Tag: sweetpurplejune

“O” is for “Orange”

“O” is for “orange” and also for “honor” and other words that begin with a silent “h”. I say “honor” is included because I intend to honor my commitment to myself and the blog community to publish daily, except Sunday, focusing on the letter of the day. Equally important, I’m honoring my commitment to myself to write something daily, published or not.

What came first, the color orange or the fruit orange? Ordinarily, I’d research that question but not today.  Today I plan to write in stream of consciousness style in “homage” (French pronunciation) to Linda G. Hill’s Stream of Consciousness Saturday (SoCS) challenge. On the other hand, I’ll be snubbing my nose at #SoCS because I’m writing about “O” and not about her prompt “mash.” On a third hand, though, SoC is essentially a mish-mash of thought trails, so I’m also following the prompt. I didn’t say this post would be interesting, just committed.

But I digress. Today is not the day to discover what came first, orange fruit or orange color. My guess is the color came first. So many other edibles are orange but aren’t named orange: nectarines, carrots, pumpkins, some squashes, nasturtiums. Nasturtiums are little orange flowers that add a zing to salads. Quite tasty.

Again on another hand, orangutans (NOT edible) are orange and have the color in their name. Right off the bat, I can’t think of any other orange animals. Oh…foxes! Clearly not called “orange.”

Oddly, another prompt I’ve been looking at, Sonya’s Three Line Tales photo prompt #272, can fit into the subject of “orange.” The photo shows a carnival ride called, I think, a “whirligig.” It looks like a big canopy with colored bucket seats suspended from it. People strap themselves into the seats, and the whirligig whirls around, the acceleration giving the riders the rides of their lives. Or getting them sick. In this particular photo, the two most prominent seats are, respectively, yellow and red. Combined, yellow and red make orange. The canopy colors include mustardy yellow, red, blue, and blue-green. I imagine those colors mashing together into an orange haze if the ride spins fast enough. (Rebel that I am, I’m opting out of writing an actual three line tale.)

I can’t think of orange without thinking of an “orangy sky” at sunset or in the lyrics of The Cars’ “Bye Bye Love.”

“O” is also for “Okay,” as in “okay, I’ve had enough of this, haven’t you?” This stream of consciousness is boring me. No wonder I’ve never been able to read James Joyce’s “Ulysses.” (I stuck to stream of consciousness and didn’t research, only enough to satisfy my nerd by including citations.)

Song Lyric Sunday – “I Am The Man” – Benjamin Orr

Today, on Song Lyric Sunday, Benjamin Orr would have been 72. I wanted to pay tribute using this week’s Bird/Fly/Sky/Wing theme, but, on July 20, 2018, I wrote about “Skyline,” the only Orr song to fit the theme. So, for the first time, my choice, “I Am The Man,” deviates. Sorry, Jim.

In late 1992 and continuing through most of the 90s, Benjamin Orr recorded tracks that were to have been his second album. He co-wrote half the songs with John Kalishes, who would become the lead guitarist in Benjamin’s ORR band. Although “I Am The Man” was recorded during this time, the writer is unknown. I’d like to think it was written by Orr and Kalishes because I interpret it as Benjamin’s response as he coped with a series of lost integral relationships: the Cars and his long friendship with Ric Ocasek, an eight-year engagement to co-writer of his first album Diane Grey Page, and a marriage to Judith Orr. In fact, I view the entire unreleased second album through that prism. Whether or not he wrote a particular song, each one fits that theme of loss, and “I Am” expresses the culmination of his struggle.

Whatever his reasons for possibly writing and definitely recording it, “I Am The Man” was important enough to him that, when the ORR band performed, he saved it for encores and for introducing his band. This video with 1997 audio from a live performance is an example. If you want to skip the band intros, they run from about 4:30 to 11:56. If you decide to skip, you’ll miss such mini-gems as “Wipe Out” and the Flintstone’s theme song played on bass. The lyric link takes you to my friend sweetpurplejune’s blog, where she has linked a video featuring the studio recording of “I Am The Man.”

 

I Am (author and copyright unknown)

I am the fire that shows no flame, I am the killer who has no name
I am the wind you cannot feel, I am the truth that is not real
I am the river that flows nowhere, I am the feeling that does not care
I am the drug your body’s been missing, I am the soul that you’ve been wishing for

I am… I am… I am… I am the man

I am the time that will not pass, I am the future living in the past
I am the shadow you cannot see, I am the prisoner you cannot free
I am the legend of lust, love and pain, I am the man who’s lost his name
I am the drug your body’s been missing, I am the soul that you’ve been wishing for

I am… I am… I am… I am the man
I am… I am… I am… I am the man
I am… I am… I am… I am the man

I am the fire that shows no flame, I am the killer who has no name
I am the wind you cannot feel, I am the truth that is not real
I am the river that flows nowhere, I am the feeling that does not care
I am the drug your body’s been missing, I am the soul that you’ve been wishing for

I am… I am… I am… I am the man

 

 

Song Lyric Sunday – “River of Fire”

Burn/Fire/Flame is another expansive Song Lyric Sunday prompt from Jim Adams. Narrowing the topic to “fire,” I’ve chosen “River of Fire,” co-written by Stan Meissner and Glen Burtnik (nee Glenn Burtnick). Each released the song separately on solo albums, Meissner on his 1992 album, “Undertow,” and Burtnik on 1996’s “Retrospectacle.”

Canadian Meissner, despite his 30 year career as a singer-songwriter, is not well-known in the United States. He has released two other solo albums and multiple singles which have done well on Canadian music charts.  His songs have been recorded by many singers, such as, Celene Dion, B.J. Thomas, and Eric Clapton.

Glen Burtnik’s creative output is diverse and prolific. He has portrayed Paul McCartney in the Beatles tribute show “Beatlemania;” has performed in two separate stints as a member of the rock band Styx; has released eight solo albums; has written chart-topping hits for artists such as Patti Smyth, Don Henley, Cheap Trick, and Randy Travis. As if he is not busy enough, Burtnik has, for over 20 years, produced and hosted the annual charity show “Xmas Xtravaganza.”

One of the many artists who has recorded a Meissner and/or Burtnik song is Benjamin Orr, who recorded “River of Fire” in 1993 as the title song of a not-yet-released second solo album. Orr’s first verse differs from the original, but, as Burtnik put it: “I didn’t care, I was just thrilled that Ben Orr was singing one of my songs!” Since it was okay with Burtnik, I’m posting the lyrics that Orr sang.

(Note: Whenever possible, I prefer live vids, regardless of picture quality, as long as the audio passes muster. The lyric link below takes you to sweetpurplejune’s page that has a video using the studio recording.)

 

 

River of Fire

My life you hold in your heart
I look for the light, I wait in the dark
Burning emotions, I’m drawn to the flame
Chasing the shadows that call out your name

Searching for some kind of escape
I find my way right here to this place
‘Cause the night has no end
All of my life my dreams run wild, now I stand alone in this river of fire
Days of despair and nights of desire, I wait for you in this river of fire

I still remember the look in your eyes
I wish I knew then that it was goodbye
I try to fight it but I know I can’t win
Sometimes your dreams just get lost in the wind

Something beyond all time and space
Leads me right back here to this space
At the edge of this world
All of my life my dreams run wild, now I stand alone in this river of fire
Days of despair and nights of desire, I wait for you in this river of fire

Burn for you… burn for you… burn for you… burn for you…

All of my life my dreams run wild, now I stand alone in this river of fire
Days of despair and nights of desire, I wait for you in this river of fire.

Song Lyric Sunday – Mod Sox

Jim Adams has announced the topic “Animal” for this week’s Song Lyric Sunday. Here’s my thinking: Insects are animals, and grasshoppers are insects, so grasshoppers are animals. Right? Well, The Grasshoppers were also a Cleveland, Ohio, band founded in 1962. Two years later, Grasshoppers founder Dante Rossi left the band, and Benjamin Orzechowski replaced him on rhythm guitar and vocals. The Grasshoppers became the house band for a teen dance show, The Big 5 Show, and lead singer “Benny 11 Letters” became a local teen idol. (A decade later, he changed his last name to Orr and co-founded The Cars. But that’s a different story that you can read about here.)

The Grasshoppers recorded two local hit songs: “Pink Champagne (and Red Roses)” and “Mod Socks.” I featured “Pink Champagne,” the more lyrical of the two, as my contribution to SLS on August 5, 2018. Although Benny sang lead, “Mod Socks” was written by Grasshoppers lead guitarist Louis Pratile and record producer Carl Maduri. It’s a very simple, good-time song that, to me, epitomizes the mid-60’s innocent crossroad of 1950’s rock ‘n’ roll and the late-60’s psychedelic/acid rock, prog rock, hard rock, country rock explosion.

 

 

Mod Socks

Well who wears mod socks?
Well, girls wear mod socks.
My sister wears mod socks.
My mother wears mod socks.
My aunt wears mod socks.
Now Benny wears mod socks.

Girls wear mod socks.
My friends wear mod socks.
My mother wears mod socks.
My aunt wears mod socks.
My cousin wears mod socks.
My fans wear mod socks, let’s go now….

Well I said who wears mod socks?
Girls wear mod socks.
Your sister wears mod socks.
Your mother wears mod socks.
Your aunt wears mod socks.
Now Benny wears mod socks.

Girls wear mod socks.
Your sister wears mod socks.
My granny wears mod socks.
Your cousin wears mod socks.
Your sister wears mod socks.
Your mother wears mod socks

I said who wears mod socks?
I said who wears mod socks?
My baby’s got some mod socks.
Yeah I think those are mod socks.*
Go on and grab some mod socks.*
Come on and grab some mod socks, yeah right now*