OH YOU WASCAL WABBIT!

One of the fun things I have on my iGoogle home page is a gadget that each morning delivers me a Buddhist Thought of the Day. It’s just what you’d expect: a smorg of cryptic, pithy, and thoughtful sayings by various sages and masters both ancient and contemporary (Uma Thurman’s daddy hasn’t shown up yet, but I’m sure he will). Then one day, to my great surprise, there was this one from The Beatles: “I am he as you are he as you are me and we are all together.” Like you, I’ve heard the song it’s from, “I Am The Walrus” many times. But in this new context, I have to admit my first reaction was kind of a Scooby Doo one – hunnh?! But, on closer inspection, I think it is indeed mystic and deeply wise, and perfectly at home in a Buddhist gadget. And when I looked up the story behind the lyrics, I found myself, if not down the rabbit hole, at least wrapped up in another daisy chain. Here’s how this one goes, although not necessarily in any order.

Daisy #1 – “I Am The Walrus” is chock-a-block full of crazy references and allusions, specifically designed by John Lennon to drive all those who pick apart song lyrics looking for hidden meanings around the bend. Bon voyage! I won’t go into all of them here, but just give you the Wikipedia link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Am_the_Walrus so those who are so inclined can read the whole thing. It’s really worth it. The thing we’ll focus on here is that the Walrus in the song is a reference to the Walrus in the poem, “The Walrus and the Carpenter” which Lewis Carroll wrote and embedded in his 2-volume children’s book, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There. These are two of the trippiest books ever written, for kids or anyone. Carroll (pen name of one Charles L. Dodgson, famous British author, logician, mathematician, photographer, and an ordained Anglican minister) named the book’s title character after Alice Liddell (photo right), daughter of a friend and colleague. Like John Lennon, Carroll was really into puzzles, word games and sly references. He’s credited with inventing, or at least popularizing, those addicting Word Ladders. With such rich material, plus Carroll’s own list of eccentricities, it’s not surprising that he has spawned an on-going bunch of Carrollian followers, societies and clubs. You think Sherlock Holmes has a big fan base? You think Trekkies are nutty? You have no idea. Oh, p.s. - there's also some tidbits from Alice in another Beatles tune, "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds."

Daisy #2 – “White Rabbit” Jefferson Airplane. Because of the image of Alice changing her size by sampling the contents of a strange bottle labeled DRINK ME, and eating a hunk of mushroom recommended by that caterpillar with the hookah, it was a natural for a late ‘60s song reference. Feed your head, indeed. Grace Slick’s anthem is practically a GPS rendering of Alice’s entire little adventure.

Daisy #3 – I did a Google search for “musical compositions inspired by Lewis Carroll” and found there are dozens – everybody from Irving Berlin to Aerosmith. Not all were from the Alice books; some came from Carroll’s Snark and Jabberwocky material, but still, the most recent I found was 2007!

Daisy#4 – Several words have entered English through the nonsense poem, Jabberwocky. We have Carroll to thank for “chortle” “galumphing” “frabjous” and “vorpal” or “vorpal sword” (as any Dungeons and Dragons player will note).

I bet Lewis Carroll would think the whole thing is pretty frabjous. And quite an accomplishment for a children's book first published in 1865.

I Am The Walrus http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LO9M_5aTRvE

White Rabbit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3LdwGUXoXyA

GIVE PIECES A CHANCE

Yesterday I saw a news item online announcing a brand new flavor from the Ben and Jerry ice cream company. In conjunction with John Lennon’s estate, the world will soon be introduced to “Imagine Whirled Peace.” Described as “a caramel and sweet cream whirl of chocolate-covered peace signs and toffee pieces,” you can almost feel your hips expanding just reading about it. In addition, the new dairy delight will be heralded by a re-enactment of John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s Bed-In for Peace. Well, the whole thing sure got my attention. If there’s two things I love in this world, it’s ice cream, and peace!

For those who might like a refresher, here is A Quickie History of the Bed-In. Back in 1969, when John and Yoko got married, they decided to invite the whole world along on the honeymoon, and turned it into a celebration promoting peace. The media and other invited guests could stop by, hang out - whatev - from nine in the morning ‘til nine at night. John and Yoko greeted everyone, gave interviews etc. in their PJs, all while ensconced in their hotel room bed. The honeymoon Bed-In happened in Amsterdam, but it was so much fun, not to mentioned effective at getting the message out, they decided to hold another one in New York. Of course, there was the small matter of John’s 1968 marijuana conviction, which put the kibosh on a U.S. location (too politically hot) so they went to the Bahamas, but left after one night (too meteorologically hot) and flew to Montreal (you can pretty much always count on Canada to be cooler, meteorologically and politically!). That’s the Bed-In that most people remember, because of the famous video of everybody singing “Give Peace A Chance” (see 18 Feb 2008 post). At the time, Lennon took some flack from the press, who accused him of doing it as a stunt for publicity (what’s wrong with publicizing peace?) and for money. Lennon shot back that if he was in it for money, he could make a lot more in one hour writing a song than he could spending seven days in bed talking about peace (touché!). From there, the whole idea has gone on to become a staple of the pop cultural repertoire, from protests to performance art. The latest reference I could find was dated 2006, by the group Green Day, so you gotta know the association of peace and beds is here to stay. And now, we can add another thing to the list. Ice cream.

Actually, the combination isn’t as far-fetched as you and I might at first think. Ben and Jerry’s is actually one of the more “green" companies out there (and no strangers to social causes like fair trade either). Here’s a taste of what’s on their website (and no, I am not getting any freebies for doing this, darnit) http://www.benjerry.com/our_company/

Meanwhile, the new Imagine Whirled Peace flavor takes its place along with flavors named in honor of other famous musicians, such as Xavier Nougat, Milli Vanilla, Honey Bono, and of course, the B&J all-time best seller, and my personal fave, Cherry Garcia. Beyond that, there’s a who’s who of the famous from Desmond Tutti-Frutti to Candy Warhol to Sherbet Hoover. If there’s a third thing I love in this world, it’s a real goofy pun.

John Lennon, Imagine http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-b7qaSxuZUg
This is such a lovely video, I think you'd know it was about peace even if you didn't know the song.

Ben and Jerry, Cookie Dough http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ZzS5co0KfY

SILLY LOVE SONGS (or WHAT IS ART? )

The other day I started out for a trip to town in The Tamale (bright red Dodge Grand Caravan) when I realized I didn’t have any CDs to listen to. This only happens when I get tired of what I’ve been playing for a while, bring them in, and forget to select some fresh ones the next time I go out. Anyway, I tuned in to a local radio station, and happened to catch Paul McCartney singing “Silly Love Songs.” Just when I was wondering what I might write my next post about…there it was. What a happy co-inkydink!

It seems that McCartney wrote “Silly Love Songs” as a rebuttal to the criticism that much of what he wrote was lightweight, sentimental stuff. He asked his detractors, lyrically, “What’s wrong with that?” The obvious answer is, “Well, now that you mention it, Sir Paul, nothing really.” Some of the great enduring standards of all time have a definite poofy-ness about them. Songs like…and then I stopped. Every time I thought of a title, I immediately found some reason why it shouldn’t be judged too harshly. Some love songs are practically novelty songs, and don’t pretend to be serious. Then there are a few songs that are based on children’s nursery rhymes to begin with – we certainly can’t expect great depth there. I’m almost beginning to think that deeply emotional, serious love songs and the exception, not the rule. We often make the distinction between “funny haha” and “funny peculiar” so why not also make a distinction between fluffy love and the industrial strength kind?

All this brings up another side of the discussion – what about the intention of the composer? Many love songs are obviously a light-hearted look at human emotions to begin with. Shouldn’t that be taken into consideration? Think of the similar situation in the art world. Who’s to say that a black velvet portrait of Elvis cryin' in the chapel doesn’t move some people just as much as Whistler’s Mother? No, I don’t think we should be too quick to turn our noses up at something just because snooty critics have deemed it unworthy. I’m all about accepting everybody and everything! As John Lennon would say, “Power to the People Right On!”

Here's a couple of “silly” love song oldies I’m particularly fond of:

James Hold the Ladder Steady, Sue Thompson http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mp4jLlqBZNA
Many Sue Thompson songs are really cute: “Norman,” “Paper Tiger,” and even “Sad Movies.” I especially like this one about eloping. I’m sure couples do still elope, but I’m guessing the whole sneak-out-the-second-floor-window-in-the-middle-of-the-night-down-a-ladder scenario is a thing of the past.

Baby Talk, Jan and Dean
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NIQG1UL8YA
A cute little number about love at the pre-school level; kind of baby doo-wop, not to mention great old footage of J and D in those malt shop jackets. BTW, I nearly drove myself loopy trying to figure out what those IFIC buttons meant. I Googled it, and found that IFIC could stand for the International Fidelity Insurance Company, or the International Federation of Infection Control; the International Food Information Council or the International Fire Investigators and Consultants. None of these seemed to quite fit. Then I scrolled down to the comments left by other YouTubers, and discovered the performance was sponsored by Beechnut Gum (note the gal in the audience giving her gum a real aerobic workout!) and their slogan at the time was Flavor-IFIC. Another rock and roll mystery solved!

And a couple more based on nursery rhymes:

Mockingbird, Charlie and Inez Foxx
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHhX_L3o1T4
I certainly don’t mind the James Taylor/Carly Simon version, but this one is definitely the real deal.

Pat-a-Cake, Bill Haley and His Comets
http://www.oldies.com/artist-songs/Bill-Haley.html
This one isn’t currently on YouTube, but I found this on the following site. Unfortunately, out of a 30-second clip, you only get about 4 seconds of vocal right at the end, but hey, Haley is Haley, and he always rocks the jukebox.

And, finally, here's the sweet little song that started it all -
Silly Love Songs, Paul McCartney http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2raFsUWj6o

Photo of Ma Whistler from Wikipedia Commons

TIMOTHY LEARY DEARIE - PART II

It occurred to me that there could be some visitors to this blog who, for a variety of reasons, might not be able to place Timothy Leary. So I thought I’d just do a little quickie list of Leary facts. You know me, I like to be helpful whenever I can.

TIMOTHY LEARY WAS….

• an American psychologist, counterculture hero, pioneer and huge advocate of psychedelic drug use.
• the creator of the phrase “Turn on, Tune in, Drop out,” which to some kids kinda meant “Do drugs, see weird stuff, quit MacDonald’s.
• the founder of the Harvard Psilocybin Project. I’ll bet that’s one academic elective you weren’t expecting.
• kicked out of Harvard for missing too many classes (and he was the prof) and extra curricular sharing of LSD & magic mushrooms with students.
• buddies with Ken Kesey’s busload of Merry Pranksters, as immortalized by Tom Wolfe in The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test. The Grateful Dead were kind of their house band, or maybe bus band is more accurate.
• regularly raided by the FBI.
• a candidate for governor of California against Ronald Reagan.
• in Montreal with John and Yoko at their famous Bed-In for Peace.
  
• imprisoned on drug charges. (when admitted, he was given psychological tests that he himself had designed). He later escaped. Long story.
• called “the most dangerous man in America” by…wait for it…Richard Nixon
• an inmate at Folsom Prison, in a cell next to Charles Manson.
• one of the first people to have his remains shot into space. In 1997, some of Leary’s ashes were carried aloft (along with ashes of Gene “Star Trek” Roddenberry and others) where they orbited the earth for six years before re-entering the atmosphere and burning up. Maybe that shooting star you saw….
• the inspiration for John Lennon’s “Tomorrow Never Knows” on the Revolver album. Lennon also wrote “Come Together” for Leary’s interrupted (by prison) campaign for governor. He’s also in the song “Legend of a Mind” by the Moody Blues, and has been showing up regularly in songs by more recent, alt bands.

Of course, there’s much much more to his life, but this will get you started. You may also be wondering how I feel about Timothy Leary. Well, as I’ve already mentioned (January 17/08 post) I wasn’t much for drugs, so I never did acid or ’shrooms - always felt that if I did, I’d end up like Brad Pitt in 12 Monkeys - but still, my basic philosophy is, to each his/her own. And I think Timothy Leary did a lot of good working for peace. I wish he was still in orbit. Okay now, let’s wrap things up with some music. When you open the link, the first thing you’ll see is Dr. Leary himself, in the foreground, facing left, mouth open, singing. Far out.
http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=m-YZ_1mAFoQ