Dying White Light

Here’s a September 2018 song from Amos Lee, which brings together personal and social with his quiet delivery.

Trouble Every Day

The Bizarre World of Frank Zappa is on tour, complete with a hologram of the late musician and members of this crack band.

That got me to browsing my collection of Zappa stuff. Anyone playing the compositions by that man had to be in top form. The guy never played a solo the same way. He was rock, jazz, classical (Yellow Shark anyone?) and just plain off the wall.

You could count on Frank Zappa to speak out. He did, frequently, and his music was incredibly adventurous. He composed this tune during the riots of the ‘60s. The lyrics could apply to our challenges today, as well.

Requiem for the Masses

I’d never heard this song. I’d heard others by The Association. It’s definitely not a throwaway. The imagery is dark, and I’d bet a bundle there is more than one tragedy referenced.

Rich Man’s War

Steve Earle keeps the tradition of protest alive with his music, including this stark number: “Just another poor boy off to fight a rich man’s war.”

The Face of God

A harrowing time in the life of a musician is the subject of this song

Camp Cope performs.

I had to say no and stop
More than once
Way too many times

It’s Almost Like Praying

Remember the hurricane? Let this song wash over you.

Lin-Manuel Miranda, and all, sing place names in a soulful anthem.

And, in those places in Puerto Rico, territory of the U.S., people live and are recovering.

Pigs (Three Different Ones)

Tell me how you really feel, Roger Waters!

Ever ready for a spectacle, Waters harnessed his displeasure with President Donald Trump in an October 1, 2016, performance for an audience of thousands in Mexico City: True to Pink Floyd style in this performance, there were huge screens, a floating pig eviscerated by the audience and a newer wrinkle, huge letters blazing some of Trump’s quotes.

Whoa.

Two Tribes

Really? Frankie Goes To Hollywood?

I guess.

The song’s a little cartoonish in the context of the video, but I guess it’s the thought that counts.

Are we living in a land

Where sex and horror are the new gods, yeah

When two tribes go to war

One point is all that you can score.

Morning in America

Durand Jones goes all soulful in this song.

And in towns across the country

It’s color that divides

When in working men and ladies

We could find our common side.

A short vacation

The nature of small-town journalism means I don’t get a substantial amount of time for vacations. I really don’t mind, since the work is enjoyable.

Recently, though, the family suggested a read a trilogy by N.K. Jemisin. I love fiction, anyway, but resisted. I knew what would happen.

It did.

In the space of a couple of weeks I devoured The Fifth Season, The Obelisk Gate and The Stone Sky. It was a sort-of vacation, since, in the periods I was able to read, I was transported.

Jemisin wrote a smart, gripping, descriptive, sensitive series with enough complications to keep me engaged. It wasn’t clear exactly where the novels were going, which was delightful, too, given the penchant of writers to fall back on boilerplate.

It’s a big accomplishment to build a world that is markedly different than the one we’re used to, but Jemisin does while anchoring it on the planet Earth.

I was hooked, and I recommend the series for anyone who likes a good story.