Thursday, July 28, 2011

Regatta De Blanc!

I meant "Regatta De Blanc"  OF COURSE!!!!

my bad,
wkm

Gran Torino



"When our desires are not satisfied, they grow stronger,

 and become stronger they take hold of their object."---Gregory the Great, pope

The music is always playing somewhere..
there was a time when it wasn't so easy to find
do we remember when we waited for the release?,,
Then made our way to the Record Store..
In Meridian Ms it was the Music Emporium.
The coolest record store/head shop
I skipped school, I was 15, already had my license..
I drove a 1973 Gran Torino...it was HUGE..
the hood of the car was larger than the Yaris I sometimes drive now...
It was the ugliest brownish color., 5 miles to the gallon.
The Music Emporium opened at 10:00..
I was there at 9:45..
The album was "Regatta Leblanc" by The Police..
The guy running the shop knew me..he knew I was skipping school..
When I walked in he was getting the album out of the box..
He handed it to me and I paid him..
I sat in the car with the LP reading the titles on the back..
all new songs I had never heard before..
tore the plastic wrap and pulled out the sleeve holding the pristine vinyl treasure..
The art work on those sleeves was incredible..
I drove to my house 20 blocks away to 42nd...
My mom had already left for work..
I sat the needle down and heard..
"Just a castaway, I am lost at sea oh!"
wow.

wkm
Nashville






Wednesday, July 27, 2011

That Loneliness





They wrote about that loneliness that all of us find within.
The strange ability to happen upon quiet in the midst of living
no matter how engrossing or traumatic the endeavor
"This is what separates us from all of creatures.", Foote said..
"No other creature knows it will die one day."..Foote said.
Faulkner spoke volumes of that loneliness..
in almost every magnificent line he spoke to this superb of all ailments.
These men have passed on to the ultimate mysterious loneliness..
at least it seems incredibly quiet from where we strain to see..

wkm
Nashville

Thursday, July 21, 2011

Wandering


Wandering:
When the path is clear..
or,
when it seems clear,
we fear nothing!
We know the monsters are waiting,
but we don't care when we walk with clarity..
Monsters of sickness, physical or mental,
Monsters of sadness, confusion, disappointment, doubt..
they can jump out from behind the beautiful trees of our clear path,
and we just keep on moving..
but when the clarity becomes a mist that cloaks our faith and reason,
when it becomes murky with a mental hard rain,
the monsters frighten us.
The path becomes a gauntlet..
the path becomes a swamp..
the path disappears.
The sun is hidden behind dark clouds of thoughts gone awry..
the monsters visit us in our beds making our minds race with anxiety..
Sometimes the anxiety is crippling..
and crying out to God feels futile..
 seems ambiguous..

wkm
Babylon

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

The Number 2




If Jesus stood here in this room?
The number 2 person of the Trinity....
The perfectly complete human..
(Whatever that might mean..)
The perfectly complete God
(Whatever that could mean)
So...
What if..?
some of us don't know that we know that we know..
we might say we know that we know...
we might say it with gritted teeth and undying determination...
but really...
we don't know
No matter the "proof",
we have to embrace "FAITH and TRADITION"..
Without Tradition, faith is shallow insanity...
Without Faith, tradition is a Porch nobody uses..

wkm
The Villagers
Of Nashville

Sunday, July 17, 2011

LIght

 
The shadow days of summer begin in August,
As Faulkner titled his novel,
"The Light In August"..
The light begins to change.
The days grow shorter,
shadows grow longer..
not in July...
The days are relentless..
Hot, clear skies, the occassional storm,
hard weather.
The soft weather of September and October only a hope,
a memory.
It won't be long..
 
wkm
Oxford
 

Thursday, July 14, 2011

What do you hear?

image.png

When you listen to music what do you hear?
Do you hear the melody first?
Do you hear the lyric?
The sound?
It is interesting to think about if you think about it..
I am glad Vinyl is coming back..
It is truly the best way to listen to music,
however you hear it.

wkm
nashville

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

impasse

image.png

impasse impasse impasse
harass harass harass
rotting garbage falls from the lips of the knowing
some words should go unspoken
impasse impasse impasse
harass harass harass
caramel juice nay is no vino veritas at all
115 proof proves nothing..
impasse impasse impasse
harass harass harass
thin words of accusation should stay at the station
no one ever arrives on that train
impasse impasse impasse
harass harass harass

wkm
nashvegas

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

The Vibe of the Day

image.png

The vibe of the day is languid..
a very present vapor...
humidity and heat and hypnosis
makes the eye see in slow motion
or
at least it seems so..
feels like the ceiling fan is against us
the heat it pushes down upon us
on the front porch in the swing..
I have the blues playing inside..
a speaker sits in the window..
sound coming through the hot screen.
Junior Kimbrough scratching out a tune..
it ain't raining..won't rain...
even with the thunder off on the distance..
it will lead to nothing,
the heat sits with me on the swing,
wish he would get up..

wkm
Nashville

Sunday, July 10, 2011

HOT

It is hotter than heck here in Oxford..
99 today, 91% humidity
And it will not rain...
I saw a black family reunion on my way from town,
a huge family, cars along the highway for a while..
I slowed to a stop waiting for a car to turn in,
an older gentleman walked over to my car..
"Y'all need to come on up and join us!"
I told him I would love to for a few minutes,
but that I couldn't stay for long.
They had a guitar and were passing it around..
When it came to me I tried to pass and not mention I play..
The music they were playing was simply amazing..
Hill Country Blues...murky, moving, honest..funny, heartbreaking...
They insisted I play something..
I told the the story of my uncle down in Louisville who had a dirt track when I was growing up....
I then played my tune "Mississippi Noise"
I am glad I took some time to hang out..
 
wkm
Oxford MS!

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

stop and...

image.png

This morning I was walking..
had my Ipod cranked listening to the Wineskins..
I saw a tree up ahead with pink flowers..
without even thinking I walked up to it and smelled them.
I realized something,,
I just taken time to stop and smell the flowers..

wkm
Nashville

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Choices

image.png


My son and I went to the "Listening Room" this past Thursday night in Nashville..
The very fine writer Billy Yates was playing..
He played the song he wrote George Jones made famous, "Choices"..
If you have never heard it, you should hear it..
it's about a man who drank too much,
a man who lied too much,
a man who lives with regrets in his old age..
he wishes he could go back but he knows he can't..
So many in the song cared for him and he ignored them..
he chose to live his life the way he wanted in spite of the love those gave him..
in spite of the pain his choices brought them and himself..
our choices do matter.

wkm
Nashville

Sunday, July 3, 2011

The Green Guitar Correction/ Green Gretch



"What time is it in the world?"
"What time is it in the world?"
"It's show time!"
This is how U2 started the last half of the show..
and folks,
it was "Show Time!".
It was incredible!
The stadium was packed..
They opened with "Even Better than the Real Thing"
It was almost as if we were at the Achtung Baby show 20 years ago.
'The Fly", "Until the End of the World", "Stay, Far Away so Close".
"One"..
Miss Sarajevo was magical..
The show ended and they were waving to the crowd when Bono walked back to the mic..
To the surprise of the rest of the band and the crowd,
he pulled a guy up on stage who said he wanted to play a song for his wife..
Bono asked for his green Gretch he has played for 20 years..
The guy was nervous but Bono encouraged him to play..
He started playing "All I Want is You"..
Bono started singing..
the band joined in...obviously enjoying this impromptu moment..
Edge played piano..
The guy played it perfectly..
After the song was over Bono gave the guy his green Gretch guitar!!
The crowd went nuts..

wkm
Nashville

Green Guitar



"What time is it in the world?"
"What time is it in the world?"
"It's show time!"
This is how U2 started the last half of the show..
and folks,
it was "Show Time!".
It was incredible!
The stadium was packed..
They opened with "Even Better than the Real Thing"
It was almost as if we were at the Achtung Baby show 20 years ago.
'The Fly", "Until the End of the World", "Stay, Far Away so Close".
"One"..
Miss Sarajevo was magical..
The show ended and they were waving to the crowd when Bono walked back to the mic..
To the surprise of the rest of the band and the crowd,
he pulled a guy up on stage who said he wanted to play a song for his wife..
Bono asked for his green Gibson he has played for 20 years..
The guy was nervous but Bono encouraged him to play..
He started playing "All I Want is You"..
Bono started singing..
the band joined in...obviously enjoying this impromptu moment..
Edge played piano..
The guy played it perfectly..
After the song was over Bono gave the guy his green Gibson guitar!!
The crowd went nuts..

wkm
Nashville


Saturday, July 2, 2011

U2



Tonight we see U2 here in Nashville..

TONIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This will be my 6th time..
Renee's 5th time
Wesley and Cara's first time!!..
There is no way to describe a U2 concert sufficiently..
There is a beautiful, tangible, liberating spiritual depth to what they do..
something beyond the four guys on stage..
four friends who share way more than music..
Strangers dance with strangers,
people are smiling and laughing.
Kindness permeates the crowd of every race and religion..
and the music..the music..
the music is a wall of sound and space..
filled with mystery, angst, searching, anger, pleading, rejoicing, hoping, abandon....

it's pretty awesome..

wkm
Nashville

wkm
Nashville

Friday, July 1, 2011

The Sweet Music

All I wanna do baby,
is put my arms around you..
wanna sway to the sweet music..
all night long..

wkm
Nashville