That's a great one for Y. He sings in a Senegalese language called Wolof, I think. But as you mentioned before, you don't have to understand it, it's about the feeling it creates. Very nice...
This is really beautiful. The part about the "Contours of your absence" reminds me of the Tim Minchin song 'The Absence Of You'. Very nicely done indeed... 😎
Yes, Tim Minchin is a really interesting one. Because he actually started out as a comedian, combining stand-up comedy with performances on the piano, where he'd do mostly comedy songs. But he now writes West End Musicals, and his work is often incredibly powerful, and moving... 😎
Yes, quite effortless, and a perfect Lightfoot song for him to cover. I think he loves to give a nod to Canadian artists. Four Strong Winds is another.
Saw him twice, in the flesh, and was blown away by his presence onstage. Played till he broke the strings on his Les Paul doing a cover of ‘A day in the life’ by the Beatles. Held up the guitar to the crowd, set it on a massive feedback setting or other, and off he went. A couple of hours of possibly the best concert I’ve been to, and I’ve been at quite a few.
That was my first time seeing him. The next time was with Crazy Horse, and they were a force of nature onstage. Currently reading his biography coincidentally.
A pleasure - thanks for reading :-) That sounds so good. I only had one chance to see Neil Young, and unfortunately the band I was in at the time had a gig that night, so I chose to go to that instead haha. It was a tough decision. There were a lot of technical difficulties with our show, and after one song, we decided fuck it, and played a 25 minute version of Funkadelic's Maggot Brain instead of what we had planned. Afterwards someone told me that they had been really bummed not to get a ticket to Neil, but that us doing Maggot Brain was close enough hahaha! Probably the best show we ever played, and the best audience response I ever got. Still wish I'd seen Neil though. :-)
We were called The Bent Folk. We don't exist anymore (people moved away, as they do) - but it was a blast while it lasted. :-) There's a pretty dodgy bootleg of us playing Maggotbrain on this: https://bentfolk.bandcamp.com/album/live-bent-folk-4cd-box
Still time. He will come around again, I’m sure. If and when he does, I’ll be at some venue somewhere to see him. Make sure you get a ticket for a show somewhere yourself. I’m going to have listen to that Maggot Brain track now, aren’t I?😂🙏
I sure hope so! I live in New Zealand so big musicians don't get over this way that often. But it does happen. Oh yeah - if you're a fan of the guitar solo pyrotechnics of Crazy Horse, then I think you will love Maggot Brain. Hands down one of the best guitar tracks of all time imo. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOKn33-q4Ao
May 26·edited May 26Liked by Writer Pilgrim by So Elite
Oh wow - nice. Yeah, there's some Albert Collins tunes with Rory Gallagher on them which just blow me away!!!! His playing is something else. Pink Floyd almost entirely ripped Shine On You Crazy Diamond from one those tunes! Couldn't believe it when I heard it. Rory does it so much better tho.
Yeah, Rory was a special talent. Really was in it for the music. Wouldn’t release singles. Just wanted to live it. Big fan. I’ll have to check out his work with Collins. Nice to make your acquaintance. Take care.
Nice to meet you as well! Ah, he sounds amazing. This is my fav tune by them, and was my introduction to Gallagher and Collins both :-) The whole thing is just so perfect, from the amazing spoken intro to the roaring solos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zK5plmgs7iw
Aw cheeees Chris. 💜 Yeah, I only just remembered him at the last minute haha - was going to do Yo La Tengo, a band I like, but have never really spent a lot of time with. Then I remembered Neil! Hazzah!
May 25·edited May 25Liked by Writer Pilgrim by So Elite
He's a great one, for sure. I liked the stuff he did with Crosby, Stills and Nash as well. When he was occasionally with them! 'Powderfinger' is probably my favourite of his. Such an amazing, and moving, story. Lynyrd Skynyrd were supposed to do it as well, of course, which makes the ending even more haunting... 😎
May 26·edited May 26Liked by Writer Pilgrim by So Elite
Haha! That's the thing when the videos are all laid out one after the other like that. They're all so good, you keep thinking "Just one more", and you can end up on there all night! 😎
Nice. He's playing in London in July... But the one in Canada! That would be amazing to see him in Canada actually, especially in Toronto. Which is only a couple of hours away from London. He's playing there in July as well. If I was there, I'd go to both! Tickets £55! That is a bargain! 😎
Yes, a lot of artists end up doing that for a while - mainly because they're an incredibly valuable asset they can quickly sell if they need extra cash! Then some of them get them back again. Macca, of course, got famously outbid for his own rights by Michael Jackson. He has control of them again now, though, I think... 😎
From what I understand he sold them to free himself up. If he kept making records and getting paid record by record, the labels and industry controlled what he released. But after selling a huge chunk off, he now is able to own himself in the last decade/s of his life, and make whatever music he wants without any worrys at all. It's a weird business when you're that famous, and so many people's livelihoods depend on your art (all the people who work on his shows, his records, etc.). He's done interviews about it. It's worth remembering, his music wasn't "free" before the big sell-off either, we just didn't hear about the money as often ;-)
I mean, in a way, that's what we're all doing, too. Publishing what we want, and keeping control of everything, free of interference and industry pressures, so we can just get on with being creative. If it's good enough for Neil, it's good enough for us! Haha... 😎
Yeah haha - it's like that if we also had 10 million dollars, and never needed to work again, apart from on exactly what we wanted hahahaha ;-) If that's good enough for Neil, then sign me up! :-P
I remember when George Michael took his label to court... I remember Prince changing his name and trying to do his own thing saying Peace to George, Terence Trent D'Arby the same, trying to be free. I also read that Neil Young removed his music from a platform as he wasn't happy with what was being reported. There's maybe other things to account for. All the big names gone. Terence had a vision and changed name. Do we ever hear of his music now? No, only if we look for him. There's an interesting coincidence that Neil Young sells off rights after making political commentary is all I'm saying. Definitely, artists are not free when with a label. Another young singer, Robyn, set up her own label and did everything as she wanted because the label had too much control. She's been doing amazing. Freedom of expression? High price to pay.
For sure! I think you hit the nail here: "Do we ever hear their music now? No, only if we look for them." And that's what happens when you challenge the majors. Incorporated death. Sad stuff.
She was an ASTRAL TRAVELLER, who emerged from an ARRIVING UFO.
And I was a STARSHIP TROOPER, but my weapons were no match for her advanced technology, so I had no choice but to surrender and allow myself to be taken on board her craft.
And as far as Roleplay Nights go, it was pretty much the best one ABILENE has come up with so far... 😎
I will agree with Pilgrim, YEAH!!! I thought of them and the dragon queen intrigued me but I couldn't make something good out of it. Glad I gave up. I wouldn't stand a chance with Sheena!
Loner, waiting and Wyoming have a gorgeous ring together. This is what I like about this, the theme and the sound work so well together because of how you put the lines in order. Thank you!
Youssou N’Dour
Bamba The poet
Twice as tall
The Lion
Shaking the tree
Seven seconds
Undecided
How come
Chimes of Freedom
My hope is with you
That's a great one for Y. He sings in a Senegalese language called Wolof, I think. But as you mentioned before, you don't have to understand it, it's about the feeling it creates. Very nice...
Thank you! Yes he mixes perhaps a little bit of Grench and English but he mainly sings in Wolof!
Excellent choice!
Thank you!
Love this!!!
Aw thank you!
Seven seconds with Nenagh Cherry brings me back. Bamba the poet should have his own Substack page.
WRITER PILGRIM SUBSTACK
May - song title poetry challenge - letter Y
Cole Swindell "You Should Be Here"
…
In the absence of your touch,
the world becomes a hollow echo,
a vast emptiness where
you should be here.
.
Across the miles, I reach for you,
fingers grasping at the ghost of your presence,
a whispered plea in the silence:
you should be here.
.
The memory of your skin against mine,
a phantom caress that haunts my dreams,
a longing that aches in every fiber,
because you should be here.
.
I trace the contours of your absence,
mapping the geography of my solitude,
a landscape barren and bleak,
where you should be here.
.
In the depths of the night,
I hear the echoes of your laughter,
a distant melody that taunts me,
reminding me that you should be here.
.
I write your name in the air,
a futile incantation, a desperate prayer,
a mantra that pulses with the truth:
you should be here.
.
In the void left by your departure,
I am a shell, a shadow, a fractured soul,
incomplete and yearning,
because you should be here.
.
Until the day you return to me,
I will carry this ache, this unrelenting refrain,
a hymn of longing and love,
forever whispering: you should be here.
This is really beautiful. The part about the "Contours of your absence" reminds me of the Tim Minchin song 'The Absence Of You'. Very nicely done indeed... 😎
I had never heard of Tim Minchin or his song. I listened to it. Enchanting, bittersweet. Thank you, Chris, for the gift of Tim Minchin.
Yes, Tim Minchin is a really interesting one. Because he actually started out as a comedian, combining stand-up comedy with performances on the piano, where he'd do mostly comedy songs. But he now writes West End Musicals, and his work is often incredibly powerful, and moving... 😎
'I am a shell, a shadow, a fractured soul' what a line!
This one's for Neil Young:
.
-: Borrowed Tune: For Neil Young :-
.
I.
.
Early morning rain,
Long walk home—
.
After the garden
We never danced
You and me,
.
Tell me why.
.
.
II.
.
Birds,
I've been waiting for you—
.
On the beach
The wayward wind,
.
Scattered
Silver and gold.
.
.
III.
.
Beautiful bluebird
Just singing a song—
.
Let it shine
Like a hurricane,
Falling off the face of the earth.
.
.
IV.
.
Twilight,
See the sky about to rain—
.
Over and over
Till morning comes,
.
Touch the night!
Be the rain!
.
.
.
Oh Canada. Just watched Young sing Early Morning Rain at Farm Aid. Beautifully done, Dick. Perfect ending.
Cheeeeers! :-) Ohhh - nice! Such a great performance.
Just watched it again - I love how casual he is. Feels like he's playing in his lounge. Brings home how good he is at live performances.
Yes, quite effortless, and a perfect Lightfoot song for him to cover. I think he loves to give a nod to Canadian artists. Four Strong Winds is another.
Saw him twice, in the flesh, and was blown away by his presence onstage. Played till he broke the strings on his Les Paul doing a cover of ‘A day in the life’ by the Beatles. Held up the guitar to the crowd, set it on a massive feedback setting or other, and off he went. A couple of hours of possibly the best concert I’ve been to, and I’ve been at quite a few.
That was my first time seeing him. The next time was with Crazy Horse, and they were a force of nature onstage. Currently reading his biography coincidentally.
This was a fun stack. Thanks for sharing.
A pleasure - thanks for reading :-) That sounds so good. I only had one chance to see Neil Young, and unfortunately the band I was in at the time had a gig that night, so I chose to go to that instead haha. It was a tough decision. There were a lot of technical difficulties with our show, and after one song, we decided fuck it, and played a 25 minute version of Funkadelic's Maggot Brain instead of what we had planned. Afterwards someone told me that they had been really bummed not to get a ticket to Neil, but that us doing Maggot Brain was close enough hahaha! Probably the best show we ever played, and the best audience response I ever got. Still wish I'd seen Neil though. :-)
What was your bands name, by the way?
We were called The Bent Folk. We don't exist anymore (people moved away, as they do) - but it was a blast while it lasted. :-) There's a pretty dodgy bootleg of us playing Maggotbrain on this: https://bentfolk.bandcamp.com/album/live-bent-folk-4cd-box
Still time. He will come around again, I’m sure. If and when he does, I’ll be at some venue somewhere to see him. Make sure you get a ticket for a show somewhere yourself. I’m going to have listen to that Maggot Brain track now, aren’t I?😂🙏
I sure hope so! I live in New Zealand so big musicians don't get over this way that often. But it does happen. Oh yeah - if you're a fan of the guitar solo pyrotechnics of Crazy Horse, then I think you will love Maggot Brain. Hands down one of the best guitar tracks of all time imo. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOKn33-q4Ao
Thanks for that. You beat me to it!😂I’m a big music fan. Rory Gallagher town here in Cork, Ireland. Not a bad starting point.
Oh wow - nice. Yeah, there's some Albert Collins tunes with Rory Gallagher on them which just blow me away!!!! His playing is something else. Pink Floyd almost entirely ripped Shine On You Crazy Diamond from one those tunes! Couldn't believe it when I heard it. Rory does it so much better tho.
Yeah, Rory was a special talent. Really was in it for the music. Wouldn’t release singles. Just wanted to live it. Big fan. I’ll have to check out his work with Collins. Nice to make your acquaintance. Take care.
Nice to meet you as well! Ah, he sounds amazing. This is my fav tune by them, and was my introduction to Gallagher and Collins both :-) The whole thing is just so perfect, from the amazing spoken intro to the roaring solos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zK5plmgs7iw
Be well.
Now you're talking! Neil Young! This is really great. "Keep on rockin' in the free world"! And keep on creating this amazing poetry, too! 😎
Aw cheeees Chris. 💜 Yeah, I only just remembered him at the last minute haha - was going to do Yo La Tengo, a band I like, but have never really spent a lot of time with. Then I remembered Neil! Hazzah!
He's a great one, for sure. I liked the stuff he did with Crosby, Stills and Nash as well. When he was occasionally with them! 'Powderfinger' is probably my favourite of his. Such an amazing, and moving, story. Lynyrd Skynyrd were supposed to do it as well, of course, which makes the ending even more haunting... 😎
This is a lovely version of it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJPq4daZKEk
Beautiful version. Thanks for sharing. It’s gonna be a long night of Neil Young records now! 🕺
Haha! That's the thing when the videos are all laid out one after the other like that. They're all so good, you keep thinking "Just one more", and you can end up on there all night! 😎
Damn - the saturation on that intro guitar is intense, in the best possible way. Amazing stuff! Thanks Chris.
It says it's from his personal archives, so I'm assuming it's a home recording or demo of some kind. It's bloody fantastic whatever it is... 😎
And he's playing in September in Ireland! Is Treasa around? Who else near Ireland? Thank you Chris.
Nice. He's playing in London in July... But the one in Canada! That would be amazing to see him in Canada actually, especially in Toronto. Which is only a couple of hours away from London. He's playing there in July as well. If I was there, I'd go to both! Tickets £55! That is a bargain! 😎
I’ll be at that gig. Definitely. Something to look forward to!
Not sure about the "free world" anymore did he not give up 50% of his music rights? Not sure why, how etc... But what a great song that is!
Yes, a lot of artists end up doing that for a while - mainly because they're an incredibly valuable asset they can quickly sell if they need extra cash! Then some of them get them back again. Macca, of course, got famously outbid for his own rights by Michael Jackson. He has control of them again now, though, I think... 😎
From what I understand he sold them to free himself up. If he kept making records and getting paid record by record, the labels and industry controlled what he released. But after selling a huge chunk off, he now is able to own himself in the last decade/s of his life, and make whatever music he wants without any worrys at all. It's a weird business when you're that famous, and so many people's livelihoods depend on your art (all the people who work on his shows, his records, etc.). He's done interviews about it. It's worth remembering, his music wasn't "free" before the big sell-off either, we just didn't hear about the money as often ;-)
I mean, in a way, that's what we're all doing, too. Publishing what we want, and keeping control of everything, free of interference and industry pressures, so we can just get on with being creative. If it's good enough for Neil, it's good enough for us! Haha... 😎
Yeah haha - it's like that if we also had 10 million dollars, and never needed to work again, apart from on exactly what we wanted hahahaha ;-) If that's good enough for Neil, then sign me up! :-P
You said it Chris! That's what we're all doing! I agree!
I remember when George Michael took his label to court... I remember Prince changing his name and trying to do his own thing saying Peace to George, Terence Trent D'Arby the same, trying to be free. I also read that Neil Young removed his music from a platform as he wasn't happy with what was being reported. There's maybe other things to account for. All the big names gone. Terence had a vision and changed name. Do we ever hear of his music now? No, only if we look for him. There's an interesting coincidence that Neil Young sells off rights after making political commentary is all I'm saying. Definitely, artists are not free when with a label. Another young singer, Robyn, set up her own label and did everything as she wanted because the label had too much control. She's been doing amazing. Freedom of expression? High price to pay.
For sure! I think you hit the nail here: "Do we ever hear their music now? No, only if we look for them." And that's what happens when you challenge the majors. Incorporated death. Sad stuff.
Of course, MJ is out of the picture... but it sounds dodgy to me the whole thing.
Now is my turn to say perfection! Way to go, Chris!!!
🙏🏻
Nothing more to add than what I said yesterday. That bag is deep in the closet now not coming out again any time soon hahahahaha. Great work!
Thanks Pilgrim, as always much appreciated. Haha - I hear ya. :-)
Gorgeous ethereal feel to ghis. And that ending is perfect.
Aw thanks Treasa! :-) Yeah, I was happy with the ending, when I found those two lines I knew they would somehow be involved.
YES
She was an ASTRAL TRAVELLER, who emerged from an ARRIVING UFO.
And I was a STARSHIP TROOPER, but my weapons were no match for her advanced technology, so I had no choice but to surrender and allow myself to be taken on board her craft.
And as far as Roleplay Nights go, it was pretty much the best one ABILENE has come up with so far... 😎
Sci-fi Saturday. Love it!
Yes, a Sci-Fi Saturday... And clearly a Sexy Saturday for them as well! Haha... 😎
Y is for Yahoo
Unmarked
.
Sweet thing
Only you
Losing my mind
.
Good times
Don’t go
Walk away from love
.
Softly over
And on
The other side of love
Love your sweet little poem of yours, Darienne!
Thank you! Yours is tremendous!
🙏
Losing your mind to love, why do we risk it?!
Who knows!
Yo La Tengo
.
One PM Again
.
the room got heavy
the pain of pain emulsified
my heart’s reflection
upside-down
.
some kinda fatigue
.
the hour grows late
shadows out the window
the empty pool
a worrying thing
.
the summer nowhere near
.
It's almost 1pm here in Ireland and the summer is here. Nice flow. I love that one liner 'some kinda fatigue' so stark and lonely by itself..
30°C here today and vacation “nowhere near” :)
I love this -- and more musical education for me. I'm listening to One PM Again and really digging it.
Double score :) :)
Lovely! Almost did Yo La Tengo myself. :-)
YEAH, YEAH, YEAH'S
.
Sheena
.
Burning art star,
Sheena is a punk rocker,
dragon queen warrior.
Runaway slave spitting
off the edge of the world.
Skeleton heads will roll,
black tongue kiss, kiss.
Shake it little shadow,
love bomb phenomenon.
Yeah!
Sheena! Had forgotten all about her!!
I will agree with Pilgrim, YEAH!!! I thought of them and the dragon queen intrigued me but I couldn't make something good out of it. Glad I gave up. I wouldn't stand a chance with Sheena!
Sheena is a kick ass bitch, wouldn't want to mess with her.
We need Sheena to run the world, no smart pants people! A Sheena to sort it all out!
Sheena for president!
What about Dustin? Better than Bertie?!?eh?😂
Neil Young
(song-title sonnet)
----
Cinnamon girl, cowgirl in the sand,
the old laughing lady, the loner,
the emporer of Wyoming —
I’ve been waiting for you.
----
After the gold rush a man needs a maid —
old man out on the weekend down by the river,
southern man lookin’ for a love.
Everybody knows this is nowhere.
----
Powderfinger tell me why
only love can break your heart.
Are you ready for the country heart of gold?
The needle and the damage done?
----
My my, hey hey (out of the blue)
harvest moon, I believe in you.
----
This is gold! And I love how the final two lines turn the whole poem around, towards hope!
Exactly! I couldn’t put my finger on it. That’s it. Perfect.
Loner, waiting and Wyoming have a gorgeous ring together. This is what I like about this, the theme and the sound work so well together because of how you put the lines in order. Thank you!