Favorite Lyrics: NGDB – “An American Dream”

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I beg your pardon, mama, what did you say?
My mind was drifting off on Martinique Bay
It’s not that I’m not interested, you see
Augusta, Georgia is just no place to be

I think Jamaican in the moonlight
Sandy beaches, drinking rum every night
We got no money, mama, but we can go
We’ll split the difference, go to Coconut Grove

Keep on talking, mama, I can hear
Your voice, it tickles down inside of my ear
I feel a tropical vacation this year
Might be the answer to this hillbilly fear

I think Jamaican in the moonlight
Sandy beaches, drinking rum every night
We got no money, mama, but we can go
We’ll split the difference, go to Coconut Grove

Voila! An American Dream
Well, we can travel girl, without any means
When it’s as easy as closing your eyes
And dream Jamaica is a big neon sign

Just keep talking, mama, I like that sound
It goes so easy with that rain falling down
I think a tropical vacation this year
Might be the answer to this hillbilly fear

Voila! An American Dream
Yeah, we can travel, girl, without any means
When it’s as easy as closing your eyes
And dream Jamaica is a big neon sign

Just think Jamaican in the moonlight
Sandy beaches, drinking rum every night
We got no money, mama, but we can go
We’ll split the difference, go to Coconut Grove

Source: Musixmatch
Songwriters: Norman Ray Harris for the album: An American Dream (1979)
the song (with Linda Ronstadt): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnOXHDMXbSs
the band: https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-nitty-gritty-dirt-band-mn0000718907/biography
photo: Capital Records

Favorite Lyrics: Leonard Cohen – “There is a War”

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There is a war between the rich and poor
A war between the man and the woman
There is a war between the ones who say there is a war
And the ones who say there isn’t
Why don’t you come on back to the war, that’s right, get in it
Why don’t you come on back to the war, it’s just beginning

Well I live here with a woman and a child
The situation makes me kind of nervous
Yes, I rise up from her arms, she says “I guess you call this love”
I call it service

Why don’t you come on back to the war, don’t be a tourist
Why don’t you come on back to the war, before it hurts us
Why don’t you come on back to the war, let’s all get nervous

You cannot stand what I’ve become
You much prefer the gentleman I was before
I was so easy to defeat, I was so easy to control
I didn’t even know there was a war

Why don’t you come on back to the war, don’t be embarrassed
Why don’t you come on back to the war, you can still get married

There is a war between the rich and poor
A war between the man and the woman
There is a war between the left and right
A war between the black and white
A war between the odd and the even

Why don’t you come on back to the war, pick up your tiny burden
Why don’t you come on back to the war, let’s all get even
Why don’t you come on back to the war, can’t you hear me speaking?


Source: LyricFind
Songwriters: Leonard Cohen for the album: New Skin for the Old Ceremony (1974)
There Is A War lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

the song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXxhmaQBeg8
artist: https://www.allmusic.com/artist/leonard-cohen-mn0000071209/biography
photo: Columbia Records








Movie Review: Mio on the Shore (2019) – directed and co-written by Ryutaro Nakagawa

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This is a very quiet little movie. It is a calm meditation about a nearly mute 20 year old woman named Mio (Honoka Matsumoto) who moves to Tokyo from a small town and her experiences there. It has a plot, albeit lite. Mostly we watch her going about her daily tasks, seldom reacting or speaking to those around her.

What’s enchanting about this film is that despite her reticence, we do eventually learn a little about her and begin to care about her. I like films that are challenging and Mio on the Shore is challenging in its near total lack of engagement and intrigue. The director has done a marvelous job of keeping the tone mellow and the action slight. There are few characters and settings. The conversations are brief and concise. The emotions even or withheld. Yet you come away from the film feeling like you’ve experienced a short portion of another person’s life. That’s not easy to accomplish.

I don’t mean to suggest that there is no substance to this film. There is the relationship between grandmother and granddaughter. There is the poem that bookends the movie, which the viewer must judge as to how it relates to her life. There are the themes of impermanence, the power of words, and the importance of community. That this quiet unassuming character is the center of a movie about something more is quite extraordinary.

written by jbm 9/11/21

photo: Phantom Film

Favorite Lyrics: Echo and the Bunnymen – “With a Hip”

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Halt
Nobody’s allowed
Strictly verboten
Out, out, out, out
Bounds
Of course we know no bounds
Until, at least, and then
Trespass all the way down
They got it
And I want some
I can handle it
And I want some

Relax
Feel the pleasure inside
Error and trial
Collide, collide
You’ll listen
I don’t expect you to
We’ve lost
And something’s all we can do
With a hip-hip-hop
And a flip-flap-flop
Gonna steal some bananas
From the grocer’s shop
With your head in the clouds
And your trousers undone
Gonna shit on the carpet
Just like everyone

This is the one for the money
This is the one for the trees
This is the one called Heaven
And this is the one for me

You’ve yet to discover
Discover the difference
The difference between
The moral and motto

They’ve got it
And I had some
I couldn’t handle it
But I had some

Hold it in the light
And see right through it
For God’s sake
Make a decision
Take it for a walk
And hold it hold it
Pin it on the wall
And fasten onto
Move into the bathroom
Oh yes, oh yes
Do what must be done
And don’t say maybe

This is the one for the money
This is the one for the trees
This is the one called Heaven
And this is the one for me

Source: LyricFind
Songwriters: Ian Stephen Mcculloch / Leslie Pattinson / Leslie Thomas Pattinson / Pete De Freitas / Pete Freitas / William Sergeant / William Alfred Sergeant for the album “Heaven Up Here” (1981)
With a Hip lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc
the song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9knRAZIVHs
the band: https://www.allmusic.com/artist/echo-the-bunnymen-mn0000145128/biography
photo: Sire Records

Favorite Lyrics: John Hiatt – “Adios To California”

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Smokey room and a thin blue light
Her arms were pale as white
Trying to outlast the night
Howlin’ at the moon

Living in the canyon then
Hangdown Hanna and Whiskey Jim
Dirty jeans and mudslide hymns
That all began with soon

So adios to California
Nothing to do but turn around
Always thought there’s someone comin’ for ya
Only way you’d leave this town

Pasadena in the rain
Eatin’ donuts and readin’ Twain
How much longer can my brain
Set itself on fire?

You said “That’s it for me”
Have a little faith, it might set you free
But your faith is no good, you see
For me and my desire

So adios to California
Nothing to do but turn around
Always thought there’s someone comin’ for ya
Only way you’d leave this town

Two cigarettes from the package gone
You must have thought about it just that long
I never knew you were so strong
I guess I never will

So adios to California
Nothing to do but turn around
Always thought there’s someone comin’ for ya
Only way you’d leave this town

Source: LyricFind
Songwriters: John R Hiatt for the album Dirty Jeans And Mudslide Hymns (2011)
Adios to California lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc
the song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBaTTB0o4oY
artist bio: https://www.allmusic.com/artist/john-hiatt-mn0000812046/biography
photo: New West