{"id":7863,"date":"2010-08-05T15:49:45","date_gmt":"2010-08-05T19:49:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/johnesimpson.com\/blog\/?p=7863"},"modified":"2019-10-12T12:20:03","modified_gmt":"2019-10-12T16:20:03","slug":"musical-interlude-chin-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/johnesimpson.com\/blog\/2010\/08\/musical-interlude-chin-up\/","title":{"rendered":"Musical Interlude: Chin Up"},"content":{"rendered":"

The week’s been one of needing (re)encouragement — always a popular subject with writers, who can never get (or imagine they can’t get) enough of it — and of finding new reasons why maybe we don’t need as much encouragement as we thought. Coincidentally, in the last 24 hours I’ve tripped across a couple of songs that seem to fit the mood.<\/p>\n

The first is by Mary Gauthier<\/a>, from her recent album The Foundling<\/em>. The album was recorded in Toronto, produced by Michael Timmins of the Cowboy Junkies (with characteristically smoky backing vocals by sister and bandmate Margo Timmins). Gautier says of the songs on the album:<\/p>\n

[They] tell the story of a kid abandoned at birth who spent a year in an orphanage and was adopted, who ran way from the adopted home and ended up in show business, who searched for birth parents late in life and found one and was rejected, and who came through the other side of all of this still believing in love.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Here’s “Sideshow,” the opening track (lyrics below).<\/p>\n\n

Lyrics:<\/p>\n

Sideshow <\/strong>
\n(Mary Gauthier)<\/em><\/p>\n

People stare and then they walk away
\nBut there’s always a few who’ll stay
\nFrom the state I watch ’em close their eyes
\nLike a little kid trying to hide
\nLike they’re somewhere ain’t supposed to be
\nWatching something they ain’t supposed to see
\nGiving in to the undertow
\nIn the dark at the sideshow<\/p>\n

I’m the singer at the sideshow
\nIt’s a place that orphans go
\nFar away from the bright lights
\nHard to find on a dark night
\nAnother truly troubled troubadour
\nWriting songs to even up the score
\nA tune for every single body flow
\nAnd I sing ’em at the sideshow<\/p>\n

Who likes to think about their pain
\nMost people would avoid the rain
\nA sunny song will help you make it through
\nBut constant whistling is hard to do
\nToo many songs about happiness
\nLeave me sad, lonely, and depressed
\nA million miles from the radio
\nYou can find me at the side show<\/p>\n

I make my living at the sideshow
\nIt’s a place that orphans go
\nFar away from the bright lights
\nHard to find on a dark night
\nAnother truly troubled troubadour
\nWriting songs to even up the score
\nA tune for every single body blow
\nAnd I sing ’em at the side show<\/p>\n

I make a living at the sideshow
\nIt’s a place that the wounded go
\nFar away from the Bright lights
\nHard to find on a dark night
\nYou can find us
\nAnother truly troubled troubadour
\nAt the sideshow
\nWriting songs to even up the score
\nYea, me
\nA tune for every single body blow
\nAnd the buffalo
\nAnd I sing ’em at the sideshow
\nYou can find us
\nBack in the corner where the sad songs flow
\nAt the sideshow<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I’ve actually had the second song on my playlist for a few years; it’s just been a while since I last heard it. It comes from Eric Bibb<\/a>, as recorded on the multi-artist album Mali to Memphis<\/em> which traces the route of the blues across an ocean and from one continent to another.<\/p>\n

Here’s “Don’t Ever Let Nobody Drag Your Spirit Down” (lyrics below).<\/p>\n\n

Lyrics:<\/p>\n

Don’t Ever Let Nobody Drag Your Spirit Down<\/strong>
\n(Eric Bibb)<\/em><\/p>\n

You might slip
\nYou might slide
\nYou might tumble and fall by the road side
\nDon’t you ever let nobody
\nDrag your spirit down
\nRemember you’re walkin’ up to heaven
\nDon’t let nobody turn you round<\/p>\n

Walk with the rich
\nWalk with the poor
\nLearn from everybody that’s what life is for
\nDon’t you ever let nobody
\nDrag your spirit down
\nRemember you’re walkin’ up to heaven
\nDon’t let nobody turn you round<\/p>\n

Some say yes
\nSome say no
\nSome wait and see which way the wind blow
\nDon’t you ever let nobody
\nDrag your spirit down
\nWell we’re walkin’ up to heaven
\nDon’t let nobody turn you round<\/p>\n

Well I might say things
\nSound strange to you
\nAnd I might preach the gospel I believe it’s true
\nI won’t let nobody
\nDrag my spirit down
\nYes I’m walkin’ up to heaven
\nWon’t let nobody turn me round<\/p>\n

You might slip
\nYou might slide
\nYou might tumble and fall by the road side
\nDon’t you ever let nobody
\nDrag your spirit down
\nRemember you’re walkin’ up to heaven
\nDon’t let nobody turn you round<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The week’s been one of needing (re)encouragement — always a popular subject with writers, who can never get (or imagine they can’t get) enough of it — and of finding new reasons why maybe we don’t need as much encouragement as we thought. Coincidentally, in the last 24 hours I’ve tripped across a couple of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","h5ap_radio_sources":[],"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"activitypub_content_warning":"","activitypub_content_visibility":"","activitypub_max_image_attachments":3,"activitypub_interaction_policy_quote":"anyone","activitypub_status":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[183,247,74,5],"tags":[1923,1924,1925],"class_list":{"0":"post-7863","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-everyday-life","7":"category-ruminations","8":"category-music","9":"category-06_writing","10":"tag-encouragement","11":"tag-mary-gauthier","12":"tag-eric-bibb","13":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6kZSG-22P","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/johnesimpson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7863","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/johnesimpson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/johnesimpson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/johnesimpson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/johnesimpson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7863"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/johnesimpson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7863\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21642,"href":"https:\/\/johnesimpson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7863\/revisions\/21642"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/johnesimpson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7863"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/johnesimpson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7863"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/johnesimpson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7863"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}