The painting above is titled Paradise-The Land of Men, Birds and Ships. It’s actually a mural that was painted on a building outside of Paris in 1950 by artists Friedensreich Hundertwasser and René Brõ. It was saved from demolition in 1964 although I have no idea where or in what condition it now stands. I’ve featured Hundertwasser’s work, with it’s rich colors and organic shapes, here on the blog a few times in the past. I like his work, I like this and thought it fit well with the song I’ve chosen for today’s Sunday Morning Music.
That song is Ships and Birds from one of my favorite albums, Wilco and Billy Bragg‘s 1998 Mermaid Avenue. It’s a collection of old unheard Woody Guthrie lyrics set to new music composed by Wilco and others. This track features Natalie Merchant singing the lead and is just a lovely, simple song. A nice way to kick off any Sunday morning.
Have a great Sunday…
Finding some sort of joy in one’s life might well be the answer to most of life’s questions. It nourishes us and gives meaning to the moments of our lives. It makes us want to face the new day.
Sometimes when I am walking over to the studio in the morning I will have a song stuck in my head. Sometimes it is one that I recently heard, something from the radio. But sometimes it’s one that just springs deeply from the past, something I haven’t thought of in some time. That’s how it was this morning. And thinking of that song linked me to a small painting that I did many years ago.
Well, it’s time for Sunday morning music. I don’t keep up with music as closely as I once did. My mind is occupied in different ways these days and I tend to hold on to music and artists that I know, only stepping outside my comfort zone occasionally to seek something new– at least new for me. Sometimes I just stumble across it. Such is the case with Rhiannon Giddens.
We take a walk just about every day in a local cemetery. It’s not overly large nor does it have grand mausoleums or many elaborate memorials. It’s not even an extremely beautiful cemetery, although there are lanes such as the one shown here that I find lovely. It’s just a pleasant place to walk in relative quietness.
Flipping on the car radio this time of year brings torrents of holiday music. Many of the local stations change to an all Christmas format from Thanksgiving to the end of the year and you are bombarded with holiday tunes from every era and every level of quality– good , bad and ugly. Most are happy, solemn, goofy or stickily sentimental. Or nostalgically melancholic.
In this part of the country, childhood memories from this time of the year usually include the cold and snow in some form. Frozen ponds with skaters on them. New sleds at Christmas going down white covered hills. Bundling up in heavy clothes and hats and boots.
Aww, change the channel. It’s a rerun…
I am going to change the channel now. It’s time for Sunday music and I’ve been singing this song all week. It’s the Tom Jones version of Elvis Presley Blues which was written and performed originally by Gillian Welch. I am a big fan of Gillian Welch and love her version but I really admire Tom Jones’ take on it as well. It’s pared down accompaniment really highlights the power of his voice which is still formidable even at age 75.
Another Thanksgiving and it might seem that it would be hard to find much to be thankful for in this turbulent world with its endless cornucopia of anger, hatred, intolerance, injustice and inequality set out for our consumption each day. With a diet of so many negatives it would be easy to forget that one simple thing that truly feeds and sustains us– gratitude.
Redtree Times 