Iko Iko...Get Those Feet Moving

Who hasn't heard this song?

There's a reason why everyone knows it...even though guaranteed we don't know the right words. The reason we all know it is because it's just a great, infectious tune and it really doesn't matter if you know the words or not. All you need to sing is "Iko Iko," and your feet start moving and your face brightens as a big grin comes across it.

The story about Iko Iko goes something like this. In the 50's a New Orleans musician named James "Sugar Boy" Crawford, wrote a tune called "Jock-A-Mo" which eventually morphed into Iko Iko. The story of the song centers on the confrontation of two different "tribes" or Mardi Gras Indians. Crawford used many of the phrases used by the tribes in the song, but in the end it has always been the feeling and melody of the song which has kept it a favorites of bands even today.

A few tastes of "Iko Iko"

Possibly the first recording was by the Dixie Cups...remember "Chapel of Love"? Legend has it they were at a recording session when they began singing "Iko Iko", accompanied only by a bit of percussion. Priceless.

Belle Stars " Iko Iko"
For the Deadheads and you know who you are..the Grateful Dead "Iko Iko"

My personal favorite version, Dr. John "Iko Iko"

The hurricane's coming, might as well dance til it gets here.

"If your feet ain't tappin', baby you're dead."

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Clothes Don't Always Make The Man

Bored by the conversation of her sorority sisters, Sam aimlessly looked out the window.  The frat boys they spoke of with such veneration were nothing more than well dressed mannequins; handsome but vapid.

She thought of Jesse. The way he looked in jeans as he nailed the floor boards on the deck. How the sweat ran down his back, finding its natural path. The way she felt when he’d pick her up and spin her until she was dizzy.

She thought of her brother, smiling broadly as he greeted his friend, instantly reminding her she was just the little sister.

ZZ Top "Sharp Dressed Man" ...Maybe not all girls are crazy for them.

This post is for the prompt of Sharp Dressed Man for Lance's 100 Word Song

Horses and Bayonets: The Sopranos Connection

"Next time you come, you come heavy or not at all.” 

So said Uncle Junior to Tony in Episode 4 of the first season of The Sopranos.

What does that line have to do with the debate last night? Hold your horses, yep I said that, I'll get around to it. 

First of all, I did not enjoy the setup for the debate. I want my politicians standing up, pacing and looking like they are ready to pounce on their opponent. Sitting at a table with their hands folded, does not make for a riveting show.

Now I was watching the debate on CNN. I missed the explanation, so can someone tell me what the hell that flat line graph of Florida undecided voters was supposed to mean? I think it might have been a veiled reference to the age of the population of Boca...it seemed everyone was sleeping peacefully. Eh, I hope they were just sleeping.

Anyway...

While last night wasn't nearly as interesting as the week before, there were still a few fun quotes. Unfortunately, when the moderator ends the night with the best one...well maybe it's a good thing the election is only weeks away.

So let's just savor the few honorable mentions from last night.

"Syria is Iran's only ally in the Arab world. It's their route to the sea" Have you looked at a map at all?

"It still doesn't work" I believe the subject was MittMath, unless they were referencing the "yours is bigger than mine" quote from the last debate.

"Attacking me is not an agenda" But let me attack you and call it policy.

But of course the best line came from President Obama...

"We also have fewer horses and bayonets..."

So here we have a vision of unnaturally large horses, armed...ready for battle, or as Uncle June would say...Heavy

I give you Jethro Tull's "Heavy Horses"

"Iron-clad feather-feet pounding the dust

An October's day, towards evening

Sweat embossed veins standing proud to the plough

Salt on a deep chest seasoning

Last of the line at an honest day's toil

Turning the deep sod under

Flint at the fetlock, chasing the bone

Flies at the nostrils plunder.

The Suffolk, the Clydesdale, the Percheron vie

With the Shire on his feathers floating

Hauling soft timber into the dusk

To bed on a warm straw coating.

Heavy Horses, move the land under me

Behind the plough gliding --- slipping and sliding free

Now you're down to the few

And there's no work to do

The tractor's on it's way.

Let me find you a filly for your proud stallion seed

To keep the old line going.

And we'll stand you abreast at the back of the wood

Behind the young trees growing

To hide you from eyes that mock at your girth,

And your eighteen hands at the shoulder

And one day when the oil barons have all dripped dry

And the nights are seen to draw colder

They'll beg for your strength, your gentle power

Your noble grace and your bearing

And you'll strain once again to the sound of the gulls

In the wake of the deep plough, sharing.

Standing like tanks on the brow of the hill

Up into the cold wind facing

In stiff battle harness, chained to the world

Against the low sun racing

Bring me a wheel of oaken wood

A rein of polished leather

A Heavy Horse and a tumbling sky

Brewing heavy weather.

Bring a song for the evening

Clean brass to flash the dawn

Across these acres glistening

Like dew on a carpet lawn

In these dark towns folk lie sleeping

As the heavy horses thunder by

To wake the dying city

With the living horseman's cry

At once the old hands quicken ---

Bring pick and wisp and curry comb ---

Thrill to the sound of all

The heavy horses coming home."

Oh yeah, the best of the night. Bob Schieffer quoting his mother "Go Vote. It Makes You Feel Big And Strong." 

Mom always knows best.

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George McGovern: The Times Are Still A Changin

In this election year, as in so many others when times were less than ideal, many look for a change. And just as many hope the experience of the past four years will provide a clearer path for our future. 1972 was one of those years. Viet Nam, the Civil Rights movement...the country was tired of conflict of every type. The presidency of Richard Nixon, while improving international relationships, did little to quell the unrest here in the States.

The hope that year was a young Senator from South Dakota...George McGovern. A dove in a time of war, McGovern represented the change the country so badly needed.

George McGovern died today. The promise of his presidency never achieved. In his memory, today we offer another song from the 60's as relevant today as the day it was written. Released in 1964 as the title track of his album, this Bob Dylan song also showed the promise of an incredible songwriter.

A beautiful cover by Eddie Vedder.

"The Times They Are A Changin"

"Come gather 'round people

Wherever you roam

And admit that the waters

Around you have grown

And accept it that soon

You'll be drenched to the bone

If your time to you

Is worth savin'

Then you better start swimmin'

Or you'll sink like a stone

For the times they are a-changin'.

Come writers and critics

Who prophesize with your pen

And keep your eyes wide

The chance won't come again

And don't speak too soon

For the wheel's still in spin

And there's no tellin' who

That it's namin'

For the loser now

Will be later to win

For the times they are a-changin'.

Come senators, congressmen

Please heed the call

Don't stand in the doorway

Don't block up the hall

For he that gets hurt

Will be he who has stalled

There's a battle outside

And it is ragin'

It'll soon shake your windows

And rattle your walls

For the times they are a-changin'.

Come mothers and fathers

Throughout the land

And don't criticize

What you can't understand

Your sons and your daughters

Are beyond your command

Your old road is

Rapidly agin'

Please get out of the new one

If you can't lend your hand

For the times they are a-changin'.

The line it is drawn

The curse it is cast

The slow one now

Will later be fast

As the present now

Will later be past

The order is

Rapidly fadin'

And the first one now

Will later be last

For the times they are a-changin'"

Easy journey George.

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Take It From The Top: Rebels

Back in February I wrote a blog called "Take a Ride Down the Tunnel of Love."  In it I talked about what I thought was one of the best ever opening lines to a song.

"Fat man sitting on a little stool, 

takes the money from my hand 

as his eyes take a walk all over you"

Perfect imagery. The song of course is Springsteen's "Tunnel of Love."

Today I have another memorable opening line. While it doesn't compare on any level with Bruce's beautifully crafted song, every time I hear it, I smile and say to myself  "that is such a great opening line." Overall, it's an interesting song, has several layers to the lyrics, and whether you are from the South or a Yankee girl, it's an excellent sing-along.

"Honey don't walk out, I'm too drunk to follow"

Fabulous. Simple, but it gets the message across loud and clear...in only nine words.

From the Southern Accents album, the song is "Rebels" by Tom Petty.

"Honey don't walk out, I'm too drunk to follow

You know you won't feel this way tomorrow

Well, maybe a little rough around the edges

Or inside a little hollow,

I get faced with some things, sometimes

That are so hard to swallow, hey!

Chorus

I was born a rebel, down in Dixie

On a Sunday mornin'

Yeah with one foot in the grave

And one foot on the pedal, I was born a rebel

She picked me up in the mornin', and she paid all my tickets

Then she screamed in the car

Left me out in the thicket

Well I never woulda dreamed

That her heart was so wicked

Yeah but I keep comin' back

'Cause it's so hard to kick it, hey, hey, hey

(Repeat Chorus)

Even before my father's father

They called us all rebels

While they burned our cornfields

And left our cities leveled

I can still feel the eyes of those blue-bellied devils

Yeah, when I'm walking round at night

Through the concrete and the metal, hey, hey, hey"

One foot in the grave and one foot on the pedal...well that line's not bad either.

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