The Dogwood Bark

Friday, April 1, 2016

One Thousand, One Hundred, and Sixty-three Days

It's been one thousand, one hundred, and sixty-three days
Since an amateur's pen last scratched up this page.
A new time, a new town, new paths have unwound,
Stumbling gracefully toward a middling age.

It's been just over three rapid trips 'round the sun
Since a make-believe writer's quill came undone.
Intending, defending, pretense never-ending,
Through a course that had lovingly been overrun.

It's been thirty-eight voracious calendar flips
Since abandoning this fledgling lyrical courtship.
Although sometimes unyielding and often misleading,
The scribe abides, rejoining the trip.

For the next one thousand, one hundred, and sixty-three days
Will unveil friendships, kinships, and parting of ways.
New flickers, new flashes, unavoidable crashes,
While shepherding children as they come of age.

For the next three fleeting trips 'round the sun
An affected writer will inspire someone.
With a song, with a word, something previously unheard,
Only then can this one's work truly be done.

For when the dawn of the next day is formally crowned,
And the countless rotations have us spinning around,
We'll be joyful, we'll be thankful, strikingly grateful,
That we took time to write some of this down.

Friday, January 25, 2013

The Dogwood Bark's Top 100 Songs Of All Time - #93: The Kinks - "A Long Way From Home"

The Kinks - Lola Versus Powerman And The Moneygoround (1970)

"Now you think you're wiser because you're older, and you think that money buys everything. And you think you need no one to guide you, but you're still a long way from home."

The Kinks had an absolutely stellar run from the mid 60's to the early 70's. This peculiarly titled album contains some outstanding songs, including "Lola" and "This Time Tomorrow." For me though, this pretty little deep cut outshines them all. Admittedly, the sentiment is nothing original and can feel trite when taken at a literal level. The strength of "A Long Way From Home," though, lies in its presence, its atmosphere. Let those things sink in and what you've got here is a stunning melody out in front of a loosely universal theme.

Check out the rest of the Dogwood Bark Top 100:

100. Pixies - "Where Is My Mind?

99. Bloc Party - "This Modern Love"

98. Paul McCartney - "Too Many People"

97. Liz Phair - "Explain It To Me"

96. Neil Young - "Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere"

95. Belle & Sebastian - "Another Sunny Day"

94. The Wrens - "She Sends Kisses"

The Dogwood Bark's Top 100 Songs Of All Time - #94: The Wrens - "She Sends Kisses"

The Wrens - The Meadowlands (2003)

Normally, I post a favorite lyric from the featured song at the beginning of the write-up. This time, I'm going to paste the lyrics in their entirety for a couple of reasons. First, you can't understand them otherwise. Second, the song stumbles into this list due almost solely to the juvenile and clumsy way in which they were written. It sounds like a drunken imitation of the Wallflowers. It sounds like one of the best break-up songs ever penned.

ten tons against me and you’ve gone

I put your favorite records on

and sit around

it spins around

and you’re around again

struck dumb while drugs run at how high reeds

cue every memory at half-speeds

just like….charles, hold-me-downs

I’m-coming sounds

cut crap, who’s filling shoes like these anymore?

past clumsy crushes beneath Thrill Pier

hopes pinned to poses honed in men’s room mirrors

a sophomore at Brown

she worked Lost & Found

I put your face on her all year

from five rows of photos when you wrote

of posed you, dressed blue, a backyard boat

signed at the bottom with this quote:

(#4 North Shore) a cape may address

your new one I guess

‘all’s well in hell and all here’s hoping’

she sends kisses

some signed ‘with Love, Beth oooooo xxxxx’

she sends kisses

same old beth - some signed 666

our shore town knockdown sure was fun

yeah, white trash, what have you

I fired replies back gun by gun

past Seven Wrecks I read your four answers: 1. your move 2. I’m tres involved 3. move on 4. love, Beth

I walk it down

this tourist town

‘just thought I’d’ calls

just friends

she sends kisses

and all at once back doors blow open

she sends….
in envelopes stamped w/ ‘Hope & Hearts’ - ripped right open

she sends…

but I’m corrupt - I wrote back good luck

Check out the rest of the Dogwood Bark Top 100:

100. Pixies - "Where Is My Mind?

99. Bloc Party - "This Modern Love"

98. Paul McCartney - "Too Many People"

97. Liz Phair - "Explain It To Me"

96. Neil Young - "Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere"

95. Belle & Sebastian - "Another Sunny Day"

The Dogwood Bark's Top 100 Songs Of All Time - #95: Belle & Sebastian - "Another Sunny Day"

Belle & Sebastian - The Life Pursuit (2006)

"Another sunny day, I met you up in the garden. You were digging plants; I dug you, beg your pardon."

Beloved Scottish duo Belle & Sebastian have firmly secured their place among my all-time favorites. Their style has evolved over the years, trading in the Nick Drake inspired folk for sunshine pop along the way. "Another Sunny Day" clearly comes from the later period. Despite its warm title and jangly, driving rhythms, the subject matter paints the typically dark picture of the stages of dying love. It's a tale told over and over again in pop music. Belle & Sebastian just do it better than almost anyone.

The video just screams of hipster aesthetic, but this group has always attracted the black-rimmed glasses with beanies in the summer type of crowd. If you start to suffer from cuteness overload, just close your eyes. The cascading harmonies used so effectively throughout will reel you back in.