Foundational Books, an IWSG post

 

      

Welcome to the first Wednesday of the month. You know what that means! It's time to let our insecurities hang out. Yep, it's the Insecure Writer's Support Group blog hop. If you're a writer at any stage of career, I highly recommend this blog hop as a way to connect with other writers for support, sympathy, ideas, and networking. If you're a reader, it's a great way to peek behind the curtain of a writing life.

Our Twitter handle is @TheIWSG and hashtag is #IWSG. The awesome co-hosts for the June 4 posting of the IWSG are PJ Colando, Pat Garcia, Kim Lajevardi, Melisa Maygrove, and Jean Davis!

This month's question:

June 4 question - What were some books that impacted you as a child or young adult?

__________________________________________

 

There's something special about books you read in childhood and young adulthood, isn't there? The root they take in your heart and mind is deeper and stronger than things you read in other phases of life (at least that's how it's gone for me). 

 

I've written about this before, in particular about revisiting those books as an adult--it can be fraught, because sometimes those works don't hit the same way when you read them with more experience under your belt, and you see unsavory things that sailed past you as a child. 

 

So a few books that have stayed important to me: 

 

Shirley Jackson's We Have Always Lived in the Castle. I first read this when I was 12 or so years old, and it was a revelation. After years and years of "good" and "nice" girls, here was an unreliable, weird, and dangerous young woman narrator. Witchy and wild, and judgmental about the people in the town. 

As the story evolved and I learned more about her family history and her past actions, my heart started beating faster. It felt *transgressive*, like I was getting away with reading something subversive, and that has stayed a part of me every since, both in what I like to read and what I write. 

I still read at least part of this book nearly every October, and it still works for me every single time. If pressed to choose a "favorite book of all time," this is often my choice. 

I did also like fine, upstanding characters…not just the misfits and miscreants. In elementary school, (maybe 3rd or 4th grade?) I plowed through TONS of Nancy Drew books. Some of them had been my mother's and my grandmother's. Others came from the library (the bookmobile ladies would hide them under the seat for me so they'd still be available when they got to my stop). 

So, I saw a few different versions of Nancy--her looks and details changed across her reboots. One version of her had an eidetic memory, which I found almost as fascinating as ESP and really hoped I would develop. 

Nancy was independent and smart and kind, and her father trusted her to take care of herself, even in risky situations. She had wonderful and supportive friends, too. I LOVED that, and I'm still attracted to stories that give the characters agency and skill. 

I haven't read a Nancy Drew since childhood, but she still gets a piece of my heart. 

Another foundational mythology for me was Grimm's Fairy Tales. I had a lot of versions of these--the ones my German great-grandmother would tell me from memory, good old Disneyfications, and various tellings and retellings from illustrated volumes. 

I especially loved all the ones about clever girls escaping harm and rescuing those around them. "The Feather Bird," "The Old Woman in the Wood," "The Twelve Brothers," "The Robber Bridgeroom," and of course, "Hansel and Gretel" (honestly, Gretel's name should go first).  

Childhood can be a time of feeling helpless and small, even when you have a relatively safe, secure, and loving family. So, these stories of girls who were underestimated proving that they do indeed have what it takes? Yeah. That still works for me.

So, if you find me and my work subversive, feminist, and a little feral? Well, it's not my fault. Blame Merricat, Nancy, and Gretel. They helped make me who I am. 

I still LOVE reading, but now I'm a writer and a well-educated critically-thinking adult…so I analyze while I read in a different way than I did when I was only looking to lose myself in a story. That said, I feel like I'm developing a whole new set of foundational books as a writer. They feed and inspire me in entirely different ways. I may have to follow up with a post about those--the books that are making me now. 

How about you? What books made you who you are? I'd love to hear about it in the comments. 

 

Getting Triggered (to write), an Open Book Blog Hop Post

Welcome to Open Book Blog Hop. You can find us every Monday talking about the writing life. I hope you'll check out all the posts: you'll find the links at the bottom of this post.

What are your triggers for writing? (For instance, what gets you hyped or starts the story in your head).

_________________

I have at least ten ideas for a story nearly every day, but not all of those make it to the page. 

Some of them only take a mental moment's exploration for me to realize that there's not enough "there" there to develop into a full-blown story. They are at best bon mots that I might toss off on social media or in a social gathering. 

Others I might explore more fully, but then find that they fizzle. That little spark that had me excited, energized, or curious enough to start just sort of dissipates and it drifts off in the breeze. 

Some are so tenacious that they take root even when I don't have the time or freedom to sit down and play with them right away--they just keep butting up against my subconscious like an orca threatening to capsize my kayak until I give in and write the darn things. 

Generally, I'd say, a story needs three at least two of three things to really get started with me: 

• a bright enough spark
• a window of exploration soon enough that the idea gets pinned to the board before it can fly away
• deep enough roots to grow under the surface even if left un-nourished
• or being "the thing" that I need to write just then, the idea that scratches an itch I might have trouble defining for myself.  

One of these isn't enough without at least one of the others. There are too many ideas to develop them all, so the competition for my keyboard and head-space can be fierce. 

For example, the Menopausal Superheroes concept came to me in a flash. A nice bright spark that made me laugh aloud and start looking for time I could devote to it. I held it out there as a bribe to myself, the "something fun" I could play with after I finished the heavier-going more literary novel I was working on at the time.  

link to book

The romance novels I'm working on now didn't come in a flash like that, but they were "the thing" I needed to write once I'd finished my Menopausal Superheroes novels--new project energy and the excitement of something I'd never written before. The idea had deep enough roots that it didn't matter that I didn't start the first one for months after I first had the thought. They'd been there growing in my subconscious substrata just waiting for me to find or make the time for them. 

How about you? What decides which ideas get developed and explored for you? I'd love to hear about it in the comments.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

When sci-fi becomes real, an Open Book blog hop post

 

Welcome to Open Book Blog Hop. You can find us every Monday talking about the writing life. I hope you'll check out all the posts: you'll find the links at the bottom of this post.

What sci-fi invention would you like to make real?

_________________

My first thought when I saw this question was that I'd love to have a Replicator. You know, the Star Trek device that you can just tell what you want to eat and it makes it? 

image source

 

 

 

 

 

As a child with no interest in cooking, but a lot of interest in snacks, this seemed like heaven to me. But, these days I've got my doubts. So many cool ideas have been badly executed by companies looking to make profits soar by cutting quality and service, I'm afraid we'd end up with something more Douglas Adams than Gene Rodenberry. Instead of "Earl Grey, piping hot" we'd get something "almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea."

 

image source

A lot of scifi, for all its interest in gadgets and technology, has an underlying message about the dangers of relying on it. From Ray Bradbury's smart house horror, to the Matrix, we see again and again how something that seems like it's there to make your life easier can be a trap. At the very least, there's an element of "be careful what you wish for." 

Flying cars seemed pretty cool until it was my kid getting a driver's license. When that happened, I was pretty glad we were still tied to the ground for car travel. 

Still…I might risk it. For a holodeck :-) How about you? What scifi invention would you want in real life if you could have it?

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

What Writers Fear: an IWSG post

 

      

Welcome to the first Wednesday of the month. You know what that means! It's time to let our insecurities hang out. Yep, it's the Insecure Writer's Support Group blog hop. If you're a writer at any stage of career, I highly recommend this blog hop as a way to connect with other writers for support, sympathy, ideas, and networking. If you're a reader, it's a great way to peek behind the curtain of a writing life.

Our Twitter handle is @TheIWSG and hashtag is #IWSG. The awesome co-hosts for the May 7 posting of the IWSG are Feather Stone, Janet Alcorn, Rebecca Douglass, Jemima Pett, and Pat Garcia!

This month's question:

May 7 question - Some common fears writers share are rejection, failure, success, and lack of talent or ability. What are your greatest fears as a writer? How do you manage them?

__________________________________________

 

This is an interesting question because I don't have a ready answer. 

 

Rejection? I'm not especially afraid of rejection--I find that the more I submit my work, the less an individual rejection hurts, and plenty of rejections have helped me by making me re-examine the work and improve it. (I have a goal this year of submitting my work 100 times in 2025 and I've already done 47, and collected 22 rejections and 2 sales so far).

 

Failure? Success? Failure and success are only partly up to me, and I've accepted that some of that is out of my control. I have hopes, but not really fears about this. I work to make my writing as strong and meaningful as it can be, and seek opportunities to get it in front of readers, but I don't drive myself crazy wondering if I'll ever make a million bucks or anything like that.

 

Lack of talent or ability? I believe in my own talent and ability, more often than I don't. (I read somewhere that a writer needs a mixture of humility and chutzpah to make it, and I always try to cultivate that balance). 

 

So what does scare me as a writer?

 

Maybe, running out of time? I have SO MANY ideas for stories, projects, series, poems, essays, books, etc. Some of them are started; others I've seen to fruition; and lots and lots of them are waiting for their moment in the sun when they become the "main project" and get my full focus. 

 

I just had a birthday--number 54, if you're wondering--and if I follow the pattern of women in my family, that gives me about 35 more years on this side of the soil. I can only take care of myself and hope that I get all 35 years and that I get them in sound mind and body that lets me continue to create. (so there's a second sub-fear: losing my cognitive or physical abilities and being unable to write).

 

That makes me a little driven. Unwilling to "waste" time. Sometimes it makes me resentful of other responsibilities (like the day job) because those are hours that could be spent developing all these ideas. 

 

So far as fears go, it's not debilitating. Just sort of …motivating. How about you? Do fears hold you back in your creative life? I'd love to hear about in the comments.  

 

 

 

 

AtoZ Wrap and Reflections:

 

Thank you to everyone who followed along with my journey through Songs of my Heart. There's an eclectic collection of music in there. Here's the list: 

 Aha Me a Riddle I Day by Laura Love

Bidi Bidi Bom Bom by Selena

Creep by Post Modern Jukebox

Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog

Eat it! by Weird Al Yankovic

Fine Again by Seether 

Good Night Irene by the Weavers 

Hurt by Johnny Cash

I'm Shipping Up to Boston by the Dropkick Murphys

Jolene by Dolly Parton 

Karma Chameleon by Culture Club 

Lotta True Crime by Penelope Scott 

Main Character by Will Wood 

Nowhere Fast from Streets of Fire 

Over and Over by Rio Romeo 

Pa-pa-ya! by Baby Metal

Qué será será by Doris Day 

Respect by Aretha Franklin

Someone Keeps Moving my Chair by They Might be Giants

Tank! by Yoko Kanno and Seatbelts

U-Mass by the Pixies

Veronica by Elvis Costello

Wellerman by Nathan Evans

Xanadu by Olivia Newton-John

You Oughta Know by Alanis Morissette 

Zombie by the Cranberries

I had a goal of visiting all the participating blogs at least once. I made it! Though there were a few I couldn't comment on--tech issues and one that didn't allow comments. It's always a lot of fun to see what kinds of themes others came up with. A few of my favorites were: 

• The trip through ms_lilli's garden at https://tao-talk.com/2025/03/25/a2z-2025-theme-reveal/ 
• Liz A.'s variety of topics and forthrightness at https://lawsofgravity.blogspot.com/ 
• Melissa's fascinating genealogy posts at https://boldandqueer.com/a-to-z-2025-challenge-theme-reveal-kin/ 
• BBCreations by BB is a lovely and eclectic set of posts on movies, music, and more. https://createdbybb.blogspot.com/
  
• reconnecting with Anne E. G. Nydam (whom I know from other parts of writer life) though her stories, poems, and art theme at https://nydamprintsblackandwhite.blogspot.com/2025/03/theme-revelation-stories-poems-and-art.html 
• Postcards from the Bookstore used word prompts to build some fantastic fiction: https://postcardsfromthebookstore.blogspot.com/
  
• and (count 'em) TWO sets of posts by Ronel Janse van Vurren: one on mythology and another on her "languishing" TBR: https://www.ronelthemythmaker.com/theme-reveal-for-a-to-z-blogging-challenge-2025/

 

Z: Zombie by the Cranberries

 Welcome AtoZ-ers and other blog friends! This month I'm participating in the AtoZ blogging challenge, and you'll see a post every day (except Sundays) about one of the Songs of my Heart. Today's edition: Zombie by the Cranberries.  (If my embedded video won't work, you can listen at this link).

 

This is one of those songs that blew me away when I first heard it. The versatility of Dolores O'Riordan's voice, going from quiet sweetness to angry growling to hiccuping accusation against that AMAZING base line. I've heard more Irish musicians since, but when this song was new, I had only hear folk ballad kinds of Irish music. I didn't even know what the song meant at first, but it pulled at something in me and made me want to stand up and fight. 

I've since learned more about the historical events she's referencing, the bombings in Ireland, and my personal belief is that the "zombies" are us--the people who know and don't do anything, who follow orders blindly. Which makes it a cogent song all over again, in my own country this time.

lyrics from AtoZ: 

Another head hangs lowly
Child is slowly taken
And the violence caused such silence
Who are we mistaken

But you see it's not me
It's not my family
In your head, in your head
They are fighting
With their tanks and their bombs
And their bombs and their guns
In your head, in your head
They are cryin'

In your head, in your head
Zombie, zombie, zombie, hey, hey
What's in your head, in your head
Zombie, zombie, zombie, hey, hey, hey, oh

Dou, dou, dou, dou
Dou, dou, dou, dou
Dou, dou, dou, dou
Dou, dou, dou, dou

Another mother's breakin'
Heart is taking over
When the violence causes silence
We must be mistaken

It's the same old theme
Since nineteen-sixteen
In your head, in your head
They're still fightin'
With their tanks and their bombs
And their bombs and their guns
In your head, in your head
They are dyin'

In your head, in your head
Zombie, zombie, zombie, hey, hey
What's in your head, in your head
Zombie, zombie, zombie, hey, hey, hey
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
Hey, oh, ya, ya-a

Please check out the April Blogging from A to Z Challenge
#AtoZChallenge
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Y: You Oughta Know by Alanis Morissette

Welcome AtoZ-ers and other blog friends! This month I'm participating in the AtoZ blogging challenge, and you'll see a post every day (except Sundays) about one of the Songs of my Heart. Today's edition: You Oughta Know by Alanis Morissette.  (If my embedded video won't work, you can listen at this link).

 

This is best break-up song. The anger. The refusal to be quiet, to roll over, to take it without protest. The sarcasm in "I'm sure she'd make a really excellent mother." Damn. The acid. The emotion in it is what really sells it.

It's been a long time since I needed an angsty break-up song, thank goodness (my second husband has been mine for 19 years and I still enjoy his company), but I still love this song when I feel cheated or overlooked or resentful or any of those "bad break-up" kinds of feelings, regardless of context. 

Lyrics from AtoZ:

I want you to know, that I'm happy for you
I wish nothing but the best for you both
An older version of me
Is she perverted like me?
Would she go down on you in a theatre?
Does she speak eloquently?
And would she have your baby?
I'm sure she'd make a really excellent mother

'Cause the love that you gave that we made
Wasn't able to make it enough for you to be open wide, no
And every time you speak her name
Does she know how you told me
You'd hold me until you died?
'Til you died, but you're still alive

And I'm here, to remind you
Of the mess you left when you went away
It's not fair, to deny me
Of the cross I bear that you gave to me
You, you, you oughta know

You seem very well, things look peaceful
I'm not quite as well, I thought you should know
Did you forget about me, Mr. Duplicity?
I hate to bug you in the middle of dinner
It was a slap in the face how quickly I was replaced
And are you thinking of me when you f*ck her?

'Cause the love that you gave that we made
Wasn't able to make it enough for you to be open wide, no
And every time you speak her name
Does she know how you told me
You'd hold me until you died?
'Til you died, but you're still alive

And I'm here, to remind you
Of the mess you left when you went away
It's not fair, to deny me
Of the cross I bear that you gave to me
You, you, you oughta know

'Cause the joke that you laid in the bed that was me
And I'm not gonna fade, as soon as you close your eyes
And you know it
And every time I scratch my nails down someone else's back
I hope you feel it
Well, can you feel it?

Well, I'm here, to remind you
Of the mess you left when you went away
It's not fair, to deny me
Of the cross I bear that you gave to me
You, you, you oughta know

Why I'm here, to remind you
Of the mess you left when you went away
It's not fair, to deny me
Of the cross I bear that you gave to me
You, you, you oughta know

 

Please check out the April Blogging from A to Z Challenge
#AtoZChallenge
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X: Xanadu by Olivia Newton-John

 

 Welcome AtoZ-ers and other blog friends! This month I'm participating in the AtoZ blogging challenge, and you'll see a post every day (except Sundays) about one of the Songs of my Heart. Today's edition: Xanadu by Olivia Newton John.  (If my embedded video won't work, you can listen at this link).

 

 

For a little while there, when I was an older kid, but not yet a teenager, Olivia Newton-John was the it girl. I knew her from her song "Let's Get Physical" which I thought was about exercise and from her stint as Sandra Dee in the movie Grease. I remember hearing about the movie Xanadu, but no one took me to see it. The song was all over the radio, but mostly, I heard the movie was awful, and my mom was shocked that Gene Kelly was in it. 

I didn't see the movie until last year, when it came to the Carolina Theatre of Durham, renowned for its retro film series. Sweetman and I are regulars. And…it wasn't the kind of awful I was expecting. It was more a near-miss kind of thing. Lots of potential there--kind of a fun concept of the Muses coming to contemporary society and one of them deciding to inspire the opening of a nightclub: Xanadu. And this bit where she had inspired Gene Kelly's character when he was young, then came back around. But the acting is overall pretty wooden and you could drive entire trucks through the logic gaps.

 Gene Kelly could still move at age 67 though, even on roller skates. 

Lyrics from AtoZ:

A place where nobody dared to go

The love that we came to know

They call it Xanadu

(The days you cried can't be denied)

And now, open your eyes and see

What we have made is real

We are in Xanadu

(The dream in you, they offer you)

A million lights are dancing

And there you are, a shooting star

An everlasting world

And you're here with me, eternally

Xanadu

Xanadu (Now we are here)

In Xanadu (Xanadu)

Xanadu

Xanadu (Now we are here)

In Xanadu

Xanadu, your neon lights will shine

For you, Xanadu

The love, the echoes of long ago

You needed the world to know

They are in Xanadu

(The love you gave, you'll dream away)

The dream that came through a million years

That lived on through all the tears

It came to Xanadu

(The dream in you, they offer you)

A million lights are dancing

And there you are, a shooting star

An everlasting world

And you're here with me, eternally

Xanadu

Xanadu (Now we are here)

In Xanadu (Xanadu)

Xanadu

Xanadu (Now we are here)

In Xanadu (Xanadu, Xanadu)

Now that I'm here, now that you're near

In Xanadu

Now that I'm here, now that you're near

In Xanadu

Xanadu

 

Please check out the April Blogging from A to Z Challenge
#AtoZChallenge
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W: Wellerman by Nathan Evans

 

 

Welcome AtoZ-ers and other blog friends! This month I'm participating in the AtoZ blogging challenge, and you'll see a post every day (except Sundays) about one of the Songs of my Heart. Today's edition: Wellerman by Nathan Evans.  (If my embedded video won't work, you can listen at this link).

 

There was a minute during the pandemic when everyone was into Sea Shanties. Anyone remember that? Well, I still have this one on my "get stuff done" playlist. The rhythm of it is GREAT for working, which was the point. I feel like groups of men singing together don't get enough notice. It can be amazing to listen to. So sign me up for more sea shanties and more dwarven ballads from the Hobbit!

Lyrics from AtoZ: 

There once was a ship that put to sea
The name of the ship was the Billy of Tea
The winds blew up, her bow dipped down
O blow, my bully boys, blow (Huh!)

Soon may the Wellerman come
To bring us sugar and tea and rum
One day, when the tonguin' is done
We'll take our leave and go

She'd not been two weeks from shore
When down on her, a right whale bore
The captain called all hands and swore
He'd take that whale in tow (Huh!)

Soon may the Wellerman come
To bring us sugar and tea and rum
One day, when the tonguin' is done
We'll take our leave and go

Da-da, da-da-da-da
Da-da-da-da, da-da-da-da-da
Da-da, da-da-da-da
Da-da-da-da-da-da

Before the boat had hit the water
The whale's tail came up and caught her
All hands to the side, harpooned and fought her
When she dived down low (Huh!)

Soon may the Wellerman come
To bring us sugar and tea and rum
One day, when the tonguin' is done
We'll take our leave and go

No line was cut, no whale was freed
The Captain's mind was not of greed
But he belonged to the whaleman's creed
She took that ship in tow (Huh!)

Soon may the Wellerman come
To bring us sugar and tea and rum
One day, when the tonguin' is done
We'll take our leave and go

Da-da, da-da-da-da
Da-da-da-da, da-da-da-da-da
Da-da, da-da-da-da
Da-da-da-da-da-da

For forty days, or even more
The line went slack, then tight once more
All boats were lost, there were only four
But still that whale did go (Huh!)

Soon may the Wellerman come
To bring us sugar and tea and rum
One day, when the tonguin' is done
We'll take our leave and go

As far as I've heard, the fight's still on
The line's not cut and the whale's not gone
The Wellerman makes his regular call
To encourage the Captain, crew, and all (Huh!)

Soon may the Wellerman come
To bring us sugar and tea and rum
One day, when the tonguin' is done
We'll take our leave and go
Soon may the Wellerman come
To bring us sugar and tea and rum
One day, when the tonguin' is done
We'll take our leave and go  

Please check out the April Blogging from A to Z Challenge
#AtoZChallenge
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V: Veronica by Elvis Costello

 Welcome AtoZ-ers and other blog friends! This month I'm participating in the AtoZ blogging challenge, and you'll see a post every day (except Sundays) about one of the Songs of my Heart. Today's edition: Veronica by Elvis Costello.  (If my embedded video won't work, you can listen at this link).

 

I'm a little hit and miss with Elvis Costello. When I'm in the right mood, his hipster vibe and snarky attitude work for me. When I'm not, it's less fun. But I nearly always like this song when I hear it. 

The height of my enjoyment of Costello's music was his Mighty Like a Rose album, smack dab in the middle of my college years. This one was recorded in the later 1980s, so a bit before that album. 

Revisiting it now, especially with the video, it strikes me very differently, with commentary on aging and losing you used to be. But at least the singer remembers who she was and misses her (even if he's a little patronizing about it with that "pretty little head" nonsense). 

 Lyrics from Elvis Costello Wiki:

Is it all in that pretty little head of yours?
What goes on in that place in the dark?
Well, I used to know a girl and I would have sworn that her name was Veronica
Well, she used to have a carefree mind of her own and a delicate look in her eye
These days I'm afraid she's not even sure if her name is Veronica

(Chorus:)
Do you suppose that waiting hands on eyes, Veronica has gone to hide?
And all the time she laughs at those who shout her name and steal her clothes
Veronica
Veronica
Veronica

Did the days drag by? Did the favours wane?
Did he roam down the town all the time?
Will you wake from your dream with a wolf at the door, reaching out for Veronica?
Well it was all of sixty-five years ago
When the world was the street where she lived
And a young man sailed on a ship in the sea with a picture of Veronica

On the "Empress of India"
And as she closed her eyes upon the world
And picked upon the bones of last week's news
She spoke his name out loud again

(Repeat Chorus)

Veronica sits in her favourite chair, she sits very quiet and still
And they call her a name that they never get right
And if they don't, then nobody else will
But she used to have a carefree mind of her own, with a devilish look in her eye
Saying "You can call me anything you like, but my name is Veronica"

(Repeat Chorus)

Please check out the April Blogging from A to Z Challenge
#AtoZChallenge
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U: U-Mass by the Pixies

 Welcome AtoZ-ers and other blog friends! This month I'm participating in the AtoZ blogging challenge, and you'll see a post every day (except Sundays) about one of the Songs of my Heart. Today's edition: U-Mass by the Pixies.  (If my embed doesn't work, listen at this link).

 

I can't remember how I found the Pixies. It was the early 90s and I was a college student, so new music was always landing in my lap without any effort on my part. I know I had this one on CD: Trompe le Monde. I also remember that my then-boyfriend, later-husband, later-ex-husband HATED it. 

I mean, I get it. The Pixies are not…melodic. They scream rather than sing in a traditional sense. But they do it with verve and style and sometimes screaming is just what's in my heart. Every once in a while, I'm walking around here, more than 30 years later and I just randomly say "University. Of. Massachusetts. Please." in just the cadence you hear in the song because something about it tickled my brain all those years ago and hasn't stopped. 

 I also love screaming "IT'S EDUCATIONAL" when I've had a rough life lesson I'd rather not have been forced to learn. Life is mean that way sometimes. 

 Lyrics from AtoZ: 

In the sleepy west of the woody east
Is a valley full, full o' pioneer
We're not just kids to say the least
We got ideas to us that's dear
Like capitalist, like communist
Like lots of things you've heard about
And redneckers, they get us pissed
And stupid stuff, it makes us shout
Oh, dance with me, oh, don't be shy
Oh, kiss me, cunt, oh, kiss me, cock
Oh, kiss the world, oh, kiss the sky
Oh, kiss my ass, oh, let it rock
Of the April birds and the May bee
Oh baby

It's educational!
It's educational!
It's educational!
It's educational!
It's educational!
It's educational!
It's educational!
It's educational!

University
Of Massachusetts, please
And here's the last five

It's educational!
It's educational!
It's educational!
It's educational!

It's!
It's educational!  

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T: Tank! by Yoko Kanno and Seatbelts

 Welcome AtoZ-ers and other blog friends! This month I'm participating in the AtoZ blogging challenge, and you'll see a post every day (except Sundays) about one of the Songs of my Heart. Today's edition: Tank! by Yoko Kanno and Seatbelts.  (If my embed doesn't work, listen at this link).

 

When my husband and I were first dating, he wooed me in part with music from Cowboy Bebop. It's an anime series from the late 90s about a group of bounty hunters in outer space. I highly recommend both that anime and the more recent live action version. Part of what makes both of them work is the music. Yoko Kanno creates across genres, conventions, and time periods to make exciting, unique, and gorgeous music. 

Tank! in particular remains on my "pump you up" playlist, when I need a jolt to get me going. It's mostly instrumental, so no lyrics to quote for you today. 

When Sweetman and I are facing a hard day, we still quote the opening lyric to each other: "I think it's time to blow this scene. Get everybody and the stuff together. Okay, 3-2-1, let's jam!" And then, it's all jazzy action music, drums and brass and style. LOVE IT. 

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S: Someone Keeps Moving my Chair by They Might be Giants

Welcome AtoZ-ers and other blog friends! This month I'm participating in the AtoZ blogging challenge, and you'll see a post every day (except Sundays) about one of the Songs of my Heart. Today's edition: Someone Keeps Moving my Chair by They Might be Giants.  (If my embed doesn't work, listen at this link).

 

I'm trying to remember how I first ran across They Might be Giants, and…I can't remember. I do remember calling their "Dial-a-Song" hotline as a college student (early 1990s), so I've known about them at least that long. I enjoy a LOT of their music: quirky, weird little songs about anything and everything. Usually peppy and catchy and fun. Their album Flood is one I have completely memorized. 

This particular song helps me laugh at myself when I find I'm getting all worked up about something relatively minor. I mean, jut use a different chair, right? Or move it back? 

Lyrics from this might be a wiki:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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R: Respect by Aretha Franklin

 Welcome AtoZ-ers and other blog friends! This month I'm participating in the AtoZ blogging challenge, and you'll see a post every day (except Sundays) about one of the Songs of my Heart. Today's edition: Respect by Aretha Franklin.  (If my embedded video won't work, you can listen at this link).

 

From time to time, you just need a woman power anthem, and this song delivers. Empowerment in a loud and proud demand to be treated well by your partner, or just in general. Amazing how a gender flip took a song about traditional patriarchy and completely revised it. I mean, does anyone even ever listen to the Otis Redding version anymore? For a long time, I didn't even know it existed. 

Lyrics from AtoZ: 

What you want
Baby, I got it
What you need
Do you know I got it?

All I'm askin'
Is for a little respect
When you come home
(just a little bit)
Hey, baby
(just a little bit)
When you get home
(just a little bit)
Mister
(just a little bit)

I ain't gonna do you wrong
While you're gone
Ain't gonna do you wrong
'Cause I don't wanna

All I'm askin'
Is for a little respect
When you come home
(just a little bit)
Baby
(just a little bit)
When you get home
(just a little bit)
Yeah
(just a little bit)

I'm about to give you all of my money
And all I'm askin' in return, honey
Is to give me my propers
When you get home

(just a, just a, just a, just a)
Yeah, baby
(just a, just a, just a, just a)
When you get home
(just a little bit)
Yeah
(just a little bit)

Ooh, your kisses
Sweeter than honey
And guess what?
So is my money

All I want you to do for me
Is give it to me when you get home
(re, re, re ,re)
Yeah, baby
(re, re, re ,re)
Whip it to me
(respect, just a little bit)
When you get home, now
(just a little bit)

R-E-S-P-E-C-T
Find out what it means to me
R-E-S-P-E-C-T
Take care, TCB

Oh (sock it to me, sock it to me
Sock it to me, sock it to me)
A little respect
(sock it to me, sock it to me, sock it to me, sock it to me)
Whoa, babe
(just a little bit)
A little respect
(just a little bit)

I get tired
(just a little bit)
Keep on tryin'
(just a little bit)
You're runnin' out of foolin'
(just a little bit)
And I ain't lyin'
(just a little bit)

(re, re, re, re) 'spect
When you come home
(re, re, re, re)
Or you might walk in
(respect, just a little bit)
And find out I'm gone
(just a little bit)
I got to have
(just a little bit)  

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Q: Qué será será by Doris Day

 Welcome AtoZ-ers and other blog friends! This month I'm participating in the AtoZ blogging challenge, and you'll see a post every day (except Sundays) about one of the Songs of my Heart. Today's edition: Qué será será by Doris Day.  (If my embedded video won't work, you can listen at this link).

 

Doris Day was quite a performer, an actress/singer whose work I enjoyed with my mother when I was young and have turned back to more recently, and this is a song that became strongly associated with her. Usually, it's a somewhat wistful ditty (listen to that version here), but when she sang it as part of her role in The Man Who Knew Too Much, it became embued with so much more--desperation, anger, fear, pressure to seem to be doing one thing while actually doing another. It's an amazing bit of acting through song, so this is now my favorite version of the song. 

Lyrics from lyrics.com: 

When I was just a little girl

I asked my mother, what will I be

Will I be pretty

Will I be rich

Here's what she said to me

Que será, será

Whatever will be, will be

The future's not ours to see

Que será, será

What will be, will be

When I grew up and fell in love

I asked my sweetheart, what lies ahead

Will we have rainbows

Day after day

Here's what my sweetheart said

Que será, será

Whatever will be, will be

The future's not ours to see

Que será, será

What will be, will be

Now I have children of my own

They ask their mother, what will I be

Will I be handsome

Will I be rich

I tell them tenderly

Que será, será

Whatever will be, will be

The future's not ours to see

Que será, será

What will be, will be

Que será, será

 

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