What is Life without a Song to Live By?

03 Nov 2024 4 Comments

by Dr. John Persico Jr. in Uncategorized Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

Sometimes my mind simmers with proverbs or aphorisms.  “Eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow you may die.”  “The test of courage comes when we are in the minority; while the test of tolerance comes when we are in the majority.”  Hardly a day goes by when one or more of these pithy sayings does not assume authority over my daily life.

On other days, I am more guided by messages embedded in some song.  For instance, the idea of “Tradition” is a theme in the musical “Fiddler on the Roof.”

Who, day and night, must scramble for a living,

Feed a wife and children, say his daily prayers?

And who has the right, as master of the house,

To have the final word at home?

The Papa, the Papa!  Tradition.

The Papa, the Papa!  Tradition.

My blog this week is simply a mélange or medley of some of the songs that give me inspiration.  Messages that without being invited often invade my life.  There is no particular order or priority to the songs in this blog.  I don’t know why or how these musical pieces pop up;  but suddenly, some extraneous words, activities or events trigger them.   Before I know it, I am humming a refrain in my mind. (If you care to hear the songs noted below, just click on the title which is hyperlinked.

Respect: Aretha Franklin

All I’m askin’ is for a little respect when you come home

(Just a little bit) Baby

(Just a little bit) When you get home

(Just a little bit) Yeah

(Just a little bit)

Isn’t this something we all want?  Just a little respect!  Sometimes it seems so hard to find these days.  The idea of a “Righteous Person” or a Mensch does not seem to resonate with modern society.

Ambition: Wale

The time is now on everything

Took my heart away from money, I ain’t interested in fame

And I pray that never change

Ambition is priceless, it’s something that’s in your veins

What is ambition?  When is it good and when does it corrupt our lives?  The Greeks had the concept of the “Golden Mean” and it certainly should guide our ambition or we become totally corrupted.

Trouble:  Robert Preston

We’ve surely got trouble (we’ve surely got trouble)

Right here in River City (right here)

Remember the Maine, Plymouth Rock and the Golden Rule

(Our children’s children gonna have trouble, trouble, trouble, trouble)

A cute song but it reminds me constantly of the need to be on the lookout for politicians that use hyperbole to sow fear in the polis so that they can reap their rewards.

Dreamin:  Johnny Burnette

Well, I’ll keep on dreamin’

Keep right on dreamin’

Dreamin’ ’til my dreamin’ comes true

My entire life often seems like one big dream.  Dreaming is more of a process for me than an end state.  I like to think that I am a Realist but more often I am an idealist.  I dream of a world defined by the words of Martin Luther King.

“I have a dream that one day down in Alabama with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification, one day right down in Alabama little Black boys and Black girls will be able to join hands with little White boys and White girls as sisters and brothers. I have a dream today.”

Camelot:  Richard Burton

The snow may never slush upon the hillside

By nine p.m. the moonlight must appear

In short, there’s simply not a more congenial spot

For happily ever after in than here in Camelot

Is there a place on this earth where peace and justice reign?  Where I can live happily ever after.  Where there is no fear or evil.  I am still looking for this place.  It exists in my mind.  If only I could find its physical manifestation.

Lonely Teardrops:  Jackie Wilson

My Heart Is cryin’, cryin’

Lonely Teardrops

My pillows never dry of

Lonely Teardrops

Who among you has not felt the pain of loneliness?  James Bond said that “Boredom” was the worst curse of all.  I disagree.  Loneliness is the worst curse of all.  No physical pain is as great as the heart ache of loneliness.  No man or woman wants to do battle with loneliness.  Sadly, it must come to all of us someday.

Satisfaction:  Rolling Stones

I can’t get no satisfaction

I can’t get no satisfaction

‘Cause I try and I try and I try and I try

I can’t get no, I can’t get no satisfaction

Sounds like a whine!  But we all have those days when nothing seems to go right.  We call our insurance companies, or we call our bank, or we call our hospital and we “Can’t get no satisfaction.”  I often wonder if anyone really cares about our satisfaction.

Old Man River:  Paul Robeson

Ah gits weary

An’ sick of tryin’;

Ah’m tired of livin’

An’ skeered of dyin’,

But Ol’ Man River,

He jes’ keeps rollin’ along!

I’m sitting on the bank of the Mississippi watching the river flow or I’m watching the tide roll in on the “Dock of the Bay.”  I am sick of tryin and I am sick of livin.  Suddenly, every problem I have just melts away.  My problems are mostly in my mind.  The river doesn’t care.  The ocean doesn’t care.  The river rolls.  The tide comes in.  Life goes on.

Well, that’s all folks!  I have dozens, maybe hundreds of other refrains.  Many of them will remain hidden until suddenly the right chord is struck, and I will be humming them in my mind.

So long, farewell

Auf Wiederseh’n, goodbye

I leave, and heave

A sigh and say goodbye

Goodbye

From — The Sound of Music

 

My Top Ten Inspirational Songs of All Time and Why I love Them

20 Sep 2023 9 Comments

by Dr. John Persico Jr. in Uncategorized Tags: , , ,

fave songs

Each song is my favorite version.  Click on it and you can hear the song as I think it should be sung. 

  1. Amazing Grace — Etta James

Amazing grace how sweet the sound

That saved a wretch like me

I once was lost, but now I’m found

Was blind but now I see

Everyone knows this song.  It is one of the most popular hymns that was ever written.  However, I did not know the story behind it until a few years ago.  John Newton, the captain of a slave trading vessel repents for his crimes against humanity.  The song is evidence that humans can be redeemed from even the worst of crimes if they find the grace to seek forgiveness and redemption.

  1. The Impossible Dream — Richard Kiley

To fight for the right

Without question or pause

To be willing to march, march into Hell

For that Heavenly cause

A song that became popular because of the musical “Man of La Mancha.”  The musical was based on the story by Cervantes “Don Quixote.”  Outside of the Bible this might just be the most popular novel ever written.  It is the story of an old man who believed in justice and righteousness and set about a task to rid the world of evil.  A man who despite his age was going to do all that he could in his remaining years to set the world right.

  1. I Got Plenty O’ Nuttin — Willard White

Folks with plenty of nothing

They’ve got a lock on the door

Afraid somebody’s going to rob ’em

While they is out making more

What for?

This song is from the Gershwin Musical “Porgy and Bess.”  It speaks to the virtue of having nothing and being satisfied with that.  Being satisfied with love, song, and heaven.  Not striving for the things in life that will never bring happiness but only worry and misery.  I think it speaks to all of us who conditioned by Madison avenue want more and more until we die buried under all the stuff that we have spent our precious time accruing.

  1. The Toreador Song — Dimitri Hvorostovsky

Because it is a celebration of courage!

It is the celebration of people with heart!

Let’s go, on guard! Let’s go! Let’s go! Ah!

Toreador, on guard! Toreador, Toreador!

And dream away, yes, dream in combat

From the famous opera Carmen by Bizet.  The story of a soldier who sacrifices his life and career for the love of a frivolous but uber sexy woman.  Carmen seduces Don Jose but ultimately leaves him for the fascinating and heroic Toreador Escamillo.  Escamillo sings of what it is like to face death in the bull ring.  His message is a message of courage for all of us.  It harkens us to put aside our infatuation with life and take the kind of risks that make life worth living.  To live without the risk of death is not to live at all.

  1. Where Have All the Flowers Gone? — Pete Seeger

Where have all the young girls gone?

Long time passing

Where have all the young girls gone?

Long time ago

Where have all the young girls gone?

Taken husbands every one

When will they ever learn?

When will they ever learn?

Pete Seeger is one of the greatest troubadours of all time.  His career in singing and protesting injustice throughout the world lasted nearly eighty years.  It was a loss for the world when he passed away in 2014 at the age of 94.  Pete sang about racism, sexism, militarism and even a song about the brutality of boxing.  He sang about narrow minded people that cared little or nothing about the world around them.  In this song, he mourns for the soldiers that are caught up in the myopia of war.  A new war every day bespeaking the “racket” that General Smedley Butler declared war to be.  Don’t look for a “just” war.  There are no just wars.  Every war is an example of greed, stupidity, or shortsightedness.  Pete knew this well and dedicated his life to singing the truth about war and man’s inhumanity to man.

  1. Kol Nidrei — Angela Buchdahl

Prohibitions, oaths, consecrations, vows that we may vow, swear, consecrate, or prohibit upon ourselves –

from this Yom Kippur until the next Yom Kippuer, may it come upon us for good –

regarding them all, we regret them henceforth.

They will all be permitted, abandoned, cancelled, null and void, without power and without standing.

Our vows shall not be valid vows; our prohibitions shall not be valid prohibitions;

and our oaths shall not be valid oaths

Even if I were Jewish, this is a very complex song to explain or interpret.  I have looked at several interpretations of the words concerning vows and oaths taken.  The major issues are what oaths and promises can be legitimately taken and expected to be followed and what oaths and promises can be forgiven.  The distinctions between these two issues have created a great many controversies over the years.  Some even claim that it was a Jewish way to get out of loans or money borrowed.  This would lead to prejudice and misunderstanding on the part of non-Jews.

What I am impressed with by the song is the idea that we can be forgiven for oaths and vows that perhaps we should never have taken.  We can all swear to things that we later regret.  The idea of a day of forgiveness for these mistakes is very appealing to me.  The relationship between Yom Kippur, the Jewish Holy Day of Atonement and the Kol Nidre is interesting.  Yom Kippur begins in the evening, and the evening prayer (Maariv) is preceded by the special Kol Nidre prayer.  I think this points to a strong bond between atonement and forgiveness both in terms of sin and in terms of vows and oaths that were taken.   In any case, it is also a beautiful song to listen to.

  1. Motherless Child — Richie Havens

Sometimes I feel like a motherless child

Sometimes I feel like a motherless child

Sometimes I feel like a motherless child

A long way from home

A long way from home

When I first heard this song on the Woodstock Festival album, I thought he made it for me.  Somehow, for most of my life, I have felt like a motherless child.  This is strange since I had a mom.  Everyone described her as a saint.  She was never mean or abusive to me.  I remember during a counseling session confessing that I felt less when my mom died than I did when my father died.  He was a mean abusive man who made my life hell.  I dreamed of killing him but never got up the nerve to do it.

But why did I mourn my father’s death more than my mom’s.  My counselor recommended I read “Drama of the Gifted Child.”  She explained that a mother’s role is to protect her children and clearly my mom did not.  I never blamed her because I felt that she was living in her own hell with my father.  Nevertheless, I felt more like I never had a mom.  Hearing Richie Havens’ song, I felt like someone understood.

  1. The Bluebird of Happiness — Jan Peerce

When you find the bluebird of happiness

You will find perfect peace of mind

Knowing there’s a bluebird of happiness

And when he sings to you

Though you’re deep in blue

You will see a ray of light creep through

And so remember this, life is no abyss

Somewhere there’s a bluebird of happiness

Growing up with a father who loved opera, I was bound to hear Jan Peerce sing many of his repertoire.  He sang many wonderful songs.  However, this was my favorite.  I guess you could almost say that this song was pop, but it would never be recognized as such by today’s kids.  The “Bluebird of Happiness” spoke to my desire for peace of mind.  I had only to find the bluebird and all my sorrows and fears, and unhappiness would vanish.  I searched many years for this strange bird.  I have not found it yet but perhaps I am closer than ever before.

  1. The Peat Bog Soldiers — Paul Robeson

Up and down the guards are marching,

No one, no one can get through.

Flight would mean a sure death facing,

Guns and barbed wire block our view

But for us there is no complaining,

Winter will in time be past.

One day we shall rise rejoicing.

Homeland, dear, you’re mine at last.

No more the peat bog soldiers (Die Moorsoldaten)

Will march with our spades to the moor.

No more the peat bog soldiers

Will march with our spades to the moor.

I first heard this song by the fabulous Paul Robeson.  I was astounded.  He is so versatile.  He spoke out for liberty and justice no matter what language his songs were in.  Parts of this song are in English and parts in German.  Paul sounds like a native German speaker.  I looked up the history of this song and found that it was one of the most popular protest songs of all time in Europe.  It tells of the men in a concentration camp getting marched off each morning to work harvesting peat in the peat bogs.

This song was written by prisoners in Nazi labor camps in Lower Saxony, Germany.  With their shovels and pails, they euphemistically refer to themselves as “The Peat Bog Soldiers.”  These camps were established as soon as the Nazis gained power as a place to put their political enemies.  Many of not most of the men and women in these camps would die.  Nevertheless, they remained hopeful that someday Hitler’s reign would end, and they could march home in rejoicing.  Can we remain as hopeful in the crisis facing us today?  I ask myself that each morning when I wake up.

  1. Guantanamera — Joseito Fernandez

I am a truthful man from the land of the palm trees

Before dying I want to share these poems of my soul

My verses are a clear green, and they are a flaming crimson

I grow the white rose in June as in January

For the sincere friend who gives me his hand

And for the cruel one who would tear out my heart with which I live

I do not cultivate thistles nor nettles I cultivate a white rose

Guantanamera, guajira, Guantanamera

This song is one of the most popular songs of all time.  Few people would not recognize the tune and lyrics.  Not only has it been sung by hundreds of singers all over the world, but it has been featured in movies and other venues.  For instance: “The song is played in The Godfather Part II, at the café in Havana where Michael Corleone talks with his brother Fredo Corleone.  Richard Stallman wrote and sang a version titled Guantanamero, a commentary on the Guantanamo prison and the War on Terror.” — Wikipedia

Over the years, what started as a love song has evolved into a song about freedom and justice.  A song supporting class equality and freedom for the poor.  To me it also signifies seeking co-existence with our enemies as well as with our friends.  Besides the moral significance, it is hauntingly beautiful.  Parts of it are sung in Spanish and parts in English depending on the singer.

Well, there you have my top ten favorite inspirational songs.  I would love to hear what your favorite songs are as well.  Feel free to leave comments, lyrics, tunes or whatever you like.  Just be sure to let us know what Key you want us to sing it in.  😊

 

 

 

 

 

Free Speech or NOT?

12 Mar 2023 13 Comments

by Dr. John Persico Jr. in Uncategorized Tags: , , , , , ,

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From a theoretical perspective, I am opposed to Free Speech.  The very idea is absurd.  Nothing in the world is free.  Everything has a price that you pay.  Furthermore, the idea of upholding the right of anyone to say anything at anytime is absurd.  It is bizarre beyond fathoming.  Where does this ridiculous idea come from?  Some idealist version of Democracy or some unrealistic idea that everything works out in the long run if we only allow “truth” to finally poke its way though the deluge of lies and misinformation that permeates modern society.

From a pragmatic perspective, I am 100 percent in favor of Free Speech.  It is one of those rare examples where the alternatives are even worse than the present bias towards Free Speech.  If we started to arrest people for lying or because we did not like what they had to say, we would have to build more prisons than we have space for in the entire world.  We already have rates of incarceration which are abominable.  If we start locking up liberals who we disagree with or racists who we disagree with solely based on what they say, we might as well give up any discussion in the public space.

From an idealistic viewpoint, I am all in on Free Speech.  We cannot start muzzling people and expect to find the information or thoughts that we need to make progress in the world.  The best discussions come about from a wide range of viewpoints that are uncensored.  Better to know the enemy than for the enemy to remain hidden.  Only from a weltanschauung of perspectives can we tread our way to a reality that transcends mediocrity and complacency.

From a realistic perspective, I see many dangers in Free Speech.  From inciting riots to allowing people to die because of distorted information and intentional malignancy, there is a great danger in allowing people to say what they want and when they want to.  The “Big Lie” and many other marketing ploys from selling cigarettes to downplaying the health hazards of alcohol, have resulted in millions of deaths.  Is Free Speech more important than human life?

There are several pathways to Free Speech that are important when we debate the pros and cons of Free Speech in American society.  I would like to list each of these pathways and then make some comments about each.

  1. Free Speech in media, books, curriculums
  2. Free Speech on both the political right and the political left
  3. Free Speech in academia
  4. Free Speech in the public arena
  5. Free Speed on the Internet

Free Speech in media, books, curriculums

There could be no more blatant example of the hypocrisy concerning the 1st Amendment than regards books, media, and curriculums.  Let’s diverge for just a second to review the 1st Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.  It was adopted on December 15, 1791, as one of the ten amendments that constitute the Bill of Rights.

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

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This “right” to Free Speech has not stopped Ron DeSantis or Greg Abbott from restricting books in public schools, canceling curriculums and limiting the right of teachers to speak out on racism or sexism in history.  Nor has it stopped the “rights” of others all over America from trying to censor the thoughts, facts and data that characterize much of US History.

  • From July 2021 to June 2022, PEN America’s Index of School Book Bans lists 2,532 instances of individual books being banned, affecting 1,648 unique book titles.
  • The 1,648 titles are by 1,261 different authors, 290 illustrators, and 18 translators, impacting the literary, scholarly, and creative work of 1,553 people altogether.
  • Bans occurred in 138 school districts in 32 states. These districts represent 5,049 schools with a combined enrollment of nearly 4 million students. — Banned in the USA

But censorship did not start with DeSantis or Abbott.  It has a very long history in America.  This despite the First Amendment.  About as many people seem to pay attention to the First Amendment today as they do to the Ten Commandments.  Imagine for a second if everyone obeyed the Ten Commandments.   No murders.  No robberies.  No adulteries.  No rapes.

I remember growing up and wondering why so many scenes from movies seemed to me rather unrealistic.  It took me a while to realize that many movies scenes were banned or censored in the USA.  As far back as 1897, a statute of the State of Maine prohibited the exhibition of prizefight films.  As the film industry developed, so did censorship as the government tried to control the content of what the public could see or hear.

“In the 1950s many books and genres were banned from the public.  Educational literature was targeted specifically because many people wanted to stop the teaching of evolutionary theories due to religious reasons.  Books, such as the Wizard of Oz and other fantasy books, were banned due to the fear that they would corrupt the minds of children and teens.  For this reason comic books were also banned.” — Censorship in the 1950s

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I still remember hiding my comic books under my textbooks when I was ten years old in the fifth grade at Mount St. Francis School.  I loved comic books and every time I was caught reading one, I would get my knuckles whacked with a ruler.  My assailant (teacher/Nun) would castigate me with the rejoinder that comic books would warp my brain and make me stupid.  Sixty years later and I am still waiting for my brain to decay.  It may already be happening, but I fear it is the result of old age rather than reading comic books.  I finally stopped buying comics when they became too expensive.  Easier to get them from the library today.

If we are talking about censorship of media, we should not leave out “pornographic” films and songs. 

“Chicago enacted the first censorship ordinance in the United States in 1907, authorizing its police chief to screen all films to determine whether they should be permitted on screens.  Detroit followed with its own ordinance the same year. When upheld in a court challenge in 1909, other cities followed and Pennsylvania became the first to enact statewide censorship of movies in 1911 (though it did not fund the effort until 1914).  It was soon followed by Ohio (1914), Kansas (1915), Maryland (1916), New York (1921) and, finally, Virginia (1922).  Eventually, at least one hundred cities across the nation empowered local censorship boards.” –— Wikipedia

61A5VaThL7LHere are two more recent examples of “titillating sex” that would never have passed the censors in the fifties.  The first is from a song called “Love to Love You Baby” by Donna Summers from the middle seventies.  Time magazine called it “a marathon of 22 orgasms.”  Many singers like Beyonce and Madonna have mimicked Donna Summers in more recent songs and videos.  Can you imagine if Donna Summers had a video made today to go along with this song?  You can see her perform it on stage in 1976 on YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=upIstttL9ew

My movie example is from a PG movie, that means Parental Guidance.  This is far from the R or X rating that movies could be given but the scenes or suggestions that can be slipped in demonstrate the imagination and creativity of movie producers.  The film Twilight opened in 2008 as PG-13.  It slipped in a suggested sex scene between the vampire Edward and his lover Bella.  The scene is not overtly sexual as some more recent scenes might be, but it leaves little to the imagination.

Growing up with the censorship that has been imposed on films, books, songs, and other media in the USA, I am continually astounded by the hypocrisy that surrounds the First Amendment.  It is one thing to label something to inform people that something might be offensive.  It is quite another to outright ban things.  Where does the First Amendment concerning these media begin and end?  For that we need to look at the politics of censorship.

Since this blog is getting “too” long, I am going to self-censor and divide it into four more sections.  In my next blog or section, I am going to cover the politics of censorship.