[Bridge]
I want to turn you on
I want to turn you on
I want to turn you on
I want to turn you

[Outro]
Today is the greatest
Today is the greatest day
Today is the greatest day
That I have ever really known

References:
1. Today (The Smashing Pumpkins song) – Wikipedia

Tagged with: Siamese Dream, the smashing pumpkins, today
Posted in Music

Hungry Heart (1980) – Bruce Springsteen

Posted on January 20, 2026 by observationblogger — 4 Comments

Hungry Heart makes an appearance at the beginning of Springsteen’s recent biopic Deliver Me From Nowhere, where it marks his first real brush with chart success, peaking at No. 5. It remains one of his ten most popular songs in terms of streaming. Yet, paradoxically, just as he achieved this level of public recognition, Springsteen was far from satisfied. He was still grappling with dark demons rooted in his upbringing, and at the very moment he might have wanted to lean into a bit of fame and fanfare, his attention was already turning toward his next record – Nebraska. You can read more about the lows and testing times Bruce faced during this difficult period in my review of the film here.

Hungry Heart was originally written for The Ramones, but Bruce kept it for himself. During the sessions for the Darkness on the Record album in 1977 he’d also written Because the Night for Patti Smith who landed a big hit with it. Previously, Bruce had composed Fire, originally intended to be performed by Elvis Presley but which ended up being a hit for The Pointer Sisters in 1978.

Joey Ramone and the Boss met in Asbury Park, New Jersey. Joey asked Springsteen to write a song for the Ramones, and on that same night, Bruce wrote Hungry Heart. He told Dave Marsh he wrote it in “a half hour, or ten minutes, real fast.”

In Clarence Clemons’s memoir Big Man: Real Life & Tall Tales (2010) he describes Hungry Heart as arriving in a sudden burst at the end of a stalled studio day, with Springsteen going for a bathroom break, then coming back, and writing the song almost in one uninterrupted rush.
Jon Landau, Springsteen’s manager, warned that it could happen as had happened with Because the Night and Fire and convinced the Boss to keep the song Hungry Heart and include it on the album The River.

Hungry Heart has several interesting aspects. The verse and chorus have the same rhythm and the same melody and, in addition, Springsteen accelerates the lyrics slightly above the tempo. Moreover, it sounded brighter and poppier than anything Springsteen had recorded to date. Also Bruce’s tone sounds different than at any other time I can remember – Springsteen often sings against the song for phrasing and effect – but here he has a super smooth and softened, deepened nasally tone – shaped for radio – pop restraint, if you like.

The lyrics, as you will see below, contrast with the tone of the song. I wonder how many of those who attended the concerts in large stadiums during the eighties, chanting the song out so heartily knew it is about a man who abandons his wife and children. For a one-stop guide to everything you might want to know about Hungry Heart, including a deeper look at its narrative, I refer readers to the second reference, E Street Shuffle, listed at the end of this post.

[Intro]
Yeah!
Come on, go!

[Verse 1]
Got a wife and kids in Baltimore, Jack
I went out for a ride, and I never went back
Like a river that don’t know where it’s flowing
I took a wrong turn, and I just kept going

[Chorus]
Everybody’s got a hungry heart
Everybody’s got a hungry heart
Lay down your money, and you play your part
Everybody’s got a hungry heart
Uh-uh-uh

[Verse 2]
I met her in a Kingstown bar
We fell in love, I knew it had to end
We took what we had, and we ripped it apart
Now, here I am down in Kingstown again

[Verse 3]
Everybody needs a place to rest
Everybody wants to have a home
Don’t make no difference what nobody says
Ain’t nobody like to be alone, well

References:
1. Hungry Heart de Bruce Springsteen – Wikipedia
2. Roll of the Dice: Hungry Heart – E Street Shuffle

Tagged with: Bruce Springsteen, hungry heart, the ramones, the river
Posted in Music

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