Author: mongreldogs
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Saving the Best for Last (30 Days of Marc Cohn — Day 8)
“Saving the Best for Last” Marc Cohn I missed a day, so this will be quick. The second song in my list from the incomparable debut album. I like this song because it is so unconventional. Not a bit about love, unless you count the line, “When I finally take this journey, I’m going to…
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The Better Nation We’ve Become
In his post today (“Seneca, Selma, and Stonewall“), Paul Krugman links to a graph showing growing acceptance, over time, of interracial marriage in the United States: I like this for the chart that indicates that 86% of the country agrees that it was OK that I married my wife. That trendline — and all the…
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De-tuned
I wrote this nearly five years ago. I was mad then; now I’m more or less just resigned. The intellectual commons is being fenced off, now more than ever. I think we’re losing more than outlets for creativity or profit; we’re losing the shared language to remember who we were, who we are. ============== De-Tuned…
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If I Were an Angel (30 Days of Marc Cohn — Day 7)
“If I Were an Angel” Join the Parade Yet one more in Marc Cohn’s intermittent series of relationships that are just bad news. (Others include “Giving Up the Ghost” and “Shadow“.) At least this time he takes some responsibility. Well you probably think I’m foolin’ myself That I just want to have my fun But…
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29 Ways (30 Days of Marc Cohn — Day 6)
“29 Ways” Marc Cohn This is the first song on my list drawn from Marc Cohn’s self-titled debut album, but it won’t be the last: Every one makes it eventually. To be honest, it didn’t nearly make it. The album version isn’t much to talk about. But in concert, this is one of the most…
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Shadow (30 Days of Marc Cohn — Day 5)
“Shadow” Marc Cohn Live 04-05 This is a slow sultry jazz-y tune that seems like it’d be fun to sing. In keeping with a developing theme, it’s an anthem for a dysfunctional and probably unhealthy relationship. After all, lines like You’re a shadow Over my soul You’re the heart of darkness An unfillable hole do…
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Turn on Your Radio (30 Days of Marc Cohn — Day 4)
“Turn on Your Radio” Burning the Daze This is a very gentle song you might expect to hear winding down an evening. It’s got a catchy refrain which I find myself humming. It also ends with a somewhat-strange coda: Everybody had a hard year And everybody had a good time Everybody had a wet dream…
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The Calling (30 Days of Marc Cohn — Day 3)
“The Calling (The Ghost of Charlie Christian”) Join the Parade This is a song that sort of snuck up on me. I first heard it in concert (in at least 2007, though I think it was earlier), and it initially underwhelmed me. The guitar is amazing, but that’s Shayne Fontane and to be expected. It…
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Newshound explains: The Curious Case of the Silent Filibuster
http://newsbound.com/the-silent-filibuster/ This is a really good, really clear, and (mostly) nonpartisan explanation of the rise of the silent filibuster in the US Senate — where it came from, the damage it does, how it might be fixed.
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Giving Up the Ghost (30 Days of Marc Cohn — Day 2)
“Giving Up the Ghost” Join the Parada Appropriately, this is a very haunting melody. It’s a ghost story, of course. As is usual for Marc Cohn, it’s also an extended metaphor for a relationship in trouble. She gave me something I needed but now the feeling is gone And it’s high time I told her…