Tag: Phil Marshall

Song/Rant of the Week?

I am weary.

Was it only last week that there were three mass shootings within a few short days of one another?

A grown man attacking a child, cracking his skull, because he didn’t remove his hat during the national anthem. Assaulting a child, over a song?

ICE raids. Children coming home to empty houses on the first day of school. Parents just gone.

And that’s just headlines. Can’t forget about the continual investigations into possibly the most corrupt administrations in the history of this country, at least in my lifetime. And that’s saying a lot. The constant gutting of acts and laws that protect our environment other species that share our planet. Police brutality. Being Black or Trans or anything but a straight white male in America. The sickening news of abused children. Jeffery Epstien.

The incessant fighting over social media. No one’s willing to listen to each other. “It’s my right to own guns!”. Yes, it is, but what’s so wrong about some protections for me? The kids at my school? I don’t even know what it’s like to feel safe at my place of employment. Everytime I go to a public place I immediately scan for places to hide, to escape should I need to. Everytime I sit down to eat at a public restaurant I face the door so I can see whose coming. This weekend I went to an outdoor festival to see one of my favorite musicians and I spent more time looking for possible threats than enjoying the music. For nearly 25 years I’ve done this. Before Columbine. When some angry, troubled young man charged into the high school of the district I was then working in, with a list and his guns.

“We should help out our own citizens (or veterans, senior citizens, the words are interchangeable) before immigrants!” Ok, “Healthcare for all? ” “No! People should help themselves!” is the common retort. I don’t even know what to say anymore. No one seems to be listening. During the 2016 election I lost/was blocked by a longtime friend because I once said that though I liked the overall philosophy of the presidential candidate she loved, that he was still a politician just like the others and couldn’t really trust him. Since then I’ve pretty much kept my opinions to myself, and especially off of the social media where I socialize with friends and family. I don’t know if this is the right thing to do. I don’t want to get in fights with anyone, but…how can we expect positive change if we all can’t discuss our differences calmly and civilly?

So tired of all this bull. I’m not an overly religious person. In fact I’m a pretty poor excuse of a Catholic. But I have read the Bible. Cover to cover and more than once. Much of it is…crap, in that it is rules for people who lived a long time ago in a different world that they really didn’t understand. I got to say that there are some wonderful things to be taken from the Bible hat were not only good then, but today and quite possibly for all times. Matthew 7:12 is commonly known as The Golden Rule; Do onto others as you would have them do onto you. Be good to each other. (And if you look into all of the other major religions, they too have a similar rules). If only we could just follow this one simple rule, this one universal truth…

I’ll leave you with my song of the week. It came up on my randomized playlist while I was out walking the other day. It’s an older song (it came out during the years when George W. Bush our president), it’s still fitting and perhaps even more relevant today. Phil Marshall is a lovely man and and exceptional artist, not musician, artist. I saw him many years ago as an opening act and he quickly became one of my favorites. I probably have 90 different versions of this song, Energy, but this stripped down acoustic YouTube version might be one of my favorites.

Be good to each other people.

Influential Album Challenge Day 6 – Phil Marshall Dondonisi

I like it. I like it a lot.

Sometime during the (Dubya) Bush Administration my friends and I saw Phil Marshall at John’s Bar in La Crosse. We all were highly impressed with his set. There was no question of my buying the CD (Dondonisi) he had for sale at the show.

Phil is one of the artists from the Tulsa, Oklahoma area, (he hails from the UK) that I followed in the late 90s into the 2000s (I know, I know..you’re wondering how did I, a person from Minnesota get into acts from Oklahoma. Don’t worry that will be explained in the coming days). Over the years I’ve seen Phil numerous times and its always been a good time as well as a good show.

One of the things I like most about Phil’s music is his lyrics (Notice a theme here guys? I like words). In the song December Girl, Phil tells the story about a the time a friend of his was having a hard time. She wanted to go travel, see the world and had a lot of anxiety about it. Phil had a lucky half dollar he had found/received. He felt it had a lot of good juju in it as it had served him well. He gave it to his friend and with it she traveled the world and had a great experience. She returned it to him a year later. I’ve always felt a certain connection to this song as I too, have, in my case a lucky penny, given to me by a close friend. All these years later it serves me well still.

Dondonisi is full of gems like December Girl and it certainly didn’t end on this album. His follow-up album Providence? is just as good with songs like Energy and 24 Hours. If you have the time or inclination I would urge you to check out Phil Marshall’s music on his website.