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Basic Category and Identification
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Basic Category and Identification Hi, Some folks come up with the most creative titles. I have the hardest time making up a good title. It feels like naming your next unborn or something similar. The Rolling Stones, for example, had excellent titles for their albums and songs. Pink Floyd, too. Others. Feel free to share your favorites. mmmmm.. George Harrison had some doozies. Bruce Cockburn has come up with a few I'd like to share at this time for a purpose I cannot really relate to you – just yet : Anything Anytime Anywhere, Stealing Fire, and lastly, Waiting for a Miracle. Of course, any fan of Mr. Cockburn would tell you that there are many more. And those others may even be more intriguing – the titles of the albums. Hang-in here, finding the meaning. The three albums mentioned above each contain a version of the song If I had a Rocket Launcher. Which is what I was thinking about yesterday. No… I'm not gonna blow anything up. I was simply thinking of songs I haven't heard in a very long time. Cuz the songs mentioned below are not what would be considered "classic rock" and even less likely an "oldie". So are there any radio stations that would play them? What kind of "format" would a station be if it played older tunes OUTSIDE of the top 40? Does anybody remember the "band" from the mid-to-late eighties called David & David? The ampersand may have been spelled-out as "and", I really can't remember. Wiki shows it as a "plus" sign. They manufactured the song called Welcome to the Boomtown. I kinda recall it competing for airplay with Bruce Hornsby's The Way It Is. That recollection could be just in my mind though – I haven't researched it. They (D & D) may have had others, too – oddly; I thought they were the ones who performed If I had a Rocket Launcher. They DID work very closely with Sheryl Crowe early on. Those guys and the late Kevin Gilbert ( I miss him ). Between Boomtown and The Way It Is – well… I'd say a pretty good still-life of the mid-to-late eighties. And kinda like now, too. But NO… it was the seminal Bruce Cockburn. Live and learn, I guess. And had I not looked it up today, I STILL would think that If I had a Rocket Launcher was done by D + D. Regardless, the lyrics to If I had a Rocket Launcher are freakin' excellent. But the title is even better, IMO. So let's get back to titles for a bit: Stealing Fire? What is the first thing that comes to your mind? Who stole fire from the<b> gods </font></b>above and brought it to man? What was his punishment? Perhaps more interesting… what is the SECOND thing that comes to mind when you think of that phrase? Anything Anytime Anywhere – um… that can translate to ALL KINDS of interesting responses. Please feel free. I work from that kind of platform; the key is readiness and preparation. And a "yes" attitude above all else. Waiting For a Miracle. Wow. I recall Mike + the Mechanics ( the plus-sign being part of their band's name, truly ) writing All I Need is a Miracle – but WAITING for a miracle? That's heavy. I'm patient – like Job from the Bible – but I am NOT waiting for a miracle. Any sign from above is appreciated. I AM waiting for Chinese food, currently, but certainly not a miracle. One has to make their own "happenings", I feel. The thing I was admiring about If I had a Rocket Launcher is the rhyming scheme. Simple. I like that sometimes. Without quoting the whole song – which I encourage all of my readers and watchers to listen to – the last line of each verse portrays the essence of what Bruce is expressing: "if I had a rocket launcher...I'd make somebody pay." "if I had a rocket launcher...I would retaliate." "if I had a rocket launcher...I would not hesitate." "if I had a rocket launcher...some sonofabitch would die." It was certainly a different time, then. All kinds of oppression throughout Central America. But the message, I think, somehow fits in with the idea of Waiting for a Miracle – as if a rocket launcher would fall from the sky and he could pop that helicopter. Or maybe in contrast perhaps the miracle of say, a political solution to the problem that would keep him from taking matters into his own hands. And Anything Anytime Anywhere – a rocket launcher? right now? here? Well then I'd… It fits real well there. Stealing Fire – if we think of "fire" as the action of the rocket launcher being launched, and not necessarily that element composed of heat, oxygen and fuel – it dove-tails very well therein, too. A sniper-like action to destroy the enemy. Clever. I really like when artists can tie-things-up in a pretty bow like that. Or when there are hidden meanings that become evident years ( decades? ) later. I wonder, sometimes, if it is done on purpose. The subconscious is a very powerful force – maybe some of it isn't purposefully meant, yet meant nonetheless. Songs don't have to be a "hit" to hit you. Films that fail at the box-office are sometimes the best. Books you have never heard of can change your life. Paintings ( or sculptures ) not on-display can move you deeply. Does anyone have a "secret favorite" that is not within the mainstream? What makes it so special? So important? So personally favorable? |
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I'd LOVE to work closely with Sheryl Crowe! Not a song, but a book: "Bread and wine" by Ignazio Silone. It's an anti fascist and anti Stalinist novel that questions the failure of the church to take a meaningful stand in the struggles of the thirties and forties. Become a member now and get a free tote bag.
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normalisoktoo replies on 3/30/2015 9:13 pm: "She ain't all that. I can't post my objections." Well, that's disappointing- not surprising, but still disappointing. I like her music and she looks great. Become a member now and get a free tote bag.
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I definitely think there is a reason for the way some albums are titled, conscious, subconscious, admitted to or denied. I don't doubt some may be coincidental though or may not be read in the same light when looked at on a later date. I remember Welcome to the Boomtown though I couldn't have guessed who did it. I have Bruce Hornsby and the Range the way it is. I'm sure I have a Bruce Cockburn album with If I Had A Rocket Launcher on it, I remember listening to it, though I couldn't tell you the name of it. I have several of his albums. I think it is in a box full of stuff that I keep thinking I need to get out and go through one of these days. Your right, there was a lot going on in S. America at that time. I was in the Air Force sitting in North Dakota. One of my favorite albums is Dire Straits Love Over Gold. I like the song Telegraph Road particularly. Though I can't say that I like to point to any song or album and say it's my favorite as there are so many that are "favorites" if you know what I mean. I was listening to U2 a lot back then in the eighties. They are definitely favorites but not exactly out of the mainstream. Vive La Difference
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