FEATURED POSTS
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May 16, 2017
LYRICS, POETRY AND PROSE XIII
A place to share some words of beauty, inspiration, and fun. As Mickey and Sylvia used to say, “love is strange.” Today we’re talking about love gone wrong and how quickly love between men and women can turn deadly. Today we feature Marty Robbins singing about a victim of love waiting to be hanged. Then we have Willie Nelson singing about the red-headed stranger taking his revenge on the little darling that left him and the man with whom she ran off. And lastly we have the Dixie Chicks singing Goodbye Earl to the man who beat his wife. Click on the name of the piece to get a video or more information. You have some favorite lyrics? Please share…
I took my pistol from my hip and with a trembling hand
I took the life of pretty Flo and that good for nothin’ man
That good for nothin’ man
I think about the thing I’ve done, I know it wasn’t right
They’ll bury Flo tomorrow, but they’re hanging me tonight
They’re hanging me tonight– They’re Hanging Me Tonight Singer: Marty Robbins; Writers: Jimmy Low and Art Woltert
But he found them that evening
In a tavern in town
In a quiet little out of the way place
And they smiled at each other
When he walked through the door
And they died with their smiles on their faces
They died with a smile on their face– Medley: Blue Rock Montana / Red Headed Stranger Singer: Willie Nelson
Right away Mary Ann flew in from Atlanta
On a red eye midnight flight
She held Wanda’s hand and they worked out a plan
And it didn’t take them long to decide
That Earl had to die
Goodbye, Earl
Those black-eyed peas, They tasted alright to me, Earl
You feelin’ weak? Why don’t you lay down and sleep
Earl, ain’t it dark
Wrapped up in that tarp, Earl– Goodbye Earl Singers: Dixie Chicks; Writer: Dennis Linde
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May 9, 2017
Ghosts of the Alamo
We love Texas, from the vast emptiness of West Texas, to the beauty of the hill country, to the humid marshlands of the east. The people of Texas can be stubborn when the situation calls for it, but they can also be kind. Right is right and wrong is wrong and there is not a lot of confusion about which is which. Not in Texas.
Nowhere is that clearer than at the most holy of holy places in the state – the Alamo, located in the middle of downtown San Antonio. The Alamo is where William Travis, Jim Bowie, Davy Crockett, and a small band of Texans met their fate at the hands of the Mexican army under President General Antonio López de Santa Anna. The date was March 6, 1836.
There is truth, and then there is the legend. And sometimes the second is more important than the first. What we know for sure is that the Texians were outnumbered about 10 to one, that Santa Anna issued an order to take no prisoners, that the Texians fought to the last man, that Davy Crockett died on the ramparts, swinging his rifle like a club before being overwhelmed by the Mexican soldiers, and that Bowie almost certainly died in his sick bed, armed with pistols and the Bowie knife that he had designed.
The bloody battle was meant by Mexico to quell any idea of resistance from the remaining Texas population, but it had the exact opposite effect. “Remember the Alamo” became both the rallying cry for Texans in their efforts to separate from Mexico and a reminder for the generations to come of the independent spirit of the state.
Today the Alamo seems small, almost insignificant, in comparison to the hotel and office towers of downtown San Antonio. It has become both a legend and a tourist trap. There are self-guided tours with rented headsets, a gift shop full of “Remember the Alamo” souvenirs, and a grassy, shady plaza leading up to the entry. City streets near the Alamo bear the names of the heroes – Travis, Crockett, and Bowie. You can stand at the corner of Crockett and Bowie and almost hear the gunfire pounding and the men screaming.
The river that ran near the old Alamo mission is still there, but it has long-since been channelized and developed into the Riverwalk – a popular dining and drinking venue lined with restaurants, bars, and tourist shops that meanders through the downtown area.
The brave men who died at the Alamo – on both sides of the battle – are long gone. The battle ground where they fought and died is a busy cityscape of skyscrapers and crowded shops. Like the little mission itself, the men who fought there have faded into legend.
Once they were actual flawed and heroic human beings, caught up in a bloody and historic encounter. Now they are mere memories – glorified and deified shadows of themselves.
– George Lee Cunningham
Do you have a dissenting opinion or any opinion at all on the subject? Contact me at george@georgeleecunningham.com and let me know. Meanwhile, you can always subscribe and get an email reminder of blog postings. Your name will not be shared and you may cancel at any time.
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Lyrics, Poetry and Prose XII
A place to share some words of beauty, inspiration, and fun. We’re in San Antonio, Texas, this week, eating good food and visiting one of the holy shrines of the Lone Star state. It seemed like a good time to share some songs all of which feature the town of San Antonio. Click on the name of the piece to get a video or more information. You have some favorite lyrics? Please share…
Deep within my heart lies a melody
A song of old San Antone
Where in dreams I live with a memory
Beneath the stars all alone
It was there I found beside the Alamo
Enchantment strange as the blue up above
A moonlit pass that only she would know
Still hears my broken song of love
Moon in all your splendor know only my heart
Call back my rose, rose of San Antone– San Antonio Rose Singers: Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys; Writer: Bob Wills
In the southern part of Texas
In the town of San Antone
There’s a fortress all in ruins that the weeds have overgrown
You may look in vain for crosses and you’ll never see a-one
But sometimes between the setting and the rising of the sun
You can hear a ghostly bugle
As the men go marching by
You can hear them as they answer
To that roll call in the sky.– Ballad of the Alamo Singer: Marty Robbins, Writers: Dimitri Tiomkin and Paul Francis Webster
Though Bowie lay dying his powder was ready and dry
From flat on his back, Bowie killed him a few in reply
And brave David Crockett was singing and laughing
With gallantry fears in his eyes
For God and for freedom, a man more than willing to dieRemember the Alamo Singer: Willie Nelson; Writer: Jane Bowers
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May 1, 2017
May Day, May Day, May Day
Here it is May Day already and according to who you are, May Day means different things. No surprise – I have my own idea on what May Day means to me.
My favorite May Day is the traditional holiday, the pagan practice of women dancing around the May Pole to celebrate Spring and the springing forth of life. There are many watered down versions of what it all means – in order to fit whatever religious orthodoxy prevails, but I prefer the old pagan idea.
In this version the May Pole is a giant phallus, the source of all new life, and dancing around it is a celebration of manhood. I can just imagine how it got started. Somebody in the village said it’s spring time – the flowers are in bloom, the grass is sprouting up out of the mud – we should celebrate. And the men all said, we should celebrate new life, and what’s the source of all new life? We are.
So everybody in the village, erected a giant pole and tied colorful ribbons to it, and celebrated men and manhood. Yes, I know that after the manly work is done, women have to finish up the chore over the next nine months, but hey, it’s the men that made it all possible.
My second favorite May Day is what pilots or ship captains say when their plane or ship is getting ready to go down. “May Day, May Day, May Day,” they say into the radio. Always three times, so there’s no mistake, even if there is a lot of static. It comes from the French word “m’aider.” It’s a trimmed-down version of the French phrase, “venez m’aider,” which means come over and help me, according to my friends at Wikipedia.
The reason it’s my second favorite May Day, is that when somebody says it into the radio, it means the movie is about to start getting exciting. People are in trouble and now we’re going to see how they get out of it.
My least favorite May Day is the one often ends up involving marches and protests. What can I say? I’m sick of marches and protests. It was started by a bunch of communists, socialists, and anarchists and is also known as International Workers Day. It’s not that I am anti-labor; I definitely am not. I respect work, whether it’s done in an office, a factory, or on a construction site.
Work is something to be celebrated. Marching through the streets complaining about how the world is not fair just seems tiresome. It’s true. The world is not fair. But marching around complaining about it doesn’t do much to change that.
Especially when the alternative is pretty girls dancing around a May pole.
Do you have a dissenting opinion or any opinion at all on the subject? Contact me at george@georgeleecunningham.com and let me know. Meanwhile, you can always subscribe and get an email reminder of blog postings. Your name will not be shared and you may cancel at any time.
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Lyrics, Poetry and Prose XI
A place to share some words of beauty, inspiration, and fun. We’re getting ready to head off to the Sunshine State for a few days, so this week we are featuring some Florida songs. Click on the name of the piece to get a video or more information. You have some favorite lyrics? Please share…
Well, she comes from Tallahassee
She got a hi-fi chassis
Maybe looks a little sassy
But to me, she’s real classy
Yeah, my Tallahassee Lassie
Down in F-L-ATallahassee Lassie Singer: Freddy “Boom Boom” Cannon; Writer: Ellas Mcdaniel
He was born and raised around Jacksonville
A nice young man, not the kind to kill
But a jealous fight and a flashing blade
Sent him on the run to the Everglades
Runnin’ like a dog through the EvergladesEverglades Artists:Kingston Trio, Writer: Harlan Howard
We had it all
Just like Bogie and Bacall
Starring in our old late, late show
Sailing away to Key LargoKey Largo Singer: Bernie Higgins, Writer: Bernie Higgins, Sonny Limbo