wisdom

musicology #565

Down The Road A Piece #1

(Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee – My Fathers Words)

Where has themusicologist been for the last week?, (or the last 12 months come to think of it !!)
Lost and looking, Scheming and dreaming..for/about what? not sure but along the way much has transpired and it feels like I have walked backwards, forwards and round in circles…my poor shoes are worn and pants bottom torn but I’m still in the ring dancing, bobbing and weaving to the rhythm of life.

Sometimes it’s been blow after blow, (all landing square on me jaw), and the knees have almost gone but I’m still living and still learning hour after hour, day after day..

What I am trying to say is that I feel that themusicologist needs to change so I’m planning a new strategy that I’m working on. I’m not going to reveal it right now but hold tight and buckle up..it’s coming…

Until then I’ll just keep rolling with the ‘one tune’ in an effort to build up some consistency. After all ‘A Rolling Stone Gathers No Moss’ so with that out the way hold this cut from the MAGNIFICENT Saunders ‘Sonny Terry’ Terrell and Walter Brown ‘Brownie’ McGhee. Bluesmen supreme who ‘climbed mountains’ to deliver some of the finest musicology ever recorded.

Hopefully you’ll listen, (and read), these poetic words of wisdom delivered by two Cats who knew exactly what the Blues, (and life), was all about…

My father, my father said these words,
Followed me down through the years,
Yes, yes, yes believe half you see son and nothing that you hear,
There’s a many broken hearts son that never sheds no tear,

It takes a rocks, takes a rocks and gravel,
To make wha? to make a solid road,
Yes, yes, yes everything that shines boy I declare it can’t be gold,
Well the brave old secret son that will never be told, (wooooh),
He said the longer, the longer the road,
The short, short, shorter the turn,
Yes, yes, yes listen my son you’ll never grow too old to learn,
I said why?
Because old coals will kindle light up and begin to burn,

He said the taller, the taller the tree,
The deeper, the deeper the roots yes, yes, yes
Blacker the berries well sweeter the juice,
Well with every rose son, there is some thorns too,

He said if you want if you want to be loved,
Here’s what you got, got to do,
Yes, yes you got to love somebody want someone to love you,
Well don’t let your right hand, know what your left hand do,

He said well a man well a man oh a man..man ain’t nothing but a man,
Yes, yes, yes..whole lot a things you’ll never understand,
Why?, so many people happy you catching as catch can
Go ahead Sonny Boy……

One more time now….

He said a man well a man oh a man..a man ain’t nothing but a man,
Yes, yes, yes..whole lot a things son you’ll never understand,
So many people happy you catching as catch can,

My fathers words…..

musicology #464

TheManWithTheBag #14

( The Cats & The Fiddle – Hep Cat’s Holiday)

New dawn yesterday for themusicologist and family/friends/regulars and even recent travelers along the way know there’s been a few false ones over the past few months and years. Life is funny that way but one observation on the journey through it is that it’s not what happens to us that it’s how we respond. My, (learned), belief is that I don’t choose which path to take It just unfolds before me. Intuition is the guide and I feel my way through the darkness until the day breaks anew and the sun begins to shine once more. In certainty…day always follows night no matter how long it lasts.

Hope you do me the honour of rolling with me on this post as I try me best to wax lyrical on the final musings of 2009. I could say it has been the worst year of my life but that would be a lie. Not only have I had a few that would make your toe and fingernails curl but as this one ends I am counting my blessings….1……2……3 and they are all so beautiful. Yep, (in metaphorical style), like a ship that’s lost at sea I have been tossed and battered by some powerful crashing waves but as the storm clears not only do I find myself still afloat but on assessment of the damage I am finding both my hull AND keel stronger than ever before.

Was it Nietzsche? that commented “that which doesn’t kill one makes one stronger” well whoever it was got that right as did Ray Charles who was quoted to have said “Live everyday like it’s your last because one day it will be”. Wisdom can’t be taught, only lived whereas knowledge and the garbage that is information are both aquired, often to the detriment of growth. I have no agenda here other than to be which Is my resolution for the rest of my days and even though this existence ain’t no bowl of fuckin’ cherries the essence can taste so sweet.

So for all you ‘shoulder to the wheel’ crew out there who are suffering, (and we all do), try to bear in mind that the harder the battle…the sweeter the victory. Breathe deep, pick yourself, (or even better find/ask someone else to help you), up from the canvas and let’s prepare ourselves for the next round which is where we begin to make an authentic comeback..

musicology #194

teachings of billionaire YenTzu #4

(Little Miss Cornshucks – Try A Little Tenderness)

Shooting The Monkey (freedom from the distracting ego)

‘Has your majesty never observed the bounding monkeys?’ answered Chang to the King of Wei. ‘If they can reach the tall cedars or camphor trees, they will swing and sway from their limbs, frolicking and lording it in their midst, so that even the famous archers Yi or P’eng Meng could not take accurate aim at them, But when they are attracted to what they suppose are delicacies and find themselves among the prickly mulberries, brambles, hawthorns, or spiny citrons, way below their loftier arena, they must move with caution, glancing from side to side, quivering and shaking with fear.

‘It is not that their bones and sinews have become suddenly stiff and lost their suppleness. It is simply that the monkeys find themselves in a difficult and disadvantageous position, one where they cannot exercise their abilities to the full. And so it is when Man becomes full of himself. His attraction to what is seemingly of benefit and greater security to him actually distracts him from expressing himself in his full light.’

‘I like that tale, ‘ said the King of Wei, ‘but knowing you as I do, I have no doubt that the monkey is merely a metaphor for Man’s own mischievous self. Our fall from our true identity causes us to improvise and clutch at a false identity with the same desperation as someone falling continuously into the abyss.’

‘Exactly so!’ said Chang gleefully. ‘In the absence of the true knowledge of who we really are, our adopted self must keep alive its fictional existence with convincing, albeit empty, chattering.’

‘Chattering which is taken to heart rather than ignored,’ said the King. ‘Incessant and sweet chattering thoughts that, while sometimes a nuisance, sweetly persuade, convince, cajole, even scare us into believing that if we want protection, security and peace of mind, there is no other self worth listening to.’

‘And if such a self was indeed a monkey, how would you, as a sagely king, deal with it?’ enquired Chang.

‘Why I would ensure that both Yi and P’eng Meng practised harder, until they were successful,’ his monarch replied with amusement.

‘And how so for your own self, is it also a case of shooting the monkey?’ asked Chang.

‘Again, I would employ and develop those decisive archer parts of my own being to unmask myself.’

‘Well said, my King, for only by such action will you rid yourself of a fictional power that ultimately renders you powerless.’