In Reverse (2014) – The War on Drugs

Posted on October 18, 2022 by observationblogger — 8 Comments

In Reverse is the third song to appear here from one of the most popular ‘Americana’ bands – The War on Drugs to sweep the music-world in the last decade. It’s an atmospheric and dreamy-vibe song which meanders for a good while and the listener uncertain where it will go. A bit like how the writer unveils himself, but this song eventually coalesces into something special…. If you look hard enough, you may find it. And this 2014 album ‘Lost in the Dream‘ took over 2 years for the band to get right. You can see the journey of this dream represented in In Reverse, the last song from the album.

You’ve been out in the street
Talkin’ ’bout the war with me
In the background is the night
Don’t wanna hesitate
Well, they tell me where you’re hidin’
But through the haze, there’s no one there
Wonderin’ if you care
Callin’ out your name in the darkness

When I’m done with my time here
And my keepsake is strollin’
Through the railways
But I never mind goin’
And I realize now
That the road is bare
And I hear it all
Through the grand parade

The 2014 album ‘Lost in the Dream‘ is one of the most acclaimed by critics and public in that year. The Pitchfork‘s Stuart Berman remarked that the album is “loaded with songs whose greatness is revealed slowly, where the simplest, most understated chord change can blow a track wide open and elevate it from simply pretty to absolutely devastating.’

According to Genius.com about In Reverse:

This is the most obvious Bob Dylan influenced song on the album. On how this track came together, frontman Adam Granduciel (lead singer and guitarist) explained in an interview:

“In Reverse” is one song that’s surprises me I wrote it. It’s one of those things that came about from mixing and arranging. At the last minute I started changing the song around. Now it’s a unified piece I can’t believe I fucking put this together….’

References:
1. Lost in the Dream – Wikipedia

Tagged with: in reverse, Lost in the dream, the war on drugs
Posted in Music

10/10 – 16/10/22 – Fact Checkers, Paulo Freire & Tulsi Gabbard

Posted on October 17, 2022 by observationblogger — Leave a comment

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

Who Fact Checks the Fact Checkers?
Video presentation at Dr. John Campbell

I consider Dr. John Campbell one of the most important YouTube channels around today regarding facts surrounding the vaccines and the Pandemic. I admire his honesty, clarity and integrity.

‘..thousands of people have been writing in, asking who do we trust – how do we know what the evidence is? And that is what we are going to be talking about in the video. And I have been very concerned about this. It’s never been as eroded as this in my long career as far as I can remember.‘ (View video presentation here)

How Paulo Freire Made Marxism Stupid
Audio podcast with James Lindsay at New Discourses

In last Wednesday’s ‘Ankidroid Collection’ post I discussed the concept of Dialectics and its association with the history of Leftism. James Lindsay’s audio presentations on the subject of Marxism are engaging and educational. Today’s presentation on the impact of Paulo Freire, who was the leading advocate of critical pedagogy, is no exception.

Paulo Freire is a Brazilian Marxist who is responsible for “Marxifying” education thereby ruining it. In effect, what he did was created a Marxist Theory of being educated and what this did, in turn, was create a Marxist Theory of knowledge and knowing. Who gets to be considered a knower? On what grounds? To whose benefit? Who decides? All of these questions are to be answered on (Critical) Marxist grounds. (Listen to audio podcast here)

# – Tulsi Gabbard
Video interview at The Joe Rogan Experience – Spotify

Tulsi Gabbard is a Former United States Representative, Iraq War veteran, political commentator, and host of the podcast “This is Tulsi Gabbard.” http://www.tulsigabbard.com (Video interview at here)

Tagged with: Dr John Campbell, fact checks, Joe Rogan, tulsi Gabbard, Vaccines
Posted in News, politics, Science

In My Secret Life (2001) – Leonard Cohen

Posted on October 16, 2022 by observationblogger — 2 Comments

When I began exploring Leonard’s music, this is one of the first songs outside out of his classic cannon that I was drawn to. In My Secret Life is a solid song from Leonard. Not in his top tier songs by any stretch but it’s firm and treads a beaten path. I think it’s a good introductory song to Leonard for anyone unaccustomed with his music, because it’s no frills – Leonard. This is the third song to appear here from the album Ten New Songs, released in 2001.

I saw you this morning
You were moving so fast
Can’t seem to loosen my grip
Well on the past
And I miss you so much
There’s no one in sight
And we’re still making love
In my secret life
In my secret life

The song was performed by Leonard and Sharon Robinson. Sharon’s voice appears a lot on Leonard’s later records. She was a frequent writing collaborator and has written songs for the likes of Don Henley and Roberta Flack.

The dystopian video scenes of this song in the official video below are alluring as well. It was filmed in Montreal at Habitat 67 famous for its futuristic take on architecture and was built by Jewish architect Moshe Safdie.

The lead response to the song (video below) I found enlightening:
Shanti: Leonard made me realise instead of running away from my misery it is ok to just sit with all of it and make peace with it.

References:
1. In My Secret Life – Wikipedia

Tagged with: in my secret life, leonard cohen, Sharon Robinson, ten new songs
Posted in Music

In My Room (1963) – the Beach Boys

Posted on October 15, 2022 by observationblogger — 26 Comments

This song was recorded in the summer of 1963 and has some of the most beautiful harmonies in Rock History. Simply stellar singing, songwriting, arrangement and depth. It has a breezy feel this song but alas it’s Brian Wilson writing about being in his room. I don’t believe I was familiar with this song in my youth but chanced upon it more recently. It was released on their album Surfer Girl and as the B-side of the “Be True to Your School” single and peaked at number 23 in the U.S.

There’s a world where I can go
And tell my secrets to
In my room
In my room

In this world I lock out
All my worries and my fears
In my room
In my room

Do my dreaming and my scheming
Lie awake and pray
Do my crying and my sighing
Laugh at yesterday

According to cowriter Gary Usher, Brian was always saying that his room was his whole world. “I had a room, and I thought of it as my kingdom. And I wrote that song.” I can attest I know that room too Brian.
Brian Wilson wrote in 1990 about In My Room:
There is a story behind this song. When Dennis, Carl and I lived in Hawthorne as kids, we all slept in the same room… I proceeded to teach them both how to sing the harmony parts to ‘Ivory Tower’. It took them a little while, but they finally learned it. We then sang this song night after night. It brought peace to us. When we recorded “In My Room”, there was just Dennis, Carl and me on the first verse … and we sounded just like we did in our bedroom all those nights. This story has more meaning than ever since Dennis’ death.

The album Surfer Girl reached number 7 in the US during a chart stay of 56 weeks. This was the first album by the group for which Brian Wilson was given sole production credit.

References:
1. In My Room – Wikipedia

Tagged with: Beach boys, in my room, surfer girl
Posted in Music

I’m Yours (2012) – Jason Mraz

Posted on October 14, 2022 by observationblogger — 4 Comments

I watched more Jason Mraz’s Sesame Street with Elmo version of this song titled ‘Outdoors‘ (bottom of this post) than the original. I wish I had a dollar for every-time my kids and I watched that video. I heard the original version before the ‘Elmo adaption’ and I found it melodious and infectious. I have heard little of Mraz’s discography so perhaps someone who reads this post can point me to another song of his they enjoy. I’m Yours was the third song from his third studio album We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things. He performed this song a few years before its release, and it became a crowd favourite.

Well you done done me in; you bet I felt it
I tried to be chill but you’re so hot that I melted
I fell right through the cracks
Now I’m trying to get back

Before the cool done run out
I’ll be giving it my bestest
Nothing’s going to stop me but divine intervention
I reckon it’s again my turn to win some or learn some

But I won’t hesitate no more, no more
It cannot wait, I’m yours

I’m Yours spent 76 weeks on the Billboard charts, breaking the record for the longest time spent on the chart and nominated best Male Pop vocal at the Grammys. It is also the tenth best-selling digital song of all time in the US, selling over 6 million downloads, and 12.2 million worldwide. Since being added to YouTube I’m Yours has been viewed over 690 million times. The official video below was filmed in Hawaii (Oahu and Kauai). Jason Mraz’s musical style has a rhythmic feeling using nylon string guitars and has been heavily influenced by Brazilian music.

References:
1. I’m Yours (Jason Mraz song) – Wikipedia
2. Jason Mraz – Wikipedia

Tagged with: I'm Yours, Jason Mraz, We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things
Posted in Music

In Case You Didn’t Know (2016) – Brett Young

Posted on October 13, 2022 by observationblogger — 1 Comment

I’m not a ‘big’ fan of Country Pop music, but I liked this song from the moment I first heard it. In Case You Didn’t Know is a song recorded by American country pop singer Brett Young. It was released to radio on January 9, 2017, as the second single from his debut self-titled album. The song has been certified 3× Platinum.

In case you didn’t know
Baby, I’m crazy bout you
And I would be lying if I said
That I could live this life without you
Even though I don’t tell you all the time
You had my heart a long long time ago
In case you didn’t know

Brett Young co-wrote this romantic song with Nashville songwriters Trent Tomlinson and Tyler Reeve. They penned it during a writer’s retreat at Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. He stated:
“Trent started telling us a story about something his mom always did growing up,” Young said in a behind-the-scenes video. “He said every time he’d leave the house, she’d stop him on his way out the door and say, ‘Hey Trent, in case you didn’t know, I love you.’ And me and Tyler both looked at each other and we were like, ‘Well, we gotta write that song.‘”

The simple performance video below was filmed at the historic Tivoli Theatre in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Young added:
“It ended up being a love story that we wrote, and we wanted everybody to be able to make it their love story,” he said. “So, we just kept it really simple and said what we would like to say to the person that we love, or we would like to hear back from the person that we love.”

References:
1. In Case You Didn’t Know – Songfacts

Tagged with: brett young, in case you didn't know
Posted in Music

The AnkiDroid Collection (Part 26) – Luck, Envy & Dialectics

Posted on October 12, 2022 by observationblogger — Leave a comment

Ankidroid additions related to Science, History and Philosophy. More information about Anki can be found in this article.

Luck

In a recent interview Douglas Murray told the above quote by the former American Baseball player Branch Rickey. He used the quote in response to the Victimisation mentality which often lays the blame of one’s misfortune or good fortune down to ‘luck‘. For example, Australia, is commonly known as, ‘The Lucky Country’ because it has comparatively little crime and a high standard of living. But how much is that down to luck as compared to being a residue of design?

Envy

Irish writer Oscar Wilde once told a fictional tale about how the devil was crossing the Libyan desert. He came upon a spot where a small number of demons were tormenting a holy hermit. The sainted man easily shook off their evil suggestions. The devil watched as his lieutenants failed to sway the hermit, then he stepped forward to give them a lesson.

“What you do is too crude,” he said. “Permit me for one moment.”

He then whispered to the holy man, “Your brother has just been made Bishop of Alexandria.” Suddenly, a look of malignant envy clouded the once-serene face of the hermit. Then the devil turned to the imps and said, “That is the sort of thing which I should recommend.”

Dialectics

I wrote a review of the above movie Half Nelson recently where I discussed Gosling as a middle-school history teacher using a form of ‘dialectics’ in concept and dialogue in implementation. I have heard the term Dialectics used a lot more in recent presentations by James Lindsay about Critical Methods and Radical Thinking. So, what is Dialectics?

It is the art of investigating or discussing the truth of options or the inquiry into metaphysical contradictions and their solutions. It is the modus operando of Leftism for the past 200 years since Hegel and later Marx. It is a Socrates technique of exposing false beliefs and eliciting truth – Arguments that juxtapose or contain contradictory ideas. In summary, it’s discussing the ‘thesis’ (meta-narrative) then exposing the ‘antithesis’ (postmodernism) and resolving it through ‘synthesis’.

Tagged with: Branch Rickey, dialectics, Douglas Murray, envy, half nelson, james lindsay, Luck, oscar wilde
Posted in politics, Reading, Reflections

I’m Your Teenage Prayer (1967) – Bob Dylan

Posted on October 11, 2022 by observationblogger — 13 Comments

We are having a Tuesday Basement Tapes festival with this and I’m Not There being released here because they follow in alphabetical order in the Music Library Project. What a marvellous coincidence!
I’m Your Teenage Prayer is a band and singer at their most rudimentary and injecting their jocular selves in singing a song and playing music. It’s another one from Dylan’s previously unreleased Basement Tapes material released on Volume 11 of his Bootleg Series. I like hearing it because it makes me laugh and their process of goofing around with the music and their voices is insightful.

They seem to just be experimenting at whim and it’s a great example of how far a band must go to achieve a great song. Obviously, they never thought this song was in ‘the works‘. You could imagine playing in bands where you played around like this, just because you could, and it was fun.

Untold Dylan wrote (reference below): “If you have never played in a band that is not specifically rehearsing for a live performance, but instead is just kicking ideas around and having fun, you won’t know what it is like, and may well find it hard to understand why the guys spent so many hours larking about with silly songs like “I’m your teenage prayer”.

Take a look at me baby
(Just take a look at me baby)
I am your teenage prayer
(Yes I’m your teenage prayer)
Take a look at me baby
(Just take a look over here at me baby)
I am your teenage prayer

Take a look and when it’s cloudy all the time
All you gotta do is say you’re mine
I come runnin’ anywhere
Take a look at me baby
(Just take a look at me baby)
I’m your teenage prayer

I presumed Dylan was covering an already established song. But he wrote this! I assume it was a parody of sorts from the time. Following more with Untold Dylan – ‘There is nothing here but the guys passing the time of day, but it’s good that they captured what they did and how they did it. Like having a chance to watch a great actor in early rehearsals, this is a most valuable artefact’.

References:
1. “I’m your teenage prayer”. What are Bob Dylan and the guys playing at? – Untold Dylan

Tagged with: Bob Dylan, I'm Your Teenage Prayer, the band, the basement tapes Vol 11
Posted in Music

I’m Not There (1967) – Bob Dylan

Posted on October 11, 2022 by observationblogger — 12 Comments

I’m Not There is another previously unreleased gem from the 1967 The Basement Tapes sessions recorded by Bob Dylan and the Band in the basement of the Big Pink in Woodstock. The song was part of the bootleg copies that circulated amongst Dylan fans for a number of years and when The Basement Tapes were released officially in 1975, the song, among others were not included.
It wasn’t released officially until it featured as the title track in Todd Haynes 2007 unconventional biographical film of Bob Dylan – I’m Not There. This song has grown on me over the years and seems to uncover more mystique upon each new listen.

No I don’t belong to her
I don’t belong to anybody
She’s my prize-forsaken angel
But she don’t hear me cry

She’s a lone-hearted mystic
And she dain’t carry on
When I’m there she’s alright
But when she’s not when I’m gone

As aforementioned I’m Not There is part of a huge outpouring of songs from Dylan in the first half of 1967, which were by and large recorded with the Band. These songs are an extraordinary mixture of pieces and shows Dylan at his creative best, not just for each individual song, but for the incredible variation in all the songs. How Dylan almost threw I’m Not There away is staggering. Here is a song he just tried out once and moved away from. “Improvising on the spot” is the phrase Heylin provides for this masterpiece from Bob Dylan – a song that apparently Dylan could never understand why others loved so much.

It is clear this is a song Dylan wanted to try out for the Band and it takes time for them to get into the song and got to grips with what is going on. Because of the source material and that Dylan has never been captured playing the song in concert, the lyrics are something of a mystery.
Regarding the song’s meaning Untold Dylan gives the following description:
‘…in essence it seems to be the reflection of a man who was not always there when needed by the woman who has the toughest of experiences and who really needs his support. He recriminates with himself for his failure but doesn’t ask for forgiveness. He just blames himself and tells it how it was.’

References:
1. I’m not there: one of the two great forgotten masterpieces from Dylan in the 1960s – Untold Dylan

Tagged with: Bob Dylan, I'm not there, The Basement Tapes, The Bootleg Series Volume 11
Posted in Music

3/10 – 9/10/22 – Magnus Carlsen, Kundalini Yoga & Hard Right

Posted on October 10, 2022 by observationblogger — 2 Comments

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

Magnus Carlsen – Greatest Chess Player of All Time – Lex Fridman Podcast 315
Video interview at Lex Fridman

Current World Champion Magnus Carlsen told the world he will not compete at the World Championships unless there are substantial rule changes. This interview was fascinating from start to finish. In the beginning Carlsen explained that despite being a Real Madrid football supporter his favourite player of all-time is Lionel Messi. His logic, humility and impartiality during this whole interview were something to behold. I had to chuckle because I had never heard replicated my exact thoughts about Messi even including Higuain fluffing his chance at the World Cup. Now if I could only play chess half as good as him.

Edited: Since this interview was broadcasted, things have gone haywire in the chess world with Carlsen pulling out of a recent tournament due to suspecting an opponent (Hans Niemann) of cheating.

‘Magnus Carlsen is the highest-rated chess player in history and widely considered to be the greatest chess player of all time‘. (View video interview here)

The Secrets to Kundalini Yoga – Jordan Peterson
Video podcast interview excerpt at PowerfulJRE

I was fascinated to learn in this video that Jordan Petrson has practiced Kundalini Yoga for about the same time period as I and here he communicates its benefits to his life with similar introspection as I did in articles.

‘Great discussion from Joe Rogan & Jordan Peterson on yoga, the TRUTH of Kundalini yoga and much more.’ (Watch video podcast excerpt here)

Will the Hard Right Sweep Europe – Ralph Schoellhammer
Video interview at UnHerd

The rise of the Christian, ultra-conservative candidate Giorgia Meloni in Italy marks a strange split in European politics. Post-Brexit Britain is now in the minority of countries that have not seen a recent Rightward populist uprising. UnHerd’s Freddie Sayers sat down with Ralph Schoellhammer, Assistant Professor of Economics at Webster University, Vienna. (Video presentation here)

Tagged with: Chess, Joe Rogan, Jordan Peterson, Kundalini Yoga, Magnus Carlsen, UnHerd
Posted in Health, News, politics, Sport and Adventure

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