A Change Is Gonna Come - yes it will

It's been too hard living but I'm afraid to die

'Cause I don't know what's up there beyond the sky

It's been a long, a long time coming

But I know a change gonna come, oh yes it will

I am pretty sure that the first time I was introduced to this song I was 16. I was watching the movie Malcolm X (a film I really enjoy). Towards the end of the movie there is a beautiful scene and the song behind it was “A Change Is Gonna Come” by Sam Cooke. 

Quick side note here: The fact that Denzel Washington did not win the Best Actor Academy Award that year is fucking astounding! He lost to Al Pacino for his portrayal in Scent Of A Woman. Look, I know the Academy throws Make Up Oscars (i.e. you should have won before, but you didn’t so we are giving it to you this year awards), Denzel even won one for his role in Training Day - but c’mon. Watch both performances and tell me Denzel didn’t deserve it.

Ok, back to the song. It just seemed so perfect for the scene. The song is written about a time and place in this country (1960s America). But the lyrics and performance are so human and relatable that it transcends that place in time. It’s a song that is relatable. It’s a song about community and the personal experience at the same time. It’s a song about hope in hopeless times. It’s a song about feeling isolated and alone but believing that somehow things will get better. It’s been a very important song that has gotten me through some tough times. It’s a song that holds up over time. 

I must admit that for years, I actually would listen to the Otis Redding version and not the Sam Cooke one - although I do feel that the Sam Cooke version is superior. Mr. Cooke has greater range and his voice offsets the sadness and loneliness of the lyrics. His voice is gives the song a touch of hope and beauty that is hidden in the song. Only a special artist like Sam Cooke can bring that hope and beauty out of this song. This is the song at the top of my funeral playlist (yes, I have a funeral playlist but that is a topic for another day). A Change Is Gonna Come is easily one of the 30 most important songs in my life.

Oh there been times that I thought I couldn't last for long

But now I think I'm able to carry on

It's been a long, a long time coming

But I know a change gonna come, oh yes it will

Song Seven - Seatlle

Song seven on my list of 30 songs is a new one in terms of it's release date. It might end up being the “newest” song on the whole list. It’s a live recording of a song called Seattle by the band Soda Pants. 

A quick addendum: Soda Pants is comprised of three of my former students from UC San Diego (Will Chapman, Mike Sierks, Grady Kestler) and the wonderful Erin Brower (who ended up replacing me as an interm member of the Sixth College Residential Life staff). I can say without a doubt that even if I didn’t know these four people I would still love this song. Does knowing them help make this song more special? Absolutely. But it’s still an A song that gets bumped up to an A+ because I love the people who made it.

Soda Pants has lots of great songs, Amarillo, To Whom It May Concern, Eleven and It’s Not Fair. But Seattle is just something special.

First, I love live recordings. There’s something unique and about a live recording. A good live recording has something chaotic and energetic about it. Second, the music and the lyrics are beautiful. It sounds and feels like you’re transported to a beautifully romantic scene in an independent romantic comedy. Not the crappy ones. The really good ones with heart and honesty. I just get this great cinematic sense from the lyrics.

I picked you up

You took the train

You kissed my face

And I said your name

We spent the night

Walking the streets

It was so cold

Holding for heat

It has a wonderfully simple opening for the first 10 seconds, then it gets a little more complicated but it’s still simple and elegant sounding. About 22 seconds in the song really starts to build. Erin and Will’s harmonies just sound so good and have this incredible passion and authenticity behind them.

My absolute favorite part though comes after the clarinet comes in - that’s right - there’s a freaking clarinet in this song. The song just builds to this great emotional crescendo.

Coyotes Running wild

Casting shadows on the mountain side

I picked you up

You took the train

You kissed my Face

And I said your name

You played your part

With the stories you told

White picket fence 

Us growing old.

It’s such a great ambiguous ending to the song. Are they happily in love? Did it all fall apart? Who knows. but I feel something when I hear that last verse. I love it. I really do. Feel free to check out the song below.

My Monday

What I Did Today

8:15 am. Woke up and looked at my phone. Checked Twitter, Facebook and email. 

8:33 am. Watched some Grantland Channel videos on Youtube.

8:45 am. Watched highlight videos from last night’s 49ers and Seahawks football game. Side note - The NFL Mobile app is a pain the ass to sign into and you can’t watch video if you don’t allow access to your location. I find this strange/annoying and will probably delete the app this week.

9:02 am. Still in bed and bored. I set an alarm for 11:08am. I like to set alarm times where the minute isn’t a 5 or a 0, seems too predictable. Set the alarm and put my phone on airplane mode.

Wake up before the alarm and just lie in bed staring at the ceiling.

11:08 am. Alarm goes off and I turn it off. I get up and decide to go for a run instead of washing dishes and doing laundry. I stretch and try to figure out if i need to put on a long sleeve shirt. i put a band-aid on my right nipple to keep it from being rubbed raw and bleeding. I normally don’t have to do this except if I’m running more than 3 and half miles. I’ve decided to aim for five today so it’s necessary. I also decide to take out the trash and sweep the floor before going out

12:12pm. I start my run.

1:07pm. I finish with my run. I made it 5.08 miles. The last song that played was A$AP Rocky’s Fuckin’ Problems. I am not a big fan of using the $ instead of an S. However, the beginning of Kendirck lamar’s verse was a nice way to end the run.

Hold up
This the finale
My pep talk 
Turned into a pep rally

I do some core exercise before jumping in the shower. 

Approx. 1:45pm I check my phone and notice a Bleacher Report update titled 15 Greatest Crowd Reactions in Pro Wrestling history. It makes me remember that part of the beauty of wrestling is that moment where something unexpected happens or the build up to something is so good that when it  finally happens, it makes people go nuts. I remember being 9 years old and being stunned at the crowd reaction at Wembley stadium when the The British Bulldog beat Bret Hart for the intercontinental title. For the uninitiated the fact that these two were real life brother in laws was used in the story line. I still love watching the fan reaction. http://youtu.be/jVouEF5SOB4?t=34m

2:34pm. I make ham and egg sandwiches for breakfast/lunch. 
approx. 3:01pm I go into my laundry room and separate clothes that need to be washed and start a load of laundry. 

3:12pm. I take out the trash.

3:15pm. I go on ESPN.com to figure out the likelihood of the celtics getting a top 5 draft pick this year and where their second pick in the first round (either Brooklyn or Atlanta’s pick) might end up. I come to the conclusion that it may end up being somewhere between 18 and 22 barring a total collapse by both teams.

3:24. I look to check movie times and see that Anchorman 2 starts in 20 minutes. I contemplate it for about 2 minutes and then decide against it. I haven’t seen it to this point so it’s not going to kill me to not see it now. If I do a good enough job not wasting money this week maybe I’ll see it Thursday or use the money to buy Enough Said on Apple TV for next Sunday.

3:37 I decided to go back to bed. I set an alarm for 5:06pm and put my ringer on silent.

3:38pm i start thinking about how many good movies there where this year and how the academy decided to nominate 9 movies for best picture. (the maximum is ten and the minimum is five). Then I started thinking about how this is the first year where there are sooooo many potential winners in each acting category.

4:44 pm. I wake up  but decide to lay in bed. I notice how gray and silent my bedroom is. I do the math and realize that it’s been about 26 hours since I last spoke to someone and it’s been 46 hours since the last time I’ve talked to someone outside of work.

4:52 pm. I wonder why people cut themselves. I’ve been told before that their is some kind of emotional release or euphoria associated with it. Then I think I’ll get up and check when the alarm goes off.

4:55pm. I start thinking about how good Johnny Cash’s version of Hurt is. I recall that after not talking to each other for about four to five months, I got a call (in the middle of the night) from a friend (after they had been drinking with mutual friends). I still remember how i could hear Hurt playing in the background. The call went to voicemail.

5:06pm. the alarm goes off. I get up and put on my robe. I get my laptop and start searching cutting.

5:13pm. I start writing this.

6:10pm. I finish. Not a very exciting day.

Song number 6

Fairytale of New York

In 2005 my friend Mike Priehs burned me some CDs and let me borrow a handful of music documentaries. Among the documentaries were We Jam Econo (a documentary about The Minutemen), The Devil and Daniel Johnston (one of my absolute favorite music documentaries) and If I Should Fall From Grace: The Shane MacGgowan Story. That last documentary, along with a burned copy of the album If I Should Fall From Grace With God, introduced me to The Pogues. I love a lot of Pogues Songs, If I Should Fall From Grace With God, The Broad Majestic Shannon, Lullaby of London, The Body of an American (which any fan of The Wire will recognize) and lots more. 

But the song that sticks out the most to me is Fairytale of New York. A Christmas single with Kristy MacColl that was released in December of 1987. 

The song isn’t the traditional Christmas cheer but it’s tragically beautiful. The song opens with an irish immigrant sitting in a New York drunk tank on Christmas Eve. MacGowan isn’t the best vocalist in the world but he’s great as the lead singer of The Pogues and I can’t help but think that he was perfect to sing the ballad of a drunk irishmen. The first minute and twenty five seconds is just MacGowan and piano and ends with a wishful and hopeful line 

“I love you baby

I can see a better time

When all are dreams come true”. 

Then the band kicks in. MacColl and MacGowan spin a beautiful image of love and Christmas in New York City. Then comes the heartbreak, anger and broken dreams of young love.

My favorite part is this back and forth at the end of the song:

(MacGowan) I could have been someone,

(MacColl) well so could anyone

you took my dreams from me 

when I first found you

(MacGowan) I kept them with me babe

I put them with my own

can’t make it all along

I built my dreams around you.

Fairytale of New York is my favorite Christmas Song and one of my favorite songs period. Thanks, Mike.