Before we get down to business, I've got to share the dismal results for Battle of the Bands. No worries. This will be quick. The song was Her Man. I made the mistake of putting a cover against an original, which is rarely a good idea. Definitely not a good idea in this case. Waylon Jennings vs. Gary Allan. Poor Gary got his hat handed to him by Waylon. Gary only got 2 votes to Waylon's 15 votes. Congrats to Waylon on stomping the competition so thoroughly. I'm hoping that the battle on the 1st is more of a horse race and voter participation amps up to normal. Moving on...
For each letter of the A to Z, I'm going to give you a KEYWORD.
You post in the comments a song with that word in the title. I will
give you one to start (along with a video). If you like, you can go to
YouTube and embed your video in the comments, so that readers can also
listen to your song. No repeats and only post one song so
that everyone can participate. If you're just brimming with songs, come
back in a few days and lay it on me! If you want to see who else is
participating in the A to Z click here.
You guys didgreat with yesterday's word: Summer. Here are the songs you thought of with Summer in the title:
Michele: Summer In The City by Lovin' Spoonful and Cruel Summer by Bananarama
Rosey: All Summer Long by Kid Rock
Ericka: The Boys of Summer by Don Henley
Mary: Summer Nights from Grease
Andrea: Summertime Sadness by Lana Del Rey
Jeffrey: Summertime by DJ Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince
Diane: Summer Sun by Shooting Star
Pinku-Sensei: In Summer from Frozen
Marcy: Summertime by Ella Fitzgerald
Holli: Dirty Black Summer by Danzig
Susan: Summer Nights from Grease (again)
Stephen. T. McCarthy: Summer by War
Arlee: Summer Breeze by Seals and Croft
Mike: White Summer by Led Zeppelin
Larry: Summer Single by John Wesley Harding
D.G. Hudson: Summertime Blues by Eddie Cochran
Mich: My Own Summer by Deftones
John: In the Summertime by Mungo Jerry
CW: Summer's Gone by The Beach Boys
If you can think of more songs from previous letters and WANT to post
them now, feel free to go back and add them:)
It's a new day and a new letter!
What is the KEYWORD?
You can use variations. In this case, times, timed, timing, timely, timeless. So long as your base word is time, be as creative as you like.
I present to you.... Right In Time by Lucinda Williams.
You can comment with a song or use the link in the search bar to paste in the video from YouTube. Thanks for playing along!
Special thanks to Arlee Bird and
the A to Z team who make this possible!
It's only when I started putting together these Soundtrack posts that I realized how much happened my sophomore year of college. I think this might be the "busiest" year of my entire life in terms on pivotal things going on. I had no idea that was true until beginning this project. We'll see if time later proves me wrong, but there have been quite a few songs (significant events) for this year.
On my last BoTB post, I told you my initial meeting/first date story with J2. On the BoTB before that I told you the initial meet with J1, but I never told you the rest of the story.
Today you get the rest of the story for J1: Sophomore Year.
I would post a photo of J1 for this year, but I don't have one. That might seem odd, but it isn't. Not really.
So, if you'll recall our first meeting was odd. He threw open the door and screamed "What?" after my repeated knocking. Then, he came downstairs and played cards with us. You must want to know what happened after that auspicious beginning!
Turns out we really connected. He was another one of my "connect" people for sophomore year. It was a bizarre relationship. He had a girlfriend, who I never met. I was kinda/sorta in a very oblique sort of way dating his roommate. I can't really call it dating, but I can't call it not dating either. I think I was trying on the idea of a "boyfriend," and he wasn't really a good fit, so it stagnated in a place of sort of dating. Kind of reminds me of 6th graders and how they date. They "go together" but nothing actually happens. Now, I think J1's relationship with his girlfriend was more serious than that, but I also think my involvement in his life made it more complicated. ha!
J1 and talked. A lot. We'd play a game or two of euchre and then opt out and just sit and talk for hours. The lobby had furniture and "cubby holes," so you could easily just sit and talk. I'm not sure that his roommate thought much about it, though he should have, because who spends hours just talking??? Well, we did. We talked about Everything. Honestly, I can't think of a single topic that was off-limits. Well, I didn't ask him much about his girlfriend and he wasn't all that keen on discussing my non-relationship with his roommate, but other than that...
J1 and I had a lot in common. The best and worst was that we were equally broken. Equally ridden with holes. When you're full of holes no one understands better than someone else bullet ridden with holes. My parents divorced. J1's divorced when he was 5. His dad remarried very happily, but his relationship with his bio mom at that time was pretty much non-existent. Holes. J1 blew out his knee ending his aspirations for playing football and baseball. Baseball was the real kicker for him. I quit music and had no idea what I was going to major in. I was aimlessly taking CORE classes to try and find a new dream, a new passion, a new anything. Holes. I could go on, but those two subjects alone could keep us talking for days.
J1 didn't come back second semester my sophomore year. I don't know how it would've all turned out if he had. Probably wouldn't have started dating J2, so I'm kinda glad it worked out like it did. J2 was a really nice guy, even though it didn't end well. Getting there, people. Next post I'll tell you what happened with him! But, I didn't think I'd ever see J1 again after he quit school. Turns out I was wrong about that, but if you'd asked me in January of 1988 about J1 I'd have told you I was really sad he couldn't find a reason to stay.
The song I chose to describe this time with this person is Something About What Happens When We Talk by Lucinda Williams. Lucinda's voice is always raspy, raw, and a bit jagged. Kind of how I felt back then. This song talks about a relationship very much like the one I had with J1. And at the end when she says, "But all I regret now is I never kissed your mouth," I know just what she means. When I thought I'd never see him again I knew what it was to ache for something you never really had.
If I had my way
I'd be in your town
I might not stay
But at least I would've been around
'Cause there's something about what happens
When we talk
Something about what happens
When we talk
Does this make sense?
It doesn't matter anyway
Is it coincidence?
Or was it meant to be?
'Cause there's something about what happens
When we talk
Something about what happens
When we talk
And conversation with you
Was like a drug
It wasn't your face
So much as it was your words
'Cause there's something about what happens
When we talk
Something about what happens
When we talk
I can't stick around
I'm going back south
But all I regret now
Is I never kissed your mouth
'Cause there's something about what happens
When we talk
Something about what happens
When we talk
Something about what happens
When we talk
Something about what happens
When we talk
Have you ever met someone that made you feel this way? That you could talk to forever?
If you're enjoying these posts, feel free to share your own
Soundtrack. This isn't a hop. No requirements at all, but a suggestion
to do it one song at a time. (If you participated in the hop several
years ago, you can still do this. Just post them one song at a time,
with the freedom to add more songs if you'd like.) I'll link to all
participants at the bottom of each of these posts:
Hello everyone! I am back. If you didn't at least glance over yesterday's HERE'S TO YOU post (there might be something for YOU!), I suggest that you take a moment after this post and do just that!!!
Today is Battle of the Bands!
Okay, stop that hootin' and hollerin' and sit back down. This isn't a high school football game.
Up for today is a song called Passionate Kisses. It was written and first recorded, without much fanfare, by Lucinda Williams. Not saying I don't like her version, because I do (very much). In the early 90s (I am relying on memory here instead of consulting wacky wiki for the answers), Mary Chapin Carpenter recorded the song. It was HUGE for her and won MCC an award (Grammy maybe?) and Lucinda Williams an award as the songwriter that same year. In other words, they both won on this one.
I discovered Lucinda Williams and her music about a decade after all of this went down. Lucinda Williams is one of those grassroots artists that has a tremendous fan base but I have never heard her on the radio. There simply isn't an easy niche that she she fits into. Her version of Passionate Kisses remains true to her overall style. Ironically, after MCC achieved rather a lot of success she, too, stopped recording songs that the radio wanted to play BUT she still puts out albums enjoyed by her loyal fans. I think Passionate Kisses is also very representative of her sound - at least at that time.
First up, the songwriter and the first to record it... Lucinda Williams
versus
Mary Chapin Carpenter (if your vote will be swayed by the images, just listen and do not watch!)
For more Battle of the Bands fun, check out the other BOTB bloggers to vote on their battles:
Now, is the critical moment. It is time to vote for your favorite version of this song. I even encourage you to leave me long comment explaining all the ins and outs of why you voted as you did!
Manzanita posted a video of her granddaughter singing in her last post. I said something in my comment saying that her style reminded me of Lucinda Williams. I asked if she knew who that was, and she responded by saying, "No. Tell me."
Now, I could have waited until Thursday and posted a Lucinda Williams video. However, she didn't say Show and Tell Me. Of course, I can't effectively do one without the other. So, there will be some video footage included here. Who is Lucinda Williams? Tough question. I have never heard her on the radio and I listen to a variety of stations. Wikipedia states that she is an " American rock, folk, blues, and country music singer and songwriter." That said, I have never heard her on country radio. I have heard one of her songs on country radio back in the 90s. Passionate Kisses by Mary Chapin-Carpenter was written by Lucinda Williams. Ironically, MCC writes almost all of her own material. Almost.
Here is a song by Lucinda Williams to give us a jumping off place:
All of Lucinda's song are so real and gritty. That is just one thing that I really like about them. They are also about subjects most people can relate to, because they have experienced it. Something About What Happens When We Talk is an experience that I believe I can safely say has happened to everyone at same time. My favorite line: "I can't stick around because I'm going back south, The only thing I regret now is I never kissed your mouth, Because there's something about what happens when we talk." Heady, powerful stuff. Yeah, it didn't work out, but there was something magical when we talked.
Let me tell you how I discovered Lucinda Williams. It was via a fellow that I was long distance dating Augusta-Atlanta. He really liked music (all kinds) and was sure that I would like Lucinda Williams if I gave her a listen. He was right. After that, I started racking up her CDs every time I came across one. They are all gold. My relationship with the guy was relatively short-lived, but my relationship with Lucinda Williams has lasted nearly fifteen years!!!
This is the first Lucinda Williams song I ever heard. It is the first cut off of Car Wheels and A Gravel Road. It's called Right In Time. As you listen, think about every crush you've ever had. Or that moment when a relationship is just blooming and everything is going so well. Or maybe when you reach that place when you know that person is the one, but you are still single. However, you know it's just a matter of time. Pick your scenario. But that person is Right In Time with you.
This last tune is my favorite. Yep, that is my strategy... save the best for last. Maybe not the best idea given you probably only watched the first 30 seconds of the first video anyway. hahaha. However, if you are still hanging in, this song is three minutes of perfection. It's called Side of The Road. It is one of the most beautiful things I have ever heard. "It only means I need a little time to follow that unbroken line to a place where the wild things grow, to a place where I used to always go."
Are you familiar with Lucinda Williams? If so, do you have a favorite song? Did you enjoy one of these songs more than the others? After listening to these songs are you now inspired to seek her out on YouTube or through your other music sources?
