Blues purists will
probably turn up their noses at Blues
Traveller -- they're really Rock, not Blues. Nevertheless --
just as with the Hip-Hop artists I mention,
these "crossover artists" helped open me up to appreciate
real Blues much better. After I saw them put in a stellar performance
at a Surfrider music festival at Doheney Beach, California.
The classic foundation
of a million different Blues songs: homelessness. You wouldn't think
that an Engineer with a Master's Degree like me would know anything
about homelessness. And I don't -- but there have been several times
in my life when I was out of one house and not totally sure the next
one was going to come through... sometimes for as much as a week. (Always
seems to happen when I'm low on money, too.) So I have some inkling
of the issues involved, and the feeling of helplessness.
"A Hundred Years"
by Blues Traveller
The sun
is warm as the day is long, just got the feeling I can do
no wrong
Got a long way to walk, can't afford my next meal, I tell
a few lies but my hunger is real,
And it...
Won't mean a thing in a hundred years...
No it won't mean a thing in a hundred years...
Mademoiselle tell me do you play, well if she shakes her
head well then that's OK
I watch her walk away in haste, there's just no accounting
for some people's taste !
And it...
Won't mean a thing in a hundred years...
No it won't mean a thing in a hundred years...
Big angry man in the doorway there, just keep on walking
like I don't care
Why you givin' me such an evil eye, could it be you were
ignored by every passerby ?
And
it...
Won't mean a thing in a hundred years...
No it won't mean a thing in a hundred years...
Play in the park for tobacco and food, then I excuse myself
but they think I'm rude
Tourist don't want me to end his show, but this colorful
attraction got places to go !
And it...
Won't mean a thing in a hundred years...
No it won't mean a thing in a hundred years...
Sit at the pier watch the sun go down, another
lost little boy in a big cold town
I want to laugh, I want to cry, but no matter how hard I
may try...
It won't mean a thing in a hundred years... !
No, it won't mean a thing in a hundred years...
!
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Here's another song about meditation -- kind-of a different take
on the Munkafust
song "Dirt Off My Soul," which you can also sample on
this website.
"Crystal Flame"
by Blues Traveller
Sitting
in clover looking for the fifth leaf, something soon will
come my way
Never failing to amaze me, I feel its wisdom anyway
Rays of sweet illumination, inspiration too untold
I hope someday I can befriend it, I think that comes with
growing old...
(Chorus)
Crystal
Flame, I'll do anything you say
You're my heart, and my mind, and my soul
At least you fill them when I play
Light
so bright it hypnotizes, but it never hurts to gaze
Never to burn or char with fire, simply the heat from
warmer days
And when the moment tends to savor, when the song is close
at hand
That frozen amber fills my vision, letting the brightness
take command...
(Chorus)
Please,
please won't you take me away, it's easy, easy just let
me play
Please, please won't you take me away, it's easy, easy
just let me play
Sometimes it's brilliance all around me, sometimes it's
light I barely see
And though I utilize its grandeur, it does not belong
to me
'cause all I can do is vague description, as I do my best
to share
The smooth perfection I can only dream of, the flow of
all the life that's there...
(Chorus)
Keep
me safe and never lonely, let the rain fall where it may
And let me find the peace within me, I can find it when
I play
They say that solid, wet, or vapor, the only forms that
are portrayed
To them I ask one burning question, of what stuff are
ideas made...?
(Chorus)
Sitting
in clover looking for the fifth leaf, something soon will
come my way...
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These songs are copyright by Blues Traveller. No ownership
or permission is expressed or implied. The accompanying audio clip is
for your "review purposes",
in other words, I am explicitly hoping that this sample inspires you to
go out and buy the song. And thereby avoid having Blues Traveller sue
me.
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