Day: June 3, 2009

Lovely email

I sang Careless at the housefilk and Carly asked me for the tabs.  I may turn into a musician at this rate.  A lot of people love John’s songlist.

I can now sing, or sing and play When you’se a viper, Careless, That godforsaken Hellhole, Long Black Veil, 2&20 Blues, A Christmas Carol (Tom Lehrer), A Fierce Unrest (Don Marquis and Ananias Davisson),  Absolutely Bonkers (Brenda Sutton Three Weird Sisters), Acts of Creation (Cat Faber), Ain’t No Cure For Love (Leonard Cohen), Anna Marie, Cats in the Dawn (Heather Rose Jones), Clem’s Song (Just Call me Clem, Allegra Sloman), Columbus Stockade Blues (actually I got John singing that!),  Demon Java (Steve Key/David Goldfinger), Dirty Movie (Steve Sajich), Don’t Go Looking For Trouble (Steve Goodman), History is Made By Stupid People (The Arrogant Worms), Honky Tonkin’ (Hank Williams), I Can’t Get Over You… (Nate Bucklin), I Pop Pills (Nate Bucklin), I Will Not Sing Along (Actually it’s called the Anti-Singalong Song), I’ll Fly Away, I’ve Been All Around This World (and GOSH did I like Creede Lambard’s version at the housefilk), Jack Frost, Lazing on a Sunny Afternoon, Let’s Go Down to the Water (Willie P Bennett), Livejournal Shanty (Brooke Lunderville), Lost Highway (Hank Williams), Mind Your Own Business (Hank Williams), Nessie, Come Up (Dr Jane A Robinson, the singing paleontologist, who is now James as of 2004), Never Set the Cat On Fire (Frank “You Scum” Hayes), No High Ground (Leslie Fish), One Meatball, One Time Only (Tom Paxton) which I also think that I encouraged John to learn… and nautilus3 and Loki will remember it well, Paint me A picture (David Essig), Paradise (John Prine), Pornographic Pictures of Queen Victoria, Ramboing, Rastus Brown, Show Us The Length (Bob Bossin), Some Other Planet (Joe Hall), Tapioca Song (Allegra Sloman), That Godforsaken Hellhole I Call Home (Austin Lounge Lizards), The 20th Century Is Almost Over  (Steve Goodman), The Jig of the One-Celled Organisms – anon, but John and Paul taught it to me, We Didn’t Know – Tom Paxton, The Word of God (Catherine Faber), Horizontal – Original Sloth Band was who he learned it from (Ken Whitely) but no idea who wrote it.

And I keep updating the songlist, because man o man he knew a lot of tunes.

The Censorship jig (before I forget the words) edited again on June 4

As I walked the thoroughfare communing with me soul

I heard an ugly, grating voice that issued from a hole

I don’t care what I look like, so I bent down to see

It was an ugly, ugly troll who remonstrates with me.

“Your walk, your laugh, your mode of dress –

you’re going straight to hell!”  “Damn straight,” says I

“I’ll see the friends I loved in life so well”

Says I “That’s your opinion! and it has not been proved..

But I’d die for your right to say that crap

and I will not be moved.”

Chorus

So swift to say shut up, so swift to say no fair

So swift to claim the firmament with nothing but hot air

Be careful who you censor, be careful who you squelch

And slow to mar the human rights of anybody else!

 

The troll was most offended, and said I misconstrued

his words and his intent and that besides I was quite rude

I said he had a kingdom that ended at his nose

And my support of his free speech was not some moonbat pose.

I can’t expect imagination from a common troll

Nor yet appreciation – that would be something droll

But if you can’t agree with me, try something on for size

And make a proper argument and not just yell out ‘Lies!’

 

Chorus

 

The troll was even more put out, in fact he was quite pissed

and then remarked as homo sap I was quite prejudiced

When troll boy came out with this tosh I laughed most heartily

And said “I read SF and think – it’s all the same to me!

I’ve no right to deny you rights, so kindly think it out

With the gift of speech you also get the benefit of doubt

As long as we are talking, we may be hopeful still

So let’s go get something to drink, and put it on my bill.

Don’t be so fast to shut me up or tell me I’m not fair

I’m really not that bad a sort It’s not like I don’t care

Be careful who you censor, be careful who you squelch

Be slow to mar the human rights of anybody else

 

And now there is a coda

The flourish at the end

Harsh words will make you enemies

and very rarely friends

But when I speak of censorship

I know too well the cost

For if you have to censor me….

you have already lost.

singing and playing

I know some people are feeling more blue after the memorial service, but I feel so much better it’s remarkable.  I’m doing all kinds of things I’m supposed to do.

I played, sang and listened at Jericho Beach Folk last night – John would have approved – and I drank in the scenery and loved the people I was with.

Tonight, Carrie, Jeff and I are off to Mike’s for dinner.  Happy……