Roger O Green

Farkakte title songs #10: artists V-Z

Van Halen, John Waite, Neil Young

This is the final group of farkakte title songs. The album name appears as a lyric, but it’s not the title song. There is no actual title song, but these can be farkakte title songs.

The Sphinx in the Face – Van der Graaf. Album: The Quiet Zone/The Pleasure Dome. Lyrics: “I got a steady vocation for the Quiet Zone, I just can’t wait for the song to be sung, I’m still possessed by the promise of the Pleasure Dome.”

Could This Be Magic? – Van Halen. Album: Women and Children First. Lyrics: “Better save the women and children first”
Mean Street – Van Halen. Album: Fair Warning. Lyrics: Somebody said fair warning. Lord (This is Mean Street) Lord strike that poor boy down”
Bullethead – Van Halen. Album: A Different Kind of Truth. Lyrics: “B-b-b-b-b-b-bullethead. Got a different kind of true”

Say What! – Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble. Album: Soul to Soul. Lyrics: “Say what! Soul to soul, soul to soul…”

Book of Dreams -Suzanne Vega. Album: Days Of Open Hand. Lyrics: “Pages made of days of open hand”

Falling Down – Vertical Horizon. Album: Running On Ice. Lyrics: “Spinning my wheels Standing still. It’s like running on ice”
I Believe In You AND Carrying On – Vertical Horizon. Album: Burning The Days. Lyrics: “Are you burning the days just to get through the nights?” ALSO “But I’ve been where you’re going And it’s not worth knowing Burning the days I’m just carrying on” respectively

Life’s A Beach – Kurt Vile. EP: So Outta Reach. Lyrics: “I’m out of reach. I’m so out of reach, yeah”

W

White Heat – John Waite. Album: Ignition. Lyrics: “White heat indiscrete ignition”
Downtown – John Waite. Album: Temple Bar. Lyrics: “You can find me in the usual place Inside the Temple Bar”
Masterpiece of Loneliness – John Waite. Album: Figure In A Landscape. Lyrics: “It’s a work of art, you’ll see. A figure in a landscape”

Let Me Live My Life Lovin’ You Babe – Barry White. Album: Just Another Way To Say I Love You. Spoken lyrics: “I guess you could even say it’s just another way, to say I love you. I need you. I want you.”

Denial – White Lies. Album: Five. Lyrics: “Four kids and a cat, might as well be called five”

Several songs -The Who. Album: Tommy. “And Tommy doesn’t know what day it is” (Christmas); “Tommy Can You Hear Me?
Can you feel me near you? Tommy, can you feel me? Can I help to cheer you? Tommy (Tommy Can You Hear Me); “She knew from the start Deep down in her heart That she and Tommy were worlds apart” (Sally Simpson); “I’m your Uncle Ernie And I’ll welcome you to Tommy’s Holiday Camp” (Tommy’s Holiday Camp)

Wi

Theologians – Wilco. Album: A Ghost is Born. Lyrics: “No one’s ever gonna take my life from me. I lay it down. A ghost is born”
Poor Places – Wilco. Album: Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. “The album was named after a series of letters in the phonetic alphabet that [Jeff] Tweedy had heard on the Irdial box set The Conet Project: Recordings of Shortwave Numbers Stations. A clip from this Numbers Station transmission” was used in the song.

Fit It – Kim Wilde. Album: Teases and Dares. Lyrics: “And now I’m all alone And the telephone teases and dares”

Ambitious – Wire. Album: The Ideal Copy. Lyrics: When it’s cold I feel cold. When it’s hot I feel ambitious”

Jammin’ – Stevie Wonder. Album: Hotter Than July. Lyrics: “Everyone’s feeling pretty. It’s hotter than July”

XYZ

Hey Hey, My My – Neil Young. Album: Rust Never Sleeps. Lyrics: “It’s better to burn out ’cause rust never sleeps. The king is gone but he’s not forgotten”
Hangin’ On A Limb – Neil Young. Album: Freedom. Lyrics: “There was something about freedom he thought he didn’t know”
Downtown – Neil Young. Album: Mirror Ball. Lyrics: “Jimi’s playin’ in the back room, Led Zeppelin on stage, There’s a mirror ball twirlin’ And a note from Page”

Willie The Pimp – Frank Zappa. Album: Hot Rats. Lyrics: “Hot meat. Hot rats. Hot zits. Hot wrists”

Epilogue

I’ve written ten of these posts this year, and I STILL don’t know what you call a song that serves as a title song but is not. I’ve been obsessed with the topic since I noticed this phenomenon decades ago.

I had taken a cursory look at the topic back in 2013. But I didn’t realize there were so many examples. And there may be more, but I couldn’t decipher cryptic citations online that lacked some important detail.

Lydster: proper COVID protocol

flow chart

My daughter was feeling under the weather on a Wednesday, so she stayed home from school. Primarily, she had an upset stomach, though she was also experiencing those seasonal allergy symptoms that I too experienced.

Then she felt better and went back to school on Thursday. My wife, who is a teacher in another district said that her return was not the proper COVID protocol.

I groaned even as I looked at my district’s policy. “Feeling sick or unwell in any way: Fever, fatigue/tiredness, muscle/body aches or pains, congestion, cough, runny nose, shortness of breath/difficulty breathing, nausea/vomiting or diarrhea, headache, loss of taste or smell, rash.” I have a cough and a runny nose almost daily these days. And I suspect my daughter experiences much the same, though she’s a teenager so doesn’t always say.

And this, BTW, “Regardless of vaccination status.” She is fully vaccinated. “CANNOT go to school. Can return to school with a negative COVID-19 (PCR/NAAT) test or after a 10-day quarantine. According to the school nurse, they don’t want one of those rapid tests but one that takes a day to get the results. Is that accurate? IDK.

So she got a test on Thursday evening, and per the regulations, took Friday off, though she was feeling much better. Almost exactly 24 hours later, she received a negative result, which is positive news.

No perfect attendance

One of the parents on a listserv I monitor said, “The focus on attendance is so frustrating in general but especially because of this flow chart. Stay home if you have even the slightest symptoms, but get a prize if you come to school. Makes no sense.” Indeed, we just got a letter indicating the school is concerned that she’s been out so often.

Yes, the district is incentivizing school attendance through a series of contests. Frankly, I haven’t paid much attention since my daughter’s not going to win.

I will say that, in general, her spirits seem to be up by being in school in person. Well, except on the days she’s not.

Thanksgiving for the COVID vaccine

books and music

Without a doubt, it is Thanksgiving for the COVID vaccine.

Because of the vaccine, I could go out to eat with my friends, such as Carol, Karen, Bill, Michael, Cecily, John, and Mary, as well as my wife and daughters.

My church is meeting in person as of June 20, as well as on Facebook. The choir has restarted rehearsals in person as of October 10, with only fully vaccinated people, which is everyone.

The Wizard’s Wardrobe is a program, started by two members of my church. “Children spend time with a special tutor just for them — to read, write, and explore the wonderful world of books. My wife and I attended the Readers Theater benefit on October 4. The featured readers included William Kennedy, Brendan Kennedy, Joseph Bruchac, Elizabeth Brundage, Ashley Charleston, Ted Walker, and Ayah Osman.

The Friends and Foundation of the Albany Public Library had its Literary Legends Gala on October 16. I got to tell Bill Kennedy that I heard him and his son read from Charlie Malarkey and the Belly-Button Machine (1986), 12 days earlier. Last year’s event was online, while this one was a hybrid.

I wouldn’t have been comfortable going to my high school reunion or certainly taking the bus home without the Pfizer shots. Yes, it’s a Thanksgiving for the COVID vaccine.

In spite of

As much as I complained about ZOOM and its ilk I’m thankful for the chance to have participated in the Thursday Bible study group. I got to see my niece Rebecca Jade perform over a half dozen times, including with Dave Koz.

I streamed some movies, not the best way for me to view them. But I got to see ALL of the Oscar-nominated shorts. Usually, I get to watch only a fraction of those films because they don’t all make it to this market.

I’m still on ZOOM for the Tuesday Bible guys, the Dads group, and certain church meetings. My sisters, in two different states, and I in a third, meet at least three weeks out of four. The Olin reunions took place remotely.

Lessee, what else?

I’m fiscally solvent. This allows me to order things via mail order, such as all of those blue masks and music that I don’t REALLY need but want. I also got a bunch of baseball books from Jack’s widow and music from the collection of my late father-in-law.

I had a brief but significant moment of mutual forgiveness with an old friend.

My mother-in-law lives much closer. This makes her and her daughter mighty happy.

I’m glad that Arthur and Kelly and fillyjonk and others are still blogging. Chuck Miller is still plugging other blogs each Saturday.

I’m sure there’s more, but this will do for the nonce.

Cash: don’t carry; you need your phone

rejected

My oldest college friend complained on Facebook. “It is almost impossible to use cash in the airport. You’re SUPPOSED to use a QR code to download a Health/Travelers form because there’s No Paper, but you need to sign up for an ACCOUNT to do it!!”

Yes, that was worth at least two exclamation points!!

There are a number of places where cash is no longer king. Getting food on an Amtrak train, for instance. A lot of retailers at markets seem greenback-averse. My running joke at a store register is “Do you still take cash?” Apparently, you CAN accept cash and checks with the service Square. Are businesses required by law to accept cash? It depends on where they are

What countries are going cashless? China’s society is, its central bank is pushing back. Sweden and Zimbabwe, for two, are also getting resistance.

Also, increasingly, I NEED to have a cellphone. When I’m making a medical appointment, I get notices on my phone. When I get there, some places require that I check in via the device. And the photo of my vaccine card is stored therein.

Not covered

Speaking of medical things, I had gone to my doctor in September to get two shots during my annual physical. In October, I received a bill for $125 for services not covered. My physician’s office seemed to think it was because I had received both the flu shot AND the tetanus shot at the same time. But that wasn’t it.

Medicare had rejected the tetanus shot, the representative told me. Now, they would have covered it if I had been bitten by an animal or stepped on a rusty nail, or had another medical necessity. But since I was ONLY getting it because physicians believe I should get one once a decade, Medicare didn’t cover it. And since Medicare rejected it, my Medicare supplement carrier ALSO rejected it.

I’ll have to remember to step on a rusty nail in the fall of 2031.

The way-too-detailed diaries

The General

diary.Burgwyn.1862.Civil War.NC — diary of Burgwyn, 1862, Civil Wa r.NC

Some years ago, I thought I would share some items with y’all from my diaries after 50 years had passed. I initially found one notebook from March 1972, but since then, I found one that starts on November 23, 1971.

The problem is that my way-too-detailed diaries haven’t yet gleaned much info to blog about. For instance, my father must have picked me up from college at New Paltz on 11/23. Then I went to my old high school and saw a plethora of students, former students, and teachers, all named, with some discussions dissected. Other parties in January are cited with a wealth of names interesting only to a very few people.

Hey, it was snowing in Binghamton on 11/25. I watched the Baltimore Bullets beat the Atlanta Hawks on 11/26. In fact, I have likely documented every single television show and movie I watched, and with whom. I hated the movie Fellini Satyricon.

I wrote or received letters from people A, B, and C. I did homework X. Cramming for a calculus exam in 1/1972, I amazingly passed. Then, there are the details I’m not willing to share because it affects still-living people, some of them significant.

Also, there are people mentioned that I have ZERO recollection of. Three of my friends and I went to Woodstock to the 18th birthday party for some young woman, who was taking care of a four-year-old developmental disabled child. (I used the word “retarded” because that’s what I knew then.)

Worth sharing

But there were some revelations. The Okie brought up the idea that we should get married way back in mid-January of 1972 when we had only gone out for four months. I was surprised; I thought she’d be disinclined because of sexist marriage laws. Also, she didn’t want to alienate her parents if we were to have lived together. I did not remember this info at all.

My parents were in the process of moving from 5 Gaines Street in Binghamton to 29 Ackley Avenue in Johnson City. It was quite stressful. I noted on 1/22/72, “I knew this intemperate unreasonableness would come in moving.”

My dad had recruited friends to help fix up the new place. When he got into the task mode, my sisters and I used to refer to him as The General. “The General, a side that [a couple we all knew] had never seen, is obnoxious and is annoyed easily.”

I have about 15 notebooks of various sizes filled. The oldest volume I found is #3. I lost about half of them from a flood in an apartment in the 1990s. This pained me greatly at the time, but now I have a sense of relief; I don’t have to read them all! But periodically, I’ll leaf through the surviving books and generate more posts. I do know there will be some share-worthy events when I get further into 1972.