According to this article our "Magic Age" for determining music taste is between 14 and 24 years old. For me, that meant the classic rock music of the 1960's and 70s . It's not easy for me to pick out one song from that period that changed my life. I would have a tough time just picking out one artist. Still, there is a song that rocked my world, and I think it still affects my outlook on life some 50 years later. It might be the reason I lean libertarian, and it may play a role in why I discovered bitcoin later in life.
That song is "Subterranean Homesick Blues", by Bob Dylan. I bought the (vinyl) album Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits as a sophomore in high school. There were a whole bunch of songs I knew and liked on the album. But, I never heard Subterranean Homesick Blues until I put the needle into that groove.
What really struck me were the words. There were so many of them! Like @ekzyis, I love lyrics, and there was plenty to dig into on this track. Dylan has said he was influenced by scat singing when he wrote it. I sat in my room and played it over and over until I memorized every word. I still remember them perfectly.
Here they are:
Johnny’s in the basement
Mixing up the medicine
I’m on the pavement
Thinking about the government
The man in the trench coat
Badge out, laid off
Says he’s got a bad cough
Wants to get it paid off
Look out kid
It’s somethin’ you did
God knows when
But you’re doin’ it again
You better duck down the alley way
Lookin’ for a new friend
The man in the coon-skin cap
By the big pen
Wants eleven dollar bills
You only got ten
Maggie comes fleet foot
Face full of black soot
Talkin’ that the heat put
Plants in the bed but
The phone’s tapped anyway
Maggie says that many say
They must bust in early May
Orders from the D.A.
Look out kid
Don’t matter what you did
Walk on your tiptoes
Don’t try “No-Doz”
Better stay away from those
That carry around a fire hose
Keep a clean nose
Watch the plain clothes
You don’t need a weatherman
To know which way the wind blows
Get sick, get well
Hang around a ink well
Ring bell, hard to tell
If anything is goin’ to sell
Try hard, get barred
Get back, write braille
Get jailed, jump bail
Join the army, if you fail
Look out kid
You’re gonna get hit
But users, cheaters
Six-time losers
Hang around the theaters
Girl by the whirlpool
Lookin’ for a new fool
Don’t follow leaders
Watch the parkin’ meters
Ah get born, keep warm
Short pants, romance, learn to dance
Get dressed, get blessed
Try to be a success
Please her, please him, buy gifts
Don’t steal, don’t lift
Twenty years of schoolin’
And they put you on the day shift
Look out kid
They keep it all hid
Better jump down a manhole
Light yourself a candle
Don’t wear sandals
Try to avoid the scandals
Don’t wanna be a bum
You better chew gum
The pump don’t work
’Cause the vandals took the handles
I got the drug references right away, as all kids in my generation would. It wasn't until I was older that I picked up the likely references to Dostoevski's Notes From Underground and, more obviously, Kerouac's novel The Subterraneans. (This might interest fellow SN Kerouac fan @carlosfandango) I also embraced the obvious anti authoritarian vibe. Crooked cops, the decay of society, and the end of the Leave It To Beaver 50s American dream. Later, as a directionless college graduate, the line "Twenty years of schoolin’ and they put you on the day shift" really hit home, and was motivation to quit wasting my life.
At some point in High School my friends and I went to see D.A. Pennebaker's Bob Dylan documentary, Don't Look Back. In it, he made what might be the first music video. It's fantastic. Check out Alan Ginsburg lurking in the background. Dylan felt a strong connection to all the Beats, so who better to showcase than the author of Howl. Here it is:
I guess I have babbled long enough. I am interested to know what songs influenced fellow stackers?
this territory is moderated
Amazing grace (my chains are gone).
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I'm not super religious, but the power of that hymn gets to me like no other.
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I was never the same after I learned that "girls will be boys and boys will be girls'. Apparently it's a "mixed up, muddled up, shook up world".
Haha sorry. I had to.
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I would never have guessed. Nice job with the whole stacker sports thing to throw us off.
Yeah, it's funny. We all got a kick out of it back then. It's apparently based on a true story:
“The first phrase was simply something for [Victoria] to sing along to – la-la, la-lah,” he told Radio 4. “I added the transvestite stuff later.” Ray has said this was based on real events, mentioning his dance with a beautiful “woman” when The Kinks played an all-nighter at Bridlington’s Spa Royal Hall on May 8, 1965, and Kinks manager Robert Wace’s similar hoodwinking in Paris that April. As Ray told it to me, it all happened one night. “It was a real experience in a club,” he said. “I was asked to dance by somebody who was a fabulous looking woman. I said, ‘No thank you.’ And she went in a cab with my manager straight afterwards. It’s based on personal experience. But not every word.”
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grayruby by day rubygray by night.
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I wouldn't say this song change my life but it gave me the courage to keep living
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That seems like a good change.
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That will be J Cole's - love yours
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2009 - Mac Miller (tiny desk concert specifically)
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The Epitaph of Seikilos, one of the oldest written songs in the world:
This song is one of the earliest examples yet found of a complete musical composition from the ancient world. Although other songs have been found that pre-date 'The Song of Seikilos' by many centuries, they only survive in fragments.
Seikilos carved the song on a grave pillar in dedication to his wife. The Grave was discovered in 1883, near Aydin in Turkey. Archaeologists believe it dates between 200 BC and AD 100.
Seikilos also inscribed a poem on the gravestone, it reads:
"Hoson zēs, phainou Mēden holōs sy lypou; Pros oligon esti to zēn To telos ho chronos apaitei."
In English:
"As long as you live, shine, Let nothing grieve you beyond measure. For your life is short, and time will claim its toll."
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Rockin in Rhythm - Duke Ellington
A band based in Melbourne called the Hoodangers used to do a cover of it. I went and researched the original and it sent me down the jazz rabbit hole.
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This morning they were playing some old classic jazz in the coffee shop where I had breakfast- Take Five, In The Mood, and Frank Sinatra with the Nelson Riddle Orchestra. My 20 something daughter knows more about jazz than me, but I do like it.
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Its an acquired taste. Usually a lot of musicians get into it as they might appreciate the skills a bit more.
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It was one of the first "old metal" tracks someone introduced me to. Which started me off down the metal appreciation pathway. Another song that expanded my views was : pull harder - Trivium. I never really got the screamy screamy stuff up until then. Then I listened to the music and suddenly the screamy screamy wasn't so off-putting.https://youtu.be/d0dD59FYxJ4?si=dDkdhW_YoRt8Pt3Z also... The ascendency album was excellent.
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Oof, I think there are too many songs that changed my life in some way, lol.
When I have more time, I will post them one by one here, haha
For example, I entered my first mosh pit on my first festival and I received my first drop kick (or whatever that guy was trying to do) from someone who didn't pay enough attention within seconds to this song:
But it was fun. I only hit the ground, I was quickly helped up by everyone, the guy was very sorry and we had even more fun afterwards!
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Another song that most likely changed my life:
Here is my interpretation:
Listen up Turn it up and rock it out
Listen to bitcoiners
Party on I wanna hear you scream and shout This is real As real as it gets
Take bitcoin serious. It's the only "real" money.
I came to get down to get some fucking respect Taking it back to a hardcore level You better be ready, put your pedal to the metal Taking it back to a hardcore level Better be ready, put your pedal to the metal
If you think you take bitcoin serious, take bitcoin even more serious
♪ Go Woah, I never give in Woah, I'll never give up Woah, I never give in
Really, you should take bitcoin serious because I won't give up until you do, if you want it or not
And I just wanna be, wanna be loved Woah, I never give in Woah, I'll never give up Woah, I never give in And I just wanna be, wanna be loved I want domination I want your submission I see you're not resistin' To this temptation
You will buy bitcoin at the price you deserve because you can't resist the temptation to "get rich quick".
I got one confession I love deprivation
Sleep deprivation can be fun but it's also not healthy. Neither for you or your relationship with people.
I've got a jet black heart
Sometimes, I am not sure if I am really such a nice person as I sometimes make it out to be
That's all fucked up and it's fallin' apart
This world can really be fucked up and it feels like it's falling apart
Wiz Khalifa - See You Again ft. Charlie Puth
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We are the World This song will always inspire generations to love
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Different generations, but we both embrace the "underground" thing.
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