{"id":3974,"date":"2020-10-06T19:22:36","date_gmt":"2020-10-06T23:22:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/oook.info\/blog\/?p=3974"},"modified":"2020-10-06T19:22:36","modified_gmt":"2020-10-06T23:22:36","slug":"so-very-american","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/oook.info\/blog\/?p=3974","title":{"rendered":"So Very American"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Finding Aid for my collections of Nacirema Music is progressing slowly, and lately my ears have been reimmersed in musical genres I haven&#8217;t paid much attention to in recent years. One of my ad hoc categories is &#8220;So Very American&#8221;, containing tunes that just couldn&#8217;t have any other source or identity, and that rend the patriot heart. Not that they&#8217;re &#8216;patriotic&#8217;, not at all, but they evoke a warm feeling of recognition of shared understanding that might be difficult to explain to auslanders. Here are two that surfaced today in my Spotify Discover Weekly:<\/p>\n<p>\nChris Smither   No Love Today<\/p>\n<p>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/track\/6KmJfZCd5f4P11vuglbIrN?si=8_IDIA38QvOOzWNpSTIFaw\">Spotify<\/a><br \/>\nand<\/p>\n<p>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/vGWRV8BzjOI\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>\nNo Love Today<br \/>\nChris Smither<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\nI don&#8217;t know much, when I knew less<br \/>\nAnd I was heartbroke for the first time<br \/>\nI was drowning in my tears<br \/>\nI went looking for a lifeline<br \/>\nTrying to find some comfort<br \/>\nA simple tender touch<br \/>\nSearching for some little cure<br \/>\nThat would not cost too much<br \/>\nAnd I could hear that produce wagon on the street<br \/>\nI could hear that farmer singing<br \/>\nAs I cried myself to sleep<\/p>\n<p>I got ba-na-na, watermelon, peaches by the pound<br \/>\nSweet corn, mirleton, mo&#8217; better than in town<br \/>\nI got okra, enough to choke ya<br \/>\nBeans of every kind<br \/>\nIf hungry is what&#8217;s eatin&#8217; you<br \/>\nI&#8217;ll sell you peace of mind<br \/>\nBut this ain&#8217;t what you came to hear me say<br \/>\nAnd I hate to disappoint you<br \/>\nBut I got no love today<br \/>\nI got no love today<br \/>\nI got no love today<br \/>\nNo love today<\/p>\n<p>I could not love to save myself<br \/>\nFrom lonesome desperation<br \/>\nEverything I thought was love<br \/>\nWas worthless imitation<br \/>\nMy concept of commitment<br \/>\nWas to take all you could give<br \/>\nI thought the cheapest thrills I loved<br \/>\nWere teachin&#8217; me to live<br \/>\nBut nothin&#8217; seemed to last or see me through<br \/>\nNothin&#8217; but that little song<br \/>\nThat I still sing for you<\/p>\n<p>I got ba-na-na, watermelon, peaches by the pound<br \/>\nSweet corn, mirleton, mo&#8217; better than in town<br \/>\nI got okra, enough to choke ya<br \/>\nBeans of every kind<br \/>\nIf hungry is what&#8217;s eatin&#8217; you<br \/>\nI&#8217;ll sell you peace of mind<br \/>\nBut this ain&#8217;t what you came to hear me say<br \/>\nAnd I hate to disappoint you<br \/>\nBut I got no love today<br \/>\nI got no love today<br \/>\nI got no love today<br \/>\nNo love today<\/p>\n<p>No love today, none tomorrow<br \/>\nNot now, not forever<br \/>\nYou can&#8217;t see what comes for free<br \/>\nI think you much too clever<br \/>\nFor your own good I will tell you<br \/>\nWhat&#8217;s right before your eyes<br \/>\nIntelligence is no defense<br \/>\nAgainst what this implies<br \/>\nIn the end no one will sell you what you need<br \/>\nYou can&#8217;t buy it off the shelf<br \/>\nYou got to grow it from the seed<\/p>\n<p>I got ba-na-na, watermelon, peaches by the pound<br \/>\nSweet corn, mirleton, mo&#8217; better than in town<br \/>\nI got okra, enough to choke ya<br \/>\nBeans of every kind<br \/>\nIf hungry is what&#8217;s eatin&#8217; you<br \/>\nI&#8217;ll sell you peace of mind<br \/>\nBut this ain&#8217;t what you came to hear me say<br \/>\nAnd I hate to disappoint you<br \/>\nBut I got no love today<br \/>\nI got no love today<br \/>\nI got no love today<br \/>\nNo love today\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>*****<\/p>\n<p>\nBirds of Chicago   American Flowers<\/p>\n<p>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/track\/1uSi1D1EzfqpEiA2cmdKbA?si=kAsazC5kT4mMYWwFSnhkeA\">Spotify<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\nand<\/p>\n<p>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/5eLw1r3DFcY\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\n[Chorus]<br \/>\nI have seen American flowers all across this land<br \/>\nFrom the banks of the Shenandoah, along the Rio Grande<br \/>\nDo not fear the winter blowing in the hearts of men<br \/>\nI have seen American flowers they will bloom again<\/p>\n<p>[Verse 1]<br \/>\nOn the Southside of Chicago, a man who\u2019s not yet grown<br \/>\nWent out for a ride but the car was not his own<br \/>\nHe did not see the stop sign or the boy on a skateboard<br \/>\nNow he\u2019s lying broken on the ground<br \/>\nNobody around he coulda, he coulda drove away<br \/>\nBut he pulled on over to the curb and he ran out where he lay<br \/>\nUsed his hoodie for a pillow said &#8220;little man you\u2019re gonna be ok&#8221;<br \/>\nAnd he waited for the ambulance to come<\/p>\n<p>[Chorus]<br \/>\nI have seen American flowers all across this land<br \/>\nFrom the banks of the Shenandoah, along the Rio Grande<br \/>\nDo not fear the winter blowing in the hearts of men<br \/>\nI have seen American flowers they will bloom again<\/p>\n<p>[Verse 2]<br \/>\nTender was the night down in the Tenderloin<br \/>\nIn an alley off O&#8217;Farrell Street, in the neon glow<br \/>\nWell she finally caught that dragon a mile from Chinatown<br \/>\nShe took her wings and eased her body down<br \/>\nShe gave a little shudder, but no pain, she felt no pain<br \/>\nAnd she knew that she was back on home in Morgantown again<br \/>\nShe could smell the lady slippers and the wild thimble weeds<br \/>\n&#8220;Mama I was just mad, I never meant to leave&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>[Chorus]<br \/>\nI have seen American flowers all across this land<br \/>\nFrom the banks of the Shenandoah, along the Rio Grande<br \/>\nDo not fear the winter blowing in the hearts of men<br \/>\nI have seen American flowers they will bloom again<\/p>\n<p>[Verse 3]<br \/>\nLayin&#8217; roof in Texas is the job for someone younger<br \/>\nAnd so is catching fastballs from your Grandson in the summer<br \/>\nBut there you are saying &#8220;Come on kid, lemme feel that hummer&#8221;<br \/>\nWith your back and hips and knees on fire<br \/>\nAnd he says &#8220;Come on Grandpa, when you gonna let me throw a curve?&#8221;<br \/>\nAnd you&#8217;re looking back at him in the sun and you feel your heart is bursting<br \/>\nLet me keep him from himself and those that mean to hurt him<br \/>\nIf that be your will, oh Lord<\/p>\n<p>[Chorus]<br \/>\nI have seen American flowers all across this land<br \/>\nFrom the banks of the Shenandoah, along the Rio Grande<br \/>\nDo not fear the winter blowing in the hearts of men<br \/>\nI have seen American flowers they will bloom again<\/p>\n<p>[Verse 4]<br \/>\nRight there off the interstate in Northwest Ohio<br \/>\nIn the amber waves of grain and the assemblies of crows<br \/>\nThere rose the two twin spires beside a golden dome<br \/>\nThe Islamic Mosque of Greater Toledo<br \/>\nI was flying down the highway when it caught my eye<br \/>\nI was sipping red cream soda, I was listening to Johnny Prine<br \/>\nAnd I saw that golden dome against a pink and purple sky<br \/>\nI was singing &#8220;don\u2019t let your baby down&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>[Chorus]<br \/>\nI have seen American flowers all across this land<br \/>\nFrom the banks of the Shenandoah, along the Rio Grande<br \/>\nDo not fear the winter blowing in the hearts of men<br \/>\nI have seen American flowers they will bloom again\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Finding Aid for my collections of Nacirema Music is progressing slowly, and lately my ears have been reimmersed in musical genres I haven&#8217;t paid much attention to in recent years. One of my ad hoc categories is &#8220;So Very American&#8221;, containing tunes that just couldn&#8217;t have any other source or identity, and that rend [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,31],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3974","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-musics","category-nacirema"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/oook.info\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3974","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/oook.info\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/oook.info\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oook.info\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oook.info\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3974"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/oook.info\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3974\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3975,"href":"https:\/\/oook.info\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3974\/revisions\/3975"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/oook.info\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3974"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oook.info\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3974"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oook.info\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3974"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}