I'll get to my hero of heroes, Fred Hampton, shown above or at left, depending on the Browser, in a minute.First I have to say that after a particularly brutal, unnecessarily long day -- with the promise of many more to come -- I drove home, got chills listening to "Born in the U.S.A." and forgot it all.
Thank you, Oh Boss Man of the insanely expensive concert tickets.
I really fucking LOVE that song. I just looked up the lyrics for the purpose of this posting, and apparently some Lebanese people dig you, too.
So ... pretty much the whole song gives me chills. When it plays -- excuse me but cannot help but picture folks in Afghanistan and Iraq? Of course it specifically mentions Vietnam, but what difference does that make?
I was driving and this line specifically ...
Got in a little hometown jam so they put a rifle in my hand
Sent me off to a foreign land to go and kill the yellow man
... made me want to cry. And bear in mind I've heard this song a million fucking times.
I realized my scalp was tingling. Total euphoria. That's what music does for me. It gives me chills. Words and music together, I guess, because I really fucking LOVE the lyrics to "Born in the U.S.A."
And fuck anything that happened during the day once I have my music. My music and my ferret. Yes, I had to take Digger for his evening run when I first got home.
Onward: I know I've probably posted Fred Hampton's photo before. I LOVE Fred Hampton, if I failed to mention that previously. When ever anyone says, so and so never made enemies. FEEL SORRY FOR THEM. Fred Hampton, the Chicago cops gunned him down in bed in his underwear. He made some enemies. But when he was a child he knew he was going to die for the cause. He was all about that. He actually said if you do not have something in your life you would die for, then you're already dead. If you're not willing to die, you're already dead. Fred Hampton, here's one white girl in inner city Denver thinking of you, listening to Concrete Blonde's "Tomorrow, Wendy" -- f-ing great song, that one, and "Dazed and Confused," and touting Bruce Springsteen lyrics as a cure for all that ails.
(I must say that the "Tomorrow, Wendy" lyrics online SUCK. So I fixed them.) "Dazed and Confused" -- pretty hard to fuck up those lyrics, but they did. At least that last line is questionable. Mostly I love that song because Mr. Page plays his guitar with a violin bow. OH MY GOD THE BATTLE OF EVERMORE IS STARTING AND I LOVE THAT SONG.
Born in the U.S.A.
Born down in a dead man's town
The first kick I took was when I hit the ground
You end up like a dog that's been beat too much
Till you spend half your life just covering up
Born in the U.S.A.
I was born in the U.S.A.
I was born in the U.S.A.
Born in the U.S.A.
Got in a little hometown jam so they put a rifle in my hand
Sent me off to a foreign land to go and kill the yellow man
Born in the U.S.A.
I was born in the U.S.A.
I was born in the U.S.A.
Born in the U.S.A.
Come back home to the refinery
Hiring man says: "Son if it was up to me"
Went down to see my V.A. man
He said: "Son don't you understand now"
I had a brother at Khe Sahn, fighting off the Viet Cong
They're still there, he's all gone
He had a woman he loved in Saigon
I got a picture of him in her arms now
Down in the shadow of the penitentiary
Out by the gas fires of the refinery
I'm ten years burning down the road
Nowhere to run, ain't got nowhere to go
Born in the U.S.A.
I was born in the U.S.A.
Born in the U.S.A.
I'm a long-gone Daddy in the U.S.A.
Born in the U.S.A.
Born in the U.S.A.
Born in the U.S.A.
I'm a cool-rocking Daddy in the U.S.A.
Thanks to the folks at http://www.springsteenlyrics.com/lyrics/b/bornintheusa.php
for the Bruce lyrics -- I did add a few commas, forgive me.
Tomorrow, Wendy
It is complete now, two ends of time are neatly tied
A one-way street, she's walking to end of the line
And there she meets the faces she keeps in her heart and mind
They say goodbye, tomorrow, Wendy, you're going to die
They say goodbye, tomorrow, Wendy, you're going to die
Underneath the chilly gray November sky
We can make believe that Kennedy is still alive and
We're shooting for the moon and smiling Jackie (is) driving by and
They say: Good try. Tomorrow Wendy is going to die.
Tomorrow Wendy is going to die.
I told the priest: Don't count on any second coming
God got his ass kicked the first time he came down his stomach
He had the balls to come, the gall to die and then forgive us
No, I don't wonder why, but I wonder what he thought it would get us
Hey, hey, goodbye
Tomorrow Wendy's going to die
Hey, hey, goodbye
Tomorrow Wendy's going to cry
Tomorrow Wendy's going to cry
Only God says: Jump!
So I set the time
'cause if he ever saw it
It was through these eyes of mine
And if he ever suffered it was me who did his crying
Hey hey, goodbye
Tomorrow Wendy's going to cry
(Tomorrow Wendy's going to die)
Tomorrow Wendy's going to die
(Tomorrow Wendy's going to cry)
Tomorrow Wendy's going to die
Hey, hey, goodbye
Tomorrow Wendy is going to cry
Hey, hey, goodbye
Tomorrow Wendy's going to cry
Tomorrow Wendy's going to cry
Tomorrow Wendy's going to cry
Dazed and Confused
Been Dazed and Confused for so long it's not true.
Wanted a woman, never bargained for you.
Lots of people talking, few of them know,
soul of a woman was created below.
You hurt and abuse tellin' all of your lies.
Run around sweet baby, Lord how they hypnotize.
Sweet little baby, I don't know where you've been.
Gonna love you baby, here I come again.
Every day I work so hard, bringin' home my hard-earned pay
Try to love you baby, but you push me away.
Don't know where you're goin', only know just where you've been,
Sweet little baby, I want you again.
Been dazed and confused for so long, it's not true.
Wanted a woman, never bargained for you.
Take it easy baby, let them say what they will.
Will your tongue wag so much when I send you the bill?
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