All Mixed Up

Heard this song tonight when I decided to listen to an ipod album I was mostly unfamiliar with: The Red House Painters. The song is called It's All Mixed Up, and although when I heard it I realized it was written about a love gone awry, as it continued to play in my head, it became the soundtrack for another situation gone awry: the Walker protests.

I'm not talking about the people who peacefully sing every noon hour in the Capitol. I'm talking about the ones that openly mock and harass the man elected to our state's highest office. I don't understand holding up signs saying that he is a bully and then bullying him. And most of all, I am confused by holding up heart-shaped mylar balloons while exuding hatred:

It's all mixed up

It's all mixed up

It's all mixed up

It's all mixed up

I am reminded of my favorite words to live by, brought to us by Buddha:

Hatred never ceases by hatred, but by love alone is healed. This is an ancient and eternal law.

I'm not pretending there is no wrongdoing on the part of our Governor. But watching the woman holding the heart balloon up while trying to tear him apart with her stare, I felt the truth of that eternal law more powerfully than ever before.

Here's hoping we can all find our way to the healing space that love offers...

If Not for You

I first encountered this song (as a child) in its Olivia Newton-John incarnation, but Pandora played the Dylan original tonight and it's a beauty:

If not for you

Babe, the night would see me wide awake

The day would surely have to break

It would not be new, if not for you

If not for you, my sky would fall

Rain would gather, too

Without your love I'd be nowhere at all

I'd be lost, if not for you

If not for you

The winter would hold no spring

Couldn't hear a robin sing

I just wouldn't have a clue, if not for you

Reading the lyrics now, I feel as I've described before on these pages -- that I now understand intimately what was once totally abstract for me: what one experiences in the grasp of an all-encompasing love.

For me, it's not quite as bad as Bob makes it out to be:

It's not that I can't sleep when he's not here, it's just that it doesn't bring me the same comfort or excitement.

It's not that I'd be truly lost without him, just that I wouldn't enjoy knowing right where I am in the same way I do in his arms.

And it's not that the winter would hold no spring, but that I'd be living for the spring rather than relishing what all the seasons have to offer -- including his beloved winter, which I'm actually looking forward to this year.

One final note: if not for Bob's amazing songwriting, George Harrison wouldn't have had this hit. Even sweeter is the two of them singing it together!

Let's Hear it for the Boy

Tonight while we were making dinner, my man started singing a blast from my past:

Let's hear it for the boy

Let's give the boy a hand

Let's hear it for my baby

You know you got to understand

Whoa, maybe he's no romeo

But he's my lovin one-man show

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa

Let's hear it for the boy

Loved the movie Footloose when I was a young thang -- and this song played a prominent role in the movie (at least in my memory it does). It's so fun for me to date someone who sings the songs of my youth (for the record, he'd just heard it on the radio, it wasn't on the internal jukebox). Looking at the lyrics, some of them don't fit (he's definitely Romeo) but some ring sorta true:

My baby may not be rich

He's watchin every dime

But he loves me loves me loves me

We always have a real good time

And maybe he sings off key

But that's alright by me

Because what he does he does so well

Makes me wanna yell

Let's hear it for the boy!

Indeed. I married a man who always had money and always sang on key, but I've never felt loved like this!

Hot-Blooded

This one's been pumping through my head over the last few days, and it's no wonder -- my daughter has been a little heater -- yesterday her temp hit 103.7. This song is particularly apropos because she must've taken her temperature at least five times a day:

Well, I'm hot blooded, check it and see

I got a fever of a hundred and three

It takes a lot out of a mama to have a kid sick for multiple days, there's no doubt about it. But there's also something kinda nice about all the extra snuggle time.

And if you just can't get enough after viewing the Foreigner video above, check out this home video of some little kids in their pjs doing their own rendition, complete with air guitar:

Yeah I'm hot blooded, check it and see

Feel the fever burning inside of me

Come on baby, do you do more than dance?

I'm hot blooded, I'm hot blooded, I'm hot blooded

You're So Vain

Tonight I got to enjoy the company of two of my favorite women, one of whom was celebrating her birthday. It was lovely to see them both and introduce them to my man. After dinner, we walked to their car so that one could show us the hilarious birthday card that the other had given her:

"Leo: You consider yourself a born leader. Other people think you are pushy. Most Leos are bullies. You are vain and you cannot tolerate honest criticism. Your arrogance is disgusting. Leos are thieving bastards who like to kiss mirrors a lot."

Love it! And it was even funnier because the birthday girl is anything but pushy, vain, or arrogant, and it caused me to break into some Carly Simon singing:

You're so vain, you probably think this song is about you

You're so vain, I'll bet you think this song is about you

Don't you? Don't You?

Viewing the lyrics, I noted that this song is apropos for this birthday girl for more than just the silly astrological birthday card reason. This past year started out pretty rough for her when her man dumped her, later admitting that he did it to avoid having her leave him. As screwed up as that sounds, I totally get it, and have perpetrated such break-ups myself. So I can say with a fair amount of certainty that he, like me, just wasn't ready to give of himself in the way she wanted or needed him to:

You had me several years ago when I was still quite naive

Well you said that we made such a pretty pair

And that you would never leave

But you gave away the things you loved and one of them was me...

It sure hurts when we have to let go of people we love, but time helps heal those wounds. Here's to the lovely Leo getting the love she deserves in the coming year!

I'm Sticking With You

This sweet song came on while my boyfriend and I were kicking off a weekend in which we had no obligations -- and we got to literally live these lyrics -- it was awesome!

I'm sticking with you

'Cause I'm made out of glue

Anything that you might do

I'm gonna do too

Of course, during normal circumstances, when we're being pulled and stretched by family and work, it just isn't possible to have the 24/7 glue. Which I'm sure is a good thing -- but after being apart for a year, I haven't reached the point where I'm ready to unstick much, though I reckon I'll have to a bit more when my kids come back from their vacation with their Dad and my man starts his new job.

I'll work on applying these lyrics both literally and figuratively -- though cryptic, they feel apropos of the love we share:

But with you by my side I can do anything

When we swing

We hang past right or wrong

The link above is from the Juno soundtrack -- but I quite like this live version I found on youtube, too!

Ode to Joy

My daughter had some tears over having to practice the saxophone this afternoon, which reminded me just how much angst came with musical instruments of all varieties for me when I was a kid, too. I'm not sure exactly why that is, but it sure worked that way for me and now I'm watching my daughter go through the same thing.

One of the songs she was assigned was Ode to Joy. Since neither of us knew the tune, I looked it up on you tube, and continued my trip down memory lane when I found this one featuring none other than Beaker, my favorite muppet!

If Beaker's not your style, you can go classic Beethoven too...