March Madness

Music is definitely on my mind today. I heard an old Don Gibson song yesterday by M Ward and Lucinda Williams that I can't get out of my head. If I do manage to get it out of my head other country songs from that same late 60's era pop in and I'm stuck again. Lets have and old-time music party. When I say old time I mean only the song itself. There are modern covers which I love too. Perhaps if I listen to every one of these songs a couple of times over, they will make room for something new tomorrow. My mom would love this bunch of songs. Every one of them remind me of her.Ready?

• Oh, Lonesome Me - M Ward and Lucinda Williams
• I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry - Johnny Cash and Nick Cave
• I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry - Hank Williams
• Sea Of Heartbreak - Gray Sky Girls
• Sea of Heartbreak - Johnny Cash
• He'll Have to Go - Jim Reeves
• He'll Have to Go - Ry Cooder
• Walkin' After Midnight - Patsy Cline
• Crazy - Patsy Cline

I'm sure I have another version of Sea of Heartbreak but can't find it. I have another Oh Lonesome Me as well. On my walk today I was singing aloud walking down the road. Glad it's winter and car windows are up and I don't have neighbours.

Emotional Songs

I thought this was cool but strange photo of a couple of cows. One cow's ear is spread across another cow's face and the fastener of a tag is exactly where the eye would be on the first cow. A once in a lifetime shot.

I started this an hour ago but had a couple of phone calls so am short of time again. I was talking to my son and making specific plans for when he and his family are here in August. We have a barbecue planned where he will invite the family of his best friend from high school. My son has two kids; his friend has three. My daughter is going to invite some friends and my younger son and I will too so we've got the makings of a party.

I came across another Johnny Cash song the other day that gave me goosebumps. He is one of the most emotional singers ever placed on this earth and this, like so many of his songs, can bring strong reactions. I've mentioned Johnny's version the Trent Reznor song, Hurt, before. This one affected me like that one did. The song is Help Me. I also have his version of Lord Help Me, Jesus but this is a different song. I had his and Nick Cave's version of I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry on the pages but it has disappeared so that is going up again today too. This is one of the all-time greatest country songs. The original by Hank Williams is gone too so I will get it up one day soon.

There Is Always a Cliff, Sometimes Steep

The weather is really weird today. It was supposed to be fine and warm with a couple of centimeters of snow beginning to fall in late afternoon. I got up at 3:40 am. It has been flurrying ever since and now at 4:00 pm it has stopped and there are large blue sky patches. I planned on walking this afternoon but even at just below zero, it's windy and feels just too darned cold. The flurries would have been ok but wind, no. I didn't dance either. It's kind of a lazy day.

I collect songs, as you know and every now and then like to put up a few versions of the same song for your listening pleasure. Everyone brings something different to a cover. Some versions are better than the originals but some songs, no one will ever do as well as the writer. An example of that would be Joni's later version of Both Sides Now. It is a song written for an older woman, she said, and now that she's attained that status, it was perfection when she brought it out on the album of the same name. Sarah Vaughan supposedly became annoyed when Joni complemented Sarah's version many years ago, when she said that it was was written for an older woman. Sarah was somehow insulted by the comment.

Another example is the old classic, I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry. I don't know anyone who can do it better than the original by Hank Williams. Here is Johnny Cash and Nick Cave that I had already uploaded and new today, a version by Southside Johnny and Little Stephen.