I’m watching an interesting film titled “If You Could Read My Mind.” The Canadian documentary is about the life and career of Gordon Lightfoot. Lightfoot arrived in downtown Toronto as a young man after growing up in Oridella, a small rural Canadian town. Since there were no clubs to play in at the time, Gordon landed a job in a bank to earn a living. Lightfoot was about to earn a promotion when he told his manager that he had decided to leave the bank to accept a role as an extra on a...

Nanci Griffith introduced her third album with its title song, "Once in a Very Blue Moon," on the Austin City Limits TV show in 1984. She sang to a live audience with her typical, bold, and beautiful voice, which continues to endear this singer/songwriter to millions of people around the world after her passing. This poignant song could easily sound sad, but not the way Nanci performs it. With her crystal-clear voice, it actually sounds uplifting. A quality comes through Griffith's songs....

The Incredible String Band burst onto the folk music scene in 1966 with the release of their first album, aptly named “The Incredible String Band.” As an avid lover and consumer of folk, I had never heard anything like their songs. The band started out as a trio composed of Clive Palmer, Robin Williamson, and Mike Heron. Williamson and Heron composed most of ISB’s music. Palmer eventually dropped out, replaced by other musicians and the girlfriends of Williamson and Heron. Signed by Electra...

“Against the Wind” is regarded as one of Bob Seeger’s best songs. The lyrics are replete with the songwriter’s reflections on his youth, past relationships, and music career. The metaphor of running against the wind came from Seeger’s high school days, where he ran on the track team. Seeger created his eleventh album, “Against the Wind,” intending to record hit songs. In other words, the artist wasn’t overly concerned with aesthetics. He wanted to make a commercially viable collection of...

John Fogerty wrote this song, in part, for his son, Josh. Josh was three years old at the time, and John could barely wait for his son to hear him sing the song on the radio, especially the part that goes: "Doot doot doo lookin' out my back door." The song's chorus references a passing parade. Fogerty says the lyric is inspired by a Dr. Seuss book he read as a child, "To Think I Saw It On Mulberry Street." Some people say the lyric "Won't you take a ride on the flying spoon" is a reference to...

Cat Stevens ( Yusuf Islam) has never publicly said what this song is about, so we are left to offer our own interpretations. When I read the lyrics, I get a picture of a farmer of indiscriminate age waking up at the crack of dawn and looking out through a window at his fields. At the very instant when the sun rises, there is barely sound. Our farmer reflects back on his youth and how it felt every day to awaken with a song in his heart and the dreams he envisioned to pursue. The last refrain...

Most of the lyrics in "Danny's Song" were inspired by a letter Kenny Loggins' brother, Dan, wrote to him in 1968 after Dan's son, Colin, was born. In the letter, Dan said he planned to marry the boy's mom, Sheila, and they planned to move to Berkley, California, even though they had no money. Kenny Loggins wrote the song in 1970 and released it as a single. It went nowhere. Later that year, Kenny teamed up with Jim Messina and released the song on their first album, "Sittin' In." Again the...

Back in the days when recording artists released singles, "We Can Work It Out" made its debut in 1965. The Beatle's manager, Brian Epstein, felt that the other song on the record, "Day Tripper," was more commercial and so, should be the lead song. Typically, the lead song of a single is recorded on the top side (A side) and the other song (B side) goes beneath it. Since both songs became hits, the record turned out to be the first double "A" single ever recorded. John Lennon and Paul...

Cat Stevens’ song “The Boy With A Moon And Star On His Head” is a poetic and mystical tale that expresses themes of love, destiny, and the unknown and unexpected.  The song’s lyrics are replete with metaphors and symbolism, for example, the “holy magnolia” and “naked earth,” which elicit a sense of purity and connection to the universe. Cat Stevens, known for his introspective and spiritual songwriting, uses this narrative to convey a deeper message about the power of love and the...

Presenting an engaging science fiction adventure for teens and adults.After unceremoniously losing his job, Special Investigator Derrick Faulk is summoned by his close friend, Adrien Mattias, a developer of best-in-class nearly human Androids, for a mission that holds the future of their world in the balance. “Time is of the Essence,” as Adrien likes to say, and the clock is ticking.Romantic sparks fly, and guns blaze in “Androbiotica 2: Journey in Time,” the sequel to “The Androbiotica File:...

“The time that’s left is yours to keep” is a phrase at the end of the chorus of Kate Wolf's song “See Here She Said.” The phrase impacts me powerfully because it is sweet advice to use our time wisely. This is especially true for children, but it is also important for people of all ages to keep in mind. In a truncated life of only forty-four years, Kate Wolf embodied the words of this song. She used her time to create over two hundred songs, performing mostly at venues in her native state of...

I had never heard of Carrie Newcomer before a friend played one of her songs in an online gazing/meditation class. "The Gathering of Spirits" bounced around in my head until I finally had to learn it. I bought Newcomer's album of the same name, and I have to say the other songs on it are, for me, an acquired taste. However, I'm glad I was introduced to Carrie's music and this song in particular. She's a unique individual and an unusually talented artist, as you'll see by clicking on the...

"Hard Headed Woman" celebrates an empowering and life-affirming love. The artist envisions an enriching and fulfilling relationship in which each partner contributes to the other's growth and happiness. The song reminds us of the importance of finding someone who complements and strengthens us rather than a companion who fits a pre-determined, superficial mold.

This John Prine song has been lauded as, "One of the best breakup songs ever written." Here's my cover of Prine's "All The Best."

"Day Is Done" is a simple song about a clandestine relationship. Since very little has been written about the song, it is difficult to pinpoint the exact subject matter. It could be about two married adults having an illicit affair. The lyrics and tone, however, indicate a relationship between two adolescents forbidden by parents or society. The drawings on the album cover of "Lost Dogs and Mixed Blessings" tend to support the theory of a prohibited young love. In "Day is Done," Prine has...

John Prine began his professional career as a mailman in Illinois. He went on to become one of America's most beloved singers and songwriters. If you are a fan of Folk and Country Music, then you know John Prine. His music was a blend of humorous lyrics about love, life, current events, and songs recounting melancholy tales from his life. Prine was active as a composer, recording artist, live performer, and occasional actor from the early 1970s until his death in 1917 from complications of...

Bob Dylan wrote and recorded the original version of "Mr. Tambourine Man," but The Byrds' electrified folk-rock version shot it to #1 on both the US and UK charts. The song hadn't been released when The Byrds learned it from a demo Dylan gave to their manager, Jim Dickson. Dylan released Tambourine Man in March 1965 on his Bringing It All Back Home album. What is "Mr. Tambourine Man" about? On the surface, this tambourine man is a wandering musician whose music has captured Dylan under...

“Ah, but I was so much older then, I’m younger than that now.” These lyrics and the refrain popped into my head a few mornings ago. This sort of thing has been happening to me frequently these days: Long-forgotten songs resurfacing. It may be a function of the aging process, or it might be the universe talking to me. I kind of hope it’s the latter. In the 1970s, a group called the Bryds covered a few Bob Dylan songs. They made songs like Mr. Tambourine Man and this one popular. The Bryds’...

Cat Stevens wrote and recorded quite a few hits at the Zenith of his career in the 1960s and 1970s. Stevens is an exceptionally talented artist. His songs began to climb the charts in his native England when he was only eighteen. There is a recurring theme in Stevens' work about leaving home to go out into the world. In Stevens' words: "[Wild World has] to do with leaving, the sadness of leaving, and the anticipation of what lies beyond. There is a criticism sometimes of my music that it's...

When Richard Marx wrote “Right Here Waiting,” he never meant to publish it. He wrote the song in 2010 as a personal message to his girlfriend and actress, Cynthia Rhoads. At the time, Rhoads was in South Africa making a film. Since Skype or Google Meets didn’t exist, Marx shipped the track directly to Rhoads. Marx wrote the song in twenty minutes. His friends were so moved by it that they convinced the artist to publish it. The song went on to become one of Marx’s biggest hits. Prior to this...

After Steven Digman wrote “Anniversary Song,” he took it to Chris Biondo’s studio in Rockville, Maryland, to record it. At the time, Biondo was looking for material for Eva Cassidy to record. After Chris heard the song, he insisted on recording it with Eva. Digman had another singer in mind, but Biondo wouldn’t give up. After hearing Eva sing “Anniversary Song” on the phone, Digman agreed to let Cassidy record it. The rest, as they say, is history. This is another song that popped into my...

“Brown-eyed Girl” was originally called “Brown-Skinned Girl.” The song is about an interracial relationship. Morrison changed the name to make it more acceptable to radio stations at the time (1967). Some stations banned it anyway for the line, “Making love in the green grass.” Why some gatekeepers took issue with the line in the free-loving sixties is beyond me. I guess there is no accounting for taste. From his roots in Northern Ireland, Van Morrison began his musical career at the age of...

"Eternal Flame" is another song that came into my head from out of nowhere. It just started playing in my mind on its own. I remembered the song, but I had never heard of (or don't remember) an all-girl band called The Bangles. The group was popular in the 1980s. Susanna Hoff, their lead singer, wrote Eternal Flame with songwriters Billy Steinberg and Tom Kelly. The idea came from a Cyndi Lauper song Hoff admired and from the eternal flame shrine near the Elvis Presley tomb in Graceland,...

Steve Gillette released his first album in 1967 titled simply “Steve Gillette.” Top-heavy with folk ballads and original songs, I thought the album was a strong debut. Gillette had already established himself as a noteworthy songwriter when Ian and Sylvia, a top Canadian folk duo, included “Darcy Farrow,” a song Gillette co-wrote on their 1966 album “Early Morning Rain.” I still own Gillette’s debut album and listen to it occasionally. Despite all of this fanfare, Steve Gillette never became...