Is it a coincidence I believe in synchronicity?

HAPPY NEW YEAR Y'ALL

Is it a coincidence I believe in synchronicity?

“I get up early in the morning
no matter how disappointed I was
with the day before
it feels new”

THINGS THE GRANDCHILDREN SHOULD KNOW
Mark Everett (E)
From the EELS Album
BLINKING LIGHTS AND OTHER REVELATIONS

The above are lines from one of my favourite songs by songwriter Mark Everett from the Eels. I never knew how much I believed the sentiment expressed in those lines until I heard them, maybe I grasped the concept so long ago that I needed it sung to me for it to come to my realisation.
Mr Everett (or E as he is commonly known) has this effect on me with a lot of the songs he writes. Coincidently the song above explains how as he gets older Mark Everett is more acceptable of the person he has become and how he now understands the actions of his deceased father and forgives him for their strained relationship when he was younger.
Coincidently this is something that happened in my own life and I can relate to.
It’s funny I chose to play this album on the long drive to work recently because I had just finished a book I picked up by chance in a bargain book barn titled The Selected works of TS Spivet
It is about a 12 year old prodigy who creates maps to explain all manner of things, both scientific and those of the everyday who wins an award from the Smithsonian Institute, who believe he is many years older.
TS Spivit lives in Montana and is the product of Scientist Mother and a Cowboy Father.
TS Spivet is very distant from his father and believes he does not understand or even love him very much because of his academic bent and runs away to Washington without telling his family to accept the award believing they wouldn’t let him or even believe he had won it.
TS Spivet hitches a ride on a train and during the long trip he awakens to find himself in void that he can’t explain with no sound or sense of place. This reminds him of an essay he discovered in a Library back home that explained worm holes existing in the American Midwest and were responsible for many disappearances during the ages. When explaining the worm hole theory TS Spivets (who is probably one of the few 12 year olds in the world who could understand such a theory) refers to Hugh Everett 111 who first theorized about the Many Worlds concept which the worm holes refer to. Coincidently Hugh Everett 111 a giant in the Quantum Physics field is Mark Everett’s father.
This theory was also the topic of one of my favourite authors Michael Crichton , himself a child prodigy who wrote for the New York Times at the age of 14.
In his techno thriller novel Timeline Crichton uses the same theory to explain how people go back in history but not time because the move to dimensions that are infinitesimal different to our universe and thus people can come back with out disturbing current history.
TS Spivet doesn’t disappear into the worm hole, he wakes up and finds himself in a huge rail switch yards in Chicago, coincidently where Michael Crichton was born,
TS Spivet eventually gets to Washington and receives his award, he is however used by ambitious bureaucrats who try to hijack his fame.
TS Spivet’s father meanwhile has driven half way across America to rescue TS and goes as far as storming into the Capitol Building to find his son.
TS Spivet realises his father loves him unconditionally – his love was expressed in actions rather than words.
I believe all parents’ love their children unconditionally, I know I do, others just have a very hard time showing it.
Mark Everett eventually found out his father did and wrote a wonderful song about it.
I have a clear recollection of the day I first time I heard the song because it was the day my divorce became final and on the way home from the courthouse I went into a record shop to buy something to cheer me up. I didn’t even know a new Eels album was due out and the man behind the counter said it had only arrived that morning. I saw it as a good sign, on arriving home I found an envelope with a cheque in it , payment for a story I had submitted. These events led me to start writing again.
I believe Michael Crichton received lots of cheques in the mail in his life but they are no use to him now because he died several years ago of cancer, same as my dad.
He lived a full and rewarding life and I believe my dad did too.
I still wake up every morning feeling as if every day is new but now I am more aware of it and still believe my dad did great things and I hope my children think the same when they get older hopefully with out all the bullshit that clouded it like Mark Everett TS Spivet and I had to endure.

Couple of quick album reviews

Pajama Club - Self Titled Debut

The Pajama Club
Neil Finn gets better with change

It seems the only constant in Neil Finns life is his marriage.
After so much fame, fortune and musical metamorphoses, whether it be Split Enz, Crowded House, The Finn Brothers or the many musical collaborations on stage he has had with the members of bands as diverse as the likes of Pearl Jam, Radiohead and The Smiths Neil Finn still manages to shine as a pure 100% nice guy and super talent.
This nucleus of the Pajama Club was created at home in New Zealand when Neil and Sharon Finn were basically mucking around in the home studio to have a bit of fun as married couples do when the kids have left the nest.
From these bass and drum tracks (Neil on drums. Sharon on bass) Neil constructed the songs that appear on the album.
The fact that neither Finn were playing their preferred instrument makes the construction of the songs even more magical as they don’t have the technical discipline one picks up with an instrument played with proficiency. Thus there are little quirks popping up all over the place. That and the fact Neil Finn is one of the leading songwriters on the planet adds to the mix.
Sharon is no slouch in the singing department is just a wonderful vocal match to Neil as his brother Tim.
The songs kick off with the almost tribal beat of Tell Me What you Want, and listening to the lyrics reveals a sexy under belly . The Pajama Club actually shine brightest when Sharon and Neil share vocals, Songs such as Tell Me Golden Child and Go Kart are some of the best songs I’ve heard this year,
Others like Diamonds in her Eyes and TNT for Two reinforces the strength of this album.
In a nut shell this album is simply better than the last two Crowded House albums and the Finn Brothers release.




Neighborhoods BLINK182

Blink182’s first album in 8 years thanks mainly to a “hiatus” instigated by Tom DeLonge to start Angels and Airwaves. Neighborhoods carries on from where Blink’s last album finished and incorporates what the members learnt along the way with their solo releases- A&A, +44 and Travis’ solo album “Give The Drummer Some”

The album is exactly what American popular music needs right now and has been justified with a debut at number 2 on the Billboard Top 200 album charts.
And rightly so, this album is chock full of melody, killer riffs and powerpop to dance to.
The opening track GHOST ON THE DANCE FLOOR with its future single hook line crashes out of the speakers and never lets up for the rest of the album.
Those who are quick can get the limited release with 3 extra tracks, one and interlude to HEARTS ALL GONE and the other two FIGHTING FOR GRAVITY and EVEN IF SHE FALLS leaves you wondering why they were excluded from the intial release.
Other strong stracks are the first single UP ALL NIGHT, WISHING WELL andKALEIDOSCOPE.
Some say their best album so far, every listen makes me think so too, but I still have a soft spot for the last release when the band really grew up.

Lyrics & their meanings Part 5 - Jumpin' Jack Flash

Ever wondered what your favorite song was about? Probably not, which is good because a nice melody and tune are far more enticing than words. Church hymns have truly inspiring lyrics and meaningful messages but don’t really jump out of the record stores. At last a biased attempt is being made to determine what some of the best-loved tunes are really about. We will have a look at the background of these songs and see if history can tell us if any light can be shed on these cryptic verses, poignant prose or just Grade Two poetry

PART 5
Jumpin' Jack Flash (1968) Rolling Stones

By the Mid-Sixties The Beatles and the Rolling Stones had reached the heights of popularity and would continue to stay there for decades to come. While the Beatles were already hugely influential, there was no denying the Stones their place in history. Great songwriters and performers in their own right the Stones biggest mistake was to try and match the Beatles Sergeant Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band album. Their Satanic Majesties Request The Rolling Stones answer to ‘Sgt Peppers’ was a self indulgent, drawn out piece of nonsense that took too long to record for very poor results. With the exception of She’s a Rainbow and maybe 2000 Man the album was not up to scratch for the usually consistent Stones.
The band had not seen the top of the singles charts since Paint It Black two years earlier. Jumpin’ Jack Flash was a kick-start for the floundering Stones. Recorded during the Beggars Banquet sessions it was released as a single to herald what was to come. It was far removed from the previous album as in much it contained harder, rockier song with Jagger’s trademark snide lyrics making a big comeback. With their Satanic Majesties album the only thing that ruffled a few feathers was its title. A song like Jumpin’ Jack Flash ’made the Stones dangerous again.
The story goes that this track wasn’t even a traditional Jagger/Richard tune. As Bill Wyman recalls “We got to the studio early once. And there was just myself, Brian and Charlie- the Stones NEVER arrive at the same time, you know – and Mick and Keith hadn’t come. And I was just messing about and I just sat down at the piano and started doing this riff, da-daw, da-da-daw, da-da-daw…. And then Brian played a bit of guitar and Charlie was doing rhythm. We were just messing with it for 20 minutes, just filling in time, and Mick and Keith came in and we stopped and they said, ‘hey, that sounded really good, carry on, what is it’
And then the next day all I can remember…. We recorded it and Mick wrote great lyrics to it and it turned out to be a really good single” Jagger was so inspired that wrote the lyrics almost straight after he heard the music. All up he took less than an hour to come up with the fractured fairy tale style of lyric. He was very economical with the words but what he wrote fit the song perfectly. Nasty words for a dirty riff. Nothing more, nothing less.
With the past year the band had become the human headlines, whereas the Beatles seemed untouchable with their OBEs: the Stones were on everybody’s hit list. In fighting over women and control of the band had strained relationships between key members Brian Jones, Mick Jagger & Keith Richard. And it was a well-documented fact Jones was so smashed during the recording of Satanic Majesties that he had virtually no input to the whole project.
This album was the last project Jones played before he quit the group a year later then to die tragically only a few days after that.
Alarmist blamed the Stones preoccupation with Devil worshipping on the current state of the band and the misfortune that seemed to befall those who were close to the group. Songs like Sympathy for the Devil, Street Fighting Man and Jumpin’ Jack Flash were all considered by the worry-worts to be songs designed to raise the public mischief, but it was just the Stones returning to their blues and country roots and being a proper rock band again. One good thing the Stones never followed the Beatles into was retirement from performing live.
When Jumpin’ Jack Flash was released in May 1968 Jagger only comment was that the song was ‘…the most basic thing we ever did’. In an interview in 1995 after he’d had a while to think about it he added, ‘ It’s a metaphor for getting out of all the acid things’.
Obviously Jagger had finally realised Their Satanic Majesties Request was as bad as every one had told them.
Jumpin’Jack Flash was a historic turning point for the Stones. Bill Wyman has always maintained what he contributed in the studio and to Jagger/Richard compositions was for the betterment of the group but steadfastly claims ownership to the riff. It can also be claimed and it was possibly the last great contribution from Brian Jones. Keith Richard in an interview with author Terry Southern said ‘when I play that first riff in Jumpin’ Jack Flash, something happens in my stomach – a feeling of tremendous exhilaration, an amazing superhuman feeling .An explosion is the best way to describe it. You just jump on that riff, and it plays you. It’s the one feeling I would say approaches Nirvana’
And that from someone that conventional drugs have been unable to kill.
But Mick Jagger’s affection for the song is a tad indifferent. Dave Jerden, engineer on the Stones’ Dirty Works album and Jagger’s solo effort She’s the Boss recalls that while working in Paris he was summoned by Jagger into the studio. Jagger was there to record new vocals for Jumpin’ Jack Flash for the Whoopie Goldberg film of the same name. Jagger had the original master with him.
“ Well I should make a copy,” Jerden said, noting there were no open tracks left on the tape for a second vocal. “No, I’ll just go over the original vocal” Jagger replied. Which he did, meaning the original master performance is gone forever. So much for history.

(c)2004

Lyrics & their meaning Part 4- Blinded by the light

This continuing story of song lyrics and there meaning in some of the worlds best loved songs.
Who are they really kidding?

PART 4
BLINDED BY THE LIGHT -
MANFRED MANNS EARTH BAND (1976)

Blinded by The Light first recorded by Bruce Springsteen and the E street Band in 1972 , was ignored by the record buying public when released as the first single from his debut album Greetings from Ashbury Park. As a matter of fact the album wasn’t very successful at all selling only 50,00 copies on fist release. It eventually went gold when Spingsteen’s popularity surged after 1975’s Born To Run and more so after the mega sales of the Born In The U.S.A album.
Manfred Mann 60’s pop star, leader and keyboardist for the Earth Band was obviously a huge fan of the Greetings album. He recorded three songs from it.
Spirit in the night on the1975 Nightingales & Bombers album, BBTL in 1976 and For You on The Chance album in 1980.
Manfred Manns version of the song was a world wide hit and making it Springsteen's first USA No.1.
It is interesting to note that Springsteen’s reaction to the cover version: according to his manager Mike Appel was “he held up his nose with his fingers and I agreed with him. It stunk”
Manfred Manns Earth Band (MMEB) has been credited in giving the attention to Spingsteen which he deserved and kick starting his huge popularity. Manfred Mann was renowned for his ability to rework other people songs most of his career. His covers of Dylan songs such as The Mighty Quinn & You Angel You were also international hits.
Even though Manfred Manns Earth Bands version is the most popular, to use it as a guide to what the song is really about would be futile as MMEB actually changed some of the words and only used some of the verses, with those also being out of sequence. To put a finer point to it MMEB reworked the song to the point were they could have left Spingsteen’s name off the writing credits.
The critics and fans alike have ignored the song when it comes to its status of all time Springsteen favourites.
Even in his un-authorised autobiography; Springsteen Point Blank author Christopher Sandford notes when reviewing Spingsteen's first album wrote “ Greetings in fact, bowed with just a crassly leaden Dylan lark (Blinded by the light)....and then went onto to be wordy"
That line being the only reference to the song in the whole book.
Bruce Springsteen had written a metered rhyme that somehow tries to explain life on the entertainment area around the beach and fair ground of Ashbury Park New Jersey. Manfred Mann had transformed it into a cleverly crafted pop song where the words are part of the production.
Prior to the release of Ashbury Park, Springsteen was touted as a new Dylan which leads to the theory that Bruce was trying a bit too hard to be a poet as opposed to a lyricist and crammed as many syllables into the verse similar to Samual Taylor Colerige’s Kubla Kahn or T S Elliot’s’ Waste Lands or still some of Bob Dylans free form moments. Spingsteen never attempted anything like BBTL again on any scale.


©Shidot Prod. 2003

Jack Marks

Jack Marx was my favourite Blogger on The Age Web site until he was unceremoniously sacked

after a funny piece lampooning Kevin Rudd and the revelation of his visit to a strip club.

Jack is a funny man with a passion for music and looking at the absurd side of things. I will probably link a bit to his previous work because it needs exposure and because I think it’s hilarious.

These are two links to his old Fairfax Blog exposing the similarities between certain songs.

Number One

Number Two